• Guild Dynamics: Legacy and Your Guild

    Welcome to Guild Dynamics, an editorial dedicated to exploring the topics and issues confronting guilds in Star Wars: The Old Republic. In this editorial, we focus on the Legacy system and its potential impact on a guild’s sense of community.

    Guild loyalty is a nebulous and often touchy subject, made all the more important for its unclear definition. Many guilds expect members to serve only in their guild and disallow player alts from joining other guilds. Overlooked in this requirement is a tacit sense of faction loyalty. After all, if player is expected to remain loyal to one guild, and that guild can only be populated by members drawn from one faction, then how can a player legitimately have an alt who is in league with “the enemy?"

    The Old Republic‘s Republic-Imperial divide adds a new twist to this old problem. BioWare’s statements and actions have made it clear that they intend players to “traverse the void” and play multiple cross-faction characters. The company has also provided limited support to cross-faction guilds, particularly in regards to their pre-launch “Allies and Adversaries” system.

    And yet, serious cross-faction guild support is nonexistent, and any guild who attempts to maintain both a Republic and an Imperial presence faces an uphill battle. With neither cross-faction tells nor shared chat channels, there exists no easy in-game way to coordinate what amounts to two completely separate guilds. Something that BioWare openly supports, is left in the hands of guilds to juggle and maintain. Some view it as something not worth the trouble.

    However, this need not be the end. Look below the jump for advice on how a guild can maintain a vibrant, cross-faction community.

  • A Primer for Newbies

    Now that BioWare has announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be going free to play, we can expect an influx of new players to the game. For some, it will be their first time playing. For others, this will be their first time playing an MMO. As it is a vast and complex title, playing can be daunting for any first timer. Therefore, instead of spending hours trying to explain the game’s various systems and intricacies and getting frustrated to the point of head butting your best friend, we have put together a primer for beginners detailing just that. If this is your first time traveling to a galaxy far, far away, hit the jump.

  • Watercooler: A Six Month Retrospective Part 1

    With it now over six months since the launch of BioWare’s highly anticipated MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, we here at Darth Hater feel like it’s time to look back at the time we’ve had with the game and reflect. You’ll get our opinions on just about everything, including what we think BioWare did right with the game and what they can work on to improve the game we’ve all grown to love.

    This is the first in a four-part series. As always, feel free to comment and leave your thoughts in the section below.

  • Game Update 1.3: Legacy Perks

    With Game Update 1.3: Allies now on the PTS and live, our first foray into the new patch are the new Legacy Perks. In order to get details up in a timely manner, we threw together a little video of all of the new perks in the upcoming patch for your viewing pleasure. During the day we will update this post with a list form but for now, enjoy the video after the jump.

    Update: Full list of the perks now available after the jump

  • Guide: Legacy System

    Patch 1.2 brought a lot of big changes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, the most significant of which being arguably the Legacy System. In a very general sense, the Legacy System provides players with a way to customize many more aspects of their game experience. As players level they accrue "Legacy experience," which contributes to their Legacy level in the same way that normal experience points contribute to character level. Higher and higher Legacy levels unlock a wide range of additional features, from convenience abilities and vanity customizations to permanent stat boosts. Better yet, these unlocks are not limited to just one character -- they affect all of the characters on the player's server (character-specific Legacy unlocks are coming with 1.3)! Hit the jump for a complete list of the Legacy options provided with the 1.2 update.

    NOTE: This guide will be updated with confirmed information pertaining to the Legacy System as Update 1.3 details emerge.

  • Update 1.3 Details Revealed at IGN

    Details on the forthcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.3 are continuing to emerge, the latest of which come courtesy of an exclusive interview with BioWare's lead game designer, Daniel Erickson, and a preview trailer over at IGN. Following a whole host of confusion after mention of "Legacy" and "Allies" "content packs" during the recent EA earnings call, it appears (according to the accompanying video) that the 1.3 patch will in fact carry the Allies designation, in reference to the new Group Finder tool making it easier to meet up for PVE gameplay. Perhaps of most interest to many players, Mr. Erickson also seemingly confirms limited server transfers coming with 1.3:

    IGN

    Most servers seem to be light or standard population density these days, are you considering implementing server merges in the near future so it’s easier for players to find group members?
    Daniel Erickson
    Character transfers for select servers are coming first and we are open to any and all options after that. The important thing is that players can play with their friends and with the type and size of community they enjoy.

    James Ohlen further supports this notion in the video preview. We've heard recently (via Stephen Reid's Twitter) that some form of transfers would likely be available prior to 1.3, so this would appear to lay to rest rumors of transfer functionality being pushed beyond 1.3. In addition, Mr. Erickson talks details on new Legacy system features, Adaptive Gear, Augment tables and a tidbit that while 1.3 is primarily a housekeeping patch, we should expect to see "big content" with 1.4.

    This is only a small selection from the interview so make sure to head on over to IGN for details in full. For the embed of the trailer, hit the jump.

