Hurray for a weekend!  Well for most of us anyway.  It's been a fairly slow news week in the world of SW:ToR.  Just a lot of bugs being fixed with a few tweaks.  Below you will find the patch notes for 1.1.4 which is now hitting the test servers.  Again, nothing fancy.

 

General

• The key formerly bound to /bug can now be mapped to any action and no longer opens the /bug window. The command is no longer able to be bound to a quickslot, but player can still type /bug in chat to open a new bug report.

Classes and Combat

General

• Using abilities with indirect targeting (such as area of effect abilities) will no longer cause players to be flagged for PvP if a PvP-flagged player from the opposing faction is within the ability's range, and the ability will have no effect on the PvP-flagged player.

Imperial Agent

Operative

• Medical Therapy: Kolto Probe and Recuperative nanotech will now properly benefit from this skill.

Bounty Hunter

Powertech

• Carbonize: PvP armor for Combat Tech will no longer prevent this skill from stunning enemies.

Flashpoints and Operations

Operations

Eternity Vault

• Casting Mind Trap will no longer cause Soa to lose threat against his primary target.

Karagga's Palace

• G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator now has fewer hit points in Normal Mode.

Items

Vendors

• "Show Usable" now properly filters to only show equipable items.

Missions and NPCs

Missions

Republic

• Unlikely Allies: Resetting no longer requires players to abandon and re-acquire the mission in order to complete it.

PvP

Warzones

General

• Fixed a queue interface exploit that allowed players to bring additional players into a warzone. While imbalances can still happen under specific circumstances, the issue can no longer be intentionally triggered by players in this way. *UPDATED*

Alderaan Civil War

• The Eastern Turret no longer fires twice under some circumstances when it is captured by the Imperials.

UI

General

• Added a /version command.
• Added several new preferences for cooldown appearance:
  • Show Ready Flash: Toggles a bright flash when an ability finishes cooldown.
  • Show Global Cooldown Ready Flash: Toggles a bright flash when an ability finishes global cooldown.
  • Cooldown Style: Changes the art style for the cooldown graphic.
  • Global Cooldown Style: Changes the art style for the global cooldown graphic.
  • Show Cooldown Timer: Toggles cooldown time text on top of the ability icon in the quickbar.

Bug Fixes

• Sorting will now function properly in the Guild Window.
• Items placed in a quickbar are no longer removed when training abilities.
• Using Shift + Right Click to split a stack of usable items will no longer cause the item to be used.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Players will no longer experience occasional disconnection when purchasing Crafting Materials from the GTN.

 

Ahhh it's been a wonderful day here at LoC HQ.  Constant 8 mans and tons of gear to be had.  It's almost like Christmas, again.  We would just like to take the time to say thank you for all of your hard work and guild dedication over the last two months.  We've laughed and cried… cried more than laughed but who's counting.  Anyway, keep up the great work!

I know, I know… You've been asking, "Where's the news?!"  I've been pretty busy so I haven't been able to keep up as well as I would've liked, but that's real life for a news editor.  So without further ado here is what I've found.

Some minor adjustments to classes, though Sith Inquisitor's may want to take a look below as you have a some major changes. 

It also, looks like Biochem is taking another hit.  Biochem unique Rakata stims and adrenals have been reduced in power and are now equivalent to their Energized counterparts.  To balance this, Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals are no longer bound to Biochemists.  Yay!  They can now be sold/transferred to other players.  Our Biochem's better make some money while the markets are primed.

There was also some PvP changes listed in the forums by Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller.  Here is what he wrote:

The number of commendations in Champion and Battlemaster Bags has been greatly increased, and the direct item trade tokens appear less frequently in Champion Bags. This change allows players to obtain PvP gear at a steady and significantly more predictable rate with an occasional bonus.

For the PvP'ers out there this came as a bit of a shock and potential riot inducing comment.  Getting tokens is hard enough and know they are going to nerf our bonus free items?  Wait!  Zoeller, overwhelmed by the forum, hit his reply button and added the following:

It's obvious from comments here that the patch note is not specific enough, so we'll get it updated before the patch goes to the live servers. Here are some specifics:

Champion Bags now always contain 15 Centurion Commendations AND 7 Champion Commendations. Battlemaster Bags now always contain 15 Champion Commendations. So Centurion gearing up progression for new level 50s is increased significantly and Champion gearing up progression will be steady.

