Massively http://www.massively.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://www.massively.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Star Wars: The Old Republic senior writer talks about writing the Jedi Knight]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/11/08/star-wars-the-old-republic-senior-writer-talks-about-writing-th/http://www.massively.com/2009/11/08/star-wars-the-old-republic-senior-writer-talks-about-writing-th/http://www.massively.com/2009/11/08/star-wars-the-old-republic-senior-writer-talks-about-writing-th/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Drew Karpyshyn is the senior writer for the Star Wars: The Old Republic team with plenty of experience writing characters from the dark side, but now he's stepping out of his comfort zone to take a walk on the Jedi side. The fun he's having writing the Jedi Knight class comes through clearly in Friday's developer blog entry: "Nothing says Star Wars like a brown-robed figure brandishing a shimmering energy blade of righteous destruction."

Exploring the Jedi Knight class meant delving the Jedi Code and how it works in theory vs. how it works in practice. What happens when you take that code and mix in a hefty dose of "what if?" is a recipe for all kinds of possibilities, and Karpyshyn is having a great time exploring them. His experience writing the dark side gives his version of "what if" a little edge, exploring thoughts of renegade Jedi Knights who are willing to bend the rules for the greater good.

It's a fun read, with a great look into Karpyshyn's thoughts on the class -- you can take a look at the full entry on the official site.

MassivelyStar Wars: The Old Republic senior writer talks about writing the Jedi Knight originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareclassesdeveloper-diaryDrew-Karpyshynjedi-knightlucasartsnew-titlesstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorSun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Star Wars: The Old Republic reveals Imperial Agent its newest class]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/11/06/star-wars-the-old-republic-reveals-its-newest-class/http://www.massively.com/2009/11/06/star-wars-the-old-republic-reveals-its-newest-class/http://www.massively.com/2009/11/06/star-wars-the-old-republic-reveals-its-newest-class/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

We've got Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight, Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, and now Imperial Agent. BioWare revealed the sixth class for Star Wars: The Old Republic today on their forums. This news comes as absolutely no surprise to those who attended the EA Press Tour earlier this week -- they enjoyed advance information from producer Blaine Christine.

Imperial Agents are a rogue class of sorts, doing their work for the Empire with high-tech tools to help them infiltrate the republic and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire. The announcement from Sean Dahlberg says that Imperial Agents are "heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin. [...] Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic (TOR) will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light."

The Holonet will be updated next week with the Imperial Agent, but the class already has its own forum on the official site and discussion is going strong.

MassivelyStar Wars: The Old Republic reveals Imperial Agent its newest class originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareclassesimperial-agentlucasartsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorFri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Jedi Knight officially steps into The Old Republic spotlight]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/10/30/jedi-knight-officially-steps-into-the-old-republic-spotlight/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/30/jedi-knight-officially-steps-into-the-old-republic-spotlight/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/30/jedi-knight-officially-steps-into-the-old-republic-spotlight/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Rumors and speculation have been floating around this week about the Jedi Knight, so no big surprise when BioWare reveals that, yes, Knights of the Jedi persuasion are in fact a player class in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The news comes with all the expected class page accoutrements such as screens, concept art and a few videos showing off three Jedi Knight attacks. It's all standard practice information release at this point, which only slightly dilutes the excitement of the announcement.

The videos all show the proper level of Jedi powerhousing that you'd expect, although we're not entirely cool with all the droid destroying that's happening. Sure, we're aware that unlike Sith, Jedi are limited to disabling droids and pushing things around but that's no excuse to pick on the little helpless mechanical people. Yes, we said people -- robots are people too!

