Darth Hater

This week's Facebook Image of the Week is a new image of a Ferrazid Hound on Taris.

A Ferrazid Hound prowls the undergrowth on Taris, trundling tirelessly after the scent of prey.

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.

Today's update is a Fan Friday, which of course brings with it a Studio Insider: an in-depth look at Concept Artist Diego Almazan's creation of a Sith Temple. The Fan Friday includes some new concept art scenes that look to include pieces from Alderaan, Taris, Voss, Nar Shaddaa, and Hutta; a selection of new emoticons, and some new creature avatars. Fan site Mos Eisley Radio got the spotlight shone on them, and the chance to answer some questions from BioWare.

The Community Q&A thread to go along with the Fan Friday is focused on Flashpoints, which should mean plenty of answers about TOR's answers to dungeons coming down the pipe in a few weeks. Head on over to the official thread and ask the devs some of those burning and insightful questions you have!

As usual for a Fan Friday, there's a couple of new polls up on the forums. The first is Where do you spend most of your time on the forums, and the second is Which Flashpoint are you most interested in so far?

As we mentioned on Tuesday, Gordon Walton, BioWare Austin's co-Studio General Manager, has left BioWare. Stephen Reid stepped in to the forums to talk about Walton's recent departure--or more accurately, to pass along Gordon's own words about his departure. Stephen reports that "Gordon's a great guy and left us on great terms, we thought we'd give him one last right of reply." His quote, along with lots of juicy tidbits from the Studio Insider, available after the jump. You can also find our Media Gallery of the update below.

The Star Wars galaxy is filled with thousands of planets, from barren wastelands to thriving city-planets. The announced planets for Star Wars: The Old Republic are a well-chosen cross section of this diverse spectrum. While some planets are more politically important than others, each will play its role in terms of both gameplay and story. In this overview, you will find a listing of each planet, its faction allegiance, its terrain, relevant , and a brief look at its history and how the planet connects to the Old Republic timeline.

• Tython, Korriban, Hutta


• Ord Mantell, Coruscant, Balmorra


• Alderaan, Tatooine, Dromund Kaas


• Taris, Belsavis, Voss


• Hoth, Nar Shaddaa, Corellia

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.

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.

The current data released about Star Wars: The Old Republic has unveiled five planets so far: Tython, Korriban, Nal Hutta, Ord Mantell, and most recently, Coruscant. Obviously the Star Wars Universe is gigantic, and full of iconic planets, beyond just these five, so now we are going to take a deeper look at the planets that have been featured in previous media. This includes planets which appeared in the KOTOR series, as well as those that appeared in the movies.

Last week Bioware had a small glitch on the SWTOR website they had two Ord Mantells on the Holonet.In the brief amount of time that this clone planet existed, a firestorm of speculation was created. Was this a sneak-peak of the weeks big reveal? Did having two Ord Mantells mean that Bioware was preparing to unveil a new planet?

The theories on this new planet were endless. Would we be trudging through the remains of Taris, finding and helping protect the decedents of the Undercity? Or maybe we would meander through the hot deserts of Tatooine. I for one supported the theory that the second Ord Mantell was actually in the past, bringing a much needed dynamic to the Star Wars universe: time-travel. Sadly, as you all know by now, my time-traveling-delorean-dreams were brought to a crashing halt by the announcement of the weeks new update. We would have no new planet this week; instead we were given a new issue of Threat of Peace. This announcement was a blow to my hopes and dreams, but even though this weeks update was not a new planet, we must not lose hope We must keep on dreaming and speculating

So, what's your dream? What planet do youwant to travel to? Do you want to journey through the lush jungles of Kashykk? Traverse through the cold barren wasteland of Hoth? If I cant get my time traveling, Im all in favor for the KOTOR series finally introducing Ewoks and forus to go to Endor.

There is a moment in the newest video documentary that Mfavila on the forum caught where Taris (the planet Revan visted in the Kotor series) is mentioned very briefly. Apparently Taris is referred to in a tiny bit of dialogue in a conversation between two characters and says - "Taris is a dangerous place. What are you doing here?"



The dialogue uncovered seems to suggest that Taris could be a planet that you might be visiting when SW:TOR is released. We will just have to wait and see to find out.

As shown in the recent clips of the "Kill the Captain" scenario, an alien species reveals itself at least once (possibly twice). The clear image appears to be a Green Nikto, Kadas'sa'Nikto for fanatics(image 13 of the dissected video). The second possible sight of a Nikto is as the defeated Jedi(the source of the purple lightsaber and image 35 of the dissected video). Yes, Yes, I know it is kinda hard to make out and that is about the only time you see his face so your guess is as good as mine. There are records of Nikto Jedi, making this plausible. The home planet of this species is Kintari, a planet bathed in radiation causing the massive mutations within the species. The radiation lets many shades of skin tones, as well as other features, for Nikto develop depending on the environment they inhabited.



Nikto were shown clearly within the Black Vulkar in The Knights of the Old Republic before Taris got blasted, showing their presence within the current time frame. For those of you that are not as familiar with the species from KOTOR they are spiky faced orange guys on Jabba's Yacht. Often being tied to the Hutts also explains the appearance of the green Nikto on what appears to be Nal Hutta. (I like to use Nal Hutta over Hutta because that is how I first learned it)

One branch of the Nikto Culture that could play a large role within the storyline is the Morgukai. Morgukai are a secret society composed of Nikto that despise the Jedi and have a strong code of honor, much like the Mandalorians. Cortosis weapons and a resistance to mind tricks made them ideal assassins of force users. While there was a hatred for Jedi a similar structure was adopted, such as crafting their own weapons and the master/apprentice system. These Nikto could provide an opponent within flashpoints, raids, (and the least dramatic) cannon fodder. Even if they do not make a direct appearance, perhaps their weapons could provide the top of the line melee weapons for the non-force users in the world.(I made sure to put Morgukai in because I know Aussie is a fan)