While I thought that they had released all of their planets for their release, apparently BioWare has a lot more planned. They announced today that Nar Shaddaa will be a playable area in the game. For those that don’t know, Nar Shaddaa is the moon of Hutta and therefore, is very close to the planet. It is a rich and glamorous, yet gruesome place controlled by the Hutts. To give a better idea of the moon, here is BioWare’s short little news release to describe the planet.

Circling the planet Hutta is its largest moon – Nar Shaddaa, the ultimate corrupt city. Dominated by underworld concerns and owned by the Hutts, this sprawling mass of skyscrapers is considered one of the most dangerous and exciting places in the galaxy, where anything can be had for the right price.

There are things about this moon that are really interesting. Firstly, is BioWare going to create a lot more moons and satellites for different planets? One of the interesting things about Mass Effect was how you could fly from planet to planet, search the planet for resources and occasionally deal with the freaking thresher maw.

Another thing that I wouldn’t mind seeing is the ability to take off from the planet and fly to the moon without having to enter some “loading screen.” Since this goes hand in hand with my space combat article–I discussed how people might have the ability to fly freely around planets–I am hoping that it’ll become a possibility. The extra control really is fun in these games and I’d love to see it pop up in TOR.

While this is a moon, it is categorized in BioWare’s planets. This means that BioWare intends for it to be a large territory for people to appreciate. It differs from satellites and meteors that people can potentially search. I wouldn’t confirm this as an instance, but instead, this is a planet that will have different story arcs–major and minor.

This is an exciting release. We have the vile Hutta and now we have the glamorous Nar Shaddaa. That is really exciting. And, it will be especially exciting for those that play as the Bounty Hunter because I imagine a lot of their early quests are going to be on these two planets.

Pumped about Nar Shaddaa? Not really interested? Maybe I’m wrong. Chime in!