An Update on the Rakghoul Plague from the Imperial Biohazards Containment Bureau

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in In Game Events, screenshots

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Dear Readers–

As a continuation of my public service efforts around increasing the spread of information on the rakghoul plague, I’ve tracked down one of the containment effort’s leaders, to gain further enlightenment around the rakghoul threat. I do hope the following interview adds to your peace of mind, friends.

cheers,

Anexxia

ANEXXIA: Please introduce yourself to our readers

BRASHART: I am Doctor Corrandus Brashart with the Imperial Biohazards Containment Bureau, a division of the Ministry of Logistics. How may I assist you, my lord?

ANEXXIA: Can you tell us a little bit about your involvement in the containment of the rakghoul plague on Tatooine?

BRASHART: I am presently leading the Empire’s efforts to understand this virulent outbreak to ensure it does not spread far beyond this insignificant dust ball of a planet. My ultimate goal is to develop a vaccine that will render our citizenry immune to future infection.

ANEXXIA: When was the Imperial leadership first made aware of this outbreak? How did we find out?

BRASHART: The plague clearly began within the Republic. Our first indications of its spread came from their HoloNet reports. I personally briefed the Minister of Logistics immediately upon verifying the news was not some ridiculous form of prank entertainment.

ANEXXIA: I suspected this was a Republic-instigated event. Have we made in progress on identifying or better yet capturing our patient zero?

BRASHART: I fear identifying the initial plague carrier will be next to impossible, as this person almost certainly emerged from Republic space and is very likely already dead. At this point, our best hope is to focus on the recently infected and learn what we can from them.

ANEXXIA: There have been baseless Republic rumours circulating that the plague was, in fact, initially manufactured by Imperial scientists as a biological weapon, with further insinuations this outbreak is, in fact, our clinical trials. Can you help put these treasonous rumours to rest?

BRASHART: This is an outrageous accusation, my lord. It is a matter of historical record that the rakghoul plague first began on the Republic planet of Taris over three-hundred years ago. It re-emerged during the Republic’s failed attempt to restore a colony on that world, forcing the Empire to step in and quarantine the entire system. Quite frankly, I believe the Republic created this plague to destabilize the Empire and threaten its innocent citizens.

ANEXXIA: I am certain your suspicions on this will be found out to be true.

ANEXXIA: My sources have been hearing about isolated plague cases turning up on other planets. Do we have any official confirmation of these cases? Are they just isolated instances of contaminated Tatooines making it off the planet and being captured by containment officers?

BRASHART: There have been a few reports of inconsequential outbreaks occurring on other worlds. All were the result of infected individuals fleeing Tatooine. My office quickly responded to contain these emergencies. There is no cause for alarm, my lord. I encourage anyone suffering from plague symptoms to remain aboard their starships and contact the Imperial Biohazards Containment Bureau. We will dispatch a team of trained medical technicians to assist them.

ANEXXIA: I have personally noticed a proliferation of small rakghouls being carried around by otherwise sane Imperials as pets. Is there any threat of plague contamination from these trendy crimson raklings and pale raklings?

BRASHART: Quite honestly, I can’t understand why anyone would want to be followed around by those vicious little beasts. But I’m not a pet person, my lord. Suffice it to say that we are monitoring those creatures very closely and would prefer their owners keep them in cages until more is known about them.

ANEXXIA: What can the general public do currently to help assist in the containment of this pandemic?

BRASHART: For the love of the Empire, please do not go to Vaiken Spacedock if you or anyone traveling with you is suspected of being infected! We’ve received disturbing reports of “plague parties” being attended by clearly suicidal and disturbed individuals. That is simply an inappropriate response to this emergency. Please think of your fellow citizens before taking such rash action.

ANEXXIA: How terribly uncivilized. Is there anything else we should be aware of?
*cracks her fingers, readying up a nice purpley shock should that be necessary to extract more information*

BRASHART: My Lord… I guarantee you will be the first to hear of any new developments.

ANEXXIA: Thank you so much for the informative conversation today, Doctor Brashart. That will be all…for now.

