A/V The Old Republic MMO: The New Official Thread

Darth Marr codex entry:

 

It's interesting to think that Sith precognitive ability is generally exceptional (Prophets of the Dark Side, Palpatine, Rhandites if you count them) but most are blinded by their arrogant belief in their own invincibility. Thus, perhaps Marr's prowess on the battlefield is down to the fact that he accepts his visions and doesn't reject glimpses of his own death as Palpatine did, and doesn't attempt to cheat the future his precognition shows him, but rather strives to fulfill it (and in doing so, ensures he lives *until* his foreseen death, meaning he's essentially invincible, or at least believes he is, up until that moment of what he would view as his predestined demise).

His desire, then, would be nothing more than to leave a strong and glorious Sith Empire after he is gone, hence his efforts to undo teachings or individuals he believes are weakening the Sith as a whole (such as speciesism, or, of course, Vitiate's insane goals of godhood and an empty galaxy).

 

That's a really interesting perspective, Darth_Dreadwar

I like the idea of him accepting the vision - and so wanting to see that future, powerful Sith Empire come to pass. That's a really cool idea.

 

Is it just me or do Marr's physical descriptions and resources not match his actions?

He doesn't want to lead - yet he is leading.

He feels loyalty should be to the Empire- yet his troops are loyal to him.

He's supposedly full dark side - yet he doesn't really show it in his actions.

He claims to want the Empire to win - yet it is highly unlikely that the path he is choosing is winnable due to raw numbers. I'd argue that the Empire has been shooting itself in the foot over and over with the player characters in particular making a royal mess of everything. The majority of the things we do on imp side would probably have been better if we actually hadn't done them. The Sith Empire really needs to get it thru their thick skulls that to beat the Republic they need as many threats in play as possible.

 

Marr leads because he has to.

Have you played the Makeb story? That's all about saving the Empire. I also dislike how many of the Empire player's actions end up hurting the cause, except for the Bounty Hunter, hope this changes soon.

 

Well, treachery is the way of the Sith.

 

The Empire has millions and possibly billions of individuals. Marr is not as necessary as he thinks himself and he chooses to promote inexperienced individuals. Ex: Nox, Karrid, Lana

I'd argue that going for the Isotope 5 was a mistake. In the process the Hutt Cartel was needlessly gutted. Tech doesn't provide a sufficiently sustained advantage when it's easy to find where it came from.

 

So what if there are a lot of people, leaders need to lead, they step up when things are tough and lead people. Marr has a power base and the ability to organise the Empire. He does this because he feels he has too, whether or not YOU think he is needed.

Tech is a great equaliser against the Republics numbers, Makeb was done in secret and the Rupublic has no idea what happened.

Also so what about the Hutts, they weren't the Empires' allies, they are neutral and still are, the YV knows how useful the Hutts are as unwilling allies.

 

The Emperor no longer cares about the Empire anymore, he is another Nihilus now.

 

Producer’s Road Map 2015

Hi everyone!

For many, the start of the year is a time for setting goals and planning for the future. This is something we have been focused on here at BioWare Austin. 2014 was an amazing year for the team. We delivered two expansions, an overhaul to the class system, and regular story updates through Flashpoints. I’m proud of what the team has accomplished, and we would not have been able to do it without your support – thank you. I’m excited for what we have in store for you in 2015.

Some of you might remember before launch, we talked a lot about the “four pillars” of RPGs – combat, exploration, progression and story. Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is an MMO, but it’s also a BioWare game. Three years ago, we set out to deliver a product that contained the best of two worlds – the immersive story experience from a single-player RPG and the vast array of systems and social connection from an online multiplayer game. Since launch, we have mainly focused on the latter, adding Galactic Strongholds, achievements, legacy perks, reputation tracks, and Galactic Starfighter. But with the success of the Shadow of Revan expansion, we think it’s time that we return to our roots and what truly makes our game unique: story.

Shadow of Revan was just the beginning. In 2015, we are committed to bringing you more character-driven adventures in the Old Republic universe. You’re going to see a unified story, with a focus on themes that unite our eight classes – everyone is a veteran from the Galactic Civil War with a complicated past and an uncertain future. You’ll see a greater emphasis on your character’s personal history, and on the choices you make. I don’t want to say too much more since we are still in the midst of development, but what we have planned really gets back to the Star Wars™ fantasy at the heart of our game.

