STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

Life Day Date: December 14th, 2021 - January 11th, 2022 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Levels 10+

It is that time of the year again - denizens across the galaxy get ready to celebrate Life Day! Special Missions like “A Special Snowflake”, “Parcel Droid”, and “Could Use a Good Hug” are available during this limited time. Throwing snowballs and participating in these Missions will earn players Snow-Covered Parcels, redeemable for unique rewards. Get out there, throw some snowballs, hug some Wookiees, and most importantly, have fun! Note: this will be the same iteration as 2020, so there will be no new Missions, Achievements, or rewards.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Sleigh I and J0-1Y Mounts
  
• Wampa Rug, Snow Blower, and Freezer Unit Stronghold Decorations
  
• Red, Blue, Pink, Green-Gold and more Holo-Trees
  
• Several Character titles
  
• … and more!
  

Ten Year Anniversary Date: December 14th, 2021 - January, 2023 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Levels 10+

We are happy to celebrate out 10th anniversary on December 20th! With this being a huge milestone, we are going to celebrate the anniversary all year long! To mark this occasion, a special “Anniversary Personnel” vendor can be found on the fleet with new Class Ship Stronghold Decorations. All previous anniversary rewards will also be available during this limited time as well. Alongside this, both the Coruscant and Dromund Kaas Strongholds will be available for only ten credits each! Note: the new items that are planned for this event won't be added until the launch of 'Legacy of the Sith' in February 2022.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Faction-based fireworks
  
• Commemorative Statues of HK-51, Valkorian, and Malgus
  
• Senya Holo-statue
  
• Fireworks Celebratory Backpack
  
• Several Stronghold Decoration posters
  
• Class Ship Stronghold Decorations
  
• … and more!
  

Feast of Prosperity Date: January 11 - February 1, 2022 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 20+

Over the years, the Hutt Cartel’s reputation has taken a hit. The once powerful organization no longer instills respect and fear. To restore the Cartel’s influence, two up-and-coming Hutts, Gaboorga the Abundant and Duuba the Magnanimous, are throwing the most lavish “charitable banquet” in history for the galaxy’s underprivileged. And if the Cartel happens to advance their business interests during the Feast, everyone wins!

If Gaboorga and Duuba can cooperate, they could rocket the Cartel back into the upper echelons of the galactic underworld. But the Hutts’ conflicting priorities means they’re constantly undermining each other. Each week a new Story Mission will unlock to progress this storyline, leading to the climatic choice during the third and final week: Gaboorga or Duuba? Only one Hutt can win, and the fate of the Feast of Prosperity is at stake. Choose wisely!

For players that participated in the event when it previously ran, you'll be able to immediately jump into the Daily Missions and mini-games! If this will be your first time experiencing the event, each week a Story Mission will unlock - progressing the conflict between Gaboorga and Duuba.

FEATURED REWARDS:

• NEW Feast Trader's Armor Set
  
• NEW Roast Scyk Belly and Feast of Prosperity Poster decorations
  
• Feast Attire and Feast Preparation Hat
  
• Feast Ingredient Transport Mount
  
• Hairless Mudhorn and Earthen Thurrb Mini-pets
  
• Feel the Groove and Toast emotes
  
• Overstuffed Backpack and Food Launcher Toys
  
• ... and more!
  

The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally
Date: January 11 - January 18, 2022 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Levels 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!
  

Rakghoul Resurgence on Tatooine Date: January 25 - February 1, 2022 (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Levels 25+

The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralization (T.H.O.R.N.) has issued an official level-2 emergency alert concerning an outbreak of the Rakghoul plague on Tatooine. Quarantines have been put in place to restrict traffic of the plague off-world, but exceptions will be made for individuals with priority clearance.

T.H.O.R.N. is recruiting qualified volunteer emergency responders to travel to affected areas to combat the spread of the Rakghoul plague. More information about the outbreak can be found by checking the News Terminals on the Republic or Imperial Fleet!

T.H.O.R.N. wishes to remind you that plague symptoms can be treated if they are identified in the early stages of infection. Whether or not you have travel plans, please consult your nearest trusted medical supply droid and get vaccinated!

FEATURED REWARDS:

• Reputation with THORN
  
• Merciless Seeker’s Armor Set
  
• THORN Epicenter and Dark Vector Armor Sets
  
• Outbreak Response Weapons
  
• Alliance Contact - Doctor Lokin
  
• Infected Varactyl and Infected Dewback Mounts
  
• Ferocious Rakghoul Mini-pets
  
• …and more!
  

Today marks an incredible milestone for Star Wars: The Old Republic, our 10 year anniversary! Our amazing journey up until this point is one many of you have taken with us, and we’re honored to have shared all these years of Star Wars adventures with all of you.