Incurable Rakghoul Pandemic Panics the Intergalactic Public

16 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in diary entries, In Game Events

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This morning, in need of stretching my legs after a good night’s sleep, I popped down to the Imperial Fleet from my ship, and was immediately startled by an unprecedented all systems alert over the PA systems. I tried to shake off the sense of dread that washed over me by looking through some synthweaving schematics, but couldn’t get the travel advisory out of my mind.

Over 10,000 dead so far, with thousands more infected and outbreak area growing exponentially as the virus continues to mutate. In an effort to try to contain the outbreak to the planet, government officials have asked the public to refrain from visiting or in any way communicating with Tatooine and its inhabitants.

While I do, of course, agree with their methods in general, I also knew that this was exactly the sort of catastrophe for which I am personally well-suited to handle. Which is why I immediately hopped on my speeder and zoomed back to my ship’s hangar and made my way to Tatooine.

Once there, I found the typically unremarkable outpost of Mos Ila swarming with containment troops, staring down infected citizens at rifle point. I was pleased to note they heeded our orders and immediately took down any people who showed signs of turning into rakghouls. Well met.

Having spent a good deal of time on Tatooine in my early days, I immediately noticed a few abnormalities– like the escape pod that had lodged itself in one of the unused city outbuildings. Where there is an escape pod, there is an escapee. And a larger ship from which they were escaping.

My path was becoming more clear to me. If I could track down more of the debris from this crash — and better yet the hull of the ship itself and some of the survivors, I know I could get to the bottom of this mystery.

A highlight of my day was definitely coming upon the wreckage from the ship (now known to me as the Stardream) North of the Republic encampment in the Dune Sea. The place was swarming with infected personnel– and already turned rakghouls. Luckily, I was able to subdue one of the rakghouls enough to gather a significant blood sample before I put him out of his misery with a nice overload of purple lightning.

I took my blood sample to someone I trust [name redacted to protect my useful compatriot] who is working on weaponizing the virus as we speak. I’ll have to jump back in the fray tonight to obtain some additional samples. But for now, it’s back to the grindstone. Must Holo in for a few meetings and give the impression I’m cooling my heels on the fleet, awaiting Malgus’ next directive. What a fool that man is…I’m sure my incredibly convincing PSA on the radio show last night, warning all loyal members of the Empire to stay away from Tatooine will give the impression I’m more than towing the line…

–Anexxia

SWTOR Patch 1.2 FAQs

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in FAQs, SWTOR

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With a Patch as extensive as 1.2 it’s no wonder there are a lot of questions cropping up right out of the starting gate. I’ve started off with the ones I’m hearing most often. Have a question not answered here? Or keep having to answer the same question over and over for guildies? Leave it in the comments and I’ll add it to the FAQs!

Where’s the Guild Bank?

On the fleet, head to the GTN, and you will find it in its own room on the outer circle of the area. Note that personal bank vaults are also here. If your guild has not purchased a vault, and you are not the GM, you will not be able to interact with the  guild bank vault.

OK, then how do we get our guild bank?

Your GM will have to purchase the tab(s), hopefully with member assistance given the costs: The first tab is 600k credits ; the second is 1 million credits ; the third is 2 million credits ; the fourth is 3.5 million credits. A guild can purchase up to 7 Vault Tabs, but the pricing for the last 3 not yet confirmed in live but per below, on PTR was: fifth tab is 7 million, sixth tab is 15 million, and seventh tab is 30 million. That means if you want to have all seven tabs you will be spending a total of 60 million credits! Thanks to @LegioUmbraSWTOR for the info!

Where are the Legacy vendors?

For Republic folks, head to the Senate Commercial District on Coruscant.  For Imperials, on Dromund Kaas, the vendors are downstairs from the Craft and Trade Market, on your way to the central speeder point. Dulfy has a great post on what you can find on the vendors.

Where’s my PTR title?

You will receive an in-game mail with an object that will grant the title (as was the case with the Founder title). Per the forums, this should be delivered today.

My custom gear crafting is not critting– did that actually make it in the game?

