February 16, 2025 · 12:01 pm

Pets of the Old Republic: #9: Heartglow Mewvorr

Pets of the Old Republic celebrates Valentine’s Day with a pet whose name is appropriate for the occasion if not its appearance: the Heartglow Mewvorr.

Like so many other creatures in the lore of both Star Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Mewvorr is a hybrid combining bits of many animals from across real and fictional animal kingdoms. The Mewvorr has the skin of a lizard, the carapace and mandibles of a beetle, the armored hide of a dinosaur, the glow of a firefly and perhaps even the purr of a little cat!

Although it is not made explicit in SWTOR, I believe Mewvorrs are the juvenile forms of Mawvorrs, carnivorous predators first encountered by players on their native planet of Voss. In the same way we refer to baby cats as kittens, I imagine the Voss use the term of endearment “Mewvorr” for baby Mawvorrs.

A Crysfang Mawvorr hunting Gormak on Voss

The Gormak don’t seem to regard Mawvorrs quite so fondly as their sibling species on Voss. In fact Mawvorrs react negatively to the Gormak and are said to attack them on sight. Mawvorrs are also known as “Crysfangs” on Voss, and I wonder if this is the name the Gormak have given to these creatures. One look at the needle-like teeth that fill the mouths of both adult Mawvorrs and even tiny Mewvorrs makes the reason for this name obvious.

When the Gormak use Mawvorrs as guard animals, they cybernetically augment them, most likely to keep them in line. I’m often sympathetic to the plight of the Gormak, but in this case, I can’t support them in the practice of animal cruelty.

While most commonly found on Voss in the wild, the Interpreter’s Retreat area and in the Shrine of Silence flashpoint, Mawvorrs are also found on Zakuul, presumably imported there by Emperor Valkorion in a past age.

Glowing Mewvorrs alongside a row of Datacrons. The Venomous Ginx is green enough for now.

There are many varieties of Mewvorr pets for players to collect in the game. The most distinctive of these won’t cost you a single cartel coin. The Heartglow Mewvorr featured here as well as the glowing yellow Goldplate Mewvorr drop as loot in all modes of the Korriban Incursion and Assault on Tython flashpoints. The red-pink Prismatic Mewvorr can be found in the flashpoint Legacy of the Rakata, and the blue Aquatic Mewvorr drops in the Depths of the Manaan flashpoint. All of these pets do not bind on pickup and can also be found on SWTOR’s GTN auction house, as can other varieties of Cybernetic Mewvorrs from the Cartel Market. The most recent addition to the Mewvorr family, the glowing red Flameshell Mewvorr can be earned by achievement hunters in the Interpreter’s Retreat questing area on Voss.

Sadly, there is one color of Mewvorr missing for players who would like to complete the rainbow of Mewvorrs, and that is a glowing green Mewvorr. Perhaps an emerald shelled Mewvorr is lurking in an undiscovered corner of the galaxy.

Finally, players who would like a fully grown Mawvorr to adventure alongside can also find a Mawvorr companion on the Cartel Market and GTN.

 

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February 11, 2025 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #8: Dwedtoof

Before I begin, I must apologize for falling a little behind in this project, but I’m hoping to catch up before the month is over. The next Pet of the Old Republic tied for first place in the vote tally of pets I should cover, and it is, of course, the infamous and adorably named baby Drouk, Dwedtoof, who is as fierce as it is tiny.

Depending on how you acquire it, Dwedtoof can be one of the most complicated and difficult pets for players to earn in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Dwedtoof drops as loot from the “empowered” versions of the Section X world boss Dreadtooth. Every time Dreadtooth is defeated it drops an item called “Dreadful Essence” These are vials of Dreadtooth’s protoplasm and can be injected into Dreadtooth and each stack of the essence increases the boss’s power, up to a maximum of ten stacks. Dwedtoof is guaranteed to drop from Dreadooth at ten stacks, but also has a reduced chance to drop at five stacks.

As Dreadtooth gains power, it becomes a more difficult fight and requires more and more players to overcome the challenge, and I recommend a full operations group of 24 players to successfully take down the Nightmarishly empowered version of Dreadtooth. Given the mechanics of how players must empower Dreadtooth, I think it’s safe to assume that we can never actually permanently defeat, much less, kill this fearsome Drouk. It is well established in Star Wars lore from Kephess to various Emperors that the Sith drive to cheat death leads to endless torment, and at a certain point you’ve got to feel bad for Dreadtooth who is just out for a stroll and probably just doesn’t want to be bothered.

Dreadtooth on patrol in Section X.