We launched on December 20, 2011 - a decade doesn’t seem all that long, but in that time, we’ve delivered nearly 300 patches and are about to release our 8th expansion. And in that same time span, my family grew a lot, including 5 grandkids, 4 dogs, and two cats.

Moreover, I’m very proud of the SWTOR team, as we’ve been together for many years, and a great number of us have been working on this game since before launch. In fact, many people on my development team are long term veterans, and we all love this game, enjoy the camaraderie, the history together, and creating a game y’all enjoy every day.

It is rewarding to lead a group of talented people who have accomplished so much over the years, and though there have been hurdles such as adapting to the pandemic, my team has overcome them, and they continue to strive in building a great Star Wars game.

Over the last decade, many memories have been made both through the game and with our in-person events. These have always been key with connecting to our players. I mentioned in our last livestream how much I missed seeing everyone in person. So safety and event regulations permitting, we are laying down the groundwork to have our first Cantina in almost two years at SW Celebration in May 2022! As always, we will share more details when we have them.

In our previous livestreams, we’ve given players a look into where Legacy of Sith will take them including some new characters who will be joining their adventures. We’ve also talked about how our 10th anniversary is going to be celebrated year long! Here is a whole variety of activities currently running both in and out of game from December 2021 through January 2022:

• SWTOR anniversary gun charm in Apex Legends - Available through February 15, 2022
  
• Star Wars Insider January (#207) Issue - Special Edition Darth Malgus cover (now on shelves!)
  
• Life Day is running from December 14, 2021 to January 11, 2022
  
• Our annual Anniversary event is running for an entire year! From December 14, 2021 to January 2023
  
  • The anniversary vendor has all existing rewards and new rewards will be added starting in 7.0!
    
  • Our Double XP event starts today and will run to January 4, 2022
• Cartel Market sales are starting today!
  
  • From December 20, 2021 to January 3, 2022
    
    • Seasonal items will be available
      
    • 75% off all Collection Unlocks
  • From December 20, 2021 to December 27, 2021
    
    • 50% off all Armor Sets
      
    • 50% off Character Slots
  • From December 27, 2021 to January 3, 2022
    
    • 50% off all Mounts and Stronghold Decorations
• Feast of Prosperity will run from January 11, 2022 to February 1, 2022
  

All of this leads me to giving you some insight into what’s going to happen after 7.0 launches. Legacy of the Sith is laying the groundwork for some exciting updates that will be made throughout the next year and beyond. While exact details are still under wraps, we do have a clear vision for the next few years and I’d like to share what our key focuses will be. They fall into two categories: Content and Modernization.

Content

Hot on the heels of 7.0, we’ll have another update with the R-4 Anomaly Operation and a new daily area set in an all-new section of Manaan. Beyond that, your character's personal saga will continue in an epic storyline extending through multiple patches in 2022 and beyond. After the dramatic conclusion of 7.0 on Elom, you’ll continue to unravel the mysteries of Darth Nul, join the erupting civil war among the Mandalorian clans, and discover the true objective Darth Malgus is pursuing. All the while working alongside old friends like Kira, Scourge, Akaavi, and Torian, as well as some new faces you’ll meet for the first time in 7.0. You’ll also explore new locations (some are new to SWTOR, others are entirely new creations!) and perhaps even gain an opportunity to return to where your character’s journey first began so long ago…

As always, you can expect all of this to unfold across a variety of content types: single player, multiplayer, Flashpoints, Operations, Daily Areas, and more. New progression gear will become available throughout the year starting with the R-4 Anomaly Operation, and as we add gear progression after 7.1, we’ll also ensure that previously available gear will become more accessible to players.

We also have some exciting updates coming to PvP after 7.0 that we’re looking forward to sharing with you after launch!

Modernization

As many of you have already seen on PTS, a huge part of the team’s work in 7.0 focused on modernizing many aspects of the game. A totally revamped Character Creation experience, new character sheet, great new features like Loadouts and Weapons in Outfitter, and of course the dramatically expanded gameplay options offered through Combat Styles.



At 7.0: Advance Classes now known as Combat Styles. Class now known as Origin Story.



We’re going to continue updating UI elements throughout the game next year - in some cases, these will primarily be visual updates to make our style more cohesive and ensure proper scaling on high resolution screens, but we also look forward to improving accessibility and the everyday user experience in other parts of the game as we did with Loadouts in 7.0.

We’re also eager to upgrade our visuals elsewhere in SWTOR: starting with Tython, Korriban, Hutta, and Ord Mantell, we’ll be starting a process of upgrading the visual fidelity of our planets to bring them more in line with the amazing work the team has created in recent years.

