Category Archives: Aurebesh to English

September 18, 2026 · 8:01 am

I Dare Damnation – Legacy Reborn Review

Legacy of the Sith has concluded with its final story update Legacy Reborn and, even though it took me most of the summer, I do want to share my thoughts about the climatic chapter of Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s current expansion.

This review is a little late. I could not think of a way to discuss both the narrative of the update and the gameplay through which it was conveyed without revealing spoilers of its events. If you have not played it yet go do that instead.

In short and without spoilers, I can say I very much enjoyed Legacy Reborn. It brought together the many storylines of this era of SWTOR, resolved a few but left plenty of mystery and anticipation for what is to come in the game’s next era, Masters of the Force.

The Gameplay

How we played through Legacy Reborn was at times a little different from how we experienced the much of the rest of this expansion. Five times during the chapter, the point of view of the player shifts to characters other than our own. As Arn Peralun or Major Anri we pilot a starship in battle, as Lana Beniko and later Darth Malgus we battle Darth Jadus’ minions, and as Theron Shan or T7-O1 we slice through the security of the ruins, and, perhaps most notably, we battle into the citadel on Khar Shian from the perspective of a Mandalorian Basilisk war droid.

This particular mode of gameplay is not new to SWTOR. These are in effect vehicle missions, and those go back as far as Fallen Empire. But we haven’t seen it used to them degree since the Shroud of Memory, Knights of the Eternal Throne’s bonus chapter in which we played as HK-55.

In general, I enjoyed these sections. Playing as Lana and Malgus in particular was a lot of fun. They have unusual abilities and working out how they interact to get the most out of their attacks was satisfying to experience. Moreover, the descriptions of their abilities also function to flesh out their personalities and how they choose to engage in battle.

Click the image of the Basilisk’s targeting HUD to read the Mandalorian text in English.

Playing as a Basilisk droid was neat as well. If you’ve done the walker segments during Fallen Empire or on Iokath, you will know what to expect, but this time the Basilisk feels appropriately nimble and powerful unlike the more ponderous walkers we stomped around in for earlier iterations of this system.

I did not love the starship battle sequence. I felt a little disoriented when it began. Targeting seems to be automatic and not very interactive. I pressed the attack buttons and eventually won, but I never really felt like I had control over the ship, the camera and my attacks.

Click the image to read this Aurebesh display in English.

Space battles are big part of Star Wars, so I do hope Broadsword does not make this a one and done. At the very least, adding sequences more like the on rail space missions from the game’s earliest days would be fine by me. I still enjoy the space missions, both for their video game style controls and the very cool locations we get to fly through during the dog fights.

With regards to playing as other characters, I think there are cool narrative possibilities they can explore with this kind of gameplay. One could make the argument that our characters are the least interesting parts of  SWTOR’s story. Our “hero’s journey” is complete, and even though we are the stars of the show, we spend more time reacting to other characters’ actions than driving the story forward ourselves.

I don’t completely buy into that position, but I do think there is value in sharing the spotlight with other members of the cast. During Fallen Empire, I never minded when we cut away to the Eternal Throne room to watch Arcann and Vaylin bicker and react to the Outlander’s latest shenanigans. Used judiciously, I think it could be very interesting to explore the story through other perspectives.

Imagine if, during Theron Shan’s Traitor arc, we’d played as him for a bit. As players we could’ve explored his motivations more. We also might’ve gotten to know key villains like Vinn Atrius and Gemini-16 before we meet and defeat them all at once in the Nathema Conspiracy flashpoint.

Imagine if we played an scene as Lana with our characters as the companion this time around. I think it would be fascinating to see normally familiar interactions from her point of view. Imagine if Lana had a [Flirt] option during a conversation. Would you select it?

Progressing the narrative through other points of view is long established in other media to flesh out and expand the scope of stories, but it’s a bit more tricky to pull off in a video game. During Onslaught and Legacy of the Sith, there were more than a few briefing room scenes that delivered exposition without any action. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting to play as Akaavi Spar tracking down the Hidden Chain or as Arcann uncovering the first hints of Darth Nul rather than hearing about it in a meeting that could’ve been an email?

I hope SWTOR does more with this style of storytelling, but, again, judiciously. Our characters are the lead characters and focus should remain on them. One of the reasons I always look forward to story updates is because I get to hear my characters talk and I get to see them be cool. I do not expect that to change.

The Story

As you might expect from the climatic chapter of an expansion, all of SWTOR’s story threads and characters collide on Khar Shian. And, yes, Legacy Reborn ends on a cliffhanger. It would’ve disappointed me if it had not.

The Chekhov’s gun of Legacy of the Sith is Darth Nul’s machine. It is finally activated as it had to be. For Heta Kol, it was ever only a means to an end. To Sa’har and Ri’kan is was path to discover the truth about what separated them as children. To Darth Jadus it was a weapon to give him control  the galaxy. To Darth Malgus and Darth Nul, it was a ticking time bomb to shatter the balance between the Jedi and Sith. Since the end of the Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion, Malgus’ entire will has been bent to achieving that goal. And he finally pulled the pin on that grenade.

I’ve always found Malgus an interesting character from our first conversations with him for the low level flashpoints to his heel turn on Ilum all the through to his return on Ossus and the events on Khar Shian. He is almost sympathetic. I am tempted to call him an anti-hero, but I can’t quite give him that much credit. He is not so much betrayed by fate, but the betrayer himself. More than anyone else, Malgus knows the hollowness of the Sith code. The Force hasn’t set him free. Every choice he has ever made as a Sith has only bound him in more and more chains.

During the climax of Legacy Reborn, Jadus attempts to manipulate Malgus by haunting him with visions of his past, including his Twi’lek lover, Eleena Daru. Confronted by the only person he’s probably ever loved in his life, he simply kills her again. I know it was an illusion and so does Malgus, but he’s so broken, he’s so lost that the only thing he can do is repeat the bad choices that brought him to where he is.

His last, best hope is to break everything with Nul’s machine.

The notion that the Jedi and Sith have been poor caretakers of the Force is nothing new. Certainly the flaws of the Jedi were central of their fall in the Prequels and how they’ve been portrayed in new stories from The Last Jedi to The Acolyte. As for the Sith, every Imperial faction player of SWTOR knows full well that life under Sith rule is dangerously capricious whether the Force is with you or not.

The Force does not belong to the Jedi or Sith. That is the Legacy of the Sith. That is the promise and threat of Nul’s machine. For better or worse, we’ll all have to deal with that now.  At long last, could Malgus have done something good?

Things come to a head on Khar Shian for others as well. Shae Vizla and Heta Kol have their final confrontation, and revenge consumes them both. You can’t get much more Mandalorian than that, I guess. When Shae went rogue, I didn’t take it personally, but Rass Ordo did. On Khar Shian, I liked that my character stayed mostly out of the way, and that it was Rass that really let Shae have it. The betrayal was personal to him, and I’m glad he could give that anger a voice, because, I think he was right.

I will miss Shae. She is one of SWTOR’s iconic characters and always added some spice to the mix when she was in the story.

As I said in the previous section, it’s the voices of the characters that help bring the story to life. The longevity of SWTOR means we have seen and heard how these characters develop over the years. Malgus could easily have come across as a one note villain, but Jamie Glover’s performance gives him depth as a tragic, Byronic hero. Noshir Dalal is a relatively recent addition to the cast, but he makes Rass Ordo’s earnestness, confidence and anger feel real and earned. I share Rass’s frustration, but Sumalee Montano kept Shae Vizla defiant and fierce to the very end. How cool has been to hear Stephen Rashbrook slip right back into the smooth arrogance of Darth Jadus?