The cost of Champion and Centurion items are NOT changing.

Hurray!!  Finally, we get a boost in the PvP field… and that's not all.  We also got a sneak peak into Patch 1.2.  Which is slated to include, extractable base mods from purple items, ranked Warzones, critical crafting successeson orange outfits, more bind-on-equip schematic drops for artifice and other professions, increased relevance  of augments and a better reverse engineering chance.

 

Below are the patch notes.  Happy Friday!!

 

Patch 1.1.2

Classes and Combat

General

• Improved response time for ability activation requests in low-framerate situations.
• Implemented further improvements to ability responsiveness and client-side anticipation of ability executions.
• The activation bar now appears at the correct time (when the activation of an ability begins) and disappears when activation is complete.
• If Sprint was active when a player died, it now remains active when the player is revived.
• Abilities on cooldown are now more easily distinguished from abilities that can be used.

Jedi Knight

Sentinel

• Pacify: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Watchman

• Plasma Blades: Now increases damage dealt by burn effects by 5% per point.
• Searing Saber: Now correctly modifies the critical damage dealt by burn effects.
• Changes to Searing Saber and Plasma Blades result in an overall increase in Damage Per Second.

Sith Warrior

Marauder

• Obfuscate: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Annihilation

• Hemorrhage: Now increases damage dealt by bleed effects by 5% per point.
• Bleedout: Now correctly modifies critical damage dealt by bleed effects.
• Changes to Hemorrhage and Bleedout result in an overall increase in Damage Per Second.

Jedi Consular

General

• Unity: Now properly provides damage reduction when used.

Shadow

• All Techniques now cost 100 Force.
• Force Technique's Force Breach now also deals damage when applied. Overall damage dealt by this ability has not changed.

Kinetic Combat

·         Technique Mastery: No longer increases the duration of Force Technique's Breach effect. It now increases the damage dealt by Force Technique.

·         Particle Acceleration: This skill now also triggers from Spinning Strike. It now triggers from damage dealt (rather than ability use) such that each hit of Spinning Strike, Double Strike, and Whirling blow have an individual chance to yield the Particle Acceleration buff. The chance to trigger has been reduced to 30% per hit, and it now properly increases the critical damage dealt by Project when a Force Potency charge is consumed.

·         Harnessed Shadows: Stacks of Harnessed Shadows now last 30 seconds. Using Slow Time now yields a stack of Harnessed Shadows.

Infiltration

·         Circling Shadows: Now requires the purchase of the Shadow Technique skill. Shadow Technique must be active in order to trigger the Circling Shadows buff. This skill now also triggers from Spinning Strike.

Balance (Shared Tree)

• Force Focus: Now additionally lowers the cooldown of Force Breach while Force Technique is active.
• Force Strike: Now triggers from activating melee attacks that hit a target affected by Force Technique's Breach effect. This effect now triggers more easily but cannot trigger as frequently.
• Force in Balance: Heals the caster for 1% of maximum health for each target struck. This healing effect can no longer crit and no longer consumes Force Potency charges.
• Psychic Absorption: Now doubles the amount of healing generated by Force in Balance and Focused Insight.

Sith Inquisitor

Assassin

• All Saber Charges now cost 100 Force.
• Lightning Charge's Discharge now also deals damage when applied. Overall damage dealt by this ability has not changed.

Darkness

·         Charge Mastery: No longer increases the duration of Lightning Charge's Discharge effect. It now increases the damage dealt by Lightning Charge.

·         Energize: This skill now also triggers from Assassinate. It now triggers from damage dealt (rather than ability use) such that each hit of Assassinate, Thrash, and Lacerate have an individual chance to yield the Energize buff. The chance to trigger has been reduced to 30% per hit.

·         Harnessed Darkness: Stacks of Harnessed Darkness now last 30 seconds. Using Wither now yields a stack of Harnessed Darkness.

Deception

·         Induction: Now requires the Surging Charge skill to be purchased and requires that Surging Charge is active in order to trigger the Induction buff. This skill now also triggers from Assassinate.

