Broadsword shared some initial details about Game Update 7.3.1 and SWTOR’s servers moving to the cloud, both of which are coming very soon!
What’s coming with Game Update 7.3.1
7.3.1 is a smaller update that will include Galactic Season 5 “Confidence in Power”, some UI/UX improvements, new Cartel Market items, and inevitably, bug fixes.
Notably, Broadsword didn’t mention anything regarding balance changes or additional changes to the economy, like the upcoming GTN overhaul, though it sounds like they’ll have more to share next week.
Galactic Season 5 “Confidence in Power”
It seems that Galactic Season 5 will be something of a departure from the existing formula as there will not be a new companion. However, the (likely unvoiced) story will remain.
This time around, you’ll be interacting with several characters, including a sinister droid named 3V-1L, and the new Season-specific conquest objectives “will involve companions being set to specific roles, Space Missions, and Operations.”
The following is pure speculation on my part though, and it’s by no means the only explanation for removing the companion. For example, it could have something to do with avoiding adding to the existing companion bloat.
Given the fact that there are so many companions given as rewards, I expect it should be pretty quick and easy to create a new one, especially if you’re reusing existing assets as 3V-1L does.
It doesn’t make too much sense to just give up on the focal point of a Galactic Season either, especially since the tiny bit of unvoiced story seems to be sticking around.
I suspect that the devs had less time as a result of the transition to Broadsword, resulting in dissatisfaction with the overall quality of the companion. Reusing assets is already a qualitative step down compared to past companions that at least used partially new models.
When you combine that with the atrocious combat animations currently available to non-humanoid droids, they probably just couldn’t come up with something that met their standards in such a short time.
Regardless of the reason, the companion stories alone have consistently been one of the weakest parts of the season and without a new companion, I am concerned that the upcoming seasons will end up feeling even more soulless if Broadsword continues on this trend.
Game Update 7.3.1 is coming soon!
With Game Update 7.3.1, players can expect the launch of Galactic Season 5, UI/UX updates for our HUD and world maps, and special weapons and armor sets coming to the Cartel Market. Below is a brief overview of the features coming with this update. More details will be provided at a later time.
Galactic Seasons: Season 5, “Confidence in Power”
The new Galactic Season will begin with the launch of 7.3.1, so players will be able to immediately progress through the new reward track. Season 5 introduces a new way to engage with the story told in Galactic Seasons. Rather than tying narrative progression to companion influence, story progression is now part of the Galactic Seasons rewards track. Players will unlock new story missions as they progress through the reward track, with the final mission granted at Season Level 40. Additionally, instead of receiving a new companion, players will interact with several new characters, like an oddly enthusiastic astromech named 3V-1L, while making dialogue choices that affect gameplay. Under the command of a mysterious Master, 3V-1L will test the player through a series of trials, to see if they are worthy of the Master’s teachings of the “dark side”. Whether this is a prank or a serious threat, the player must decide how deeply they will commit to these “dark” trials to uncover the truth.
We are also adding new objectives that will involve companions being set to specific roles, Space Missions, and Operations. There are more objectives available for players who are Subscribers or have Preferred accounts. More details will be shared at a later time!
Mapping improvements
Players will see UI/UX improvements to our HUD and World Maps. Most notably, we’ve improved the quick travel (QT) flow to be more informative. The QT Ability will no longer open a separate travel map but the world map instead and it will display the QT points next to your mission objectives. These icons will also be present on the HUD Overlay Map and the Minimap.
There are a number of other UI/UX improvements that were made and they will be covered when we publish the 7.3.1 patch notes!
Additionally, we will be adding a host of exciting new offerings to the Cartel Market! Keep an eye out for more details in an upcoming Cartel Market article.
Game Update 7.3.1 will be launching late August/early September! More details on the content above and the exact release date will follow in the coming weeks, so stay informed by keeping an eye on our forums and social channels.
Source: swtor.com
UI/UX Improvements
Broadsword also touted an upcoming quality-of-life modernization coming to the Quick Travel system. When 7.3.1 hits, Quick Travel will be built into the main World Map and you’ll be able to just click on the icon to travel rather than activating an ability on your quickbar and have that pull up a separate map.
