OotiniCast – A Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) podcast

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We discuss the latest news, including further details about what will be in Game Update 2.8: Spoils of War.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Bara-dur! Thanks to Hagu Pally and Anuwen of The Ebon Hawk for entering.

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

3. Holofeed

• Game Update 2.8 will be titled “Spoils of War”. A launch page has been added for it, which summarises the features that Bruce MacLean revealed in his updated roadmap for 2014. Dulfy has a post showing what the Nar Shaddaa Nightlife’s vendor will be offering.
• The PTS has been updated with a new build of Game Update 2.8.
• The latest three questions from the class representative programme have been answered for Shadows and Assassins.
• A Rancor mount is being added to the Cartel Market in Game Update 2.8 in the Star Cluster Nightlife Pack. In response to concern that this may erode the exclusivity of the Ranked Season 1 reward, Eric Musco (Community Manager) explained BioWare’s philosophy on PvP (exclusive look, shared model) vs PvE (exclusive model, always available).
• Rather than specific crafting materials being obtainable via Cartel Market Packs, they will instead contain one of three items (Scavenged Scrap, Assorted Droid Parts, Jawa Junk) that can be traded for specific crafting materials via new Jawa vendors in the Cartel Bazaar. Dulfy has a post showing each vendor’s inventory.
• The latest Star Wars: The Old Republic Insider video (also on YouTube) features Jack Wood (Producer) and Eric Musco, discussing Galactic Strongholds, Ranked PvP Season 2 and the Hot Shots Starfighter Pack which includes a Bantha mount. The Swtorista has a detailed analysis of the video, teasing out additional information about Galactic Strongholds.
• It has been confirmed (yet again) that changing a character’s faction will effectively never be possible.
• The next Community Cantina will be on Friday 16 May in Vancouver, Canada.

4. Community

The Ootini Templars are looking for some players interested in doing some casual raiding at 9pm AEST on Wednesdays. Please see their forum for more information.

Ferrous Terran is attempting to do some community building around our two guilds, Ootini Knights and Ootini Rage. Please see his introductory post for what he has in mind.

Dracko is organising a guild event to obtain the +10 to all stats Datacron from the Republic Fleet on Saturday afternoon/evening 24 May (US), Sunday morning in Australia. See this thread for details.

GasGuy has updated his Codex Tracking Spreadsheet. A link to the latest version is always available on the sidebar of our site (under Community).

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from @ForceChuckle, Mister Black Jack, Terg (@TheTurg), Thross, Exile of TOR-Fashion.com, @FerrousTerran, @KortothLegacy, @fnord3125, @GregCarter78, @darksplat, @JayConnell, @Heather_PLS, @ArrTeaBee, @ShintarCommando, Chaz Lobo (@Strongshocker), @mark_swtor, Simon (@RPGbeatsRL), Nathaniel Starr, Dan Kalagian, @TheMalgadar, Bear, Jace (@Jacerish) and Articue.

You can find Articue’s gaming channel on YouTube here.

If you are interested in purchasing a defunct guild with four Cargo Bays unlocked (worth 6.5M credits) on the Republic side of The Shadowlands server, please reply to this thread in our forums.

Jay Connell sent us the following:

Our guildmate Jace, playing on his Red Eclipse trooper Shado managed to win a Civil War match 10/0. A glorious struggle!

6. Outro

Thanks to Kranitoko (@Kranitoko, YouTube) 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.

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We find out what’s coming up between now and Game Update 2.9 in Bruce MacLean’s roadmap. In our discussion, we do some lightweight theorycrafting, comparing primary stat vs power augments, and whether there’s a point at which crit becomes more valuable than power.

1. Introduction

Teo appeared on episode 77 of The Oceanic Gamer’s Flash Point podcast, A Hot Cup of Teo. He also refers to Mae’s (@MaeBeeBuzz) article “SWTOR Blog: The Queue Sync Problem”.

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Nightmare of the Pot5 server! Thanks to Darth Malvictus for entering.

