You'll need to create a new recruitment thread for the new forums. We'll be monitoring the volume in the server forums over the next week or so and may introduce recruitment sub-forums if the volume of posts per day and readability warrant them, but we won't be migrating the old threads over.

I can confirm that Game Update 1.4 will not be deployed during maintenance tonight; we are continuing testing on the PTS right now.

I talked to Principal Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert about the concern being expressed in this thread that story will not be important in our future Game Updates. He wanted to reassure everyone that story will continue to be an important part of Star Wars: The Old Republic in any efforts that we make going forward. Bioware is built upon making the best story-based gameplay we possibly can, and that philosophy has always been a cornerstone of SWTOR's design - that won't be changing. We'll have more details as we're able to share them.

I asked Jesse Sky (Lead Flashpoints and Operations Designer) about when players can expect to see Terror from Beyond and Explosive Conflict in the Group Finder. He said it's definitely something we're planning to do, but had some information about why they aren't in quite yet: Story Mode Explosive Conflict and Terror from Beyond are balanced for players in Columi gear, but we currently have no way to enforce or communicate the recommended power level. This could cause frustration for players who are undergeared, and would bog down the process of getting into the content, which is contrary to the purpose of the tool. Introducing either Op into the Group Finder would also mean rotating out Eternity Vault and Karagga's Palace, so we want to make sure the timing and the rewards are right before we do this.

When we unstick a thread, it's typically because we have too many stickies (that was the case here). If we have too many threads stuck at the top, we find that less people read them. We generally unstick older threads in favor of newer ones, but we very rarely close or remove a thread for an official blog post or other news.

This issue we corrected affected a large number of missions, but players should no longer be blocked from progressing. If you find a mission that continues to be blocked, please let us know!

Yes, if you previously had a character on PTS, that character/those characters will still be there!

The PTS is now open and available for testing of Game Update 1.4: Terror from Beyond! For more information on the features in 1.4, check out this news article. Don't forget to check out our Terror from Beyond and Class Changes blogs for additional details. We're looking forward to seeing your feedback in the PTS forum!

The PTS is now open, and you can begin testing Game Update 1.4! The current version of the patch notes can be found here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=523625.

I just want to assure everyone that these fixes are a top priority. It will likely be only a matter of days before they are deployed, but we don't have an exact estimate right now, and we'll keep you updated. We apologize for any inconvenience these issues have caused.

Fixing these recently-introduced class mission issues is a very high priority for us. We are actively working on fixes for them and will deploy them as soon as we're able. We'll have more information about the fixes as we prepare them and will let you know when more info is available.

We will eventually be increasing the number of character slots available - once we have solid details about this (as with automatic transfers), we'll definitely let everyone know.

Looks like the others in the thread have explained what's going on, but I'll confirm that the plan is that we will be eventually automatically transferring players to destination servers. After that, more options may become available. We'll update everyone when there are more specifics!

Hi everyone! You may be interested in the answer from David Hunt in this Q&A from June, where he describes how loot is determined in the various parts of the game. It's quite a long answer and has a lot of details about how the loot you get is determined. The short answer is that, yes, class very frequently factors into the loot you receive, but you aren't guaranteed an item for a class that is present.

I talked to Damion Schubert and asked him this question, and he let me know that additional quickslots are in the works and are slated to make it in before the end of the year. I don't have a more specific timeline, but it's something that we do have plans for!

I talked to Principal Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert and showed him this thread. He liked the feedback here and will take a look to see if there are any of these we can incorporate into our plans. This isn't a promise that we can get them in, but we'd love to if we can. If you have any other NPC-only appearances that you're really fond of, post them in this thread and we'll keep watching it for your suggestions!

Right now, we do have this change planned for 1.4, but please keep in mind that it's possible that could change!

No - if you wear a circlet or other headpiece that might have previously clipped unattractively with your chosen mask, you'll see the default mask instead of your chosen one if you choose to turn that headpiece's display "on."

I talked to Senior Designer Austin Peckenpaugh and Senior PvP Designer Rob Hinkle about the concerns that developers allow changes made that primarily affect either PvP or PvE to negatively affect the other part of the game. While it's true that some changes may be motivated by design requirements in one gameplay mode, we never make a change without confidence that it's fun and appropriate in all gameplay modes. We think it's natural for players to think of the game as two different sub-games and to dislike changes made for a sub-game they don't participate in, but that mindset couldn't be further from the case for us. We only ever look at the game as a complete package, and it's always our goal to deliver one cohesive and coherent gameplay experience. If, during our playtesting, we find that one experience suffers at the cost of another, we revisit our design goals and our options and reassess our approach. Overload and Force Wave, for example, now reach 15 meters in front of you. This is almost twice the previous range. The extra reach is quite a bit of fun and quite useful all around. Similarly, although stuns that now have a 10-meter range are irrefutably worse, we've taken measures to correct for this loss by adding a few new tools and skills to the affected classes. From our internal playtesting and feedback, we're confident that the new experience is more fun. Ultimately, we want you guys to be able to tell us what is and isn't fun, so we're looking forward to players actually testing these changes in-game on the PTS and giving us good, constructive feedback that is based on playing with the changes.

