This week, Bioware, developers of some of my all-time favorite PC titles such as Neverwinter Nights and Baldur’s Gate, released some new behind-the-scenes footage of their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The video showcases the environments on the world of Tython, an important fixture in Star Wars lore where the force was first studied and on which the seeds of the Jedi order were first sewn. According to the video, this planet will feature some of the quests central to character development, including the first forging of your personal lightsaber.
The video was pulled from IGN, but is also freely available on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website.
For those of you who’ve given up with the MMO scene after a recent string of disheartening failures (Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, Age of Conan, and so on), Star Wars: The Old Republic might provide the glimmer of hope fans of the genre has been seeking. Bioware, never guilty of producing a bad game, first announced the development of this ambitious product on October 21, 2008, which is set in the Star Wars universe 300 years after the setting of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (and about 3500 years before the time of the Star Wars movies). In this timeline, an uneasy treaty has been established between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, the two major factions in the galaxy. With the simultaneous establishment of the diametrically opposed Sith Academy and the Jedi order, players find themselves amidst a galactic civilization ready to explode into head-on conflict.
The Old Republic won’t be the first Star Wars-based MMO to hit the market. Back in June of 2003 Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided was released by Sony Online Entertainment, which enjoyed modest success before crashing and burning after doing a 180 on its fanbase with the maligned New Game Enhancements (NGE) patch, inducing a mass exodus of its established, but deteriorating, playerbase. To date, there have been four expansions for the game, which holds on to a small yet respectable population.
Though SW: The Old Republic the game is still far from release (don’t expect a date any time soon), Bioware has slowly let their PR department release quality images and video to both the press and general public. The gallery following features all of the images published online as of this article.
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren¡¯t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
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May 27th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren¡¯t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.