Yes it did. But it is only about a 10% chance of critting. Some folks are crafting 11 items without a crit, while others are averaging 1 out of every 5 items critting. It’s all luck of the RNG.

How do I find a Tauntaun pet in the wilds?

Head to Hoth. So far, I haven’t heard about anyone figuring out this mystery yet, but I would be surprised if we make it through the weekend without some progress on it.

How do I find an Orobird egg and hatch it to obtain an Orokeet companion pet?

Check out my updated SWTOR Companion Pets post for details, including 3 egg locations and how to hatch them. If you find another egg location, please leave it in the comments!

What are the new speeder training prices?

The level 25 training is 35,000. The Rank 2 speeder training, available at 40, is 150,000 credits. And Ranks 3, available at level 50 is either 220,000 or 225,000 (need a secondary confirm.)

Ugh. My UI is different! How do I change it around?

I highly recommend checking out the UI preview video. It’s a quick way to get up-to-speed on how to manipulate your UI.

I don’t want to waste time messing around with my UI. What are my quick/easy options?

You can choose one of the premade UIs. Just hit the + on your action bar and choose from one of the premade UIs. You can also check out the MMO Mechanics UI share, and pick a user-modified UI to use.

Do I have to be level 50 to buy the new Battlemaster PvP gear?

Yes. This is unlike many other items in game that allow you to purchase them before you may use them.

Where is the new daily quest hub?

Corellia is now home to the “Black Hole” level 50 daily quest hub with 6 new dailies you can complete. To get to the Black Hole area of Corellia, when you exit the spaceport immediately head right and you will see a shuttle. Click on the door and it will take you to the Black Hole area. Thanks to Jaramukhti for the info and suggestion!

What’s the new Flashpoint?

‘The Lost Island’ is the new Flashpoint, with a storyline that follows immediately after the events of ‘Kaon Under Siege.’

What other questions do you keep hearing? Let me know in the comments and I’ll get them added! Happy Patch 1.2 weekend!

SWTOR Patch 1.2 Patch Notes

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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That’s right! It’s Patch Day! I hope you set your launcher to download the patch before you left for work because it’s a big one…

I’ve covered a number of my favorite changes, and what I’ve been doing to get ready for the patch, so just sharing a few more odds and ends of interest:

Galactic Trade Network

    • The Galactic Trade Network interface now supports text-based searches without category restrictions.
    • The rarity drop-down in the GTN interface now contains an option for Custom (orange) rarity.
    • A ‘Slot’ pulldown menu has been added to the GTN Interface for more specific item searches.
    • Players can now compare items on the GTN or in mail to items equipped by their companion.
    • In-game mail messages generated by the Galactic Trade Network now contain more specific information about the item sold.

    Social

      • Players can now leave comments on entries in their Friends List in the Social Window.
      • Hovering over the LFG column in the Social Window now displays a tooltip showing the individual’s LFG message.
      • “Reply” chat targets are no longer cleared upon area transitions.
      • The /bow emote no longer loops when used.
      • Base crafted items can now be hyperlinked in chat.
      • A new option to suppress the Crew Mission reward window while in Warzones has been added.
      • Emotes no longer remove a player from stealth.

      Full patch notes are after the jump.

      Continue reading »

      How I’ve Been Prepping for SWTOR Patch 1.2

      11 Wednesday Apr 2012

      Posted by in crew skills, legacy system, pets, PTR

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      Thanks to playing around a bit on the PTR over the past 2 weeks, I’d started to get my characters ready for the Patch. I wasn’t expecting it to be coming out this week mind you, but now that it’s confirmed for Thursday, I’m glad I’d started preparing.

      Grabbing Items That Have Planned Obsolescence

      As previously noted, my first and foremost goal in this area was obtaining some purple lightsaber crystals. In addition to the one I equipped on Anexxia, I stuck a few in the bank for future 50s. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to score two purple crystals for my Marauder on my new server. I just didn’t have quite enough time to level her up and gather the credits to buy her crystals. I’ll just have to cross my fingers that as an artificer she’ll eventually be able to make some sort of super awesome crystals for her dual lightsabers.