In all seriousness, this is probably the class reveal everyone has been waiting for and/or expecting all along. Jedi and Sith were a given, so from here on out it's almost entirely anyone's guess. Spy? Rogue? Droids? Wookiees? Albino Ewoks? Okay, that's a little silly, nobody wants to play a rogue over a spy.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Concept Art

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Screenshots

A HuttCantina of the Hutt PalaceDroids with blasters

MassivelyJedi Knight officially steps into The Old Republic spotlight originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareclasseaelectronic-artsewokewoksjedijedi-knightjedi-knightslucasartsroguesithspystar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republictorwookieeFri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[What voice does for MMOs]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/10/24/what-voice-does-for-mmos/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/24/what-voice-does-for-mmos/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/24/what-voice-does-for-mmos/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

One of the big claims about Star Wars: the Old Republic is that the game is meant to be fully voiced, from start to finish. On the flip side, Star Trek Online will not be fully voiced -- in fact, its executive producer Craig Zinkievich recently made some statements asking more or less what the point of voice acting in the game really is. To quote: "It adds something to the game, but I don't think that VO-ing all of your text provides for that big a bang for the buck in terms of immersion."

Bio Break seems to disagree rather emphatically. As he points out, voice is one of the most immersive and important parts of a game world in which our immersion is, by necessity, limited. We can only hear or see what's going on in front of us, which makes the things we hear and see all the more important. (Or makes a USB taste simulator all the more urgent.) He points out, quite rightly, that each of us have at least one or two bosses that we remember more on the strength of their voice acting than because of the fight itself.

Bioware, of course, has long offered a great deal of voice acting in its games. It remains to be seen if the promises of pervasive acting in Star Wars: the Old Republic will be carried out, but the discussion about how important voice is will remain either way. Take a look at the article, and share your thoughts in the comments: is it important that a game have full voiceovers and cutscenes, or is that a distraction without much relevance?

MassivelyWhat voice does for MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the things we like about the lead up to the Star Wars: The Old Republic launch is BioWare's series of timeline videos that explains the political and military background of the upcoming MMO. The fifth holorecord from the Jedi Archive is The Battle of Bothawui which recounts a major Republic victory against the Sith. It also chronicles the last stand of a heroic group of Jedi knights and Republic troopers, who became martyrs in the struggle against the Sith Empire.

If you're following along with the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic you'll want to watch "The Battle of Bothawui" on the game's official site.

MassivelyThe Old Republic timeline video chronicles heroic last stand at The Battle of Bothawui originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare Producer Blaine Christine recently sat down for a Star Wars: The Old Republic interview with Steven Crews at The MMO Gamer. The interview hits on a number of facets of SWTOR's gameplay and the process of creating the title. They also discuss how BioWare is designing the game to dissuade everyone from (only) running around wielding lightsabers through the unique strengths of each class, but their talk really focuses on the game's story.

Blaine discusses how the story for SWTOR players, whether they choose to be good or evil, will always be more than kill ten rats or "collect ten boxes for some random vendor." That story you play through fits the role you've chosen for yourself. Blaine likens a player's story progression to Knights of the Old Republic. He tells The MMO Gamer, "If you look at KOTOR and how that worked out, if you played light side versus dark side, there were distinct differences in the story, and distinct differences in how your character developed. It's going to be very similar to that."

Continue reading BioWare Producer on heroism and villainy in Star Wars: The Old Republic

MassivelyBioWare Producer on heroism and villainy in Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareblaine-christineclassesgame-mechanicsinterviewsknights-of-the-old-republickotorlorenew-titlesquestssci-fistar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicsteven-crewsstoryswtorthe-mmo-gamerTue, 20 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Star Wars: the Old Republic has a literal powder keg on Balmorra]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/10/16/star-wars-the-old-republic-has-a-literal-powderkeg-on-balmorra/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/16/star-wars-the-old-republic-has-a-literal-powderkeg-on-balmorra/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/16/star-wars-the-old-republic-has-a-literal-powderkeg-on-balmorra/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Like it or not, Star Wars: the Old Republic is not so dissimilar from its source materials -- its planets universally have themes. There's the city planet, of course, and we all know there's going to be the desert planet. And, as it stands, we're now poised to have the weapons planet -- which promises to be as explosive as such a title would suggest. The game has recently unveiled Balmorra, the site of an ongoing struggle between the Republic and the Sith Empire, where the victor claims the preeminent weapons manufacturer in the Core Worlds. The planet started as an ally of the Republic, but during the long war with the Sith Empire the Republic was forced to scale back its efforts to help perserve the planet's independence, culminating in a full withdrawal of its reinforcements to the world.

