star-wars-the-old-republic posts (Subscribe to this feed)

'Imperial Agent' class sneaks into Star Wars: The Old Republic

by JC Fletcher { Nov 6th 2009 at 7:00PM }

The latest playable class to be announced for BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic, is the Imperial Agent, or, as it will more commonly be known, Not Jedi Knight. Inspired by Star Wars characters like Grand Moff Tarkin and Zam Wesell, the latest Not Jedi Knight class will be an expert with technology and espionage, using "abilities of subversion and subterfuge to infiltrate and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire with deadly efficiency."

Sounds like a good, assassin-style class for players whose friends inform them that not everybody can be a Jedi Knight or a Sith Warrior. Check out screens of the Imperial Agent at IncGamers.

Star Wars: The Old Republic site launches Jedi class page

by Justin McElroy { Nov 2nd 2009 at 11:29AM }

There's finally a reason to visit the "professional classifications" section of the official website for the upcoming BioWare MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The page for the only class worth playing, the Jedi, has finally been added! The site's got images of Jedi garb and weaponry up, and even a few videos of lightsaber murder.

"But Joystiq, the Jedi isn't the only class worth playing! I want to be a smuggler!" What's that? Sorry, we had a little trouble hearing you while we crushed your windpipe with our minds. Speaking of which, we guess the Sith Warrior is okay, too -- but just barely.

LucasArts seeking testers for Star Wars: The Old Republic

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 29th 2009 at 3:31PM }

Be still, beating, midichlorian-infused heart -- LucasArts is looking for players to test its story-driven MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The official call to action deftly avoids the use of the B-word and stipulates that the testing will be executed on an extremely limited scale. If you're hoping to get in on the massively-multiplayer lightsaber action, you can sign up on the Account page of the game site.

Actually, we really want to get into this test, so ... how about you sit this one out? C'mon, wouldn't you rather watch some YouTube videos of adorable puppies instead? Look at them! With their little waggly tails.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic

New Star Wars: TOR planet revealed - Coruscant, galaxy's 'greatest civilization'

by Christopher Grant { Sep 6th 2009 at 2:00PM }

During yesterday's completely packed Star Wars: The Old Republic demo at PAX, fans were rewarded for their hours of waiting (seriously, you had to be there really early) with not only a free copy of Knights of the Old Republic but with the very first glimpse of an entirely new area, located at hyperspace coordinates 0,0,0! If you looked that up on Wikipedia you may have learned those coordinates belong to Coruscant, the Star Wars galaxy's "greatest civilization." If you didn't look it up on Wikipedia and just knew it, well ...

While news that Coruscant will join dozens of other planets in the BioWare-developed MMO is about as surprising as the presence of Jedis ("Really?") and lightsabers ("No way!"), we're certain that being at the nexus of the galaxy's main trade routes will come in handy ... did you know that a bunch of fictional trade routes ran through Coruscant before reading Wikipedia? Be honest, we won't judge you.

SW: TOR fansite Darth Hater managed to snag some shakicam footage of the reveal (in less than twelve parsecs?) which we've smuggled over after the break. Not a Dagobah that we don't get even more Hoth and bothered, adding Kashyyyk to our piggy banks to buy a brand Naboo copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic, what's sure to be the Endor-be-all of Star Wars-based MMOs. Also, what planets could they possibly add next?

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Impressive: Star Wars: The Old Republic's Sith Warrior class detailed

by David Hinkle { Aug 28th 2009 at 5:40PM }

If pale white skin and sulking over lost love sounds like your cup of tea, then you'll likely identify with the Sith Warrior class in upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. It's the latest class to be revealed, one that "channels the destructive emotions of fear, anger, and hatred to purge weakness from body and mind and become a being of pure, brutal efficiency." Yes, but can he also make julienne fries?

Hit up the gallery below for a look at some different Sith doing what they do best: killing Jedis. And if that's not enough for you, head past the break for some short snippets of gameplay showing off a few of the Sith Warrior's moves.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Sith Warrior

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PAX exhibitors revealed, Star Wars fans should start lining up now

by Xav de Matos { Aug 6th 2009 at 2:58PM }

The Penny Arcade Expo exhibitor list is in, and it's a hefty one with nearly 100 attendees scheduled to visit the Seattle gaming convention. Gamers can expect plenty of hands-on action with the hottest (and probably not so hot) games of the year, including a slew of panels and special demonstrations.

LucasArts will showcase the first stateside live demo of Star Wars: The Old Republic and sponsor a cantina for community members to meet various staff and developers. Although delayed until 2010, Splinter Cell: Conviction will also continue to be demoed for attendees, alongside Assassin's Creed 2. Plus, traditional PAX events return with another round of the indie game showcase (The PAX 10), parties to crash throughout Seattle's downtown core and two nights of music from the best in nerdcore -- a genre iTunes has yet to recognize. Fascists!

PAX 2009 hits Seattle from September 4-6 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. A list of exhibitors you'll spend hours lining up to see can be found after the break.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic documentary shows voice work, gameplay

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 18th 2009 at 2:30PM }

You may be sick of hearing about the extensive work BioWare is putting into supplying the voices for the countless characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Even if that's the case, you should still watch the video posted after the jump -- in addition to boasting about the game's beefy vocals, it shows the brief gameplay demo we got to see at E3. Watch as a Sith and a Bounty Hunter wreck shop up on an Imperial vessel, and just try not to get all antsy for this game. If you can pull that off, we're revoking your nerd card.