And that’s just a few of the cast. I could go on. However, I know that French and German players continue to wait for their chance to experience the story in their own languages. I very much hope that happens soon.

Finally, the design and cinematic teams continue to do great work. How many Sith ruins have we explored in SWTOR? Khar Shian’s with its aurora illuminated sky and torch-like crystals is immediately unique and distinctive. Once again, everyone gets their moment to shine and be cool on screen. Jadus wears Force lightning as well as anyone since Valkorion. Malgus owns the red glow of his lightsaber. When she picked up that sword, I knew things would end poorly for Heta Kol, but I gasped when I saw how bad it got.

Legacy Reborn feels appropriately epic. Things come together and break apart. I believe Onslaught, Legacy of the Sith and Masters of the Force are meant to be a trilogy, Legacy certainly ends on a cliffhanger. What will happen in Masters of the Force? Who can say?

The Future

I can’t say, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.

It is tradition for Star Wars stories to start in medias res, but I hope Masters of the Force doesn’t jump too far ahead. I want to witness the immediate after effects of Legacy Reborn.

It seems like Darth Jadus has been set up to be the main villain to at least kick off the next era. He is perhaps SWTOR‘s most ruthless, calculating and dangerous Dark Lord of the Sith, equally hated by the Republic and Sith factions. Although he is prone to monologuing, he doesn’t quite chew the scenery as much as your typical Star Wars villain. He’s a good choice. Rivix and Tau are still in the ruins in need of capture or rescue, and I wonder if they’ll find redemption or fall further from grace. Even though they escaped from Khar Shian, I highly doubt we’ve seen the last of Sa’har and Ri’kan, the latest in Star Wars’ long line of dysfunctional siblings.

The big question is what has the machine done to both the force sensitives of the galaxy and to our own characters?

It appears that Nuls’s machine has sparked the Force Sensitivity of even non-Force users. This could be controversial. I imagine that many players chose the tech classes specifically because they did not want to play a Force user in Star Wars. Many of the saga’s most beloved and iconic characters from Han Solo and Boba Fett to Cassian Andor and Din Djarin never moved a single rock with their mind.

However, it is well established in Star Wars lore that the Force is with everyone to one extent or another. Life creates the Force. Not the Jedi. Not the Sith. And if we want to venture into the weeds about this, I could very reasonably argue that possession by the most powerful Sith in history may have had some lingering effect on the Midi-chlorian counts of any Agent, Bounty Hunter, Smuggler or Trooper who has made it this far into SWTOR’s story. More simply, our characters were at ground zero when Nul’s machine was activated and may have suffered extra effects from the machine.

Malgus’ goal is to put the choice of what to do with this sensitivity in peoples’ own hands, so it’s reasonable that Tech characters might just shrug it off and carry on. From a game mechanics’ standpoint, I can’t imagine anything changing. Aside from Heroic Moment which has allowed Troopers to occasionally shoot Force Lightning and Agents to throw a few pebbles around, I don’t see the Force based Combat Styles opening up to every class.

Nevertheless, I am very curious to see how this affects the people of the galaxy both in the short term and in the days to come. Masters of the Force‘s first story update is subtitled Galaxy in Chaos, so that might be a hint of what to expect.

There are more mundane concerns, particularly in regards to the future of the Mandalorians. Jediah Ordo seems positioned to become the next Mandalore, but I don’t know if that is a done deal. Does he even want the job? Maybe someone new might claim the throne. If I had a vote, it would go to Akaavi Spar, if only to see my Smuggler’s reaction.

Likewise, regardless of our characters’ actual loyalty, their relationships with the factions is not in a great spot. It will only get worse. Whether is is the Republic Chancellor or the Sith Emperor, they will blame us for failing to prevent Malgus from turning the machine on. Moreover characters who have been actively working against their native faction have had their “saboteur” status exposed, and I’m very curious to see how that plays out.

Finally, Legacy Reborn does check in with many of SWTOR’s supporting characters. For example, General Daeruun plays a small but important part in the Republic side story, but I was surprised to see a quick cameo from Syl.

I’ve talked around this topic in the past, but there is no doubt in my mind that, at the end of Echoes of Oblvion, Vaylin transferred her spirit into the dying body of Syl, one of Satele Shan’s padawans.

Should we conclude that Vaylin will return in Masters of the Force? I don’t think it’s impossible. Vaylin has some very ardent fans who would love to see her again. As for me, I’m okay if she doesn’t. I don’t think Vaylin wants anything to do with our characters. I don’t think Vaylin wants anything to do with anyone. For me, personally, I think it’s enough to know that Vaylin’s out there on her own and she’s alright. I hope one day she finds some measure of peace.

But if she does come back, I won’t complain. Vaylin is a firecracker, and it could be fun to see her throw some sparks. She’d eat poor Arn Peralun alive, and I imagine she’d despise Jadus more than my Agent does.

SWTOR enters its fifteenth anniversary year with many new stories to tell and new worlds to explore. For a decade and a half, I’ve been on this ride through a galaxy far, far away, and I look forward to seeing where the good folks who make this game take me next.

 

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Filed under Aurebesh to English, General SWTOR, Legacy of the Sith, Mandalorian to English, Masters of the Force

June 30, 2026 · 8:09 pm

This City’s Confidence

My block continues to be a drag, but before the month of June fully closes out, I did want to post something. Fortunately, in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the streets of Corellia are a great source of Aurebesh, so I decided to translate a few more the urban signs to help grease the wheels in my brain.

Click the thumbnail to read this Aurebesh sign in English.

The signs featured here would not look out of place in any metropolis here on earth, even with the alien text. SWTOR’s environmental artists did a great job giving these assets a familiar structure but with just enough sci-fi flair to firmly place them in Star Wars’ “lived in” universe. All of these signs have seen better days, but are still legible enough to read.

The translations contain no revelations or deep lore, but nor should they. A sharp turn indicator, an advertisement and a fire hazard warning are all things we might expect to see on an excursion through any big, war torn city, whether it is on Corellia or Earth.

Click the thumbnail to read these Aurebesh signs in English.

The red and orange advertisement in this image contains a pair of seemingly random letters. Many if not most of the signs seen throughout SWTOR share this trait. Over the years, I’ve often wondered if there are any hidden meanings or “Easter Eggs” in these signs. Some letters seem to appear more often than others, but I’m not convinced that is indicative of a pattern.

More often than not, I suspect the  aesthetics of the shape of the letters guided their selection. In this case the Aurebesh Dorn and Yirt align to leave a neat triangular gap between the letters that the artist used as a design element in the sign. For my translation, I had to distort the D and Y letters to get them to fit to maintain the original design, but I think it worked out well.

I truly love it when I can read the writing in Star Wars and SWTOR, but it’s also important to remember that these fake space letters are just one design element in the greater world the movies and the game create.

 

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April 28, 2026 · 9:01 am

Streets Ahead

As we await the grand finale of Legacy of the Sith, I find myself in a bit of a lull with regards to Aurebesh. To combat this, I dipped into my to-do folder of screenshots of Aurebesh from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Despite the dozens of translations I’ve done over the years, there are many, many more signs, posters and displays that I’ve not yet covered in this project.

Click the thumbnails to see all the alien writing in English.

Long time readers should not be surprised to learn that when selecting subjects for this blog, I tend to favor things that I can connect to Star Wars lore, images that are inspired by art or design from the real world or from other fictional settings, or even just topics that allow me to go off on tangents and flights of fancy.