    Gallery: Update 1.3 Trailer Screengrabs

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  • Coverage Guide: Legacy Update 1.2

    Now that we're a couple of weeks into the Legacy Game Update, we've taken some time to aggregate all of our post-1.2 coverage into an easy-access compendium for your referencing pleasure. Below the jump you'll find a convenient table of contents linking to all of the related patch notes, guides, previews, interviews, Dev highlights and more we've produced here at Darth Hater. This guide will be continually updated as new content is added to the site, so take a second to bookmark it and tell your friends. You can also look for the handy link in the "Feature" box to the top right of your web browser for easy navigation in the future from our homepage. Keep reading to check it out!

  • William Wallace On The Legacy System

    As the highly anticipated 1.2 update for Star Wars: The Old Republic nears the live servers, more details regarding its content is being revealed. BioWare's William Wallace has provided a detailed piece on the Legacy system which delves into the different types of Legacy rewards and how they become unlocked.

    Courtney Woods
    Senior Designer William Wallace details the upcoming Legacy System changes in Game Update 1.2:

    Quote:
    "Where would you start if you were constructing the Skywalker family tree? Let’s start with Anakin. If you ask me, Anakin is a level 50 Sith Warrior anchoring the top of the family tree. He’s married to Padme Amidala and they have two kids, Luke and Leia. Luke and Leia were both strong in the Force, like their father before them. Leia ends up marrying Han Solo, undoubtedly a level 50 Smuggler, and they have three children who all turn out to be Jedi. Luke marries Mara Jade, and they in turn have Ben, who is also a powerful Jedi Knight. Looking at their family tree, it’s clear that the Skywalker legacy produces powerful Force users and great heroes."

    Read More

    The full post can be found after the jump.

  • Legacy Gear Preview

    With patch 1.2 on the way to the live servers in April, it is a perfect time to look at some of the new armor sets in the game. One of the most notable areas where armor sets were added is with the inclusion of Legacy armor sets that players can purchase from vendors for collectable kits on the capital planets of Dromund Kaas and Coruscant. These sets bind to your Legacy of that server and allows players the ability to transfer them from character to character. After the jump, we detail and preview the various Legacy armor sets.

    Note: The Legacy armor sets Birthright and Exalted will look the same, as will Inheritance and Renowned. The only difference is the Exalted and Renowned are modable legacy level 10 and 20 sets that players can use to achieve the same look as their lower end counterparts. Those pieces are available for credits instead at the same vendor and cost anywhere from 75,000-200,000 credits per piece. Also, the videos are 720P however they do not autoplay as 720P, fullscreen and set it to that if you'd like to use that functionality.

  • Developer Dispatch: The Legacy System

    A new Developer Dispatch has been made available on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic site detailing the upcoming changes to the Legacy System in patch 1.2. Among the changes is the ability to create a family tree, create new characters with abilities from your previous characters, unlocking race combinations and other goodies like a mailbox on your ship.

    Courtney Woods

    The Legacy system in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ will allow you to create your very own family tree, connecting each of your characters together and unlocking a host of skills and abilities that would otherwise be unobtainable. Watch this Developer Dispatch to learn about what Legacy is and how it will continue to evolve with the game.

    Watch Now

    The full video is now available after the jump.

  • Open Forum: Legacy

    Regardless of where you stand on it, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s Legacy system spurred a spirited debate since the unveiling of incoming changes to it in patch 1.2. BioWare considers the additions the first true step in the implementation of a system long in development. With all of the excitement and tumult over the system’s new features, we thought it as good as time as any to poll our users on their opinions of it. In the comments section, let us know what you think. Keep the opinions constructive and do not flame your peers. We will moderate accordingly.

    Next week’s podcast will feature a few of the comments as well as a discussion around the area that received the most remarks.

  • Guild Summit: Patch 1.2 Hands-On Highlights

    With all of the news coming up during the same day, we had a fair bit of information that did not fit in the articles for various reasons. Instead of shelving a lot of it for a later dive into 1.2, we decided to make it available to the public via this singular post. More will come throughout the day but for now, there is plenty on legacy and more beyond the jump. 

    UPDATE:  Georg Zoeller posted on the official forums with some remarks clarifying the methods of unlocking the Legacy rewards. The full post can be found after the jump. 

  • Game Update 1.2 Video

    A high definition version of the game update 1.2 video that premiered at the Star Wars: The Old Republic Guild Summit earlier this week has been made available on the official site. 

    Courtney Woods
    There are a number of new features coming to Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ with Game Update 1.2, “Legacy”. This includes new playable content, like Operations and Warzones, as well as new game systems like Guild Banks, Player-vs-Player Warzone ranking, and the next evolution of Legacy. Check out all of the exciting new content coming up in this video!

    Watch Now

     Full video available after the jump. 

    Gallery: Game Update 1.2 Trailer Framegrabs

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