Star Wars: The Old Republic

Plot

This story takes place in the Star Wars fictional universe shortly after the establishment of a tenuous peace between the re-emergent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic, 300 years after the events of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games, and more than 3,600 years before the events in the Star Wars films.

The Jedi are held responsible for the success of the Sith during the devastating 28-year-long Great Galactic War (which led to the Treaty of Coruscant prior to the "cold war"), and thus choose to relocate from Coruscant to Tython, where the Jedi Order had initially been founded, to seek guidance from the Force. The Sith control Korriban, where they have re-established a Sith Academy. The game's "Return" cinematic trailer depicts the events where Korriban is re-conquered by the Sith.

During these events, a smuggler named Nico Okarr is being led to his prison cell in a jail orbiting Korriban by a Jedi, Satele Shan, and her master, Kao Cen Darach. Suddenly, a Sith named Darth Malgus, and his master Vindican, along with several Sith troops, attack the base. Satele, a trooper named Jace Malcom, and Okarr escape the attack, but Darach is cut down by Malgus. Malgus then kills Vindican, who was wounded by Darach. 10 years later, new conflicts have arisen. In the "Hope" cinematic trailer, Satele and some troops destroy a Sith party that includes Malgus, and Malcom, who has become the troop's commander, states that, despite the losses, there is still hope amongst even "a single spark of courage". Later in the "Deceived" cinematic trailer, however, Malgus, having appeared to survive the earlier attack albeit with a mask covering his nose and mouth, leads an army of Sith into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, killing many Jedi including the Jedi Master Ven Zallow.

After the death of Jedi Grand Master Zym, Master Satele Shan is named the new Jedi Grand Master. The game itself is set in the cold-war soon after these events, with the Jedi Order and Galactic Republic struggling to maintain their control of the core worlds while the Sith plot their downfall and the expansion of the Sith Empire. The conflict opens on many fronts and across many planets, while native factions are engaged in political struggles or civil war.

BioWare stated, prior to release, that the game would have a significant focus on the storyline. Each of the eight classes has a three act storyline that progresses as the character levels up. A collaborative effort between BioWare, LucasArts, EA Games and Dark Horse Comics has resulted in webcomics entitled Star Wars: The Old Republic – Threat of Peace and Star Wars: The Old Republic – Blood of the Empire, the purpose of which is to establish the backstory as the game opens and closes.

Gameplay

Players join as members of either of the two main factions – the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Although each faction is led by a benevolent or malevolent leader, it is emphasized that an individual member may possess a morality at any point along the light/dark spectrum. The project's key focus is to differentiate between the player's faction and morality. For instance, a member with ties to the Galactic Republic may belong to the Darkside while attempting to achieve their own ends, which may be misaligned or dissimilar from the Republic's vision.

Player advancement occurs by a combination of mission completion, exploration, and defeating enemies. New skills, unlocked by level, are taught by trainers and can be learned in game at a multitude of locations. Heroic missions exist that require the cooperation of multiple players to complete objectives, and can be repeated normally on a daily basis.

While each class in The Old Republic favors a certain play style (ranged/melee damage, healing or support skills, or tanking), customization combined with companion characters allow for a class to be able to tackle many different situations, with or without the support of other player characters, and without requiring specific other classes in order to move forward.

Players' choices permanently open or close storylines and affect players' non-player character (NPC) companions. It is intended that the game should provide more context for characters' missions than any previous MMORPG. Every character in the game, including the player character, features full voice dialog to enhance gameplay, and interactions feature a dialogue system similar to that used in the Mass Effect series. Players are able to choose from a variety of NPCs, although spending time with a single companion will help more in developing story and content than dividing time among several, and may even develop a love interest. It is possible for players to "blow it big time" if they fail to meet NPCs' expectations. Players also have access to several planets, including Korriban, Ord Mantell, Nal Hutta, Tython, Coruscant, Balmorra, Alderaan, Tatooine, Dromund Kaas, Taris, Belsavis, Voss, Hoth, Corellia, Ilum and Quesh, and the moon Nar Shaddaa. The planet Makeb was added in Patch 2.0, along with the Rise of the Hutt Cartel Expansion.