Dwedtoof and Dreadtooth are Drouks, large armored and spiked humanoid monsters. In Star Wars lore, Drouks are unique to Star Wars: The Old Republic, and first appeared in the Explosive Conflict operation both as trash mobs and as the pair Toth and Zorn, the first boss encounter of the operation. I am not aware of any background lore regarding Drouks, but I don’t believe they are native to Denova where we first encounter them; I think it’s fair to assume that the Warstalkers under Warlord Kephess brought the Drouks to the wartorn planet as part of their assault.

The Dreadmasters who are responsible for the attack on Denova seem to have been impressed with the creatures enough that they deposited the mighty Dreadtooth in the Section X enclave on Belsavis and used Drouks as guards in their Dread Palace lair.

Beyond their prodigious size and strength, one trait that Drouks seem to share is that they are driven berserk when in proximity to each other. This does raise questions about how Drouks mate, but it also highlights the cruelty of the Warstalkers and the Dreadmasters who turned this natural animosity to their advantage.

Drouk pets: Baby Drouk, Dwedtoof, Blood Drouk and Mountain Drouk.

For pet collectors, there are three other varieties of Drouk pets available to players. The Baby Drouk is offered by the Section X reputation vendor, the Blood Drouk can be found on each faction’s reputation vendors on Oricon, and the Mountain Drouk can be found on the cartel market and the GTN auction house. Dwedtoof, like other pets from operations bosses, is not bound on pick-up and can also be found on the GTN. As I write this, Dwedtoof is not even listed on every server’s GTN, and on Star Forge it is for sale for more than one billion credits. Buyer beware indeed!

Finally, an adult Drouk decoration can be acquired from the Toth and Zorn encounter in the Veteran and Master mode versions of the Explosive Conflict operation.

 

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January 24, 2025 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #7: Lawgriffarl

Lucky number seven in my Pets of the Old Republic series is the Akk Dog. Akk Dogs go back a long way in Star Wars lore and are represented in SWTOR with several varieties of pets, an Akk Dog companion and in the wild as creatures to fight. Akk Dogs are known for their lizard-like appearance and jagged and hardened carapace. In the Star Wars universe, Akk Dogs are classified as “reptomammals” which perhaps means they have more in common with armadillos than dinosaurs. Akk Dogs are native to the planet Haruun Kai, the homeworld of Mace Windu, one of Star Wars‘ most famous Jedi Masters. Like Windu, Akk Dogs are thought to be Force Sensitive, but attempts to test their degree of skill with the Force often end badly for any curious researchers.

The particular Akk Dog I’ve drawn is a breed known in the native language of Haruun Kai as “Lawgriffarl.” has distinctive deep blue eyes and a steel blue hide. It can be acquired by players of both factions in the Combat section of their Fleet hubs for the cost of 50,000 credits. However, characters wishing to adopt this armored puppy must also acquire Valor Rank 23. Those wishing to reach that level will need to commit to a modest amount of PVP, but Valor 23 can be earned with a couple weeks of casual matches.

Akk Dog pets: front row: Hagnoffarl, Lawgriffarl, Gannifari; back row: Ember Akk Dog, Painted Akk Dog.

If you’d prefer to skip PVP, there are other varieties of Akk Dogs available. Two of these, the Painted Akk Dog and fiery Ember Akk Dog can be found on the Cartel Market and sold by your fellow players on the Galactic Trade Network. The Gannifari Akk Dog pet was awarded to players who took advantage of SWTOR’s first round of server mergers in 2012 and is no longer available to new players. The other, the Hagnoffarl, which was originally acquired during the Chevin Grand Acquisitions Race, also in 2012, but these days this gray Akk Dog is now randomly dropped by mobs out in the game world, so it cannot be reliably farmed. Finally, players looking for a sturdier Akk Dog can also find one as a creature companion, again from the Cartel Market or the GTN. When I started this series, Akk Dog were one of the most popular suggestions and I selected the one that players can earn on their own without having to spend Cartel Coins or credits or without having to hope for a lucky drop.

An Akk Wolf with an Akk Dog in the background in the swamps of the Minboosa district on Nal Hutta.

Players will, of course, also battle Akk Dogs in the course of their adventures around the galaxy. While they appear in the Colicoid Games flashpoint and the Xenoanalyst operation, they are most commonly found on Hutta. A larger, wilder, saber-toothed cousin called the Akk Wolf also stalks the swamps of the Jigunna and Minboosa Districts.

The Akk Dog as depicted in 2010 in the book The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force.

Akk Dogs first appear in Star Wars lore in the prequel era comics of the early 2000s, and their depiction has varied widely over the course of their appearances. On the cover of the comic in which the Akk Dog debuts, they seem more insectoid than lizard-like. Over the course of subsequent appearances, they were drawn to be more like a combination of a Komodo Dragon and an armored dinosaur, with long, serpentine bodies. Over time, their appearance has evolved to be more in line with what we see in SWTOR with shorter, stouter bodies and an emphasis on their armor-like hide.

