I know there have been a lot of questions around the forums about what kind of content you can expect from Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2014. Im here today to give you all a bit of information about what were working on! As always, these dates are subject to change, but I will give you our best estimate based on what the teams are shooting for as of right now.
We cant wait for you to see what we have in store for you, but first Id like to take a moment to give the teams working on The Old Republic a giant hug. In 2013, the team fulfilled the promise of delivering Game Updates every 8 weeks, and introduced an enormous amount of amazing quality gameplay content and new features. Star Wars: The Old Republic has really grown and changed over the last year - veterans that have been with us since launch know what I mean.
Lets talk about some of the things coming next:
February 4th: Game Update 2.6 Galactic Starfighter Digital Expansion, Free-to-Play Launch
Galactic Starfighter is now available to Free-to-Play players
SIX new Galactic Starfighter ships featuring a new ship role, the Bomber - tough support ships that deploy mines and drones on the battlefield. They can even place Hyperspace Beacons which function as mobile respawn points for their allies!
This update also introduces Galactic Starfighter Detailed Scoreboards with loads of new post-match information about your battle performance
Your personal Galactic Starfighter Battle Record with detailed lifetime battle stats, and the ability to link each stat to chat
Kuat Drive Yards is a vital starship construction site that is of interest to both factions, and forms the setting for a new modular type of flashpoint that contains different scenarios each time you play it. Kuat Drive Yards Tactical Flashpoint scales in difficulty with your level and is available to players starting at level 15
March 14th March 17th: Double XP weekend!April 8th: Game Update 2.7
Two new Flashpoints on Tython and Korriban where the Empire and Republic confront each other directly, initiating a new storyline that will span updates across the entire year until its galaxy-shaking finale
Nightmare Mode Dread Fortress Operation and a new tier of gear
New Huttball Warzone on Quesh
New Galactic Starfighter Battle Zone
June 10th: Game Update 2.8
Nightmare Mode Dread Palace Operation
New ships and an entirely new Ship Role for Galactic Starfighter
And much more this is going to be the biggest update up to this point - we will reveal more once we are a bit closer to June
Theres a lot of stuff being worked on! The team that brought you 2013 is still here and working hard to bring you another action packed year. As I write this we are actively developing all of the above as well as PvP Seasons, new Flashpoints, new Operations, new gear, performance improvements, and changes coming to Classes. Expect to see two digital expansions in 2014 just like you did last year, with one similar to Galactic Starfighter in scope and one more closely resembling Rise of the Hutt Cartel. We reserve the right to adjust our plans based on bad reasons like Snow Days in Austin(!) or good reasons like your feedback, but our current plan is to deliver all of the above to you in 2014.
There is one change to our development cadence I would like to share: In order to increase our testing time before Game Updates, we are going to move to a 3 week cycle between minor patches, instead of two weeks. While this does mean we are moving to a 9 week cadence for the major content updates, we feel the benefit of catching pesky bugs and improving quality is worth it and we remain committed to hitting our deadlines for all of our major content updates this year.
As we get closer, well have a lot more juicy details on these new features - keep your eyes glued to the forums and SWTOR.com for more information. Also join us at our Community Cantina Tours as they continue this year; we have a lot of new cities on the list and we look forward to chatting with you about what youd like to see next.
We are excited for 2014 and hope you are as well! Thanks again for your incredible support over the past year!
Bruce Maclean Senior Producer
-- Edited by Martijn on Tuesday 4th of February 2014 06:57:20 PM