Madness (Shared Tree)

• Crackling Charge: Now additionally lowers the cooldown of Discharge while Lightning Charge is active.
• Raze: Now triggers from activating melee attacks that hit a target affected by Lightning Charge's Discharge effect. This effect now triggers more easily but cannot trigger as frequently.
• Death Field: Heals the caster for 1% of maximum health for each target struck. This healing effect can no longer crit and no longer consumes Recklessness charges.
• Devour: Now doubles the amount of healing generated by Death Field and Parasitism.

Smuggler

Gunslinger

Sharpshooter

• Diversion: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Imperial Agent

Sniper

Marksmanship

• Diversion: This ability can no longer be used on Operation Boss enemies.

Bounty Hunter

Powertech

Advanced Prototype

• Hydraulic Overrides: Visual and sound effects are now easier to recognize.

Trooper

General

• Troopers can now access their ship after leaving and returning to Corellia within 30 minutes.

Vanguard

Tactics

• Hold the Line: Visual and sound effects are now easier to recognize.

Companion Characters

General

• Companion Characters no longer occasionally appear unclothed when summoned.

Companions

Doc

• Crazy Talk (mission): Male characters can now complete the conversation related to this mission.

Crew Skills

Crafting Skills

• Crafting skills no longer inform the player that no missions are defined for the Crew Skill.

Biochem

·         Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals no longer require Biochem to use.

·         Energized and Exotech stims and adrenals are no longer bound, allowing them to be traded or sold to other players.

·         Rakata reusable stims and adrenals have been reduced in power, providing buffs equal to Energized stims and adrenals.

·         The Exotech Med Unit schematic obtained from the Eternity Vault Operation now functions properly and can be learned.

Gathering Skills

• Slightly lowered the amount of resources gathered from harvested droids and creatures.

Flashpoints and Operations

General

• Players are now able to obtain destined loot from chests when Master Looter is enabled and they are not the Master Looter.

Flashpoints

The False Emperor

• Jindo Krey's ship no longer occasionally enters a state that prevents it from taking damage.

Kaon Under Siege

• Infected Mercenaries can no longer permanently stun players.

Operations

Eternity Vault

• Soa no longer resets if he uses Mind Trap on the main tank.

Karagga's Palace

• The chest that is awarded for defeating Karagga on Nightmare Mode no longer appears partially inside a wall and now properly spawns.
• Foreman Crusher's Perforating Rend now correctly applies itself to targets caught within the conical attack.
• Jarg & Sorno: The Carbonizer Probe no longer disappears if all of the players who attacked it died before the Carbonizer Probe was destroyed.
• Karagga no longer appears above portions of the walls during the fight.

Items

General

• Rakata weapons are now correctly rating 140 and are fitted with mark 25 modifications. These items were previously less powerful than intended.
• The number of commendations in Champion and Battlemaster Bags has been greatly increased, and the direct item trade tokens appear less frequently in Champion Bags. This change allows players to obtain PvP gear at a steady and significantly more predictable rate with an occasional bonus.

Vendors

• It is no longer possible to purchase items while holding down the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys.

Legacy

General

• The Legacy Experience required to advance to Legacy Levels beyond 20 has been increased.

Missions and NPCs

General

• Commendation rewards for Hard Mode Flashpoint daily and weekly missions and Operation weekly missions have been increased.

Missions

Imperial

• General Faraire: Khourlet's Elite Guards no longer hide behind a door, preventing progression in this mission.
• Last Stand: Players are now able to complete this mission as long as the Voss Scholars are inside the prison cell.
• The Big Show: Using Force Cloak, dying, or leaving the phase while on the step "Defeat the Screaming Blade Cultists" can no longer cause the necessary NPCs to disappear and prevent mission progress.

Republic

• Leave Nothing Behind: The Frozen Biomass Container now remains lootable if the loot window is closed.
• Most Wanted: A mission item can no longer be rolled on if it is looted while the player is in a group.
• Need to Impress: Players can now speak to Ambassador Jannik if they have already completed the mission Gormak Country.
• The Lightspring: The toughness of Vaverone Zare and Nariel Pridence has been decreased. This mission can no longer be failed.
• The Shadow Fist: Mission progress for players who are on this mission has been reset to the first step. Players can no longer become locked out of the stealth generator room.

Bug Fixes

• Bonus Series missions on Tatooine can now be abandoned.

PvP

World PvP

Ilum

• Particle Cannons can no longer be permanently disabled.
• Players now receive notification when they kill a target that is not worth Valor due to being killed too recently.

