STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

Our 10-year anniversary is only a few months away! For such a momentous occasion, we wanted to do something special to celebrate with our players.

Every year around the launch anniversary for Star Wars: The Old Republic, we have an in-game anniversary event to celebrate. To commemorate the occasion, we add new rewards to a vendor that only appears during the event. As this upcoming anniversary is our 10-year celebration, we want to do something memorable: this year, players can help choose some of the rewards we add to the celebration!

Starting today, players can submit screenshots taken anywhere on ten select SWTOR planets. Take a screenshot of a scenic vista, a vibrant forest, a peaceful stream… and we’ll choose the screenshot that we feel captures the essence of that planet. One winner will be chosen per planet for a total of ten winning submissions.

The winning submissions will then be turned into Stronghold decorations and distributed by the 10-year Anniversary event vendor in-game! The ten eligible planets for this contest are:

• Hutta
  
• Korriban
  
• Ord Mantell
  
• Tython
  
• Tatooine
  
• Makeb
  
• Yavin 4
  
• Zakuul
  
• Ossus
  
• Mek-Sha
  

Since this is an event celebrating ten years of SWTOR, the team wanted to include planets that represent every era of the game’s history.



How to Enter

If you’re interested in participating in this contest, you can enter by submitting your screenshots to [email protected]. You’re more than welcome to submit a screenshot for multiple planets, but please limit all submissions to only one planet per email, and please only submit one image per planet. All image submissions must follow certain guidelines:

• No Player Characters in screenshot (NPCs are allowed).
  
• The in-game UI needs to be turned off. The default command for this is Alt+Z. This includes having nameplates turned off.
  
• Screenshots of cinematics do NOT qualify.
  
• No additional editing done to screenshots. For example, no filters added or editing done by external tools.
  
• Camera settings must be within intended in-game parameters. This means not using external tools or editing game files to exceed in-game settings.
  
• Graphics settings at Very High or Ultra
  
• Image Size: 1920x1080. The team will crop the chosen screenshots to a 4:3 format.
  
• Image Format: JPG
  

In addition to those image requirements, we ask that your email include the following information:

• Subject line clearly states the name of the contest and the specific planet where your screenshot submission was taken. Example: "The Best View In SWTOR Contest - Tatooine Submission".
  
• Account Name.
  
• Name of an existing character on the listed account.
  
• Server the listed character resides on.
  

Rules and Regulations

Players have from now until 11:59pm CDT on October 5th, 2021 to submit their screenshots! In addition to the above mentioned criteria and required information, there are a few additional rules players must follow in order for their submission to qualify:

• Qualifying accounts must have been created by August 31st, 2021.
  
• Accounts need to have a clean standing, both in-game and on the forum. No record of in-game suspension since September 1st, 2020 and no forum suspensions since June 1st, 2021.
  
• Character names must abide by our ToS rules.
  
• Screenshot submissions without the required information (Account name, Character name, and Server name) provided in the same email as the screenshot will be rejected.
  
• Each account is limited to one submission per planet. If you want to submit a screenshot for each eligible planet, please send a separate submission per planet.
  
• Submission emails that have more than one image attached will be disqualified.
  
• Email subject lines must follow the “The Best View In SWTOR Contest - [insert planet name] Submission” format.
  

Failure to adhere to the above guidelines will result in your submission being rejected. In the event that several people submit the same, or very similar, screenshots, the screenshot submitted first will be selected as the winner, so don’t wait to email us!

Results Announcement

After the SWTOR team selects the winning submissions, we’ll publish an article announcing the winners before our upcoming ‘Legacy of the Sith’ expansion launches. In this announcement, we’ll reveal the winning screenshots, and credit each player (Character Name / Server) who submitted a winning screenshot.

While the winners are credited outside of the game, they will receive something special in SWTOR; a gilded version of the screenshot they submitted! While the normal versions will be available to everyone via the 10-year Anniversary event vendor as soon as the event starts in December, the gilded versions will be distributed shortly after the event starts.