However much of the alien text seen in SWTOR, is intentionally designed to appear to be functional and practical. And that is most true when it comes to the huge variety of signage seen on Corellia from the war-torn streets of Coronet City to the toxic flooded corners of the Black Hole.

The common trait the three signs I’ve translated for this post share is simply a vertical orientation. There is no mystery or secret lore connected to their meaning. All three seem to be advertisements similar to what anyone who lives in a big city might see adorning the bus stops or street signs in the real world.

There isn’t much to say about this first sign. It features the letter “S” in New Futhork script. This script was created by Iain McCaig for The Phantom Menace as one of the writing systems seen on Naboo and is associated with luxury. For example, it can be found on the resort world of Makeb. However, in SWTOR it is also seen on the livery of spaceships and shuttles around the galaxy. Given Corellia’s association with shipbuilding, I think it’s fair to assume that the sign might refer to a starship manufacturer or dealership.

The next sign also fits in a rounded frame and gives me a bit more to translate. This is one of several examples in SWTOR of signs for shopping destinations advertised with a single letter as its logo. It would be reckless of me to even guess what the initial stands for. What I can say is that for my translation, instead of using the font I normally use for my Aurebesh translations, I created a custom “N” that more closely evokes the Aurebesh “nern” seen in the original sign.

The last sign has seen better days. Corellia’s war, the pollution and quite possibly bored teenagers with sporting blasters have clearly taken their toll on this banged up and chipped advertisement. Given that Corellia is said to have three moons, it’s possible the Day Moon refers to one of those. Or it simply could be a poetic name for any manner of business.

I’m certain much of the signage created for SWTOR was intentionally designed to be non-specific, primarily to allow the assets to be used in other locations in the game, but also to make these images feel more real. When I walk around my town and see signs for local restaurants, department stores or beauty salons, they’re simply part of the local color, they’re not deep cuts into historical lore. By creating unique names and logos for each of these ads in SWTOR, the artists who made them have added some extra dashes to the unique flavor of a galaxy far, far away.

 

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Filed under Aurebesh to English, Futhork to English, General SWTOR

February 27, 2026 · 9:01 am

To Fly Above the Gridlock

It’s been a while since I covered the topic which gives this blog its name: Star Wars’ favorite fake space-letters: Aurebesh. For newcomers, my goal is to examine the use of alien writing in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and, when possible, both translate the words and explore their context in the game’s world. Aurebesh and other forms of writing appear across the many planets we visit in the game, and it’s fun to discover the meaning of this writing which is hidden in plain sight.

I like to describe what I do as “diegetic translations” which is a fancy way of saying that I hope I can help players interact with the holograms, monitors, posters and signs written in alien languages in the same way we can assume our characters do.

Jetpack Design Station

The first subject of this post is the monitor included as part of the decoration “Jetpack Design Station.” This decoration is a reward from the current, tenth PVP Season. The decoration is a small work table scattered with tools and parts for the jetpack mount that is the ultimate reward of the season. The station has a quite lovely art deco aesthetic, but, of course, the feature that first caught my eye was the computer monitor detailing the specs of the Outer Rim Runner Jetpack.

SWTOR has many Aurebesh readouts that have been reused and repurposed throughout the years. Given the sheer scope of the game, this is understandable, but I do appreciate that the art team included a bespoke graphic designed for this specific game asset. The extra attention to detail helps this decoration stand out, even if you can’t read exactly what it says.

Jetpack Design Station decoration

The Outer Rim Runner Jetpack is clearly inspired by the jetpack worn by the Rocketeer, a comic book character created by writer/artist Dave Stevens in the early 1980s. The Rocketeer was created as a throwback to the pulp heroes of the 1930s including Doc Savage, the Shadow and Commander Cody. The Rocketeer is probably most well known from the cult-favorite 1991 movie of the same name, but it looks to me like SWTOR’s jetpack is directly inspired by the single exhaust version of the rocket seen in Steven’s comics, not the one used on the big screen.

The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens, 1982.

There isn’t too much to translate here, and I imagine anyone could venture a reasonable guess to what the text reads. I confess, however, that I did take a moment to wonder why a jetpack would need armored plating and spoilers, but then I remembered the most infamous jetpack malfunction in Star Wars history.

Boba Fett! Where?

So rest assured, that you are significantly less likely to ricochet off the hull of a crimelord’s sail barge into the maw of the great Pit of Carkoon while jetting around the galaxy using this PVP reward. Still, you might want to double check the warranty.

7.8.1 Livestream

As I wrote this post, SWTOR hosted a livestream focused on both the next update and a discussion of what to expect in the months ahead. Rather than comment on every announcement, I’d like to focus on two points that stood out for me.

In December, the announcement from the producer letter that garnered the most attention was their plan to launch of 8.0 as part of the game’s 15th anniversary. However, during this week’s presentation Keith Kanneg and Eric Musco made sure to emphasize that before talk of the game’s next era begins, the developers aim to spend the first half of this year focused on bringing Legacy of the Sith to a proper conclusion and an epic finale worth remembering. I think this is a good decision. There is still plenty of story ahead of us, and I’m eager to see where how it ends.

Sure Anri is cool, but her name isn’t a portmanteau of “River Styx”.

Secondly, the team revealed the details of the upcoming Galactic Season. I won’t lie, when I first learned that the next two seasons would feature rewards drawn from the first four Galactic Seasons, I was disappointed. I fully completed and collected all the loot from all of those seasons the first time around. But here’s the thing, it’s not all about me. It’s been five years since the first Galactic Season, and the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of players who missed out on the earlier seasons. Limited time seasons and battle passes are deliberately designed to exploit players’ fear of missing out on rewards, I’ve never liked  it when rewards, especially cosmetic ones, become unavailable. Maybe you heard that Altuur is the best companion, or you could use a pink blaster to complete your fit, or you’re certain the GAME Jacket will make you cool like Fonzie. Discovering that you can no longer earn those rewards isn’t a great feeling for new or returning players.

As for me, I won’t say no to more Cartel Coins, and I was pleased to learn that bronze, silver and gold Cartel Packs from the rewards tracks are being refreshed with some new additions. In truth, those packs have long since gone stale for me, and it became a rare event to get anything interesting at all from them.

I am glad that players will get another chance at Season Rewards that are new to them. I’ve been clear from the start that I don’t consider “Galactic Seasons” to be “content.” I don’t mean that as an insult. SWTOR’s most prominent feature is its story, and we’re getting three major story updates in a row in the lead up to the Legacy of the Sith’s finale. I will take that any day of the week.

Galactic Season objectives are something to do in between those updates, and MMOs need that too. I’ve played the game’s heroics, daily areas and flashpoints countless times, so I appreciate that Seasons provide a framework to keep me and my friends and guild-mates busy with something different while also handing out some rewards. And if this frees up the developers to have more time to prepare 8.0, so much the better.

The Mandalorian and Grogu and Hugo and Apollo Creed

Finally, let’s take a quick look at some Aurebesh that showed up in the brand new trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. The writing seen in both examples is meant to serve as tributes to other film-makers. The first screenshot shows Din Djarin speaking with an Ardennian food truck chef. The alien is voiced by Martin Scorsese, one of film’s most famous and important directors. Indeed, the food truck (and presumably its proprietor) is named “Hugo.” This is likely a reference to Scorsese’s 2011 movie of the same name, which in itself is a was made to honor to the earliest days of motion pictures. However, there are references within references here. Jon Favreau who directed The Mandalorian and Grogu also wrote, directed and starred in the movie Chef in which his character, a disgraced famous chef, rediscovers his love of cooking by operating a small food truck.

