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We cover the latest news, including the deployment of Game Update 2.2.2. Our discussion this week is about subscriber appreciation, prompted by the initial expression of that appreciation in the form of a one-off payment of 500 Cartel Coins.

1. Introduction

To use Ask Mr Robot to track your datacrons and work out which ones you need, create an account on the site (via the [Register] button at the top of the page), then use their Character Builder to create a profile for each character you want to track. You can then click on the [Datacrons] button (to the right, with a solid blue square icon), which brings up the sortable Datacron checklist.

2. Trivia question

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Chris J!

3. Holofeed

• Game Update 2.2.2 was deployed on Wednesday, delayed by a day because of the July 4th long weekend. Thanks to Amber Green for once again getting the patch notes out a day early!
• It includes the Supreme Mogul’s Contraband Pack, the last in Shipment Two. You can see images of what’s in this pack on Facebook, and in Dulfy’s guide.
• KOTOR’s 10th anniversary will be celebrated by the SWTOR team on 15 July. The title, purchasable for 24 hours (from Monday 15 July 2am CDT, 5pm AEST, 8am BST) for 10 Cartel Coins can (once purchased) be unlocked for all characters for another 5 Cartel Coins.
• The Old Republic Insider for July is now available, featuring Bruce Maclean and Cory Butler discussing the new live event (Bounty Contract Week), CZ-198 and new items soon arriving in the Cartel Market.
• In a thread on the forum about how XP boosts apparently only granted 20% instead of the advertised 25%, we received an explanation of why it looks this way (but is actually correct!).
• The PTS, which currently has Game Update 2.3 available for testing, has been updated to fix the problem with travelling to the new daily area in CZ-198. Note that character copy to the PTS remains unavailable, but is planned to be provided soon.
• A little more background story was provided for Czerka Corporation’s CZ-198 Labs via a letter from its Special Executive, Rasmus Blys.
• Eric Musco revisited the topic of why Free and Preferred players cannot post on the official forums, providing an explanation of the original decision and why it remains the right one.
• More information was provided about Bounty Contract Week, the new recurring event.

4. Community

Thanks to Terg, Barf Stick and Neiro for their contributions that helped inform the discussion revisiting Defense in last week’s Sarlacc Digest.

We recommend the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast, hosted by Gaddock Teeg (@GTeeg), with some great interviews and strong opinions. Check out his Patch 2.3 PTS Coverage – Republic CZ 198 Daily Area with Rewards on YouTube.

While @ChazLobo works on his new guides for 50+ space missions, a useful resource that we mentioned back in Episode 70 is Nefash’s Pilot Training School.

For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com).

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @swtorfamily (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong), @FerrousTerran, @Casmas_, @tweetieowl (Brightstar), @PedroLopezJr, @kmadsen, @fretfury, @Geldarion (co-host of Corellian Run Radio), @GTeeg (Gaddock Teeg, host of the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast), @Thoroughmas, @HamSammich509, @GregCarter78, @rbleamon (Ray Leamon), @voyak, @DarthPops (Marshall Carr), @GrahamMSellars, @SkipJerk (Jared), @DanCremer, emails from Axkvamin, Hansgruber, Dracko and Terg, and comments from The Malgadar and Codex.

The #swtorfamily has earned the following achievement:

Moff Chong located a companion who is being a little too obvious:

Dracko provided the following comparison to show the effect of the graphical upgrades in Game Update 2.3:

6. Sarlacc Digest

The first expression of subscriber appreciation appeared in the form of a one-off 500 Cartel Coin grant. Something else has been promised for the end of July. Bruce MacLean responded to some of the feedback from the community.

The following lists the information found in the feature comparison on the official site, presenting the information directly rather than as pop-ups.

