• BioWare Explains Changes to Vorgath Explosive Conflict Encounter

    Raid/Operation mechanics are always a touchy subject, no matter which MMORPG you are talking about. When developers change the way long standing fights work, people tend to speak up. In BioWare's case, an intended function of an encounter did not work as intended and when the team decided to fix it, a few raiders disagreed.

    BioWare

    When Nightmare Mode was released, Overload had no activation time, but its ballistic component was not working (which meant Overload could be completely ignored). We corrected this in the patch. In Nightmare Mode, the optimal path will always appear on either the left or the right wall, so a wall will always be available for tanking the demolitions probes.

    If you'd like to chime in on the matter, hit the official thread.

  • Column: OpsCom (12/4/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations and PVE related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Here you will be able to get the latest news and developments along with highlights of the big issues in the PvE community and the occasional ranting of the writer. Check back with us each week for the latest and greatest from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

  • Developer Update: Nightmare Mode Explosive Conflict

    With Game Update 1.5, guilds and raid teams alike will be able to take part in the new Nightmare mode of the Operation Explosive Conflict. Over the last few months, BioWare gave small details throughout about the new mode and the differences. Today, we receive a Developer Update that gives us a greater understanding of the mode differences as a whole.

    BioWare

    For Explosive Conflict (and all Operations going forward), we wanted more control over the challenge and the rewards offered by the content. So, starting with Explosive Conflict, we’ve improved Nightmare Mode in the following ways:

    • Bosses are balanced individually, rather than with a universal buff. They should pose a serious challenge to players who are working on their Dread Guard set.
    • Mechanics have been modified or introduced in every encounter, in some cases requiring some pretty significant changes to strategy.
    • Each boss now has a unique loot package in nightmare mode, including the rest of the Dread Guard set, increased commendations, and a chance for a very cool mount.

    These changes are not retroactive for Eternity Vault and Karagga’s Palace, but if players are interested, it is possible that we may revisit them at some point in the future. As in previous Operations, players who manage to complete Nightmare Mode Explosive Conflict in under 2 hours will receive a special title. This should prove to be quite a bit more challenging than before.

    For the update in full, hit the official site.

  • Endgame Gearing Without Operations

    Despite its unprecedented focus on story and character development, Star Wars: The Old Republic is at its heart, still an MMORPG. That means, beyond all the storytelling, decisions and emotional moments there are stats to push higher, equipment to enforce, and weapons to make more deadly. Following in the mold of more traditional MMO titles, SWTOR puts the most straightforward path to this goal through large group encounters, but that is not the only way to achieve the goal of gearing up at endgame. Read on as we discuss the various methods of acquiring “the best” gear available to players who, for whatever reason, cannot participate in Operations.

  • Jesse Sky Details Nightmare Mode Explosive Conflict Differences

    While we may still want Nightmare Mode for the Explosive Conflict Operation, it is still a ways off. To bide the time however, Lead Flashpoints and Operations Designer Jesse Sky took to the forum to add detail regarding the upcoming mode. 

    Allison Berryman

    I asked Jesse Sky to tell us a little about how Nightmare Mode is going to differ from the existing Hard Mode for EC. He said that the numbers have been tuned up in every fight, and mechanics in every fight have been modified - in some cases, there are new mechanics that players will have to learn. The differences aren't extreme, but they present new challenges in every boss encounters, and the rewards are much more appropriate for the difficulty (unlike in previous Nightmare Modes). 

    For the thread in full, hit the official forum.

  • Column: OpsCom (9/24/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    In this week’s OpsCom, we’ll take a look at a new visual optimization that will perhaps improve the way the galaxy looks to you. Also, we’ll take a look at the recent re-naming controversy that has plagued server consolidations, as well as how players have reacted to this change. Finally, as we approach the last Tuesday of the month, will BioWare deliver on the much anticipated 1.4 content patch? Here’s hoping. For all that, your weekly spotlights, and more, hit the jump!