The next screenshot features two aurebesh words which are clearly a tribute to the late Carl Weathers. I don’t know the context for this sign within the movie, but this is clearly a reference to Weathers who was beloved both for playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies and his work on The Mandalorian Disney+ show where he portrayed Greef Karga and directed two episodes.

I know some serious minded fans poo-poo these sort of things, whether you call them Easter Eggs or self-indulgent inside jokes, but references to inspirational works go all the way back to the very first Star Wars film. In Episode IV alone, George Lucas quotes two Akira Kurusawa movies, Yojimbo and Hidden Fortress, and even Lucas’ own THX-1138.

This sort of thing does not bother me. It’s only natural that artists pay tribute to those who inspired them. Will The Mandalorian and Grogu be the greatest movie ever, on par with Good Fellas or Seven Samurai? Perhaps not, but it shouldn’t have to be.

The teaser trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu debuted last year shortly after the conclusion of the previous live-action Star Wars production. After watching it, I joked to friends that the tag line for the movie should’ve been “Hey, Star Wars Fans! Did you love Andor? You’re gonna hate this!” I was being sarcastic, of course, but I have very different expectations of this new movie.  I loved Andor, but was it fun? Not really. From the very beginning Star Wars was filled with silly aliens, spaceships and whiz-bang action, and I’m okay if the first movie in years returns to those roots.

Star Wars doesn’t have to be just for jaded old school fans, it can be for kids too. And, look, kids love Baby Yoda. When he first appeared back in 2019, it felt like it was the first time since at least the lead-up to the release of The Phantom Menace that Star Wars had such a large impact on popular culture. It’s only natural that Grogu be the focus on the franchise’s return to the big screen.

So I hope eight olds love this the way I loved the first Star Wars movie. They deserve it more than I do.

 

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November 23, 2025 · 9:01 am

Welcome to the Rock

It is probably an understatement to say that it has been a tumultuous few years for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Between Covid forcing major changes in how the developers work on the game, the behind the scenes chaos at Bioware, SWTOR’s move to Broadsword two years ago, and the year-long voice actors’ strike I suspect things have often felt unsettled for the fine folks who make the game.

This large boulder can be found in a place of honor on Dantooine.

Despite it all, the devs have clearly worked to put the game on a regular schedule of updates so that players can reliably predict what to expect at least in the near term. I won’t say that every step has landed on firm ground, but the team has done a good job pivoting when they had to and keeping the game moving forward. We’re seeing their hard work pay off. Last week’s developer livestream was chock full of news about not only the next update in December but also the year to come.

Road Maps? Where We’re Going We Do Need Road Maps

My biggest takeaway from the stream is that Keith Kanneg came very close to announcing that SWTOR will get an expansion next year. Even if that was not an official announcement, he said that December’s Producer Letter will include a 2026 road map for SWTOR. I cannot remember the last time SWTOR had a long term road map, and I think it speaks volumes to the team’s confidence in the release cadence they’ve established and stuck to the past several years. I certainly hope there will be a surprise or two in this road map, but we can also look at the last few years of releases and come away with a general idea for what to expect in the months ahead.

Dantooine, We’re On Dantooine

I won’t comment on everything that came up in the livestream, but I do want to touch on a few other topics. I am most happy that we’ll be able to continue the story after more than a year’s delay. The last installment ended on a cliffhanger, and it will be fun to discover where the action goes next. I imagine it will be a bit like catching up with old friends, and I’m eager to see how everyone is doing.

The major gameplay feature included in the next update is an entire zone on the planet Dantooine full of Dynamic Encounters. I have been quite impressed with Dynamic Encounters. I enjoy taking my characters out into the world and having adventures with them, and the Encounters strike a good balance with different types of gameplay and the option to run as few or as many as I want. Unlike Daily Areas where I feel committed to finishing every quest in the zone once I start, I like that I can hop into and out of Encounters as the spirit moves me.

Unlike previous Encounters, these new ones have a new and unique zone dedicated to them. I poked around on the PTS, and the new areas are breathtaking. If you are a collector, an explorer or a completionist, it seems like there will be plenty for you to do there. The most prominent reward for players who engage with the Encounters on Dantooine is a massive stronghold, with huge fields, a sprawling ranch house, caves and natural environments to make your own. If you crave a Stronghold full of wide open spaces, this will be the one for you.

I say this every time I get to visit a new location in the game, but my favorite part of each SWTOR update is getting to explore another unseen corner of the Star Wars universe. The majority of my time on the PTS was spent trailblazing off the paths, climbing trees and finding spots to admire the landscapes.

Always read the plaque.

With very big thanks to Illeva and Swtorista, I was able to find a hidden nook with some surprise Aurebesh for me to translate. I had intended to wait until this update went live to officially translate this, but Eric Musco forced me to change my plans. Musco played the Dantooine Encounters on Twitch on Friday, and he mentioned how much he loved the giant boulder he was lugging around on his brand new speeder, only to learn that the boulder itself can both be found somewhere on Dantooine and also has a name! Since the cat is out of the bag, I feel okay sharing my translation a little early.

Given the off-screen comments from Musco’s stream, I think it’s fair to say that this big, happy rock was named either for or by Emily Henderson, an Environment Artist at Broadsword. It’s very cool when artists get to sign their name or make their mark on these massive works that they’ve helped create. It’s something I’ve seen throughout the history of both Star Wars and SWTOR.

UPDATE: Vulkk has uncovered more information about the rock! There are four data pads hidden around the Dantooine encounter area with in-game information about this curious boulder! Knowing that there are secrets out there for explorers to discover always makes me happy. I’m looking forward to officially visiting Sample 3m1-L3 when it makes its official debut!

The Orbital Core

I want to finish up with a discussion of two controversial topics. First, the Dantooine Encounters conclude with a heroic-4 mission meant to be tackled with a standard group with a tank, a healer and two DPS. As it stands on the PTS, it is a very difficult encounter. On Friday, I went in blind with a solid group to check out the heroic, and we got our butts kicked. The fights have complicated and unforgiving mechanics that need to be understood and practiced in order to complete the encounter.

Poison gas, angry droids and furious lizard-cats, oh my!

This is a good thing. SWTOR has not always been great at providing challenges for its elite players, but casual players will absolutely struggle with these fights. We’ve been told that there will be buffs that we can unlock to make these encounters easier to manage, but they don’t seem to be fully implemented on the PTS so I don’t know how they will work.

I love facing challenges with new or inexperienced players, but if someone asks me how to finish the Dantooine heroic, I’m worried the answer will be to grind reputation for six or eight weeks so they are allowed to buy the buffs they need. It doesn’t feel fun to discover a cool new fight only to be told you won’t be able to try it for several weeks or months if you play casually.

I’m honestly confused by this choice. The Heroic is instanced, and the game has been creating separate difficulties for instanced group content since launch. I don’t know why it wasn’t set up like a flashpoint with Story, Veteran and Master Modes. Absolutely make Master Mode as tough as nails with special rewards for those who rise to the challenge, but not everyone can or wants to play at that level, and let them have fun too without being forced to grind rep for a fight they may only do once.

