Correspondent report: Community Cantina in Seattle 2014

(Editor’s note: Longtime friend of the show Caligari (@Caligari_MMO) attended the Community Cantina held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seattle, WA on Sunday 31 August 2014. He’s provided this write-up of the Q&A and his other observations of the event. Thanks Caligari! -Teo)

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the second SW:TOR Community Cantina held in Seattle. Last year I recorded the audio of the event for TORWars (and also got to meet Chill and Red), and this year I had the privilege of covering the event for Ootinicast along with @Ben_B55. I guess Chill and Red made a good impression last year. 🙂

This year Eric Musco (Community Manager) returned to Seattle, along with Courtney Woods (Lead Community Coordinator), Jesse Sky (Lead Designer), Cory Butler (Game Producer), and Grant McDaniel (Director of Product Development). There was free food aplenty, and this year instead of giving out a few drink tickets to each attendee, there were two open bars! Let’s just say that I think quite a few folks took advantage of those…

After last year’s surprising reveal of Galactic Starfighter (known then as only “SSSP”), the anticipation of something equally as juicy was on everyone’s mind. Prior to Seattle, BioWare announced in Germany that they would no longer reveal anything big at the community cantinas any more, and unfortunately that held true this time.

Nonetheless, the event was a fun time and it was great to meet so many fans of the game we all love. And let’s not forget the contents of the flashdrive from the event – those screenshots of Rakata Prime were quite stunning (it might not have been as big a reveal as the SSSP, but it did ‘officially’ let us all know we would soon be heading to a planet many have looked forward to seeing).

In typical cantina fashion, Eric and the team answered a few rounds of questions from the audience, as well as giving away some killer swag to trivia contestant winners. Following the end of the ‘official’ Q&A, the team spent the remainder of the evening mingling with the fans and answering more questions as they came up. I wandered around and asked the questions that I could, as well as overhearing quite a few others. You can read all the interesting tidbits below, which I’ve paraphrased the best I can:

Q: When will you be coming out with new operations?

A: They are actively working on new operation(s) but they can’t go into specifics on a release date at this time.

Q: For guilds that concentrate on specific activities like Nightmare Progression OPS, are there any plans to make improvements on the ability to gain conquest points through such activities?

A: Conquests are a new evolving system, so they are looking at ways to improve it, and that is good feedback to hear from the fans. Also keep mind that each week the way you earn conquest points will change, and they will continue to make changes based on player feedback and on how players want to earn points.

Q: What is the best way for player’s to provide feedback to the developers?

A: The community team will take your feedback any way you want to give it, including (but not limited to) posting on the forums, posting on social media, posting on Reddit, or even coming up to Eric and yelling at him. Another way to give feedback is to play the game the way you want to. They review data and trends on player activities, so they can correlate feedback with player data to decide what’s important to work on.

Q: For smaller, tight-knit guilds, are there any plans to offer alternative paths for conquest point gains so they can compete with the larger guilds?

A: They are going to do lots of experimenting this year, so you might see some changes or things that will help smaller guilds. They can’t go into specifics, but they’ve heard the feedback and will see what they can do.

Q: Will we ever see a daily area where objectives are dynamic, like having the quests change on a daily basis?

A: This is something that they talk about a lot internally. They can’t make any promises, but they like the idea.

Q: If story content is going to be introduced into the game (like Forged Alliances), why did they choose to put it in tactical flash points instead of adding a new planetary arc?

A: Some of it is timing and some of it is cost. Some of it is what seems appropriate for the content. They try to maintain a balance, but they’ve done more flash point-oriented content lately, so we should see the other options soon.

Q: What is BioWare doing to address the stability of The Harbinger server?

A: Server stability is something they take very seriously, and they know there’s been some issues over the past few days. They’re looking through the logs to understand what’s going on and what the problems are. They will find a way to fix it, but it may take some time.

Q: Is there any plans to have the public listings for strongholds be available all the time (i.e. even when players are offline)?

A: Probably not.

Q: Will the Chevin event ever return so players who missed it can experience the content?

A: There were some serious problems with the event, so if they can address them, then it might return at some point, but they can’t make any promises.

Q: Has there ever been any talk (even if it’s only on the wall of crazy) about having a tournament server for ranked pvp to take place on?

