• Open Forum: The Holidays

    This week's Open Forum focuses on the holidays. Holidays typically are reserved for families but with the modern lifestyle, gaming tends to creep into it if even just a little bit. So in this special week, we want to know how you spend the holidays in gaming. How much do you typically play games during the holidays? Is it usually with family members or by yourself? Do you celebrate the holidays with other family members in-game? If you have a comment that does not fit these questions but you think is relevant to the subject, feel free to add it after the jump as well.

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode, which will be a special holiday edition. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly.

  • Open Forum: Guild Features

    This week's Open Forum focuses on Guild features. Guilds have and will always be the backbone of MMOs. With that, bringing new features to help them function along their way is an important task of any developer. So in this Open Forum we ask -- What Guild features would you like to see added? In the scope of Free to Play, should BioWare ask guilds to pay extra Cartel Coins for new features? Which features do you feel are most important to add? If you have a comment that does not fit these questions but you think is relevant to the subject, feel free to add it after the jump as well.

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly.

    Note: This week's podcast episode was postponed due to scheduling issues. Due to that, the Open Forum pieces from this and last week will appear on next week's podcast.

  • Open Forum: First Impressions of the Cartel Market and Free-to-Play

    This week's Open Forum is a little different from what we usually do. Since Game Update 1.5 and the Free to Play option just came out, we’d like to see what the community at large thinks about the new content. How many Cartel Coins did you start out with? What did you spend those initial coins on? Did you end up buying more coins even as a subscriber? If you do not subscribe, did the game convince you to buy coins to use on things? If so, which points convinced you to buy coins to unlock? If you have a comment that does not fit these questions but you think is relevant to the subject, feel free to add it after the jump as well.

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly.

  • Open Forum: Ask us Anything

    Over the last three plus years, we polled you on pretty much everything there is. In this week’s Open Forum, we want to see you ask the questions. Have something you always wanted to ask us but never fit in the topic of past posts? Are there things you would like to see us do in the future? We will leave this one open your imagination.

    We will do our best during next week's podcast to answer as many as we can that are added to the comments section of this post by Tuesday, November 13. Be constructive with your questions and comments. Do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly. 

  • Open Forum: Mini-games

    With quality of life updates receiving more focus than full on feature updates, mini-games will hopefully receive more discussion for future inclusion in Star Wars: The Old Republic. We wanted to take this time to ask everyone a few things in regarding mini-games to get a general since where the community is on the subject. What type of mini-games would you like to be added? Pazaak? Swoop racing? Dejarik? Should they include betting via credits or be more for fun? Where would you like to see mini-games take place - common areas, entirely new areas, or personal ships? Should the games include matchmaking functions? If so, do you want to see them use the ELO system? If you have any feedback that does not fit the above questions, feel free to include it here as well in the comments section of this post. 

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly. 

  • Open Forum: Free-to-Play Restrictions

    With Free-to-Play on its way shortly in November, we thought it a perfect time to ask players what they think of the restrictions. In this week’s Open Forum, we want to ask all of you out there your thoughts on the subject. Do you think the restrictions are appropriate? Are they too harsh? Should BioWare change some of them? If so, which ones? With the preferred status restrictions announced, are you more apt to unsubscribe? If you have any feedback that does not fit the above questions, feel free to include it here as well in the comments section of this post. 

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly. 

  • Open Forum: Future Content Releases

    With BioWare's new six week update structure, future content releases will come to Star Wars: The Old Republic faster than they ever have before. Unfortunately, to meet this new pace, BioWare will cap the amount of content players will see in regular patches. Therefore, in this week's Open Forum, we ask the community what they think about the new release calendar. Do you like the new six-week plan? Are you happy with the size of updates coming down the pike with this new change? If your favorite slice of SWTOR is left out of that six-week release, how will that affect your subscription? After free-to-play comes in November, do you think this new schedule will suit itself to this in a way that will make the game better for players overall? If you have any feedback that does not fit the above questions, feel free to include it here as well in the comments section of this post. 

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly. 

  • Open Forum: Conventions

    With it greater than half a year since Star Wars: The Old Republic’s release, we felt it was a great time to poll the community on convention attendance. What do you feel BioWare’s role should be at conventions in the future? Should they attend them? Should they do more of the SWTOR community focused ones like the Guild and Fansite Summits? Do you feel going to conventions are worth it for the buzz surrounding the game? How many times a year do you think they should attend or hold conventions? If you have any feedback that does not fit the above questions, feel free to include it here as well in the comments section of this post.

    We will hand select a few choice comments to be featured in the next podcast episode. Be constructive with your comments and do not flame or degrade others. We will moderate accordingly. 

