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Chill and Teo are joined by Hyp to discuss the latest SWTOR news, focussing on the features to be found in Game Update 1.5 which is now available for testing on the PTS. Our discussion topic this week is about the newly-revealed details of the upcoming free-to-play conversion, especially the restrictions that will be placed on free players.

1. Introduction

2. Question to the panel

3. Trivia question

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Tony Tomkinson!

4. The Holofeed

• Patch 1.4.1a, a small client-side-only patch, was deployed late last week to fix the hitching/stuttering performance issue that some players were experiencing.
• During an extremely long downtime during scheduled maintenance, patch 1.4.2 was deployed.
• Game Update 1.5 is now available for testing on the PTS. Probably the most anticipated feature is the quest line to obtain the new companion, HK-51. Dulfy and Darth Hater have both produced guides for how to go about it. In addition, we have the new dailies and world boss (Dreadtooth) in Section X on Belsavis, and Nightmare Mode for the operation Explosive Conflict (Jesse Sky details what players should expect).
• Vendors now sell Dread Guard relics for 300 Daily Commendations, and Campaign armoring mods (which are better itemised than the current Black Hole gear, and include the set bonus) for Force and non-Force users can be purchased with Black Hole Commendations.
• The Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia is now available for purchase. We will be reviewing it next week.
• Jesse Sky, the featured developer from last week, has answered a number of follow-up questions from players.
• Congratulations to BioWare for winning four of the categories in the GDC Online’s Game Developers Choice Online Awards.

5. Force Feedback

Our sincere thanks to Grim for his extremely generous donation! It is very much appreciated.

We discuss tweets from @JediAio, @rbleamon (Ray Leamon), @rickheaton, @adolyte, @voyak, @ForceChuckle, @Dimbo56, @DanCremer, @StoleTarts (Megan), @Rabbi_Shekky, @hallhood  (Hall Hood) and @TranscendenceG (The Trancendence Guild on the Prophecy of the Five east coast PvP server).

6. Sarlacc Digest

We finally have additional details about the free-to-play conversion. First is the new Cartel Coin Ledger page, found in the My Account section on swtor.com, that summarises how many complimentary Cartel Coins you will receive when free-to-play launches. Below is probably the most common case for someone who started playing at launch with the base edition, has been continuously subscribed and will remain so:

In the updated free-to-play FAQ, it is emphasised that you will only receive the accumulated Cartel Coins if you have active game time at the point that free-to-play launches. As to when that will be, all we know at the moment is that it will be in the Fall (meaning it could be as late as 21 December), though November has been mentioned at various points.

BioWare have also detailed at least some of the restrictions that will be imposed on free-to-play players in the updated Subscription vs. Free-to-play Features matrix.

• Story Content
  • Premium (FULL):  All players can play their full class stories from Level 1-50.
  • Free (FULL):     All players can play their full class stories from Level 1-50.
• Character Creation Choices
  • Premium (FULL):  Full access to all Character Creation choices.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Limited Character Creation options.
• Operations
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to Operations.
  • Free (LIMITED):  A Weekly pass to unlock Operation access is required.
• Warzones
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to Warzones.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Three Warzones per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
• Flashpoints
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to Flashpoints.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Full rewards from three Flashpoints per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock rewards for all Flashpoints.
• Space Missions
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to Space Missions.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Three Space Missions per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
• Cargo Hold
  • Premium (FULL):  Purchase more cargo space with either in-game Credits or Cartel Coins.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Gain and expand the Cargo Hold with Cartel Coins.
• Inventory
  • Premium (FULL):  Purchase additional inventory space with either in-game Credits or Cartel Coins.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Expand inventory slots with Cartel Coins.
• Crew Skills
  • Premium (FULL):  Up to three (3) Crew Skills.
  • Free (LIMITED):  One Crew Skill, or purchase additional Crew Skill slots with Cartel Coins.
• Quick Travel
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to the Quick Travel ability with a reduced cooldown.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Longer Quick Travel cooldown period or purchase an authorization to permanently reduce the cooldown for Quick Travel.
• Emergency Fleet Pass
  • Premium (FULL):  Unlimited access to the Emergency Fleet Pass. Bypass the cooldown by purchasing a consumable item with Cartel Coins.
  • Free (LIMITED):  No access to Emergency Fleet Pass. Purchase an authorization to unlock quick travel to the Fleet.
• Death
  • Premium (FULL):  Revive at the nearest Med Center or in the field with a cooldown.
  • Free (LIMITED):  Revive at the nearest Med Center or a total of five (5) times in the field. Unlock additional Field Revive with Cartel Coins.
• Game Login
  • Premium (FULL):  Priority status in the Login Queue.
  • Free (LIMITED):  No priority status in the Login Queue.
• Item Equipping
  • Premium (FULL): Equip all purple items they acquire, assuming they meet the in-game requirements (class, level, etc).
  • Free (LIMITED):  Cannot equip most purple items unless a license is purchased from the Cartel Market.

7. Outro

Thanks to Hyp (@Hypknotoad) for joining us this week.

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. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! Subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and watch for us in your Bind on Equip feed.