A: Yes, they have talked about the possibility.

Q: Are there any plans to create a mobile app so players can do things like manage their GTN sales or send out companions on crew skill missions?

A: Yes, they have talked about it quite a bit, but it’s a massive undertaking, so it probably won’t happen any time soon.

Q: Will existing companions ever have more story content added to them?

A: They always talk about it internally, and they know the players want it. They can’t promise anything right now, but they are looking at ways that they might be able to do it in the future. It was also brought up that players wanted off-the-rails space missions, and then they gave us GSF. Players also wanted housing/guildships, and now we have GSH, so they do listen, and try to make things happen that the players really want.

Q: Is there any way to implement functionality to allow a player to ignore a legacy or an account instead of just a single character?

A: They can’t implement something like that due to privacy issues. They said that if you ignore a character and additional characters were in turn ignored, then you’d know by proxy who their other characters are, thus violating privacy concerns they don’t want to break at this time.

Q: Since there are so many mounts in game now, will there ever be a way to randomize which mount is summoned when you mount up?

A: This is actually pretty high up the list of things they’d like to do. They can’t say it will be any time soon, but they all like the idea.

Q: Will there ever be a web-based leaderboard for conquests?

A: This is something they’ve talked about, but no one present knew any specifics about it.

Q: Are there any plans to increase the 22 character limit per server, e.g. if a new playable race/species is added?

A: Based on server performance, they might look into this at some point.

Q: Any plans for adding Dual Spec capabilities?

A: They know players have asked about this, but don’t have any other information at this time.

Q: Will you be raising the stronghold NPC limit of 25 any time soon?

A: They definitely want to make it as high as they can get away with, but they are still working on optimizing the way they are handled inside the strongholds. Currently the NPCs are using more server connections/handles than they probably need to, so they will have to come up with a way to reduce them to improve performance. For example, the companion NPCs have all of their abilities, health, equipment, etc. even though they are just standing there. If they can figure out a way to convert them into stripped-down versions then the performance could be increased. Also the NPCs affected by the limit all have idle animations (moving back and forth, etc.) which also increase the overhead they require.

Q: Why do animal mounts count in the NPC limit, but not the standard vehicle mounts?

A: The vehicle mounts only have effect animations running (i.e. exhaust) and don’t have the idle animations discussed above, nor do they have any associated abilities, etc. also discussed above.

Q: Will we ever be able to place multiples of the same companions/pets/etc. in our strongholds?

A: Provided the issues mentioned above are resolved, they might look at lifting this restriction at some point.

Q: Will we ever be able to have more than the 4 keys currently allowed on your key ring?

A: They might look at increasing the number of keys after they resolve performance issues addressed above and know more about what the servers can handle.

Q: Any plans to expand the usefulness of GSH keys? Like ‘platinum’ keys with decoration privilege or giving an entire guild a key?

A: As with the previous questions, they might look into things like this after they know more about what the servers can handle.

Q: Was it intended that everyone just dump chairs, plaster the walls with posters, etc. into a room to get the conquest bonus?

A: They knew that some people might do this, but like with all game systems, there will always be players that will find a way to maximize points with minimum effort. They hope most players will take the time to have fun and decorate as they see fit.

Q: Will the guild member cap ever be raised from 500?

A: They’ve discussed this internally, but no decisions have been made yet.

Q: Can you tell us if SW:TOR is considered SW canon now or not with the recent clarification of the existing EU and the newly announced “Legends” title(s), and the fact that SW:TOR is an active game?

A: They can’t speak for Lucasfilm, who of course has final say on anything related to official canon, but all of their story ideas do go though the story group, and they do talk to them often.

Q: How quickly can new ideas be implemented into the live game, or what’s the typical development cycle time frame?

A: Some new ideas have been incorporated as quickly as two weeks. Others can take months to get realized based on whether they are technically feasible and where they can fit into the development schedule.

Q: Any hints about when we might start getting information about the expansion?

A: September will be a really good month to keep an eye out for 3.0 information.

Q: Are there any plans on adding more class story content, perhaps via new planetary arcs?

A: They are looking at several ways to try and give different classes slightly different experiences on new planets, but can’t go into any details at this time.

Q: During some of the GSH live streams it was mentioned that there was supposed to be a way to replay the intro cinematic. Will that be implemented soon?