Space Combat

General

• The speed of enemy Ion Cannons has been reduced to improve balance in high-level Space Combat Missions.

UI

General

• The reverse engineering button no longer occasionally disappears after a crafting skill is initially learned.

Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Loading screens no longer appear in low resolution if the player selects the low-resolution texture option in preferences.
• Facial animations no longer fail to play correctly in some instances.
• During brief teleports, the splash screen does not appear incorrectly over loading screens.
• Players will no longer experience limited audio, black portraits, or the inability to initiate conversations when they reconnect after being disconnected.

 

It's Siin here with another interesting update from SWToR.  BioWare has been talking about doing "content" releases on a regular basis but I doubt that very many people in the MMO community really believed that would happen.  Well guess what... it is and it's going to be free!  Holy crap a game that charges monthly fees not asking for more money?  January 17, 2012 will introduce a new content pack called "Rise of the Rakghouls".

The story contains a planet that is in desperate need for help because a virus is slowly infecting the population and turning them in monsters that crave flesh (Zombies anyone?).  Anyway, both the Republic and the Empire are trying to win the alliance of this planet so both have offered helped.  

This content will offer new missions and flashpoints and according to BioWare this will be one of their smaller content releases with the next one coming out in March.

Our friends over at G4TV.com had an interview with BioWare's James Ohlen, The Old Republic's game director.  Take the time to read through it.  It's refreshing to see a company have at least a small clue about how gamers feel.


Building A Better Endgame
First we talked Rise of the Rakghouls. Like the new Operation content, this is an endgame story recommended for a group of level 50 players to tackle. It's a big story, set on the planet of Kaon in the Tion Hegemony. Big enough, in fact, that a single update isn't even enough to contain it.

"The Flashpoint is called Rise of the Rakghouls, and it's a huge, epic storyline that takes place over two parts," Ohlen said. "So part one takes place in our first game update, the game update coming out next week, and part two takes place in our second... major game update, which comes out in March."

Accessing the Flashpoint works just like any other, with the mission entry point accessed from your chosen faction's fleet. Kaon isn't a new planet with separate quest hubs and the like that you'll be able to explore. "It's basicaly a Flashpoint planet," Ohlen said.
There's also Karagga's Palace, which expands significantly with the coming update. The Operation, which is inspired by the early scenes in Jabba's Palace from Return of the Jedi, launched as a pretty barebones fight against a rancor. Fan-pleasing, sure. But not the sort of epic story one would expect based on how the rest of the game plays.

"You fight a rancor in the very first encounter of Karagga's Palace, but then after that it basically ended there and you didn't get to continue," Ohlen told me. "Now we've added four new boss monsters, we've added new cinematics. We've really beefed it up so it's comparable to our other Operation, called Eternity Vault. So now it's a full-fledged, multi-boss Operation that I think players are gonna really enjoy. The final boss is pretty unique in Star Wars, so I think people will like it."


What Lies Ahead For A Galaxy Far, Far Away
There's a lot more to come too. Looking ahead, Ohlen described to me how the development team is driven by a desire to give the fans their money's worth. People are paying monthly subscription fees, after all, and in a market that is increasingly filled with free-to-play massively multiplayer experiences, it's going to take more than just the Star Wars branding and BioWare's rock-solid reputation to compete.
"We have a big plan for updating the game on a regular basis," Ohlen said. "We know that if we're going to be accepted in the long-term, we have to prove to our fans that we're gonna support them, that there's gonna be new games systems and new content coming out all the time. That's what really is going to make them feel like this is an ever-growing, living Star Wars universe."

"So the first update that's coming out in a week is just to show them that we're serious about that. Then the second update, coming in March, has a lot bigger scope in terms of what we're releasing. And then after March, we have the third game udpate, the fourth game update. We're gonna have multiple game updates over the course of the year to continue adding content for level 50 characters."
Ohlen then ran through some of the content you can expect to see. Not much in the way of specifics, naturally, but the general tone of things. Operations and Flashpoints. More PvP WarZones. An expansion to the Legacy system, which you'll also be hearing more about later today. New guild features like guild banks. Single player-oriented content too, to give level 50 characters some more story to play through.
"We also have a team that's focused on creating events within the galaxy that make the galaxy feel like it's a living, breathing place where things happen all the time and things change," Ohlen added. "The great thing is, because the Star Wars: The Old Republic development team has stayed together, we haven't moved on to different projects, we haven't had to let people go... it allows us to develop an amazing amount of content, especially now that we've got all of our tools and all of our pipelines done."
"I think our fans... are going to be amazed at how much new content and how many new game systems they're seeing coming out on a regular basis."