  • Open Forum: HK-51 and Future Companions

    With the new HK-51 trailer hitting the web, we wanted to take this opportunity to poll the community on their thoughts of the companion and future options for legacy companions. Does the HK-51 companion appeal to you? How would you like him to behave and function (as his role) in combat? Are there any companions you would like to see in the future that exist in Star Wars Lore? Would you like to see BioWare continue to add future companions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments after the jump. 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.

  • Open Forum: Game Update 1.3

    With Game Update 1.3: Allies now on live servers, we want to hear what the community thinks of it. Was it everything you hoped it would be? What do you think of the new augment system? Have you tried Ranked Warzones? If so, what are your impressions? What are your thoughts on the Group Finder? Is there anything changed or added to the patch that you want BioWare to improve? 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.

  • Open Forum: Server Transfers

    The initial round of highly anticipated server transfers for Star Wars: The Old Republic will become available tomorrow. While players anxiously wait to see if BioWare flagged their servers as source or destination, we want to hear the community's thoughts on the transfers. Are you planning on transferring from your current server if the option is presented? What are your thoughts on having only a single destination server for each source server? Is your entire guild planning on moving? If so, how are you coordinating that move? What might the impact on the economies of destination servers be like with higher populations? 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.

  • Open Forum: Group Finder

    With Patch 1.3 on the way sometime Soon™, the group finder and its implications on the game has players of Star Wars: The Old Republic buzzing. Should the group finder be cross-server functional? If so, how should it prioritize filling the group? If not, what do you see as the pros and cons of keeping it on the same server? Regardless of what it is and will be, we want to hear what you think of it in the comments section after the jump. 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.

  • Open Forum: UI

    With Game Update 1.2’s release, players are now able to modify their UI to suit their needs. While most of the crucial elements are changeable, some want more. In this week’s Open Forum, we highlight the UI. Did the UI meet your needs? What areas do you think BioWare could improve on? Where would you like to see it go long term? 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.

  • Open Forum: Update 1.2

    It is time once again for our Open Forum. Now that Game Update 1.2 has been out for about a week, we want to hear the community’s thoughts on the patch. Is it all you hoped it could be? Did it disappoint you? What ways could it have been better? Does it influence your choice of server in the future? 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.

  • Open Forum: Future Content

    After two months past the release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, it is fair to say we can and should start thinking towards future content. With patch 1.2 on the way, we wanted to get a sense of what the community at large thinks BioWare’s focus should be on content going forward. It has been quite a while since we have done an open forum and figured there is no time like the present to bring it back, albeit temporarily for this discussion. 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. 

  • Open Forum: Reminder about Fan Friday

    Fan Friday is in about a day from now if you consider how close it is to midnight right now. Any predictions on what it will be? My bets are on a teaser of what they will be showing at Comic-con.

    Here's what SeanDahlberg had to say about it thus far:

    Meant to post an update today but got caught up in a few things. I'll be posting the "Friday" thread early tomorrow and in it, I'll talk a little bit about what the update is but also introduce everyone to two new faces they'll be seeing around here that joined our team recently. I'd post it tonight but they are off for the rest of the day already.I will say this, tomorrow's update won't be about the demo (or external testing) but it will be something a lot of you will enjoy. More tomorrow.


    Guess we'll see a thread up tomorrow on it. We will bump this post to the top when that happens.

    Update: Sean posted a little bit of an update about the preview:

    Sean's up, just waiting on the two new vict... errr, employees to get here (and the rest of the team).


    Update 2: Sean posted the preview of tomorrow's fan friday, for those interested see below:

    I know there have been a lot of questions about what tomorrow's update is... at this time, we're not announcing what exactly it is. But I will go ahead and dispel a few rumors.


    • The update tomorrow is not an announcement about the gameplay demo

    • The update tomorrow is not an announcement about testing

    • The update tomorrow is not a class or planet reveal



    What is it then? Well, I'd recommend tuning in tomorrow to find out And while it is not one of the above, it is definitely an update most (if not all) of you will enjoy

    In the meanwhile, I'd like to introduce two (2) new members of the Community Team: Alyson Bridge and Erick Adams Both Alyson and Erick will be helping in bringing information to the community in a variety of ways as well as helping us bring your responses back to the rest of the team.
    So, without further ado, welcome aboard

    - Sean

    For those of you who normally just check in for our weekly updates and want to know what's going up before coming to the site, we have a few things for you.

    Ninja Edit (who's the real ninja, Alyson?): If you're using a RSS Reader, make sure to add The Old Republic RSS News to it.

    We also bring the information to the places you are at; whenever we have an update on the official website, we also point out those releases on some of the social networks. You can find pages for The Old Republic at the following: