The force works in very mysterious ways since I was drawn to look at Drew’s site the day his book was released.

Despite that, I bought it and tore through it. On my train rides home and in to work—very hard for me since I have been gluttonous with 24 on my phone every morning and afternoon—I read. And I read.

I thought that a review of the book and not just a blind, fan orgasm of the book was appropriate considering Drew has and remains one of the favorite authors. Anything Star Wars he’s written, I’ve read. I’ve done his Mass Effect stuff and when he joined the Star Wars: The Old Republic team, I was completely on board.

That being said, I have my reservations about Revan. Let me start off by saying that the book is tremendous. It’s well written, it’s exciting and, most importantly, it has action the way that I love it.

My main reservation about it is the fact that it ended so abruptly. I bought the Kindle version because, well, I have the Kindle. I should have noticed something was wrong when Revan decided to attack the Emperor and I was only 62% of the way through the document. Even after everything that happened, I thought, “Well, that’s okay…Maybe there’s other stuff he wants to reveal.”

But, then it turned into a big “publicity adventure” for LucasArt’s books. So, I suppose that is where and why I was so disappointed. It ended so abruptly.

Moving on, though, the story was great. I don’t want to reveal too much, but I’ll try and review it as honestly as I can.

In the first half of the book, I was frustrated because I felt there was so much more emphasis on Lord Scourge than there was on Revan and, let’s be honest, we’re reading about Revan. I knew he’d come into play somehow, but I just didn’t understand why there had to be that much of Scourge and so much less of Revan.

However, once the two came together and it became 95% Revan/Scourge and 5% Meetra, I suddenly realize how much the story had needed that sort of “split.” The only way to make the final scene work was for us to understand Scourge and to understand how, by coming together, this final confrontation with the Emperor would play out.

One of the things that Karpyshyn is good at is effectively describing the combat in a way that plays in your head. You don’t realize when watching the movies, but the combat is significantly faster. In the movies, it’s two lightsaber wielding warriors fighting each other, swinging at human speeds, battling and ducking. In the book, though, it’s described how it should be: a flurry. It’s not slow; it’s fast and the Force really is powerful.

The biggest thing that the book does, though, is explain that quest that we’ll have to do in game in regards to Revan. I won’t reveal it, but let’s just say that it doesn’t look like Revan is totally done just yet.

Drew, once again, you’ve done wonderful. While there are parts in the book that I felt were rushed—and I hate how your publisher set the book up with it ending and there being over a third remaining in the document—I loved it.

So, get writing on that other one. Can’t wait to keep reading your Star Wars stories.

Along with the information about the release date, which in and of itself is exciting, we also got some input on what the pricing would be. As I have been saying all along, it is a monthly subscription rate rather than microtransactions. That doesn’t mean that microtransactions aren’t a possibility, but at the present, their subscription rates are as follows:

• 1 Month Subscription: $14.99 (£8.99/€12.99)
• 3 Month Subscription: $13.99 per month (one-time charge of $41.97/£25.17/€35.97)
• 6 Month Subscription: $12.99 per month (one-time charge of $77.94/£46.14/€65.94)

Those are the prices that I believe we all anticipated and I think are the right ones for BioWare. It’s right on par with World of Warcraft and will enable BioWare to get the money it needs to continue offering the game. Here is what the two had to say about the release in their presentation:

“This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at LucasArts who have dedicated their lives to build this extraordinary game. We appreciate the patience from the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game’s release.”

For those that pre-ordered the game, they’ll be able to get it sooner. However, how much sooner is not known because it wasn’t revealed. Any time sooner than December 20th (which feels so far away despite it being less than 4 months) is better.

BioWare released an updated trailer that really isn’t all that different from a previous trailer except this time, it has the release date added to the end of it.

This game is going to be great and now, after so many years of waiting, we finally have a definitive release date. And it’s exactly where they’ve been saying it’d be all this time. By the end of 2011 and in this fiscal year. BioWare, EA and LucasArts, thank you for getting this game to us!

What we have here is the eternity vault video. We are getting a live experience here where eight players play as Sith and try to raid the eternity vault. What are known as operations–the first operation in the game–is a creation for those that reach level 50 to keep their end of game content exciting.

The video looks really great. The eight players work together against a lot of really strong NPCs and when they beat the first wave, a second wave comes and that time, they get their asses handed to them.

Operations, as they say, are for up to 16 players. It’s got varying challenges for casual players as well as seasoned players. I won’t keep typing. Instead, just watch the video and chime in below with what you think.

“What we’ve seen repeatedly is that people will pay subscriptions for top tier, best of show quality products (The Economist, HBO, World of Warcraft) but they will not pay for many of them at once,” he explained in the interview.

He’s very right with that. I was considering getting the Economist because it really is tremendous writing; but, I decided against it because I knew I wouldn’t read it enough and because I already get the New York Times on my phone. For those that play WoW, they may leave it and go play SWTOR.

Erickson went on to say,  ”in that market the best ones will stay around and the less exciting entries will fall off fairly quickly. I’m excited to see what’s coming next!”

