The Ultimate Guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic

Posted October 21st, 2008 by William

Star Wars The Old Republic

Last Updated: 4/10/09, 6:53 p.m. PST

On the 30th Anniversary of the MMO, LucasArts announced Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Here, we present you with all the details on the game from around the internet.  Make sure to check out GameSpot’s great video interview and the video of the entire press conference!

10-1 11 12

Temple

Features:

  • “A dynamic period full of Jedi and Sith.”
  • An innovative, story-based MMO.
  • Four pillars:
    • Exploration.
    • Customization.
    • Combat.
    • Story.
  • BioWare: “The biggest challenge for this game is the sheer amount of content we have to create.  This is a huge game.  And just to give you an idea of how huge this game is: we were taking a look at it, and really, this game has more story content then every single other BioWare game put together.  That’s come before.  So that would mean: Baulder’s Gate, Baulder’s Gate 2, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect… and all the expansions.”
  • It will be a good game for KOTOR fans who don’t play MMOs.
  • You can have companion characters.
    • Will HK-47 make a return?
    • Companions will have their own stories and quests.
    • If you are evil, you can manipulate them.
    • BioWare: “companions are not pets.”
    • You will be able to interact and upgrade multiple companion characters, but only one can accompany you at a time.
  • The Story:
    • Takes place around 3,500 BBY.
    • Set roughly 300 years after the previous KOTOR games.
    • There is an uneasy truce between the Republic and Sith Empire.
    • The truce is like the Cold War, with proxy wars, etc.
    • The characters all know war is going to break out.
    • BioWare: “we are trying to recreate the dream of creating their own story and joining other players in the epic conflict over the galaxy.”
    • BioWare: “The Sith story is just awesome.”
    • BioWare: “A Han Solo story will have a different feel than a Luke Skywalker story.”
    • The story is much more personal focused.
    • It is not just about you running around and going on the same quests as everyone else.
    • Playing as a Jedi and playing as a Sith are like playing two different games.
  • Factions: Galactic Republic and Sith Empire.
    • Each faction will have unique classes.
    • If you start in the Sith Empire, you can eventually become a Sith Lord, or you can be good.
    • If you start in the Galactic Empire, you can be good, or you can embrace the Dark Side.
  • The goal is to have individual stories for each character, and you can meet up with other characters.
  • Players will have to make hard choices.
  • Key Factors:
    • Companions.
    • Player choice.
    • Unique classes.
    • Players joining together.
  • The game’s art is designed so that it will run well on all PCs.
  • If it’s in the movies, you should be able to do it in the game.
  • Meaningful game choices:
    • LucasArts/BioWare is “taking companion experience to the next level.”
    • You can romance or betray your companions.
    • You will be able to kill other players.
      • You get to choose who lives and who dies.
      • There is no “save key.”  You can’t undo your mistakes.  If you kill a companion, they’re dead.  Forever.
  • “It’s not just about the Jedi Knights.”
  • The good/evil mechanic has a gray area.
  • BioWare: “you can play on your own, but we’re going to encourage you to be social; we’re not going to force grouping, but we aim to encourage.”
  • Players can join together to help each other with quests.
  • BioWare is trying to humanize the Sith Empire.
    • Even though the leaders may be bad, not all members of the Sith Empire are.
  • As a Sith, you can decide whether you uphold Sith values or change things from within.
    • Companions will help guide your thinking/choices.
  • Regular classes can go up against Jedi/Sith.
    • BioWare: Jango Fett and General Grievous are characters who can take down Jedi…
    • BioWare: “we’re focused on making a heroic game, so even if you’re not a Jedi, you’re the best representation of that class.”
  • Characters from KOTOR may show up (at least, those that can live for more than 300 years… HK-47, maybe?).
  • The KOTOR minigames are back (Pazaak, etc.).
  • Korriban will be in the game.
  • There will be enough customization for people who don’t want to look like the stereotypical hero.
  • Dark Side players will get different gear than Light Side players.
    • Dark Side gear looks like it belongs to someone on the Dark Side.  Same for the Light Side.
    • Smugglers won’t get Dark Side gear.
  • Possible classes are smugglers, soldiers, and criminals.
  • The combat is not turn-based.  It’s all in real time.
  • Jedi and Sith will have different quests.
  • You cannot be a farmer.
  • The dialog system will be more cinematic, not like early BioWare games where you can have dialog trees dedicated to stupid subjects.  (ed. sounds similar to Mass Effect).
  • BioWare: “If you roll a Jedi character and you play them from the first level to the last level, and then you roll a Sith and you play them from the first level to the last level, you will not see one repeated quest, line of dialogue, or piece of content. It is a 100% different story experience.”
  • The game’s class-specific storylines mean that if you’ve always wanted to play a Sith Lord, “you are playing – for all intents and purposes – the Sith RPG.”
  • Will probably be micro-transaction based.
  • Tython, Nal Hutta, and Ord Mandell will be playable planets