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LucasArts: 'Several world exclusive announcements' at Comic-Con

by Jem Alexander { Jul 15th 2009 at 7:30PM }

LucasArts has re-entered our hearts this week thanks to the company's Monkey Island and retro shenanigans. In fact, we'd almost completely forgotten that it created all those Star Wars games. But it has -- with one very special upcoming title in the works. Star Wars: The Old Republic may not be the only Star Wars title in production though, if a recent announcement email regarding the company's San Diego Comic-Con schedule is to be believed.

The email states that "there will be several world exclusive announcements at the Star Wars Spectacular keynote." Whether these are new game announcements or something new regarding The Old Republic, we've no idea, but we'll definitely be in attendance to see what's on offer. Best case scenario? Special edition remakes -- Secret of Monkey Island style -- of X-Wing and TIE Fighter. Do want.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's voice acting process detailed

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 11th 2009 at 8:30PM }

We've spoken before about how BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, will be the wordiest video game in the history of mankind, but a recent article on the game's official site has given even further detail into the process behind the title's verbosification. If you've ever been interested in voice acting, it's definitely worth a read, as we're fairly certain the game will go down in VO history for its unrivaled ambition.

If the process behind the game's voice work does nothing for you, perhaps a few more numeric comparisons will float your boat -- the script, which is the size of "40+ novels" (or 10 KOTOR's!) is being voiced by over 100 voice actors in five cities, who, by the end of the project, will have performed over 1,000 four-hour recording sessions. That is a great deal of talking.

[Via Big Download]

BioWare not worried about MMO competition, Jedi way cooler than orcs

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 19th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Most MMO players are already deeply entrenched within their virtual world of choice -- an irrefutable fact that makes it extremely difficult for developers to break into the online realm. Competition between MMO devs is as heated as you might expect -- though BioWare isn't too concerned about other massive titles as it continues to push its upcoming online debut, Star Wars: The Old Republic, through the development process.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk summarized the developer's feelings on its fellow denizens of the MMOscape with a simple comparison -- in a recent interview with Gamasutra, Zeschuk explained, "If you're betting on Jedi versus orcs, that's a good bet." From what we've seen of the game, we'd probably bet on its rich cutscenes and unprecedented capacity for MMORPG storytelling -- but, hey, Jedi are pretty great too, we guess.

Hands-on: Star Wars: The Old Republic

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 4th 2009 at 11:30AM }

There's an unnavigable divide between the world of MMORPGs and the art of good storytelling. Not writing, mind you -- the gang at Blizzard know their way around a word processor -- but rather, the actual sharing of a story. It's not a genre that supports the relaying of intricate plotlines. Most players are in it for the grind, for social status or notoriety. The option to enable "text skipping" doesn't exactly lend itself to plot development. Even if the mass interest was there, all of the game's players are receiving the same storyline. No choice, no branching, no consequences.

Attempting to build a bridge with which to cross this divide would be an extremely ambitious undertaking. Fortunately, Bioware is a studio well versed in ambition -- and, if our brief time with the game is any indication, Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to irrevocably change the way MMOs tell stories.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic's 'Trooper' class detailed

by Randy Nelson { May 9th 2009 at 9:00AM }

BioWare has declassified data on the Trooper class that'll be fighting alongside the Jedi in its upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. Yes, as you can see on the class' data page, they do look surprisingly similar to the troopers who fought in the Clone Wars -- but hey, those were wicked cool, so we'll just be thankful for this tweaking of pre-film canon.

As BioWare describes them, the Trooper is an elite special forces element of the Republic's military, a.k.a. a good guy. They're evidently highly effective at close-quaters combat, carry sticky grenades and have access to numerous enhancements for their standard "modern rifle." That and myriad armor variations that will boggle any fanboy's mind. Check out these bad boys (and girls, hopefully) in motion at the official site.

The Old Republic dev diary shows how to make a planet

by Griffin McElroy { May 3rd 2009 at 7:00PM }

Developers of licensed Star Wars products who decide to stray from the franchise's immutable canon often find themselves suffering the slings, arrows and extendible plastic weaponry of their target audience. Fortunately, it looks like the team behind BioWare's upcoming far-far-away MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, are keeping the Word of Lucas firmly in their minds as they build the title's virtual environments. Check out the video above to see BioWare's incredible attention to detail in action!

BioWare's Old Republic policy on homosexuality reconsidered

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 29th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Community Manager, Sean Dahlberg, stated that he'd filtered out words like "gay" and "lesbian" from the game's forums because "these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars." ... And the internet gasped.

Turning things around faster than the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run, Dahlberg issued an apology to accompany BioWare's removal of the filters. Although Dahlberg likely had the best of intentions in forming the policy, it helps if MMO community managers learn from a time not so long ago nor far, far away -- World of Warcraft tripped over a similar drama three years ago. More recently, Microsoft's Xbox Live handled a less clear case of discrimination just this year.

Star Wars: The Old Republic video needs more fighting

by Justin McElroy { Apr 8th 2009 at 8:55AM }

Hey Star Wars: The Old Republic, want to know the best way to suck the excitement out of your upcoming space opera MMORPG? Show us a bunch of still pictures not taken from the game, while a guy who sounds like Sam Elliott's less commanding brother, Denny, tells us a super boring story about galactic diplomacy.

Seriously, if the video was capped by a young Jack Palance playing a guitar solo while he kills a bunch of guys with a lightsaber (that's also an electric guitar), it still wouldn't be enough to wake us from our coma. Can we all agree to leave boring in books, where it belongs?