STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

Hello SWTOR players!

Initially, we announced that they would be available over the holiday break up until January 6th. We saw a lot of feedback from players wanting them to be made available more often, so we are testing out how often they appear on the Cartel Market. To give more players a chance to purchase the dyes, we will be releasing all the enhanced dye packs for a week beginning February 6th. The following will be available beginning tomorrow:

• Metallic Black and Matte Black
  
• Matte Black and Metallic Black
  
• Metallic Gold and Chrome White
  
• Chrome White and Metallic Gold
  
• Pearlescent Red and Metallic Black
  
• Metallic Black and Pearlescent Red
  

After February 13th, the dyes will be released two at a time on a weekly rotation on the Cartel Market.

Bounty Contract Week

Date: February 6 - February 13 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 15+

For a limited time, the Bounty Brokers Association has opened its doors to anyone willing to take on their dangerous contracts, offering an opportunity for both seasoned and rookie hunters to prove their skills and bring crime syndicates and violent gangs to justice!

Each day, you can sign up for one standard Henchman contract and one high profile Kingpin Contract, and each may take you to a separate planet. Complete five standard contracts to unlock Kingpin missions with bigger loot! Head to the fleet now, invite your friends and visit representatives of the Association to get started on your contracts!

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Reputation with the Bounty Brokers Association
  
• Bounty Tracker’s Armor Set and Contract Hunter’s Armor Set
  
• Assassin’s Bowcaster and Elite Tracker’s Bowcaster weapons
  
• Lobelot, Swamp Kell Drake, and Drink Server Probe Mini-pets
  
• BH-7X Custom Hunter Mount
  
• …and more!
  

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally

Date: February 20 - February 27 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 20+

In the growing shadow of war, swoop fans across the galaxy descend on Dantooine, Tatooine, and even Onderon for the sport’s biggest spectacle—The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally! They’re packing the stands, eager to take their minds off their troubles and cheer their favorite swoop gangs. The bikers are here to take on dangerous challenge courses, show off their piloting skills, and flaunt their souped-up swoop bikes. The thunder of the engines, the deafening applause from the fans, the wind battering their helmets… there’s no bigger rush for these thrill seekers.

Despite their reputation as wild rebels whose makeshift courses disregard local districting restrictions, swoop gangs aren’t a serious threat to anyone--something all true swoop fans know! They just love adrenaline-pounding speed, sweet jumps, and big explosions, and the All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally combines all three in one crowd-pleasing package. The biggest gangs on the circuit — Horizon’s Razor, the Pit Screamers, and the Blatant Beks — are ready to show their fans a great time.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Swoop Rally Mounts (regular and gold versions)
  
• Swoop Gang Outfits
  
• Promotion Droid Mini-pets
  
• Various Stronghold Decorations
  
• …and more!
  

[h2]Highlights[/h2]

7.4 “Chains in the Dark” Missions, Daily Areas & Story Fixes

Memory Heist

• Players can no longer enter the Mouse Droid Puzzle cell if the force field is activated. 
  
• Interacting with the book will trigger the Prison Warden walking to the location cell as intended.
  

Kessan’s Landing Daily Area

• Updated the [WEEKLY Daily Area: Ord Mantell] to include [HEROIC 2+: Volcanic Disruption].
  
  
  • This update will reset the mission for players that currently have the mission active.
    
  
  
  
• The "Separatist Elimination Requisition Cache" now rewards Tech Fragments instead of Conquest Commendations as intended.
  
• Added text to indicate Mantellian/Separatist Mount hover turrets have a Flourish.
  
• FR3-DOM World Boss voice has been fixed.
  

Cinematics

• Petra Nihrum is no longer visible on the floor despite Sa'har telling your character that she left.
  

Missions

• Players on Port Nowhere should no longer be caught in the force field when loading explosives onto the tether.
  
• Saboteur players will now see the option to contact Jonas when dealing with the SIS on Ord Mantell.
  

[h2]GENERAL[/h2]

• Loot will correctly appear after the 3rd boss of Objective Meridian.
  
• The circular platform asset, as seen supporting the two Jedi statues at the entrance of the Jedi temple on Tython and the Krayt Dragon Skeleton Decoration, is now fully textured.
  
• When Inspecting another player, they will always appear in the Inspect Window in both the Gear and Outfitter tabs.
  

Map/HUD Updates

• The HUD map will now correctly show the World Map instead of the local map on area travel.
  
• The HUD map will now correctly display all map notes after traveling to a new area.
  
• Quick travel map notes will now correctly show as locked when they have not been discovered.
  

