It's now official, a inheritance system (called Legacy in VO) is in place in SWTOR and James Ohlen confirmed it yesterday, when the NDA was lifted, on the English forum and then on the spanish forum:
"Good morning all,
This update contains our first version of the Legacy system! The latter allows players to create a family tree of characters. Family is very important in the Star Wars universe, given that the Skywalker family has one of the most interesting dynamics in movie history. This version only has the basic elements that will be used to continue development in the future. Here are the current features:
Once your character has completed Chapter 1 of their story, they will be able to choose a Legacy last name. This Legacy last name will need to be unique and will be shared by all characters on the server, so choose it wisely!
Once you've unlocked your Legacy, all of your characters, without exception, will contribute to your Legacy experience points. These are very similar to normal experience points. It is possible to reach certain levels of Legacy that will allow you to increase your Legacy level.
We already have ideas for how the Legacy system will evolve in one of our most important post-launch updates. It will be possible to determine your Legacy family tree and you will be rewarded for the Legacy levels obtained.
Please take into account that players who have already completed Chapter 1 of their story during the test phases will not be able to unlock their Legacy. We apologize for that. This will not happen again when the game is launched.
We look forward to your feedback on the Legacy system! "
A little later, Damion Schubert provides some details on the display mode:
"You can choose :
- Display your inheritance name as your last name ("Raiel Firewalker")
- Display your inheritance name below your name:
Raiel
The Family Firewalker
- To hide everything.
This choice may differ per character. "
What do you think of this possibility which clearly encourages the creation of several characters? Do you like it ?
Inspired article and image taken from an AskAJedi article.
