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

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We contemplate what’s coming up in the SWTOR Holiday Update, discuss the first in the series of Developer Diaries for Galactic Starfighter, and then analyse the class changes coming in Game Update 2.5. We even throw in a mini-review of Star Wars: Tiny Death Star!

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Christopher P!

The Windows application suggested by Joseph D. Foran is ClovisGrid.

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

3. Holofeed

• Game Update 2.4.1 included an initially undocumented feature that enhanced the functionality (via the Interface Editor) of the Focus Target window.
• The issue that prevented mission objects from being clickable was mostly fixed in patch 2.4.1a. However, some occurrences remained, with the workaround being to log out and in again, at which point the mission object would be clickable. While this prevented some Kingpin contracts from being completed, Bounty Contract Week was not extended, though will be back in a month (12-19 November). The issue was fixed completely in patch 2.4.1b.
• Bruce Maclean, Senior Producer on SWTOR, has published the SWTOR Holiday Update, very much in the vein of his Summer of SWTOR forum post (25 May). It describes the following milestones for future updates:
  • [29 October] Game Update 2.4.2: Ranked Season 1 begins, along with web-based leaderboards.
  • [12 November] Character names held by characters on inactive accounts will be made available.
  • [12-19 November] Bounty Contract Week returns.
  • [27 November-2 December] Double XP over Thanksgiving weekend.
  • [3 December] Game Update 2.5: class changes, subscriber access to Galactic Starfighter, and addition of Makeb Mesa Arena.
• Michael Backus, Lead Designer, provided the first in a series of Developer Diaries describing the development of Galactic Starfighter.

4. Community

Our Republic-side ops group, the Ootini Templars, which runs in Australian east coast evenings, is looking for a new tank! If you’re interested, please contact Kal via our forums.

Likewise, our Empire-side ops group, the Vy’aalators, is also looking for more, preferably healers. They run on Monday evenings, starting at 5:30pm Pacific. If you’re interested, please get in touch with Izaak.

We review Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, a mobile game for Android and iOS devices.

5. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from Jacob (@therealHausman), @FerrousTerran, @HamSammich509, @GregCarter78, @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong), @sterlinglee38, @rbleamon (Ray Leamon) and @ArrTeaBee, emails from Patrick and AwesomeSellars, and comments from Morriah.

Here is @ArrTeaBee’s alternative ideas for portraying one’s Dark side alignment:

6. Sarlacc Digest

In the lead up to Game Update 2.5, a blog outlining the planned class changes has been published. No other class changes are currently planned for 2.5.

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.

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The Super Secret Space Project is unveiled at last! We discuss the announcement of SWTOR’s free-to-play digital expansion, “Galactic Starfighter”. We also talk about an idea to require a player to have only PvP gear when solo queuing for ranked arenas, and briefly cover the Elo-based rating system utilised by SWTOR.

1. Introduction

2. Trivia question

Congratulations to this week’s winner, JediKrackr!

3. Tip of the week

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

4. Holofeed

• Patch 2.4.0a was deployed on Thursday morning, and Patch 2.4.0b arrived during regular maintenance on Tuesday. They fixed the majority of the omissions and the nastiest bugs that had arrived with Game Update 2.4.
• Bounty Contract Week returns next Tuesday (15 October), presumably once the servers are back up after maintenance (during which Game Update 2.4.1 should be deployed).
• There is a bug when starting Maelstrom Prison (mistakenly referred to as Mandalorian Raiders in the show), such that if you spacebar through the opening cinematic, you’re effectively locked in place, with the only option being a complete client restart. The workaround is to let the cinematic play out normally.
• There are some issues with Quick Travel Terminals that have emerged since Game Update 2.4 was released, particularly those on Oricon.
• It appears that anyone using the Eset NOD32 anti-virus software was having problems updating the game; the workaround is to disable the anti-virus software to allow the Launcher to update.
• The SSSP (Super Secret Space Project) has finally been unveiled! BioWare has announced their next “free-to-play digital expansion”, Galactic Starfighter. They also released the “Conflict Rising” trailer (also on YouTube). The expansion will be free for all, unlocking for subscribers on 3 December, Preferred on 14 January, and Free on 4 February. Galactic Starfighter will include 12v12 PvP (not PvE) space battles, but no increase in the level cap, no new planet, and no space-based PvE content. However, it does include what sounds like an alternative advancement path specific to Galactic Starfighter, separate from regular character progression.

5. Community

6. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @Swtorfamily (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @MatTaylor22, @GregCarter78, @ZenOfDesign, @masterbearjedi (Raz), @ForceChuckle, @Freakin_Ninja (Oni), @ChazLobo, @RPGbeatsRL (Simon from the Flashpoint podcast at The Oceanic Gamer), @bytorsnowdog (Snowy), @DurtaDurta (Slade), @TheTurg, @swtorLFGdevs (Davidb) and @IzaakTheMad, emails from Jesus, Neiro, Tarkko, Darth Khalidin and AwesomeSellars, and comments from Oxi-Jin and NecktieFighter.