Top: The Bullete as it appeared in the 1977 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Monster Manual. Bottom: The modern interpretation of the Bulette.

I don’t know if it is intentional, but it seems to me that many common depictions of Akk Dogs bear a striking similarity to one of Dungeons and Dragons’ iconic monsters: the Bulette, a large armored, dinosaur-like creature nicknamed the “Landshark”. The development of many of the original D&D monsters in the 1970’s is weird and fascinating, (and worth discovering for yourself), but outside the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that the Bulette was inspired by Chinese-made, cheap, plastic bootleg toys based on “Kaiju” from Japanese giant monster shows of the 1960s like Ultraman.

Top: A “Patchisaur” miniature toy; Bottom: Two Kaiju from the Japanese TV show Ultraman that may have inspired the toy.

While the connection might be tenuous, you can’t deny that a weird, decades old plastic toy from a dollar store could be confused for an Akk Dog. That fierce, little dino-pup that accompanies you on your adventures across the Star Wars galaxy might very well be a distant cousin to the Zillo Beast or even Godzilla himself. So toss your loyal doggo an extra bone to keep it happy, but be careful because you never know just how big it will grow up to be!

 

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January 16, 2025 · 9:01 am

Mists and Shadows: SWTOR in 2025

It has been tradition for me to kick off a new year of Star Wars: The Old Republic with five bold predictions of what we might see in the weeks and months ahead. Last year I went two for five which is pretty good by my standards especially since the two biggest swings I took last year were hits. That said, I’m going to skip predictions this year. When it comes right down to it, the ongoing SAG-AFTRA voice actors strike which seems to be affecting SWTOR makes it very difficult to guess what might happen this year, particularly in regards to two topics that most interest me: where the current story might go and whether we might get an expansion or at least an expansion announcement this year.

Until the strike is resolved, speculation about the story and expansion ought to be put on hold. I support the aims of the voice actors and their union, and I think it is entirely reasonable to believe that a humongous corporations like Electronic Arts, SWTOR’s publisher, do not have the best interest of their contractors and employees as their highest priority.

I am in no position to say exactly where SWTOR stands with regards to the strike. There has been some voice work in both the newly added Relentless Replication operation and the Dynamic Encounters, but I am very reluctant to speculate about those additions and whether they count as exceptions.

I have no doubt that Broadsword fully intends to continue development despite issues caused by the strike. Galactic and PVP Seasons require little-to-no voice acting, and plenty of non-story content from flashpoints to Dynamic Encounters could be implemented without it as well.

Dynamic Encounters are SWTOR‘s version of “Group Quests” and I’ve very much been enjoying them. They are semi-random quests of various types, many without any combat at all. I always enjoy taking my characters out into the world, walking from place to place, meeting people, getting into adventures. Unlike Dailies and Heroics, the pace of the Encounters is less hectic, and I don’t feel like I need to race from quest to quest or objective to objective. I go where I want and complete the encounters I want. It’s not an efficient source of Conquest or Tech Fragments, but it is relaxing and that’s a greater reward to me.

What is SWTOR without Story?

In light of the strike, however, I think this is a fair question to ask. Patch 7.6 “Galactic Threads” launched without implementing its story, Until the strike is resolved, I think any future “Critical Path” story updates will be delayed as well. SWTOR‘s story and it’s fully voice acted interactions remains one of its biggest assets and strongest selling points to new and returning players. But if the story is delayed, where does this leave players?

I don’t imagine they will present the story with subtitles. At the very least, we have all seen the community react poorly to this style of gameplay when it appears during important moments in the story.

The game’s last major story update, Desperate Defiance, shifts between SWTOR’s traditionally fully voiced staging and the “KOTOR” style in which our character’s responses are related in text and the character animations are limited. Last June, Ashley Ruhl, SWTOR’s narrative director, took to the forums to discuss why and how the choices to use these styles of interactions are made.

Any discussion of this topic must acknowledge the reality that players of  Star Wars: The Old Republic have a lot of very different expectations when it comes to the content the game ought to produce, and that these expectations come from very different points of view. First off, SWTOR is expected to regularly produce the kind of content that every MMO offers: solo play, group content, PVP, raids, dailies, cosmetics, achievements, and gear. On top of that SWTOR is most well known for creating story and character development at a level that frankly other MMOs do not match: fully voiced dialogue, regular cinematic cutscenes featuring 48 lead actors across three languages and a huge supporting cast.

Let me be clear, none of these expectations are unreasonable. Nevertheless, we also have to accept that SWTOR is not the biggest MMO on the market. SWTOR hasn’t changed its subscription pricing in the United States since launch, and it hasn’t charged for an expansion in a decade. I am certain the costs associated with every aspect of creating this game has gone up, and the development team has the challenge of doing what they can with the resources they have.