  • First Impression: Operation Terror From Beyond

    As many of you already know, Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.4: Terror From Beyond, is now making its rounds on the PTS—with it comes the new operation of the same name—Terror From Beyond. Like many of you, I was extremely excited to get a chance to check it out. After waiting for the patch to download and install, I hightailed it to the fleet and hopped in the first PuG looking for a DPS!

    Keep reading after the jump for my first impressions and some shots from the first few bosses of this beautiful new operation. 

  • Developer Update: Terror from Beyond

    As mentioned at Gamescom, the new Operation Terror from Beyond is on its way to players sometime next month. To elaborate a bit more on the new content, BioWare published a Developer Update. In the update, BioWare goes into detail on what players can expect to look forward to including the gear the Operation will require.

    BioWare

    This Operation introduces the next tier of progression in Star Wars: The Old Republic, including a new set of PvE gear. The hard difficulty mode for Terror From Beyond is balanced for players wearing a full set of Campaign gear, which can be acquired from Operation: Explosive Conflict. Augments will become increasingly more important the deeper you get into Terror from Beyond. Story mode will be available for players who just want to see the sights, but it’s no walk in the park.

     For the post in full, head on over to the official site. 

  • Watercooler: A Six Month Retrospective Part 2

    We're now more than six months past the launch of BioWare's highly anticipated MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and we feel like it’s time to look back at the game and reflect. You’ll get our opinions on just about everything, including what we think BioWare did right with the game, what hasn't worked at all, and what they can potentially modify to improve the game we’ve all grown to love.

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

  • BioWare Addresses Operation Issues

    Over the last couple of weeks, Operations have had a variety of issues ranging from lag and more which have caused the community at large to become agitated at the current state of raiding in Star Wars: The Old Republic. To address one of the latest issues with Operations, Senior Server Programmer Jennifer Harkness took to the forum to explain the situation.

    Jennifer Harkness

    As many of you have noticed, we have been playing with the population settings for the raid areas, and in particular for Explosive Conflict. The main change is that we've lowered the overall population for those zones. We've been really happy with the reports of lowered lag that folks have been posting, so it looks like that side of the change has been a great success.

    However, we have run into one unexpected effect. Normally when you zone to a new area, we try to put you in the same instance as your guild mates and friends. Unfortunately, it's doing the same thing when you zone into raid instances, which means that with the lowered population numbers, you can be the last one who fits in the instance, and there won't be room for the rest of your Operations group. This is why a few people have been getting the dreaded "Server Admin" error and end up unable to zone into Denova.

    When this happens to you in a group that has just started, the best thing to do is to have everyone exit the area, then reset the group's active phases. Then you can have someone who is either unguilded or who knows their guild members aren't in a raid instance zone in first so that they get a emptier instance.

    If this happens to your group when you have made progress and would have to kill your way back in, you can wait a few minutes and hope that the population drops, or you can reset your phase immediately and you should be able to enter a new instance immediately.

    We did make a configuration change yesterday afternoon to help with the problem and we're monitoring the servers very closely to evaluate whether that lowers the error rate enough. We're also working as quickly as possible to get a regular fix ready to deploy.

     For the official thread, head on over to the SWTOR forum.

  • Column: OpsCom (8/20/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    In this week's OpsCom, we'll hear from Gabe Amatangelo on a few things pertinent to the Operations community, including when we can expect to see new content. Also, we'll check back in on the Timed Eternity Vault/Karagga's Palace runs and see who emerged victorious. For these stories, your weekly Community Spotlight, and much more, hit the jump.

  • David Hunt Details New Tier Gear

    As you may have heard yesterday during the EA Press Conference, Terror from Beyond is on its way to Star Wars: The Old Republic next month. With that, many expected a new tier of gear as a part of the new Operation. Well, it appears we are getting a new tier of gear for PvE as well as weapons for PvP.

