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Balmorra in Star Wars: The Old Republic

The recent reveal of Balmorra has been an interesting addition to the list of planets in Star Wars: The Old Republic. With a history cultivated in the EU, many in the community guessed it would be a playable world in TOR. While there is more then enough lore for Star Wars fans to revel in, this article will focus on what game play features the addition of this planet may be supporting or hinting at.

balmorra


PVP

Throughout the holonet entry on Balmorra, there is constant reference to the fact that the planet has been a never ending battleground, where Republic and Sith forces have been clashing since the Treaty of Coruscant. The lore reasons being that the planet is of strategic military importance, both in location and production. However, there is a much more important hint buried in this entry: PVP.

Now, years after the treaty, a regrouped and rebuilt Republic is testing the limits of their fragile peace with the Empire, sending back the reinforcements they had pulled off the planet years before. - Holonet entry on Balmorra


The planetary description is littered with skirmishes lasting up to when The Old Republic takes place. Additionally, this is the first zone where both Sith and Republic forces seem to be equally referenced. Which, in turn, makes Balmorra the first promising location for all of those who have been waiting for signs of how the promised PVP might be implemented.

Beyond the actual entry in the holonet, there are situational clues strewn around the official website pointing at this planet being used by both factions. With all of the other locations being linked to only to one side or the other, this fact alone implies that BioWare is treating this planet a little differently then the rest we've seen.

balmorra


NPCs and Architecture


Colicoids


colicoids


One of the new pieces of concept art released with this Balmorra blitz mentioned "mutated Colicoids" located in "Bugtown". Closer to the time period of the movies, the Colicoids design and sell the droidekas first seen in The Phantom Menace, as well as joining the Sepratist Movement later in the timeline. These creatures have a destinctive defensive maneuver which invloves rolling themselves up into a ball.

What is not currently known is what effect being "mutated" will have on the Colicoids. They are considered to be an intellegent species with their own language and engineering abilities, but this could be drastically different from the Colicoids players will be encountering on Balmorra. Being 3000 years prior to the movies, as well as being mutated in some fashion, these could end up little more then feral insects

Balmorrian Soldiers


A small, underground Republic force was left on the planet to aid their Resistance, but the Balmorrans knew the truth of it; they had been abandoned. Even so, the Empire was still unable to take full control of Balmorra. - Holonet entry on Balmorra


In the intervening years, between the signing of the treaty and when The Old Republic takes place, Balmorra was able to maintain it's independence in the face of constant Sith assault with little, if any, help from the Republic. While it's uncertain whether this is from their biological forces or droid forces, the fact remains that the NPCs on this planet will be justifiably battle hardened by the time players get to first step foot on the planet

Planetary Defenses


Adding to the war-torn nature of Balmorra, nearly every screenshot and clip has a horizon full of large artillery pieces and other weapons of war. It's unknown how many of these will be static objects and how many will be moving and active, but they certainly do add a unique feeling to the planet. They could also being hints at possible objectives players may encounter through either PVE or PVP play.

ion cannons


One of the screenshots, in particular, show a couple of planetary defense ion cannons nestled in the landscape of Balmorra. These cannons were first seen in The Empire Strikes Back, defending the rebels fleeing Hoth from the Imperial blockade. Beyond being a nice nod to fans of the movies, these cannons certainly invoke a feeling that the battle being waged on Balmorra is much grander in scale then what we've seen in many previous MMOs.

Balmorra concept


Unfortunately we will have to wait and see exactly what is in store for gamers on this war-ravaged planet. Until BioWare says otherwise, everything covered in this article is simply spectulation and should be treated as such. Whether Balmorra ends up being PVP, PVE or both, it appears to be an interesting and important location for the story of The Old Republic.

Comments

  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #15 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/19/2009 5:24:04 PM
    They modeled the Destroyer Droids/Droideka after their own forms, still doesn't make them any prettier. The Droidekas definitely look better than their creators.
  • Zenkei's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #14 Zenkei Posted 10/17/2009 10:02:36 PM
    Interesting...
  • Savvak's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 16
    #13 Savvak Posted 10/17/2009 1:02:05 AM
    This planet looks awesome!
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #12 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 11:05:39 PM
    I don't see any ships in the screenshots. I see a few crashed shuttles(or something) in screenshot 3, but those look well past salvageable. Unless you mean the concept art, in which case we've seen those fighters in concept art since the game was announced. I remember noticing how they looked like tiny Star Destroyers, similar to the Delta-7's in AotC and a little RotS.
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #5 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 9:20:59 PM
    The aurubesh below the planet's name says "Manufacturing Planet". Just an FYI.