Snowy’s trooper with the glowing gloves on Oricon:

  Izaak’s most awesome background, featuring the artwork of Adam Schumpert:

7. Sarlacc Digest

Our topic this week was discussing the proposal that solo ranked arenas matches should require participants to have an Expertise rating of 2018, thus ensuring they have only PvP gear (Partisan, Conqueror, Obroan). We had some great community feedback on the proposal, which very much informed the debate. Thanks to Spero, @JediKrackr, @GregCarter78, @Geldarion (Drew from Corellian Run Radio), @Lawilc01 (Laurie M), @TheTurg and @therealHausman (Jacob).

We also covered the Elo rating system, which apparently forms the basis of the solo and group rating used for ranked warzone arenas.

Notes

1. Rob Hinkle on handling the disconnection of a team member during a ranked match.
2. For unranked queuing, arenas are considered a type (with three maps), equivalent to the other warzones (Huttball, Voidstar, Civil War, Novarre Coast and Ancient Hypergate); this means there should be a 1/6 chance of getting into an arena when you queue.
3. We recommend Geldarion’s latest article in his Tactical Strike column, “Arenas – A First Look”.

8. 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.

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There’s not much news in the lull before Game Update 2.4: The Dread War drops next week. This gave us an opportunity to celebrate our 100th episode, discussing the show’s origin, how we make it, and a whole lot more!

1. Introduction

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, Kal!

3. Trivia question

This week’s question is a Who Am I question: I am involved in only one Star Wars film, yet I have had lasting influence on the series. Before movies, I filmed bombing runs in WWII and helped document the liberation of the concentration camps and the signing of the armistice. I have worked with Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, and even the Beatles. And if Chill had been really clever, he would have asked this question about me last episode. Who am I?

Please send your answer to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday. Winners will be put in a draw to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

4. Holofeed

• Game Update 2.3.3a was deployed on Thursday morning to fix the performance issues experienced by many players in CZ-198. It was originally planned for Wednesday, but wasn’t ready in time (or as Amber put it, “Testing revealed that CZ-198 wasn’t improved to full”).
• For Apple device owners, the upgrade to iOS 7 didn’t work so well for the SWTOR mobile authenticator app. BioWare provided detailed instructions on how to work around the issue.
• On Thursday night (US time), the second in the series of promotions for warzone arenas was live-streamed on MMORPG.com’s Twitch channel, featuring the guild “We Are Farmers”. Eric Musco, Bruce Maclean and Rob Hinkle joined once more, and let us know that web-based leaderboards would be available at the start of season 1, which will occur a “little while” after Game Update 2.4.
• The PTS was shut down on Friday morning, concluding the testing of Game Update 2.4: The Dread War.
• If you’re interested in the Cassus Fett’s Armor (coming in the Pursuer’s Bounty Pack due on Thursday), the set can be completed in the Collections UI without the belt.This is a bug that will be fixed in Game Update 2.4, so only a few days to take advantage of this!
• An apparently minor (but much sort after) change in Game Update 2.4 will be that lore outfits can be dyed!

5. Community

We recommend the SWTOR Escape Pod Cast (RSS, iTunes), hosted by Max and Sema of the AIE guild on Jedi Covenant. For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com).

6. Force Feedback

We discuss tweets from @Swtorfamily (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @TheMalgadar, @YojeVawree, @ben_b55, @GTeeg (Gaddock Teeg of the Unnamed SWTOR Podcast), @GregCarter78, @ChazLobo, @K0h4ku (Amber Green, SWTOR’s Live Services Specialist), @bigfatpj (PJ), @_Baffle, @GnomeFTW, @lwbuck (Leonard Buckley), @masterbearjedi (Raz), @RPGbeatsRL (Simon of the Flashpoint podcast), @Casmas_ (Cas), @fnord3125, @ArrTeaBee, @DurtaDurta, @TrueBluecoltfan, @SimonRoffe, @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong) and @pvdblog (Green Armadillo), emails from Rub, Grim, Hansgruber (ho ho ho), Rindialo, Trev, Pallais and Brian, and comments from Madman, Michael and The Malgadar.

We’ll be discussing Green Armadillo’s blog post, “Content Sales, or Lack Thereof in SWTOR”, next week.

Here’s PJ giving his speech to a Dreadlord’s minions in Scum and Villainy:

Simon’s sample post for the /fubar emote:

Simon also points at Sony’s Digital Recording Binoculars, which appear to be macrobinoculars!

@ArrTeaBee provides this awesome image of his new Bounty Hunter with his trophy kill:

@TrueBluecoltfan refers us to the Paradise Desk project on Kickstarter. Could be worth supporting!

