Unfortunately, I don’t have a definite answer for you because the game is not out. However, I went digging and I think I might have come across a little information that might make it “likely” that The Old Republic will have space travel. It’s not a definite and BioWare could pull back at the last minute saying, “it just doesn’t work.” But, I think there is some evidence to suggest that space travel is very likely.

The first bit of information, albeit the lesser of the two, was found in an interview Dan Erickson – lead writer of TOR – said to Edge Online. In it, he specifically said, “We are building many many worlds and you can travel between them, but what happens then we’re not talking about.” He goes on to say, when he was pushed on space travel, that “we’re not talking about anything to do with space today.” I can handle that. I dig it. No need to reveal information too early.

But, that had me wondering…There has to be a way to get from planet A to planet B. More importantly, there needs to be some sort of combat in space. It’s Star Wars for Pete’s sake. It’s not Planet Wars. We take to space, baby!

The second bit of evidence I happened across was a little peaking around in the Holonet. When you look at the entry on the Jedi Knight, you see a page that is full of information. But, what is most important to see is that the holonet has a background designed for it. Now, with that in mind, consider this next link. It leads to a blank page, but has the holonet background. The keyword in URL is space. Check it out here. Please pay careful attention to the background and what it looks like.

The argument that was presented to me when I first found this was: “So what?” Well, I decided to do a little looking around. With the look of the holonet background in mind, visit this page with the keyword in the URL being shirt. Check it out here. That takes you to an error page that was created in case someone makes a mistake in the URL and there is nothing there. It’s a redirect. Compare it to TOR Universe’s “this doesn’t exist page.”

In other words, this might be some sort of a suggestion that they plan on adding space travel to the game. They created a folder specifically for it because if they hadn’t, typing in space after the holonet section of the URL would simply lead to the error page. Therefore, it is my honest belief – with what Dan Erickson said and this information about the URLs – that there will be space travel in Star Wars: The Old Republic. I am confident of this.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about space travel, think it’ll be probably and most importantly, what aspects of it you’re most interested in.

Because of that, I wanted to go over each of the acts of the BioWare/Dark Horse web comic Threat of Peace. Each act goes into detail about one specific section of what’s going on during the very tentative peace between the Sith Empire and the Republic. Act one, in particular, goes into detail about the Treaty of Coruscant and how the Sith were able to deceive the Republic into doing what they wanted. The description specifically explains it as:

The Sith Empire has scored a series of solid military victories over the Republic, winning control of several critical star systems and seriously damaging the Republic’s logistical supply lines. Overwhelmed but stoic, the Jedi and the Republic Military have succeeded in defending the Core Worlds and have slowed the Empire’s steady advances. In a surprising turn of events, the Empire has now extended an offer of peace to the Galactic Senate. Wary but desperate, the Republic has agreed to engage in ceasefire talks. A large delegation of prominent Senate and the best and brightest of the Jedi are traveling to the planet Alderaan, where they expect to hunker down for lengthy negotiations on the terms of a treaty with a representative from the Sith Dark Council.

However, let’s break it down by issue so that we can really grasp the incredible story that is going on here. I’ve been a fan of Dark Horse’s work with comics for many years now and BioWare is obviously known for their story telling. Put the two together and what you’re going to find is that there is an incredible story. So, here we go.

Issues #1

In the opening issue, we are presented with a little information about what’s been going on over the past few decades. The Galactic Republic are at war with each other obviously. While the Sith are seizing planets on the outer rim, they are unable to push back the Republic closer to the core. For some reason, though, the Sith Empire has proposed a peace treaty of sorts. An Imperial delegation and Republic officials are meeting on Alderaan to discuss peace.

We run into Satele and her master. Satele, interestingly enough, is a descendant of Bastilla Shan from Knights of the Old Republic. Her ability to sense a problem is almost immediately realized. While this meeting is going on, a Lord Angral is leading a Sith fleet straight toward Coruscant. It runs into a Coruscant Security ship and immediately opens fire. Bam, destruction.  Finally, we are introduced to our characters Lieutenant Tavus and Jedi Master Orgus. They witness the initial invasion of Coruscant.

Issue #2

We are immediately introduced to characters Lieutenant Tavus and Jedi Master Orgus. At the time, they are meeting with the Senate, but as they leave, the unexpected happens. They witness the initial invasion of Coruscant. There are dozens of landing ships, all probably carrying Imperial troopers and chances are, Sith as well. The issue opened with Angral giving an order to his soldiers to move forward and “channel your fury, destroy our enemies.” It’s a little odd for him to be preaching this to average soldiers, but the Sith are the Sith. Orgus and Angral clash lightsabers which should turn out to be a rather epic battle.

Issue #3

What we witness in this issue is some good old fashioned comic book lightsaber fighting. They fight, they duck, they slash and in the end, the Jedi loses. While this is going on, the soldiers are probably trying to hold back the onslaught of the Imperial troopers. At the end of the issue, it appears as if Orgus is going to get an early death. Even Angral says “You’ll have the honor of being the first Jedi to die today…” Not likely. Thanks to some luck, Orgus is able to get away because of a ship that crashes. Rather than stay and fight, the Jedi realizes that he has been bested and quickly retreats. Instead of pursuing, Angral allows him to escape to focus on more pressing matters such as killing a Senator.

