Georg Zoeller shared an exciting new blog post that gave players a sneak peak at some economy changes coming our way in the near future. In a particularly awesome touch it was presented to us in a nice little story fashion, making it the first blog post that was full of a little lore flair (keep it up Georg!).

According to the post we should be seeing a decrease in the speeder prices of certain high end models, as well as the ability to sell back speeders they already purchased. It also looks like the tier 1 and 2 speeder licenses are going to be reduced in price, though the tier 3 speeders may be seeing an increase in price to offset these discounts. Make sure to keep an eye on all the speeder vendors once 1.1.5 drops to check out all the changes.

It also looks like players can expect to see a bunch of new color crystals coming to the fleet for them to purchase. These will including purple crystals for the Republic players, high level black-yellow crystals at the pre-order crystal vendor, and some of the rare white crystals everyone has been talking about since a player was able to obtain one through an exploit (the player had his crystal taken away once it was determined that he gained it through illegitimate means). No word yet on the pricing of these crystals, but don’t be surprised if some of the rarer crystals set you back a large amount of credits.

Head on over to the SWTOR site and read the full post in all its story-based glory for the full rundown.

Tags: crystals, dev blog, economy, Speeders

I rolled out on one of those many servers that have a vast faction imbalance in favor of the Imperials.

I knew well before launch day that the Imp’s would be the most played side in SWTOR. Though I had not gained Level 50 in beta, I was unsure how this would affect the end-game content by way of PvP.

Sure, I don’t mind playing the underdogs, but where Ilum is concerned two or three versus one in favor of the Empire makes for some fun battles and tactics. Everything else in that zone just does not stand up to what the rest of the game has to offer.

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((The RP XP with MJ #28))

Yulel came awake after a short dream about floating on a cloud. It was then she realized she’d been moved, chair and all. She was still on Mannett Point but in a different room of the separatist base. A gruff-sounding man shouted, “And you…. You can untie her once we leave.”

A weak female voice responded, “Yes, master.”

Master?

The smuggler forced herself to remain calm. She held her breath and listened as the man left the room. Once he was gone, Yulel flinched at the sudden touch of gentle fingers around her head as the female who spoke removed her blindfold.

When she felt the cloth float away, Yulel gradually opened her eyes to a squint. The separatists had moved her to a small dark room made of bars with an electromagnetic lock. The cell was in a larger room filled with crates and supply canisters all marked for orbital transport.

Joining her in the room were several female Twi’leks, all of them bruised and dressed in tatters of former street clothes or uniforms, all huddled together in a corner. The one who removed Yulel’s blindfold and was now working on the knot at her ankles was dressed as a dancing girl. “Wait,” she said. The girl stopped working on the bonds and looked up at her. The young Twi’lek’s skin was the color of a clear winter sky, her eyes a brilliant green that should have been filled with the wonder of youth. Instead they looked dull and sullen.

Yulel spoke softly with a slight tremble in her throat. “W-What are they doing with us?”

Continue Reading »

Tags: character, Roleplay, roleplaying, RP, RP XP with MJ

Do you want to help BioWare test out new and upcoming content? Do you want to be one of the first people to see what is in store for the SWTOR world? Well now you have your chance.

BioWare is looking to expand its testing and is looking for experienced players in Austin, Texas to help them test upcoming game content. This includes new Flashpoints, PvP Warzones, and end game Operations. Players will be expected to dedicate at least one weekend an month to testing new content. As an added bonus, this is a fully paid position. That’s right, you can get paid for testing new SWTOR content! If you are interested then fill out and submit this survey.

Don’t live in Austin and still want to help out? Well you are in luck. BioWare is also looking to get teams of players from various guilds to help them test the new content we will be seeing in the 1.2 game update. This includes the new Warzone, Flashpoint, and Operation that will be included with the patch. Guilds will need to put together a group consisting of anywhere between 8 and 20 players that will be willing to put their live games aside for a while to test new content on the Public Test Server. You can read all the details and requirements in this blog post. Space is limited, so if you are interested get those applications in soon!

