STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

The in-game events schedule has been updated! September will feature the Pirate Incursion event! Be sure to check out our new calendar to stay up to date on these events!



Date: September 5 - September 12 (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!
  

We will be taking the servers offline on August 30th to migrate the Darth Malgus and Tulak Hord servers over to the cloud.

Details:
DATE: August 30th
TIME: 7:00am CT / 12:00pm UTC
It is important to note that when we do the migration, we will have to bring all the servers down.

Players should expect the following:

• The Satele Shan, Star Forge, and Leviathan servers will be down for approximately 1 hour before they are brought back online.
  
• Darth Malgus and Tulak Hord will be down for approximately 6 hours.
  

Click here for more info!

With Game Update 7.3.1, players can expect the launch of Galactic Season 5, UI/UX updates for our HUD and world maps, and special weapons and armor sets coming to the Cartel Market. Below is a brief overview of the features coming with this update. More details will be provided at a later time.

Galactic Seasons: Season 5, “Confidence in Power”

The new Galactic Season will begin with the launch of 7.3.1, so players will be able to immediately progress through the new reward track. Season 5 introduces a new way to engage with the story told in Galactic Seasons. Rather than tying narrative progression to companion influence, story progression is now part of the Galactic Seasons rewards track. Players will unlock new story missions as they progress through the reward track, with the final mission granted at Season Level 40. Additionally, instead of receiving a new companion, players will interact with several new characters, like an oddly enthusiastic astromech named 3V-1L, while making dialogue choices that affect gameplay. Under the command of a mysterious Master, 3V-1L will test the player through a series of trials, to see if they are worthy of the Master’s teachings of the “dark side”. Whether this is a prank or a serious threat, the player must decide how deeply they will commit to these “dark” trials to uncover the truth.

We are also adding new objectives that will involve companions being set to specific roles, Space Missions, and Operations. There are more objectives available for players who are Subscribers or have Preferred accounts. More details will be shared at a later time!


(3V-1L pictured above)

Mapping improvements

Players will see UI/UX improvements to our HUD and World Maps. Most notably, we’ve improved the quick travel (QT) flow to be more informative. The QT Ability will no longer open a separate travel map but the world map instead and it will display the QT points next to your mission objectives. These icons will also be present on the HUD Overlay Map and the Minimap.


There are a number of other UI/UX improvements that were made and they will be covered when we publish the 7.3.1 patch notes!

Additionally, we will be adding a host of exciting new offerings to the Cartel Market! Keep an eye out for more details in an upcoming Cartel Market article.

Game Update 7.3.1 will be launching late August/early September! More details on the content above and the exact release date will follow in the coming weeks, so stay informed by keeping an eye on our forums and social channels.

Next week, we will be setting up our game servers to be moved over the cloud. This is an initiative we have been testing for months beginning with moving the Public Test Server over to the cloud last year, and testing a new server on AWS in April of this year. We are thrilled to announce the next steps in this journey with our players.

We have been making strides in our efforts to modernize and update the game. Some of the benefits of this particular migration are:

• Backend updates that are crucial to the continued health and stability of the game can be streamlined more efficiently
  
• The resources required to maintain our current systems can be reallocated to focusing on enhancing the game experience
  
• We will be able to leverage and integrate updated tech such as newer hardware and software. Through cloud modernization, we can update numerous tools and automation workflows which will help us maintain the game for long term.
  
• Once finalized, SWTOR may be capable to extend its servers capabilities to reach new players
  

When is this happening?

We want to minimize long term impact on play time, so we will be moving servers over in small batches beginning with a single server first.

We are targeting August 15th to migrate the Leviathan server over to the cloud.

It is important to note that when we do the migration, we will have to bounce all the servers, meaning they will be taken down momentarily but brought back up immediately save for the server(s) moving to the cloud. On August 15th, players should expect the Satele Shan, Darth Malgus, Star Forge, and Tulak Hord servers to bounce; however, Leviathan’s estimated downtime is expected to be 6 hours. Downtime will begin at 7am CT/12pm UTC.

Upon successful completion of the initial migration, we will communicate out the next batch of servers that will be moved over and a timeline of when this will happen. We will follow the same migration process detailed above.

As always, we will communicate additional details, or any timeline changes on our social channels and forums! Be sure to keep an eye on these spaces to stay up to date on everything happening with SWTOR!

The in-game events schedule has been updated! August will feature the Rakghoul Resurgence on Corellia and Relics of Gree! Be sure to check out our new calendar to stay up to date on these events!



Rakghoul Resurgence on Corellia Date: August 8th - August 14th (BEGINS AND ENDS AT 12:00PM GMT)
Requirement: Level 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 Corellia. 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:




Relics of the Gree Date: August 22nd - August 28th (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!