Star Wars: The Old Republic Legacy Update 1.2 went live today as scheduled, but without one major feature: Ranked Warzones.
BioWare made the surprise, last minute announcement late last night after realizing the feature just wasn't ready to be implemented yet.
"After careful consideration, it is clear that to make Ranked Warzones the feature we all want it to be is going to take a bit more time," SWTOR lead game designer Daniel Erickson wrote. "I apologize for any disappointment this may cause and ask for your patience as we work to make sure the Ranked Warzone Preseason launch is polished and fun."
Most fans are more upset with BioWare about the timing of the announcement, rather than the actual announcement itself. Regarding the timing issue, senior online community manager Stephen Reid defended, " The decision was made late in our testing for Game Update 1.2, after the team had examined the data and done additional internal testing."
"There was no deliberate delay. As soon as the decision was made, we communicated that to you. We realize it's a late announcement, but we felt it was only fair to communicate the change before Game Update 1.2 was pushed live."
Reid reassured fans that work on re-instating Ranked Warzones has already begun, and is "highest priority" for the PvP team right now.
"They all want to bring the feature to you as soon as possible. However, we will not compromise on quality by rushing it to launch," Reid added. "As Daniel said, once we are satisfied Ranked Warzones work well and are fun for all who want to take part in them, we'll launch them."
BioWare explained that the Ranked Warzone Preseason will be rolled out in phases, as they listen "carefully" to player feedback, making adjustments as they go along.
"The first phase will be full team, eight-player queuing only and from there we'll look at next steps as Preseason progresses," Erickson explained. "In the meantime we have provided an alternate purchase route for War Hero gear so you can start building your set while figuring out your teams."
While I'm sure fans are likely disappointed that Ranked Warzones are not included in today's update, there are still a ton of other features that were implemented including the much-awaited Legacy system, a new Flashpoint and Operation, a new Warzone, and many more additions. For the full patch notes for today's SWTOR 1.2 update, visit the official website.