The Loading Screen

Finally, I want to put down my thoughts about the new “Galactic Threads” loading screen. There have been accusations that it was produced via generative AI, but I do not agree. As I see it, this loading screen is stylistically similar to the ones we’ve had at least since Onslaught. Typically SWTOR‘s loading screens are collages of separate character and background illustrations combined with varying degrees of internal consistency. Since the game’s start, many of the artists who have been doing character illustrations and design have worked in a loose, almost impressionistic style which is in contrast to the more realistic rendering we are used to seeing in the game’s cinematics and some other loading screens. Moreover, people might also be reacting to the way that the various elements that go into this image are assembled into a whole; seeing characters rendered with heavy brush strokes combined with backgrounds using smooth photographic effects and gradients can feel off. This illustration feels to me as messy and idiosyncratic and human as many if not most of the loading screens we’ve had over the years.

Could I be wrong? Absolutely, but the more I look at it, the less I think I could be. I am a working artist myself, have a degree in art history and have been examining the art and design of Star Wars: The Old Republic for this blog for almost ten years. Does that make me an expert? Nope, but I do think that I have enough grounds to stand upon to share my opinion on this matter.

 

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June 27, 2024 · 10:01 am

Pits and Potes and Skiffs

While I still intend to write about the story of Star Wars the Old Republic’s Desperate Defiance update, I’d like to instead start with a look at a brand new Aurebesh sign that has ties to not only one from the earliest days of SWTOR but also to an extremely obscure bit of Star Wars lore from more than twenty five years ago.

Much of the action in Desperate Defiance takes place in a new area of Hutta called the Minboosa District. Now that I’ve visited Minboosa as part of the story and seen how the changes have also affected “regular” Hutta as well as the Karagga’s Palace operation, I want to take a moment to appreciate how impressive the updated Hutta looks. The old yellow cast to the areas was intense and alien, but now every corner of Hutta is thick with haze and smog. Being outside on Hutta feels gross; it feels like it’s going to stick to your character even when you scramble indoors, and it’ll take more than just a long sonic shower to wash it all off.

At first glance, Minboosa shares similar architecture to the town of Jiguuna on Hutta where Imperial Agents and Bounty Hunters begin their class stories. Minboosa is perhaps a bit more densely packed with buildings, but once you venture outside the town itself, you can really appreciate the changes. Soaring trees, Tibanna gas refineries and landing platforms tower overhead like skyscrapers on Coruscant. Nem’ro’s palace feels positively quaint by comparison.

The center of Minboosa is, of course, the cantina. Shining above its entrance, is a holographic neon sign. This sign is similar to the one above the cantina in Jiguuna, but there are some differences. It’s this earlier sign with which we’ll start. The neon declares that the cantina is called “The Poison Pit” and features radiating circles that act to focus our attention on the logo and the letters atop it; below the three lower letters are framed by octagons and follow the arc of circles. These design elements feature in many examples of the holographic glow that illuminates the player’s journey across the galaxy, most prominently on nearby Nar Shaddaa. The purple creature at the center is a Chemilizard, one of Hutta’s native species that evolved to survive off the pollution that resulted from the Hutt’s short-sighted mistreatment of the planet.

The writing used in this sign is not technically Aurebesh, rather it is a variant known most commonly as “Galactic Standard.” I’ve written about the different types of Aurebesh before, but in general I imagine these alphabets are at least legible and perhaps interchangeable to most of the characters in the game world.

The neon sign above the cantina in the Minboosa District shares a similar design to the Poison Pit sign. This difference that jumped out at me immediately is that this graphic employs a “traditional” Aurebesh font familiar to anyone who’s encountered these letters in other Star Wars media or even Galaxy’s Edge at Disney. While sharing a similar circular design to the previous graphic, this one places the word “skiff” in a horizontal shape which acts as a base for the central graphic which helps enhance the feeling that the speeder is floating above the ground.

I imagine it must have been an interesting design challenge to create a new neon sign for the cantina in the style of one from well over a decade ago, but the artists at Broadsword pulled it off. The two signs are similar, but different enough that they can be told apart at a glance.

However, I do want to explore the meaning of this sign. The image in the center depicts a skiff, a light, open-top repulsorlift “hover-boat” first seen during Return of the Jedi during the battle above the Great Pit of Carkoon.

The name of the cantina, the “Dirty Skiff” sparked a very specific memory for me. Throughout the history of the various Star Wars action figure lines from Kenner and later Hasbro, the toys often includes additional gimmicks: cheap collectible coins, digital bobbins with poorly recorded bits of dialogue or sound effects, and, perhaps most unusual of all, “Freeze Frame Action Slides.” These were two-inch square frames with a small, still image of a scene from one of the Star Wars movies. These images were meant to be seen through an “Action Slide Viewer” (Sold separately, of course; batteries not included, of course) a toy shaped like a pair of Macrobinoculars that allowed you to look at the slides in a manner similar to the old Viewmaster toys. The Freeze Frame Slides could also be used in a traditional slide projector, something familiar to anyone who grew up in the era before digital photography. If this all sounds weirdly retro to you now, believe me, it was nearly as silly back then.

The Freeze Frame Slide included with the “Pote Snitkin” figure, a character both obscure and ridiculously named even by Star Wars standard, features Luke Skywalker in battle during Return of the Jedi’s Sail Barge rescue with a caption that stuck with me all these years.

Some of my Star Wars friends found the phrase “cleaning skiff” to be quite amusing and imagined that it might have come to be slang in the Star Wars universe for “kicking butt.” Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think it’s too far a leap from “Cleaning Skiff” to “Dirty Skiff” which, depending on how dirty your mind is, could have all sorts of additional meanings.

Is this holographic sign an intentional homage to an odd accessory from a twenty-five year old action figure? I can’t say for sure, but once I made the connection, I knew I had to share it. And it’s not the first time something from Star Wars toys seems to have inspired something in SWTOR.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: there is so much weird, dumb, silly and wonderful lore across the history of Star Wars. None of it should be taken seriously, but it’s funny what bubbles to the surface sometimes.

 

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April 30, 2024 · 9:01 am

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

This week, while we await news of SWTOR’s next major update, I thought I’d take a beat to catch up on a few topics in the game that I’ve missed in the last few months.

Lighting in a Bottle

Let’s start with a change rolled out officially as part of Game update 7.4 that adjusted the way cinematic interactions are lit, “using environment lighting for more accurate shadows, detailed self shadowing on characters, and more custom lighting control in cinematics.” This new approach to lighting had already been introduced without fanfare in the stories from recent updates, but it was retroactively applied to the origin class stories and expansion content where it had not been used.

I’ve been playing through some Origin Stories and Fallen Empire chapters lately, and for the most part the change is very positive. Generally the lighting feels more natural since scenes are lit using ambient sources and not direct overhead lighting in each scene. Occasionally some shots seem a bit on the dark side when our character’s back is to the main light source, but overall, even run of the mill cutscenes feel more visually alive. The difference is especially noticeable in Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne. Several of the characters in those expansions have custom models, which did not play well with the spotlighting used in the dialogue scenes. During my playthrough, I’ve noticed that Lana, Vaylin and Valkorian look much better without harsh highlights on their faces.

This change can be subtle, and you might not even notice it without a side-by-side comparison, but it’s a positive one that improves the overall cinematic quality of all the game’s stories.

No Free Conquest Lunch

An unannounced change in 7.4.1 was the large reduction in the number of Conquest points awarded from the daily Reputation objective. A single level 50+ character could with a single click-a-day of a reputation trophy easily complete not just their personal Conquest goals, but very nearly even a guild’s small yield invasion target, all without ever stepping outside their stronghold.

Last year when discussing gameplay loops, the World of Warcraft Youtuber SoulSoBreezy remarked that MMOs need to provide players with two things when they log on: “Things to Do” and “Things to Work Towards”.  While there is overlap between the two, especially in SWTOR, I would say that Conquest, Daily Areas and Heroics are essentially “Things to Do”. If you complete Conquest on one character, you can switch to another. If your guild reaches their invasion goal, well, it will all reset next Tuesday.