With all of this talk of new content, I started to wonder what sort of approach the team is taking to more elaborate content releases, the sorts of expansions that bump up level caps, add significant new locations and continue telling the ongoing central story. Ohlen told me that such things are in the cards, but definitely not a focus right now.

"Obviously we're interested in doing expansion packs, but that's further in the future," he said. "Right now we want to focus on the free content. People are paying a monthly subscription, so they want to feel like they're getting their money's worth. Instead of focusing on expansion packs, we want to focus our energy on all of this free content that we're going to be delivering on a regular basis."
While the overriding philosophy of giving players the value they deserve is key to this direction, there's also the basic fact that most subscribers are still playing through what came with the game at launch. While it's true that it hasn't even been a month since the December 20 release, but gamers tend to be a tenacious bunch when it comes to plowing through favorite games.
Ohlen told me that the team recognizes this, and is pleased to see that there was enough content in The Old Republic at launch to still be keeping even some of the most dedicated players busy with their starting characters.

"We don't have a lot of people who have actually finished all the other game content, you know, gone through and done the Eternity Vault on Hard mode and Nightmare mode. Which is a good sign! We don't want players to chew through the content too quickly. But we do have a lot of level 50s, that's for sure."

Ohlen went on to tell me that the play stats are showing some amazing numbers. The average time for a typical play session is much higher than it is on any other games that the team has data on. "People, when they start a play session of Star Wars: The Old Republic, they want to play for a long time," Ohlen said.
"The unfortunate thing about that is, of course, they chew through our content real fast. Which is why we need to get that Legacy system out and also why we need to continue to provide the high-level elder game content, so they still have stuff to do."


Exploring The Expanded Universe Of Star Wars
Any MMO is a monumental undertaking, but Star Wars takes things to another level. This is more than just an established franchise. It's a transmedia universe with collected lore that spans film, TV, books, comics, video games and more. The so-called Star Wars Expanded Universe is a powerful draw for fans of the original film series, and those fans -- myself being one of them -- have been quick to notice elements in the game that nod to some seriously deep-cut EU releases.

"At BioWare, we've always been very serious about the source material," Ohlen replied when I commented on this faithfulness. "Back in the Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights days when we were making Dungeons & Dragons games, we knew that Dungeons & Dragons fans were... very, very serious about the source material, and so we were very serious about the source material. The writers had to make sure they were immersed in all of the lore."

"That's the same thing we did with Knights of the Old Republic and The Old Republic. All the writers are very immersed in all the lore of Star Wars in that time era."
The team turns to a variety of sources for their information. They take it on firsthand, of course, reading books and comics, playing games, things like that. LucasArts is also working closely with BioWare, taking care to provide info. And then, there's always amassed collection of knowledge that is the Internet.

"To tell you the truth, one of our secret weapons is Wookieepedia. If you've ever been there, it's really useful for finding out all of the Star Wars lore," Ohlen said, chuckling. Most of what's in the game is pure Star Wars, pulled from one source or another, but that doesn't also mean that some creative strokes are being added. In the end though, it all comes back to servicing the fans.

"Obviously we added some new lore to the game in the world of Voss. Voss is a new world for the Star Wars universe. But one of our strategies was: the Star Wars universe is pretty huge, there's a lot of different races and planets and things that Star Wars fans would love to see in a video game. So instead of going out and creating a whole bunch of new stuff, we'll create SOME new stuff but we'll also give a chance for players to see some of these worlds that they've read about but have never been able to visit in a video game."
Hearing all of this, my fanboy thoughts immediately turned to one of the more notable examples of Star Wars Expanded Universe fiction: the New Jedi Order arc of novels released a few years ago and the terrifying extra-galactic invaders that those novels introduced, the Yuuzhan Vong. The Vong's arrival in the Star Wars galaxy sparked a massive war that resulted in the death of more than a few major characters.