Force Choke

Interesting Things from the  Press Conference:

  • The game is “one of the worst kept secrets in the industry.”
  • BioWare joked about possible MMOs:
    • Howard the Duck MMO.
    • THX-1138 MMO.
  • They thought about making more KOTORs, but decided to go the MMO route.
  • “Story gives meaning.”
  • The game is currently in a playable state, but only internally.
  • “You can’t have Han Solo without Chewbacca” (referring to companion characters).
  • The lead designer, James Ohlen, worked on KOTOR and Baldur’s Gate.
    • Said: “KOTOR is the coolest game of my career, and Star Wars: The Old Republic is even MORE exciting!  Compelling!”
  • They are trying to bring story to the online space.
  • All video footage is pre-alpha.
  • There will be an open beta at some point!
  • BioWare is working with LucasArts, Skywalker Sound, and Lucas Licensing to make sure everything is perfect.
  • Now that EA owns BioWare, EA can help back the game (with funding, support, etc.).
  • BioWare: “a game that doesn’t run well isn’t a game that we want.”
  • BioWare: “customization is important in the MMO space.”
  • BioWare started with “what would be the coolest version of Luke Skywalker” and that’s the high-end character design goal.
  • They want to make sure that no matter what you choose, you always look good.
    • BioWare doesn’t want people coming in and dressing up in crazy outfits, ruining the “Star Wars” experience.
  • BioWare: “if you want great fighting, don’t look at MMOs, look at great console action games.”
  • BioWare wants to make the story interesting for everyone.  Even players who usually just to rush through games and don’t care about story.
  • BioWare: “most MMOs have a background, and the people you meet have a story, but YOU don’t have a story.
  • BioWare: “the people who are writing the class storylines have the most important job.”
  • BioWare: “you will never walk into a cantina, poke a random stranger, and see if you can do something for cash.”
  • BioWare: “you will never walk in the street and be asked to find a lost cat.”
  • BioWare: “We’re definitely looking at the opportunity to bring the MMO experience to console, without question…. we’re trying to look at the primary research required to understand how would you deploy it, what the client size looks like, how big is the back-end, what the play experience looks like… Once we’ve got some of those questions answered, we’ll be able to decide which is the right play to go after.”
  • LucasArts: “We have many other features planned to support Star Wars Galaxies. We see no reason why the two games can’t exist together.”
  • Blizzard, the developers of the highly successful World of Warcraft MMO, have stated that they see potential in TOR and “wouldn’t bet against [it].”
  • Things LucasArts could not discuss:
    • Class specifics.
    • How long the game has been in development.
    • When the game will be released.
    • What platforms the game will be on, if any, other than PC.
    • Business model (subscriptions).
    • The future of Star Wars Galaxies. (see above)
    • The space experience.
    • Bounty hunters.
    • Death mechanic.
    • Weapon customization.
    • Raids.
    • Other environments.
    • Quest structure.
    • Whether your character speaks.

Droids

Trailer Breakdown (from 1UP):

  • Logos.
  • Title scroll describing an imminent war between the Sith and the Old Republic.
  • Old space ship.
  • Close up of a crystal thing.
  • An assassin droid is shown.
  • A Jedi Force chokes a soldier.
  • Doors open.
  • Two Jedi duel (while “Duel of the Fates” plays).
  • “Your saga begins online” appears on screen.
  • STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC logo appears.
  • The trailer ends.