Tags: 1.2operations, Austin, Flashpoints, guilds, testing, warzones

We are going to take a break from our regularly scheduled activities this week on TOR Lore and forgo the explanation of a facet of Star Wars lore. Instead we are going to looking at a single individual, one of the most influential people to exist at the time of The Old Republic, the Sith Emperor.  This article will contain heavy spoilers for both TOR and some of the novels associated with the game, so if you wish to keep these things a secret I suggest you turn back now. Otherwise I welcome you to join me as we examine the life and exploits of one of the most influential figures of this time. Continue Reading »

Tags: Dromund Kaas, Emperor, Empire, lore, sith

Today marks the much anticipated day where The Old Republic officially brought servers online for the Oceanic regions. Though players in those areas could play during the US/EU launch they were forced to log onto servers located across the globe, forcing them to deal with all the latency problems one would expect from not having servers devoted specifically to their region. Now these players will finally get a chance to play SWTOR on localized servers. Three servers have opened up for these players; the Dalborra, the Gav Daragon, and the Master Dar’Nala, each being a PvE, RP, and PvP server respectively.

However there is some bittersweet news to go along with this story as well. Players have been told that they will be able to transfer their current characters to the Oceanic servers, as long as they meet a list of requirements that qualifies them for the transfer. But it turns out they will not be able to do so until sometime in late April, and any characters made on or after this day will not be transferred. Also, full guild transfers will not be possible,  forcing guilds to basically start from the ground up on these new servers. This is forcing players to choose between what they consider more important right now; playing their high level characters on their current server, or starting fresh on localized servers. To make matters worse some players are reporting a might higher latency rate on these new servers, making the decision to start over even more difficult.

despite these issues it is still a great day for players in the Asia Pacific Territories. BioWare has set up a handy FAQ thread for these servers to help answer any questions players might have. We here at SWTOR-Life and SWTOR-Spy would like to extend a warm welcome any new players from that region into the game, hopefully your Star Wars experience is a great one!

Tags: asia pacific, Character Transfer, launch, oceanic, servers

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means, time for some SWTOR server downtime. BioWare will be performing their weekly maintenance starting at  2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET) on the 28th and hope to be done by 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET) of the same day. As usual they cannot guarantee that the servers will be back up by then, but there is also the chance that they will be back up before that.

No word on anything specific that will be patched this week but there is a good chance that most or all of the recent changes implemented on the Public Test Server will be included. If the maintenance start time is changed for any reason we will update this post with the new information.

Tags: maintenance, public test server, server, weekly maintenance

It’s Friday and that means it is time for one of my favorite new things BioWare is doing these days, Community Q&A. They managed to go over 10 questions again this week, another trend I would like to see continued, and answered a range of questions from implementing a LFG tool, improving end game usefulness of crafting skills, and even touched briefly on the chance the players will be able to customize their current ships or get new ones. (Hint: Don’t expect it anytime soon.)

You can find all the questions answered this week after the jump. If you have a question you would like to ask the development team post it over at the official forums in this weeks Official Q&A Thread. Continue Reading »

Tags: community Q&A, companions, crafting, mini games, player ships

((The RP XP with MJ #27))

“How much further?” Jenla sneered as she stepped over a clump of something that could have been random Huttmuck or chemlizard scat.

Neither the Mandalorian nor his sister turned back, so Jenla trudged on in silence and tried to keep up.

Margis whispered to her brother, “Your mate is somethin’ of a complainer. I woulda thought the Empire raised less squeamish lieutenants.”

Boarsch raised his chin and squinted past his sister. “She’s a good officer, Margis. She’s smart and dedicated. Leave her alone already.”

Margis shrugged and gave up on the taunting. The Chiss Imp wasn’t really worth her time. Besides, they had reached the edge of the reservoir. “Here’s what I wanted you to see, Boar.”

Boarsch and Jenla stood on either of Margis and looked out at the stagnant rust-colored lake.

“What are we looking at?” The agent asked.

Margis looked up at her brother. “This is my village’s water supply.”

As Jenla wrinkled her nose in disgust, Boarsch said, “You drink this?”

Margis nodded solemnly. “Almost as-is. The water purifiers gave out some time ago.”

Jenla said, “You could die drinking this slime.” That’s when Margis finally turned to acknowledge her.

A tear formed in the hardened Hutta woman’s eye. “The doctor in our village says I have about two months to live.”

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Tags: Roleplay, roleplaying, RP, RP XP with MJ

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” While the validity of this statement is questionable (you don’t often see people deflecting lightsaber strikes with blaster bolts), the truth remains that blasters are still pretty awesome. Ranging from the traditional blaster pistol to the massive blaster cannons found on starships, blasters are easily the most common weapon one can find in the Star Wars universe.  Held by everyone from the common farmer to smugglers to bounty hunters, blasters of all shapes and sizes are extremely deadly in the right hands. Today we will take a quick look at the history behind these weapons, and learn a little bit about what makes them work. Continue Reading »

Tags: blasters, ion blaster, lasers, lore, starships