Earlier this week, Bioware Austin announced their Fall roadmap for the coming months, discussing gameplay direction with update 5.6 and beyond, including a lot of changes to SWTOR servers, GSF, ingame currency, PvP, Galactic Command, and more, as well as a teasing a new planet and flashpoint. For full roadmap coverage, which you can rely on to be meticulously updated, head to Vulkk.com. You will also find all class guides and much more. Xam Xam also has been following the updates closely and you can find her blog here to read her take on all the changes.

The day after the roadmap was published, the developer team broadcast a livestream to answer questions about the upcoming game update, United Forces.

To cap off this busy week, the team then set off for New York to host the latest SWTOR community cantina at NY Comicon, attracting a huge crowd who were treated to lots of amazing swag and a special guest, famed and beloved Star Wars author, Timothy Zahn. Zahn is best known for his “Heir to the Empire” trilogy which introduced us to perineal favourite baddy, Thrawn. With the release this year of a new canon novel, eponymously entitled “Thrawn,” Zahn’s Star Wars writing is once again front and centre in the genre and Star Wars fans were delighted to hear that he is consulting on all things Chiss (the species is his creation) for the new game story.
Late breaking: A just-announced sequel Thrawn novel is currently being written!
Getting Zahn into the conversation is the latest in a trend of bringing big-name writers in on game story writing (Christie Golden writing for Battlefront II and World of Warcraft, and now writing as an official Blizzard employee, is another example.)

A brand new teaser for the upcoming content “Traitor Among the Chiss” dropped today as well:

Social media went wild after seeing this trailer, especially when the Outlander is heard to say “Let’s bring Theron home” as opposed to say, for example, “let’s kill that scum-sucking son of a Hutt.” We got a little tease of the new planet, Copero, where it appears the flashpoint will be played. We fans are hoping for an explorable world. We also were introduced to some new Chiss characters in the clip. And a rockin’ new hairdo on the rogue CIS agent.

Copero, a Chiss inhabited planet (SWTOR Twitter)

Credit: Cipher Mandy @ciphermandy

Charles Boyd (SWTOR Twitter)

Poster for the game update, given to attendees (SWTOR Twitter)

Timothy Zahn (SWTOR Twitter)

The following is a collection of information from various sources about the Star Wars: The Old Republic cantina, including announcements about the new game update and author Timothy Zahn. I will update it if any new material surfaces in the next few days.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend this year’s event, but several people have posted interesting things, so, with thanks to them, let’s jump right in:

Dulfy

Dulfy has compiled the tidbits @swtor has been feeding social media:

 

SWTOR official twitter has graciously provided us with some updates from the NYCC Cantina.

Story

• Your hunt for the traitor Theron Shan leads you to territory controlled by the mysterious Chiss Expansionary Defense Force

• Explore the Chiss world of Copero, featuring beachfront resorts, rocky cliffsides, and breathtaking mountain vistas

• Face Syndic Zenta, leader of a separatist faction pushing the Chiss towards all-out war… and providing refuge for Theron Shan

• Team up with former Imperial Agent Companion Raina Temple, who will act as your eyes and ears among the Chiss

• It’s been a great opportunity to include more female Chiss characters, something I’ve always wanted to do more in the novels – Timothy Zahn

• It was a fun chance to explore Chiss culture that hasn’t come up in the books yet, like Chiss structures and cultural rituals – Timothy Zahn

• It’s fun to start theorizing about how the Chiss could have withdrawn from the greater galaxy over time …between the Old Republic and the films, and possibly explore how that happened in a future update – Timothy Zahn

Misc

• We’re celebrating the arrival of #UnitedForces with two unlockable rewards: the merciless Darth Hexid Companion and a Karagga-themed Pet!

• We’re excited to introduce our newest PvP Warzone: Battle for control of ancient Sith secrets buried on Yavin IV

• Get ready to descend into the depths of Iokath with your team of 8 or 16 to face off against Nahut, the next Operation boss

• Plus, pilot your way through a brand new Galactic Starfighter map orbiting the planet of Iokath

• Ops Pass or something similar may make a return in the future.

Source: SWTOR Twitter: https://twitter.com/SWTOR

Louis the Gamer Guy

Louis the Gamer Guy Periscoped the cantina Q&A so you can see everything that went on at the event.

Watch the full video here

Kid Lee

Kid Lee , a top SWTOR streamer and Bioware Influencer, hosted a live stream on his channel with updates (from home) with all the news as it was unfolding, including his commentary

We’ll close with a few fan comments from Twitter