A Return to Story for 2015

During this weekend's Star Wars: The Old Republic Cantina event being held at PAX South, Bioware distributed a letter penned by Bruce MacLean. In it, MacLean lays out more details about the team's plans for 2015, including a return to story and each character's personal journey throughout the game. The letter has yet to be officially published, but several sites have copies on hand and have shared the information contained within.

MacLean begins the letter by revisiting the four pillars on which SWTOR is built: combat, progression, exploration, and story and that the game has sought to bring players the best of both RPGs and MMOs. He acknowledges that the emphasis since launch has been the latter and giving players a fantastic multiplayer component.

2015, however, will see a return to story and each player's progression through the game world.

Shadow of Revan was just the beginning. In 2015, we are committed to bring you more character driven adventures in the Old Republic universe. You're going to see a unified story with themes that unite our eight classes. Everyone is a veteran from the galactic civil war with a complicated past and uncertain future. You'll see a greater emphasis on your character's personal story and on the choices that you make. I don't want to say too much more since we're in the midst of development, but what we have planned really gets back to the Star Wars fantasy at the heart of our game. Our plan is to deliver two major updates with this new story direction later this year.

In the interim, the team will deliver two hard mode Flashpoints, the start of PvP season 4, a new system called the "outfit designer", a new stronghold, and hints of yet more things to come.

Want to read the full letter? Check it out at Massively.