Friday Update: Hoth Revealed, Blood of the Empire, and Fan Friday

As previewed yesterday, BioWare's Sean Dahlberg announced Hoth as the thirteenth playable planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic:

Along time ago in a galaxy far away...

Thirty years ago to the day, Star Wars: Episode IV The Empire Strikes Back opened in movie theaters, forever changing the cinematic landscape. Bursting with action-packed battles, fast paced dialogue, and characters faced with complex choices, the echoes of this landmark film are still felt today. From toys, to fashion, to punk rock, its influence is everywhere. The Empire Strikes Back has not only changed how we relate to our favorite movies, but has made a lasting contribution to our very culture.

To commemorate this monumental continuation of the Star Wars story, we are proud to reveal the ice world of Hoth -- the latest explorable planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Access the HoloNet to learn more about the pivotal battles in the history of Hoth -- and to understand why both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire are interested in the planet. Check out this video to see Hoth's brutal blizzards and unique wildlife. Don't forget to visit the Media Section for never-before-seen screenshots, wallpaper, and concept art showing this barren, desolate landscape.


Plus, the third issue of Blood of the Empire webcomic is available, which contains a first glimpse of the Emperor (or possibly something else):

The third issue of Blood of the Empire chronicles two formidable confrontations--one between Teneb Kel and his former master, Lord Calypho, and another between Teneb Kel and the Dark Council! And what plans do the Emperor and his mysterious apprentice have in store for Teneb? The mission to determine the future of the galaxy begins here.

Check out the latest issue of Blood of the Empire now!


UPDATE: A late Fan Friday was added to this week's update. It includes the usual community artwork, as well as the Bounty Hunter screenshots from the recent European press event. This week's Developer Corner is a short dialogue video showing the depth-of-field effect in action. There are also a few new avatars to choose from on the official forums.

Welcome to Fan Friday! Today we're giving you a look at some inspiring creations from the Star Wars: The Old Republic community and sharing an inside look at some work-in-progress content from the Development Team.

In addition, we'll be following up on the Electronic Arts European Press Showcase held in London last week, as well as releasing the latest series of official polls and avatars.


Aurebesh translations for Hoth's HoloNet page after the jump.
Subtitle: Icy Graveyard
Left, Vertical: Watch Out For Wampas
Vertical, Right Side of Planet: Umbra Encrypter (Credit to Tyber, Imperialles, and Xicer9. Hat tip to SinisterSamurai.)
Vertical Between Boxes: Chiss Secret Base (Thanks r2d2arm)
Horizontal, Text Box: Captain Valon

Comments

  • #23 darthuser593
    Your comment opened my eyes to the things I never really thought of about space combat/ships!!!! If even half of the things you speculated on were true, that be friggin awesome! It be cool like to be mid flight with your guildmates on a ship and then mid voyage you get stopped for some reason or another and need to fight/work together to deal with an encounter of Pirates or the opposite NPC faction. Did not think of all the things that could go into the ship such as crafting/housing stuff, but you def perked my interests in hoping that there is going to be a big reveal about space now haha.
  • #39 Jaswar
    TY for the great replies . I mean, yes, even if half or even a quarter of the stuff for your personal ships that I assumme may be there would be great. They can always add stuff later in patches for sure.

    If you played SWG. The housing customization was just sick IMO. If they implimented that into your ship my god that would be just unreal. Even if our ships are not of a housing nature, a good amount of your time will be with your ship hyperspacing between planets and systems . So it makes sense to me to have some form of working features inside your ship i.e. crafting or upgrading things. A lounge area where you can have some guild mates over for some games of pazaak, or where lets say you are a crafter and some guildies are there for you to upgrade a weapon or make a piece of armor for them.



    But I also believe that if your ship is not your house per say. Then I believe we may have guild capital ships where you actually land your ship at for Guild "ship" perks and such. The "Guild Ships" may in fact be a place where your "Instanced Housing" may be.

    Or I foresee "Instanced Apartment Dwellings" on Certain Planets on like lets say Coruscant. Where a structure in at the city is actually instanced housing complexes. In SWG one can actually have many different dwellings on many different planets, the main problem was litterred empty cities everywhere and it just looked wrong.

    Boy i can go on and on about this subject

  • #41 Jaswar
    exactly how great would that be to be stopped and boarded for suprise faction missions or such, or even better yet we get caught in a tractor beam from a huge cruiser and have to get off said ship ...awesum instance fun there :)
  • #24 Drenarb
    I agree about the leaks. If they did leak the stuff out previously, I wish they had different screenshots to show us for Fridays. I was a little disappointed, becuase I'd already seen the concepts and screenshots. :(

    About the wreackage on Hoth, ever since I read about that, I was thinking to myself, "You know, that would make a great place to search for ship upgrades, or have a quest to get an amazing hyperdrive."

    Good stuff there. :)
  • #40 Jaswar
    agreed at least throw a few more screenshots into the mix :)
  • #101 Nagualo
    I felt like the only one who noticed that Teneb woke up on a ship, rather than a med-bay, apartment or otherwise. Also, who was there to meet and greet him, but his companion. I think this is a massive nudge and can't wait to see more, especially jedi ships.
  • #5 darthuser1251
    Everyone on the official forums seems to think the emperor's a guy. I gotta disagree. Especially when you see the second panel showing HER face. As if the white robes weren't a dead give away too... Oh, and could "she" be a Rattataki too? Or is her skin too *edit* dark?

    Again, we see another player ship; one with quite a bit different style then the one from the last comic.

    When Teneb is recalling his training, is that a training sabre in his hand?

    Exal "Kressh"? Any relation to Ludo Kressh? Also, she's shown using a one handed sabre. Not like that's definitive or anything, but I still think she's a warrior.
  • #15 darthuser774
    I too thought it looked feminine, however it looks pretty androgynous so I am content with referring to the Emperor as an "it" until we get a definitive answer.

    Edit - Exal Kressh refers to the Emperor with masculine pronouns when we first see her in the comic.
  • #19 darthuser1251
    Yeah, but if "he" is really body hopping (like a lot of people are suggesting) then this host could be female.
  • #20 chronium
    Really that would depend on how long a host would last. If he is switching every 3 months or some short amount of time I would agree with you. But if its for a long period of time then they would always use what comes naturally to them when looking at what gender his host would be. You're usually going to end up saying she if he was in a female body.
  • #21 darthuser593
    It probably be Empress if it was female, just saying! Also I agree with Caliber that in the previous issue the Sith girl refers to her master as if it was a male. Hell, it could be both!!!!!!!!!! hahaha. The emperor def did some major body hopping spirit transfer stuff, thats for sure.
  • #4 JediCosmin
    Thank you very much :D

    Very nice update, Hoth looks amazing... but I am more interested in the comic. More so because of the fact that we see the Emperor for the first time.
    Not what I expected to say the least :P
  • #7 chronium
    I was more surprised that we saw the emperor in the first place. I figured he had to be body jumping in order to live for over 1300 years even with long life span species.
  • #9 JediCosmin
    Isn't that similar to Morrigan's mother? (Flemeth)
    Could be a posibility. hm.....
  • #10 chronium
    Who?
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