• Story Content
  • Subscriber: All players can play their full class stories from Level 1-50.
  • Preferred: All players can play their full class stories from Level 1-50.
  • Free: All players can play their full class stories from Level 1-50.
• Sprint
  • Subscriber: Sprint starting at Level 1.
  • Preferred: Sprint starting at Level 1.
  • Free: Sprint starting at Level 15.
• Crew Skills
  • Subscriber: Up to three (3) Crew Skills and Level Crew Skills at a faster rate.
  • Preferred: Two (2) Crew Skills or, purchase an additional Crew Skill slot with Cartel Coins.
  • Free: One (1) Crew Skill or, purchase additional Crew Skill slots with Cartel Coins.
• Game Login
  • Subscriber: Priority status in the Login Queue.
  • Preferred: Medium priority status in Login Queue.
  • Free: No priority status in the Login Queue.
• Bank/Cargo Hold
  • Subscriber: May expand bank with either in-game credits or Cartel Coins.
  • Preferred: Access to bank granted with Preferred status. Additional bank storage purchasable with Cartel Coins only.
  • Free: Bank storage accessible with Cartel Coin purchase or via the Galactic Trade Network.
• Credit Cap
  • Subscriber: Maximum Credit cap.
  • Preferred: Credits are capped at 350,000.
  • Free: Credits are capped at 200,000.
• Chat
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to all Chat functions.
  • Preferred: Full General Chat functions and /who list is unlocked.
  • Free: Restricted tells and General Chat use only on Origin Worlds.
• Mail
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to sending and receiving in-game mail.
  • Preferred: Access to sending and receiving in-game mail with one attachment, but unable to send Credits.
  • Free: Can only receive in-game mail, not send it.
• Secure Trading
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to Secure Trading between other players.
  • Preferred: Can use Secure Trading with other players from Level ten (10) onwards.
  • Free: Cannot participate in Secure Trading.
• Galactic Trade Network
  • Subscriber: List up to fifty (50) items on the Galactic Trade Network (GTN).
  • Preferred: Five (5) simultaneous item listings on the Galactic Trade Network (GTN).
  • Free: Two (2) simultaneous listings on the Galactic Trade Network (GTN).
• Respecialization
  • Subscriber: Respecialize any character without using Credits.
  • Preferred: Respecialization costs lower than cost to a Free-to-Play player.
  • Free: Respecialization costs higher than those paid by a Preferred Status and Subscription players.
• Character Creation
  • Subscriber: Full access to all Character Creation Choices (excluding Species options available for purchase in the Cartel Market).
  • Preferred: Six (6) Character Slots and three (3) Species options (excluding Species options available for purchase in the Cartel Market).
  • Free: Two (2) Character Slots and three (3) Species options (excluding Species options available for purchase in the Cartel Market).
• Operations
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to Operations.
  • Preferred: A weekly pass to unlock Operation access is required.
  • Free: A weekly pass to unlock Operation access is required.
• Warzones
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to Warzones and Ranked Warzones.
  • Preferred: Five (5) Warzones per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction. Cannot access Ranked Warzones.
  • Free: Five (5) Warzones per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction. Cannot access Ranked Warzones.
• Flashpoints
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to Flashpoints and rewards.
  • Preferred: Full rewards from three (3) Flashpoints per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
  • Free: Full rewards from three (3) Flashpoints per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
• Space Missions
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to Space Missions.
  • Preferred: Three (3) Space Missions per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
  • Free: Three (3) Space Missions per week or purchase a weekly pass to unlock this restriction.
• Inventory
  • Subscriber: Purchase additional inventory space with either in-game Credits or Cartel Coins.
  • Preferred: Purchase the ability to expand inventory slots with Cartel Coins from the Cartel Market.
  • Free: Purchase the ability to expand inventory slots with Cartel Coins from the Cartel Market.
• Quick Travel
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to the Quick Travel ability with a reduced cool-down.