      The next thing I did, on my original server, was splash out on a sweet new ride, as seen above. They’re taking this mounts out of the game with Patch 1.2 so this was my last chance to grab one. And since I had the unused cash there, it was worth spending the million credits on. Some day, when I can move Anexxia over to a server I am actually playing on, it will have been worth it.

      Mulling Over My Family Trees

      If I had to make a prediction, I’d say that deciding on family tree structure and setting up custom UIs will consume most players’ entire Thursday night play time. That’s why I’ve been trying to think through my family connections this week. The matriarch picks have been easy enough, but then I have to think through for each of the alts, which of these roles is their best fit:

      • rival
      • ally
      • spouse
      • child
      • adopted child
      • sibling

      I think the rival is a really fun choice and I’m planning to have at least 1 rival per family tree, to keep my matriarchs on their toes. Rival is a good way to deal with those opposite faction alts, for sure, but in my case, I think it’s more likely that we have a few strong willed Siths who’d just as soon murder each other as cooperate. I highly suggest thinking this through and sketching out your trees prior to logging in post-patch, especially if you’re like me and have families on multiple servers to setup.

      Preparing for the Crafting Changes

      I slowed down on my moddable gear crafting and instead made sure to shore up my stores of crafting materials. I expect there to be significant demand for the augmented custom pieces in the first few weeks post-patch, and as such, want to ensure I have enough materials on hand to make a good number of items right after the servers come back up.

      The incoming crafting changes are a primary reason I hurried my new character through leveling her artifice to 400 so quickly, even though it meant missing out on her chance at her purple lightsaber crystals.

      If you haven’t checked out the Patch Notes yet, a few of the key profession-wide crafting changes include:

      • On critical successes, crafted Custom (orange) gear now receives an Augment slot.
      • The [Exceptional], [Advanced], [Superior], and [Mastercraft] suffixes have been removed from crafted item names. [Augmented] will be appended as a suffix to crafted items that were a critical success.
      • When crafting item modifications (mods, enhancements, etc), a critical success now yields double the quantity of modifications.
      • Crafting materials obtained via endgame content now stack in the player’s inventory. They no longer bind on pickup.
      • Endgame crafting materials (Biometric Crystal Alloy, Self-Perpetuating Power Cells, Alien Data Cubes, and Rakata Energy Nodes) now drop less frequently but are freely tradable.
      • Augments can now be crafted by several professions.
      • Schematics are no longer consumed if a player attempts to use one that is already known.

      Similarly, the Reverse Engineering process by which we obtain schematics and materials from crafted or found items is being improved significantly:

        • Players may now reverse engineer many endgame items to research schematics for items and mods. Tier 2 (new) endgame items can be reverse engineered, and players have a chance to learn how to craft these items up on reverse engineering them. Set Armorings do not provide schematics for crafters.
        • Players with the appropriate professions are now able to reverse engineer random drop items and acquire materials from them. This includes Operation materials from endgame items.
        • Reverse engineering Tier 2 items rewards Premium, Prototype, and Artifact quality crafting materials used to craft Tier 2 endgame items.
        • Random items, particularly armor, can now be reverse engineered by crafters based on the items’ stats.
        • Crafted Vibroknives and shotguns can now be researched via reverse engineering. Reverse engineering Vibroknives and shotguns may now yield research variants for Armstechs.
        • Artificers can now reverse engineer relics, shields, generators, and foci.
        • Cybertechs can now reverse engineer all earpieces.
        • The chance of researching schematics via reverse engineering has been significantly increased.
        • Augments may now be reverse engineered for a chance to research their schematics by several professions.
        • Players can now decide how many items from a stack they wish to reverse engineer.