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

3. Holofeed

• A reminder that you will need to be subscribed as of Sunday 11 May to receive the Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace with five additional rooms unlocked for free (total value is 4 million credits), in addition to the Subteroth mini-pet and the character title “The Intrepid”. If you delay subscribing until 15 July, you’ll get the Sky Palace with three rooms unlocked.
• Game Update 2.8 has been deployed on the PTS and is now available for testing. Note that your previous character(s) on the PTS will have been wiped, so you’ll have to copy characters across from the live servers via the official website.
• Bruce MacLean’s roadmap update tells us more about what will be included over the next four months, encompassing Game Updates 2.8 and 2.9.
  • 10 June (2.8) to 19 Aug (2.9): Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event and its Casino
  • 10 June (2.8) to 1 Jul (2.8.1): Double Fleet Req & credits from GSF matches
  • 1 Jul (2.8.1) to 22 Jul (2.8.2): Double WZ comms & credits from WZs
  • 10 June (2.8): Bolstered 50-55 access to Group Finder 16-man Story Mode Operations on a schedule
  • 10 June (2.8): Nightmare Mode Dread Palace & Nightmare Power buff removed from Nightmare Mode Dread Fortress
  • 10 June (2.8): New GSF Gunship and Bomber variants
  • 10 June (2.8) to 19 Aug (2.9): Double XP weekend, Gree Event, BCW, Rakghoul Resurgence (maybe)
  • 19 Aug (2.9): Next chapter in Forged Alliances story arc (presumably Manaan Flashpoint(s))
• It seems that the Grand Acquisitions Race, the Chevin world event, was one-time only and will not be returning.
• Rob Hinkle (Senior Designer) started several threads in the PTS forum requesting focused feedback from players on changes being made to Madness/Balance Sorcs/Sages, Madness/Balance Assassins/Shadows, Annihilation/Watchman Marauders/Sentinels and Concealment/Scrapper Operatives/Scoundrels. The threads have now been closed until the next PTS build is deployed.
• In response to an observation that the class changes seem to be doling out buffs a little too liberally, Rob Hinkle said that they’ve recognised this, and will be dialing things back.
• One change for Marauders and Sentinels is that the popular hybrid build referred to as “dotsmash” will be rendered ineffective in Game Update 2.8.
• After signing a petition thread titled “Repair the double relic glitch”, Rob Hinkle confirmed that they are intending to finally iron out the remaining issues with relic procs.
• BioWare are recruiting for a new position on their Community Team, to join Eric Musco, Courtney Woods and Tait Watson.
• Electronic Arts held its Q4 2014 earnings conference call on Tuesday 6 May. Besides noting that SWTOR was an “existing live service” in the slide presentation, it otherwise received no mention.
• The next Community Cantina will be on Friday 16 May in Vancouver, Canada.

4. Community

Chill’s interview with Njessi (@HawtRepublic), author of the Hawtpants of the Old Republic blog, is now available.

The Galactic Gamers Coalition podcast can now be subscribed to in iTunes.

Kranitoko is back with another video where he opens the latest Hypercrate, this time containing Hotshot’s Starfighter Packs. It includes another awesome introduction!

Our Ootini Knights guildmate Darmist is hoping to organise a non-progression raid group on the Republic side of The Harbinger. See this thread in our forums for more information.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Aaree (@AramondNoir), @Charles_Boyd, Road (@ThatRoadGuy), Will (@GhostMirror), @GregCarter78, @Dekarch, Hugo (@PadmeAm), @ForceChuckle, Terg (@TheTurg), Heather (@Heather_PLS), @fnord3125, @tyious, @JediKrackr, @mark_swtor, @swtor_buckeye, @TheMalgadar, @Adam_Schumpert, Laurie M (@Lawilc01), Bad Feeling Podcast (@badfeelingpdcst), @BillLentz and Chaz Lobo (@Strongshocker).

Chaz Lobo’s got a new job (he wishes!):

Our guildmate and friend Adam Schumpert presented this work-in-progress to celebrate Star Wars Day:

Gary provided this panoramic view on Tython:

6. Sarlacc Digest

Two topics were covered during the discussion: primary stat vs power augments, and revisiting (and perhaps rehabilitating) the value of crit.

We received an email from Oofalong, the author of the Theorycrafting series on Dulfy’s site, giving us a detailed explanation of how to make an informed decision about whether to stick with primary stat augments, or switch to Overkill (power) augments. He provided this spreadsheet to support his reasoning.

Our guildmate Terg (@TheTurg) subsequently determined that once a certain level of primary damage was achieved, and assuming at least 70% Surge, crit actually became more valuable than power. He provided the following graphs in support of his assertion:

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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We cover what made it into Game Update 2.7.1, the developer livestream, and the new Galactic Strongholds trailer about the Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace. In the discussion, we analyse what has been revealed so far in the Forged Alliances story arc, and indulge in some wild speculation about where it’s going.