We look forward to seeing what screenshots the community comes up with!


A full breakdown of the official contest rules can be found in this article on our main website.

Following the Jedi Guardian, Jedi Sentinel, Sniper, and Operative, we are now in our fourth round of Combat Styles updates. Players can now test and give initial feedback on the updated Sorcerer and Assassin Combat Styles on our Public Test Server (PTS). Before we get into the details of how players can access this content, we wanted to share some of the philosophy behind our changes to the Sith Inquisitor.



In the Sith Inquisitor’s current state, there is quite a bit to learn and memorize--you need to understand active abilities, passive modifiers, selectable utilities, and how they all work together. Our goal is to make these relationships clearer and easier to understand, while also ensuring that the class retains its identity.

To achieve these goals, we are identifying key aspects of the Sorcerer and Assassin, and understanding how players both perceive and utilize the classes’ abilities. Our focus is to equip the player with knowledge and understanding of these abilities so they can make impactful choices when it comes to ability upgrades and customizations. To make the Sorcerer and Assassin feel less encumbered and customization more concise, we are working to reduce the quantity of abilities but ensuring that these classes remain distinct and unique.

As this round is a high-level first look at the Sorcerer and Assassin, you will be limited on what will be available to play and customize. For more details on what is currently available on PTS, check out our Legacy of the Sith Status Update forum post.

For each class, the main questions we want players to focus on is “does this feel like a Sorcerer and Assassin?" and “what abilities make this class unique?” We want to make sure that the foundation is strong and everything we build on top of that is in line with our goals for Combat Styles and giving players a sense of new but familiar.

For details on how to access PTS and to leave feedback, read here.

Other updates will also be available to test on the PTS in the following weeks, all leading up to the arrival of Legacy of the Sith. Stay tuned for more in-depth details on future PTS opportunities!

Please note that PTS is provided in English only.

Steam PTS
When PTS is available, there will be a new prompt on our storefront page. Clicking the link there will start the process to getting the PTS installed!

• Kai Zykken, the Merchant of Mystery, is now available all days of the week to sell Unique Items to players.
  
• The following Izax and Dxun decorations are now tradeable:
  
  • Commemorative Statue of Red the Pack Leader
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Predator Droid
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Mutant Trandoshans
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Kronissus
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Hissyphus
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Titax
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Greus
    
  • Commemorative Statue of The Huntmaster
    
  • Apex Vanguard Statue
    
  • Commemorative Statue of Izax, the Destroyer
• The following Objectives are now correctly progressing:
  
  • Crafting: Inventor
    
  • Crafting: Inventor 2
• The descriptions in the PvP tabs of the Activity Finder window are no longer missing.
  
• It is no longer possible to edit the descriptions of the Activities in the Activity Finder window.
  
• The “True Apex Predator” Title has been temporarily changed to the “Apex Predator” Title to fix it appearing as blank. The correct title will be restored in a future update.
  
• Bosses are no longer only dropping crafting materials for low-level characters (56-60) in the following Flashpoint - Story Mode:
  
  • Maelstrom Prison
    
  • Assault on Tython
    
  • The Black Talon
• Fixed the following issues on harvesting nodes:
  
  • Players now correctly receive their loot after harvesting a node while in a group.
    
  • Harvesting nodes now correctly appear as fully looted after being harvested.

The following issue has been previously fixed with a hotfix deployed on September, 1st:

• Items that were already 'Bound by Legacy' are no longer showing a bind timer.

We will be taking the servers offline on 14 September 2021 to deploy Game Update 6.3.2a.

Details:
DATE: 14 September, 2021
TIME: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM CDT (13:00 - 15:00 UTC)
VERSION: 6.3.2a

Patch notes will be available on Monday.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain Star Wars™: The Old Republic™!

Heya SWTOR Community! I’m Bryant Wood, a Systems Designer on Star Wars: The Old Republic. With our 10th anniversary coming up, I wanted to join the fun and offer you a tour of Systems Design along with my love for the best kept secret in gaming.