      Synthweaving is one of the crafting professions that will gain the ability to craft augments, among a few other key changes:

      • Synthweavers can now learn schematics allowing the creation of Strength, Willpower, Defense, Alacrity, and Presence Augments. Augments can be reverse engineered for a chance to research Prototype and Artifact quality schematics.
      • Critical successes while crafting Custom (orange) outfits will add an Augment slot to the resulting item.
      • Additional lower-level light armor schematics have been added.
      • Material requirements for some Custom (orange) outfits have changed.
      • The Codex entry for Synthweaving has been updated.
      • Synthweavers can now reverse engineer random armor drops with Strength or Willpower stats.

      I’m excited to log in and poke around on Thursday! Are you ready? How have you been preparing?

      P.S. Thanks to my awesome TOR Reporter podcast co-host Chris, who picked up the code at PAX East, I am also the proud mama of this baby Taun Fawn! I got to visit him on the PTR last night, and have been assured by the protocol droids that he will come to stay with all the characters across my account in Live as soon as Patch 1.2 hits.

      Getting Down on the SWTOR Patch 1.2 PTR

      05 Thursday Apr 2012

      Posted by in companions, crew skills, legacy system, PTR, video

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      I have been on vacation, in a land without Internet or cellphone service, known as the NorCal coast. As such I have only just now gotten a chance to hop on the SWTOR PTR and check out all the changes that await us.

      But first and foremost, I  have to tell you about the above screenshot. That isn’t a hack — that is me getting to dance with Khem Val!! That’s right, you too can unlock the companion dance ability (which you will find in your abilities window, under the legacy tab, so you can pull it out to your action bars to use it.) This totally awesome ability is available for the low low cost of only attaining social level II, or purchasable with Legacy level 3.

      I didn’t realize just how much fun I would have with this one. But dancing with Khemmy totally made my day.

      Ahem.

      There are a number of other equally awesome and amazing changes now available to us on the PTR.

      Family Tree

      When you open your legacy window for the first time, you’ll get to start building your family tree. That means right now is the time to start thinking about how you plan to populate it. Whom will be your family matriarch/patriarch?

      I made Anexxia my family matriarch then set about thinking about where all my other characters would fit in. AS of this writing, the options available to you for each successive character are:

      • rival
      • ally
      • spouse
      • child
      • adopted child
      • sibling

      As you drag each character into the family tree, over the matriarch/patriarch, you will have the opportunity to decide where they fit in. And don’t stress — you can move them around if you don’t get it quite right on first click-and-drag.

      Enhanced Character Screen

      The biggest addition here is the Unify Colors button. You may toggle on or off which visible clothing pieces you would like to have color coordinated to match your chestpiece. That means no more putting off equipping that new piece of gear because you don’t want to look like a clown college’s wardrobe mistress.

      Additionally, your character screen now has a few character customization options available at your fingertips that used to require some poking around in the preferences menu:

      • Show Dark Side Corruption
      • Hide Head Slot

      Legacy Unlocks

      AS you can see, my flitting around from character to character, on different servers, means I haven’t unlocked too many of the available legacy unlocks. But as seen at the top of the post, I did unlock the all important Companion Dance. Other easily attainable unlocks are the Tech Emotes, which allow you to /datapad, /holocom, and /map whenever the feeling suits you.

      Crafting Improvements

      The Crafting changes we’re seeing on the PTR are going to make those crafters among us very happy, starting with the individual profession windows. You can now sort by custom. That means no more clicking on every blue recipe in your window to try to find your moddable gear! And, those custom pieces now show as orange, which gives a visual queue and makes so much more sense.

      To check out the critical success of moddable pieces, I crafted 25 synthweaving items, across all 3 armor proficiencies. Of those, 5 pieces critted, resulted in an augment slot being added. For ease of ID’ing these exceptional pieces, their names have [augmented] following their name.

      Other nice changes to the items is showing you if an item is not able to be researched to find a new schematic, as in this example:

      Or if an item *does* have the ability to be researched for finding a new schematic, it lists its % chance, as in this example:

      User Interface (UI) Changes

      Last and definitely not least, players will now be able to significantly customize their user interface, using in-game functionality. To say that I’m impressed with the level of customization is an understatement. but don’t just take my word for it– take a look at this UI overview window. I consider it to be required viewing for showing you how to make the most of the UI customization options available to you in Patch 1.2.