As a player, I also understand the frustration. I was disappointed that my first major conversation between my character and Sahar, the expansion’s major addition to the cast, was done in the KOTOR style. For me it deflated much of the drama leading up to that moment.

I’m not going to tell anyone how to value their subscription and their play time. If you only want to pop into SWTOR once a year to catch up with the story, I get it. I’ve often called SWTOR the theme-parkiest of theme park MMOs and how often do most people go to DisneyWorld or Six Flags in a year? If you’d rather challenge yourself against the constant stream of new raids only World of Warcraft can supply or the large scale PVP of New World, I completely understand. We live in an age of subscription services, and no one can or should keep up with them all. For example, as their fees have increased and their quality and quantity of their shows gone down, I’ve gotten into the habit of juggling my streaming services. I don’t see any point in subscribing to Netflix for more than one or two months a year, and it makes sense that others view their MMO subs the same way.

I can only answer the question for myself. I use SWTOR’s 180 day subscription plan, and every six months I ask myself if I’m getting my money’s worth from my sub. It costs me more to go out to a movie than to play SWTOR for a month. I truly believe I get more fun from a month of SWTOR than I do from two hours at the cinema, so it’s always been a short conversation. But other people may feel different. A great many players are just here for the story, so taking a break from the game until the strike is resolved is more than reasonable. Should SWTOR add other types of content to tide us over until the strike ends? I’m certain that’s the plan. The next Galactic Season should start in a month or two, and I imagine we’ll get more Dynamic Encounters and perhaps a new Venture. Will we see extra emphasis on group content? Maybe. I don’t know. Honestly I don’t think SWTOR has the resources to satisfy all the expectations players have of the game. As always, it will be a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Don’t look to me for solution to this problem. I understand subscriptions remain SWTOR‘s biggest source of revenue, but Broadsword has introduced the “Join the Fight” and “Master the Fight” bundles to entice players to subscribe for more than a month at a time. I believe that these bundles are solid deals if you want some extra Cartel Coins to spend, but they are skippable if you don’t. I don’t relish the thought of paying more for SWTOR, and I don’t believe SWTOR should or will raise its subscription price unless World of Warcraft does so first; I imagine they are rather like two competing gas stations across the street from each other, forced to match prices. Should SWTOR charge for expansions again? Shadows of Revan, SWTOR‘s last paid expansion, cost $19.99 US, and I would gladly pay that for an expansion with the same scope and content. Would other players? I don’t know.

For me, a big part of the appeal of the game comes from the fact that I get to play with so many fun and funny people both within my guild and the community of people I’ve gotten to meet over the years. I love raiding, I enjoy dipping into Galactic and PVP seasons. There is almost always something I want to do when I log on.

But I can’t speak for other players. All I can really do is hope that the strike is resolved quickly, and the voice actor’s are satisfied with the agreement.

Yes, Chef

Ok, I lied. I do have one 2025 prediction to make. It is obvious to me that the next Venture will revolve around Porgs. This Venture will introduce players to the months long process of breeding, hatching, nurturing Ahch-To’s beloved and delicious avian friends. That’s right, I said “delicious.” This Venture will be the means Broadsword finally introduces the cooking crafting skill to the game. Players will need to journey across the galaxy collecting rare ingredients, uncovering ancient recipes from lost ruins of the Sith, Jedi and Rakata. We will learn to build campfires in the wild, construct fusion ovens in our strongholds, navigate crowded, tension-filled kitchens and battle the fiercest Beskar Chefs to discover who reigns supreme in the kitchen stadiums of the galaxy. At the end of our journey, we will finally earn a vaunted Mandalorian Star proving that we are worthy to stand with the greatest chefs in all of Star Wars lore.

And it all starts with the humble Porg. Of that I have no doubt.

 

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January 1, 2025 · 12:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #6: Snowfallen Wampa Cub

While there is still just a little time left in SWTOR‘s Life Day event, I thought I’d kick off the New Year with a pet (or two!) that can be earned by players who have participated in the event’s main activity: throwing snowballs at each other and any of the NPCs in the game. The pet is the Snowfallen Wampa Cub, and it was suggested by Kal from Today in Tor. This snow-capped cub is the perfect companion for this time of year whether you’re chilling on Hoth or need to cool off on Tatooine.

There are two Wampa pets available to players, the first is the Hoth Wampa Cub which shares an appearance with its larger, surlier relatives. The second is the Snowfallen Wampa Cub which has a snowball for a head and two eyes and a nose made out of coal; it made me laugh the first time I saw it, and continues to bring a smile to my face whenever it comes out during the holiday season. This Wampa is joined by the Snowfallen Gizka which somehow slipped its way into the background of its big buddy’s portrait!