The Sith quickly claimed the planet in force, with only an underground resistance left with some Republic support to fight back against the invaders and do what damage was possible. Of course, when you're on the most deadly weapon-making planet in the area, you can do quite a bit of damage. The rejuvenated Republic is now returning its troop presence to the planet's surface in hopes that it can wrest the world back after the brief lull of peace, but the Balmorrans haven't exactly forgiven and forgotten the earlier abandonment. For more information on what promises to be one of the most explosive areas in Star Wars: the Old Republic, take a look at the official page containing more pictures and information.

MassivelyStar Wars: the Old Republic has a literal powder keg on Balmorra originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>balmorrabiowarepreviewsstar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorFri, 16 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Star Wars: The Old Republic fills up the city planet]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/10/10/star-wars-the-old-republic-fills-up-the-city-planet/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/10/star-wars-the-old-republic-fills-up-the-city-planet/http://www.massively.com/2009/10/10/star-wars-the-old-republic-fills-up-the-city-planet/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Think for a minute about what it means to have a city taking up an entire planet. No, really, think about it. Think about the scope involved, the huge numbers of people involved, the sheer scale of any kind of project or even the most humble buildings. It's a massively dwarfing concept, which makes it all the more interesting to see the latest trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic which discusses the creation of Coruscant, capital of the Republic and home to a single, massive city.

In the trailer, the designers mention many of the issues that they faced with designing the planet, chief among them the absolute lack of any terrain on the planet due to its nature and the difficulty of relating it to real-life places and things. It also discusses the events that lead into the beginning of Star Wars: The Old Republic -- the Sith sacking of Coruscant that leaves some portions of the planet still damaged and rebuilding. Coruscant is being set up to help establish the role of the Republic and the Jedi in the larger galaxy, a symbol of everything positive in the galaxy. We also see still more vistas of the city, which retain the polish that Bioware has been long known for.

On the very real chance you're hungry for more visions of the universe after the trailer, the latest installment of Threat of Peace has also been added to the site. But that's only enough to whet our appetites for what's shaping up to be a truly massive and immersive game.

MassivelyStar Wars: The Old Republic fills up the city planet originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everyone is worried about the Jedi player population when it comes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, but the Sith are in every way a likely -- if not moreso -- threat. With franchise analogs like Vader and Maul, there's going to be a lot of people auto-running around the game to the tune of Imperial March.

Even BioWare seems to think the Sith are kind of a big deal in this new developer blog promoting the greatness of embracing the darkness within us all. We're not even exaggerating in this case, the blog really does go on for quite some time about how awesome dark Jedi are -- so don't be too shocked when legions of Sith roam the battlefield looking for Republic blood.

MassivelyEmbracing the Sith in Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like yesterday's accidental posting of the announcement to test Star Wars: The Old Republic was only a day early! The testing portal is up, and Bioware is now accepting applications for closed beta testers.

Testers are going to be selected on the usual three categories -- system specifications, age, and region. Other categories will be used as well, however they haven't been announced formally by Bioware. Those interested in testing the game will need SWTOR community accounts (forum accounts) before they can jump in over on the testing website.

Testing is also only open to people who are over 18 years of age, as Bioware is serious in finding those who will offer good bug reports to aid the development of the game. If you think you have what it takes, then cruise on over to the testing page and sign yourself up!

Editor's Note: The website is getting crushed right now (for obvious reasons) so if you can't get in, just try again later. There will be plenty of time for everyone to sign up!

MassivelyBreaking: Sign up to test The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bioware might have tipped their hand accidentally today as they briefly updated the Star Wars: The Old Republic website with a call for testers for the highly anticipated MMO. The announcement only lasted a few minutes before being taken down off of the site, indicating an accidental posting.

While the news announcement has been removed from the website, some screenshot happy community members have snapped pictures of their RSS feeds, which still show the call for testers. This has, of course, sent the community into an uproar of anticipation for the intended date of the announcement.

Update: The intended date of the closed beta signups is today! We have all of the details over in this post!

Continue reading Rumor: Imminent closed beta announcement for Star Wars: The Old Republic?