You’ll also be able to Quick Travel directly using the large overlay map mode released in 7.2, though that functionality will have limited value and potentially even cause problems with accidental clicks unless Broadsword adds a Quick Travel button to the utility bar that temporarily toggles the overlay to the World Map until a destination has been selected.
SWTOR moving to the Cloud (AWS)
SWTOR’s servers are finally actually getting moved to the cloud! Unless there were unforeseen issues with the Shae Vizla test server, it’s likely that this migration was meant to happen sooner, perhaps with Update 7.3, but was probably delayed as a result of SWTOR’s development studio changing hands.
SWTOR’s devs opted to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host SWTOR. AWS is Amazon’s actual main business and the largest Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) company in the world.
IaaS companies provide all the server infrastructure so they can connect their internet product (website, online store, online game, app, etc.) to their users without having to deal with the hassle of building and maintaining data centers.
Imagine if you owned a shipping company and had to pave and maintain your own roads, rail systems, and bridges to deliver your products to customers. Amazon Web Services as an Infrastructure as a Service company is akin to how the government handles the paving and maintenance of roads, rail systems, and bridges, so you just have to worry about the delivery trucks, drivers, and actual products.
Broadsword explained some of the benefits of migrating SWTOR’s servers to the cloud:
- Backend updates that are crucial to the continued health and stability of the game can be streamlined more efficiently
- The resources required to maintain our current systems can be reallocated to focusing on enhancing the game experience
- We will be able to leverage and integrate updated tech such as newer hardware and software. Through cloud modernization, we can update numerous tools and automation workflows which will help us maintain the game for long term.
- Once finalized, SWTOR may be capable to extend its servers capabilities to reach new players
In less general terms, this might mean that we could be getting more content in a given update or more frequent updates of the same size due to the additional efficiency and resources that will have been freed up. It’s also possible that we could get a dedicated APAC server like we had before Theron Shan foolishly betrayed our beloved Alliance Commander, though keep in mind that nothing is set in stone.
Broadsword will be migrating the servers “in small batches” starting with Leviathan on Tuesday, August 15th at 7AM CT/12PM UTC. As part of this process, all servers will be brought down for a brief moment, though the Leviathan will remain down for an estimated whopping 6 hours.
Given that the devs usually lowball their downtime estimates, I expect these migrations to be all-day affairs. Broadsword will be sharing more details about the timeline of moving the other servers once the Leviathan migration has been completed.
Game Update 7.3.1 is currently slated for release in late August or early September 2023. I imagine their current timeline is to start the AWS migration as soon as Galactic Season 4 ends and then release the update as soon as the migration ends.
SWTOR begins to move servers to the cloud!
Next week, we will be setting up our game servers to be moved over to the cloud. This is an initiative we have been testing for months beginning with moving the Public Test Server over to the cloud last year, and testing a new server on AWS in April of this year. We are thrilled to announce the next steps in this journey with our players.
We have been making strides in our efforts to modernize and update the game. Some of the benefits of this particular migration are:
- Backend updates that are crucial to the continued health and stability of the game can be streamlined more efficiently
- The resources required to maintain our current systems can be reallocated to focusing on enhancing the game experience
- We will be able to leverage and integrate updated tech such as newer hardware and software. Through cloud modernization, we can update numerous tools and automation workflows which will help us maintain the game for long term.
- Once finalized, SWTOR may be capable to extend its servers capabilities to reach new players
When is this happening?
We want to minimize long term impact on play time, so we will be moving servers over in small batches beginning with a single server first.
We are targeting August 15th to migrate the Leviathan server over to the cloud.
It is important to note that when we do the migration, we will have to bounce all the servers, meaning they will be taken down momentarily but brought back up immediately save for the server(s) moving to the cloud. On August 15th, players should expect the Satele Shan, Darth Malgus, Star Forge, and Tulak Hord servers to bounce; however, Leviathan’s estimated downtime is expected to be 6 hours. Downtime will begin at 7am CT/12pm UTC.
Upon successful completion of the initial migration, we will communicate out the next batch of servers that will be moved over and a timeline of when this will happen. We will follow the same migration process detailed above.
As always, we will communicate additional details, or any timeline changes on our social channels and forums! Be sure to keep an eye on these spaces to stay up to date on everything happening with SWTOR!
Source: swtor.com