The Wampa from The Empire Strikes Back, Special Edition

The very first Wampa in Star Wars lore made the mistake of trying to make a meal out of Luke Skywalker during The Empire Strikes Back. Concealed by Hoth’s icy landscape, the Wampa cold-cocked Luke and strung him up in its lair for a late night snack. In the movie’s first of three examples of Luke being able to better channel the Force while hanging upside down, the young Jedi retrieved his dropped Lightsaber and delimbed the poor, hungry Wampa and escaped that frying pan into the fire of the frigid night of the ice planet.

Wampas were originally considered to play a larger role in The Empire Strikes Back during the events on Hoth, culminating with an attack on Echo Base after which several were to have been contained by the Rebels only to be inadvertently released to catastrophic results by attacking Imperial troops.

Gravak’k the Gree Test Subject

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, Wampas are most commonly found on Hoth, but other specimens show up on Rishi and  on the snow capped mountains of Copero. There are two named Wampas in SWTOR: the first is Gravak’k, a world boss who appears on Ilum during the Gree event, and the second is Kyramla Gemas’rugam (“Deadly Hairball” in Mando’a) who is the first boss players will encounter in the Blood Hunt flashpoint. In both cases, it seems these Wampas were named by their captors, but there are indications in other Star Wars lore that Wampas might be intelligent creatures and not simply wild animals.

As this post goes live, the Snowfallen Wampa Cub, the Hoth Wampa Cub, and the Snowfallen Gizka can each still be purchased from the “Master of Ceremonies” vendor on either fleet for 60 Snow-Covered Parcels. In addition, decorators can also find Wampa rugs and taxidermied heads and wholes to decorate their strongholds. But if you want a Wampa pet, act fast, the event ends soon!

Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster

The inspiration for the Wampa almost certainly comes from the Yeti, a mysterious humanoid cryptid from the folklore of the Himalayan mountain range of the Indian subcontinent. In western stories, the Yeti is also known more prosaically as the Abominable Snowman and it’s most famous appearance in the pop culture of my youth was in the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The Abominable Snow-monster was called “Bumble” and I confess it’s cute, child-friendly appearance in this Christmas special meant that I never really found the Wampa that scary a monster, despite the attempts of the Special Edition of The Empire Strikes Back to make the Wampa seem more fearsome. Ultimately, the Yeti’s status as a misunderstood soul was further solidified in my mind by its appearance in the Pixar classic Monsters Inc.

It’s hard to imagine a cuter interpretation of the Wampa than the Snowfallen Cub who seems more interested in a good snowball fight than making a lunch out of any galactic hero. I won’t claim having this pet at your side will increase the odds you getting a Snow-Covered Parcel when you throw a snowball bomb, but it won’t hurt to try!

 

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December 17, 2024 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #5: M4-Y7 Astromech

This month I would like to spotlight the first (but not last!) pet in this series that is not a creature made of flesh and blood but rather of circuits and sparks. One of the numerous droid pets in the game, thet M4-Y7 Astromech is a perfect choice on account of its seasonably and Santably appropriate color scheme.

There are many Astromech pets in SWTOR, and it is tradition in the game to award players who log in during the Star Wars “holiday” of May the 4th with a droid companion; until recent years it was an Astromech of varying colors. Other Astromech pets can be found on the cartel market and for sale on the GTN and from the Galactic Seasons token vendor, but this particular version is no longer available.

R2-D2 and T3-M4

Astromechs or Astro-droids are the most iconic robots in Star Wars, and the first of these, Artoo-Detoo, is undoubtably the most famous robot in pop culture. Despite, or perhaps because of being only able to communicate through beeps and whistles Artoo instantly became one of Star Wars‘ most beloved characters. Astromechs in Star Wars lore have many variations including the red, ill-fated R5-D4 from Episode 4: A New Hope, the squat, surly and patched together C1-10P “Chopper” from Star Wars: Rebels and the orange, roly-poly BB-8 from the sequel trilogy.

When it came to establishing the Old Republic, Astromechs would also play important roles. T3-M4 was a key companion to Revan and Meetra Surik in both Knights of the Old Republic games, and players of Star Wars: The Old Republic will, of course, be familiar with the redoubtable and resourceful T7-O1, who eventually joins every character in their adventures across the galaxy.

T7-O1 and M4-Y7

Both T3 and T7 are designed to suggest that they are early iterations of the famous Astromech design, with boxier shapes and fewer attachments and built in accessories. I’ve always liked the fact that T7 seems to be wearing a backpack; it is certainly stuffed with ammo, spare parts and snacks for himself and his companions.