On Alderaan, the Sith and the Republic are still meeting when a Senator gets a message to the Republic delegation that it was a trick and that they had been betrayed. The information gets off right before Angral kills him. The issue ends with Satele matching lightsabers with one of the Sith lorders there, a Lord Baras.

Issues #4

Some very hard negotiating appears in issue three. What we realize is that the Sith took Coruscant hostage as a method of forcing the Jedi to make a deal that they liked rather than what both parties liked. Despite the fact Satele wants to fight, she is forced to stand down because there is little she can do. Sure, she can kill Baras, but what does that do for Coruscant?

Now that we are back on Coruscant, we, along with Orgus and Tavus, witness the destruction of the Jedi Temple. For whatever reason, this is what gives a Sith purpose: destroying the temple. We move on to experience an order by Master Zym to have Satele apologize to Lord Baras for being so hasty. While her master disagrees, in the end, an order is an order. We witness the true wisdom of Master Zym in ensuring that Master Dar’Nala (Satele’s master) doesn’t get too attached.

Issue #5

This issue is a nice break from the first few issues because it opens with a Wookie and another bounty hunter. We’re now on Dantooine. We’ve got two soldiers and Dalborra, an incredibly well known Wookie bounty hunter. He takes out the two soldiers easily, but is being spied on by another bounty hunter named Braden. He was, at first, ordered to take Dalborra out because he was working for the Sith, but when the Treaty is signed, the contract is closed. Being a rebel, though, Braden decides he wants to try it anyway. Using a concussive ordnance, they blow the area up, knocking him out and Dalborra walks right into him. An easy catch for our Wookie friend.

Issue #6

With the opening of the sixth issue, we are back on Coruscant. This time, Orgus is trying to find out where his Lieutenant friend ran off to when out of nowhere, two walkers appear. For whatever reason, this issue irks me. Orgus gets his ass handed to him in issue three and now here, Orgus says “I can’t hold ‘em for long! Get back!” I don’t know, but this just sounds like he is a bit of a panzy. Maybe I am just looking too deep into it. To the rescue comes Tavus who demonstrates how ferocious a Republic trooper is going to be in the game. His rifle destroys both walkers like they were nothing. After destroying the walkers, they move to the surface and see that the temple has been completely razed. The Jedi Order on Coruscant is no more.

Issue #7

Like issue number five, this one breaks from the Coruscant antics and takes us to Korriban. We are led to believe that the Jedi signed the unfair Treaty of Coruscant because Baras is now back on Korriban. Here, he is given some great credit for what he did on Alderaan from the Dark Council. They want to bestow more power to him, but he declines. Interesting for a Sith to turn down more power.

The best part of the Sith. A fight between two Sith. We can see that Angral is a Sith Warrior, very prone to immense attack and easy to spook. Baras, on the other hand, seems to be a Inquisitor. More about the “way that was meant to be” and less about the fight. In the end, though, the two duke it out, someone gets electrocuted and they concede. Angral makes it clear he has no intentions of never holding back when he has the Jedi in his grasp. Baras replies, “Never again will that be necessary. I assure you.”

We close this issue back on Dantooine where Dalborra is handing over the Republic bounty hunter to some Sith soldiers. However, when the Sith try to take Braden away, Dalborra freaks out and says that he is HIS prisoner. Okay…So, he gets to go to Korriban as well. Lucky him.

Issue #8

What we can begin to realize is that Master Dar’Nala is a bit angry. She hates the fact that Zym is sending them to the outer world to try and help ferry away soldiers. She’d rather be fighting the Sith, a sign that she has a bit of the Dark Side in her all along. She nearly destroys a protocol droid who is there to – for lack of a better word – spy on them to ensure they is “compliance with the treaty.” Dar’Nala obviously isn’t pleased with this and I can guarantee, she’d have destroyed him had he not explained his purpose.

The issue closes on Nar Shaddaa in the Star Cluster Casino (a place I hope to visit in the game). Business comes first in this place and if things are done that hurt the business, people die. Naatu, someone who works for an organization it seems, has been funneling information to the Republic. He is killed for that by Nok, obviously in charge of this motley bunch. And who walks in but Lord Angral who has an “offer which I’ve decided is too good to pass up,” according to Nok.

Issue #9

And finally, the last issue in the Treaty of Coruscant issue of Threat of Peace. This opens with Braden on an Imperial ship en route to Korriban. They are “attacked” by a Republic shit; however, that much is obviously not true. I come to this conclusion because they say “prepare a boarding party for immediate deployment. We need at least one of them alive.” They want a Jedi and they attacked because they knew they could get away with it. Satele runs into some of that boarding party and much to the protocol droid’s dismay (his name is Espee 99), she kills the commandos.

