Star Wars: The Old Republic Developer Blog Updates

BioWare Austin's Star Wars: The Old Republic website is home to two new developer blog entries, including on penned by lead designer Michael Backus regarding "heroic space missions" and another that introduces us to the Twi'lek companion Vette. A snip from each:
Our primary focus for the Space Missions in Star Warsâ„¢: The Old Republic has always been to make the player feel like they were taking part in the much larger Star Wars struggle, while still playing a pivotal and individual role in an encounter's success. With that in mind, we are going to be introducing a number of new Heroic missions in Game Update 1.6 for both Imperial and Republic players available at level 50.

These missions will be repeatable, incredibly challenging, and reward players who enjoy the current Space Missions. Our goal is to make these missions worthy of the most skilled players, and completing them, along with their Bonus Objectives, should test the greatest pilots. To help in this endeavor, players will also be able to get new upgrades for their ship, attainable through various means like trade skills and specialty vendors. The rewards for these missions will also be increased, and hopefully provide new motivations for players who want to improve their gear for use in Flashpoints and Operations.

As we've stated in the past, quality of life is always one of our focuses for dedicated players in Star Wars: The Old Republic, so there will also be a number of improvements players can look forward to. For instance, a number of our missions will perform better on lower-end machines. We'll also be adding one of our favorite changes: a missile and torpedo counter that literally reflects how much ammunition you have remaining. Oh, and did we mention it might be necessary to fire more than one proton torpedo in some of these missions?

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Vette is an energetic Twi'lek from the planet Ryloth. After escaping slavery, she has spent most of her life looking for Twi'lek artifacts in ruins across the galaxy. In the past few years, she has gotten herself into increasingly tight spots, stealing artifacts from powerful collectors and smuggling herself onto Imperial planets, including Korriban, where she first crosses paths with the Sith Warrior. Vette has been imprisoned for raiding the tomb of a Sith Lord and has now been entrusted to the Warrior to find a relic, which the Warrior needs to complete the final trial to become Darth Baras' apprentice.

Vette is skeptical and cautious around the Warrior since she hasn't had the best relationship with Sith in the past. She is very much aware that she has been given to the Warrior as a slave and if she happens to forget, the shock collar around her neck is a quick reminder.