On March 20th, BioWare decided to have a little social media fun on Facebook and Twitter. They organized some of our favorite companions into two teams, one led by Nico “Did I ever tell you about the time I saved Theron’s mom” Okarr and the other led by Shae “Ge’verd” Vizla.
Companions from each team were pitted against one another and everyday fans could go onto Facebook and Twitter and vote for their favorite in each matchup.
Sergeant Rusk battled Lt. Pierce. Lord Scourge dueled Xalek, Blizz and T7 tried to dismantle one another, and there were more. Ultimately it saw Nico Okarr and Shae Vizla face off against one another.
Not only did Team Shae defeat team Nico, but Shae Vizla utterly annihilated Nico Okarr in their head-to-head matchup.
When the competition was announced there was no mention of any associated in-game rewards, something I questioned in Episode 72 of my podcast. It turns out there is a subscriber reward coming. Nico Okarr and Shae Vizla will be re-released and given to anyone subscribed to the game by April 3, 2018. Here is the official announcement from BioWare.
In a galaxy characterized by combat and treacherous betrayals, it is important to celebrate alliances. Nothing is more important than our relationship with each other and our loyal companions. In honor of the alliances we all create with our companions, all our premium players will receive the legendary Mandalorian leader, Shae Vizla and the infamous smuggler, Nico Okarr to join your team of companions.
- These iconic Companions will join your team, if you have a premium status on April 3, 2018 at 12:01AM PT.
- All active Premium Players as of April 3, 2018 at 12:01AM PDT//8:01AM GMT will receive the companions, Nico Okarr and Shae Vizla on/by April 5, 2018 by 11:59PM PDT//7:59AM GMT.
- You can claim your new companions beginning April 5, 2018 via in-game email at 9:00AM PT.
By the way shouldn’t that be the infamous Shae Vizla and the legendary Nico Okarr? Nico rescued Satele Shan and Jace Malcom from certain death at the hands of Darth Malgus, while Shae Vizla literally torched the Jedi Temple during the sacking of Coruscant. I say this as someone who is unapologetically biased towards the Empire. I think Shae Vizla has the more villainous history here.
To qualify for the reward you needed to have an active subscription by April 3rd. Congratulations to those of you getting these companions. For those of us who already have them and are upset because we’re getting nothing, I’m right there with you.
Look, I am not an elitist. I have no problem with them re-releasing these companions. It doesn’t diminish anything for me. It doesn’t make my having them feel any less special now. If they want to do the same thing with the HK-55 story and Zoom – I’m okay with that. My complaint is that as someone who already has them, there’s nothing in this for me. And I like getting stuff.
I don’t necessarily like using the stuff (the Force Veteran’s armor set, the HK-55 weapons, and the list goes on), but I do like getting stuff, and I think that in addition to the companions they should’ve thrown something new into the mix. Maybe Nico’s hat for us to wear? I don’t think that’s available in the game. It’d probably look terrible because of the hair issue, but again, I don’t need to use the stuff, I just need to get the stuff.
While I don’t use all the rewards, I do use Nico all the time. He and Shae are a pretty great gift.
Heh, I’m right there with you with the: “What’s in it for me?” To be honest, personally I would have preferred it if they re-released stuff like that on the Cartel Market. That way early birds would still have the advantage of having gotten it for “free” (just for being subscribed) and won’t get any duplicates in the mail.