SWTOR Maintenance for Game Update 2.2.3

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Game Update 2.2.3 is being put live tomorrow night, so it’s a four-hour server downtime.

Local time conversions for you:

AWST: 6pm-10pm

AEST: 8pm-Midnight

NZST: 10pm-2am

As it was spoken from the horse:

On July 23rd, all game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be unavailable as we perform scheduled maintenance. Game Update 2.2.3 will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday July 23rd, 2013
Duration: 4 hours
Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) to 7AM PDT (2PM UTC)

During maintenance, all updates and additional information will be posted on our Twitter account. Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Server Maintenance June 11th 2013

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It’s a 5-hour SWTOR server maintenance this week to get Game Update 2.2 up and running. While you’re waiting you can always listen to our latest podcast which is hot off the tape recorders.

Here are thelocal maintenance time conversions:

AEST: 8pm-1am

AWST: 6pm-11pm

NZST: 10pm-3am

 

And finally, the official blurb from BioWare:

On June 11th, all game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher, will be unavailable as we perform scheduled maintenance. Game Update 2.2: Operation Nightmare will be implemented during this downtime. Details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday June 11th, 2013
Duration: 5 hours
Time: 3AM PDT (10AM UTC) – 8AM PDT (3PM UTC)

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Oceanic Server Free Transfers Announced

makeb5It’s been a while coming, but Eric Musco from BioWare has announced that the free transfer option for Oceanic players who want to get their characters off the three local servers, will be an option from June 4th.

Additionally, you’ll be able to transfer to any SWTOR server worldwide rather than solely North American servers:

Hey everyone,

I know you have been waiting a bit for an update and I wanted to pop in and do exactly that. Starting on Tuesday, June 4th, you will all be allowed a free one time transfer for each character you have on an APAC server. In the last update I gave I told all of you that we were expanding where your one-time transfer could go to include all NA-West servers. After seeing quite a few requests to expand it further, we are going to allow you a one-time transfer to any SWTOR server. To reiterate, starting on Tuesday, June 4th, you will be allowed a one-time transfer for each character you have on an APAC server to any other non-APAC server.

Thanks!

-eric

So there we have it: next week will see the beginning of the end of local servers as the populations further decline. There’s still some questions to be answered on how this will work for Guilds etc, so we’ll keep you posted as further information is given.

Over to you: will you be transferring immediately?

SWTOR Server Maintenance 7th May: It’s A Quickie!

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A quick, non-patch maintenance this week. Time conversions:

AEST: 6pm-7pm

AWST: 4pm-5pm

NZST: 8pm-9pm

And don’t forget, an hour is a perfect time to catch our latest podcast.

The BioWare blurb:

On Tuesday, May 7th we will be restarting all game servers to maintain and improve stability. After maintenance, there will not be a new patch to download. Details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, May 7th
Duration: 1 hour
Time: 12AM PDT (7AM GMT) – 1AM PDT (8AM GMT)

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

Rise Of The Hutt Cartel Launch Server Maintenance

swtor-server-down

It’s launch time for Rise Of The Hutt Cartel, so the servers are coming down at what’s a pretty unfortunate time for local players, although if it stays at 2 hours as stated it’s not the end of the world.

Here are the time conversions:

AEST: 3.30pm – 5.30pm
AWST: 1.30pm – 3.30pm
NZST: 5.30pm – 7.30pm

The full info from BioWare:

On April 13th at 10:30PM PDT (April 14th, 5:30AM GMT) all game servers and SWTOR.com will be unavailable as we perform scheduled maintenance. This maintenance is to open up access to Rise of the Hutt Cartel for everyone who has purchased the Digital Expansion. We will not be implementing any game changes or bug fixes during this downtime. There will not be a patch to download, because all content was released with the patch on April 9th.

Details are as follows:
Date: Saturday April 13th – Sunday April 14th
Duration: 2 hours
Time: April 13th, 10:30PM PDT (April 14th, 5:30AM GMT ) – April 14th, 12:30AM PDT (7:30AM GMT)

Oceanic Players Lose Local SWTOR Servers

No local servers for you

No local servers for you

It’s been on the cards for a while, but BioWare have finally made a call on what will happen with the local servers that have had population issues for quite a while now.

