Darth Hater

Choosing which class to play is a big decision when starting an MMORPG, but for Star Wars: The Old Republic it goes hand-in-hand with choosing your faction. The classes on both factions are essentially a reflection of one another, but their aesthetic and animation differences can be big determining factors for some players. For other players, it’s about the stories, the lightsaber, and the voices that make the difference. Here are a few reasons why playing the Republic faction might appeal to you.

Star Wars: The Old Republic gives players the opportunity to choose from eight heroic classes, but many of the galaxy’s most influential organizations exist in the shadows, away from the front lines of the war. The Republic Strategic Information Service, more commonly known as the SIS, is one such group. Like their Imperial counterparts, the Galactic Republic places a high value on information and intelligence, and the Republic SIS is their most valuable asset in the area of intelligence gathering.

On the outside, Star Wars: The Old Republic may seem like a traditional good versus evil conflict between the Republic and the Empire. But much like an office environment, there are many more factions, relationships, traditions and passive-aggressive memos involved in the grand scheme of things. Let’s take a look at some of the potential conflicts one may find during the Old Republic era.

BioWare recently held a closed beta event for the press involving Republic Classes. With the embargo now over, the press sites that took part can discuss details involving general gameplay, storyline, Companions, Crew Skills, worlds, quests, NPCs, Flashpoints and PVP Warzones. In an effort to make all of the information easy to find, this post will serve as a roundup of all of the coverage from the press sites that attended.

A full listing as well as highlights from the individual articles is available after the jump.

This week's Facebook Image of the Week is an image of a Republic shield generator on Hoth.

Partially buried beneath the ice, the Republic's shield generator serves as the first line of defense against an ever-present Imperial threat on the contested world of Hoth.

For ease of reference, we compiled a Facebook Image of the Week Media Gallery containing all the images which you can view below. Make sure to check the Media Gallery for the fullsize image.

The thing that separates MMORPGs from other types of games is the ability to interact with hundreds or thousands of other players on a single server. However, in games with opposing factions, it is common to see limitations in place to prevent players from speaking directly with players on the other side. This is done for a variety of reasons. Some consider it an important deterrent to griefing and other activities that are damaging to the community, while others believe that cross-faction communication encourages community building. In this weeks Community Pulse, I'm taking a look at the active debate surrounding this subject on the official forum.

This Friday brings us an in-depth look at Trooper progression, with a video in the flavor of the previous two progression videos that goes through both Commando and Vanguard Advanced Classes, showing a progression of gear and abilities. Check out the video embed below for more info about one of Star Wars: The Old Republic's emblematic ranged tanks, including abilities like stealth-detection droids and vibroblade attacks.

Official DevTracker post is contained after the jump. Our Working Dissection from the update is in the gallery below. As with all Dissections we will not mention stuff in past Dissections. If you find something you think we should point out, add it to the comments section of this post and if we use it we will credit you for the find.

This week's DevTracker Highlights discuss what the developers prefer to play, video capturing, hints on upcoming videos, and more after the jump.

A couple weeks ago we were our first look at the new Blood of the Empire webcomic. As we learned with Threat of Peace, these comics are a wellspring of clues about Star Wars: The Old Republic. Always hungry for any information on TOR, we dug into the new comic to see what we could find.

Today's update is the seventh entry in the Timeline series, entitled "Peace for the Republic?"

The centuries immediately preceding the Great War were thought to be one of the most peaceful eras in Republic history. As he dives deeper into the galaxys history, Master Gnost-Dural discovers new evidence that suggests the dark influence of the Sith Empire was seeping into the Republic even then. Gnost-Durals latest report isolates one historical incident which suggests there was a Sith Lord pulling strings within the ranks of the Jedi decades before the war even began.

BTC 103 - More than a century before the Sacking of Coruscant, two Jedi scholars embarked on a journey which became one of most inexplicable mysteries of its time. Young Jedi Knight Eison Gynt joined his Master in a mission to investigate the Ancient Sith Temple of Yavin 4. On Yavin, the pair was attacked by the native Massassi and driven into the Tomb of Naga Sadow where a powerful force of darkness emerged. Gynts Master returned to Coruscant wounded and half-insane, remorseful that young Eison Gynt had been killed in the chaos. Years later, however, Gynt returned from Yavin on his own and attacked his former Master. Gynt was killed and all assumed that he had been tainted by the darkness on Yavin 4 and returned to Coruscant for revenge. Nonetheless, the truth, as Master Gnost-Dural has discovered, may have been far more sinister.