The most striking design difference between Artoo-Detoo and his Old Republic counterparts is that his legs are angled backwards but the legs of the Old Republic droids lean forward, and their third (or fourth) “feet” are attached to the rear of their chassis. This change reminds me of two things, first of all, animals. The design of T3, in particular, echoes the profile of a sitting dog, something very appropriate for Revan’s best buddy. But this change in angle of the droid orientation also brings to mind other associations, specifically that of an Olympic sprinter getting ready to race out of the starting blocks. If R2-D2 seems laid back by comparison, then good ol’ T7-O1 and M4-Y7 are clearly raring to go!

Dewey and Huey

The origin of these droids extend back even beyond the first Star Wars movie. George Lucas has said that part of the inspiration for R2-D2 came from the “service drones” Huey, Dewey and Louie from the little remembered 1972 science fiction movie Silent Running, directed by special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull. From this starting point, Ralph McQuarrie created several designs that would eventually become the Astro-droids of Star Wars.

There is one last element of the Astromech worth mentioning: R2 units both in the movies and in the Old Republic tend to have a single, large glowing eye, not unlike the unblinking HAL-9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

HAL, totally not spying on you

Now, look, I’m not saying that M4-Y7 is plotting to kill you, but if you happen to encounter the Astromech on a flight deck, perhaps it would be wise, especially these days, to be mindful of whether you’ve been naughty or nice this past year.

For my part, I want to wish all my readers a happy, healthy and warm holiday season. I hope everyone gets to ring out the end of the year in good company with good food. Look for the next Pet of the Old Republic on New Year’s Day!

 

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December 15, 2024 · 9:01 am

The Face I Had Before the World Was Made

During SWTOR’s 7.6 livestream, Eric Musco announced to everyone’s surprise that the game’s character models were being updated, and my initial reaction was this: “I hope they know what they’re in for, because if they don’t get it exactly right, people are gonna freak.”

And they did. I was one of them. The very first version of the updated characters we saw on the PTS was very rough indeed. I posted my shocked first impressions on the forums, but I kind of regret it. I fear I helped stir the pot and encouraged the frenzy that we are seeing in some corners of the community. That was never my intent. I believe what Broadsword wants to do is a good idea and I want them to succeed. I want to be careful in my comments and criticism, because I think we’ve seen improvements since the initial version of the PTS, and I believe the team is determined to get it right.

First and foremost, I have no experience with 3D modeling and I don’t know what specific challenges the art team faces in working with SWTOR’s teenaged game engine. My initial gut-reaction has been these aren’t the changes I would’ve made. Let me be perfectly clear, that is not useful criticism. To say “I would have done differently that thing I don’t know how to do” is not helpful at all.

If you’d like the perspective of someone who does know what they are talking about, definitely check out the commentary on this subject by Sultana on Bluesky. Sultana has experience with 3D modeling, has played with the game’s assets and has fascinating insights.

As for me, I do think I can fairly talk about the aesthetics of the changes and how I am reacting to them. I am absolutely not the first to point out that SWTOR’s characters tend towards a more animated style, and swinging too far towards realism clashes strongly with how we’ve come to see our characters over the years. The sweet spot would be for our characters to appear naturalistic without necessarily being realistic. This is a tough line to walk, especially as the environments and objects and outfits around us have become more realistic in recent updates.

We have seen, to different degrees, animated properties from Star Wars’ own The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch shows to Arcane on Netflix and the Spiderverse movies blur those lines between the semi-realism of their setting and the stylistic flourishes of their character designs, and I believe  SWTOR should be able to strike that balance as well.

The main focus of the developer’s attention right now is on our characters’ faces, and I think what we saw with the launch of 7.6 is on the right track. Star Wars is predominantly a cinematic property, and I think ultimately the goal is that we should feel like our characters look like movie stars, as dashing as Harrison Ford and Oscar Isaac and as beautiful as Natalie Portman and Daisy Ridley.

For the most part, I think the male faces are there. I like the heavy lower eyelids, but their lips still seem dry and parched to me. As for the females, while they’ve come a long way, they’re still not quite there. For better or worse, hard contours work on males, but on female faces, they need to go, especially on the neck and where the cheeks meet the the mouth and upper lip area. Light and shadow should be all we need to define those shapes when the character is smiling or shouting, but the transition between the two areas should be smooth as possible in neutral expressions. My main issue is that sometimes the characters’ appearances can change dramatically in different settings and lighting. On the character select screen a character can look fine, but in darker location with higher contrast, the textures on the skin comes off as too stark.

Regarding changes to the bodies of characters, Musco has made it clear that these are even more so a work in progress, and it shows.

The six pack abs on the portly Body Type 4 males has long been the source of jokes, and we can see with the new iteration that they have given these characters a more naturalistic appearance. That is a very good change. Comparing a Nautolan that still uses the old textures to an updated human, we can see more definition around the collarbone, shoulders and arms on the Nautolan, but because they’ve turned down the intensity of the textures on the human to soften wrinkles on other parts of the model, those details feel soft now.