As you can see we have such an exciting future ahead and we will be sharing more details with all of you especially after 7.0 launches early next year, so expect to hear from me again! Ten years is a milestone we are so proud of and we are so thankful that you continue to join us on this adventure. To each and every one of you, happy 10th anniversary, we wish you a year full of much love, health, and lots of gaming!

-Keith Kanneg and the SWTOR Team

During this holiday season there will be several batches of broad sales on the Cartel Market.

From December 20, 2021 to December 27, 2021

• 50% off all Armor Sets
  
• 50% off Character Slots
  

From December 20, 2021 to January 3, 2022

• Seasonal items will be available
  
• 75% off all Collection Unlocks
  

From December 27, 2021 to January 3, 2022

• 50% off all Mounts
  
• 50% off all Stronghold Decorations
  

Log now to start to take advantage of these incredible offers!

Thank you to all the players who have been providing feedback on our previous phase of PTS featuring Loadouts, the newly updated Character Creation flow, and the Gunslinger, Commando, and Shadow Combat Styles.

Earlier this week we opened PTS up again and this time around, we are happy to announce the return of PTS rewards! During the holidays, you will be able to earn PTS rewards by completing the following tasks:

• Log into PTS
  
  • New “Led the Charge” Title
• Complete the Class Story on any class
  
  • “First Line of Defense” Title
• Complete all expansion Story content
  
  • “The Cutting Edge” Title
• Reach item rating 322 with one of your characters and complete the PvP, Heroic, and Flashpoint Weekly Missions
  
  • “Strike Team Specialist” Title, “Strike Team Commander” Title, and Kai Zykken’s MK-85 Log Mount
• Complete all the above
  
  • New “Strike Team Hero” Title and New Kai Zykken’s MK-90 Holo-Log Mount

*All rewards will be distributed with the launch of Legacy of the Sith.
*To further celebrate our anniversary, we are bringing back The First Line of Defense and The Cutting Edge Titles which have not been available since PTS near Star Wars: The Old Republic’s launch.

While players are logging into PTS to earn that new title, they will also notice a couple more systems have been added to be tested. Most notably:

Galactic Seasons 2!

• Activity Finder rotation
  
• Flashpoint and Operation availability
  
  • Read our forum post for further details on the above and how to access PTS.
    

(Work-in-progress image of the new Holo-Log Mount.)


We reached out to Kai Zykken, noted interplanetary adventurer/entrepreneur, for a description of the MK-90 Holo-Log Mount:

“Well, so many people came to me after we released the old MK-85 Log Mount, and said ‘Wow! So impressive and ingenious!’ and I said ‘Of course, I’m the one who made it!'

But everyone knows Kai Zykken doesn’t settle for perfection. So I scoured the galaxy for a new breed of log: a log that would be sleeker and faster; a log that wouldn’t give you splinters every time you sat on it or grow mold in the rain; a log that was constantly glowing so that no one could possibly look at anything but me... I mean, you, as you ride by!

I never found that log, but I did find a state-of-the-art shipment of holoprojectors!** Mix in a secondhand swoop engine and a few dabs of Corellian industrial adhesive and boom, the MK-90 Holo-Log Mount was born!”


*Kai Zykken may not have actually made any components in the original MK-85 Log Mount.
**Any similarity between the holoprojectors used in the MK-90 Holo-log Mount and those reported stolen from a storage facility on Carrick Station are coincidental until proven otherwise in a court of law.

• Life Day Celebration - Life Day is back from December 14, 2021 to January 11, 2022! Throw snowballs and complete Conquest Objectives and Achievements to earn festive rewards!
  
• Ten-Year Anniversary
  • Celebrate our Ten-Year Anniversary with us! To kick-off this year of celebration, the “Anniversary Personnel” Vendor is available on the Fleet from December 14, 2021 until January 2023. Their inventory will be updated throughout the whole year, beginning with new planned rewards and contest-winning decorations with the launch of ‘Legacy of the Sith’ in February 2022.
    
  • Both Dromund Kaas and Coruscant Strongholds have received their annual discount, and can be purchased for only ten credits until the launch of ‘Legacy of the Sith’ expansion!
    
  • Added Renown Boosts to the Anniversary Personnel Vendor’s inventory.
    
• Double XP - Starting December 20, 2021 and lasting until January 4, 2022, enjoy two weeks full of Double XP, Valor, and Renown.
  
• Feast of Prosperity - The Feast of Prosperity event will be back from January 11, 2022 until February 1, 2022! Help Gaboorga the Abundant and Duuba the Magnanimous restore the Cartel’s influence during the 3 weeks of the event.
  
• Conquest - Prepare for Total War as tensions between the Empire and Republic increase leading into ‘Legacy of the Sith’! Total War Conquest will run for Conquest weeks beginning December 21st, January 4th, and January 18th.