So I asked Ohlen: might we see the Vong in a future expansion or content update? Is the team even considering how they might fit into a game like The Old Republic? The answer he gave was very encouraging.

"The Yuuzhan Vong... we're very familiar with them," Ohlen said. "You never know! The thing about The Old Republic is, we want to have this game running for years and years, and we're all about story. We're gonna eventually explore almost every corner of the Star Wars universe if we have a chance, so I would say that there's a good chance that the Yuuzhan Vong will show up at some point."

Hello folks!  That's right, it's news time here at LoC.  SWToR has announced their latest Public Test Server patch back on the 6th.  It looks like there are going to be some awesome changes, so take the time and read through them.  Just keep in mind that Test Server patches are subject to change.  Also, there a few things that arn't listed.  Such as new 28 level 50 weapons and 18 additional quests.  

We would also like to take this time to welcome all of the new members!  Feel free to hop on TeamSpeak and join the rest of us or use one of the empty channels to chat with your friends.

As always, get your butts out there show the Republic who's really in charge!  See you all on the field!

Hello everyone! We are excited to announce that today’s patch for our Public Test Server brings you the first of many content updates for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. It includes some exciting content additions, including a new Flashpoint, Kaon Under Siege, and four new boss additions to Operation: Karagga’s Palace. You’ll also notice changes to Open World PvP on Ilum.

As with every update, 1.1 includes many high-priority bug fixes. We have corrected the issue that prevented some Jedi Knights from progressing in Kira Carsen’s affection conversations, made some previously inaccessible Datacrons reachable, and have made many fixes to various issues in Flashpoints and Operations.

We are looking forward to your feedback about the changes we have made, and we appreciate you using the Public Test Server forums to report any bugs you encounter while playing on it. Thank you for playing Star Wars: The Old Republic!


Note: The Public Test Server patch notes will be provided in English. The final release notes will be provided in English, French, and German when the content is moved to live servers.




Star Wars: The Old Republic - Game Update 1.1



General
Anti-aliasing is now available and can be enabled in the preferences menu.

Classes and Combat

General
Healing caused by crowd control abilities no longer generates threat.
Tooltips for abilities modified by skill points now display correct damage values.

Guard
This ability now transfers to a new friendly target without requiring deactivation on the previous target.
Activating this ability while targeting a guarded or invalid target will still toggle the Guard ability off.
A distinct visual effect is now present on characters using Guard on another character, and another effect is now present on the guarded character if they leave Guard’s range.
Taunt
A new visual effect has been added to the user and the target of the Taunt ability for the duration of its effect.

Jedi Consular
Project: This ability no longer shakes the screen of onlookers.

Shadow
Battle Readiness: Now allows Combat Technique to trigger once every 3 seconds.
Combat Technique: Healing received through Combat Technique has been increased, scales properly at higher levels, and can only be triggered once every 4.5 seconds.
Slow Time: This ability’s damage has been increased by 15% and it now slows the movement speed of all affected targets.

Jedi Knight
Force Leap: This ability no longer functions on Portable Holo Dancers.


Sith Inquisitor

Assassin
Dark Charge: Healing received through Dark Charge has been increased, scales properly at higher levels, and can only be triggered once every 4.5 seconds.
Overcharge Saber: Now allows Dark Charge to trigger once every 3 seconds.
Wither: Damage has been increased by 15% and it now slows the movement speed of all affected targets.

Sith Warrior
Intercede: This ability no longer functions on Portable Holo Dancers.
Shatter: this ability’s tooltip now correctly reflects its damage; damage from this ability has not been adjusted.


Imperial Agent

Bug Fixes
Corrected an issue where activating cover, using Explosive Probe, and then using Snipe could cause Snipe to be interrupted.

Bounty Hunter

General
Incendiary Missile: This ability is no longer misclassified as an Area of Effect ability.

Companion Characters


General
C2-N2 and 2V-R8 no longer vocalize crafting commentary during combat.
The Carbonized Stream companion ability no longer breaks prematurely.

Companions

Kira Carsen
Fixed an issue that caused players to be unable to progress in Kira’s affection conversations. Players previously affected by this issue can now speak to Kira and progress normally.

Bug Fixes
Companions will now sell trash items when requested, regardless of group size.
Companion healing abilities no longer apply a permanent green effect on the character.
Fixed an issue that caused Companion Characters to sometimes have the incorrect appearance in cinematics.