      Finding Your SWTOR Guild (an Update)

      21 Wednesday Mar 2012

      Posted by in guilds, poll

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      One of the hardest things to do in any game — unless you are lucky enough to be part of a multi-game guild whose members’ interest in MMOs aligns with yours over time– is to find a guild that’s the right fit. But that’s where this guide comes in.

      Before launch, it was, in theory, pretty easy to find a guild thanks to the guild recruitment functionality on the SWTOR website. With that handy tool removed, it is a little more arduous a task to find a guild that’s a good fit, but it truly can be done. Though it may take some trial and error– including joining a few guilds that turn out to be duds.

      So, how do folks find guilds? A few of the more common methods include:

      • Word of mouth–asking your gaming buddies if they’d recommend their guilds as a good fit
      • Joining a guild affiliated with a blog you are a fan of or a website you’re a member of
      • Scanning Kristin Archer’s guild profiles on TORwars
      • Perusing the guild list on reddit or Ten Ton Hammer or TOR Syndicate
      • Eyeballing the guild recruitment posts in the server forums on SWTOR.com
      • Joining a guild that is advertising in trade or general chat on your server
      • And if all else fails and you can’t find quite what you are looking for, you can always start your own guild

      At this point in my gaming life, I’ve pretty much done all of the above, EXCEPT for joining a guild that was advertising in chat for members. Call me old fashioned, but I would like to think I’m joining a guild that is more discriminating about creating a positive and collegial guild culture than by inviting all comers via a mass chat channel.

      Before you jump in and start applying, make sure you know what you are looking for!

      Before you start checking out guild recruitment posts, however, I think it’s a good idea to take a few minutes to think through what you are looking for in a guild. When I sit and think through the most important qualities I look for in a guild, a few of the top things that come to mind are:

      • I’d prefer West Coast, PvE. I’ve played on East Coast servers mind you, but I’m never home before 6PT, so unless the guild is a bunch of East Coast night owls, it doesn’t usually provide enough to do w/others.
      • I prefer a guild ruled by DBAD. In the guild’s overview in one form or another, I need to see that they don’t tolerate D-y behavior. Of course having it in writing is not always a guarantee the guild isn’t being run by a bunch of D’s but it’s a good ground floor.
      • I like a guild to have 15-20 people on per night minimum. This means there is a high likelihood of Operations and Flashpoint groups forming. Raiding has been one of my favorite activities in MMOs, so I like to see at least a glimmer of hope that there can be such activities in the future.
      • I prefer a diverse guild. What I mean more directly is: I don’t want to play exclusively with a bunch of teenage to 20-something dudes. It’s not that that demographic can’t be fun (I have enjoyed playing with so,e folks who fall into that category), but I get the most out of a guild when there is a solid mix of older professionally employed people, including a solid group of ladies. In fact, some of my favorite raid teams had a higher than average percentage of couples. I think that led to the high degree of coordination amongst the team.
      • On SWTOR specifically, I prefer the Empire. Because they have the purple lightning. I’m addicted, what can I say??? When searching, you want to make sure you only look for a guild that actually is the faction you want to play –ty to @Asros for making me realize I left this out.

      So now that you’ve made your list, get out there and start hunting for your ideal guild! And let me know in the poll and the comments how you found your guild.

      What to Wear: Moddable Synthweaving Gear Sets

      19 Monday Mar 2012

      Posted by in crew skills, gear, synthweaving

      ≈ 1 Comment

      The orange moddable gear is one of my favorite aspects of SWTOR. I’m a huge fan of being able to find a look I like and stick with it until I get tired of it, at which point I can merrily go and craft myself something else to wear.  And this is true for my companions as well!

      With Patch 1.2 these pieces will also have a small chance upon crafting to crit, which means to be crafted with the addition of an augment slot. Moddable gear with an augment slot will then have the potential –with maxed out mods inside– to be the best gear in the game.

      This is by no means an exhaustive selection, but it does comprise the pieces I’ve most often crafted and equipped. It’s interesting to see how many schematics I am still missing. I have a dozen sets wherein I only have partial sets, which is a huge bummer. I hope we see more folks putting schematics up for sale on my server!