The issue closes with Dar’Nala trying to take down the captain of the Sith ship, but she is detained. She tells Satele to tell the Council that they have been betrayed once again. Fortunately, they get to an escape pod (Satele and Espee 99) and they get off. But, thanks to 99’s great math skills, we learn thee odds of being found: Approximately five hundred thousand years to be found. Lots of patience for Satele.

Conclusion

The truth is, this provides a lot of opportunity for players to understand what the heck went wrong. Because we are going to be starting the game in a cold war period after the Treaty of Coruscant, understanding how it all went down can give a better grasp of how to react to situations. The Sith are not to be trusted obviously. They’ll attack no matter what. The Jedi, on the other hand, are not all pure as we can see in Dar’Nala. She has a bit of a dark streak in her. And what about that deal on Nar Shaddaa. There is a lot of information that is obviously being revealed as time goes on. My next update will be on the second issue of Threat of Peace.

When it came to the development of the Sith Inquisitor, Rebecca had this to say:

I could tell you that the Sith Inquisitor is the Emperor Palpatine to the Sith Warrior’s Darth Vader, but that sells it short. The archetype is just inspiration. It’s not the destination, or the road we take to get there, but the guide. The Sith Inquisitor is Raistlin. The Sith Inquisitor is Lucifer. The Sith Inquisitor is Julius Caesar. The Sith Inquisitor is what you make him.

With the hopes of creating a class that was truly unique, but also very “inquisitor” like, they took bits and pieces from all the well known characters: Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Maul, Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress. In other words, they took everything they could from the movies and the cartoon that was released to try and develop a truly amazing Sith Inquisitor.

What Rebecca discusses is that, while gear can help make a character a lot, that isn’t what BioWare and LucasArts are all about when it comes to developing really interesting and in depth characters. In her own words:

Whereas the Sith Warrior class is all about the martial side of the Sith, the Inquisitor is about the darkest of dark side secrets; everything that’s weird and unsettling and dangerous about the Force. The Inquisitor is about power not (solely) through brute force and intimidation, but through manipulation, corruption, and knowledge.

And where that other Sith class starts in a position of privilege, born to lead and prepared from childhood for training at the Academy on Korriban, the Sith Inquisitor begins the game as a slave, plucked from obscurity and toil in a highly stratified, unforgiving Empire because of his Force-sensitivity and sent to become a Sith or die.

In other words, the character has to rise up and truly break their chains. The Sith Inquisitor is the one that, unlike any other Sith, truly breaks their chains when they have accepted the dark side of the Force entirely. Only through power…

While Rebecca does offer some incredible potential paths that the player can take, it is reiterated that the path that a player takes is entirely up to them. They can do whatever they want, damage the Empire however they want (if they choose) and kill whoever gets in their way if they need it. By rising up from a slave to a Sith Inquisitor, they truly achieve their freedom. As she says herself…You’ve won your freedom. Now what are you going to do?

Is the Sith Inquisitor the class for you or does this do little for you?

28 BTC:  The Sith Onslaught

28 years BTC (Before the Treaty of Coruscant),  The Sith Empire, who had been driven into exile centuries before, suddenly went on the offensive targeting the Republic colonies on the Outer Rim.  Without warning and without a chance, the Outer Rim colonies rapidly fell to the ruthless Sith attack.  In addition to the annihilation and capture of a great number of Out Rim colonies, the Sith also managed to secure their home planet of Korriban from the Republic.

The utter shock and disarray that took the Republic and their allies made the Sith’s conquest quick and efficient.  In the words of Master Gnost-Duran, “The attack of the Sith Empire was the most well orchestrated and carefully coordinated military maneuver in the galaxy’s history.”  It is assumed that much of the Sith’s time in exile was spent planning out this fateful day.  The Sith Onslaught served as the violent catalyst that plunged the galaxy into a state of war leading to the brutal stalemate that left the galaxy divided in half, the Treaty of Coruscant.

18 BTC:  The Battle of Bothawui

Ten years after the Sith Onslaught,  the Sith had managed to capture most of the Outer Rim and were shifting their focuses to the Mid Rim planets.  A small Sith invasion force traveled to Bothawui attempting to capture it.  However, the Republic foresaw the Sith’s strategy and had the entire Republic fleet ready to defend the Bonthan home world.  The Republic ships made short work out of the Sith invasion force making the first Battle of Bothawui the first major victory for the Republic.  The fleet left the planet, however a small Republic force led by Jedi Master Allusis remained behind in anticipation of the Sith’s retalitation.

The Sith did indeed retaliate, and they bought with them an enormous fleet.  The planetary shield surrounding Bothawui made it impossible for the Sith Fleet to land.  This made a ground assault the only possible means of attack.  Master Allusis and his men had come to terms with their odds of survival and held the line with resolve and successfully managed to drive the overconfident Sith back.  For every Republic Soldier killed, ten Sith fell.  Eventually, only Allusis and a small force remained.  Grand Moff Zellos offered them survival if they surrendered.  The Republic Soldiers denied his request and were struck down, but not before driving the Sith from Bothawui making the second Battle of Bothawui a draw.