A: They thought the ability to replay the cutscene was planned, but they’ll have to go back to Austin and see whatever became of it.

Q: What exactly happened with the CM Data Cubes, and will we ever see something like them again?

A: They were trying to answer the players’ desire to see more story content by offering something new in an optional way that didn’t impact other development teams, but not content that was required nor mandatory since it was released through cartel packs. Since they can also be found on the GTN, they thought players would enjoy the additional content. They didn’t anticipate the backlash against releasing them through the CM. They would like to revisit the idea at some point in the future if they come up with a better way to introduce the content.

Q: Are there any new, exciting things we might look forward to being added to strongholds?

A: It’s quite possible that we might see slot machine decorations Soon™.

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OotiniCast Episode 164

Game Update 2.10: Forged Alliances is here, concluding the story arc that will lead us to the end-of-year expansion. In our discussion, we talk about some misconceptions that (hopefully very few) players have about SWTOR’s game mechanics.

1. Introduction

The guide authored by Teo is his GSH unlock comparison for building your Conquest bonus.

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Cabsav of The Harbinger! Thanks to Brian of the Bad Feeling Podcast, Christopher, GasGuy and Caligari for entering.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

  • Game Update 2.9d was deployed on Thursday morning to implement the server-side fixes that should ensure that The Harbinger’s stability issues do not recur.
  • The short story “Remnants”, describing an adventure on Rakata Prime, was released.
  • Game Update 2.10: Forged Alliances was deployed on Tuesday morning. It includes the Legacy of the Rakata Tactical Flashpoint.
  • Ranked PvP Season 3 began with the release of Game Update 2.10. Our Leaderboards page has been updated to use the latest data; the archived results for Season 1 and Season 2 are also available.
  • A teaser for the upcoming end-of-year expansion will be released in a few days, with a full announcement coming before the end of September.
  • To avoid an issue that will prevent you from getting your personal Conquest reward (that should be delivered as soon as you reach the week’s personal goal), you should abandon a mission in your Mission Log with the title “Personal Conquest Reward”.
  • The reputation cap for the Binary Star Realty has been raised to its intended level.
  • The Selkath Console decoration appears to have changed such it cannot be repositioned in the same way that it was prior to Game Update 2.10.

4. Community

Thanks to Spencer, Scotthomas and Grim for their donations!

Details about our Ootini Holdings lottery can be found here.

5. Force Feedback

It seems that @DurtaDurta has found us on the airwaves:

OotiniCast radio

Chong sent us this screenshot of the game announcing an obvious truism:

Chong - Wonder Woman is unbeatable

6. Sarlacc Digest

We discuss some (hopefully uncommon) player misconceptions about game mechanics, based upon this thread from the SWTOR sub-Reddit.

7. Outro

Thanks to Spencer (@Da_Dirty_Spoons) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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GSH unlock comparison for building your Conquest bonus

As our guildmate Socordia pointed out in this post on our forums, not all GSH (Galactic Strongholds) unlocks are created equal in terms of how much they can increase your personal Conquest bonus. Based upon that truism, I’ve compiled the table below to show the relative values of each unlock. Dulfy’s guide shows where each expansion is located in each Stronghold.

Your Conquest bonus is applied each time you achieve an Conquest objective. It is a percentage, which grants additional points based upon the base value of the objective (not the multiplied value if the planet being invaded grants its own bonus for that objective). The percentage is calculated based upon the “completion” of each of your personal Strongholds. Each Stronghold contributes up to 25% towards your total Conquest bonus, thus requiring all four Strongholds to be completed to get to 100%.

The completion percentage for a given Stronghold determines how much of that 25% is added to the Conquest bonus. For example, if I have Tatooine completed to 40%, that contributes 10% (40% of 25%) towards my Conquest bonus.

The completion percentage for a Stronghold is based upon how many hooks have been filled out of the total possible hooks. You get a certain number of hooks with the purchase of a Stronghold, then additional hooks are added each time you unlock an expansion for that Stronghold. To get to 100%, you must (a) have unlocked all the expansions and (b) filled all the available hooks with decorations.

The table below is sortable: click on the top row (with the column titles) to sort based upon the value of that column. Below the table is an explanation of what each column contains.

