• Reverse Engineering Crafted Mods

    Reverse engineering mods can be a costly one, especially when you’re trying to build a stock of schematics you can craft to then sell on the Galactic Trade Network. This is also one of those hurdles, which we literally just spoke to in an article published moments ago, that can be hard to overcome for players trying to gear up. Well, apparently a few forum goers found out a “trick” that players could use to “bypass” this hurdle all together.

    SomeJagoff

    As is already known, when you try to RE other people's crafted mods, it says no research available, however, as I pulled out a mod that I know I bought off the gtn a few months ago to replace with a better one, I noticed that it said 20% chance to research a schem available. Out of curiosity, I threw the new mod that I just bought off the GTN into my armor, then pulled it out, same thing, research available. I didn't need the original mod that I pulled out, so I RE'd it for mats, didn't get a schem, but it did say research available. I also noticed that once you pull out somebody else's crafted mod from a piece of armor, the crafter's name is gone, in addition to the 20% research chance appearing. Since I only have done this once and won't be doing it again until I get better mods, I was wondering if anybody else has tried this with any success for a schematic? Just buying a mod off the gtn, throwing it into armor, pulling it out, then REing it for a schematic. I'm not sure if this is a glitch, as in there's NO research available, but the system is glitched and thinks that there is or if by putting the mod into the armor, it changes from a crafted mod to a generic mod and thus becomes researchable. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated!

    In response, BioWare outlined their stance on the issue.

    Allison Berryman

    We've seen players ask about this before, and have some clarification for you from Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer):

    This behavior was unintended, but we do not consider it an exploit. We do intend to make reverse engineering more consistent in the future, and that may be by not allowing this or by allowing players to reverse engineer this type of mod by design. We do not consider this a violation of the rules.

    For the thread in full, hit the official forum. 

  • Emmanuel Lusinchi on the State of End Game Gear and Item Modifications

    As more and more players approach level 50, concerns amongst the community have grown regarding the viability of moddable gear in the face of clearly superior end-game drops.  Perhaps to help curb some of this concern Emmanuel Lusinchi took to the forums to share some information about upcoming changes to end-game gear.

    Emmanuel Lusinchi
    The current situation with end game gear and item modifications isn’t final and, in fact, many community members like yourself have correctly guessed at what our plans to correct the current design are.

    Since this is a fairly important issue to many players, let me disclose more details about what is currently in the work regarding purple items and mods:

    - All partially moddable purple items will be made fully moddable again, allowing the removal of the armoring, hilt and barrel. 

    - The set bonus of end gear purples (PVP and PVE) will be transferable to custom items. 

    - Some item modifications will be restricted to a certain item type. For example, some item modifications will only fit on helmets, while other will only fit on chests, etc.

    As usual, the caveats about unfinished work apply, but this should give you and the community a very good idea of our intentions. We are serious about making custom gear an entirely valid alternative to end game gear and we support the players’ ability to customize their appearance all the way to (and including) end game.

    While obviously none of these changes are set in stone, they are a good first step towards putting to rest the concerns of many of the players who are invested in the modding system.

  • Item Modding Clarifications

    Near the end of The Old Republic's testing phase some itemization changes went to the test server that caused a great deal of consternation among many testers. A short time ago Emmanuel Lusinchi posted a lengthy write-up of these changes, their intent and what really happened to the Modification System.

    http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=11832962#edit11832962">Emmanuel Lusinchi
    So, yes, if you see a green armor you really like, you still can have that appearance until end level. It does take a bit of work - you either need to become a crafter yourself, befriend one or trawl the GTN.

    Read after the break for the full text of Emmanuel's post.