All three servers are being merged into North American ones, with no date set as yet for when this will occur.

The full explanation from Eric Musco at BioWare:

Hey everyone,

I have an update for you on our long term plans for the APAC servers. Before I do that though I want to let you know up front that we still have quite a bit of work to do to make this happen so I cannot provide any timeframes for you today.

We know that when we asked you, the community, for your opinions on what we should do, we received quite a variety of suggested solutions. Some people wanted to be able to transfer to higher populated North American servers, some suggested merging the three existing APAC servers into one large APAC server, and then there were a host of other ideas as well. However, the one common theme from the suggestions, which we heard clearly, is that everyone wants the opportunity to play on higher populated servers. With this in mind, we have evaluated all of the options and determined that the best solution, that will offer the best long term play experience, is to merge the APAC servers with higher populated North American servers.

Getting to the point of being able to merge the servers is going to be a multistep process. First off we need to update our Free Character Transfer System to include the game changes that we have made recently along with the upcoming changes in Game Update 2.0 and the Digital Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel. We will then offer Free Character Transfers to anyone currently playing on an APAC server to a North American server of the same gameplay type, specifically:

Mastar Dar’Nala (PvP) will transfer to The Bastion (PvP)
Gav Daragon (RP-PvE) will transfer to Begeren Colony (RP-PvE)
Dalborra (PvE) will transfer to The Harbinger (PvE)

We will also need to update our server merge technology at which point we will ultimately merge each of the APAC servers into the corresponding North American servers as indicated above. We are moving as quickly as we can to make this happen, but we want to make sure this is a smooth transition, so it will take some time.Why did we decide not to merge the three APAC servers into one large APAC server? We decided this for two main reasons. 1. The issue in doing this is that two play-styles (PvE, PvE-RP, or PvP) would need to sacrifice their desired play-style in order to have one server with a higher population. We feel that it is important that each player is allowed to continue to play SWTOR in their preferred play-style. Therefore, accommodating all the existing play-styles was a primary goal. By allowing you to move to a NA West server, you will be able to keep your play-style. 2. The move to North American servers better delivers on our ultimate goal of providing the best play experience, with the most possible players, long term.

I will continue to provide updates as soon as I have them. I know the next big question will be “when” and as soon as I have that information to release, I will do so. Thank you for your continued patience on this. I know it took longer than you would have liked but I intend to continue to give you information as soon as I can!

It’s sad that local servers are being lost, and I can sort of understand the rationale for not moving to one local server, although cost must have come into that decision as well.

What’s your take? Also – we’re running a poll on the issue – it’s on the right-hand sidebar of the page you’re on now, up towards the top.

Extra SWTOR Maintenance Thursday 14th February 2013

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It appears SWTOR Patch 1.7 must have had some gremlins in it, as there’s some further server downtime this week. Time conversions:

AEDT: 10pm-Midnight

AWST: 7pm-9pm

NZDT: Midnight-2am

The BioWare announcement:

We will be deploying a patch and performing an unscheduled maintenance this Thursday, February 14th, 2013. Patch notes will be made available shortly after the servers come back up.

The servers will be down for two hours on Thursday, February 14th, 2013 from 5AM CST (3AM PST/6AM EST/11AM GMT/12PM CET/10PM AEDT) until 7AM CST (5AM PST/8AM EST/1PM GMT/2PM CET/12AM AEDT). All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than two hours, but could be extended.

After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your launcher was open during the maintenance, you must close and reopen it for a fresh login.

Maintenance

Date: Thursday, February 14th, 2013

Time: 5AM CST (3AM PST/6AM EST/11AM GMT/12PM CET/10PM AEDT) until 7AM CST (5AM PST/8AM EST/1PM GMT/2PM CET/12AM AEDT)

All game servers will be offline during this period. This game maintenance is expected to take no more than two hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

Server Downtime for SWTOR Game Update 1.7: 12th February

swtor-server-down

It’s time for the next SWTOR content update: Return of the Gree. This means a slightly longer than usual server downtime of 5.5 hours.

