Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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A few other notes that escaped the initial post:

Augments stay at their current effective level (49) and we are not planning to add a new tier of augments in the near future.

Augments also had their stats adjusted/split (as discussed in other threads) to account for their wider availability in the system. The overall effect of the change is a net increase in survival time for players due to increased health from endurance.

There are also a large number of changes (and fixes) to creature abilities in 1.2 as well (too many to list individually as single abilities can affects hundreds of creatures), so you may see different results running PvE content after 1.2.

Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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Hi,

There have been quite a few threads where you have voiced confusion regarding the end game itemization in 1.2 and I want to take the opportunity to clarify what you are going to see in the game when Game Update 1.2 goes live on Thursday.

One of the issues we are dealing with on the PTS Forums is that we are not only introducing changes from the current state of the game (1.1.5x), but also several changes a week. Without wiping our Forums weekly, it is inevitable that these updates cause significant confusion about what it is in the game, what is intended to be in the game, etc.

So, without further ado….

If you missed my previous article BioWare Blunders? End Game Gear System Design with 1.2 you need to check it out.  George Zoeller touched back upon this subject saying that they would redress the issues with crit crafted armor sometime after 1.2 release.

Originally posted by Georg Zoeller (Source)

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In the mid-term (e.g. past Game Update 1.2), we are planning on adding means to the game that allow you to add augment slots to equipment you already have.

So while critical crafted appearances are the only source of augment slots in Game Update 1.2., this is a temporary arrangement that will change in the future when we implement means to retrofit existing gear (including social) with augment slots (without devaluing crafters in the process).

This is great news as the prospect of having to RE difficult to attain gear such as War Hero armor will prove nightmarish at best.  Also, keeping crafters involved is the best course of action for a thriving in game economy.

Twitters: @SkeletonJack_
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In a recent interview at the Guild Summit Georg Zoeller had this to say:

Georg Zoeller: (Source) I don’t think three Operations is optimal; you probably want to go at least four or five but that’s not necessarily my call. That is Gabe’s call and everyone else who is involved, but we need to build a nice state of endgame. We’re building up and yes, at some point you have the discussion “which point do we have an accessibility problem?” You need to be able to get new blood in there.

If you’re not sure what he’s talking about, they announced that the 3 modes for Operations will now be Story Mode, Hard Mode, and Nightmare Mode. The 1.2 Legacy Patch will release a new Operation that has a Story Mode and a Hard Mode only. Sometime in the future, most likely 1.2.1 or 1.2.2, Nightmare Mode will be released as well.

In addition to this they will be adding new mechanics to Hard Mode (not new animations), and Nightmare Mode will also have additional mechanics beyond Hard Mode.  They said that Nightmare needed to be a nightmare.  If you missed my article, The Heroes of MMO’s, I talk about some of the changes that needed to be made and are in fact currently in the pipeline for release.

What’s amazing about Georg’s statement is that he recognizes and sees that the range of player skill and need for challenge can’t be neatly quantified by three simple degrees.  That in fact to reach everyone equally they need a more diverse scaling method to satisfy all of their players.  I for one am truly impressed with that level of foresight and open mindedness.

But what about you guys?  What do you think of having possibly four to five different Modes for Operations?  Keep in mind that all Operations are intended to be on the same lockout except for Story Mode (the easiest setting), so you’d only be doing one “difficult” Ops each week.  Leave a comment below telling us what you think!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Twitters: @SkeletonJack_
Twitch TV: /skeleton_jack

I put off writing this article as I was trying to do more research to prove my theory wrong; however the Dev Blog by Georg Zoeller today laid down the cement for this in the 1.2 Patch.  So if you read that post you may be already guessing that this is tied directly to the gear and crafting system.

This may or may not be an inherent flaw, but this points to BioWare spending a great deal of resources on potentially unused content that will go into the game.  What is this potential flaw to the crafting and end game loot system?  Click Continue Reading.

Since the launch of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, the Crew Skill system has been incredibly popular. Every week in-game, 52 million items are produced or harvested, 4.5 million item mods are installed and more than 35 million items change hands. Players actively participating in the Crew Skill system are generally better geared and have more credits in the bank than pure consumers.

That said, we still believe the Crew Skills can be made better. Without further ado, here are some of the things you can expect for your profession when Game Update 1.2: Legacy goes live.

Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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Hi everyone,

Massively Multiplayer Online games are built around living, breathing worlds that are always evolving, and Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is no different. In our upcoming Game Update 1.2, we’ll be introducing a wide assortment of new features and content, while also introducing a number of improvements and changes to the in-game economy.

As we work to create a more player-driven economy, you can expect significant improvements to Crew skills, and an extension of Crew skill gameplay, such as item creation and research, into the Elder-Game content. You’ll also see new items brought into the game, including new schematics, Legacy items, a new tier of Player vs Player and Player vs Environment weapons and armor, Legacy items, new schematics, and the ability to extract base-mods from purple items, as well as many other changes and improvements.

Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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We’re going to give an update on this topic at the Guild Summit

Finally.

It’s that time again! Last week we asked for your questions and this week we have some answers. Please note in some cases we’ve combined multiple questions into one, and we have edited some questions for clarity.

We have now opened an official thread for next week’s Q&A, which will stay open until 2pm CST on February 28th (8pm GMT/9pm CET). We welcome your questions in that thread and hope you enjoy the answers below. If you want to discuss any of the answers given, please use this Forum thread!

Originally posted by GeorgZoeller (Source)

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Patch 1.2, among many other PvP changes, will remove the reliance on daily quests for your gear progression (and therefore increasing the value of the commendations you get for playing a match to the end) and penalties for quitters.

The topic of battlemaster bags and the progress of getting PVP gear has been pretty hot since the game has been released and more and more people hit the level cap. The main complaint is that it’s pretty much random on how you gain commendations from them. This thread this dev post appeared in grew quite long, and the original poster claims to have opened 32 battlemaster bags without getting a single commendation.