14 BTC:  The Empire Changes Strategy

Another branch of the Sith Emperor’s plan was to reunite the creed of deadly warriors known as the Mandalorians.

To do this, the Empire employed the subterfuge tactics of their Imperial Agents to infiltrate and manipulate the results of Gladiator battles taking place across the galaxy.  The Empire singled out a young warrior on Geonosis who was competing in the Gladiator battles.  The Imperial Agents became the young warrior’s manager in the battles and used his convenient position to infiltrate the quarters of the young warrior’s opponents and drug them.  Because of the Imperial Agent’s manipulation, the young warrior was undefeated in the arena.  Soon, the crowds began cheering the word “Mandalore!  Mandalore!  Mandalore! (referring to the name given to the leader of the Mandalorians, considered to be the greatest warrior in the galaxy)”

It wasn’t before long that young warrior took on the title of Mandalore, with the Empire and his Imperial Agents serving as his invisible superiors.  With the control of the Mandalorians, the Empire was able to institute the Mandalorian Blockade, which served as a major blow to the Republic.

8 BTC:  The Return of the Mandalorians

The young Gladiator from Geonosis took up the title of Mandalore with the help of the subtle, yet affective, Imperial Agents working in the shadows.  The title Mandalore was one that was left vacant for centuries before, as it signified the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and the leader of the powerful Mandalorians.  The Mandalorians were scattered about the galaxy, most of them working as bounty hunters and mercenaries.  However with the new Mandalore in place, the Mandalorians were reunited under their powerful leader.

Meanwhile, in the conflict with the Empire and the Republic, the battle found itself at a standstill right outside of the Mid-Rim, with the Republic successfully holding the ground.  This soon changed as Mandalore reunited the Mandalorian people and set up a blockade along a crucial Republic trade route.  With their supplies running dry, the Jedi amassed a force to attempt to destroy the Mandalorian blockade.  The Jedi fleet was destroyed without mercy and they were unsuccessful in disrupting the blockade.  The blockade was eventually destroyed by a savvy Smuggler and her fleet.

7 BTC:  The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken

With the Mandalorian Blockade bleeding the Republic dry, the Republic deemed that they would take any measure to obtain the essential raw goods that they were being blocked from.  It is at this point that a Savvy smuggler named Hylo Visz came up with a plan to make her and her colleagues a tremendous amount of wealth.  The bottom line, break the Mandalorian blockade and be heroes of the Republic.

Visz loaded a fleet of massive freighters with all of the raw goods the Outer Rim could offer and had them wait a parsec away from the Mandalorian Blockade.  With the Mandalorians distracted by the freighters, Hylo Visz and her smugglers burst out of hyperspace and open fired on the blockade.  When the Republic got wind of the attack on the blockade, they amassed all of their available resources and aided Visz in her attack on the Blockade.  The Blockade was successfully broken, and Visz’s freighters landed on Coruscant full of raw goods.  She and her colleagues left Coruscant with vast amounts of wealth.  The following day, an elaborate celebration was planned in Hylo Visz’s honor, where she did not show up.

It is rumored that she was killed the following year for going against the Hutts.

0 ATC:  The Treaty of Coruscant

With the unexpected destruction of the Mandalorian Blockade, the Emperor became impatient with his armada’s acquisition of  territories.  Because of this, he sent a group of Imperial Ambassadors to Alderaan to offer the Republic a very one sided peace agreement.  Due to the horrible casualties and circumstances that the Republic had sustained, they had no choice but to sign the peace agreement.

However it did not end there.  While the Imperial Ambassadors were in negotiations on Alderaan, the Sith Empire attacked Coruscant and sacked the Jedi Temple and left the city in ruins.  Upon their return to the Temple, the Jedi found their home ransacked and destroyed.  Coincidentally, they were also blamed for the sacking of Coruscant by many of the diplomats.  The Jedi returned to their home planet of Tython to regroup and meditate, hoping to receive some guidance from the force.

Got something to say about Bioware’s timeline series?  Let us know, drop us a comment below! Also consider following us on Twitter to stay up to date on what we’re doing here at TOR Universe.

While we have announced our target launch window, we also realize there is a lot of information to release between now and then. We met with the development team soon after returning from the holiday break and discussed some of the information we want to release. In going over that, we decided to wait on a few things to ensure we are giving the community the most accurate information possible. We understand that pretty much everyone would love to have all the information about The Old Republic now but we wouldn’t be serving the community properly if we told you all about a particular feature or mechanic only for it to be completely different than the way we explained it when The Old Republic releases.

It was a let down for a lot of people, but it makes sense. With BioWare giving some information on the release date of TOR, there really was no other way for them to do it. But, it does let me believe that they might have wanted to release it this year, but the higher ups said to them to hold off until the next year. Yay for even higher quality, but it means that they have to reevaluate their information releasing. I can wait, though, and I imagine that most people will suck it up and wait. We all know that BioWare releases only the best. Just look at Mass Effect 2.