Time conversions:

AEDT: 8.30pm – 2am

AWST: 5.30pm-11pm

NZDT: 10.30pm-4am

The full explanatory blurb from BioWare:

 

Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for five and a half hours on Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 from 3:30AM CST (1:30AM PST/4:30AM EST/9:30AM GMT/10:30AM CET/8:30PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/10AM EST/3PM GMT/3PM CET/2AM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than five and a half hours, but could be extended.

Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree unveils a new in-game event, Relics of the Gree. Travel to Ilum to investigate the appearance of an ancient Gree starships, called “the Gray Secant.” The Reputation System is also introduced in this game update, which allows you to earn Reputation points by completing missions for organizations such as the Gree or the Voss, or for military divisions within the Republic and the Empire for great rewards.

After this maintenance is over, restart the game launcher to patch to Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree.

Events are available to Free-to-Play Players and Subscribers at no additional cost. Visit the Free-to-Play Features Chart for more information.

Scheduled Maintenance

Date: Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

Time: 3:30AM CST (1:30AM PST/4:30AM EST/9:30AM GMT/10:30AM CET/8:30PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/10AM EST/3PM GMT/3PM CET/2AM AEDT)

All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than five and a half hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Server Maintenance: 23rd January 2013

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(While the servers are down, why not listen to the latest episode of our podcast?)

A four hour downtime this Tuesday night / Wednesday morning, but slightly later in the evening than usually occurs.

The local time conversions:

AEDT: 10pm-2am

AWST: 7pm-11pm

NZDT: Midnight – 4am

BioWare’s notification in full:

Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 from 5AM CST (3AM PST/5AM EST/11AM GMT/12PM CET/10PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/9AM EST/3PM GMT/4PM CET/2AM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended.

This maintenance is done in order to make general improvements and to check performance of the game so that we can continue to provide a consistent, quality experience. Quite often (but not always) after a maintenance period there will be a patch to download. After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your launcher was open during the maintenance, you must close and reopen it for a fresh login.

Scheduled Maintenance

Date: Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013

Time: 5AM CST (3AM PST/5AM EST/11AM GMT/12PM CET/10PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/9AM EST/3PM GMT/4PM CET/2AM AEDT)

All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Maintenance: January 8th 2013

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A patch deployment maintenance downtime tonight of eight hours.

Local time conversions for you:

AEDT:  7pm-3am

AWST: 4pm-Midnight

NZDT: 9pm-5am

The full blurb from BioWare:

 

Hello!

This is a reminder that we will be bringing down servers for eight hours on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 10AM CST (8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET/3AM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than eight hours, but could be extended.

For more information, please see our previous scheduled maintenance post.

Scheduled Maintenance

Date: Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

Time: 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 10AM CST (8AM PST/11AM EST/4PM GMT/5PM CET/3AM AEDT)

All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than eight hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Server Downtime 4th December 2012

A standard four-hour server downtime this week from BioWare. Local time conversions for you:

AEDT:  7pm-11pm

AWST: 4pm-8pm

NZDT: 9pm-1am

The officialise version:

Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT). All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended.

This weekly maintenance is done in order to make general improvements and to check performance of the game so that we can continue to provide a consistent, quality experience. Quite often (but not always) after a maintenance period there will be a patch to download. After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your launcher was open during the maintenance, you must close and reopen it for a fresh login.

Scheduled Maintenance

Date: Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

Time: 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT)

All game servers will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.

SWTOR Server Downtime: 27th November 2012

A four hour maintenance downtime this week. Local time conversions for you:

AEDT: 7pm-11pm

AWST: 4pm-8pm

NZDT: 9pm-1am

BioWare’s notification:

Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for four hours on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 from 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours, but could be extended.

This maintenance is done in order to make general improvements and to check performance of the game so that we can continue to provide a consistent, quality experience. Quite often (but not always) after a maintenance period there will be a patch to download. After the maintenance, please login via the launcher to download the latest patch. If your launcher was open during the maintenance, you must close and reopen it for a fresh login.

Scheduled Maintenance

Date: Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

Time: 2AM CST (12AM PST/3AM EST/8AM GMT/9AM CET/7PM AEDT) until 6AM CST (4AM PST/7AM EST/12PM GMT/1PM CET/11PM AEDT)

All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than four hours.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.