KeithKanneg

Hi folks, 

You’re right, It has been a while since we initially mentioned DirectX12 (DX12)! Development has taken place for the better part of the year and it is still ongoing. We've also added several graphics-focused features and made other adjustments in the last year. The metallic, chrome, and pearlescent dyes, new cinematic lightning and shadows are examples of what’s included in this initiative, along with some changes in 7.6 we’re excited to share with you soon.

With that work completed, the team is back to getting the engine to handle DX12 architecture changes to support object and texture types and a new shader management system. Although we do not have a large announcement to make about DX12 right now, we have been discussing putting an alpha implementation into players’ hands sometime before mid next year. We will share more details closer to when we're ready to begin that testing. 

As a reminder, DX12 sets a new technology baseline...

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Hi folks, 

I wanted to hop in here and clear up some of the misconceptions that we’ve seen in the forums and in other spaces players frequent. Some of this is based on folks misinterpreting what I've communicated in the past along with a limited knowledge on how our game development process works. 

Since we began The Legacy of the Sith, we had planned for a number of updates to tell the entire story while also bringing in a variety of gameplay, events, adjustments, and even new features, like the recent Venture System.  So, it is fair to say that before we transitioned to Broadsword, a large part of our design direction was made while the team was at BioWare/EA.  

But, everything we are doing now and have been doing for some time is completely new and developed here at Broadsword. There seems to be some perception that what is currently being developed is somehow different from what we've done in the past.

When we work on an expansi...

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Hi folks, 

We saw a lot of feedback come in from the weekend specifically around credits and the 90 consecutive day Subscriber limit since APAC launch for free transfers. We had some additional conversations based on what we’ve seen on the forums and other platforms, and will be making the following adjustments. 

• The credit limit will now be 15 million per character. 
• To qualify for the 16 free transfers to Shae Vizla, players must be a current Subscriber and have been an active Subscriber since January 2, 2024. 

Appreciate all of your comments. We’ll continue to keep an eye on feedback that comes in. 

Thanks!
-Keith 
 

Hi folks! 

I’m back to give you more details on the character transfers to the Shae Vizla server. For this post, my aim is to confirm additional details and answer some questions we have seen floating around. 

Starting with the transfer requirements to Shae Vizla: 

• Characters will be required to have 2 million or less credits.
• If you try to transfer a character that has more than that amount, you will see an error message. 
• The character level minimum is 20. 

For the first 30 days after transfers open, there will be 16 free transfers available to Subscribers who meet the following criteria: 

• Are a current Subscriber
• Have been a Subscriber since APAC launch (November 17, 2023) for at least 90 consecutive days. 

For the first 90 days after transfers open, all Subscribers will receive a 50% discount (500 CC off) on transfers to the...

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Hello again, 

Gonna make this one follow up post for now as the team is getting ready to break for the upcoming holiday. 

I wanted to hop into this thread to generate conversation about what players (particularly those who are in the APAC region) want when it comes to character transfers for the Shae Vizla server. 

I want us to have a respectful conversation and/or friendly discourse about what's best for our players in the APAC region, and of course, for our game. Our ultimate goal is to have a healthy server that also provides the best home for our APAC players. 

We opened an APAC server to create a better overall experience for the regional players and grow the number of players in that region. We also had the unique opportunity to improve the economy by delaying and possibly restricting the amount of credits that flowed into the server. That is giving us very insightful details about what defines a healthy economy.

We...

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Hi everyone, 

Wanted to chime in and give you all an update on where we stand with character transfers to the Shae Vizla server. 

• One of our top priorities is keeping the economy on the Shae Vizla server stable.
• We are still evaluating Shae Vizla player populations and activity to determine the best timeframe to open transfers to/from the server. We're reviewing a variety of data points, including (but not limited to), credits obtained, characters created, current character levels, Achievements, and more.  

There is a lot we are learning about the economy and introducing millions or billions of credits will negate our ability to make any refinements. I want to let you all know about some of the topics we are discussing behind the scenes. 

One point I do want to address upfront, when we initially launched the server, we said we intended to open transfers at a later time. That is still a possibility, but...

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Hi folks, 

Wanted to pop in and let you know we just published our 12 year anniversary article, and encourage you all to give it a read. We're looking forward to showing you what's coming up next with the game. Wishing you all a happy holiday and new year. 

-Keith 

Hi folks,

An update on the development of SWTOR blog has been posted, and I encourage you all to give it a read. 

-Keith  

Poking in here to say that I made a thread that provides more info regarding this topic. You can read it in its entirety here. We are going to be keeping that thread locked and will add more info accordingly over time. So for now, please use this thread to continue discussion and conversation. 

Thanks, everyone.

-Keith 

Hi all, 

Appreciate your patience with us as we continue to navigate the future shift of SWTOR’s development team to a third party studio. We're working through the changes right now so I'll share with you the details I have.

With 7.3 now live, our priority is continuing to prepare for Game Updates 7.3.1 and 7.4 along with planning for 2024 and 2025 with a focus on content and continued modernization initiatives.

We also want to address some of the common questions we are seeing.

What’s changing for players after this shift happens? 

For all of you, not much is changing at all. Players will continue playing the game and swtor.com and the forums will continue to remain online and a source for players to get news and updates. Support for SWTOR will remain unchanged and players can continue to utilize the ...