Now…Onto the comic. I hadn’t read the comic in a long while, so I got completely up to date and this story only gets better. We’ve got an example of a Jedi who has just about fallen to the Dark Side out of fear of the Sith defeating the Republic. This was exactly what Yoda was talking about when he was talking to Luke. He sensed fear in Luke and the man nearly turned to the Dark Side.

The one thing that really stands out for me is the fact that the Sith were once again able to orchestrate something as diabolical as this. They were able to make it appear as if this battle was necessary. Instead, what they were doing was trying to convince these Jedi to convert to the Dark Side. What better way to defeat the Jedi?

Anyway…BioWare’s news today was the release of this comic. Whether you are disappointed in the fact that it is such a small release or love story (like I do), enjoy the comic. And who knows? Maybe one day you’ll get to hold it in hard copy…

Fortunately, information has been popping up as development of the game has progressed that answers a few questions. The first main question is: what the heck is the Sith Empire and, more importantly, how does it gain so much power? The second question is: What about Revan? And finally, how does this all tie in together? So, we’ll start with the first question.

The Sith Empire and War on the Republic

As most people probably know, the Mandalorians invaded the Republic in 3,965 BBY. While there had been skirmishes before hand, they finally made their big invasion during this year. What was not known so much was why the Mandalorians decided to invade so soon after the whole Exar Kun era. The answer to that came from a mysterious Sith faction. In Knights of the Old Republic, Canderous Ordo said, “The Sith came to us with an offer: to fight a worthy enemy in a battle that would be remembered forever.” By playing on the emotions of the Mandalorians,the Emperor of the Sith was able to persuade the Neo-Crusaders to invade. And so they did.

However, what the Emperor didn’t realize was that they would fail miserably once Revan got involved. Revan was a fantastic General as most know; however, he was a bit of a maverick. He was more interested in learning as much about the force as possible and less about being a Jedi. This was the perfect opportunity for the Sith Emperor to gain his next asset. However, I will touch more on that when I get to the Revan section.

Through continuous manipulation, the Sith Empire was able to set the stages for an invasion. However, the big question that continues to pop up is: if the Sith Empire was so great, why did they not invade immediately? I’ll explain that in the next section.

Revan: Evil and Good

For the most part, people want to believe that Revan was this awesome character, strong and uncorrupted. Yeah, he was strong and yeah, he was awesome. But, that didn’t mean he was uncorrupted. Enter Revan or Darth Revan. When Revan and Malak joined the war against the Mandalorians, they fought valiantly. However, extensive war can have negative effects on anyone. Soon, they began to harness more dark side powers and used them. It was only through this that Revan was able to use a weapon as destructive as the Mass Shadow Generator.

With the war over now, Revan, Malak and the rest of his fleet went into the unknown regions because they had learned about there being a “true Sith” empire. There, Revan and Malak ran into the Emperor. Here is where things become dicey. Most people want to believe that Revan came back on his own free will to invade the galaxy. However, that’s not the case. They met with the Emperor of the Sith and he was able to convince Revan to become the vanguard for his big invasion. Revan and Malak agree, probably being bested by the Sith Emperor.

So, Revan and Malak invade. However, what we do know is that Sith are messed up and therefore, Revan and Malak see an opportunity to have the Republic to themselves. Why do all the work and then give it to the Sith? Now, this is where a lot of speculation begins to appear. Why, if Revan was acting as the vanguard for the Sith Empire, did he not destroy military planets?

The answer to that, I think, is in the nature of the Sith. Without the Emperor breathing over their shoulders, suddenly, Revan and Malak believed that they would be better at ruling the galaxy rather than the Emperor. But, they understood that the Sith Emperor was going to invade sooner or later, so they felt that if they took control of the galaxy and kept the military infrastructure of the Republic in order, they’d be able to hold off the invasion of the Sith Empire. In the end, though, they royally messed up and Malak tried to take over.

After Revan beats Malak, he goes off into the Unknown Regions to try and defeat the Sith Empire. Obviously since BioWare is releasing this game, Revan failed. However, it poses a question that I often wonder. In the Deceived film, the Sith that kills the Jedi says something about waiting three hundred years. Why would they have to wait three hundred years to invade after the Republic was tired from fighting the war with Exar Kun, then the war twenty years later with the Mandalorians and then finally, the war with Revan and Malak? This leads me to believe that when Revan went into the Unknown Regions after the Empire, he actually did a considerable amount of damage. His actual fate, though, I can’t predict. However, I imagine we will know at some point.

The Emperor

The final big argument that has popped up is who the Emperor can be. For whatever reason, people feel that it is Naga Sadow because the Emperor is known as a “Sith who escaped the Hyperspace War into the Unknown Regions.” Naga Sadow is known for escaping to Yavin 4, but was then destroyed there. So, I want to stamp out that little rumor about who the Emperor might be. It cannot be Naga Sadow and it definitely won’t be. Why would BioWare want to use an already well structured Sith when, in reality, they could just create their own.