Crew Skills

Bug Fixes
Corrected an issue that prevented recently completed Crew Skill missions from showing up in the next list of available missions.
Fixed a bug that could cause Crew Skills a character didn’t have to appear in the Crew Skills window.
Players can no longer loot harvesting nodes they do not have the appropriate Crew Skill for after a group member harvests (but does not loot) a node.

Flashpoints and Operations


General
A new level 50 Flashpoint, Kaon Under Siege, is now available for play in Normal and Hard Modes!
The Gav Daragon and the Ziost Shadow have been expanded to accommodate the Kaon Under Siege gateway.
The difficulty of some non-boss enemies in Flashpoints has been adjusted.
Enemies now drop credits more frequently in Flashpoints.

Flashpoints

Cademimu
General Ortol’s rocket fire damage no longer occurs when the rocket is not active.

The Black Talon
Some enemies in this Flashpoint are no longer invisible.

The Foundry
Corrected an issue that could cause the final boss to become stuck at 10% health.

The Battle of Ilum
Krel Thak’s Allied Weequay Pirates have had their toughness reduced in Hard Mode.

The False Emperor
The Sith Entity’s affliction ability now properly deals damage in Hard Mode.
HK-47 now has the correct amount of health in Normal Mode.

Operations

Eternity Vault
Players are now able to successfully loot the chest after defeating the Infernal Council.
Perimeter Defense Cannons have been re-tuned and have improved targeting behaviors.
Soa’s Mind Trap and Force Throw abilities no longer target the same player multiple times; they now target every player in the group once.
Ball lightning enemies summoned by Soa deal damage in a smaller radius.
The Annihilation Droid’s rocket burst attack no longer deals double damage in 16-player Operations.
Soa now summons fewer ball lightning enemies during the final round in 16-player Operations.

Karagga’s Palace
Four new bosses can now be battled by players in Karagga’s Palace!
Players no longer get stuck attempting to exit the Karagga’s Palace phase.

Bug Fixes

Flashpoints
Corrected an issue that prevented some enemy NPCs from spawning in Flashpoints.
The correct error message now displays when a player attempts to enter a different Flashpoint than the rest of the group.
Flashpoint gateways no longer display as orange in incorrect circumstances.
Fixed an issue that prevented Flashpoint difficulty from being set properly.
Fixed an issue that caused mapnotes directing players to some Flashpoints to not appear correctly.
Corrected map issues that made locating mission objectives on the Gav Daragon difficult.
Fixed an issue preventing some players from opening a chest after a boss fight if the group was previously defeated by the boss.

Items

General
An Item Modification Table has been added to the Supplies areas of the Republic and Imperial Fleets.

PvP
Battlemaster Gear Tokens have been converted into Battlemaster Commendations, which can be used to purchase any Battlemaster gear. This allows players to purchase any piece of gear instead of requiring them to purchase the piece indicated by the token.
Battlemaster Bags now contain Battlemaster Commendations instead of Battlemaster Gear Tokens. They still also contain Champion Commendations.

Missions and NPCs

General
All Bonus Series missions and their required missions can now be abandoned.
Certain Wampas on Hoth that were preying on lower-level characters have had their level reduced.

Missions

Imperial
Pressure Points: The Lerantha Lurker no longer engages players in combat before completing its spawn sequence.
Geroya be Haran: Objectives related to this mission now glow when selected.
In Cold Blood: Enemies that use Armor Piercing Cell during this mission no longer each stack a debuff on the player.
Shadow Spawn: The Sith Spawn no longer knocks players down for longer than intended.
Thuggish Behavior: Corrected an issue that could cause the player to remain stuck in combat during this mission. The required kills to complete this mission have been reduced.

Republic
Climbing the Ladder: A conversation related to this mission no longer ends prematurely.
Droid Clean Up: Corrected an issue that caused the bonus mission to persist in the player’s mission log.
The Summit: The difficulty of the encounter with Sidone has been reduced.
Vivicar Awaits: Lowered the amount of enemies that attack the player during the step “Find a Way Past the Force Field.”

