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!

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!

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?

Before today, all we knew about the book was that it was about Revan and what happened after the end of Knights of the Old Republic. Considering Drew was the lead/head writer for that game, it was only appropriate that he be the one to write this iconic story about the Jedi who, some would say, is one of the most powerful.

According to Random House’s website, the basic synopsis of the story is:

There’s something out there: a juggernaut of evil bearing down to crush the Republic—unless one lone Jedi, shunned and reviled, can stop it.

Revan: hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior. A Jedi who left Coruscant to defeat Mandalorians—and returned a disciple of the dark side, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was high. His memories have been erased. All that’s left are nightmares—and deep, abiding fear.

What exactly happened beyond the Outer Rim? Revan can’t quite remember, yet can’t entirely forget. Somehow he stumbled across a terrible secret that threatens the very existence of the Republic. With no idea what it is, or how to stop it, Revan may very well fail, for he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.

Sounds damn good to me. Drew wrote on his blog about it and went into quite the tirade about comparing novel characters to game characters.

One of the things that I really appreciate and respect about Drew is he doesn’t give in to pressure. I’m sure there are a ton of Star Wars fans that are going to say, “Damn you, Drew…I thought Revan was unstoppable and damn you, I thought he was a level 60!”

Drew doesn’t work that way and if it means people don’t buy it—which is garbage because we all know we’re all buying it—then so what? He is going to create an enjoyable story.

Now, there are blogs that are reporting that it will be released on November 15th because that’s what Amazon and BN are saying. Drew says that is simply not the case. Personally, I think if they are on track in releasing the game, this could be our first sign as to when, exactly, the game is going to be released.

Are you looking forward to this novel? I have read most of Drew’s books, love them all and cannot wait for this one. Chime in below!

But, one of the things that was really interesting and important was their involvement across the entire game. Were they going to be allowed in raids and things of that nature?

According to James Ohlen, they’re not involved. Here’s his quote:

Right now, we’re aiming to not allow companions into end game raids and Flashpoints. We’re also currently not allowing them into Warzones. One of the big reasons is that these kinds of activities, raids, Flashpoints and Warzones, they’re all very much about player skill. And the difference between losing and victory is so slim that when something goes wrong you want it to be the player’s fault, not the fact that the companion character’s AI is two seconds too slow.

I don’t disagree with him, but at the same time, I don’t agree with him. While they really aren’t necessary in raids, I’ve consistently felt that they do play a part. Perhaps not a big one, but if you’re a trooper and you’ve got another trooper as your companion, having another one there to offer covering fire does make sense.

But, then his argument is valid…If I win a raid, I want it to be because I kicked ass; not because the other player’s AI got in the way when he was about to throw a grenade.

That doesn’t change the fact, though, that if a raid is between the Republic and Empire–who else would it be between–that there should be more than just the main characters. There should be other soldiers.

So, I’m hoping for some sort of a compromise. Yes, having the companions there when there is another real person to fill a role is totally important. But, not having a bunch of random soldiers running around seems bizarre.

What I’d like to see in raids, instances, PvP, and other things is the inclusion of random NPCs. If I’m a Jedi going head to head against a Sith, wouldn’t it make it more exciting if there were Republic and Sith soldiers fighting against each other as well as making life a bit more difficult for me? It adds to the skill, I think.

Regardless, I know there are many die hard MMOers who would disagree with me. They would think it is blasphemous to include NPCs in anything MMO. But, I think in a big war like scenario that TOR has taken, it fits.

What’s your opinion? Want to see companions in other parts of the game that aren’t strictly solo? Want to see random NPCs? Chime in!

Last night, GameSpot exclusively released another flashpoint on a previously unknown planet, Taral V. While little is known about this planet, so far, what we do know is that it is a planet deep in Republic territory. And, you and your team have to go to the planet to get information about saving an important Jedi.

The description is as follows:

The emperor is holding a powerful Jedi captive in his personal prison–a massive space station at the heart of the Maelstrom Nebula. Only a Gree computer is capable of navigating the treacherous cosmic storms that surround the prison. Fortunately, the Republic has learned that the Empire guards just such a device on the remote jungle world of Taral V.Your mission is to infiltrate the hidden Imperial fortress on Taral V and recover this computer. Success will mean that the Republic fleet can launch an assault on the prison where you can, perhaps, rescue the Jedi prisoner.

That sounds pretty exciting to me. However, if that was the only information we had, this would be a decent update. What we’ve got is even more information about this flashpoint, but more importantly, about flashpoints in general.

First, we know that this flashpoint should take about ninety minutes to complete. However, if you’re like me, you spent a lot of time playing Mass Effect looking for every single box to open. I’m known as a completionist. Jesse Smith, world designer, had this to say about that:

Taral V can be played in roughly 90 minutes, which is about the average length for a flashpoint. A completionist play-through would probably take more than two hours. If you have any stealthy friends, you might find them particularly useful on this mission.

What he wouldn’t reveal was how many flashpoints there are. All he’d say is, “flashpoints are a core part of the game experience and will challenge you from a relatively early level all the way to endgame. You could spend a large chunk of your time playing them, for sure, and there are plenty of incentives to do so.”

I’ve included a video at the bottom of the post. I have to admit, that makes the flashpoint sound really exciting. However, if you think you’ll be able to play the mission at level 1, think again. It is intended for players at level 32 and above.

That, though, begs an interesting question. What is level 32? Is that half? Is that 80% of the way there? I might be wrong, but I don’t think there is any idea about rank in the game.

I’m really looking forward to this. This cooperative play with some of my friends is really going to prove exciting and will make for some awesome experiences. Anyway…Enjoy the video!

