Customization and Collections, Patch 2.1

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been out about a year now. It's been a rough first year for the highly anticipated franchise.  That Bioware, a well-respected company, was behind it boded well for the product. However, for many gamers, the fact that EA was behind Bioware was frightening. However, that didn't stop the game from having a lot of hype leading up to launch.  Most people likely know by now, that the game never lived up to the expectations.   All that being said, the game has undergone a lot of changes in the last year. First and foremost was the Free-To-Pay, err Play format.  I should be clear, this is not specifically a comment strictly on SW:TOR but on most of the F2P genre. It's the current successful model, and so why not follow it?  Even Neverwinter uses it, a lot more than I thought at first (more on that in a different post).  The Cartel Market, as SW calls it, has been a huge boost to the game's financial recovery.  Based on the amount of Cartel Items on the GTN, there are people spending hundreds of dollars a week on Cartel Packs.  That adds up to a sizable amount of money for EA/Bioware.  Like it or hate it, the Cartel Market is a major reason for SW having the ability to still be around.

The second big change for the game was the first digital expansion, the Rise of the Hutt Cartel.  In this expansion that sold for either $10 or $20 depending on if you were a subscriber or a F2P member gave you 5 new levels, 4 new Hard Mode versions of lower level flash points, and a new Op.  As well as a new planet, Makeb.  The Makeb story line is entertaining, and well written.  I've played it from both sides and found the story to be good both ways.  For those who want Same Sex relationships, there is a male Sith NPC in the Makeb Imperial story line that can be flirted with/kissed by male players.  While for many homophobic gamers, this is terrifying, it's good to see them at least make good on part of their promise to players on this topic.  While it doesn't appeal to me, that doesn't mean that it doesn't appeal to others, and therefore has merit within the game.

Lastly, the first major "quality of life" improvement in SW:TOR for players who don't like their look. Patch 2.1 Customization.  This had several major changes for those who are into the whole look of their character. First they introduced the Cathar as a playable race. Again, not my thing, but I am sure there are a lot of people who want to make their Thundercat clones.   I've seen more than a few people running around with them already.  Secondly, they made it possible to get some new hairstyles that are more lush than the original ones.  Both unlocks are account wide once you pay for them once, so it's not too pricey.  The third change is the ability to change your character's race, and everything else in their look other than class and gender.  This can be done relatively cheaply as well, and subscribers get a discount.

Before, Kermit the Jedi here... It's not easy, being green.

Take for example the above. This was a before picture. Typical bland boring Jedi Knight. You see a lot of these guys running around. And well nothing goes with green well... A few cartel coins later and poof!

And you go from typical to what the heck is a Pure Blood Sith doing on Tython?!?

While the race change is pricey, the rest is under 200 cartel coins, meaning well under the monthly subscription.  Total here was about 900 cartel coins, so a month and a half's worth if you don't want to buy any coins (or can't afford to).

Artificing got buffed a bit by the expansion as well, making up for the Cartel Market killing the crystal market.  New Dyes can be crafted by Artificers to change armor colors.  These sell pretty well, though a bit of a pain to make.  However, I expect Dyes to become hot.

Lastly, is the Collections feature. And I'll be honest, if you don't like this, then either you don't care at all about what your gear looks like (which is perfectly fine) or you are just enjoying hatin' on EA/Bioware (which is ok too, if it makes ya feel better).    Essentially how it works is anything you have acquired from either the Cartel Market, Cartel Rep, or from EA/Bioware in the form of a promo/perk can now be accessed through the Collections tab.  The character that originally had the item can get endless copies of whatever it is for free, to replace parts either lost or whatever. Or for a new companion you are gearing up, etc.  For a small fee, you can unlock MOST things to be account wide.  This is a really nice feature, as it allows you to get that really rare whatever you paid x credits for or got lucky and got in one of your cartel packs and use it on everyone.  And this is not just on a specific legacy. I play on two servers, and my Collections add items from both servers to the collective.  This made for a very happy smuggler.

What good is it to be a smuggler if you never have goodies from the Dark Side?

The Overlord's Throne is courtesy of my Sith Inquisitor's purchase on the GTN, the title "Crime Lord" was something I got in an old cartel pack on the other server.  Now, my main has access to both. It's good to be the Crime Lord, Jabba eat your heart out... At least Leia didn't choke me with her chain.

While I think the system needs some tweaking still, specifically the ability to make the space ship upgrades account wide (those get expensive otherwise for each new 50...) I think it's a major step forward.  While there are those who feel (justifiably) that some of the game issues and content could be addressed ahead of these cosmetic and Cartel Market things, one has to remember that it's the Cartel Market that pays the bills.