MassivelyRumor: Imminent closed beta announcement for Star Wars: The Old Republic? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the convention craze of the summer - E3 into San Diego ComicCon and then PAX, the news for Star Wars: The Old Republic has been crazy hot and heavy. We've heard about new classes, seen new video and gameplay, and even landed some rumors that are continuing to pique interest. Meanwhile, the co-operative webcomic between BioWare, LucasArts and Dark Horse Comics have been coming out steadily, overshadowed by their shinier brethren.

As a bit of a breather, the team at BioWare have focused for the last couple of weeks exclusively on the comic - we're sure to allow the story to shine on its own. Well, that and we're told they're working on another big announcement for next week's update, which is sure to send the Star Wars: The Old Republic fan-base into another string of vociferous nerdgasms. For now, enjoy some fresh new webcomic geekery while we all wait with bated breath for yet another wave of news.

MassivelyEnjoy some comic geekery with SWTOR's Threat of Peace update originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These days it's extremely rare for a video game to be made by one person. Groups of people from different disciplines work on a game, hired for their proficiency in their area of specialty. When we're talking about an MMO, the game development team often ends up being pretty big. When we're talking about an MMO as ambitious as Star Wars: The Old Republic, the team is freaking enormous, by necessity. In a recent article on Gamasutra one of the members of the SWTOR team, Bioware Austin technical director Bill Dalton, discussed the challenges that come up when working with such a large group of people.

Unsurprisingly, Dalton said that communication is at the core of keeping a big team afloat: "There is nothing you can do to communicate too much. In a situation where things are in crisis and something is broken, and you've told individual people as they come up, it's not a bad idea to overcommunicate and tell the whole team what's going on." Dalton mentioned that another difficult aspect of team development is balancing the differing view-points that each sub-team looks at the game from. Again, communication is the key to solving these puzzles. Check out the full article at Gamasutra to read about an interesting case study involving Star Wars: The Old Republic and its Hero Engine, which allows developers from all disciplines to make live edits to the game simultaneously -- impressive.

MassivelyBioWare's Bill Dalton reveals the secrets to making big teams work originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So maybe you missed out on seeing the glorious video reveal of Coruscant at PAX this year. No worries, because BioWare's been kind enough to release a high quality copy of the video into the wilds of the internet. We've posted it after the break in case you'd like to simple jump right into it.

There's more news beyond the video being available on the game's official website, though, such as a bevy of very cool concept art that should entice any Star Wars: The Old Republic fan for several minutes bare minimum -- some of us may spend longer amounts of time staring.

None of this is a big reveal, but that's perfectly understandable given the team's presence at PAX last weekend. So what about next weekend? Well, next weekend they'd better deliver or else we'll have to uh- well we'll just be sad if they don't, but it'll be a really vicious sadness that sends chills down spines!

Continue reading SWTOR's Coruscant artwork and PAX video

MassivelySWTOR's Coruscant artwork and PAX video originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowarecoruscanteaelectronic-artslucasartspaxpax-2009penny-arcadepenny-arcade-expostar-warsswtortorvideoSun, 13 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[PAX 2009: BioWare offers Star Wars: The Old Republic fans discount on KOTOR]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/09/07/pax-2009-bioware-offers-star-wars-the-old-republic-fans-discou/http://www.massively.com/2009/09/07/pax-2009-bioware-offers-star-wars-the-old-republic-fans-discou/http://www.massively.com/2009/09/07/pax-2009-bioware-offers-star-wars-the-old-republic-fans-discou/#commentsFiled under: , ,

We're all about MMOs at Massively (shocker), but once in a while something from our RPG past resurfaces and captures our attention again. Clearly we've got a number of Star Wars fans among our readers looking at how many people are following our Star Wars: The Old Republic coverage, and for many gamers the original Knights of the Old Republic (circa 2003) was a memorable experience. BioWare announced at PAX 2009 that they're handing out $10 doses of nostalgia by offering KOTOR downloads for PC through both Direct2Drive and Steam.

Getting back to the MMO angle, there's another 25% off of that for Star Wars: The Old Republic community members who download the game from Direct2Drive. Sure, PAX attendees get their KOTOR downloads for free -- damn you, Kyle Horner! -- but seriously, it's only $10 to begin with. If you missed Knights of the Old Republic the first time around, this is as good a time as any to catch up. Check out the announcement over on the official SWTOR site and create your account before September 15th if you're really adamant about saving a few bucks.

