Game Update 1.7 is fresh off the shelves today, and along with the new galactic reputation feature and the Relics of the Gree event, there were a couple of changes and side effects to changes that did not make the original Patch Notes. These changes were announced on the forums today in the form of dev tracker posts:

Originally posted by JovethGonzalez (Source)

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With Game Update 1.7, we introduced the new Legacy Character Perk, Priority Transport: Personal Starship. This allows players to quickly shuttle to their personal starships. This ability normally has a 24 hr cooldown, and players have the option to purchase Legacy Global Unlocks to reduce this cooldown.

Unfortunately, with Game Update 1.7, there is a bug which automatically unlocks the three levels of Legacy Global Unlocks for any players that is level 20 or above.

This is not intended and will be fixed in an upcoming patch. What this means is that, for those of you who have unlocked the Personal Starship as a Character Perk, you will no longer have 1 hr cooldowns for this ability, and you will have to unlock Legacy Global Unlocks to reduce the standard 24 hr cooldown. This will happen after the aforementioned patch.

We apologize for any inconvenience, but we hope that you enjoy this “trial” period for Improved Priority Transport: Personal Starship levels I, II, and III.

Keep reading to see a dev tracker response on changes made to the GTN in Game Update 1.7.

Earlier this week, Massively got a chance to interview Gabe Amatangelo, SWTOR’s Principal Lead PvP Designer. During the interview, Game Update 1.4 as well as the game’s fall move to free to play were discussed. Here are his thoughts on the model switch, which follow the original questions in bold:

I’m excited for the opportunity to see what a free-to-play model will do for TOR. However, there have been some mixed reactions regarding F2P in general. What is your take on F2P, and what do you believe it will add to the player’s experience in the game?

It will make galactic trade market entrepreneurs happy. Free-to-play members can buy but can’t list, meaning more customers with less competition. Who wouldn’t like that? My take is that what happened to the music industry is happening to online games. Free-to-play options are the future of most, if not all, online games. There are all types of players out there, and the ability to subscribe to a game — or multiple games — is a dividing characteristic. This will open the game up to more types of players to try or retry the game, which will be good for all players.

The bit about the Galactic Trade Network restrictions is interesting. It isn’t entirely surprising to see economy-based restrictions in general, but it is somewhat surprising to find out that F2P players won’t be able to list items whatsoever. SWTOR’s player-based economy could definitely use a boost, however, and part of me wonders if this is perhaps BioWare’s partial intention here.

Star Wars: the Old Republic has two trade networks, The Galactic Trade Network (GTN) and The Hutt Trade Network (HTN). The former is a faction specific trading network, while the latter is a cross faction one that connects buyers and sellers throughout the galaxy. While the GTN is easily accessible at the faction Fleet, the HTN requires players to travel to Nar Shaddaa to access it.

Players can unlock an HTN terminal for all their characters’ ship by reaching Legacy Level 25 and paying 5 million credits. This has caused a lot of controversy, and many players on the forums are upset, because the legacy unlock is part of the Hutt Trade Network, which is rarely used. However, in an interview with Mos Eisley Radio, Lead Game Designer, Daniel Erickson revealed that very shortly the Hutts’ will buy out all the GTNs and convert them into neutral trading networks; creating one blanket economy between both factions. He added, “…with the legacy system players play on both sides and it doesn’t make since to artificially separate the economy.” With this change in mind, it stands to reason that the Galactic Market Kiosk for 5 million credits will be a worthwhile investment.

Want a 1st hand look at the changes to the GTN?  It’s actually functional now!  Check out the video below!

Questions or comments?  Leave one below!

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