Attention galaxy wide faction fighters! The Devs are calling you out. Hit the PTS and test the PvP Class balance at level 55. Test times FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY at 7-10 CST.

Originally posted by Eric Musco(Source)

Hey everyone!

With PTS up and running for a few days, we hope that all of you have had a chance to hop on and test! If not, what are you waiting for? As with any testing, there are always specific things we would love to have all of you test and for our first organized test, we are looking specifically at Warzones. Here are the details.

Days: Friday 3/1, Saturday 3/2, Sunday 3/3
Time: 7-10 PM CST
Where: Just queue up for Warzones!

Once the test has completed, we would love if you could come back into this thread and offer us your feedback. The things we are specifically looking for feedback on are:

How do you feel about class balance at level 55?
How do you feel about the new abilities and talents in PvP?
How do you feel about the new Bolster system?

Thank you in advance for your help and we look forward to your feedback.

-eric

Yesterday, Jeff Hickman tackled a few hard-hitting subjects in SWTOR’s second official State of the Game blog. He addressed the lack of different types of endgame activities and mentioned that BioWare will focus on endgame more in 2013, introducing new Flashpoints, Operations, difficulty modes, PvP areas, and improved endgame itemization. We’ll also, of course, be seeing Rise of the Hutt Cartel, which promises a solid chunk of story and endgame content. Ilum will also be making a return in the near future.

Other notable topics included the announcement that players will finally be able to copy their live characters to the Public Test Server sometime early this year, and some big news for fans of BioWare’s same-gender content– yes, we’ll finally have same-gender options to look forward to! Jeff Hickman made an apology to the community regarding the lack of SGR (same-gender romance) news, which was good to see, considering the company’s noticeable silence on the matter. He also was happy to announce that Makeb NPCs will have some same-gender romance options, and that the team is working on expanding the options farther in the future.

A few details about Game Update 1.7 were also hinted at, including the return of The Gree Enclave and the promise of a new PvP area that might just be Ilum (he was pretty vague, but the hints point in that direction). For the full State of the Game blog, check out the official site.

As Game Update 1.5 nears, BioWare is beginning to release more information on what we’ll be seeing exactly in the update. One of the most anticipated pieces of new content is the new droid companion coming in Game Update 5.1, HK-51. Last Friday, BioWare staff members published a developer blog with some background information on the story of HK-51. Here’s a snippet:

“As useful as the HK-51 model would be to both the Republic and Empire, acquiring one of these Droids is currently believed to be impossible. The last known HK-51 Droids were lost during the Great War, when an Imperial starship carrying a battalion of them was shot down over the ice-encrusted wastelands of Belsavis. Even if these models are discovered, they would undoubtedly have been rendered inoperable after spending so long in such extreme conditions. Constructing new HK-51 Droids became impossible after unidentified saboteurs erased every copy of the Droid’s design schematics from Czerka Corporation’s computer network. The only HK-51 data files rumored to exist it were allegedly aboard an experimental Czerka mobile research lab known as the Theoretika. The vessel vanished during a routine hyperspace jump decades before the Belsavis incident and sabotage of Czerka’s archived schematics. Czerka spokespeople have publicly stated that even if the long-lost Theoretika were to be located, it should be destroyed immediately. Whoever was on board is undoubtedly dead and the ship now represents far more of a threat than an opportunity.”

The read the full article, check out the developer blog. Also, thanks to information uncovered on the Public Test Server (PTS), it was discovered that once a level 50 player does the quests to obtain HK-51, the player will be able to purchase character unlocks for their lower level alts to also run around with the droid companion. These unlocks will cost 1 million Credits or 350 Cartel Coins per character.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is going free to play this fall with an optional subscription model, and BioWare’s version of the cash shop– the Cartel Market– is currently available for player testing on the PTS. Just in case you haven’t had a chance to check out the different items on the Market, we’ve got you covered. Here is the current list of all of the items on the Cartel Market, complete with detailed descriptions and Cartel Coin cost. We’ve also included a brief introduction to some of the Market’s features. Let’s get started, shall we?

Yesterday we received a couple dev tracker posts stating important changes to some of the free-to-play player limitations coming in this fall’s subscription model shift. The first of these is the addition of a third type of subscription group that players can belong to and receive different bonuses in– the preferred status player group. Preferred status players are those who have subscribed in the past, but have returned to SWTOR as free to play, or have purchased items directly from SWTOR’s site. This includes Cartel Coins, a subscription of any length of time, and time cards.

Preferred status players will receive more benefits than pure free-to-play players, but less than full subscription players. This status is also permanent. This is an excellent compromise, in my opinion, and will give past subscription players a reason to return yet not feel quite as restricted as players completely new to the game. Here are some of the details on the restriction differences:

Originally posted by NathanEmmott (Source)

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As a Preferred Status Player, you will gain the following benefits compared to Free-to-Play Players:

• The Sprint ability at Level 1
• Access to your Cargo Hold (an 80 item Player Bank)
• Access to Secure Trade (starting at level 10)
• The ability to send Mail, including one (1) attachment
• Increased allowance for chat message frequencies in Public chat channels (such as /general)
• An increased Credits Cap
• Access to the Who List
• Three (3) additional Sale Slots on the Galactic Trade Network (for a total of 5)
• One (1) additional active Crew Skill Slot (for a total of 2)
• Reduced skill point respecialization costs
• Increased Server queue priority

The addition of preferred player status will make many players happy, I believe.

Since this week’s preview launch of SWTOR’s Cartel Market on the PTS, there have been a number of questions and concerns raised by the community. Luckily, BioWare’s team took some time to address many of those concerns. For your convenience, here is a collection of those posts.

