Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG

Star Wars: The Old Republic will be similar to other MMOs but with several key innovations. Traditionally MMOs are built on three pillars; Exploration, Combat, and Progression. We at BioWare and LucasArts believe there is a fourth pillar: Story. Our mission is to create the best story-driven games in the world. We believe that the compelling, interactive storylines in Star Wars: The Old Republic are a significant innovation to MMOs and will offer an entertainment experience unlike any other.

Oooh, hark at thou. I thought there was plenty of story in WOW if you cared to go looking for it – maybe this means you won’t be able to avoid the story, I don’t know.

Anyway, shocked that some people I knew had heard nothing of this project, I thought I’d update you on SW:TORMMORPG.

It’s by Bioware, so that’s good. KOTOR was good by all accounts, I’ll vouch for Mass Effect and I fondly remember the clunkiness of Neverwinter Nights. You can play as a Republic Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi or Jedi Consular and stick up for the Republic and the galaxy in general OR you can can play as a Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor or Imperial Agent and …mumble, mumble … Dark Side. It will apparently have space combat (scrolling shooter, meh) and mechanics.

No date has been officially set and no pricing info is available yet. It is expected to be the middle of this year, although time is kinda getting along for them to announce such a close release if that is when it will go live.

I – PC specs permitting – will probably be in on that of other people want to dust off their MMORPGing hats. I for one, am appalled at how much MD20/20 is going unconsumed these days.