Looking at the back of one of my female characters (on the left, below) we can see the opposite problem. The updated model seems to use the original textures (as seen in the middle) but they are now more intense; those old textures have not aged well. The Trapezius muscles are overly prominent, and the textures on different parts of the bodies don’t quite connect to each other You can see this in the shoulders, especially in how they don’t quite match front to back and in the gaps of the armpits where they should join the torso.

My larger point is that I would like to see the character updates focus less on muscles and anatomy and more on flesh and blood. Yes, there are all sorts of muscles on the back, but in real life it’s the shoulder blades and the curve of the spine that define a person’s back. The result of the over-definition of the older textures is that characters can look literally thin skinned and even emaciated (especially Body Type 1s). The emphasis on sculpted muscles works for Body Type 3 characters who are supposed to be jacked, but everyone else should look like a real person and not a greased up body builder.

“Just make the hard parts look hard and the soft parts look soft!” That’s easier said than done, but it doesn’t mean I want Broadsword to give up. I do believe many of the changes have been improvements. The extra glint of light in the characters’ eyes is a subtle touch that adds a lot of extra life to our characters, and to me, that Body Type 4 human looks better than his Nautolan counterpart.

MMO-RPGs are works in progress, and sometimes not everything works the way we want it to. That sucks sometimes. I don’t love that my characters look off right now, but there are things about games like this that I hated more and have endured longer. As players and customers, we should be engaged with the developers about this process in constructive ways. Screaming and shouting feels good and makes for solid click bait, but it doesn’t help the good people at Broadsword make the game better.

That’s the goal. That’s what we all want.

 

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November 19, 2024 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #4. Orosquab

To mark the arrival of Life Day and Thanksgiving, the next featured entry in the Pets of the Old Republic had to be, of course, the most turkey-like of SWTOR’s pets, the Orobird.

Orobirds have a long history in Star Wars: The Old Republic, debuting in the game’s first major update after its launch. The first two Orobirds introduced into Star Wars lore were the Orochick, which could drop as loot from Gargath, a World Boss found on Hoth, and is also now available from the Light Side Token vendor on Fleet, and the Orokeet which hatches from eggs found by players exploring hidden corners of Alderaan, Republic Taris and Imperial Balmorra. The third Orobird pet, the Orosquab, subject of this post, debuted shortly thereafter as a rare reward from the flashpoint Lost Island. The fourth and final Orobird pet, the Crested Orokeet was later added to a vendor in the Cartel Bazaar of both fleets. If you want an Orobirb of your own as a pet, you won’t need to spend a single cartel coin, and if you’re willing to seek them out yourself, three of the four won’t even cost you a single credit.

Players first encountered fully grown Orobirds in the wilds of the planet Rishi during the Shadows of the Empire expansion. In addition four varieties of Orobird mounts can be acquired from the Cartel Market and the GTN for players to roost upon. If you have sufficient reputation with the Underworld Exchange, you can purchase the Fawn Orobird mount for a handful of credits and a pair of Cartel Market Certificates on the Cartel Bazaar deck of the Fleets.

This type of large, flightless bird appears to be very common across fantasy settings from the Axebeak of Dungeons and Dragons and the Chocobo from Final Fantasy, and the reason for that is because they are all based on extinct varieties of creatures colloquially known as “Terror Birds” from the Earth’s distant past. The “Terror” in that name is apt because many could tower over a human and, based on their fossilized remains alone, all must’ve been impressive sights to see! SWTOR‘s Orobirds seem to have been based in particular on species known as the Phorusrhacos and Dromornis.

Phorusrhacos

Although not all Terror Birds are believed to have been meat eaters, I cannot imagine any of them would be safe to encounter outside their enclosure in an out of control dinosaur theme park or by a time traveller stranded millions of years in the past. Indeed their modern descendants should not be trifled with either! The Cassowary of Australia, which seems to be the direct inspiration for the Crested Orokeet is notoriously dangerous to provoke. And even the wild turkeys of North America are prickly and ill tempered. I myself have encountered them both in the dark woods of Vermont and on the mean streets of Boston. I once walked out the front door of my apartment and came upon a half-dozen Turkeys pecking around my front yard. I turned around and went back inside. It was their yard now.

Boston Turkeys

So know that if you adventure in the Star Wars universe with an Orobird at your side, you are protected by one of the fiercest creatures in both a galaxy far, far away and the one significantly closer to home!

Next time: Your plastic pal who’s fun to be with.