GTN Updates

• Fixed an issue where shift+click would not populate the GTN search text field from the following locations: Materials Window, Collections Window, and GTN Sell Page
  
• Updated GTN Sell Page duration timer to show more specific times. It now shows the highest two values. Ex: Days and hours or hours and minutes.
  
• The GTN Claim button will now change to gold and animate when players have items to claim.
  
• The GTN will now record when players have claimed, purchased, or canceled a sale.
  
• An additional alert icon will now be displayed in the "Claim" window when an item is close to expiring. 
  
• The AFK timer will now reset when interacting with the GTN.
  
• A “Do Not Show Again” option has been added to the GTN augment warning window.
  
• Items on the GTN no longer show a negative time.
  
• Items in GTN Searches will show as disabled if the player cannot use them.
  

Localization Updates German

• Dantooine, Iokath, Odessen, Ossus and Darvannis planet names are now present for German players in Galaxy Map and Conquest Tab.
  
• The German name for "Meticulous Preparation" is now visible from the ability's tooltip.
  
• Text for Operations, Flashpoints, and Uprisings are no longer missing in the Activity Finder 
  
• Daily Area: Ruhnuk mission title appears correctly in the Activity Finder and Mission log.
  
• Name of “Concentrated Fire Package” is now consistent across all Item Rating versions.
  

French

• The French translation of the "Implant Destiny 340" Achievement refers to the correct Item Rating. 
  

German and French

• The dialogue text for "Zeek's Deconstruction: 340" is now displayed correctly during the conversation with Hyde & Zeek in French and German 
  
• Daily and Weekly PVP missions now appear in the mission terminals.
  
• The name for "Separatist's Relay Desk" is no longer missing.
  

Items

• The "Suspended Speeder Engine" now has the correct orientation, matching the one seen in the decoration preview with the scaffolding hanging from the ceiling.
  
• The description mentioning "Locked in Collection" is no longer included in the Vendor sold version of the "Life Day Robes". 
  
• The Westar 19-B and Westar 19-C Blasters' holsters will now always be visible during gameplay.
  
• Zakuulan Exile's Weapons are displayed correctly both in game and during preview screens.
  
• The storefront and collections images for the Heavy Mandalorian Helmet now match its in-game appearance.
  
• Characters' hair no longer clips through the “Life Day Officer Hat” when being worn.
  
• The lights on the "Emergency Blockade" stronghold decoration no longer clips into other areas of the decoration.
  
• Decorations with lightsaber blades now reignite correctly when the player logs into a Stronghold.
  

Companions

• HK-51 now appears in ship cinematics with all player applied customizations and equipped items.
  

Galactic Seasons

• Fixed an issue where the drop rates of Galactic Seasons reputation currency were lower than intended in previous seasons.
  

Relics of the Gree

Date: January 9 - January 16 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 50+

Explore Ilum's contested area in the Western Ice Shelf to uncover the mysterious purpose of the Gray Secant, an enormous ancient Gree starship. Get ready to face a powerful opponent that awaits you at the center of this ancient vessel. Visit the in-game News Terminal located on Carrick Station in the Republic fleet or Vaiken Spacedock in the Imperial fleet to get started on your adventure!

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Reputation with the Gree Enclave
  
• Gree Digitization Cube
  
• White, Red, and Blue Scalene Armor
  
• Gray Helix Weapons
  
• L1-L Defender, L1-L Scout, and Miniature Gray Secant Mini-pets
  
• Cyan Sphere, Blue Sphere and Red Sphere Vehicles
  
• …and more!
  

Pirate Incursion

Date: January 23 - January 30 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 20+

The remote planet Dantooine has been thrust into the center of escalating hostilities between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Spurred on in secret by covert Imperial forces, the Nova Blade pirates have staged an all-out attack on the pastoral Republic world. As the Republic scrambles to defend this key territory at the edge of Imperial space, the Empire plans to capitalize on the chaos and deal a major blow to the longtime Republic bastion.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Nova Blade and Dantooine Homesteader Armor Sets
  
• Ugnaught Companion
  
• Walker Mount
  
• Kath Hound Mount
  
• Kath Hound Mini-pet
  
• Dantooine-inspired Stronghold Decorations
  
• … and more!
  

Hi, folks!

Today marks our 12th anniversary, and what a year it has been. I am once again reflective of everything that has transpired in 2023, and I couldn’t be more proud of the Star Wars™: The Old Republic team.

We began the year by deploying the 64-bit client to all players, releasing Galactic Seasons 4 "Passage of Peace”, PvP Season 2 “Piercing the Veil”, and opened a test server in the Asia-Pacific region completely hosted in the cloud. It was an incredible kickoff to the new year, and we were delighted to see a lot of months of prep come to fruition.