A lot of F2P games come out and they’ll try and gain some revenue through microtransactions. If the game is really amazing, people are going to stick around and play it. If that microtransaction money allows them to then evolve into a subscription MMO because they developed the game that much, the players will follow. If the game rocks, they’ll pay.

This is interesting because the developers and producers of SWTOR have been hinting at the game existing for years…and years…and years, so they better hope that subscription MMOs last.

Do you agree? If a game is that good, are you willing to pay a monthly bill to enjoy that game? I know that I am.

According to a press release posted this morning, The Old Republic will “open Beta Test Weekends” starting this September. These weekend play sessions will be open to selected players worldwide and create an opportunity for fans to get a sneak peak of the epic stories, worlds, quests, battles and characters in the game.”

While I don’t know if I am personally interested in doing beta—I’d have to be hush hush about content and that’s hard being a fan site owner—I do hope that those that are given the job to do it do it with the best of intentions.

Coming along with the announcement of these beta weekends was a hint at when the game was going to be released and it seems that I was right to post what the voice actor said.

“We are targeting Star Wars: The Old Republic to be one of the biggest launches of holiday 2011,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager and Co-Founder, BioWare and Senior Vice President, Electronic Arts.

To me, that sounds like Christmas might be the release date. Obviously, I might be wrong, but he did say holiday 2011, right?

Regardless, if you haven’t already, go get your pre-order all set up. And, maybe you’ll be one of the lucky few who get to start beta testing the game. Finally, after so many years of waiting, Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming to a store near you.

According to a press release released by EA, and quite a few ads popping up on a bunch of different MMO websites, BioWare has opened the floodgates to allow people to pre-order the game. There are three different levels in which users can pre-order depending on how much stuff they really want to get.

The three editions of Star Wars: The Old Republic are:

• SWTOR Collector’s Edition: This includes virtual-in-game and actual items for any big Star Wars fan. There is a Darth Malgus Statue, a journal of Jedi Master Gnost Dural, the soundtrack of the game, a security key and a map of the galaxy. The virtual items include a flare gun, training droid, personal HoloDancer, HoloCam, the STAP vehicle and access to the Collector’s Store. This is an in game store with new in-game items that are exclusive for those that get the Collector’s Edition. This edition includes 30 days of game time and is going to be on sale for $149.99. Not bad, right?
• SWTOR Digital Deluxe Edition: This includes 30 days of game play plus the five virtual items listed above, but without access to the Collector’s Store. That means they get the flare gun, training droid, personal HoloDancer, HoloCam and STAP vehicle. This is going to cost $79.99.
• SWTOR Standard Edition: This is the basic entry into the game, includes no gifts and is going to cost $59.99 which includes 30 days of game time. If you just want to play and don’t care about extras, this is for you.

I haven’t pre-ordered mine yet because, to be honest, I don’t know which one I want. The hardcore Star Wars fan inside me wants the collector’s edition, but will I keep that stuff or will it just get trashed? We’ll have to wait and see what I decide to get.

Have any of you gotten your pre-order yet? Chime in below!

What is different about this comic from the others is that it opens right where players will get to play when they load up the game. So, characters we might meet in this series are also characters we’ll definitely see in the game, we would assume,

Dave Marshall, the editor, had this to say:

Welcome to the first comics series set concurrently with the events of the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game! While we’ve done two previous stories (Threat of Peace and Blood of the Empire) that take place during this era, The Lost Suns is the first one to unfold alongside players’ in-game stories. Being a Senior Writer on the game, Alexander Freed has packed this series full of clues for gamers to appreciate once they dive into their characters online.

Dissection

The comic opens with a flashback describing a battle between Imperials and Republic forces to try and take control of Rhen Var. We’re introduced to a series of characters right from the beginning including:
• Syo Bakarn: Correlian Jedi who is predominately a healer.
• Kela Kiwiiks: Togruta Jedi who is a thinker and a poet.
• Jaric Kaedan: Human Jedi Master, master warrior and excellent in the Juyo-Kos method
• Satele Shan: Guardian of the Republic
• And as one unit…They are invincible.

The one telling this story is a mysterious Jedi exile who saved Kaedan once. Naturally, we don’t know who this is yet, but his identity is released later in the story.

We see all sorts of combat with dual-wielded lightsabers in defensive positions, Force shields, lightsaber throw attacks and mech units. As a Jedi, I anticipate I’ll be destroying these Sith mech units myself.

We move forward to where Darth Mekhis is confronted by Satele Shan after she puts the Necroswarm colonies online. Not sure what these are, but moving forward, I’m sure we’ll learn all about them.

Skipping forward, we learn about Theron Shan, who is the son of Satele, on Coruscant. He overhears one of the advertisements on Coruscant about an Imperial assault on the Esseles transport. This is one of the early flashpoints in the game.

Theron works for the Republic Strategic Information Service which is currently investigating a slave ring run by the Black Sun.

Using a paralytic dart, he is able to knock out a smuggler so that he is able to get all of the information that he needs from her.