The first was in regards to some Cartel Market cosmetic items that come with timers that last for five days. Players questioned what would happen after the timer runs out:

Originally posted by AllisonBerryman (Source)

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I can clarify that the item will not disappear after the timer is over – after that time period, the item is no longer bound to you and can be traded!

This is an interesting addition to the Market, and may help our in-game economy if it makes it into the feature’s launch on live servers. Keep reading for the rest of the dev tracker updates!

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s big free-to-play model switch is just around the corner, and starting yesterday, players can now preview all the goodies the Cartel Market has to offer on the Public Test Server, as well as provide valuable feedback for the BioWare team. All PTS testers will be granted a temporary sum of Cartel Coins for purchasing items and testing the feature out. Here’s the full announcement:

Players can now log into the Public Test Server and view the new Cartel Market! You can use the Cartel Market check out the pets, vehicles, XP boosts, and more!

Players on the Public Test Server have been granted a number of Cartel Coins, our new virtual currency, to test the Cartel Market. All player accounts will be set to a Subscriber status, but at some point in the near future all Public Test accounts will be switched to a Free-to-Play status in order to test all Free-to-Play functionalities. Keep in mind that all Cartel Coins you receive or acquire and all items redeemed for Cartel Coins on the Public Test Server are only available during this Public Test and will not be transferred to your regular account.

When the Free-to-Play option launches, you’ll be able to purchase Cartel Coins from our website. Plus, if you’re a current or previous subscriber, there’s good news. Check out your “My Accounts” Cartel Coins Ledger page now to see how many Complimentary Cartel Coins you will be granted when the Free-to-Play option launches!

Visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com/FREE to find out more about the Cartel Market and Cartel Coins!

We encourage you to explore the Cartel Market and give us your feedback by posting on the Public Test Server forum. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer the ability to copy characters for this test.

Be sure to visit the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Test Center to learn more.

For more information, view the full blog article or the forum discussion thread. Stay tuned in the days to come for a list of the items and costs currently available on the PTS.

After yesterday’s announcement of SWTOR taking home four Game Developers Choice awards, BioWare showed off another surprise and released Game Update 1.5 on the Public Test Server for our previewing pleasure. Here’s a bit about what’s included in Game Update 1.5:

Game Update 1.5 is now live on our Public Test Server! For those of you that already have high level, copied characters on our Public Test Server, we encourage you to explore Sector X, Nightmare Explosive Conflict, and the other new features on the Public Test Server right now. Get on, check everything out, and give us your feedback by posting on the Public Test Server forum. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer the ability to copy characters for this test nor will there be any rewards offered for testing. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Game Update 1.5 contains a host of new features including:

• New playable companion, HK-51 – Begin your journey to unlock one of the galaxies deadliest assassins.
• Section X –Head to Belsavis to discover this new daily hub and learn what you can do to help stop the Dread Masters in their newest scheme.
• Nightmare Mode Explosive Conflict – Take on even greater challenges in Explosive Conflict to earn the final pieces of the Dread Guard set and more.

Please note, at this time, we will not be providing Customer Support for this test server. Attempts to file in-game tickets will result in an error message and will not be processed. Please use the Public Test Server Forums for feedback and any issues you may experience. All gameplay policies are still in place; inappropriate or abusive players will not be tolerated on the test server and we ask that you please report this behavior to Customer Support here.

Be sure to click here to view the current Game Update 1.5 patch notes.

The Belsavis dailies and HK-51 quest items were recently discovered during some keen-eyed player datamining, but it’s awesome to finally see concrete details about the next major Game Update. Many players guessed that HK-51 would be delayed until SWTOR’s big free-to-play move, but it seems we’ll be gaining access to our new companion before that time. Good news for HK model fans!

For players actively taking part in the PTS testing, BioWare has updated the patch notes to include a list of known issues regarding the update.

After the GamesCom announcement regarding Terror from Beyond, the new Operation coming to SWTOR in September, players began wondering whether or not they’d be able to get a chance to test the new Operation on the Public Test Server (PTS). BioWare, in the past, has released some fairly bug-ridden content updates, and no fan of the game wants to see that trend continue. How do players help ensure a bug-free release? Easy– PTS testing.

Allison Berryman responded to one such question regarding the PTS server yesterday:

Originally posted by AllisonBerryman (Source)

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We do plan to continue to use the PTS to test upcoming content (like the new Operation). We haven’t mentioned dates for testing or live release, but we’ll be testing on the PTS in addition to our internal testing in order to help ensure a good quality experience when the Operation reaches the live servers. We do want to make sure that testing is thorough and that any major issues are uncovered and corrected before the Operation is live. We’ll have more information about when to expect releases as quickly as we can.

It’s interesting to note that the September release date isn’t mentioned here. It is good, however, to hear that BioWare fully intends on using the PTS for testing new content. Hopefully they will continue to do so when the F2P model goes live, as well.

Yesterday, BioWare posted a community blog article detailing some of the behind-the-scenes plans and goals for Team Ranked Warzones, which will hopefully reach live servers when Game Update 1.3 hits. You can check out the article here.

Here’s one of the most important bits of the article:

Before Season One begins with official rankings, we intend to rank and post the players and guilds with top Pre-Season ratings. Season One will begin with completely new ratings. Additionally, we do intend to have a Solo Queue Ranked Warzone option in the future.

We will not be pushing Team Ranked Warzones to the live game until we have significant PTS testing of the feature. Fortunately, those of you on the Public Test Server can now queue up for Team Ranked Warzones and test this feature out now. Be sure to submit any feedback to our PTS forum here.

Check out the community response to this community blog here, and keep reading to find out some responses straight from the community!