    I love that we'll have a full on battle planet. :)

    And like I noticed in a previous topic, have y'all noticed that BioWare hasn't announced planets for TOR that were in SWG? I'm starting to wonder if TOR will share any planets with that game, or if they're just getting the unique planets out of the way first?
  • XANE's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 53
    #9 XANE Posted 10/16/2009 10:52:30 PM
    Akk, I forgot KotOR 3! Obsidian says they still want to take a crack at making it, but who knows if the content intended for 3 will be in TOR or not. The locations that they had announced before the project got scrapped were:

    Coruscant
    Mandalore
    Rodia
    Taloraan

    Now we've heard the qoute:
    "…we’re really doing KOTOR 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12+. We have THAT much content, that many stories, and we really get to do a lot of the things that we wouldn’t have been able to do in KOTOR 3."

    So who knows if that content is going into TOR or not.
  • XANE's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 53
    #8 XANE Posted 10/16/2009 10:15:38 PM
    I never got too far into galaxies, I tried! But I just couldn't do it anymore once I found out that I couldn't dual weild sabers.
    I'm sure that the devs want to showcase some of the planets from KotOR I & II to show off the changes that have occured in the last 300 years (as a little treat to those of us who've walked theese maps before).
    Let's take look:
    _______________KOTOR__KOTOR2_SWG____TOR
    Taris___________Y_______N_______N_______?
    Dantooine______Y_______Y_______Y_______?
    Tatooine________Y_______N_______Y_______?
    Kashyyyk_______Y_______N_______Y_______?
    Manaan_________Y_______N_______N_______?
    Korriban________Y_______Y_______N_______Y
    Yavin IV_________Y_______N_______Y_______?
    Peragus_________N_______Y_______N_______?
    Telos___________N_______Y_______N_______?
    Nar Shaddaa_____N_______Y_______N_______?
    Dxun___________N_______Y_______N_______?
    Onderon________N_______Y_______N_______?
    Malachor V______N_______Y_______N_______?
    Naboo__________N_______N_______Y_______?
    Corellia_________N_______N_______Y_______ ?
    Talus___________N_______N_______Y_______?
    Rori____________N_______N_______Y_______?
    Lok_____________N_______N_______Y_______?
    Endor___________N_______N_______Y_______?
    Danthomir_______N_______N_______Y_______?
    Mustafar_________N_______N_______Y_______ ?
    Hoth____________N_______ N_______Y_______?
    Ord Mantell______N_______N_______ Y_______ Y
    Tython__________N_______ N_______N_______Y
    Nal Hutta (Hutta)__N_______N_______N_______Y
    Coruscant________N_______N_______N_______Y
    Balmorra_________N_______N_______N_______Y

    Looks like we've already got Ord Mantell appearing in SWG and TOR. I think Ord Mantell is just the new tutorial area in SWG, you don't get to see much outside of the space station.
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #11 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 11:03:11 PM
    I wouldn't really count Ord Mantell's appearance in SWG. You were in a small space station in orbit over it, you could barely see the planet itself from the station windows(if it had windows, I forget). TOR is definitely our first actual game appearance of the planet itself.
  • Zoid's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 656
    #10 Zoid Posted 10/16/2009 11:01:44 PM
    I like how most of the planets that have been confirmed have not been seen in the other games. I would rather see new planets that I am not too familiar with rather than Tatooine and Hoth.
  • Zenkei's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #6 Zenkei Posted 10/16/2009 9:52:45 PM
    Or perhaps they want to create the story how they see it and don't want to be tied down to previous canon?
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #7 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 9:57:31 PM
    Well TOR is 3500 years before SWG, so no canon to tie it down, no more so than the movies tie down TOR's canon. The only things that would bind BW's hands is the events on Mustafar that SWG's ToOW expansion says happened thousands of years ago(like it being a lush world that went kabloom for some reason). But Mustafar isn't likely to be in TOR, so that one tied-down spot is moot.
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #3 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 8:10:57 PM
    They do moderate comments, don't worry. I got a post deleted the other day when one of them misread my use of Republican to refer to people of the Republic and not real life politics. It was a misunderstanding, but I did see that they do moderate. No politics and stuff here, just TOR I think.
  • Zenkei's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #4 Zenkei Posted 10/16/2009 8:43:42 PM
    Yep. No religious, political, etc. talk here. Just TOR.
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 3099
    #2 RogueJedi86 Posted 10/16/2009 8:04:30 PM
    It ain't just Sado. Look on the side, lots of bloggers. Dover wrote this one. :)


    And I do agree with you, I hope DH stays around as the definitive TOR fansite after its release. Maybe not as hardcore as Elitist Jerks is for WoW(they use so much math and formulas that makes me brain shut down), but at least strategies and guides and stuff. :D
  • snafu's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #1 snafu Posted 10/16/2009 7:44:15 PM
    I imagine the majority of the planets being released from here on out will be of the split-faction variety. I hate to use WoW as an example again, but just look at the ratio of faction specific and neutral zones on Azeroth. My guess is that in ToR you will see a fairly similar ratio. With this in mind, I am hesitant to immediately dub Balmorra a PvP zone. I imagine that it will have some PvP elements involved, but since most of the planets that are yet to be released will probably be engulfed in battle and strife, I would not be surprised is Balmorra is primarily a questing/leveling zone.
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