Our plan is to deliver two major updates with this new story direction later this year – one in the summer and the other by the end of the year. But what’s happening in the meantime, you ask? Below is a list of some of what you can expect in the first half of the year. As always, please keep in mind that all of this is subject to change. We reserve the right to adjust our plans if we feel it is necessary.

• February 12th: Game Update 3.1
  • Hard Mode Flashpoint: Blood Hunt
  • Hard Mode Flashpoint: Battle for Rishi
  • Start of PvP Season 4
• Spring: Game Update 3.2
  • Outfit Designer
    • Stay tuned for a blog on this awesome new feature coming soon!
  • A new story arc on the planet Ziost.
    • This story arc takes us to the Imperial homeworld of Ziost, where we answer many of the questions posed by the cliffhanger at the end of Shadow of Revan.
  • End of PvP Season 4 and the Start of Season 5
• And Beyond!
  • New Stronghold
  • Playable Togruta – I kind of let the Cathar out of the bag on this one last year at the New York Cantina, but now it’s in writing!

There’s still more to be revealed for Star Wars: The Old Republic this year – this is just the start! When we are further along in development, we will post more information that dive into the nitty-gritty details for these new features.
I want to thank you, our galactic heroes, for continuing to support us. It’s your feedback and enthusiasm that makes Star Wars: The Old Republic a better game and drives us to be better. All of our hard work is for you.
May the Force™ be With You!
Bruce Maclean
Senior Producer

 

Clarification

I am seeing a few questions in this thread that I want to address. First, just a general reminder. This Producer Letter from Bruce is not a comprehensive list of every piece of content or feature you will see this year. It is primarily targeting the beginning of the year. As the we get further into the year we will continue to release more details about what we have on the horizon.

What you are seeing in the Spring, with Ziost, is one of those large updates. The other update later in the year we will talk more about soon. As for some of the other questions I am seeing:

PvP and Class Balance
Bruce just came by and agreed that his Producer Letter should have mentioned Class Balance and that of course we will definitely be making Class balance changes throughout the entire year and beyond!

Queueing Issues
We are still working on this. Unfortunately, I have no further updates at this time.

Other Content (PvP/PvE)
The PVP team is as busy as ever. We aren’t ready to talk about what they are working on. Please remember that this is not a comprehensive list of the whole year, or even beyond then!

-eric

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seems that Ziost update is one of the major free updates like GSG, GSF. I guess that the second one will be payable but it is nice that these two "expansions" will be story content heavy.

 

I wonder what planet this will be on.

 

This is the Flashpoint that's already in-game on Rishi, the one with Shae Vizla. They're just adding the Hard Mode.

 

Is Togruta the first new species since Cathar?

 

Yes, it is. First real addition to customization since then besides some eye colors and ugly hairstyles.

 

I hope that doesn't mean they'll just be new Flashpoints, as up until now we've only got new solo campaign content from actual expansion packs.

Even the solo Dread War stuff bored me.

 

Hey!

 

From Q&A (about Ziost):

• Story-driven, single-player content.
• NOT A FLASHPOINT.
• Focused on continuing the story of Shadow of Revan.
• Something they visualized quite a while ago.
• It will be "kinda dark, Imperial home-world; expect some dark things to happen".
• "Guy that returns at the end of Shadow of Revan is up to some nasty things. Will be pretty cool."

 

All good to hear

 

I wish they wouldn't use the term Galactic Civil War, they already ripped off enough stuff from the OT-era. Oh well, maybe the term just slipped in there.

Looking forward to Ziost, curious to see what art direction they'll go with, after other dark side places like Korriban, Dromund Kaas and Oricon. And guess Yavin sort of counts. I liked Rishi's pirate planet theme a lot.

 

Will Lana continue to show up in the upcoming storyline?

 

That makes no sense, since it's a civil war on a galactic scale. There can be more than one in the span of thousands of years.

 

But it's not a civil war, a war fought between different factions within one nation-state. It's a war fought between two nation-states, the Republic and the Empire.

I'm pretty sure the term's use was an accident, though.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant. If they simply called it the Great War, Galactic War or even just the Sith War, that's one thing. Sith War would be somewhat vague, but I can understand calling it that from an in-universe point of view (same with the term Great War). Calling it a Galactic Civil War when its not an internal conflict just seems odd, and it was probably just a typo, not them being lazy (I hope).

 

That's true. I guess saying the Sith Empire originated with former Republic Jedis don't help?