HooksUnlock (Credits)Unlock (CC)Credits/CCCredits/hookCC/hookBonus %Credits/bonus %CC/bonus %
Kaas City/CoruscantPurchase1005000501005017.17007
Kaas City/CoruscantGarage502500007503335000153.670000210
Kaas City/CoruscantWest Staircase201000010010050051.4700070
Kaas City/CoruscantEast Staircase201000010010050051.4700070
Kaas City/CoruscantMain Room502500020012550043.6700056
Kaas City/CoruscantLiving Quarters2525000200125100081.814000112
Kaas City/CoruscantEast room20400003001332000151.428000210
Kaas City/CoruscantSouth room20400003001332000151.428000210
Kaas City/CoruscantWest room20400003001332000151.428000210
Kaas City/CoruscantBalcony251000000125080040000501.8560000700
TatooinePurchase200250000025001000125001310250000250
TatooineCliffside room north5080000090088916000182.5320000360
TatooineCliffside room south5080000090088916000182.5320000360
TatooineRoom 12590000095094736000381.3720000760
TatooineRoom 22590000095094736000381.3720000760
TatooineRoom 32590000095094736000381.3720000760
TatooineRoom 42590000095094736000381.3720000760
TatooineDocking Bay1001800000200090018000205360000400
Nar ShaddaaPurchase125250000500500200046.63800076
Nar ShaddaaNorthwest Room2545000065069218000261.3342000494
Nar ShaddaaNortheast Room2545000065069218000261.3342000494
Nar ShaddaaVestibule2535000050070014000201.3266000380
Nar ShaddaaWest Stairway2525000042558810000171.3190000323
Nar ShaddaaEast Stairway2525000042558810000171.3190000323
Nar ShaddaaBalcony2522500002200102390000881.317100001672
Nar ShaddaaMain Room7522500002200102330000293.9570000557
Nar ShaddaaAntechamber501750000200087535000402.6665000760
Nar ShaddaaSolarium7522500002200102330000293.9570000557

Key:

  • Hooks – the total number of hooks available (in the purchase or unlocked expansion)
  • Unlock (Credits), Unlock (CC) – how much it costs in Credits and Cartel Coins respectively
  • Credits/CC – how many credits each Cartel Coin is worth, given the purchase prices; you can interpret this as the higher the better, with your Cartel Coins being worth more credits relative to the lower values
  • Credits/hook, CC/hook – how much you are paying for each hook in credits and Cartel Coins respectively
  • Bonus % – what this unlock (purchase or expansion) adds to your personal Conquest bonus percentage
  • Credits/bonus %, CC/bonus % – what you are paying for each percentage of Conquest bonus in credits and Cartel Coins respectively
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OotiniCast Episode 163

In the news we cover The Harbinger’s woes and the Community Cantina that was held in Seattle. We then discuss the class changes coming next week in Game Update 2.10.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Mariarchi! Thanks to Billyando for entering.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

  • The Harbinger has been suffering from numerous crashes over the past week, with the last resulting in extended downtime as BioWare worked to identify what was going wrong, which included some players experiencing a rollback to progress made just before the crashes. They have determined the root cause, and have deployed Patch 2.9d on Thursday morning as part of the solution.
  • Patch 2.9c was deployed late last week to make certain Flashpoint objectives for the weekly Conquest non-repeatable. Jesse Sky (Lead Designer) provided some background as to the reasoning behind this change.
  • The circular class sign decorations that had been observed in livestreams are not yet available in game. They will be added in a future (as yet undetermined) update.
  • The PTS was taken down last week ahead of Game Update 2.10’s deployed next Tuesday (9 September).
  • Season theming for Ranked PvP rewards will start with titles in Season 3.
  • Both BenB (@Ben_b55) and Caligari (@Caligari_MMO) attended the Community Cantina held in Seattle on Sunday 31 August. Between them they provided us with the flashdrive contents and video which Caligari edited into a slick presentation on YouTube.
  • Damion Schubert’s article about how game companies developed their policy for dealing with toxic players is “How UO Changed The Culture of MMOs”.

4. Community

The novel “Star Wars: A New Dawn” by John Jackson Miller, a prequel to the Star Wars Rebels animated series set between Episodes 3 and 4, is now available as a hardback and ebook.

