/conciliatory Many’s the time I’ve felt I can’t properly express myself in an MMO. My sarcasm in general chat is taken as aggression, my jokes as insults, and my upset as irony. /seeking affirmation Does this happen to you too? /relieved Finally, Bioware have ended this angst by adding mood shift controls to SWTOR’s 1.4 update. /explanatory You can now have your character’s face reflect your intended mood. /cutting fake joy Huzzah!
/backtracking Honestly though, I can see players having a lot of fun with this./explanatoryJust picture a group of Jedi pitted against a Ragnar beast andsimultaneously, independently setting their moods to /scared. I hope Bioware go further than the narrow spectrum or /happy, /sad, /angry and dabble with /ennui, /nausea, and /orgasmic – though does anyone want to see an Ewoks finale face?
On top of the mood system, there are a number of other small, but welcome, changes coming in the 1.4 release. Currently, when you use the group finder option, it teleports you to the flashpoint you’ve selected. Upon completing the group task you must make your own way back to where you came from. With the 1.4 update, so long as you’ve killed at least one boss within the instance, then you are able to return to your original spot. The one boss minimumis to motivate players to at least commit partially to the group action, making it more fun for the other members.
Delayed binding is another excellent little alteration. Equipping a binding item isn’t now an immediate process, instead, you have two hours in which you can still trade it. If you rolled greed on an item and decide that you should give the item to another party member who needs it more, in that two hours, it’s now possible.
According to Damion Schubert, SWTOR’s lead game designer “There are limitations. This does not apply to stackable items or mission items. Adding or removing mods and augment slots will permanently bind the item (prematurely ending the timer), as will opening a lockbox. If the item is a Bind on Equip item you get from a vendor, then mailing, trading, listing the item on the GTN, or placing in the guild bank will also prematurely end the timer.”
For you aesthetes out there, you will also be able to hide companion’s helmets and allegiance colours.