“Things to Work Towards”, however, tend to have conclusions or at least breakpoints. Players can work towards completing Class or expansion stories, gearing, filling reputation bars, clearing Operations, ranking up in PVP, unlocking Achievements or collecting various rare cosmetic rewards.

Players tend to “Work Towards Things” at their own pace, or the pace of the groups with whom they play, buy “Things to Do” are meant to fill the gaps and time so that a player feels like their time isn’t wasted if they aren’t engaged with their favorite form of gameplay. Conquest, for example, rewards currencies that can help players advance towards their other goals.

When Galactic Seasons were first announced, my fear was that it was going to be just another “Thing to Do”. To my surprise, I’ve really enjoyed the system. I don’t disagree that Galactic Seasons share DNA with Battle Passes with a healthy dose of FOMO, but it’s also something that gives me different options when I play, and often helps guide group activities for my guild which remains the best part of my SWTOR experience. On reset day during the Seasons, I check out what rewards I hope to earn that week, and it’s satisfying when I do.

Until the current season, SWTOR’s Galactic Season also came with a Reputation track associated with each season’s theme. There was criticism that it was just a progression track on top of a progression track, and that Reputations that go away after the season ends are kind of pointless. But I didn’t mind because I knew I could complete the daily Reputation objective and not have to worry about Conquest at all while a Galactic Season was active. It’s not even a close call for me: I’d rather spend ten minutes mediating on Voss or exploring someone’s stronghold as part of Galactic Season objectives than running heroics or daily areas for Conquest points. And as someone whose every other reputation track is maxed out, this was a nice luxury during the Season.

However, by logging onto one character on each server and clicking a reputation token once a day, I was also able to complete the bulk of the previous Galactic Season reward tracks with quite literally minimal effort. It also made me want to delay completing the Reputation track as long as possible so that I could continue to take advantage of the daily reward. On my home server, I did the math and worked out how to complete the Reputation track during the very final days of the season. Shintar amusingly called this “degenerate gameplay” and speaking as someone who took full advantage, I won’t fault Broadsword for the change. Part of the goal of the Galactic Season is to reward players for engaging in different types of activities around the game, and popping on only long enough to click a Rep token is probably not what they had in mind.

Ever since coming out of lockdown, I’ve become less interested in SWTOR’s “Things to Do”. I still complete Conquest on multiple characters, but my goal is to expend as little effort as possible in the process, but I still feel like there are plenty of “Things to Work Towards.” Nevertheless, for other people and guilds, Conquest is a bigger deal, and the Reputation change negatively impacted a lot of players. To compensate, Broadsword came around and essentially doubled the rewards for completing Heroic missions, and players without a lot of free time can still put up a fair number of Conquest points in a short gameplay window. I think this is a fair compromise. Nevertheless I would also like to see the Conquest reward for completing a Galactic Season objective be a little more generous, and the objective for completing multiple Season objectives be reduced from four to three so that it can be achieved twice each week.

A Night on the Town

In addition to the current Galactic Season, Game Update 7.4.1 also came with a dash of story content for players. Ever since unfinished “Date Night” souvenirs found their way into the decorations list last year, players have known something was cooking on the romance front. All credit should be given to Broadsword for waiting for Valentine’s Day to roll out this addition.

The Date Nights are romantic encounters with Lana Beniko, Theron Shan, Arcann and Koth Vortena available to players in relationships with those characters. These four companions were logically chosen because they are the only four which can be romanced by every character regardless of their Origin Story or gender. And based on my experience on social media, Lana and Theron are by far SWTOR’s most popular romances making them natural choices for the initial batch.

As of this writing, I’ve only played Theron’s and Arcann’s Date Nights. My flings with poor Lana never make it past the return of my character’s original romances. As for Koth, while I honestly do like him; I can’t say I like like him, but they’ll get their shots sooner rather than later.

These interludes are short and sweet. Theron’s datapad is the perfect metaphor for everything that is charming and infuriating about the guy, and the conversation it sparks feels true to both his character and mine. As for Arcann, I don’t think we’ve ever seen him this relaxed at any point in the story. It’s a revelation to see in a character mainly known for his self-pity and brooding. Good for him!

There are achievements related to completing the Date Nights for each character multiple times culminating with a decoration related to each encounter. Arcann’s souvenir is a pair of wooden training sabers, mounted with a romantic Aurebesh inscription flanked by crests from Zakuul. This recreation was not complicated to make, but it was my most requested translation in a very long time and I’m always happy to oblige!

But, yes, I did describe these scenes with the words “dash” and “short” for a reason. These are conversations akin to the dialogues scenes characters have with their companions between each planet of their class’s origin stories.

When it comes to story, SWTOR players are like Kylo Ren demanding MORE, and I’m no different. I can’t deny that these feel very short. When the Date Nights were announced, my hope was they’d be something like the Class specific interludes on Rishi during Shadows of Revan. Those weren’t much longer, but still felt more satisfying. On the one hand, I’m not too upset. Lana, Theron, Arcann and even Koth have had lots of time in the spotlight in the last several expansions, but the same can’t be said for many of the original romantic companions. I don’t imagine Mako, Felix, Risha and Andronicus stans will be satisfied by a cut scene that takes less time to play than to read this post.

I don’t know what my conclusion is. The Date Nights I’ve played had nice character moments and are absolutely sweet. Would I have preferred a single ten minute mini chapter featuring one of those companions to four two and a half minute scenes with each of them? Maybe.

Going forward, we’ll be getting one or two more Date Nights with each Galactic Season. I am eagerly anticipating the return of some of my favorite companions, and that maybe, just maybe, their dates have a little more meat on their bones.

 

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March 8, 2024 · 9:01 am

This Droid Is Your Friend

This week, let’s take a step back and revisit an older recreation of mine and, in the spirit of last week’s post, take a closer look at the context of its inspiration from the real world. The decoration in question is the Propaganda: Fight for the Meatbags poster that players originally collected as a log-in reward during Knights of the Fallen Empire, but it can now be purchased from the Galactic Seasons tokens vendor. I’ve covered many of SWTOR‘s propaganda posters over the years, but I want to dive a little deeper this time.

Recently, quite by accident, I encountered what was likely the direct inspiration for at least the text of the HK -55 decoration: a series of World War II posters. The reason they did not come up in my initial research was because these posters were not meant strictly as propaganda, but as informational signs designed to help American troops entering the war recognize their fellow Allied forces. There are variants of the poster for Australian, Canadian, Chinese, Dutch, English and Ethiopian soldiers and sailors but the most well known version depicts a Russian soldier. If you click the image below, you’ll find it alongside an additional poster that I created in a fit of whimsey, which characters in the Star Wars galaxy could have discovered on a trip to Copero.

SWTOR’s poster sports a very different graphical design, but the text clearly is a playful riff on the message of the original. Given the intended use of the wartime poster, it’s amusing to think that anyone would mistake HK-55 with his bold yellow paint job and unambiguous in-combat declarations for anything or anyone else. That said, when it comes the various HK model droids, we can never really be sure whose side they are on until they pull the trigger.

The poster’s graphic design draws inspiration from classic propaganda posters of not only World War II, but also from those of the post-war Soviet Union and China during the time of the Cultural Revolution, and I’d like to highlight a few here.