      P.S. One important note: the non class restricted pieces look different when opposite faction users wear them. This is true even if you have an opposite faction person craft the item and list it for sale on the GTN. So the looks below are only true to Imperial fashion.

      Heavy Armor

      Light Armor

      This level 50 synthweaving set has a sort of art deco feel to me…

      This shiny rose gold football helmet is not quite what you might expect from this otherwise very girlie set.

      This set feels like it would be best for skulking around eavesdropping, allowing you to easily blend into the shadows.

      Medium Armor

      I love this chest piece. and the helm is quite intimidating.

      I really love this outfit as well, and wish I would stumble across the headgear schematic one of these days. Above, I am just wearing the Polyplast Headgear.

      Hands down, this is my favorite helm. I like that it has a voice modulator too.

      Given how much a fan I am of the Medium leather items, I’d probably better get started working on a marauder sometime soon…

      ;)

      Friday Five: Five Reasons to Tell Your Friends Why They Should Take on a SWTOR Weekend Pass

      16 Friday Mar 2012

      Posted by in friday five

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      I don’t know about you, but I definitely have some gaming friends that I wish I could get onto my SWTOR servers to play with me. But many of them, having gotten tired of plunking down $60 a pop for games they may not end up loving, have been resistant to making the leap into SWTOR. But starting this weekend, with the SWTOR Weekend Pass, they have started to run out of excuses. That’s right, all your slacker friends who don’t already have a previously-active Star Wars: The Old Republic account can log on and play starter content with you, free of charge, with no payment method required, for up to four days.

      And thus, today’s five, with the reasons why they should sign up to play SWTOR with you this weekend already:

      1. You know you want to play with a lightsaber. After all, we all saw you pretending that empty wrapping paper core was one. And those woosh woosh sounds you made. Mmmmhmm. We know all about it.
      2. Unlike spending St.Patrick’s Day at the bar, SWTOR is a hangover free zone.
      3. If you start now, you won’t be one of those carpetbaggers we all make fun of who jump on the bandwagon after the first expansion.
      4. Not only can you play the Knight or Inquisitor of your dreams, depending upon the class you choose you can eventually have a Twi’lek or a Jawa for a companion. And there are no ewoks for haters to hate on.
      5. Did I mention free? What other sort of rich, social, interactive entertainment do you have available this weekend with no cost to you?

      Are you planning to hassle some of your peeps to try out SWTOR this weekend?

      New Alts, New Legacy

      13 Tuesday Mar 2012

      Posted by in alts

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      gilded Hutt

      Despite my giddiness over my purple lightsaber, truth be told my beloved Inquisitor is not seeing much play time at the moment. No, it’s not that I stopped loving the purple lightning. But with my work schedule not always leaving me with much time to play, and not finding my groove for max level content after my truly fun and collegial raiding team disbanded, she’s been mostly relegated to crafter extraordinaire, at which she has kicked all kinds of butt.

      My play time has been split amongst a number of alts — both Republic and Imperial. Some on my PvP server, others on PvE servers inhabited by some of my favorite tweeps. None of my guilds are super active, though I enjoy having some cheerful guild patter and an occasional flashpoint group. So yes, I am still looking for the perfect alt home.

      In the interim, I’ve managed to squeak out a Legacy for one of the two sages I am leveling. Which means I now feel as though I can play around a bit with the Jedi Knight on that server as well, without diluting my time and efforts. Once every little kill and quest and exploration ratchets another tick in the Legacy bar, you no longer feel bad about frittering away all that time on your alts…

      I should note that one of my favorite colleagues has started playing SWTOR. It’s her first ever MMO. I think this blog had a little hand in inspiring her to take the plunge, seeing how I prattled on about the joys of purple lightning. I’m looking forward to playing with her on my Imperial alts, and hope I can convince some more of my gaming colleagues to hop on the SWTOR bandwagon as well. It’s so much more fun when you have your comrades playing with you…

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