After weeks of silence due to the move from Bioware to Broadsword (including moving to a new office space), the SWTOR developers have finally made some announcements! Cloud Server migration is beginning on the 15th of August and Game Update 7.3.1 is launching in late August or early September.
This article details everything we know so far about Game Update 7.3.1 including Galactic Season 5 details and the developer’s plans for the Cloud Server migration.
SWTOR Cloud Server Migration
After many months of testing, including public testing in the APAC region in April, the developers are ready to migrate the servers from physical hardware to AWS (Amazon Web Services).
- Server migration will happen gradually in batches.
- The Leviathan (French) server will be the first to migrate.
- Tentatively happening on August 15th at 7 am CT/12 pm UTC/10 pm AEST.
- Downtime is expected to last 6 hours.
- All other servers (Satele Shan, Star Forge, Darth Malgus and Tulak Horde) will also experience brief downtime at the same time.
Once the Leviathan is successfully migrated to the Cloud, the developers will communicate the next server/s to be migrated and an estimated timeline following the same process.
The move to cloud-based servers is part of ongoing modernisation efforts the developer team has been focused on since Game Update 7.0 launched in 2022. Here are the benefits of this move according to the developers.
– Backend updates that are crucial to the continued health and stability of the game can be streamlined more efficiently.
– The resources required to maintain our current systems can be reallocated to focusing on enhancing the game experience.
– We will be able to leverage and integrate updated tech such as newer hardware and software. Through cloud modernization, we can update numerous tools and automation workflows which will help us maintain the game for long term.
– Once finalized, SWTOR may be capable to extend its servers capabilities to reach new players.
This list differs from the one in the APAC Cloud Server Testing Announcement Article, which contained this additional benefit.
– This technology allows us to improve the overall player experience such as connectivity, ping, faster start-up, and better in-game performance.
Curious that this was not listed in the most recent article. As for ‘extending server capabilities to reach new players’, I think I would rather see them focus on consolidating existing servers or looking into cross-server functionality first. There’s also not much point in opening new servers in new regions when there’s no new major content to bring in new/returning players.
SWTOR Game Update 7.3.1
Game Update 7.3.1 includes Galactic Season 5, UI/UX updates and new Cartel Market Items.
Galactic Season 5 – Confidence in Power
Galactic Season 5 features a number of changes. This is what we know so far.
- There will be no companion.
- New weekly objectives are being added involving.
- Setting companions to specific roles
- Space Missions
- Operations
- The story will be tied to progressing through the Season up to level 40.
- In the story players will interact with a variety of characters with dialogue choices that affect gameplay.
- Story Synopsis: “Under the command of a mysterious Master, 3V-1L will test the player through a series of trials, to see if they are worthy of the Master’s teachings of the “dark side”. Whether this is a prank or a serious threat, the player must decide how deeply they will commit to these “dark” trials to uncover the truth.“
Mapping Improvements
The developers have made further improvements to the UI/UX specifically to the HUD and world maps.
- Quick Travel (QT)
- QT ability will no longer open a separate map.
- The world map will display the QT points
- QT icon will also be present on the HUB overlay Map and Minimap
- Further UI/UX changes will be covered in the 7.3.1 patch notes.
More to come?
The developers have hinted that there could be more to Game Update 7.3.1. Perhaps Ancient Hypegate will finally get its medal revamp? I have some thoughts on what they should do with that Warzone Map. So keep an eye out for a future article about that if you’re interested.
The UI changes with Quick Travel look great! It will be interesting to see what other improvements there are.
As for Galactic Seasons, the changes coming in Galactic Season 5 sound interesting but probably won’t be enough for me to engage with it. I haven’t completed the last two Seasons. I got to Level 63 in Season 3 and Level 74 in Season 4. In Season 1 I used the credit catch-up mechanism to get to Level 100. If the rewards aren’t enticing for me, I won’t put in the extra effort needed to get to Level 100.
The Season Objectives are far too limiting for someone like me who pretty much only PvPs. I will not go out of my way to do content that does not interest me unless the Season rewards are good. Season 2 excelled in this regard having the best overall theme and stronghold decorations. Perhaps Season 5’s rewards will be enticing enough for me to go out of my way to complete the whole season? Only time will tell.
Thank you for reading this SWTOR article! What do you think they should do with the current server regions? Will you be checking out Game Update 7.3.1?