The most distinctive propaganda posters typically feature illustrations of heroic soldiers or workers or political leaders. Over the decades, the artists and designers of these posters demonstrated great skill at working within the limitations of these cheaply printed and mass produced posters, and they created images famous for their bold sense of design with flattened, halftone color palettes. In particular, the element of the radiating lines of a sunburst behind the protagonist has become almost a clichéd aspect of these propaganda posters, and clearly SWTOR’s HK graphic shares in that general aesthetic.

Finally, I’ll just finish on a quick note that a second HK-55 poster “Propaganda: Victory Protocols Activated” has long been included in the game’s data files, and you can even look it up in the Decorations interface, but it was never made available to players. This one has a design closer to the Allied posters of the Second World War, and I hope that one day it might find its way into players’ Strongholds.

 

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February 29, 2024 · 9:01 am

Action Figures Each Sold Separately

When considering topics for this blog, the translation of Aurebesh is often the easiest part of the process. Beyond the literal meaning of the words we see in the game, I also aim to consider their context and meaning within Star Wars: The Old Republic or within Star Wars lore as a whole. This week’s project’s context is different than any I’ve discussed before, and while the translation was indeed straightforward, my recreation led me to a different corner of Star Wars history.

The first time I saw this decoration in a friend’s Stronghold there was something vaguely familiar about it, but I couldn’t quite place it. Only when I looked it up in the Cartel Market and saw its name did I recognize what inspired this addition to SWTOR. The decoration, the Vehicle Maintenance Energizer, shares its name with a toy created by Kenner in 1982 as a part of its Star Wars action figure line. The toy was meant to function as a tool shelf and refueling station for the lines’ various vehicles and spaceships from Luke’s Landspeeder to his X-Wing Fighter.

Like many, many members of that first generation of Star Wars fans, I grew up with Kenner’s Star Wars figures, and discovering that this decoration pays loving tribute to the vintage toy made the kid in me very happy.

SWTOR’s version of the Energizer was designed by Tanner Hartman, and he has shared views of the decoration and higher tech update of the Energizer that clearly shows fidelity to Kenner’s original. The decoration is interactive and when clicked opens up in the same manner as the toy. Among the decoration’s many details are the tools left on the table and in the drawers that are based on the actual accessories included with the set. Each of the decoration’s tools are stamped with the Aurebesh letters “CEC”. This is a clear indication that the Energizer is a product of the venerable Corellian Engineering Corporation, maker of many fine starships including Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon and the Smuggler’s very own XS Freighter.

This decoration has been on my to-do list for a long while, but I wasn’t sure how to cover it in a way that does justice to its source material. Typically I try to present Aurebesh elements from SWTOR in a context where modern players understand it as their characters would. But in this case, I realized the point of view this item really needs is that of a kid wandering the aisles of a Sears or Toys R Us store in 1982.

I should also mention the very off-brand SWTOR logo that I placed on the box. Kenner’s Star Wars toys typically featured their own versions of the Star Wars movie logos in their packaging, and I wanted to make something along those lines. My faux design of the logo is bad, and close to unreadable, but I don’t think it’s so far off from what Kenner might have actually produced back then.

I hope you’ll forgive this indulgence in a different kind of recreation. That said, if you came for some Aurebesh, I won’t leave you hanging! When activated the decoration opens up and activates monitors one of which has Aurebesh text. The translation reveals that they are diagnostic displays that are entirely appropriate for the Energizer’s intended purpose. While including a dash of inspiration from Back to the Future, the technical readout does a very nice job of striking a balance between seeming both realistic but not quite mundane, and fantastic but not quite ridiculous. When it comes to technobabble, this is a remarkably difficult line to toe. The vehicle seen in the top display is the Jan-Tan Dualray speeder, which Tanner Hartman also helped create for SWTOR; in addition, part of that speeder’s engine can be seen on the Energizer’s table, ready for repairs!

Cop-Eras Tour

Finally, I do want to briefly touch on the SWTOR team’s latest livestream, which introduced the content of the next game update, 7.4.1. Despite being a .1 patch meant to serve as a bridge between major updates, I was impressed with what Broadsword had to share.

Since our first visit during the Traitor Among the Chiss flashpoint, I’ve hoped we’d find a reason to return to Copero, a world overflowing with picturesque beaches and snowcapped mountains. There is no way I would’ve predicted that it would be the location of the Stronghold Keith Kanneg teased late last year. That the next Galactic Season is structured around unlocking a stronghold that based on the preview seems so very breathtaking, exceeded my wildest expectations.

The other significant addition coming next month are the Date Night missions. For many players, romances are as an important part of the roleplaying experience as galaxy shaking conflicts with epic enemies. Based on my social media feed alone, I sometimes wonder if Baldur’s Gate 3 might be less a Dungeons and Dragons game than a dating simulator, and that is true of SWTOR as well. And yet there hasn’t been a ton of action for our characters in the area of romantic entanglements during Legacy of the Sith.

My guess is that since there are so many potential romances available to players, it must be a challenge for the developers to find spaces to fit those characters and interactions within the main story. As a result, there have been a few flirts here and there, but probably not as much smooching as many players would like. The Date Night stories should help to address that. Ashley Ruhl and Caitlin Sullivan Kelly fairly addressed why the Fallen Empire romance companions are the logical choices with which to start. Simply by the numbers alone, I am certain that Lana and Theron are SWTOR player’s two most popular romances.

There are many, many other companions for our characters to fall in love with, and the team indicated that each will have their moment to shine. That said, it will take a while to get to them all. As with all things SWTOR, patience is a virtue.

I am not expecting the “date nights” to be full blown chapters with action and adventure and multiple encounters, but I do hope there is some depth to our interactions that will make them satisfying to revisit again and again. During the Fallen Empire era, numerous major companions were shoe-horned back into the game in very brief recruitment missions, and I hope that when their turns come up Risha and Mako and Vector and Felix and the rest get the attention they missed last time around.

Finally the team closed out with a preview of the next major update, 7.5, which will see a return to Hutta as part of the main story, the conclusion of Lane Vizla’s quest to rebuild a Basilisk droid, as well as the debut of a new springtime event. Given that we are on the cusp of Spring already, it suggests to me that SWTOR’s next major update will be sooner rather than later.

After last year’s drama, it’s nice to hope that there will be lots to do and explore in SWTOR in the months ahead.

Graphic Design in My Passion

Returning or new visitors to this entry may notice that the SWTOR logo on the toy box in the thumbnail above does not match the actually readable one in the final version of my mockup. I have long been accused of having a dry sense of humor, but this visual joke landed face flat in the coarse, rough and irritating sand, and I received some truly negative reactions to what I intended to be an obviously bad joke. Chastened, I have gone back and adjusted the logo to be in line with Kenner and Hasbro’s actual house style. In an act of defiance, however, I’m leaving the original design in the thumbnail as a warning to future generations.

 

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October 9, 2023 · 2:01 pm

Surprised at Life’s Little Quirks

At the start of this month This Week in Aurebesh celebrated its seventh improbable birthday. When I think about this project, I sometimes imagine myself as the Dread Pirate Roberts telling Wesley every night “Sleep well, This Week in Aurebesh, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” And, yet, after the better part of a decade, it’s survived into yet another day. I’m still finding things to write about, and as long as I continue to need a valet, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

This post is belated because one of the hazards of life in the big city is the noise, and over the last few weeks, indeed the whole darn year, the racket in my neighbourhood has been excruciating, and I have found it very hard to write and I’ve not discussed every topic I’ve hoped to cover recently.

Therefore for this blog’s birthday, I’ll try to catch up and cover as much as I can, and even toss in a quick Aurebesh translation as well.