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Darth Malvictus! Thanks to The Malgadar for entering.

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

3. Holofeed

• Game Update 2.7.1 was deployed during maintenance on Tuesday, three weeks following Game Update 2.7, reflecting their new delivery cadence. It includes the addition of the “Bolsterizer”, which grants the “Bolsterizer” buff that effectively bolsters a character such that their stats reflect what they would be in a warzone.
• The occurrence of the new Quesh Huttball warzone has returned to its default probability of appearing. It seems that based on community feedback, BioWare will not increase the probability in the same way again!
• Ranked PvP Season 2 began with Game Update 2.7.1. BioWare’s official leaderboards
  now show the results for the new season, with all ratings having been reset. Our own leaderboards page, showing a graphical analysis of the current leaderboard data, has also been updated for Season 2.
• To celebrate Star Wars day (4 May), in addition to the double XP weekend, if you log in anytime until 4 May, all players (subscriber, premium or free-to-play) will receive the MT-4T mini-pet.
• If you’ve found yourself stuck in a warzone, unable to move no matter what you try, then please contribute your experience in as much detail as possible in this thread to assist BioWare in solving the issue.
• Game Update 2.8 was deployed on the PTS on 1 May. While Bruce MacLean’s roadmap mentioned a fifth ship role being added to Galactic Starfighter, Eric Musco indicated that the plan has changed, meaning the addition of the new ship role has been postponed indefinitely. New Bomber and Gunship variants will be added in Game Update 2.8.
• Bruce MacLean’s update to the roadmap for the rest of 2014 is still being worked on, and may be published next week.
• Charles Boyd, Ben and Eric Musco participated in a live stream on Wednesday 30 April, with Ben joining a random group to play through the Korriban Incursion tactical Flashpoint. The following points came up during the conversation:
  • The Esseles is pronounced “Essa-LEEz”, according to Charles Boyd
  • There will eventually be hard modes for all tactical Flashpoints, but there is no timeframe for this
  • Tactical and regular Flashpoints are not typically designed to prevent soloing, but they also don’t make it easy (e.g., kolto stations can’t be used outside a group)
  • Initial pulls in Flashpoints are deliberately designed to be difficult, intended as gear/skill/level checks
  • Ben’s group almost wiped on the big droid boss
  • New tactical Flashpoints are intended to be easy and thus accessible so as many players as possible can directly experience the story; they are not meant to be replayable content, especially for well-geared players
  • Charles Boyd quashed the theory that all the story content being released was written before launch; it’s all new, though obviously using many pre-existing characters
• At the end of the live stream, they showed the new Galactic Strongholds trailer “Galactic Living: Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace” (also available on YouTube) narrated by Jack Wood (Producer). It’s the first episode in the “Galactic Living” series, so expect more to come!
• The latest three questions from the class representative programme have been answered for Guardians and Juggernauts.
• In general Star Wars news, the Expanded Universe is getting rebooted, and we have the cast announced for Episode 7!

4. Community

Dulfy has a compendium of information she has put together about Galactic Strongholds, though we recommend swtorstrongholds.com created by Swtorista.

The second episode of the Galactic Gamers Coalition podcast has been published. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or directly using its RSS feed. For further updates, follow @SWTORGGC on Twitter.

Our Republic-side guild is attempting to expand our Friday night Operations group to 16-man. It runs for 3 hours starting at 4:30pm Pacific (Saturday 9:30am EST in Australia). Please contribute to this thread on our forums if you’re interested in joining us.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets, emails and comments from Bear, Ru, @ThePummeler, Laurie M (@Lawilc01), @AlexDGeslin, @JediKrackr, @Adam_Schumpert, Shamar, Thross, Oofalong, @darksplat, Chaz Lobo (@Strongshocker), @FrankT800, @Jayconnell, @FerrousTerran, Terg (@TheTurg), @TheMalgadar, @Manciferous, JB (@O_JohnnyBravo_O) and @Rrubb.

Chaz Lobo sent us the following:

The ever-observant Krackr spotted the following bug in the new Quesh Huttball warzone, thankfully fixed in Game Update 2.7.1:

6. Sarlacc Digest

Redna leads a discussion about what we’ve discovered so far in the missions and the two new tactical Flashpoints that start the Forged Alliances story arc, followed by some wild speculation about where it might be going. Note that this section contains mild spoilers!

7. Outro

Thanks to Road (@ThatRoadGuy) 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.