One of the things that is very obvious is the objective side of things. It’s not so much “kill everyone” as “let’s beat this mission.” If I am playing the Republic, I might have to work with the other Republic players to take over some gun battery so that I can destroy Imperial ships. This is the scenario as seen in the movie below. This idea of beating the mission really gives it more of an epic feel because it’s not just the grind of killing, but having to play some tactics so that we can complete an objective that gives it the feeling of helping the war effort.

The next thing that stood out for me was the number of people that are going to be part of the PvP experience. I remember when they said that we would be allowed to bring one of our companions in there with us. So, naturally, if you look at the image below, you automatically count eight characters. That would suggest that there are four people and then four companions. But, does that suggest that there can only be four people on one side of the PvP warzone? That might be somewhat limiting and, instead, it might depend on the size of the overall fight.

However, one of the things that would be exciting is the idea of other NPCs in the game. For example, if there were a bunch of Republic soldiers participating in the fight on top of my character and companion, that’d be exciting. The fight would be more epic and, as a Jedi, I could go from cutting down a Sith soldier to fighting a Sith Inquisitor in the same breath. It’ll add an element of excitement and I don’t see why that wouldn’t be added.

There are so many exciting things about this warzone. I am typically a story type of guy, but this sort of PvP information is really exciting and something that I’m definitely going to have to get involved in. Do you have any opinion about the warzone set up? I’d love to hear about it. Post a comment before about what you are excited about and, more importantly, if you see anything that I didn’t catch.

According to a supposed ex-EA/Mythic employee, it is his opinion that Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to be a failure. In his own words, he argues that, ” Old Republic will be one of the greatest failures in the history of MMOs from EA. Probably at the level of the Sims Online. We all know it too.”

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but he’s just out there. By reading through his post, it’s obvious that he’s writing from his emotion rather than his logic. Yeah, so he wasn’t needed anymore. Yeah, so EA is outsourcing their art. I won’t get into a political conversation, but if it’s cheaper to do it elsewhere (and it is not cheap to do any business in America), then that’s just the way it is. I feel for anyone who loses their job, but this is obviously emotion he’s writing from.

EA is cutting back on the number of Mythic employees and shipping them over to the Austin office to work on TOR because Warhammer just isn’t doing good.

Now, what is interesting–and if he is a real EA employee, it’ll be even more interesting–is the fact that he puts a $300 million price tag on Star Wars: The Old Republic. I’ve heard numbers tossed around, but now that we know a ballpark of what they’ve spent, suddenly you realize that this game is going to be massive. And, at the same time, we appreciate why EA is so desperate to get the game out. If the game succeeds and can bring in the kind of money that WoW does, it’ll make EA a boatload of money.

Now, I have not had the pleasure of testing the game or trying finished products at trade shows, but for those of you out there who have, please tell us: does the game suck? And, most importantly, is the most amazing aspect of the game the sound? Because, I’ve checked out every video out there and from what I can see, everything and I mean EVERYTHING looks amazing. But, I’m biased.

Regardless, we’re getting closer and closer to release. I cannot wait for Star Wars: The Old Republic to be released. And, I apologize for not writing much. School started and I had so much to do. But, I’m in a flow and it won’t be happening again. Thanks for sticking around!

When Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance was released, I tore through it. I probably should have written a post about it–and I have a whole bunch of notes for the post–but I never got around to doing it. I might still do it. Anywho…I tore through it because it was incredible. A book about an era that was so exciting and then add on the fact that it was going to be about a game that I was going to love.

Next, we have Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived being released by Paul S. Kemp. This one is going to be about Darth Malgus and the lead up to the Deceived trailer that was released last year. I am really looking forward to that because, in my opinion, it’s going to be the better of the two stories. The first one showed us a lot about the classes, but this one will be just an epic story.

The problem with both of those is/was that they weren’t written by Karpyshyn. He is my favorite Star Wars writer, so when I found out he was going to be writing for TOR, I was excited. However, when he wasn’t slated to write any of the novels, I was bummed. How could the principle writer for KOTOR and then a lead writer for TOR not write a novel? Considering he has had such success writing other Star Wars novels, it only seemed appropriate that he would write one.

Fortunately, he is. My sources are quite vast. To begin with, Drew himself wrote about a new project for Del-Rey. His words were, “I can’t comment on what I’m working on yet – we’ll be making an official press release soon. But it’s not Mass Effect and it’s not another Bane novel. So, make of that what you will.” That got me thinking. He said he isn’t writing about an entire universe (Mass Effect), but then says he isn’t writing to continue his series within a universe (Star Wars). That led me to believe that he was writing something else in the Star Wars universe.

So, I went digging. First, what I found, was something on Del-Rey’s site. In the second paragraph, I found a little blurb about him. “Del Rey announced at Star Wars Celebration V that Drew Karpyshyn, one of the lead writers of the game and author of the popular Darth Bane series of novels will write a third book in the Old Republic series.” When I read that, published on the company’s site, I figured it was true. But, I wanted to know more.

We don’t have a title. And we don’t have a plot. However, I went to TheForce.net and found out when it is supposed to be published. Whether this is true or not is uncertain, but they’re pretty good at figuring this stuff out. According to them, the third TOR book will be published November 2011. That’s post release which means that the Star Wars group might be looking to capitalize on this game by making many books in the era. I think the Bane novels demonstrated that fans love the Old Republic era, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we got many more in that era. The movie era and the after the movie era is overdone. This is a nice twist.

When I know more, I’ll let you know. They’re probably going to have a press release at some point soon in which case we’ll get the title and we’ll get a basic plot. However, I wanted to post as soon as I found out so that all of you could start biting at the bit anxious for what will be an intense, amazing book.