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.