Star Wars: The Old Republic update rewards level 50 players

Star Wars: The Old Republic seems to have faded from the collective gamer consciousness a bit. Not coincidentally, BioWare has announced various perks coming alongside the new Legacy 1.2 update, which seem squarely aimed at attracting new players and bringing old ones back into the fold.

A post on the Legacy update details the perks. For one thing, players who reached level 50 by the time the Legacy update launched are receiving 30 days of free game time. Plus, former subscribers can come back to play for free between now and April 19. This is far from switching to fully free-to-play, but these moves could be the first salvos in that direction -- especially since BioWare hasn't ever ruled out a F2P model.

If you're not a lapsed player or a level 50, you still get a bonus from the Legacy update. Any active subscribers or new purchasers before April 21 at 12 PM CDT will get a tauntaun pet. Lapsed players can also get the pet for re-upping their subscription. Warning: we're told that tauntauns smell bad on the outside.

The update adds family trees to the mix, letting you unlock bonus items and abilities for linking your characters through lineage, along with a new Flashpoint, Warzone and Operation: Explosive Conflict in Denova, UI customizations, end-game crafting, guild banks, and combat logs.