MassivelyPAX 2009: BioWare offers Star Wars: The Old Republic fans discount on KOTOR originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 2009 played host to the first North American public demo for Star Wars: The Old Republic and by the cheering and applause of a packed theater at Sunday's stage demo, we'd say it went exceedingly well. Luckily for us, we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with LucasArts producer Jake Neri and BioWare producer Blaine Christine.

Read more below for the inside scoop on what's new for the game at PAX and what we were able to pry from the lips of BioWare and LucasArts.

Continue reading PAX 2009: Massively interviews BioWare and LucasArts on SWTOR

MassivelyPAX 2009: Massively interviews BioWare and LucasArts on SWTOR originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading PAX 2009: Massively interviews BioWare and LucasArts on SWTOR part 2

MassivelyPAX 2009: Massively interviews BioWare and LucasArts on SWTOR part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A few of us on the Massively team are fans of the Lance Henriksen-narrated lore updates for Star Wars: The Old Republic that explain the MMO's timeline in video. The guy was Bishop, after all! So far these videos have given us a good idea of the game's backstory and have dropped some clues as to what we may see in the title. One of the more recent episodes was Return of the Mandalorians which focused on the independent warrior nomads who rose to challenge even the Jedi. While they aren't evil, war is their way of life and they thirst for conquest. According to the latest timeline update, "The Empire Changes Strategy", the Mandalorians had some help along the way from the Imperial spies who orchestrated their ascent to power.

Henriksen narrates a tale of Imperial intelligence operatives pulling strings from the shadows for their Sith masters, and of the rise and fall of Mandalore himself. We think this continuation of the Star Wars: The Old Republic story is worth a look, and you can find it on the game's official site.

MassivelyLatest lore update for The Old Republic chronicles shadowy Imperial spies originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you've been following along with our coverage of Star Wars: The Old Republic you'll know that BioWare has placed incredible emphasis on writing for SWTOR. As the game is fully voiced, the complete script is roughly 40 novels in length. G4tv's The Feed has a GamesCom 2009 video interview with SWTOR Lead Writer Daniel Erickson that explains more about what a huge undertaking the game has been from a writing perspective.

Erickson explains that BioWare's challenges aren't necessarily about having the ability to pull this off, it's more a matter of scale, particularly with the French and German localizations. He tells G4, "We think we've got the biggest voice over project in entertainment history."

Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic lead writer Daniel Erickson on scope of the project

MassivelyStar Wars: The Old Republic lead writer Daniel Erickson on scope of the project originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowaredaniel-ericksong4g4tvgamescom-2009interviewslead-writerloresci-fistar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-feedvideoMon, 31 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[SWTOR's Sith Warrior detailed, cataloged]]>http://www.massively.com/2009/08/29/swtors-sith-warrior-detailed-cataloged/http://www.massively.com/2009/08/29/swtors-sith-warrior-detailed-cataloged/http://www.massively.com/2009/08/29/swtors-sith-warrior-detailed-cataloged/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Gamescom provided us with plenty of information on the newly revealed Sith Warrior class for Star Wars: The Old Republic. So much is already known, making the newly revealed official web page feel like a safe place to keep all that information rather than a source of geeky revelation.

We're nothing if not persistent in our quest to discover curious new things, and such is what we found in the concept art on the Sith Warrior's Holonet entry. BioWare seems to be outdoing themselves when it comes to designing various lightsaber hilts for the unscrupulous Sith. Additionally, reading the overview text for the class reveals two storylines: One where your character aligns themselves with the recently formed Dark Council, and the other a path of the renegade seeking their own goals.

Watching the short videos cemented it for us, most likely. BioWare will be hard pressed to show us another Empire class that warrants a significant chunk of our time. Then again, with PAX just one week away, they may just do that.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Concept Art

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Screenshots

A HuttCantina of the Hutt PalaceDroids with blasters

MassivelySWTOR's Sith Warrior detailed, cataloged originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowareeaelectronic-artslightsaberlucasartssith-warriorstar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-old-republicSat, 29 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST