Star Wars: The Old Republic

"Even among its interactive peers, "The Old Republic" is touted as a leap forward. Much as the first "Star Wars" movie in 1977 changed history, its makers hope to create a new gold standard for gaming."

- Ben Fritz and Alex Pham for the Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2012

Star Wars: The Old Republic, abbreviated SWTOR or TOR, is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) by BioWare, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The game was first officially announced in an October 30, 2007 press release, though details were vague. On October 21, 2008, the title of the game was revealed, in addition to a fair amount of detail about the game itself, in a press conference.

Three tie-in novels, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived by Paul S. Kemp, and Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn, cover the story behind it; while a fourth, Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation by Drew Karpyshyn, will carry on the story after the conclusion of the game's class story arcs. In addition, Dark Horse Comics is releasing a webcomic set before the events of the game, which will be reprinted into a regular comic series. During its presentation at E3 in 2009, BioWare announced the game would be the first MMORPG to feature large-scale voice acting.

The game was released in the US and Europe on December 20, 2011 and later in Australia on March 1, 2012.

Development
BioWare began development on The Old Republic in December 2005 at a satellite studio in Austin, Texas constructed primarily for the project. By January 7, 2007, Electronic Arts completed its acquisition of BioWare/Pandemic for $860 million, in a move motivated by hopes of expanding into the MMO genre of video games. In the following months, rumors persisted about the development of a new Knights of the Old Republic video game, spurred on by leaks from within BioWare and LucasArts and the registration of "Star Wars The Old Republic" and "The Old Republic" as LucasArts trademarks. During the E3 2008 expo, Electronic Arts executive John Riccitello confirmed that the MMO would be connected to the Knights of the Old Republic series of video games. On October 7, LucasArts and BioWare released an invitation to the press to attend an event on October 21 about "the game that has been rumored about for years." At the event, the official press release was finally published. Drew Karpyshyn also helped with the production of the game after moving to Austin, Texas where the game was being designed. On September 29, 2009, after the website was down for almost a day, it was been announced that they would be accepting applications for game testing. The procedure included accepting the terms and agreements, basic information and a system scan of the computer which would be used to play the game.

Editions and pre-order
BioWare released three versions of the game; a Standard edition, a Digital Deluxe edition, and a Collectors edition. Pre-ordering any of the three of these gave the player early access to the game, plus a color stone that changed the color of their lightsaber blade and blaster bolts to a black color with a yellowish glow. Each version also comes with 30 days free game time. The standard edition, if not pre-ordered, only comes with the game and the 30 free days.

The Digital Deluxe edition is exclusive to EA's Origin store and comes with everything in the Standard edition, as well as:
 * Flare gun
 * Training droid
 * HoloDancer
 * HoloCam
 * STAP

The Collectors edition comes with everything in the Standard edition, as well as:
 * Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus statue
 * Game disks collectible metal case
 * The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural as annotated by Satele Shan
 * The Old Republic galaxy map
 * Custom security authentication key
 * Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD
 * High-quality Collector's Edition box
 * Flare gun
 * Training droid
 * HoloDancer
 * HoloCam
 * STAP
 * Exclusive Mouse Droid
 * Exclusive Collector's Edition in-game store

Gameplay and features
The Old Republic does not dramatically diverge from traditional MMORPG gameplay. Players control an avatar in third-person view, interacting with the various elements of the game world and other players, and earn their own starship as part of their class story, which functions as an in-game base. Player-versus-player combat occurs in warzones, either Jedi vs. Sith or Republic vs. Sith Empire. However, BioWare has emphasized the story element of the game, something that the company feels is lacking in other MMORPGs. New characters are required to choose to align with one of two factions waging war on each other&mdash;the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire. Several gameplay elements differ between the factions, such as story and available classes.

Planets and moons
The game features the following planets and moons:

Space battle planets and moons

 * Aeten II
 * Balosar
 * Fondor
 * Jabiim
 * Javaal
 * Kalee
 * Kovor
 * Makem Te
 * Pakuuni
 * Saleucami
 * Zosha

Flashpoint planets and moons

 * Asation
 * Athiss
 * Cademimu V
 * Denova
 * Kaon
 * Taral V
 * Zadd

Warzone Planets and moons

 * Denova

Story planets and moons

 * Uphrades

Classes
Each faction has four classes to choose from. Each class can specialize into two advanced classes, giving a total of sixteen variations.

Companion characters
This list includes all the known companion characters, and the classes to which they are attached.

Deceived
The 3:53 minute cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, titled Deceived, was released on June 1, 2009 and is the first of its kind for a Star Wars video game. It was directed by Dave Wilson and despite appearances, was not developed by Industrial Light & Magic but in fact by Blur Studio on behalf of BioWare and LucasArts. Narrated by Darth Malgus, the trailer depicts the infiltration of the Jedi Temple by the Sith during the Sacking of Coruscant. An epic battle ensues in which the Jedi are defeated by overwhelming Sith numbers who have allied with both Mandalorians and bounty hunters. The Jedi Temple is summarily destroyed and Coruscant falls.

Fight choreography and motion capture were externally utilized during the creation process while the soundtrack was mixed at Skywalker Sound. The use of concept artwork provided by BioWare together with high-res models of the Jedi Temple and spacecraft from ILM allowed Blur to authentically create a believable trailer firmly rooted in the Star Wars universe. Numerous John Williams themes from the classic and prequel trilogy have been interwoven to create the trailer score. It relies heavily on the themes present in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as well as a few cues present in Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, The Sith Lords.

The trailer has been highly praised by both those in the industry as well as by the fans for its technical and aesthetic achievements as well as its creative storyline depiction. However, much debate and criticism has stemmed from the trailer as well. Many have viewed the trailer, being depicted in a time period almost 4000 years prior to the events of A New Hope, as possessing technology and locales too similar to those depicted in the films. This may in fact be a result of the seeming confusion of LucasArts' own marketing manager Roger Evoy’s belief concerning when the game’s events actually take place:

"[The video games are] set between the two trilogies. Based off some of the inspirations we got from BioWare [the games’ developer], we were able to develop new combat styles and storylines that as far as the Star Wars universe was concerned, were really new and fresh—we’ve never seen a Jedi temple get its butt kicked like this.”"

- Roger Evoy

Hope
The 5:42 minute cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, titled "Hope," was released on June 14, 2010 and is the second of its kind for Star Wars: The Old Republic, after Deceived. Narrated by Jace Malcom, the trailer depicts the Battle of Alderaan.

Return
The 6:20 minute cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, titled Return, was released on June 6, 2011 and is the third of its kind for Star Wars: The Old Republic, after Deceived and Hope. Narrated by Satele Shan, the trailer depicts the Fall of Korriban.

HK-51 Revealed
The fourth cinematic trailer Star Wars: The Old Republic, HK-51 Revealed was released on July 16, 2012. The trailer depicts the rediscovery of an Imperial freighter containing a group of HK-51 assassin droids, teasing their eventual addition to the game.

Galactic Timeline
The Galactic Timeline is a series of a dozen in-universe videos presented as historical records made for the Jedi Archives by Jedi Master Gnost-Dural. The videos were released in reverse chronological order, beginning with the Treaty of Coruscant in the first video and ending with the Great Hyperspace War in the twelfth.

A further seven videos were originally planned, intending to span back to the original discovery of the Force on Tython. However, the series was discontinued in early 2011 when it was determined that the videos were becoming less relevant to the game.

Game Update 1.1: Rise of the Rakghouls
Rise of the Rakghouls, or Game Update 1.1, was the first regularly-scheduled content update of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Though originally scheduled for release on January 17, 2012 it was released the following day on January 18, 2012.

Story
''A mysterious outbreak of Rakghouls threatens the worlds of the Tion Hegemony, a strategically important sector of the galaxy that has remained neutral to both Republic and Imperial advances. Now Republic and Imperial forces race to the besieged world of Kaon to eliminate the threat, desperate to secure the allegiance of the Tion Hegemony for themselves...''

Flashpoint: Kaon Under Siege
Update 1.1 introduced a brand-new level 50 flashpoint mission, Kaon Under Siege. The central story-based game addition in this update, Kaon Under Siege is set on Kaon, a small world in the Tion Hegemony, as it's beset by an outbreak of the dreaded Rakghoul plague.

The mission involves landing on Kaon and fighting through waves of Rakghouls, in order to determine who or what is behind the deadly outbreak.

Operation: Karagga's Palace (expansion)
Game Update 1.1 also expanded the existing Operation mission Karagga's Palace by adding four new bosses for players to battle.

Game Update 1.2: Legacy
Legacy, or Game Update 1.2, was the second regularly-scheduled content update of Star Wars: The Old Republic. After significant pre-release promotion, Legacy was released on April 12, 2012.

Story
''The galaxy is in turmoil. War rages across countless worlds as Republic and Imperial forces struggle for control of critical resources. Amidst the chaos, threats emerge from all sides. The planet Denova, known for its extensive deposits of baradium ore, has been seized by a band of mercenaries and veteran Imperial defectors with mysterious motives. If they are not dislodged, the explosive arsenal they can create will give them the power to destroy any armed force – Republic or Imperial. On Corellia, a corrupt councilor attempts to maximize hypermatter profits by playing both sides of the conflict, and the crazed mastermind behind the Rakghoul outbreak, discovered on Ord Mantell, continues to threaten the lives of all sentient beings in the galaxy…''

Legacy system
Update 1.2 unveiled numerous additions to and improvements upon the game's Legacy system. These improvements included including the ability to build a 'family tree' of player characters, as well as implementing new abilities and awards for player characters.

Flashpoint: Lost Island
A sequel story to 1.1's Kaon Under Siege, Lost Island revisits the story of the outbreak of the Rakghoul plague on Kaon. Having learned that the outbreak was the fault of one man, Dr. Lorrick, the player must now travel to Ord Mantell to confront the mad scientist.

Operation: Explosive Conflict
A brand-new level 50 Operation mission, Explosive Conflict follows up on the story told in previous Operation mission Karagga's Palace. Legendary warlord Kephess, having united armies under his rule, has declared Denova independent and under his rule. The player must travel to Denova to challenge Kephess and his mercenary soldiers, to try to control Denova's resources for either the Republic or the Empire.

Warzone: Novare Coast
Novare Coast is another brand-new addition to the game, set in a similar locale to the Explosive Conflict Operation addition. In the player-vs-player Novare Coast, players must battle for three mortar turrets targeting a strategically-important beachhead on Denova.

World event: Rakghoul Pandemic
On April 15, 2012, the game's first world event was launched. The Rakghoul Pandemic event, centered on Tatooine, involved several quests in search of a cure to the Rakghoul plague on the desert planet.

Five days in, BioWare released the in-game Republic News Network report as a promotional video on the game's official YouTube channel. The event ended on April 24, 2012.

Game Update 1.3: Allies
Allies, or Game Update 1.3, was first announced on May 21, 2012, and was released on June 26, 2012. This update, while not as heavy on content as the preceding two, introduced a number of new features and functionalities into the game.

Adaptive gear
Game Update 1.3 will allows the player to coordinate with their allies and dress up as a band of Sand People or a squad of Republic pilots. As of this Update, any social gear in the game can now be adapted to match the player character's combat gear, fusing it with the corresponding armor bonuses and adding slots for armor modifications.

Augment unlocks
For players interested in keeping their gear optimized, Allies offers the ability to craft and sell kits that unlock an augmentation modification slot, previously only obtainable when achieving "critical" success while crafting. Players can now add an augmentation slot to any piece of equippable gear, making it easier to dress.

Character Transfer system
A character transfer system was introduced, enabling players to transfer their game characters from server to server. This initially only allows for limited transferring, but will later be expanded to include all servers.The game now looks and runs better on lower graphic settings and older computers and the Alderaan Warzone have also been upgraded.

Group Finder tool
A group finder tool was added in order to simplify the process of gathering other players for group missions such as flashpoints and heroic quests.

Legacy perks
Allies expands on the Legacy system introduced in Game Update 1.2 by adding new bonuses. This includes advancement perks that grant players experience bonuses for taking part in Warzones, Flashpoints, or Space Missions. Other Legacy perks include a spawnable item repair droid, the ability to pilot speeders at level 10, and a number of bonuses for companion characters which increase their affection, improve their item crafting abilities, and decrease the time companions spend selling items to vendors.

World event: The Grand Acquisitions Race
BioWare launched the game's second world event, The Grand Acquisitions Race on August 14, 2012. For this second event, they preceded launch with the debut of the Imperial News Network in-game report on the game's YouTube channel. The event's story concerns the mysterious Chevin Conglomerate of Vinsoth entering into the Cold War on Nar Shaddaa in a quest for ancient relics. In-game, this manifested as a scavenger hunt for event-specific items in exchange for reward tokens which could be used to buy new items. The event concluded on August 21, 2012.

Game Update 1.4: Terror From Beyond
Game Update 1.4 was first announced&mdash;unofficially&mdash;in a Developer Blog entry on August 30, 2012 by Jesse Sky, the game's Lead Operations & Flashpoint Designer, where it was stated that the Operation mission Terror from Beyond would be included as one of its features. This was later followed by an official announcement, including a list of features, on September 12, 2012. The update was officially released on September 26, 2012.

Operation: Terror From Beyond
Terror from Beyond is set on the Gree world Asation. The world has been overrun by monstrous creatures unleashed by agents of the Dread Masters, who activated a Hypergate on the planet. The Operation features five boss battles, as well as an appearance by a "familiar face." In addition, the player reward for completing the Operation is the new Dread Guard PvE gear, which is the most powerful equipment to date.

Companion customization
Update 1.4 introduces customization for the player's companion characters. The improvements introduced in this update allow for matching companions' outfits to the item in their chest slot, in addition to a "Hide Head Slot" option.

Emotes
Terror From Beyond introduces an emote feature for player characters. This will enables players to set their characters' facial expressions by mood.

Group Finder
The Group Finder feature, which was introduced in Game Update 1.3, features expanded functionality in 1.4. Among the improvements is the ability of the tool to return the player to their original location after leaving the group, in order to shorten travel times.

Shadow optimization
Also improved in 1.4 is the visual quality of the game's shadow effects. The developers chose to completely rewrite the coding of the game's shadows, resulting in a smoother, less jagged appearance than were present previously.

Announced future content
In addition to the game's various updates, BioWare has announced a number of upcoming features which, as yet, have had no specific release date beyond sometime in the second half of 2012.

Mission-centric content

 * Introducing a new planet, Makeb, to both the game and the Star Wars canon. This will introduce a new story in which the Hutt Cartel conquers Makeb in order to rival both the Republic and the Sith Empire in power.
 * Adding a new PvP Warzone titled Ancient Hypergates
 * Adding a new space combat mission titled Space Station Assault

Player-centric content

 * Adding the Cathar as a playable species
 * Adding HK-51 as a new companion character. This news was later followed-up with the release of a teaser trailer entitled HK-51 Revealed
 * Increasing the level cap beyond level 50

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Star Wars: The Old Republic.