  • Preferred: Longer Quick Travel cool-down period or purchase an authorization to permanently reduce the cool-down for Quick Travel.
  • Free: Longer Quick Travel cool-down period or purchase an authorization to permanently reduce the cool-down for Quick Travel.
• Emergency Fleet Pass
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to the Emergency Fleet Pass. Bypass the cool-down by purchasing a consumable item with Cartel Coins.
  • Preferred: No access to Emergency Fleet Pass. Purchase an authorization to unlock quick travel to the Fleet.
  • Free: No access to Emergency Fleet Pass. Purchase an authorization to unlock quick travel to the Fleet.
• Mounts
  • Subscriber: Use a Mount approximately five (5) levels earlier.
  • Preferred: Use a Mount approximately five to ten (5-10) levels later.
  • Free: Use a Mount approximately five to ten (5-10) levels later.
• Revive
  • Subscriber: Revive at the nearest Med Center or in the field with a cool-down.
  • Preferred: Revive at the nearest Med Center or a total of five (5) times in the field per character. Unlock additional Field Revives with Cartel Coins from the Cartel Market.
  • Free: Revive at the nearest Med Center or a total of five (5) times in the field per character. Unlock additional Field Revives with Cartel Coins from the Cartel Market.
• Item Equipping
  • Subscriber: Equip all purple items acquired; assuming in-game requirements (class, level, etc) are met.
  • Preferred: Cannot equip most purple items unless an authorization is purchased from the Cartel Market.
  • Free: Cannot equip most purple items unless an authorization is purchased from the Cartel Market.
• Commendations Cap
  • Subscriber: Receive a higher amount of Commendations per week.
  • Preferred: Earn a reduced amount of Commendations per week.
  • Free: Earn a reduced amount of Commendations per week.
• Guilds
  • Subscriber: Join a Guild or become a Guild Leader for any type of Guild.
  • Preferred: Can join any Guild, but can only become a Guild Leader of a Free-to-Play Guild.
  • Free: Can join any Guild, but can only become a Guild Leader of a Free-to-Play Guild.
• Vendors
  • Subscriber: Receive a discount on all vendor items.
  • Preferred: Regular price on vendor items.
  • Free: Regular price on vendor items.
• Experience Rate
  • Subscriber: Gain Experience Points (XP) faster than Preferred Status and Free-to-Play players.
  • Preferred: Takes longer to gain Experience Points (XP).
  • Free: Takes longer to gain Experience Points (XP).
• Experience Rate: Rest XP
  • Subscriber: Gain Rest Experience Points (XP).
  • Preferred: Cannot gain Rest Experience Points (XP).
  • Free: Cannot gain Rest Experience Points (XP).
• Valor Rate
  • Subscriber: Gain Valor Levels faster than Preferred Status and Free-to-Play players.
  • Preferred: Takes longer to raise Valor Levels.
  • Free: Takes longer to raise Valor Levels.
• GUI: Quickbars
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to UI customization and can have up to six (6) Quickbars.
  • Preferred: Access to four (4) Quickbars.
  • Free: Access to two (2) Quickbars.
• Items: Event Rewards
  • Subscriber: Unlimited access to item rewards from in-game events.
  • Preferred: Cannot equip event awards unless an authorization is purchased from the Cartel Market.
  • Free: Cannot equip event awards unless an authorization is purchased from the Cartel Market.
• Items: Mod Removal
  • Subscriber: Can remove item mods for a lower amount of Credits than Preferred Status and Free-to-Play players.
  • Preferred: Can remove item mods for a higher amount of Credits than a Subscriber.
  • Free: Can remove item mods for a higher amount of Credits than a Subscriber.
• Items: Augment Slots
  • Subscriber: Can augment items for a lower amount of Credits than Preferred Status and Free-to-Play players.
  • Preferred: Can augment items for a higher amount of Credits than a Subscriber.
  • Free: Can augment items for a higher amount of Credits than a Subscriber.
• Customer Service Support
  • Subscriber: Full Customer Service support, both in-game and through the web.
  • Preferred: Web Customer Service support (FAQ’s) and access to Knowledge Base articles.
  • Free: Web Customer Service support (FAQ’s) and access to Knowledge Base articles.

7. Outro

Thanks to Redna (@R3DN4) and Hyp (@Hypknotoad) 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. We are a proud member of the TOR Syndicate! You can subscribe to us on iTunes and Zune, and listen to us on Stitcher and Radio4Gamers.