Trooper

From the SW:TOR Official Site:

Big Room

All the Articles You Could Ever Want:

–Disclaimer–
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the articles above do not represent those of EUCantina.net.
WARNING: Some content is suitable for all audiences.

Korriban

Have you found anything we missed?  Post it in the comments and we’ll update the article!

Source: All articles listed above.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 11:43 pm by William. Filed under: TOR News, Ultimate Guides, Video Game News. Tagged as: . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

15 Responses to “The Ultimate Guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic”

  1. Zee Zee
    October 22nd, 2008 - 7:54 am

    Wow! What a post! Could be longest EUC news post ever!

    Someone’s happy!!

  2. Mara Jade Skywalker
    October 22nd, 2008 - 10:55 am

    Wow…that last picture almost takes my breath away. I’m so excited about this game! And I don’t even know if I’m going to play it. :)

  3. Master Devwi
    October 22nd, 2008 - 11:22 am

    @Zee Zee
    Yeah, I’m pretty excited, but the I actually started writing this to use as notes on the game for the EUCast. I ended up deciding to post it. :P

  4. izikavazo
    October 22nd, 2008 - 2:29 pm

    You guys did great. This list/article is wonderfully complete.
    The game looks awesome I will definitely play it (I’d prefer a console version, but I’ll play it either way.)
    But there are two things that I’m concerned about.
    1 - Is Drew Karpyshan involved? He’s the best KOTOR writer and, fankly, he’s amazing.
    2 - Is Dark Horse involved? The new Knights of the Old Republic comics are great. I would love to see some connections between this game and those comics. SW properties are notoriously disconnected so I hope that that changes, especially for this project.
    - izi

  5. Admiral Tina
    October 22nd, 2008 - 4:43 pm

    Great post! Very well summarized. ;)

  6. MADGAME
    October 22nd, 2008 - 4:51 pm

    We need two important details - what year will this be ready (2009 please) and will it be available on consoles.

  7. MADGAME
    October 22nd, 2008 - 4:53 pm

    Oh, and by the way…very nice post!

  8. Son of Skywalker
    October 22nd, 2008 - 4:57 pm

    Izikavazo,

    1- No, Drew is busy working on Mass Effect 2 and Darth Bane 3, as far as I’m aware.

    2- Not that I’m aware, but Del Rey recently had a page for a Untitled SW Game Novel and the only other SW MMO, Galaxies, had a novel.

  9. Master Devwi
    October 22nd, 2008 - 5:23 pm

    Izikavazo,

    While LucasArts/BioWare have not officially announced a console version, I’m sure they are working on it. the problem is: MMOs have never been done well on a console before. This year, there were two or three MMOs that were supposed to come out on consoles. They ended up getting canceled.

    Hopefully the developers will be able to work with the console manufacturers and get it to work. Personally, I’d prefer to play it on the Xbox 360, but I’ll still play it on PC. :)

  10. Son of Skywalker
    October 22nd, 2008 - 5:33 pm

    I would too, MD– The only issue is getting my PC to play it. I’m sure they will release a 360 version though. Probably only a few months after… or so I hope

  11. Master Devwi
    October 22nd, 2008 - 10:39 pm

    I don’t think the game will be out before 2010…

  12. EU Cantina.net » Announcing: Star Wars: The Old Republic!
    October 23rd, 2008 - 12:24 pm

    [...] LucasArts/BioWare Game Announcement Today! The Ultimate Guide to Star Wars: The Old Republic » 21 10 [...]

  13. Zee Zee
    October 23rd, 2008 - 5:00 pm

    Hi guys, SW:TOR on consoles - http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_star-wars-the-old-republic-to-arrive-on-consoles_1715.html check it out!

  14. Zee Zee
    October 23rd, 2008 - 5:02 pm

    And Sue Rostoni when asked: “Sue, are there any chances that this Untitled Game Novel is somehow connected with just annonced The Old Republic?”

    Answered: “There is some chance of that, yes. There’s also some chance it’s connected with some other secret game title.”

    Mmm, usual Sue, wont/cant confirm nor deny.

  15. Aquaman
    November 15th, 2008 - 6:39 pm

    hmm i wonder pvp what the pvp battles might look like

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