Hey everyone - thanks for your feedback on the classes blog! We're reading your questions and concerns and will work on getting answers to some of the common ones. Today I spoke to Austin Peckenpaugh (Senior Designer) and Rob Hinkle (Senior PvP Designer) about the changes to Resolve in relation to coordinated and uncoordinated teams, which many of you have questions or concerns about. First of all, please do keep in mind that reading about changes and experiencing them can be different. We are looking forward to your feedback once you've had some time to see these changes when the PTS becomes available! In the live game, being affected by two stuns simultaneously only controls you for 4 seconds, but it gives you full Resolve. To be plain, this makes escaping a rampaging melee player very, very difficult. It's directly related to concerns we see regarding overpowered melee and them being inescapable. Going immune after only 4 seconds of control strongly favors the one being controlled. What this change actually does is make "wasted" control not build extraneous Resolve. Once this change goes live, two well-coordinated players will not be able to control a target for any longer than they ever were able to before. In the live game and after this change, the optimal control strategy is and will continue to be "player B uses his control after player A's control has worn off." The only change is that two uncoordinated players aren't unduly and additionally punished for wasting their control. Consider the following examples under the new system: ex. A: Player A stuns the target for 4 seconds. 1 second after the stun is applied, player B stuns the same target for 4 seconds. The target is controlled for a total duration of 5 seconds. Player A stuns the enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = 4 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve 1 second later, player B stuns the same enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = existing 4s + new 1s = 5 seconds | enemy gains 200 Resolve Enemy gains a total of 1000 Resolve for being controlled for 5 seconds Resolve gain rate = 200 per second of stun ex B: Player A stuns the target for 4 seconds. 4 seconds after the stun is applied, player B stuns the same target for 4 seconds. The target is controlled for a total duration of 8 seconds. Player A stuns the enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = 4 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve 4 seconds later, player B stuns the same enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = existing 4s + new 4s = 8 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve Enemy gains a total of 1600 Resolve for being controlled for 8 seconds Resolve gain rate = 200 per second of stun Consider those same examples under the old system: ex A: Player A stuns the target for 4 seconds. 1 second after the stun is applied, player B stuns the same target for 4 seconds. The target is controlled for a total duration of 5 seconds. Player A stuns the enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = 4 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve 1 second later, player B stuns the same enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = existing 4s + new 1s = 5 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve Enemy gains a total of 1600 Resolve for being controlled for 5 seconds Resolve gain rate = 320 per second of stun ex. B: Player A stuns the target for 4 seconds. 4 seconds after the stun is applied, player B stuns the same target for 4 seconds. The target is controlled for a total duration of 8 seconds. Player A stuns the enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = 4 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve 4 seconds later, player B stuns the same enemy for 4 seconds | effective control duration = existing 4s + new 4s = 8 seconds | enemy gains 800 Resolve Enemy gains a total of 1600 Resolve for being controlled for 8 seconds Resolve gain rate = 200 per second of stun The only difference here is that the enemy is never treated to undue Resolve gains. Resolve gain always matches the amount of absolute control time. Two coordinated players can control a target as long as ever, but no longer than ever before.

We're getting this added into the notes right now! I can confirm that, yes, the event outfits are now bind on Legacy.

I asked Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer) about whether or not we intend to bring the white crystals back. He said that we do intend to make this crystal available again in the future, but we do want it to remain very rare even when we do.

I asked Jesse Sky (Lead Flashpoints and Operations Designer) what kind of gear players should be in to attempt Story Mode and what kinds of rewards they'll receive for doing so. He said that the gear requirements for Story Mode are similar to those for Story Mode Explosive Conflict. It's balanced for Columi and drops Rakata, but will also speed up the acquisition of Black Hole gear. Hard Mode is balanced for players who have geared past Hard Mode Explosive Conflict.

We asked Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer) whether HK-51 would give players an additional Crew Skills deployment. He said that right now we plan on keeping the maximum deployed at 5. Regarding his bonuses, he'll have a small efficiency bonus to all Mission Skills and a small critical bonus to all Crafting Skills.

The PTS is currently unavailable, and there is not anything new to download for it since the last update. We'll let you know as soon as PTS becomes available again; sorry for the inconvenience!