 

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November 1, 2024 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #3. Fiery Grophet

With the Feast of Prosperity event active in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Thanksgiving season in full swing in North America, I decided the next subjects to depict in my Pets of the Old Republic series ought to be seasonally appropriate and perhaps even delicious!

Grophets were introduced to Star Wars during SWTOR’s Shadow of Revan expansion as wild animals found on the planet Rishi. Grophets are omnivores that combine the qualities of the wild pigs, the size and temperament of hippopotamuses with a dash of armored dinosaurs like the Ankylosaurus. Grophets are renowned as delicacies in Hutt cuisine, but they have proven difficult to domesticate. With their long sensitive ears and reinforced skulls, grophets are stubborn and formidable enemies, difficult to approach and dangerous to provoke.

The most notable grophets in SWTOR are the only know named examples in the lore: Straugh, Wudd, and Breck, three very large, rare spawns necessary to unlock Rishi’s datacrons. These grophets are named after the building materials used in the fable of the Three Little Pigs. If you’re curious who the bad guy is in SWTOR’s version of this story, well, it’s us. We’re the Big Bad Wolf.

If you need proof, look no further than the expression on the tiny grophet in my portrait. It is not the product of my imagination. Get close to any grophet and you’ll see they do not ever seem to be in the mood to be trifled with. Grophets are mad as hell, and they are not going to take it anymore.

The reason for that rage could very well stem from SWTOR’s Galactic Command gearing system from the Knights of the Eternal Throne expansion. Galactic Command was, in my opinion, SWTOR’s worst gearing system, so absolutely egalitarian that it frustrated casual players, hard-core raiders, sweaty PVPers and everyone else in between. Among the wardrobes of useless gear we acquired from the Galactic Command loot boxes, were occasional cosmetic items like pets and mounts. Players who advanced their Command level to the highest tier could loot this week’s pet: the Fiery Grophet.

If you were like me, you probably quickly ran out of characters to whom to give these orange space piggies. Unwanted loot from Command Crates could be converted into Command points towards more Crates, and many players were all too eager to “recycle” their poor unwanted grophets. But not me. I just couldn’t do it. Every single Fiery Grophet I received was saved. During KotET, I rescued nearly one thousand pets from the Galactic Command incinerator. Over the years I’ve given many away or auctioned them off to good homes, but I still have dozens and dozens left.

If you are on the Star Forge server and would like a Fiery Grophet of your own, leave a comment below with your character name (be mindful of spaces and special symbols) and faction, and I will mail you one free of charge. This offer is good while supplies last and I don’t expect my supply to be exhausted any time soon!

Sadly, I cannot extend this offer to players on other servers, but there are other grophet pets available from the Rishi reputation vendor and the Cartel Market; the Fiery Grophet itself can still be acquired using tech fragments and 75,000 credits from the Spoils of War Pets vendor on both Fleets.

Finally I want to give thanks to the great and powerful Shintar who suggested the Fiery Grophet and my co-guild leader Galaxiya who would taunt me every time she’d grind a grophet into CXP. I still wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the grophets.

Next time: birds of a feather.

 

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October 15, 2024 · 9:01 am

Pets of the Old Republic: #2. Deep Wriggler

With Halloween just around the corner, I thought the next pet to feature really should be one of the creepiest, crawliest ones in my stable: the Deep Wriggler.

In SWTOR, Wrigglers are also known more generally as “larva”, and are almost exclusively found on the planet Asation in the Operation Terror from Beyond, although a few wander the frozen world of Hoth in the southern, Dreadseed corrupted reaches of the Crystal Wastes. As the name “larva” suggests, Wrigglers are an immature form of truly frightening monstrosities from outside our known universe such as the Writhing Horror and apparently even the Terror herself. Maybe Lil Wriggly will grow up to be a cosmic horror the likes of which the mortal mind cannot fully comprehend, but for now this slimy baby is all smiles (literally!) and, from the look in its eyes, it adores its adoptive parent. So maybe I’ll be spared when the universe is cast into madness and chaos upon the return of the Great Old Ones.

For those looking to acquire a Wriggler themselves, the Deep Wriggler pet can be found as loot from the final boss of Terror from Beyond on its Veteran Mode, but Lunar, Stellar and Striated Wriggler varieties can be found on the Cartel Market and up for auction on the Galactic Trade Network.

I want to take a moment to thank the dozens of people who entered my pets raffle. I hope everyone will enjoy this silly side projector. I’ve already planned out the additions through the end of the year, so suggestions will start appearing next year. If your suggestion is appropriate for a particular season, look for it then! For now the plan is to spotlight a new pet at the beginning and middle of each month. Not surprisingly next month’s pets are Thanksgiving themed (and delicious!).

Finally, I will be returning to SWTOR commentary soon, and of course will eagerly check out Aurebesh and other languages as they appear in the game!

 

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