StarWars The Old Republic - Game Update 2.0 launched, what to expect

So, BioWare was hard at work last night, and aprox 4 hours ago, Game Update 2.0 went live. Also known as Scum and Villainy this new content update is centered around a new planet, Makeb, and the conflict surrounding the control of this planet by the Hutt Cartel.

If you're interested in the full content of the patch notes, head to SWToR page.

What does this mean to us, the non-subscription people and to those who did not purchased the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion?
Well .. I'm still searching for stuff but, the most obvious are:

• new level cap, 55 I was horribly horribly wrong about this, lvl cap for F2P and preferred status players is still lvl50 !!
• all your skill points are reset; (wanted a free respec, here's your chance!)
• planet commendations are aggregated under a single pool
• new legacy wide achievements
• players in guilds will now earn a +5% bonus to experience gain
• priority transport terminals have been added to the Fleets, which will speed up travel between daily mission areas such as Section X, The Black Hole, and Makeb

Gathering all planetary commendations under same pool is a brilliant idea that allows you to use those old low-lvl commendations you gathered so far. To use them you need to get to the vendor on the Republic/Imperial Fleet.

What you don't get, this is from the perspective of a preferred status player:

• planet Makeb is not for you, unless you purchase the DLC
• operations? no access, you need to buy a weekly pass
• flashpoints? still 3 item rolls / week, want more? buy a weekly pass
• warzones? still 5 / week, want more? buy a weekly pass
• space missions? still 3 item rolls / week, want more? buy a weekly pass
• want to post a topic on the official forums, or reply to someone? you can't ...

And there is one oddity, with the skill tree reset, if you had enough SP to fill a complete skill tree, now you may not, for example:

at lvl50 you have 41 SP but the tree has 42SP ....... The maximum skill points are 46 at lvl55. Some can be filled at lvl 51 while other classes and specializations, much later. Example Operative -> medicine tree, you need lvl 53 to max it!

Here is an updated skill tree calculator.

The good, the bad and the ugly:

There are new things to keep you interested and even make you come back to achieve lvl55. Besides flashpoints and PvP, there are locations you can lvl up, Belsavis bonus series heroic missions, Voss, Corelia, Black Hole, Illum and possibly Hoth bonus series.

[Update]
I'm not sure what to make of it, but as is now, free players, preferred status players and subscribers are still locked to lvl50. The very bad thing about it is the skill tree, before this update you could max out one skill tree and still have few points to spend in one other tree ... now, it's more like a nerf - this is absolutely horrible.
We shall see if this lvl cap gets unlocked once the pre-order exclusivity runs out. I'll you informed

The bad and the ugly? the still existing limitation on equipping advanced gear only if you buy an unlock .. that's dumb, and I will not pay for it; the limits on flashpoints space missions, PvP .. weekly passes? I will not buy!

As I said in my previous post regarding SWToR, if you plan to play as purely F2P, stay away! There are limitations that would make you climb walls. If you plan to unlock preferred status, do so, there are "life saving" unlocks that come with it, but be wary ... not everything is "pink".

Should you buy Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion? the ultimate decision is yours.

But if you ask me, don't! this update offers a single planet with quest chain that will not offer and extension to the main class quest, once you complete it with one of your characters, it will be the same for all the rest of them.

Let's say you buy the DLC - 20$; but doing that will make you buy the Artifact Equipment authorization account wide, because you will need better rated gear - another 20$. and you spend 40$ for what? you don't get a continuation to the story of any class.

In the end is it worth it? I'd say no. When and if some real story driven DLC would gets released I will consider it. Until then, I'm quite happy with my preferred account status.