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Whoa whoa everyone... I was hoping me telling you about the upcoming releases would help you understand this is a new beginning, not the end.

We have more stories, modernizations, and MMO content already being planned out beyond 7.4.  While details are being discussed and finalized behind the scenes, let's not spin this into incorrect theories.  I am asking you to hang tight and we'll follow up later with more details when we can.

-Keith

Hi all , 

No doubt you’ve read the reports that Electronic Arts is evaluating opportunities to give the game and the team a new home, which includes conversations with Broadsword. Unfortunately, we can't answer any questions you may have at this time.

Game Update 7.3’s June release will remain unchanged and patch notes will be released a day before per usual. 

All future content updates are also moving forward as planned, including 7.3.1 and 7.4. We are looking forward to the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic and its continued growth.

–Keith
 

Good afternoon SWTOR community,

We just published a blog post that I encourage you to read when you have a moment. We are happy to see players enjoying Showdown on Ruhnuk. There is more to come, but for now, from my family to yours, wishing you all good health and much love. Happy holidays, everyone. 

-Keith  

Some thoughts:

About companion strength, we�re investigating why they are underperforming in level-synced content.

With respect to modernizing our UI, we know this is an area where opinions are going to vary widely, and we don�t expect that to change. However, these updates are vital to the ongoing success of SWTOR as technology continues to improve far beyond where it was when the game shipped, such as monitor resolutions or GPUs being faster and having more memory. We know UI changes must be evolutionary and we need to ensure consistency, improved experience, and just better overall flow.

We are listening and will continue to make adjustments based on your feedback. We are hopeful as we release patches, we�ll find a balance between updated designs, making adjustments, and ensuring your play experience is enjoyable.

--Keith-

We did make key changes to the way we approach rewards in 7.0. We rotate content (including Flashpoints available in Groupfinder and Weekly missions for Daily Areas) for a couple of reasons. First, it allows all reward calendars to be aligned. Conquests, Galactic Seasons, and the Featured weekly content all line up, which means players can make progress towards multiple rewards at once.

Second, we heard loud and clear from 6.0 feedback that farming one particular piece of content (like Hammer Station, or a particular Weekly above all others) because it was the fastest way to gear up, but it just wasn't fun. In 7.0, we rotate content to mix and match some of the shortest and longest flashpoints and weeklies each week. As a result, there is more variety in the type of content the gearing system rewards players for completing. Instead of gathering a sheer quantity of items to sort through to find an upgrade in 6.0, which required more and more efficient runs to maximiz... Read more

That's a catchy name. I'll discuss with Charles, but not sure he'll buy into it. In the meantime, we'll just use 7.0.1 for the bug patch update. Which reminds me, it's worth noting that 200+ bug fixes may not be reflected as 200+ patch notes. I mentioned player facing earlier and that simply means the ones a player might encounter. All of these would be in the patch notes.

We also have other issues we fix you may never see/experience, but those are included and picked up during our build process. For example, an internal tool adjustment, or a server side change.

I agree about wanting to have it already fixed, but I also know we haven't stopped trying to replicate it so we can get it resolved. We have tons of data, but if there's any additional clues you can send us, or possibly a video of your particular encounter, that will help. I am truly sorry it's taking so long to get this and many other changes released. Thank you for your and everyone's help on our Public Test Server.

Hello SWTOR Community,

I wanted to offer some insight about what's been happening since the release of our expansion on February 15th. First of all, thanks to all the players who have shown Legacy of the Sith and our new cinematic trailer a lot of love. Many teams came together and worked very hard to make both possible. A small handful of us were able to spend launch week in an in-person ops room. Watching players react to the trailer and then start pouring into the servers will remain a fun memory for me.

Secondly, we know that 7.0 was not a smooth transition for some players, so we have been very busy since launch day resolving issues, minimizing any downtime, while fixing key issues without requiring a game patch. For example, during our first 72 hours, we identified critical bugs such as the issues with keybinding resets, empty gear boxes, and combat styles on characters not displaying properly and we corrected them all.

Since those initial fix... Read more

Hey everyone,

I just made an announcement concerning the launch of our Legacy of the Sith expansion, and I encourage you to read the blog post.

We know you will have some questions in response to the blog, so feel free to ask them here and we'll be addressing them in an FAQ later today which we will continue update as you have more questions.

Be mindful of our forum guidelines as we want to ensure we can quickly answer your concerns and keep more information flowing your way.

---Keith---

Hey all,

On April 27th we will begin sunsetting our current Refer-a-Friend (RAF) program. Starting on that day, you will no longer be able to refer new players into the program via your RAF link--however any current referrals will remain in place.

What is the Refer-a-Friend program? The program is meant to incentivize sharing your link with friends, encouraging them to join you in our galaxy far, far away, and granting meaningful rewards to both of you. This helps you (and the community) by increasing the number of players to play with, and it also introduces people who�ve never played SWTOR to one of the biggest Star Wars experiences in an online game.

Why are we closing the program down? Those who have been playing our game for years and have used the program understand that right now, RAF is not quite meeting that goal.

Although this system is not perfect, we do understand that it has provided benefits which players have enjoyed. The f... Read more