Soon enough, Theron is flying with the director of the ISI through Coruscant which just makes me think personal mount over and over again. We learn that the mysterious Jedi Exile is Jedi Master Ngani Zho who was “the greatest warrior of his generation.” He was thought to be lost in the war, but in reality, just disappeared and is now a vagrant.

Theron is tasked with tracking Zho down. He was last seen in the Imperial “black sector” known as the Vesla System. It’s here that we learn that Theron is Shan’s son and that he was raised, in part, by Zho.

Once again, we see Darth Mekhis who is now on a ship called “Ror’Jhan.” This translate, according to her, to “She-Whose-Leaves-Sweat-Poison.” This ship is actually a Javelin Dreadnought that might have some modifications. The ship can “sanitize” planets from space, whatever that means. She wants to give it to Darth Marr as a gift.

Mekhis becomes aware of the presence of Ngani Zho behind Imperial lines. She wants to find him first considering what happened to her—Shan beat her up, I’m guess, in the flashback. Or maybe Zho did.

She dispatches her Sith Knight creations which appear in several canisters aboard the ship.

Wow…

All in all, this comic is looking good and I am definitely looking forward to pick up the next one. I’ll be sure to let you know all about it when that one is available for me to read as well.

I recently signed up for Google+ and one of the cool features on there is what is called “sparks.” And these sparks allow me to track specific search phrases such as, oh I don’t know, “SWTOR.” It’s Google Alerts, except it’s built into my G+ account.

One the articles that appeared was with the title “cheap swtor credits, Hot Home Staging Tips « Buy WOW Gold » WOW Gold Blog.” I decided to click it because I thought it was funny that they were selling credits before the game was even out.

It’s a garbage article. But, some of the links in it did pique my curiosity and I decided to go through. I was amazed at how professional some of these websites were that were selling credits and power-leveling.

It made me think, though.

What was BioWare going to do about this? I mean, it’s obviously something that happens, but it does add a certain level of annoyance to the game. There’s this random dude who has $100 to blow running around with a level 60 character while everyone else is working on their dude.

But, it’s pretty inevitable, isn’t it?

I just don’t get why people do it. Half the enjoyment for me in this game will be me building up my character and making the choices I want along the road. If someone offers power leveling, I have no say in the choices that were made.

See, when I give my account over to be power leveled, suddenly the character is going through the quests to get me stronger and stronger. And, considering BioWare said there wouldn’t be mundane tasks, I can’t think of any other way for my player to get leveled faster than to go through the game.

That defeats the purpose of playing TOR. So, perhaps that’s how BioWare is combating it. You miss out on a great story by power leveling. But, that still doesn’t get rid of those selling credits.

I guess it’s just something we’ll have to deal with. All in all, though, it does make me laugh how people are already preparing for the sale of their SWTOR credits. Man, you gotta love it.

According to some reports, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be released right around Christmas. That would be its last chance to get it released by 2011 which, according to my friend who was at PAX, was the answer he got from one of the producers.

Paul Darrow was one of the voice actors that BioWare used for the numerous different NPCs in the game. He’s known for his work in Blake’s 7. About a year ago, he finished up voicing one of the NPC guides for the Sith warrior.

Paul said that he was privy to sensitive information including the anticipated release date. According to him, BioWare plans to release Star Wars: The Old Republic at Christmas.

If that really is the case, they’ve got a lot of work to make sure that they get the game released in time because, let’s be honest, they haven’t even had an open beta yet; unless, of course, they’ve been testing hardcore with a secret group of people.

I know that BioWare has some announcements to make in San Diego, so that may be their way of announcing beta. If they announce beta now, it’ll be perfect for a Christmas launch.

Are you wishing for a white–I mean–a Star Wars Christmas?

If you’re someone that is a big fan of Star Wars: The Old Republic, this excerpt is definitely worth a read. And, it’s just like other stuff that Karpyshyn writes which, to me, is great. I really love his writing.

Anyway, here’s a short little blurb about it:

Fighting wind and gravity, Revan struggled to keep the damaged ship level as he took it down. Seconds before they touched ground, a blast of wind grabbed the Ebon Hawk and pitched it hard to starboard. Revan jammed the stick to port, desperately trying to keep the ship from flipping over. It slammed into the snow bank at a forty-five degree angle, carving a fifty-meter-long trench in the powder before finally coming to rest.

We don’t know what year this is or if this is right after Revan left to go to the unknown regions or if he has been there for a while. What we do know, however, is that Canderous, our good friend the Mandalorian, is with him.

What they are trying to do is meet up with some of his fellow Mandalorians–probably to have more firepower against the Sith Emperor–and also meet up with Canderous’ significant other. I never saw him as someone having a significant other, but I guess even warriors need lovers.

If you’re interested, be sure to pick it up. It states that the novel comes out October 18th, but websites state that the novel comes out November 15th. And, as always, we will give an in depth review of the novel when it does come out. Chapter by chapter.

Here’s a little of what the magazine looks like. Check it out.