Then I have heard rumors that it could be Darth Andeddu. This one seems more likely because Andeddu learned how to live for much longer by passing his spirit onto another body. However, this doesn’t fit because there is no evidence to suggest that Andeddu was around during the Hyperspace War. Therefore, I don’t think it is possible that Andeddu is the Sith Emperor. However, Drew Karpyshyn – one of the writers for The Old Republic – mentioned Andeddu in his latest Darth Bane novel. That could be a little hint.

In the end, though, I really feel that we have no idea who this Sith Emperor is. Chances are, he was a subordinate in the Hyperspace War who escaped and had grown in power and influence since then. BioWare will release their idea for the Emperor when they are comfortable and we will definitely mention it. However, for now, there’s a solid chance that the Emperor is no one we know.

Conclusion

The truth is, the Sith Empire is responsible for a lot of the manipulation that happened in the galaxy leading up to their invasion. They slowed the Republic down and made them weak by persuading the Mandalorians and Revan/Malak to invade. However, for whatever reason, the Emperor didn’t feel it was time to attack. If that was because of Revan, we won’t know until BioWare releases more information. For now, though, we can rest easy knowing these are facts. I got all my facts from a nice video on GameInformer.com. Check it out.

What do you think, though? Leave a comment and let me know any theories that you have about what the heck was going on while the Emperor was growing his power.

By materializing out of nowhere, the Sith were able to attack planets with such ferocity that the Empire was able to overwhelm entire systems with nearly no opposition. However, they wanted to show the complete fire power of their fleet. So, they waited for a Republic diplomatic team to come. Right after images were relayed showing the sheer size of the fleet, they were destroyed.

Planet after planet fell. Soon, planets that were once allies to the Republic became allies to the Sith. More planets fell. Korriban fell which became one of the staging grounds for the launch of the game.

When the Jedi and the Senate met to try and work together on finding some way of working together, it devolved into politics. Each planet was unwilling to give soldiers to the general effort out of fear that their planet would be left defenseless. So, it became a sense of “every planet for itself.” This was exactly what the Sith Emperor had wanted. By having the Republic fraction apart, he’d be able to sweep in and do some considerable damage.

Fortunately, the Jedi came along and slowed the Empire down. Because individual Masters were able to rally forces, they were able to fight decisive battles that would weaken the Empire and ensure that they couldn’t push forward unopposed. However, what the attack also showed was that they had been planning for hundreds of years. I’ll elaborate on this point in my next post…

To see the Timeline update, check out SWTOR’s site. They have the Timeline series.

History of Tython

In 36,453 BBY, scientists, philosophers, warriors and others came together to discuss what they had found out about the mystical Ashla. Ashla was and still is the force as seen through a Jedi’s eyes. It was here that they developed their ideas and really worked on what sorts of things one could do with this power. Around 25,793 BBY, those who subscribed to a different version of Ashla, known as Bogan, began to pop up. This resulted in serious issues because both groups were developing, but there was really only room for one.

Soon, there was a war. This was a war between those that believed in Ashla and those that believed in Bogan. The Ashla were successful in defeating the Bogan and, from this came the appearance of the Jedi Order. The first Jedi appeared after this with the belief of protecting the galaxy. At first, they believed that only Tython had force sensitive individuals, but soon enough, they realized that was not the case. So, warriors went off to liberate planets and they became known as the Jedi Knights.

While the Jedi left Tython to form more important temples on other planets such as Ossus. However, after the destruction of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, it became necessary for them to disappear and rebuild their ranks. Their way of doing that was to go back to Tython, the original place, in the deep core, where they had first learned about the force.

Tython in the Old Republic

When looking at Tython, I see the perfect place for the Jedi classes in SWTOR to develop. It is a beautiful planet (see holonet for images) and is something that the Jedi would like. When I think about Sith, I think dry and hot. But, when I think about Jedi, I see warm and very luscious. That’s what I gather when I look at Tython. In one hand, I see it being one of those mainly Jedi planets and not having much other interaction there but with other Jedi.

However, then I look at images (such as this one) and I get the feeling that, while it is going to be heavily focused on the Jedi of the game because they are the ones that would use the planet the most, we can expect to see Sith there. They might be there for the same reason the Jedi are there: all force users can trace their roots back to Tython. Therefore, there might be information there would be beneficial to the Sith and their quest for power.

Tython is going to be that planet that is very much a “learn the ropes of the game” type of scenario to it. However, I don’t think that means it’ll be easy. I can see BioWare creating a few beginner missions that try the player, but still give them the advantage because they are learning. Once they get past those first few quest missions, though, expect to see the missions suddenly get harder. They are going to have to create the game to increase in difficulty or there won’t be a reason for us to feel as if we’re “epic and amazing.”

While Tython was released a long time ago, here is a little video on how the developers went about developing the game. It might provide a little more insight on how Tython is going to fit into the whole realm of things. It might be very useful information. What do you think about Tython, though? Leave a comment and let us know.

So without further a due, let’s get started.

Here is a screen grab that I pulled from Bioware’s third video documentary on TOR.

As you can see, I have narrowed the H.U.D into ten distinct elements, all highlighted and numbered left to right.  As far as appearance, this H.U.D looks very similar to the one from World of Warcraft, in that it seems to contain many similar elements.

Let’s get started!

Element 1:  The Chat Box

In the top left corner of the screen resides this box, which should look fairly familiar to any seasoned MMO player.  By the looks of it, this is your standard chat box.  As of now, all that is residing in this chat box is quest data, however in most MMORPGs, the chat box is your conduit to the rest of the world.  For those players who are interested in exactly what is happening in the game, the chat box frequently comes with a function that will display all combat data, which includes damage dealt, damage received, and critical strike damage.

In addition to information, the chat box is also where one would input commands and “emotes.”  As you can see at the top of the box is the command “/quest. removeall.” By preceding certain words with a slash, the game will react in different ways.  A popular example of this demonstrated in the ability to make your character dance by typing in the command “/dance” in the chat bar.

Element 2:  The Party

Throughout many parts of any MMORPG, it is necessary to “party up” with other players in order to overcome a challenging quest.  Element 2 represents the party bar, where the members of your party are listed.  The party bar also displays some important information that is necessary to keeping track of your party’s well being.

As of now, it appears as if the party bar will include:

• The portrait of the party member
• His/her health bar (the red bar represents the player’s health)
• His/her action bar (the blue bar likely represents the capacity to perform special moves.  Different classes may have different action bars)
• His/her level
• It will most likely include any buffs or debuffs affecting the player

The party bar also works well to provide you with a quick access point for all the information about your party members.  Though it doesn’t spell out every bit of data, it gives you easy access to click on their portrait.  By clicking on their portrait, you will make them your “target” per say, and all of their data will show up in the Target Status Bar (Element 7, listed below).

Element 3:  The Target Ring

This element is very simple, if you see a red ring around the feet of of a player or NPC, you are targeting them and they are your enemy.  Often times it is good to determine your target before entering into combat.  That way you can prioritize who needs to drop first.

Whoever you are targeting will appear in the Target Status Bar (Element 7, listed below)

Now the ring will not necessarily always be red.  In this instance, because the Sith Warrior is in combat and targeting a Republic soldier, the red means enemy.  There could also be a blue (or different colored) ring around the feet of your target, which will likely signify that he/she is friendly.

Element 4:  Player Status Bar

This element shows detailed information about you, the player (or in this case, the Sith Warrior cleverly named DARTHEVIL).  During a combat situation, it is important to be continually glancing at your status to check up on your health and action points.

As of now, the known elements included in the Player Action Bar are:

• The Player’s portrait
• The Player’s health bar (represented by the red bar)
• The Player’s action bar (the yellow bar likely represents the player’s ability to perform special moves.  Different classes may have different action bars)
• The Player’s name and level (Also the [Sith] may represent clan tag)
• It is likely that it will also include any buffs or debuffs that are currently affecting the Player

Element 5:  The Experience Bar

The experience bar is another fairly self-explanatory element of the TOR H.U.D.  In essence, as you defeat enemies and complete quests, the blue bar will begin to fill with yellow from left to right.  Once the bar is completely full, the Player will advance a single level.

Traditionally in MMORPGs, quests are the most efficient and rewarding way of obtaining experience, each one giving a large boost to your experience bar.  The alternative to doing quests is defeating enemies.  When done in excess, this is referred to as “Grinding,” which, from personal experience, tends to get tedious and annoying after a little while.

My recommendation is to pick up a bunch of quests, and on the way to the quest, defeat every enemy in your path.  That way it streamlines the leveling process, which traditionally tends to get a bit tedious towards the final levels.

Element 6:  The “Spell Bar”

Here we have the “Spell Bar.”  In essence, each number is defined by the player and correlates to a number (or symbol) on the keyboard.  Inside each square lies a special attack or “Spell” that can be used, usually depleting some action points from the action bar.  In Combat, the player will rely on their “Spell Bar” to best their opponent by employing strategy in the execution of their attacks.

As you can see, the number three has a partial square drawn around it.  What this represents is a global cooldown.  A global cooldown is the default cooldown between attacks.  Because not all special moves have a pre-defined cooldown period before they can be used again, every move has to first go through a global cooldown before it can be used again.  In World of Warcraft, the global cooldown lasts about one and a half seconds.  This is put in place to prevent the spamming of attacks.

Also, on the “Spell Bar,” it will display the cooldown period necessary for each attack if previously used.  The cooldown period depends on the individual attack and can be anything from a couple of seconds to several hours.

More experienced players will utilize “hotkeys” which can be defined in the option menu.  “Hotkeys” streamline combat and make for more simple access of the harder to reach “Spells.”  Also, there may be the option to spawn more “Spell Bars” on the screen for further customization.

Element 7:  Target Status Bar

This element is very similar to the Player’s Status Bar and it contains much of the same information.  It appears that because the Sith Warrior is targeting a Republic Soldier NPC (Non-Playable Character), there is no portrait, however just the Republic insignia to show the Soldier’s allegiance.

This bar correlates directly to Element 3, the Target Ring.  Whatever player or NPC has the colored ring beneath them is the one that you are targeting, and their information will appear here.  Traditionally, you can target anyone, friend or foe, but you can only attack enemies.

As of now, the apparent elements listed in the Target Status Bar are:

• Target’s portrait (or allegiance)
• Target’s health bar (the red bar represents health)
• Target’s action bar (the blue bar likely represents the player’s ability to perform special moves.  Different classes may have different action bars)
• Target’s name and level (The [fodder] could refer to the Target’s class)
• It will likely include any buffs or debuffs affecting the Target
• The distance from the target

Element 8:  The Menu Bar

This little guy down here looks to be the Menu Bar.

Although it is difficult to make out all of the elements, my guess is that the Menu Bar will include:

• Quest Log
• “Spell Book”
• Options Menu
• Game Map
• Talent Trees (If this game uses them)
• Possibly Inventory

Though the Menu Bar doesn’t have much place in the heat of battle, it is incredibly necessary when trying to strategically build your plan of attack.  From the options menu, you can customize the hotkeys on your “Spell Bar,”  Also, from the “Spell Book,” you can drag and drop your special attacks into place on the bar.

Element 9:  The Mini Map

The Mini Map is the condensed version of the full map that shows only your immediate surroundings.  On the Mini Map, your character is displayed at the center, and any party members are displayed in their relative position.  The Mini Map can also include a number of other important bits of information such as quest locations, or positions of enemies.

It also appears like the function to zoom in and out on the map are available.

Element 10:  The Quest Tracker

The final element is where the game displays your current quest and the objectives required to complete it.  It is likely that you will be able to put more than just one quest on the bar, so that you can have an idea of your main focuses when out in the world questing.  In order to make a quest appear on the quest tracker, you must activate it from your quest log.

Conclusion

So there you have it, as of now those are all of the elements of the SWTOR H.U.D.  It is important to mention however, that although the provided H.U.D. looks to be very competent, the creation of user made interfaces is almost an inevitability.  And once the game is roughly six months in, it will be difficult to find someone using the provided interface.

Also, I found it odd that there is no visible “Inventory” aspect of the H.U.D, perhaps that has yet to be added, or the inventory will be handled in a more unconventional way.  Unfortunately there is no way of knowing until getting some hands on time, which I can’t wait to do as soon as possible!

What do you think about the new H.U.D?  Do you like it?  Could it use improvement?

Let us know, leave a comment.

History of Balmorra

Balmorra was settled during the infancy of the Republic. While it spoke Galactic Basic as its language, it was determined and headstrong about keeping its independence from the Republic. They did not want to become a part of it. However, they ensured that they continued to sell their weapons and battle droids to the Republic as well as other systems in the galaxy. They wanted to ally with the Republic, but not be a part of it.

Because of this, when the Sith Empire invaded the Republic, they targeted Balmorra. If they were able to take Balmorra, they’d be taking a heavy weapons manufacturing planet away from the Republic, they’d gain access to all the weapons being produced, and finally, they’d be much closer to the core worlds.

After tons of fighting, the Republic was forced to pull their forces off Balmorra which led the people of Balmorra to feel betrayed by the Republic. Even though there was a contingency of Republic forces underground helping the people fight against the Empire, they still felt that they were betrayed. As the treaty went on and the Republic recovered, they began to send soldiers back to Balmorra; however, while the people were receptive to it, they still felt and voiced their anger at being abandoned.

Balmorra in The Old Republic

Balmorra is going to be an incredibly interesting planet to be on when playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Looking at the Holonet and all of the pictures, one of the big things that we see is that the planet is heavily industrialized. There are laser turrets all over the place, probably with the intentions of defending the areas from attack. Since these factories produce incredibly advanced weapons, it would be bad for them to fall into someone’s hands.

I can imagine each class having a significant impact on Balmorra. For example, a Sith Warrior could come and try to “convince” a leader of one of the Balmorran cities to give in to the Empire’s demand. And by convince, I mean force choke the heck out of the person. Or, a Republic Trooper could be one of those that are returning to Balmorra to help them get their planet back from the Empire. Each class is bound to have an impact on Balmorra which adds to BioWare’s intention of creating a game that is epic to all players.

Balmorra might have the capability of becoming a strong PvP battlefield; however, looking at all the screen shots, I don’t see how it would work out with the terrain of the planet. In the end, though, I could be horribly wrong and it might be one of those contested planets that is going to be fought on both PvE and PvP.

What do you think, though? What sort of a role is Balmorra going to play in the overall story of the game? Is it one of those very pivotal planets or is one of the smaller, lesser needed planets that provides a little more Extended Universe for the Star Wars gamer that is addicted to the story? Leave a comment and let us know.