Darth Nul

The story of Darth Nul has been percolating mostly in the background of Legacy of the Sith, but it finally seems to be moving on to SWTOR’s main stage, hopefully as soon as this winter’s story update.

The story of Nul revisits a concept from SWTOR’s original class stories, “The Children of the Emperor.” In short, the Children are the result of a secret program designed to condition or brainwash Jedi and Sith often unknowingly under the influence if not the direct control of the Sith Emperor himself. Both the Jedi Knight and Consular played key roles in exposing and dealing with the Children in their initial Origin Stories. The concept of “Children of the Emperor”, however, begs the question: If Vitiate was the father, who was their mother?

That’s where Darth Nul comes in. Players have learned that it was Nul who developed many of the techniques used by Vitiate to create his “Children.” The source of this discovery was Darth Malgus who had access of many of Vitiate’s secrets during his short time as the False Emperor, and once he was freed from the current Sith Emperor’s control, Malgus started tracking down relics related to uncovering the origins of Darth Nul.

Over the course of the last year or so of updates, we have discovered that Nul was once a Jedi named Reniah whose theories were considered radical by the Jedi Council; after connecting with Vitiate through the Force, she was subjugated and turned to the Dark Side. Like Revan, Nul started as a Jedi but later became a Sith. Unlike Revan, however, it seems she was not given a chance at redemption, but her final fate remains tantalizingly unknown, All we can say for certain is that Darth Malgus seems to believe she is the key in transcending both the Jedi and the Sith in a way Revan never accomplished.

As a side note, it’s worth considering Darth Malgus’ role in all of this. Clearly he has set things in motion, but it’s fair to wonder how much control he has over events now, especially from his current position of confinement on the Fleet. I don’t believe he is the mastermind behind the recent actions of Heta Kol or Sahar or Ri’kan. Rather I imagine, Malgus might be more like a Star Wars version of Pandora who has ripped open a box of curses and wants only to see the disorder its contents creates. That said, I don’t think his part in the story is over.

And since I’m digressing, I might as well briefly touch on the theory floating around that Darth Nul might be Lana Beniko, whether she knows it or not. How much do we really know about Lana, anyway? I suppose it could be possible, but such a shocking reveal feels too far out of left field to really land successfully. Nul is known to be an inventor, and Lana hasn’t shown any particular affinity towards technology, and I have a hard time believing that Valkorion would not have noticed or remarked upon Nul’s presence so close to the Outlander during the Fallen Empire story. That said, could Nul have Children of her own without anyone knowing it? Sure, why not? And could Lana be one of them? Maybe. She does feel like a likely candidate if such a thing should come to pass. Time will tell!

Old Wounds

SWTOR’s most recent story update Old Wounds continues the investigation of Nul’s history, but as with Showdown on Ruhnuk, the focus is less on our character, the Alliance Commander, than other characters involved in the past several years of story. It starts with a confrontation between Darth Rivix and Tau Adair. Tau is fun when she gets to be a stubborn bad-ass, and Rivix being simultaneously treacherous and smooth is a delight. It’s worth pointing out that while each of our characters’ play through of the story remain mutually exclusive, in this case watching both the Republic and Imperial versions of the opening encounter rewards players with a fuller picture of Rivix and Tau’s duel.

The story also takes time to focus on Sana Rae, the Voss mystic who has been guiding our Alliance’s Force Enclave since its earliest days, Arcann and Torian Cadera. I want to focus on Arcann here, but I am always pleased when SWTOR devotes space to characters that may or may not have survived in everyone’s story. It’s usually (but not always) the case that when the player opts to save or dispatch a recurring character, they are neither seen nor heard from again even if player spared the character in question. When it comes to companions, I know there are many, many mouths to feed, so it’s nice that players who have connected with Torian and Arcann can continue those relationships in the game even if only occasionally.

My main character for playing story content is my Consular, and she spared Arcann out of a sense of mercy. I do not run Heroics and Dailies with him as an active companion or send him on crew skill or crafting missions. For the most part, I have always considered him to be under house arrest on Odessan, under Sana Rae’s supervision. The interlude with Arcann during Old Wounds was the first time I actually felt sympathy for him since Fallen Empire and believed that he truly is seeking redemption. He has a long way to go, and still needs to take responsibility for his war crimes, but I do think he is on the path.

When the player does come to the forefront during Old Wounds, it is one brand new area on Voss, and it’s in a way that is somewhat unusual in the main story, and possibly not to every players’ taste. If there is one theme that SWTOR has been returning to again and again since the end of the Fallen Empire saga, it has been an exploration of the harmful effects of war on those who fight it. Tau is haunted by the battles she’s fought. Malgus rages against the endless conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, and Shae is barely keeping it together while she attempts to prevent her Mandalorians from splintering into yet another civil war. Likewise, the story of Voss is about both the physical reconstruction of the planet after its bombardment by the Eternal Empire, but also the strain on its people, the Gormak and the Voss, as they attempt to reconcile after generations of conflict and accept their shared heritage.

Old Wounds puts our characters in the middle of that conflict. Are these galaxy-shattering events meant to shake the pillars of creation? No, of course not. But I’ve always found the story of Voss to be fascinating. The Voss are a fundamentalist culture struggling to reconcile things they’d been taught which justified war with the Gormak with the actual fact of the matter that they are the same people as the Gormak. The Gormak had gotten so used to hating and fighting the Voss that they also never learned how to act in peace. These are knots as thorny to untangle in the Star Wars universe as they are in ours. But as the saying goes, all politics are local, and the Alliance Commander finds themselves in a position where they can guide both parties towards reconciliation or back to conflict.

The Interpreter’s Retreat area on Voss is a daily area unlike the others in SWTOR. There is no reputation track, no weekly quests, just optional quests and achievements for players to pursue. If you feel that cooking lunch for strangers, mopping floors and taking out the trash is beneath your Dark Lord of the Sith or Battlemaster of the Jedi Order, I get it. Once you complete the main story, you can choose never to step foot there again and not really miss out on much.

But I had fun. The quests are fairly easy, and unlike the Ruhnuk dailies, navigating the zone as a non-stealth using character isn’t bad. At the very least the mob density is much less, and you won’t ever have to slog your way through corridor after corridor choked with elite enemies. For achievement and decoration hunters, there is plenty to do in the Retreat as well.

I have been enjoying the different style of storytelling we’ve seen in Legacy of the Sith. Since the end of the Fallen Empire saga, the pace has been a bit slower and the threats more existential than galaxy threatening. We are now seeing scattered story threads begin to be woven together, and I do hope it is time that things start coming to a head. The next story update is scheduled to arrive in just a couple of months, and instead of sifting through more clues, I’d like to see our characters begin taking direct action so that the story can build to a climax.

Ri’Kan Can Wait

I do want to discuss some of the elements of the story of the siblings Sahar and Ri’kan, but I intend to do so in comparison with some of themes of the recently completed Ahsoka show on Disney+. Because I want to show solidarity with and support for the Screen Actors Guild’s ongoing strike against AMPTP which includes Disney, I have chosen to refrain from all “content creation” for media produced by companies targeted by the strike.

I know my reach and influence is meager, but let me unequivocally state that those who create and tell the stories we love should absolutely be treated and compensated better by the corporations who would rather pay executives exorbitant bonuses than their employees a living wage. The Writer’s Guild recently successfully concluded their strike against the AMPTP, and I hope SAG does as well.

And, yes, my stance will apply to video games, should it come to that.

So for now, let’s leave it off here. I want to thank each and everyone who has visited this site over the years, and I hope to see you on the adventures to come!

 

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