Please note the timing on this maintenance period, which is beginning earlier than usual.

Game Update 1.2 – Legacy introduces new content and features for all Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ players. Earn new rewards and build your family tree with the expanded Legacy System, explore Lost Island, a new Flashpoint, challenge the new Operation: Explosive Conflict, and face off against your foes (or your allies) in Novare Coast, a new Warzone. You can also experience new daily missions on Corellia, customize your User Interface, create a new Guild Bank for your guild, and more! Learn more about Game Update 1.2 here!

On the war-torn planet of Denova, opposing forces vie for control of Novare Coast, a strategically vital beachhead that leads to the open oceans of Denova. Whoever controls this coastline will have a decisive advantage in taking control of the planet. To secure the beach, sides battle for control of three mortar turrets which can be used to pound the enemy with artillery fire.

Watch the new Developer Dispatch video to learn how to start your Legacy and hear from the Developers about the ideas and efforts that went into the system’s design.

From the very beginning of development on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™, we felt that the idea of familial bonds was a cornerstone of the Star Wars™ experience. In this blog, I’m going to explore what that means and what rewards are waiting for the characters in your Legacy, as well as exploring the design philosophy behind the changes we made.

You may have already started your Legacy by picking a Legacy Name. This happens when you finish Chapter 1 with your first character. From this point, all of your characters on that server are now considered part of your Legacy, regardless of faction. This means that any existing characters which have not been played past Chapter 1 will gain a Legacy Name, and any newly created characters will also have their Legacy Name available from character creation.

From Game Update 1.2: Legacy, unlocking your Legacy grants you access to a newly expanded Legacy Panel (accessed, by default, by pressing the ‘Y’ key) where you can modify your family tree, and see what Legacy Rewards you have unlocked.

Your Legacy’s bloodlines are constructed on the family tree page, where you can see all of the characters that are part of your Legacy, and drag them into place according to their relationship to each other. Want your Smuggler’s father to be your Sith Warrior? Maybe your Agent is a noted rival of your Trooper? Your Consular’s brother is an Inquisitor? It’s all possible, as your characters can be linked together in any combination as siblings, spouses, adopted children, children, rivals and allies. We hope that players use the family tree as a way to better roleplay their characters, visualize their relationships, and craft stories about their lineage.

But what do your characters learn from each other? Fathers pass family knowledge down to their sons. Allies share information with each other. Even rivals must learn everything about their foes in order to know their enemies. Likewise, the characters in your Legacy will be able to earn global unlocks, which are abilities, emotes, and other rewards shared across all characters in your Legacy. If one character unlocks something, all characters, regardless of familial relationship, earn the same unlock. Let’s look at different categories of unlocks.

Class Unlocks

When characters in your Legacy reach important story milestones, they can pass down special emotes and abilities to other characters in your Legacy. On completing Chapter 2 with a character, your characters gain the use of an emote unique to that class. For example, if you finish Chapter 2 with your Inquisitor, you unlock an emote which causes your character to throw lightning between his hands. Again, all characters in your Legacy can use this emote. Likewise, at completion of Chapter 2, your characters unlock the ability to apply that class’ unique buff along with their own. For example, if you complete Chapter 2 with an Agent, and then create a Bounty Hunter, when you use the ability Hunter’s Boon it also applies the effects of the Agent’s Coordination buff.

After one of your characters completes Chapter 3, that character gets to pass on a special ‘Heroic Ability’ to all the characters in his Legacy. Powerful Sith Warrior in your Legacy? His Jedi children can "Force Choke" enemies. Father was a high ranking Imperial Agent? Call in some old favors and request "Orbital Strikes" from Imperial warships. Your sister is a notorious Smuggler? She taught you that… special… kick that only Smugglers know.

Some of you may be concerned about Heroic Abilities making the game unbalanced or just looking wrong if used frequently. We had this in mind during development, so as a result Heroic Abilities can only be used while you are using your class’ Heroic Moment ability. These are abilities you already have that require an active companion to use and that currently boost your regeneration while active, allowing you to take on tougher opponents.

By requiring you to use these abilities with a companion present, we ensure that people who play multiple characters do not gain an advantage during the end game or in Warzones. By also only allowing Heroic Abilities during the brief window of time that a Heroic Moment ability is active, they remain a relatively rare occurrence. You won’t see Jedi running around spamming Force Choke all the time.

Heroic Abilities are very useful for leveling up new characters, for taking on tough bosses and PvE content as well as being handy roleplaying additions. Our intention is not to upset end game balance with them, and hopefully you will agree.

Companion Unlocks

When you complete all possible conversations and quests with a companion, you receive a companion unlock that is granted to all characters in your Legacy.

The first companion you unlock of each companion combat archetype (ranged tank, ranged DPS, melee tank, melee DPS, and healer) gives you a unique unlock for that companion type that grants a passive stat bonus. These first-time archetype unlocks also modify the duration and cooldown times for your Heroic Moment ability. This ensures that a single character can potentially attain the full range of companion stat boosts and Heroic Moment modifiers, while also ensuring that a player who has severely mistreated one companion can get that unlock by playing an alternate character.

For example, a Sith Warrior who has mistreated Vette may find it extremely hard to get her unlock, but unlocking any other ranged DPS companion on any other character will grant the same archetype unlock. Additional companions unlocked beyond the five combat archetypes grant a passive bonus to your Presence stat, increasing the power of your companion characters.

Species Unlocks

Can Sith Purebloods ever find a path to the light side? Is a Miralukan’s Force sight good enough to fire a sniper rifle with any accuracy? Do Mirialans make for good Sith Inquisitors as well as Jedi Consulars? With Legacy species unlocks, you can tell those stories with your own characters. Playing a character of any species to level 50 unlocks that character’s species as an option at character creation for all classes. All combinations of class and species are now possible given the right unlocks. Opening these new combinations gives much more freedom at character creation. By having to earn these unlocks, instead of just allowing all combinations by default, we ensure that combinations like Jedi Pureblood are still uncommon, and require someone to have invested time in a Sith Pureblood Legacy to attain them.

Additionally, if you unlock a species like Cyborg that has unique customization options per class, you open up all possible customization options for every class. Your new Cyborg Smuggler can have the Agent’s cybernetic eyepieces, or the sinister looking facial cybernetics of the Sith Warrior.

If you have enough credits and a high enough Legacy Level, you may also unlock additional species combos by purchasing them for a large number of credits. The cost for bypassing the unlock requirements is high, but it allows players who may have played a human to 50 and beyond a chance to start their next character as the species and class of their choice if they have the credits to spare.

Ship Unlocks

By attaining high enough Legacy Levels and spending credits, players will be able to purchase unlockable items for their ship. Wish you could pick up your mail on your ship? There’s a mailbox you can purchase if you are the right Legacy Level and spend a few credits. Neutral Galactic Trade Network Terminal? Better be ready to shell out some credits for that one! Wish that you could love your ship’s protocol droid even more than you already do? A new astromech you can acquire for your ship sells unique sensor modules for your beloved C2-N2 or 2V-R8 that give him crafting specializations, just the same as your other companions. In case that’s not enough, the astromech also repairs items and buys your junk!

As with all unlocks attained through the Legacy System, when you acquire something on one character, you acquire it for all your characters. That means what a new character in your Legacy gets their ship, they will climb on board for the first time to find all of your purchases already in place and waiting.

Other Unlocks

Unlocks are also awarded for reaching important alignment milestones, hitting different valor and social levels, and others are purchasable just by reaching a given legacy level and spending credits. Players unlocking Valor rewards will get some new, special unarmed combat abilities used for dueling other players. Players unlocking Social rewards will be dancing the night away with their companions using the new Companion Dance ability, and will receive new emotes that will have your characters using tools and tech devices. Players with credits to spare can buy down the cooldown time of Quick Travel and Emergency Fleet Pass for added convenience, or get the "Rocket Boost" ability that gives their characters an additional very fast sprint. (Hint: Rocket Boost is just a poorly scrambled anagram of Rocket Boots. If you’re sporting a jetpack on your back, the jets will fire out of there instead!)

The Legacy System does not end with Game Update 1.2; we’re already designing new Legacy additions for future updates. The first of these will arrive in Game Update 1.3, when we will be introducing an extension of the system that adds per-character perks that are not shared globally amongst your Legacy. These new perks will allow players to customize the way their characters progress, as well as new rewards, conveniences, and all kinds of other fun surprises.

We won’t stop there, either. The Legacy Team is already looking to future Game Updates. We will continue to expand and build upon the Legacy System for years to come, just as you continue to expand your family tree and build upon your own Star Wars legacy.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on Game Update 1.2 and hopefully we’ll see many of you on the Public Test Server.

William Wallace
Senior Game Designer

Fellow PvPers, thank you for taking on the challenge of player vs player combat in The Old Republic!

In the first week after launch there were over a million Warzone matches played, with nearly half of all players participating in Warzones. Bad news for Republic players, though - the Empire currently leads overall, having won 53% of all Alderaan Civil War and Voidstar matches (across all servers). Huttball has been played the most, accounting for 39% of all matches – and yes, we’ll be adding a new same faction vs. same faction enabled Warzone in the future.

First and foremost here is what we are addressing as a top priority:

Level 50 Bracket Warzones: Level 50 players will have a bracket of their own, playing in separate Warzone matches to lower level players. This is something we have wanted to do for some time and now that there is an increasing number of level 50 players we will be implementing the feature in January.

Open World PvP on Ilum: The planet of Ilum currently allows for open world PvP even on a PvE server, but the mechanics and incentives of the planet are not in as intended yet. We’re working on longer term goals for the planet and for other PvP areas, but expect to see some interim adjustments in January - such as more respawn points to focus conflicts, restricting Companion Characters from the area, and revisions to rewards. Ilum will also become a major source of Valor. Valor buffs will increase and decrease based on the objectives your faction owns. These buffs increase the amount of Valor you receive per player kill. However they do not give anything in and of themselves, so players will still need to defeat other players for significant Valor rewards. Additionally, daily and weekly missions will require player kills to complete. Player kills for quests and Valor credit will have diminishing returns per player killed. So, the more players that are fighting other players, the better it is for everyone.

Combat Gameplay: You’ll see several optimizations come online in January, and we are going to continue to tune this as time goes on.

We also have other exciting features coming in the near future including Ranked Warzone Matches, PvP Stat Tracking, Open World PvP Loot Drops, more Warzone medals for different objectives, Guard Optimizations and Target Optimizations.

Additionally we’re looking at ways to enable team vs. team, more level brackets and the ability to choose which Warzone you want to play in.

This is not a complete list of everything we’re working on that’s PvP related, but we have to keep some surprises for later! Thanks again for all your feedback and please keep it coming. We read as much as we can then cross reference with metrics to take action on features and tuning the game to ensure an enjoyable and competitive PvP community.

Gabe Amatangelo
Principal Lead PvP, Operations & Flashpoints Designer

Discuss on Forums

Generally speaking we are aiming to limit our scheduled maintenance period to once a week, on Tuesdays. We are aiming for this weekly maintenance period to take place in an off-peak time for both North American and European players. We are also aiming to inform players of the precise duration of any weekly maintenance period at least 24 hours before the maintenance begins.

The upcoming maintenance windows (detailed below) are exceptions, and are needed to prepare ourselves for our official launch on December 20th.

Maintenance Window #2:

Date: Evening of December 19th (CST)

Time: 6PM CST (4PM PST/7PM EST/12AM GMT/1AM CET)

All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to complete before 11PM CST, and will mark the end of Early Game Access for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

Maintenance Window #3:

Date: Early hours of December 22nd (CST)

Time: 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET)

All game servers and SWTOR.com will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than three hours, but could be extended.

Thanks for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In order to ensure that the service would be smooth and stable, we staged how we brought people into the Early Game Access program, adding people in waves. As you know, there are a lot of folks who want to play the game right now and we want to make sure they have lots of people to play with. Balancing this with figuring out when to bring new servers online to help alleviate the size of the queues is part art and part science. On one hand, you do not want people to wait too long – on the other hand, you want to make sure that people have a dynamic, engaging community to play with for long after launch. Either way, we have one clear objective – to make sure folks have fun.

While we can’t promise that there won’t ever be queues, we can promise you that we are taking this matter seriously and constantly reviewing them to make sure that they are manageable and reasonable.

Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer – Live Services

In the fourth and final installment of "Choose Your Side,” writers and developers discuss the ins and outs of the Smuggler and Sith Warrior classes, highlighting some of the skills and abilities that separate these classes from the rest. This time around, Senior Writer Hall Hood and Senior Game Designer William Wallace stand behind the Smuggler, while Writer Ian Ryan and PvP Designer Ben Pielstick speak for the Sith Warrior.

Early Game Access will still be staggered, allowing blocks of players in at a time to ensure a quality experience for everyone. Once your account has been granted entry into Early Game Access, you will receive an email informing you that you’re in, as well as where you can download the Game Client if you haven’t done so already, so check your email inbox! Another way to see your Early Game Access status is to log in to www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com and visit My Account >>Pre-Order. Once you’ve installed the Game Client, all you have to do is log into the game with the account associated with your Pre-Order Code redemption.

Early Game Access will end on December 19th, shortly before the official launch at 12:01AM EST on December 20th. During that time, we will be bringing down all servers for a short period before the launch of the Game.

So how do you gain entry into Early Game Access? All you have to do to qualify for Early Game Access is pre-order a copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic and redeem your Pre-Order Code at our Code Redemption Center before the official launch of the Game. There’s still time for you to get in on Early Game Access before it ends so pre-order your copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic right now!

Get Ready to Play at Launch

While we are excited to have people getting into the game, we also want to ensure that your account is ready to go on launch day. To that end, we have updated your Account Summary page with a checklist showing you which steps you need to complete in order to guarantee that your account is ready to play the game. These steps include answering security questions, filling out your contact information and redeeming your final Game Product Registration Code. You can see which steps you’ve completed, and which you still need to complete, by visiting your Account Summary page right now!

Secure your Old Republic Account

Increase the security of your account with The Old Republic Security Key! Available as a physical or mobile security key, this optional security key takes only a few minutes to set up and gives your account an additional layer of Two-Factor authentication, providing much greater protection against unauthorized access even if your computer becomes compromised. Plus, as an added bonus for picking it up you will have access to a special in-game vendor who will offer you exclusive gear and items.

Already have a security key? Set it up now!

Pre-Paid Game Time Codes

You can also purchase 60-Day Pre-Paid Game Time Codes through Origin.com starting today. These Game Time Codes will grant you 60-days of game access, and cost $29.99 in North America. Pre-Paid Game Time Codes will be available soon in Europe throughOrigin.com and will cost £18.99 in the United Kingdom and €26.99 throughout the rest of Europe.

Purchase a Digital Upgrade Pack

We are also offering a Digital Upgrade Pack for individuals who purchased and redeemed a Product Registration Code for the Standard Edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic, but want to have access to the following in-game items:

• Flare Gun
• Training Droid
• HoloDancer
• HoloCam
• STAP In-Game Vehicle

See the New Player Guide

Finally, we realize that for many of you this will be the first time you experience a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. To help ensure that you have the good experience playing The Old Republic, we’ve published a New Player Guide that will walk you through the steps of creating your character, picking your server and guiding you through the basics of the game.

See you in the game and don’t forget that you can follow all the latest news on the game by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter!

Have more questions? Visit the Launch FAQ for more details.

*Customers who redeem their Pre-Order Code at the Code Redemption Center prior to launch will be able to pre-load the Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Client before the official Game launch. Pre-loading the Game does not grant you access to the Game. Pre-Ordering the Game only allows you access to the Early Game Access period and your Color Crystal. Early Game Access may be up to 7 days. The length of your Early Game Access depends on the date and order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code. In order to continue playing the Game after the Early Game Access period, you must redeem your official Game Product Registration Code at the Code Redemption Center.

Austin, Texas – December 7, 2011 – After successfully concluding one of the largest-ever Beta tests for an MMO, BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), is now making final preparations for one of the biggest entertainment launches of the year as Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ reaches stores on December 20, 2011 in North America and on December 15th in Europe. BioWare also revealed today that Early Game Access for players who pre-order the game will begin on December 13, 2011 at 6:00 AM CST, giving some players as much as a seven-day head start to their personal Star Wars™ saga. To participate in the Early Game Access program, customers must pre-order any version of Star Wars: The Old Republic and redeem their code** at www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com/preorder before the official launch of the game. Pre-orders are still available in limited supplies at most participating retailers and via Origin.com.

Die-hard MMO gamers and passionate Star Wars fans worldwide are gearing up for the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic. During the weekend of November 25 – November 28, 2011, over 725,000 unique gamers participated in a highly successful Beta test for the game, logging in over 9 million hours of gameplay. With two weeks to go until launch, more than 78,000 guilds have participated in the Pre-Launch Guild Program and over 2.4 million players are registered on the game’s official web site www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com. Critics around the world are equally excited, as Game Informer has proclaimed that "The Old Republic is poised to reshape the MMO landscape," and MSNBC has said that "Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking strong and the attention to story is paying off in a big way.”

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a go for launch on December 20,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of the BioWare label’s MMO Business Unit. "We are extremely humbled by the surge of players who have joined us on this journey and participated in the Beta Weekend. Their participation has given us the opportunity to stress test the game and allowed us to tune the experience, ensuring that we deliver the smoothest possible MMO launch later this month."

Set thousands of years before the classic films, Star Wars: The Old Republic is a story-driven, massively multiplayer online game challenging players with epic quests, featuring dynamic combat across iconic worlds in the Star Wars galaxy such as Tatooine, Alderaan, Hoth and more. Each of the game’s eight primary classes will enjoy their own unique storyline, all of which are fully voiced by a huge cast of actors and features a sweeping musical score.

Included with the purchase of every copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic is 30 days of access to the game, after which players can continue to play through subscribing*** at either $14.99 per month, $41.97 for 3 months ($13.99 per month), or $77.94 for six months ($12.99 per month). For more information on Star Wars: The Old Republic, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com, follow the game on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/swtor or "Like” Star Wars: The Old Republic on Facebook athttp://facebook.com/starwarstheoldrepublic.

Feared across the galaxy for both their mastery of the Dark Side of the Force™ and their ability to manipulate those around them, even those within the Empire know to watch themselves when in the presence of a Sith Inquisitor. Some acolytes who complete the trials use their newfound powers to channel the Force into devastating mental and lightning attacks. Others command the Force to deceive their enemies both in conversation and on the battlefield.

If your guild has qualified for import, you can expect to receive an email at some time over the next several days. This email will give you further details on how to check the status of your guild as well as further details about how to join your guild once you’re in the game. Your email will also tell you which server your guild has been assigned to, so you will know which one to select when Early Game Access begins. While we will do everything we can to ensure that your Allies and Adversaries are on your server with you, we can’t necessarily guarantee that every guild will see their Allies and Adversaries on their server with them.

We want to thank each and every one of you who took part in the program, and we look forward to seeing you all in the game!

In the latest entry of our series "Choose Your Side,” members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic team plead their cases for two iconic Star Wars™ classes, highlighting the many skills and abilities that set each class apart. This time around, Senior Writer Alexander Freed and Designer Ken Dilks argue in favor of the stealthy Imperial Agent, while Writer Jo Berry and Designer Jason Attard speak on behalf of the Force-wielding Jedi Consular.