Systems Design on SWTOR is the connective tissue between the amazing parts of the game. We develop what are known as game loops. You can think of game loops as repeating tours through parts of the game; like a Daily Area, your Weekly Conquest, or the path to item rating 306. These loops allow players to create and complete goals, engage and interact with other members of the community, and experience the cool things the team has made! The Systems team works to ensure invested effort and time surrounding the player experience are appropriately balanced.

A key component of these loops are goals. When you log into SWTOR, there is something that players are hoping to accomplish. For some players it’s to experience an epic story, with them at the center. Others want to flex their creative muscles in decorating. Or they might want to show your skill against other players, testing how well you can compete. All of these are great player goals, and we try to accommodate as many goals as possible when making systems.

To help with this process we often look at 3 kinds of goals; short, medium, and long term. Short term goals are things that will give players an immediate reward. They might be as quick as killing an enemy and getting a nice item or they may take you a few days. Either way, short term goals allow you to always have an accomplishment around the corner. Medium term goals give players something on the horizon, something that can be finished next week. These require commitment but bring a bigger sense of accomplishment. Long term goals are why you’ll be playing all month. They allow players to really invest in their character, hopefully for a reward they can be proud of!



Using Galactic Seasons as an example, short term goals are driven by Priority Objectives, medium term goals are driven by Weekly POs and the ability to see your next few levels, and long term goals are driven by Level 100, the rewards surrounding it, and the Galactic Seasons Token Vendor. By using all 3 goal types, we can create experiences that players find fun and engaging for years to come.

A goal without a plan is just a wish, so how do we make sure players aren’t just dreamers? We use systems to guide their journey! Any goal we present should be visible and accessible, like a path through the forest. Let’s look at a current existing feature in SWTOR that we would like to improve in the future as an example of this journey philosophy. We have a large catalog of great looking items, but do you know where to get them all? If my goal is to get a specific decoration, how do I go about doing that?

One step of the plan is to look at the Source on the item, which can be found in the description on its tooltip. The Source briefly tells you where the item comes from which is great, but there could be more details provided. Players could be asking the following questions: What mode do I play on? Does it come only from a certain boss? Do I have to do something special to get it? We don’t want to answer all the questions (solving puzzles can be fun!) but we never want to leave a player without the information they need. As SWTOR grows we want to turn our collection of items into a collection of achievable goals for our players, with solid paths on how to complete them.

When working towards a goal we want to do things that progress us the furthest. This collection of the best things to do is something we call the optimal path. This can bring players through various parts of a game and show off fresh and exciting content. It can also tell a player to do one activity over and over again. On the Systems team we review these optimal paths and work to adjust them to reduce negative player experiences such as boredom or burnout. We always want players to experience the fun of SWTOR without having to choose between fun and making good progress toward their goals.This is why examining optimal paths is essential. We can use these paths to guide players into different content and this level of player experience touches on one of our philosophies for our 10th anniversary. SWTOR has released a lot of content in its life and we want to encourage players to experience the full breadth of the game without taking them away from parts they love most.

In full celebration of our 10th anniversary I’d like to step away from my role as a System Designer and speak as a Game Developer. I want to let you in on an industry secret, the best part of making games.

It’s you. Seriously.

Working in a creative medium like games, I believe game developers put a piece of our souls into our work. Players then take these souls and breathe their own life into it through play, transforming the game into something entirely different. There’s no better feeling than seeing the amazing things players create using our designs. The excitement when we announce a new expansion. The effort you put in to clear new content or achieve new rewards. The expression on your faces when you can’t believe we did that. These reactions are my goals being achieved and make the work even better than I could imagine.

You, the player, put the true life into SWTOR and make the game what it is and that motivates me to improve and build better systems for you to enjoy. I look forward to creating more memories with you all and experiencing the world of SWTOR!



- Bryant