We’d like to shout out to Neekish’s guild, the Shadow Guardians on the Republic side of The Harbinger!

Werit, of weritsblog.com, is running a competition he’s calling Show Your Stronghold. Find out more here.

Our guild lottery continues!

5. Force Feedback

Chong believes this is the best decoration:

Chong - Best deco

Chong encountered the following strange effect in The False Emperor Flashpoint:

Chong - Bug in False Emp

The following gallery of images are from Noedalla’s Kass City Apartment, a work in progress:

We also have these images from Giantgina foray into Nightmare Mode GSH!

6. Sarlacc Digest

We discuss the class changes coming up in Game Update 2.10, as communicated through the focused feedback threads on the PTS for Marauder/Sentinel (middle tree), Sniper/Gunslinger (middle tree), Sorcerer/Sage (healing tree) and Assassin/Shadow (middle tree).

7. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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Flashdrive contents from Community Cantina in Seattle

BenB (@Ben_B55) attended the Community Cantina that was held in Seattle on Sunday 31 August. He provided the contents of the USB flashdrive to us, which can be seen below. You can click on each image to see the full-sized version. There is also a video of the Q&A edited by Caligari (@Caligari_MMO), using footage he took while also at the Cantina.

PAXPRIMEScoop

The following images are all from the new Tactical Flashpoint located on Rakata Prime, coming in Game Update 2.10 on 9 September as part of Chapter 3 of the Forged Alliances story arc.

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen11

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen01

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen02

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen03

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen04

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen05

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen06

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen07

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen08

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen09

SWTOR_RakataPrimeFlashpoint_Screen10

The following images are of various decorations that are currently available in the Gatekeeper’s Stronghold Pack, and will be coming in the Constable’s Stronghold Pack.

SWTOR_Sandcrawler

SWTOR_CarboniteBounty

SWTOR_Console

SWTOR_EmperorStatue

SWTOR_ExecutiveLoveseat

SWTOR_JukeboxUnderworldClassics

Lastly we have a wallpaper and a dye module:

SWTORGalacticStrongholds_Wallpaper

SWTOR_SateleDyeMod

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OotiniCast Episode 162

In the news we mainly talk about Conquests, now in their second week. Rube (@ThePummeler) then provides some great tips on how to be effective in open world PvP.

1. Introduction

Rube provided the following infographic to explain his choice of Twitter avatar:

The Pummeler avatar explanation

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Carnz! Thanks to Mariachi, DanielZRob, PJ, Julien and Socordia for entering.

You can find Socordia’s forum post that describes the math behind his tip on not all Strongholds being equal here.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

  • Patch 2.9a was deployed on Friday morning, and Patch 2.9b on Tuesday morning.
  • APAC (Asia Pacific) players found themselves unable to update to Patch 2.9a on Friday morning, as their launchers could not contact the region’s CDN (Content Delivery Network) server. This was apparently due to an ISP issue messing up the routing. There is a workaround for this issue, which hopefully won’t be needed in the future!
  • The issue with the Assault on Tython Tactical Flashpoint remains, and with help provided to Ben Scott, the Designer responsible for the problematic encounter, it will be fixed in Game Update 2.10.
  • An issue with non-repeatable objectives being repeatable was fixed in Patch 2.9b.
  • If your legacy titles disappeared with Patch 2.9b, you can contact Customer Support to get them back.
  • The cap on the Binary Star Realty reputation will be raised from the currently incorrect 3,600 to the intended 36,000 in Game Update 2.10, with all Cartel reputation caps removed in Game Update 2.10.1.
  • The “All-Galaxy” titles for the top 96 across all the Advanced Classes have been awarded.
  • The short story “Wanted: Dead and dismantled” was published to flesh out the Forged Alliances story arc, giving us some insight into Jakarro the Wookie and his droid translator, C2-D4.
  • Dostus-dilih on Reddit uncovered some apparent foreshadowing from the Dread Masters from last year about the Forged Alliances story arc.
  • The next Community Cantina will be in Seattle in conjunction with PAX on Sunday 31 August. BenB (@Ben_B55) will be there to livestream/live-tweet the event. Our guildmate Caligari (@Caligari_MMO) will also be there, and is requesting questions for him to ask the BioWare developers in this forum thread.

4. Community

Welcome back to JD with episode 54 of the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast!

