Darth Hater

Convention season allows us the opportunity to learn a great deal about a game through presentations and hands on time, but it also gives us the ability to talk directly with the men and women working on every aspect of Star Wars: The Old Republic. While our interviews normally focus on members of the LucasArts and BioWare teams, sometimes we are lucky enough to talk with other professionals who are working to bring you everything else TOR related. Today we spent some time with Dave Marshall, Associate Editor at Dark Horse Comics, to learn a little more about the webcomics Blood of the Empire and Threat of Peace.

Interview

Blood of The Empire is an ongoing webcomic for Star Wars: The Old Republic. What is the collaboration between Dark Horse, BioWare, and LucasArts on the webcomic, and what are the logistics behind it?

Dave Marshall: Blood of The Empire is written by Alexander Freed, one of the senior writers at BioWare. He is intimately involved every day with building the continuity of this particular area of Star Wars. That is a real boon to us because he is able to work us in very tightly into the core story of what players are going to see in the game, and what they are going to experience. This allows us to reveal certain key characters and aspects of the timeline in the comics before the game comes out.

What is the process for sneaking hints of gameplay or story elements into the comics?

Dave Marshall: One of the great things about working with BioWare is that their games are so story-driven, and of course, that is our priority whenever we do Star Wars comics as well. They already have this wealth of strong characters with these compelling story arcs to draw from. That was really a shared starting point for both of us. We said "who is going to be a compelling character?" Or "what is a story that is not going to be told in the game that is going to be important to the history of when players arrive on day one?" And we tell that story that would otherwise just been mentioned.

What are the differences between Threat of Peace and Blood of The Empire?

Dave Marshall: We wanted Threat of Peace to introduce the breadth of what Star Wars: The Old Republic game is going to reveal: the variety of locations, the variety of classes, and the conflicting perspectives between the Sith and the Jedi. There isn't a clear cut side, because players of course are going to play both sides.

We had a very broad goal for Threat of Peace, but with Blood of The Empire , we are going to tell a much more focused story. Instead of having a large cast, it is going to have a very narrow cast that we're going to get to know much more intimately. We didn't want to repeat ourselves and just do the same kind of story twice.

Because Threat of Peace was scheduled way before the game's launch, we thought it would be a great time to give dribs and drabs of what everybody is going to see in the game. Whereas with Blood of The Empire, we are getting much closer to release so we have the opportunity to get more in depth with the narrative experience that players are going to have with the game.

Can you give us a bit more insight into the Teneb Kel and Exal Kressh lines?

Dave Marshall: When it comes down to the details, I say you have to follow the story, and you have to play the game. I don't want to spoil things that people are going to enjoy in the comics and the game.

The Emperor also plays a significant role in Blood of The Empire. Is the comic going to wrap up by revealing his identity?

Dave Marshall: I think the important thing to say about Blood of The Empire and about Star Wars:The Old Republic is that it is a fresh take on all of the classic aspects of Star Wars. We're building this rich, new quadrant of Star Wars that reaches back into the past and Knights of The Old Republic. Tales of The Jedi reaches more into the future with Darth Bane, and ultimately with the Skywalker line. So we're constantly trying to play off people's expectations and deliver something even bigger and more surprising than they anticipated.

Thank you so much for your time.

Dave Marshall: You're very welcome.