NPCs


Bug Fixes
Jilcoln Cadera’s abilities now correctly take into account whether a player is immune from knockbacks.
The “Primal Destroyer” World Boss on Belsavis is now “Overwhelming” as intended.
The World Boss “The First” on Dromund Kaas no longer inhibits Bounty Hunter’s Rapid Shots, and Imperial Agents will no longer be knocked out of cover during combat with it.
PvP

General
The shuttle room in Dorn Base Command Center on Hoth is no longer considered contested territory.
Ka on Voss is now a PvP Sanctuary.

Warzones
Level 50 players now participate in their own Warzone bracket and will not be matched with lower-level players.

Ilum
The daily and weekly mission objectives in Ilum now require defeating enemy players and/or collecting armaments from the center objective.
Players now gain increased Valor from player kills in Ilum.
Players now gain increased bonus Valor for kills based on the number of objectives controlled by their faction.
Increased bonus Valor is now granted for player kills when defending an objective your faction owns.
A notification is now displayed when a player gains Valor.
Three new respawn points have been added for each faction.
Companions are now restricted from the PvP objective area on Ilum.
Notifications are now displayed when enemy players are close to an objective.

Bug Fixes

General
The scoreboard value for “Highest Protection Per Single Life” now functions correctly.
Players who have left a Warzone can no longer receive an MVP vote from teammates.
Your PvP status will now be toggled automatically upon leaving a PvP region.
Additional feedback is now provided when a player attempts to toggle their PvP flag.
The Bolster tooltip now more accurately represents the buff’s effects.

Huttball
Corrected a rare issue that could cause the Frogdogs to be declared the winner in a 0-0 match even if the Rotworms held the ball last.

Ilum
Mountable turrets in Ilum no longer deal damage to targets behind them or outside their range.
Turrets no longer immediately dismount the player after use.

UI

Maps
Fixed a bug that prevented the minimap title from displaying when loading into the game or refreshing the UI.
Corrected an issue that caused some mapnotes to disappear from the minimap when other mapnotes were updated.

Items
Item hyperlinks now display stats for crafted research items properly.
Item hyperlinks no longer display erroneous additional information relating to schematics when examined.
Attempting to place a non-mission item into the mission inventory now displays an error message.
Dragging equipment onto the character paper doll no longer prompts an item deletion notice. Items dragged to the paper doll are now equipped if possible.
Item set bonuses now appear on the tooltip when viewing an item on a vendor.
Items that can be modified now display with the correct loot color in the loot roll window.
Comparative tooltips now correctly display stat differences when mousing over items in the Crew Skills window.

Bug Fixes
Fixed the tooltip display for ability cooldowns over one hour in length.
The interface for splitting stacks of items now displays correctly.
Servers that are online now always display on top of servers that are offline in the Server Select screen.
Corrected a typographical error in the “Additional Commands” context menu option.
Players nearby a player who achieves a new Legacy level no longer receive the Legacy level-up notification.
Legacy name display preferences now persist when travelling between planets.
A new confirmation dialogue now appears when submitting spam reports in game.
Sorting now works correctly in the Guilds tab.


Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
The owner of a holocall conversation is no longer shown in the last frame of the cinematic.
The spacebar button is now recognized when a player presses it to progress after a loading screen even if the spacebar button has been re-bound.
Additional issues that could impact performance on Taris have been addressed.
Vanity pets can no longer be considered targets for any abilities.
Corrected an issue that could cause some preferences to reset to defaults upon area transitions.
An Aim Datacron on Ilum is now accessible and no longer repeats its initial cinematic once used.
A Datacron on Coruscant is no longer blocked by unintentional collision.

I'm going to need you to go ahead and play on Sunday, too. We, uhhh, "lost" some light-side, treehuggin- ...umm... people this week and we sorta need to play catch-up. Mmmmmkay? Thaaaaaanks.

It's been a great week of SW:ToR early release game play, but now it's time to endure the masses.  Today is SWTOR's office release.  Don't forget to add your CD-Key to your account otherwise you won't be able play.  

We are on a fairly popular server please expect a bit of a wait during peak hours.  I, and many others for that matter, can say that these que times will go away after a week or 3.  So don't lose hope.  

Also, note that we have added a few new members to our family so please take some time and say hi, group up and enjoy killing your way through the galaxies.

Keep your eyes on our forums as we will start to add crafting sections as well as basic info.  There is already a list of what gifts work for each companion.

As, always get out there and have fun!