Watch the latest Timeline holorecord, Peace for the Republic?, narrated by actor Lance Henriksen.

You can also download a high resolution version of this video.


There are several interesting references to note in this edition of the timeline. The Sith temples of Yavin IV feature predominantly and Naga Sadow is also a key player in this timeline entry. There is also intriguing artwork of the Star Forge in the parting shot.

Voss was recently announced as the 12th planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This planet is a unique addition as next to nothing was known about it prior to last weeks Friday Update. BioWare appears to be using that void to weave a new story and display their willingness to add to the IP. The information supplied on the Holonet reveals much more than just an interesting story; it also hints at the possible gameplay elements that Voss could offer.

Here at Darth Hater we are constantly examining any media released for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The Holonet, in particular, quickly became one of our most valued resources in this endeavor. Framed by the ever important fourth pillar, each new release on the official site slowly increases our knowledge of the people and places we will encounter when players finally get their hands on the game. In light of the recent addition of a biographies section, we thought it might be a good idea to look back over the Holonet and find all the people we have been introduced to over the past year and a half.

Note: This article will be updated over time as we include new items to the dissection.

There have been six Star Wars: The Old Republic timeline videos produced and presented by BioWare and LucasArts to date. Each one reveals more about the history leading up to the story we will see in Star Wars: The Old Republic. With an analysis of the timeline videos, both individually and as a whole, an idea of the greater story begins to appear. Note: ATC (After the Treaty of Coruscant) / BTC (Before the Treaty of Coruscant)

Here is Darth Hater's dissection of the latest Developer Dispatch from Star Wars: The Old Republic, which focuses largely on the recently revealed Taris. As in our prior dissections, we will add new content in as we find it, so keep checking back. Feel free to let us know if you notice something we missed, and we will be happy to add it to our dissection with credit. Note: if something is mentioned in a prior dissection, then we do not reiterate it again here. Low bandwidth users should note there are numerous images contained in this article.

Its that time of the week again. Time to see what treats the developers have left for us. First up is a nice Developer Dispatch on Taris:

Once home to a sprawling planet-wide city, Taris was razed long ago by the Sith Lord Darth Malak while seeking to eliminate the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan. Now, a post-apocalyptic Taris is being realized in Star Wars: The Old Republic. After 300 years, Republic and Jedi leaders are moving forward with the efforts at colonization.

Along with the video on Taris is issue #27 of the Threat of Peace.

Here at Darth Hater we love to pry into the nuts and bolts of every piece of information released about Star Wars: The Old Republic. This hunger for information leads us to learn a great deal about the history and lore of the Star Wars Universe as a whole, and we love nothing more then to share that with you. To continue that trend, here is a closer look at one of the more interesting planets mentioned in the recent Onslaught of the Sith Empire Timeline video: Sluis Van.

A few months ago we got a not-so-subtle tip from Rob Chestney that the Threat of Peace webcomic is an important asset for internet detectives following Star Wars: The Old Republic. For us here at Darth Hater, we see it as a relatively untapped well of gameplay and story information, possibly rivaling the Holonet. To this end we thought it might be a good idea to look at some of the more unusual or interesting clues that may be hidden in the art and story of the comic. Hit the jump for a fresh look at the Threat of Peace.

Last Friday, Taris became the tenth announced planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Taris is an iconic and special location for fans of BioWare, first seen in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Taris was mentioned in numerous books and other video games, such as Star Wars: Empire at War. Perhaps by understanding how Taris evolved into abandoned ruins, we can understand why the Republic would wish to start anew.

Sean Dahlberg introduced us to Taris, another planet included in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Once home to a thriving civilization, Taris was razed by the Sith Lord Darth Malak 300 years ago during the Jedi Civil War. As a symbol of hope, redemption, and defiance, the Republic has begun an unlikely effort to re-colonize Taris. To do so, they will have to deal with the toxic soil, dangerous pirates, and ferocious rakghouls the only survivors of the Sith bombardment. Determined to overcome the challenges, Republic and Jedi leaders are moving forward with the effort. However, Imperial intelligence has other plans

Access the Holonet to read about the history of Taris and the re-colonization of this ruined world swarming with rakghouls. Also, see the scarred surface of Taris in this video and visit the media section for exclusive screenshots, concept art, and wallpapers

Aurebesh translations after the jump.