The fourth episode of the Galactic Gamers Coalition podcast, which includes Road, Fred, Teo, Chuck and Brian from the Bad Feeling Podcast and Heather and Jason from Corellian Run Radio, is now available.

David and Simon interview Hillary Nicole (Community Coordinator from BioWare) in the episode 84 of Flash Point.

The Jawa Joyride is back in action! See Kuze’s post for more information.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Oofalong, Socordia, Greg Carter, Dan Cremer, GasGuy, Jegger and Simon (@RPGbeatsRL).

Here is Oofalong’s infographic on the multi-step process of crafting Dark Projects:

Oofalong - Dark Project infographic

Socordia’s analysis of what was contained in 216 Cartel Packs can be found here.

6. Sarlacc Digest

Rube provides many handy tips and tricks for being effective in open world PvP.

7. Outro

Thanks to Rube (@ThePummeler) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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OotiniCast Episode 161

Redna interviews Aridan the Cyberelf, a long-time cosplayer who is probably best known to the SWTOR community for his portrayal of Darth Revan.

Darth Revan

Darth Revan unmasked

Aridan can be found on Twitter (@TheRealCyberelf), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker.

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OotiniCast Episode 160

Game Update 2.9: Galactic Strongholds is here! We cover its deployment, along with the Community Cantina held in Cologne, Germany. In our discussion, Bill is back with more wealth creation tips as players rush to decorate their Strongholds.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Neekish! Thanks to Jace, @RevengeForsaken, ElionD, Nepthen and Dracko for entering.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

4. Community

Congratulations to the SWTOR Escape Pod Cast on their one year anniversary!

BenB (@Ben_B55) will be at the Community Cantina being held in Seattle on Sunday 31 August. He will be live-tweeting from there, and hopes to livestream. You can find out more, and how to send him questions to ask the BioWare representatives, in this Reddit post.

You can answer the Ootini Templars call to arms on our forums. For Ootini!

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @Kranitoko, @OlibGaming, Tiffany (@aurora1916), Julien (@julien_macy), @JoostHoedemaeck, Jeremy (@darksplat), @GregCarter78, Chong (@EmpireDivider), @Prottal, @Darklighter159, @Jacerish, Morriah and (@RosieBear77).

Kranitoko has published his latest Hypercrate opening video. Each time he does one of these videos he gives away three packs; watch the video for details.

See Zombie Chong here!

We recommend Olib’s Legacy Unlocks: Cartel Coins vs Credits guide.

6. Sarlacc Digest

Bill discusses how the market is faring now that Game Update 2.9 is here. You can find his daily posts with GSH-related prices in this forum thread.

7. Outro

Thanks to Bill (@BillLentz) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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OotiniCast Episode 159

Topics this week include Game Update 2.10 being deployed onto the PTS and the Ranked PvP Season 2 rewards.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Manciferous! Thanks to Daekar, Hru, Mariachi, Carnz and Socordia for entering.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

  • The following infographic shows how to add pets and companions (and apparently other personal decorations that can’t be donated via the guild bank, such as Flashpoint and Operation achievement rewards) to the guild’s decoration collection.

2014-08-09 14_13_01-How to add a mount or pet to your guild decoration set

  • Following up from last week’s show, Bill has created an investing guide for making credits when Galactic Stronghold goes live next week on 19 August.
  • Game Update 2.10, which is planned to be deployed on 9 September (three weeks after Game Update 2.9) was added to the PTS late this week.
  • Game Update 2.10 includes a number of class changes, especially for Sages and Sorcerers, as elaborated on by David Demaree (Class Designer). BioWare is requesting that players post their combat parses in this thread after testing the changes on the PTS.
  • In conjunction with Gamescom this week, BioWare released a new trailer for Galactic Strongholds (also on YouTube).
  • At Gamescom it was revealed that BioWare Austin is working on a completely new game called Shadow Realms, which will attempt to replicate the tabletop RPG experience online.
  • The rewards for Ranked PvP Season 2 have been announced. Longtime friend of the show Laurie M (@Lawilc01) created this image in response:

Ranked PvP Season 2 rewards reaction

  • In response to the reactions expressed on the official forums, BioWare explained that the Ranked PvP rewards were designed to be unique, and associated with Galactic Strongholds due to them coinciding with its release along with the end of season 2. They were responding to the players’ desire not to have reskins of existing mounts or armor. In subsequent seasons, they will continue to monitor the thread started early in Season 2 that asked for reward suggestions, with Seasons 3, 4 and 5 already being planned based on player ideas. They also recognise that Ranked PvP is not in a good place right now, and that steps are being taken to address the known issues.
Ranked PvP Season 2 (group)

Ranked PvP Season 2 (group)

Ranked PvP Season 2 (solo)

Ranked PvP Season 2 (solo)

4. Community

While SWTOR Reforged is no more, at least for now, Star Wars: Beyond the Stars has risen to take its place! You can follow them on Twitter using @StarWarsBeyond, and subscribe on iTunes or via RSS.

Old Republic Radio, an old favourite, is back once more after a year-long hiatus (@OldRepRadio, RSS feed, iTunes).

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Sabo, GasGuy, Chong (@EmpireDivider), Socordia, Greg (@GregCarter78), @Scotthomas and @Jayconnell.

Here is GasGuy’s serendipitous moment where he reached Legacy Level 50 at the same time he got to level 55 on his first Jedi Knight:

Double Achievment Gasguy

6. Outro

Thanks to Kranitoko (@KranitokoYouTube) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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OotiniCast Episode 158

More details emerge about what’s coming in Game Update 2.9 with both guild flagships and planetary conquests being added to the PTS. In our discussion, Bill returns with plenty of advice on preparing to make a fortune in credits once 2.9 is live.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, AmonRe (Commander of the Thirteenth Legion on The Ebon Hawk server)! Thanks to Chinn’ook, Brian, Caligari, Mariarchi and Socordia for entering.

Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win an M8-R3 code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

  • The PTS has been updated to add guild flagships and planetary conquests. Jack Woods and Eric Musco appeared on a livestream to talk through how it all works.
  • Dulfy has compiled a guide with deck plans for both the Imperial and Republic flagships, and how much each room costs to unlock.
  • While Ranked PvP Season 2 rewards have yet to be announced, they have been mailed to players on the PTS. Dulfy has summarised what each tier appears to contain.
  • The Rakghoul Resurgence event is once again live, this time on Tatootine. See this guide for all the details.
  • BioWare have published Lana Beniko’s Journal on Darth Arkous, providing some bridging backstory between chapters 1 and 2 of the Forged Alliances story arc, leading into the “Depths of Manaan” tactical flashpoint.
  • The next Community Cantina will be next Friday (15 August) in Cologne, Germany in conjunction with GamesCom.

4. Community

Old Republic Radio is returning very soon! Please follow @oldrepradio on Twitter to find out more.

Congratulations to Gabbeey, who won Dracko’s lottery. His initiative raised 7.9 million credits towards our guild flagship. Thanks to all who participated!

This post on the SWTOR subreddit about Madmar’s @swtorfamily is worthy of an upvote.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Kevin Striker, @NepthenORD, Mariarchi, K’hor Darg, Hru, Christopher, @Tonyoct90, @hadrian9, @O_JohnnyBravo_O and @OlibGaming.

Here are the aliens that Hru encountered in the casino on Nar Shaddaa (click to see the full-sized image):

who dat alien

Teo identifies them (from left to right) as Nikto, Klatooinian, Snivvian, Aqualish and Ishi Tib.

6. Sarlacc Digest

With Game Update 2.9 nearly here, it’s definitely time to be preparing to capitalise on the huge additions to crafting that it brings. Returning guest Bill Lentz, whose financial genius would put the most successful Hutt to shame, is back to let us know all about it. He also has some thoughts on the value (or lack thereof) of legacy storage.

7. Outro

Thanks to Bill (@BillLentz) and Redna (@R3DN4, twitch.tv/r3dn4) for joining us this week.

Information about our guilds on The Harbinger, Ootini Knights (Republic) and Ootini Rage (Empire), can be found here.

You can email questions and comments about the show to ootinicast@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter via @OotiniCast. Check out our website, ootinicast.com, which has links to our presence on Google+ and Facebook. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, and listen to us on Stitcher and Spreaker. We record the show live every Wednesday at 4:30pm Pacific, goto ootinicast.com/live to find out how to join in!

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