    Allison Berryman

    I talked to David Hunt (Systems Designer), and he shed some light upcoming gear. He said that (for PvE), Terror from Beyond's Hard Mode will include a new set of gear that is a sub-tier of the larger tier that started with Campaign gear. It will also have non-slot restricted armornings. Nightmare Explosive Conflict will speed up the acquisition of the new set and provides new challenges for Operation groups.

    For PvP, new mainhand and offhand items will become available from the PvP vendors when Terror from Beyond is released. These will be included so PvP players don't feel the need to get the hilts and barrels from PvE items to get the highest weapon damage in some cases. The rest of the set will release when Ancient Hypergates becomes available. We also have plans to release a new Recruit MK-2 set.

     For the thread in full, visit the SWTOR forums.

  • Column: OpsCom 8/13/12

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    This week in OpsCom, we look at a particularly driven discussion on the topic of Free to Play and how it could affect future content. Also, we'll check in with a player that gives their opinion on the state of Operations design and difficulty. Lastly, we'll hear from a true diehard Star Wars fan, and see exactly what they expect from a game based on their favorite franchise. For all this, your weekly community spotlight, and more, hit the jump.

  • 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.

  • Column: OpsCom (8/6/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    This week in OpsCom, we look at the recently announced Free to Play option coming up for SWTOR and how it will affect Operations in the future. We’ll also check in with a player calling for Cross-Faction Grouping in the LFG feature, something that many players are interested in. Additionally we have your Weekly Community Spotlight, and much more. Hit the jump and we’ll catch you up on the week’s happenings.

  • Column: OpsCom (7/30/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    This week in OpsCom, we’ll check in on a discussion of the craftable loot distribution in 8-man groups versus their 16-man counterparts — is one more profitable than the other? Also, we’ll look at one player’s plea to the developers to make a Hard Mode version of every flashpoint and for current Hard Modes to have a Nightmare Mode. We’ll also take a look at a continuing and ever-present issue for many: Operations lag.  For these stories, the weekly Community Spotlight and more, hit the jump.

  • Column: OpsCom (7/24/12)

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations-related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    In this edition of OpsCom, we’ll hear several opinions on just how badly players want new content. We’ll also check in with the official forums on the subject of “Need vs. Greed” in various Group Finder encounters, and how everyone feels about it. Players have also recently requested the addition of phases for World Bosses, specifically for Voss’ Nightmare Pilgrim; we’ll check in with the official forums for ideas on this subject. For these stories, as well as the weekly Community Spotlight, hit the jump.

  • Column: OpsCom

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations related content from the world ofStar Wars: The Old Republic. This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks, and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    This week, we take a look at a very rational community appeal to leave the difficulty of content just where it is, and how the community feels about it. We’ll also have a look at the “Looking for Group” tool as it pertains to lower level characters, and what BioWare might do to entice them into using the tool more often. And as usual, we’ll have all the latest news ready for your perusal. For the full story, hit the jump.

  • Guide: Warlord Kephess - Denova

    DarthHater has already brought you guides covering the first three boss encounters in Operation: Explosive Conflict - Toth & Zorn, Firebrand & Stormcaller, and Colonel Vorgath. Now comes the final battle: Warlord Kephess. As befits a boss of his stature, he won't relinquish Denova without a seriously challenging fight. Making full use of all the armaments at his disposal, players are sure to find that this Warlord is no pushover. For the details necessary to bring this boss to his knees and reclaim Denova, hit the jump. - jump

  • Column: OpsCom

    This is OpsCom, where we bring you a weekly dose of Operations related content from the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic.  This column will serve as an inside scoop on new content, developer feedback, and community gossip. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and we will keep you up to date on all the news you need to stay on the cutting edge.

    This week, we hear from Jesse Sky on the subject of Nightmare Explosive Conflict (Denova) and find out exactly why it is taking so long to reach players.  We also cover the Official SW:TOR podcast, which specifically focused on PvE Ops content.  Finally, we check in with the community at large to see just what has everyone fascinated.  For the full story, hit the jump.