Everything will change immensely for players of Star Wars: The Old Republic in early April.
Last week, a video emerged from BioWare describing a massive 1.2 update for the popular multiplayer online role-playing game. The content patch--named Legacy--offers several major benefits and a plethora of little changes that could make things much more enjoyable for those invested in the game.
The big-ticket items include a new warzone (Novare Coast) and operation (Explosive Conflict) located on the planet Denova. We also spotted a new flash point named The Lost Island, which you can further see in the trailer below.
Legacy's inspiration derives from the addition of the expanded legacy system, which adds new abilities, races, unlocks, and much more. Players get a family tree, and may acquire powers from others in their family of created characters. An example: if you level a Sith Warrior, then your Imperial Agent could use the "Force Choke" skill.
Graphic updates in the patch include improved character textures (a big difference in quality) and advanced UI customization. I could continue spouting off about the new armor, weapons, and other features in the update, but that would take up way too many paragraphs.
A recent Star Wars "guild summit," hosted by BioWare, included players from the game. Some staggering statistics mentioned during the event: gamers gobbled up 2 million copies of the game since its debut, going on to create 3.8 million characters. Game Director James Ohlen, who spoke at the event, mentioned that average playtime nears five hours a day, seven days a week (equaling about 35 hours). Those startled by that amount of time may not understand the dynamics of a game like this, but ask any World of Warcraft player and they will inform you how these games are a massive time sink.
Check out this entire transcript of the Star Wars: The Old Republic guild summit which includes intricate details about update 1.2 and some revealing Q&A sessions with the developers.