The Jedi-themed bedroom via @SimonRoffe:

Moff Chong’s new helmet (or perhaps not):

7. Sarlacc Digest

We celebrate our 100th episode! The discussion includes Chill recounting how OotiniCast came to be, and Teo describing the production process. Plenty of reminiscing, as we contemplate the journey that we embarked on two years ago.

8. Outro

Thanks to Oni (@Freakin_Ninja), 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.

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Not too much news this week, though we do have the Rise of the Hutt Cartel digital expansion now being available for free to subscribers! Redna is also back, and provides yet more tidbits from the Community Cantina in Seattle.

1. Introduction

Here is the screenshot that Red mentioned, where his team won The Civil War without the middle turret ever being captured:

Red is also now streaming regularly on Twitch.

2. Tip of the week

Congratulations to this week’s winner, ChazLobo! Please send your tips to ootinicast@gmail.com by next Wednesday for a chance to win a Tawnfaun code, courtesy of BioWare, and an OotiniCast-provided Cartel Market pack from the latest shipment.

3. Holofeed

• The minor patch 2.3.2a was deployed on Friday morning (US time), to remove references to the as yet unavailable function that allows Cartel Coins to be purchased in-game.
• Another minor patch, 2.3.2b, was deployed on Wednesday morning (US time) to fix an issue that was kicking players to the character selection screen.
• Some organisational news from EA: Matthew Bromberg, who became General Manager of BioWare Austin shortly before the announcement of free-to-play, has been promoted to lead BioWare. Jeff Hickman, SWTOR’s Executive Producer, replaces him as GM. Does this mean that SWTOR will have a new Executive Producer (such as Bruce Maclean), or will Jeff wear both hats?
• Bounty Contract Week is here again, running through until 5am CDT next Tuesday (17 September). That’s the usual start of maintenance, when Game Update 2.3.3 may be deployed. Note that (as of Game Update 2.3.2) each specific Kingpin contract (that is, for a given planet) can only be done once per week per character, though now rewards a purple reputation item.
• For those Jedi Knights and Consular who have unlocked the GTN on their personal starships, you may notice that the GTN terminal has moved! It is now located next to the Cargo Bay access upstairs.
• There was a UI issue that was causing some achievements (such as those associated with space missions) to be incorrectly shown as completed, giving the impression they were stuck in the achievement tracker. This is now fixed, and Amber assures us that no one’s achievements were revoked!
• The White/White and Black/Black dye modules, which were mentioned as being available in Game Update 2.3.2 (costing 1000 and 2000 Cartel Coins respectively) apparently appeared over the weekend on the Cartel Market, and then disappeared. While it was intended that players would be informed prior to their sale, this didn’t happen. The moral of this story is to check for Cartel Market additions and specials every day, particularly on weekends!
• The testing of Game Update 2.4 continues, with another PTS update. This includes some most awesome improvements to the GTN interface!
• From Thursday 12 September, subscribers will be granted free access to the Rise of the Hutt Cartel digital expansion (this access is retained if the subscription subsequently lapses); anyone with an active subscription who had purchased the expansion prior to that will be granted a title (“The Risen”). Any subscriber who had purchased the expansion between 11 August and 12 September will be granted 1050 Cartel Coins (the amount purchasable for $US9.99, the cost of the expansion for subscribers).

4. Community

Special thanks to our guildmate PJ for providing the funds needed to purchase the fourth Guild Bank tab for Ootini Knights! It has been named the “HRT Closet” in honour of his favourite V8 Supercar racing team, the Holden Racing Team. For those interested in joining Ootini Fight Club for some endgame PvP, please contact Chong by email (empiredivider@gmail.com).

5. Force Feedback

Thanks to Oxi-jin for his most generous comment provided for episode 97. It really brightened our days! In this Reddit post, it’s suggested that the following image in CZ-198’s Czerka Corporate Labs flashpoint is actually a reference to the Super Secret Space Project:

We discuss tweets from @Swtorfamily (be sure to follow him back to join the #swtorfamily!), @ForceChuckle, @bytorsnowdog (Snowy), @Enyonix, @Telenroidswtor, @FerrousTerran, @eG_acefisher1 (Danny), @AckaanTalgala (Akaan Darasuum), @jeffyjaws, @GregCarter78 and @EmpireDivider (Moff Chong), emails from Awesome Sellars (happy birthday, mate!), Spero and Oryan’s Belt, and comments from The Malgadar, Masterbearjedi and Tim (Gasguy192). Snowy’s Trooper is back and ready to rumble!

@FerrousTerran recommends The Muppets – Bobo’s Star Wars Auditions on YouTube. Chong sent us this screenshot indicating “Corellia has a lot of droid-interpretive-dancing going on”:

Chong also found a charming scene involving a SWTOR NPC making a snow wookie. Oryan’s Belt recommends that SWTOR introduces the “Pimp” class to incentivise playing the Cathar species:

6. Sarlacc Digest

Redna regales us with his own informational nuggets gleaned from the Community Cantina in Seattle, adding to Chill’s detailed coverage.

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.