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!

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.

One of the things that stands out to me is the fact that it’s called the “Intro cinematic.” Could this be what player see before they get to play? Does this provide that little bit of “oh snap, I want to play even more” even after they’ve bought the game?

I won’t go into too much analysis about it right now (will do that later), but for now, enjoy the video and chime in below and let me know what you think of it. Man, I freaking love Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Bioware released their trooper progression today and as expected, it was quite enjoyable. It starts off with you as some basic, low armored guy with no helmet. You’ve got a gun, you’re shooting shit, but that’s about it.

However, as you start to evolve, you see that there are a lot of other skills that pop up. I’m not going to lie, when your guy cocks the gun like a shot gun and shoots a grenade at the guy, sending him off the cliff, I got really excited. I’ve always planned on playing the Jedi, but that made me want to be a trooper. My wife is going to kill me…I’m never going to stop playing.

As we progress, we see the split between the Commando and the Vanguard which are the two sub-classes within the Trooper class. We knew that this was going to happen, but it’s nice to see the character progression none the less.

There were two things that I liked:

• The commando who, when his teammate got shot, was able to heal. So, he’s a tank who can also heal. That gets brownie points to me.
• The vanguard who, when his Jedi comrade is getting electrocuted, runs up and shanks the Sith and then shoots her while she’s on the ground.

It’s so important in the game to demonstrate that all the classes can beat all the classes and this is a great example. The Trooper slashed her across the throat and then went to town shooting her. That was incredible.

Now I want to play a Trooper. Damn you, BioWare! I don’t have enough time to role as all the classes!

Check out the video below:

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!

That’s what this weeks Friday release showed us. It showed us what goes into making one of these ships and just how much detail has to go into it. In the studio insider, BioWare went into a tremendous amount of detail showing exactly what goes into making the ship. It’s not so simple as just making the graphic and hoping it works out. BioWare wants an amazing experience for us and that’s what they’re making.

I think what I liked so much was how they were able to narrow down exactly what the ship was going to look like. It takes a really creative individual to create all of those different concepts and then to narrow it down to just one really can be tricky. However, they go from all of those concepts and then narrow it down to just one.

Once that is done, detail goes into all of the outside of the ship. Every little detail is covered; nothing is not important. I think that’s why the ships look so nice. They pay attention to detail.

The same can be said about the interior. They make sure that they make the interior look perfect. However, what was interesting was their discussion of making it work for the camera.

“With a much smaller interior space than seen in the rest of the game, it was important that the doors were wide enough for players to enter and that the ceilings were just high enough to avoid problems with the camera,” it said in the article. It’d be pretty funny if we got stuck trying to get out of the ship.

All in all, the ships look like they are going to come out nicely. Obviously the graphics will be a lot nicer when we are just walking around our ship than when in space combat, but that’s besides the point. What does matter is that I finally get my own space ship! Any comments?

There are three people showed. The first is Supreme Chancellor Janarus. You have to give credit to a guy who can handle all of the stress of this war on his shoulders and not cave in. I think that dealing with him in the game is going to prove very interesting. He seems like a guy who just wants to see the Republic survive and that’s going to be fun.

The second is Darth Jadus. He’s all into intelligence and is on the Dark Council. While you might not deal with him much if you’re a Sith, the second you strap on your sniper rifle and play as an Imperial Agent, chances are, you’ll run into him. That face mask thing he is wearing is pretty interesting.

The third is Jewl’a Nightbringer. It’s an interesting name–Nightbringer–because it presents the point that she is going to bring night (death) to you. She first popped up in the first gameplay video because she had won the Great Hunt. She’s an interesting character and the information provided is fun.

There are a lot of other characters in the Universe and I’m sure we’re going to see many more. Do you have a favorite? Anyone you might model your character after? Leave a comment!

P.S. I apologize for the hiatus. I finished up college (I am now a college graduated shmo). And now it’s 2011 and this is the year of TOR. So, let’s get to it.

The stories of Exar Kun’s fall to the dark side and his campaign of destruction against the Republic have been told as warnings to Jedi Padawans for generations. After witnessing the return of the Sith Empire, Master Gnost-Dural has realized a new relevance to Exar Kun’s role in history.

There are two interesting things from this. First is the fact that Exar Kun is accepted by the Sith Lords of the past over the Sith Emperor. However, I question this. I wonder if the Sith Lords understood that the Sith Emperor wasn’t ready and therefore, they supported Exar Kun to weaken the Republic. He came, waged his war and then thirty five years later, we’ve got Revan doing his war. Perhaps the Sith Lords understood the need to weaken the Republic to win and therefore, they told Exar Kun they supported him when in reality, they didn’t. Maybe it’s crazy speculative.

The other thing is how important Yavin IV was in this video. Could that be a hint toward a future planet release? I think so. Since BioWare keeps releasing new planets, I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t release Yavin IV. It would be a place for Sith to go and feel the power of Exar Kun. However, they’ll have to do it carefully so they don’t mess with canon.

What did you think of this video? Was it appropriate? Did you like the way Exar Kun was portrayed? Think my speculation is bizarre? Leave a comment!