Part of this article was originally published exclusively for Patrons on July 16th. Some amendments have been made for this article.
Star Wars The Old Republic recently launched Game Update 5.9.2 which enjoyed an excellent cycle on the PTS but has had some ongoing hiccups since it launched.
The most impressive thing to me about 5.9.2 wasn’t just the content, but the testing it went through on the PTS. I really hope they keep using the PTS to test future content.
But now we’ve once again reached a point where we know little about what content they have in store for us next.
Surprisingly though, Casey Hudson, Bioware’s General Manager, in his recent Mid-Summer Update Article, briefly mentioned SWTOR.
“In the meantime, our Star Wars: The Old Republic team is hard at work on some amazing plans for the coming year, with new features and surprises that I think makes it the game’s most exciting year yet”.
This, to me, sounds like the expansion they told us they’re doing! I did say many months ago that it was highly unlikely that we’d get the next expansion this year. So if this is what Casey is referring to then I’m not surprised in the slightest.
But, what about the rest of the year? They have yet to announce anything specific. But, there are a few clues in the Summer Road Map.
Notably, you may have noticed that a certain new Huttball Map mentioned in the Road Map is missing from 5.9.2. They also said in the Road Map that this would be a Summer of PvP, right?
So what can we conclude? That it is likely that another PvP focused Update is coming which will feature the new Huttball Map!
Another thing hinted in the Road Map was some major Guild updates. Sounds interesting right? I’m looking forward to hearing more about what this Guild stuff will entail and when we can expect to see it launched.
Then finally there was this ominous paragraph.
“At the end of the year, we’ll introduce an exciting new storyline and multiplayer gameplay – all leading to an explosive conflict with new characters to meet and planets to explore in the new year“.
More story and some multiplayer gameplay? New characters and planets? Intriguing.
It looks like we have a fair bit to look forward to that will also hopefully be on the PTS for testing! So even if PvP isn’t for you, it looks like there will be stuff coming later in the year that may interest you!
But either way, I couldn’t be happier that Bioware took the time to finally focus on PvP!