Midway through the year, the development team transitioned to Broadsword and delivered Game Update 7.3 “Old Wounds” which was full of new content, including a story update, the Shrine of Silence Flashpoint, and an entirely new area on Voss called the Interpreter’s Retreat. Game Update 7.3 also included art modernization, which updated various assets and the environment of the Interpreter’s Retreat.



Over the following months, we officially moved all of our servers to the cloud! How cool is that? This initiative greatly streamlined our processes and allowed us to make additional upgrades to improve the overall health and stability of the game.

On the heels of that migration, we launched Game Update 7.3.1 which came with Galactic Seasons 5 “Confidence in Power” (how about that Loth-Cat kitten pet?) and introduced Ahsoka-inspired items to the game. This collaboration with our friends at LucasFilm was a great deal of fun, and we were ecstatic to see how they resonated within the community.



Now we find ourselves in the present day. We opened a new server in the APAC region called Shae Vizla, and it was incredible playing alongside new and returning players. I’m about halfway to completing Legendary status!

Following the opening of the new server, we launched Game Update 7.4 “Chains in the Dark”, which brings players back to a new area on Ord Mantell to progress the storyline around Heta Kol and the Hidden Chain.



I wrote a lot about the accomplishments of the past year and leaving you all with quite a bit to enjoy for the holiday season, but I also do want to give you all a glimpse into 2024.

With our next release in 7.4.1, we are doing something pretty cool in Galactic Seasons 6. The story and primary reward of the season will take you back to a location that you haven’t been to in quite some time, and it has quite a view.

As we look beyond 7.4.1 and into 7.5, we have some new things planned for our players. I checked in with Lane Vizla, and she thinks that her steady progress on the Basilisk War Droid Prototype could come to a meaningful conclusion (or new beginning?) around that time. I have so many more things I want to tell you about with the upcoming releases, and everything else we have planned for next year with story and events, but alas today is a celebration of our 12th anniversary. I wanted to make sure to leave you with a few nuggets to chew on over the holidays. When we get back from the holiday break, we’ll be preparing for a 7.4.1 livestream that we are tentatively scheduling for February 14th!

This livestream will focus mostly on 7.4.1, where we will give you a glimpse of everything that is coming in that update. We’ll also share an early sneak peek of Game Update 7.5 as well.

As I said in the 7.4 dev stream, there’s more to come, and we’re looking forward to announcing further details in due time.

Before I head out, just a reminder of some things to enjoy during the holiday break.

• We are running a 50% off Collection Unlock sale from now until January 9, 2024
  
• Life Day is active and will run until January 9, 2024
  
• The Double XP Event begins December 24 and will run until January 4, 2024
  
• The Coruscant and Kaas City Strongholds are discounted to 12 credits (down from 5000) until the next game update
  

We’re doing something a little different with the Cartel Market sales this year! Right now the following are on sale at a discounted price:

• Featured Anniversary sales until January 4, 2024
  
• 5-pack: Major Experience Boost
  
• Commander's Compendium - 3 Pack
  
• Master’s Datacron and Equipment Bundle
  
• Thexan's Armor Set
  
• Satele Shan's Dualsaber
  
• Darth Nul's Lightsaber
  
• Tulak Hord's Lightsaber
  

Daily sales are starting tomorrow and running until January 4, 2024

• Elite Mandalorian Bundle (Dec 21)
  
• Executioner Lightning Weapon Tuning (Dec 22)
  
• Mischief & Anarchy Blaster Pistols (Dec 23)
  
• Tau's Lightsaber (Dec 24)
  
• Armor of Darth Revan Set (Dec 25)
  
• Onderon Guardian Bundle (Dec 26)
  
• Dark Side Hssiss Mount (Dec 27)
  
• Zakuul Knight Armor Set (Dec 28)
  
• Stronghold Cantina Decoration Bundle (Dec 29)
  
• Sensuous Dress Armor Set (Dec 30)
  
• Heartless Pursuer Armor Set (Dec 31)
  
• Imperial Reaper's Armor Set (Jan 1)
  
• Incinerator Weapon Tuning (Jan 2)
  
• Twisted Fang Lightsaber (Jan 3)
  

I am genuinely thankful that I get to work with such incredible teams and partners who are both committed to creating the best content possible for SWTOR and working toward improving the tech and platform that runs the game. Of course, I want to send a heartfelt thank you to all of our players who play this wonderful game with us. We wish you all a happy holiday and new year.

May the Force be with you.

-Keith