Every player receives their own starship, which was announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010. Footage of space combat was released at Gamescom. The short clip provided by BioWare revealed that space combat would be a "tunnel shooter." A tunnel shooter, otherwise known as a scrolling shooter or rail shooter, is a flying game where the player is on a predetermined track. Game play includes moving right and left on the X axis and up and down on the Y axis; however, players do not have control of the speed of their space craft. Jake Neri, LucasArts Producer, told PC Gamer in their October 2010 issue that their goal was to "capture the most cinematic moments that we can create. We want players to get in and feel like they're in the movies. It's about highly cinematic, controlled combat moments ... very heroic, action-packed, exciting, visceral and dangerous encounters that'll make you pee your pants." With the December 2013 release of the free expansion, Galactic Starfighter (GSF), players now have a free flight PVP space combat experience, with multiple ships and roles independent of other aspects of the game.

Like many other MMORPGs, the game features dungeons and raids in the form of Flashpoints and Operations respectively.

Species

A range of playable species are available for the player to choose from, some limited to their factions. Both sides can play Human, Cyborg (human-based), Twi'lek or Zabrak (whose appearances are initially different depending on which side the character is from). The Republic-only races are the Miraluka and Mirialan, while the Empire-only races are the Chiss, Rattataki and Sith Pureblood. Humans and Zabrak can pick any class available, while the other species are restricted to limited choices of classes by default.

More playable species are said to be available in the future through major updates and the Legacy system with the ability to use other classes' abilities through this system. The Cathar were added to the game during Patch 2.1, and is available to all players who unlock the species through the Cartel Market. The Togruta race was announced in January 2015 as a new playable race to be made available in 2015.

The release of the expanded "Legacy" system in April 2012 allows for species to be able to play all classes (both Empire and Republic) by unlocking that species with an infusion of in-game money or by levelling a character of that race to level 50. Under this system, for example, a player may choose Chiss, which by default can only choose the non-Sith classes on the Empire side, as a new Sith character. Likewise, a Sith Pureblood, which by default can only choose the Force-powered classes, could choose to be a non-Force class. Along the same vein, both species, which are restricted to the Empire, could even choose the option of fighting for the Republic, including training as a Jedi. By the same method, unlocking the Zabrak species allows to play both appearances regardless from which side the character is from.

Classes

Each faction contains different classes, each with a distinct backstory and a branching storyline affected by players' moral choices. Classes are exclusive to one faction or the other. However, the classes of one faction mirror the classes of the other (for example, Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior). Eight classes exist: the Bounty Hunter, Sith Warrior, Imperial Agent, and Sith Inquisitor for the Sith Empire; and the Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight, and Jedi Consular for the Galactic Republic. Although each class has a distinct storyline, they are integrated with the game's overall arc.

Once a character earns enough experience, each class may also choose from two advanced classes, resulting in a total of 8 advanced classes per faction. Advanced classes share the same storyline as their base class. Lightsaber and blaster colors are not faction or class restricted, but some are restricted based on level and/or Lightside or Darkside alignment. For example, some lightsabers can only be bought if Light or Darkside aligned.

Ships

Each class has their own starship, which serves as the player's base of operations. Bounty Hunters have the D5-Mantis patrol craft. Sith Warriors and Sith Inquistors have the Fury. Imperial Agents have the X-70B Phantom. Smugglers have the XS Freighter. Troopers have the BT-7 Thunderclap. Jedi Knights and Jedi Consulars have the Defender. Certain pieces of these ships can be upgraded, allowing them to perform better in space combat missions.

Companions

The game features a passive form of crafting, known as Crew Skills, in which a player's companions carry out gathering and crafting tasks asynchronously to the player's adventures out in the world. Each class gets five companions via their storyline. The player can assign up to five companions to perform up to 3 various skills. Crafting skills allow the player's companions to create items, and the player can reverse engineer many items to possibly learn to make a better version. The item is destroyed in the process, but the player gets some of the materials back. Gathering skills allow the player or their companions to gather resources out in the world. Mission skills allow the player's companions to perform acts on the player's behalf, gaining the player Light or Darkside influence and other rewards, such as medical items or companion gifts.

During E3 2011, a video was shown with gameplay footage of the Bounty Hunter, along with a Jawa companion named Blizz. The developers stated during the chat that only the Bounty Hunter would be able to get Blizz and that other classes would have unique companions as well, including some companions that are force users. It was also shown that companions would have a similar character screen as the players and can have gear just like a player character.

Bioware announced same-sex romance options with companions or other NPCs before release. The options were implemented for some non-companions in Rise of the Hutt Cartel, and expanded with Shadow of Revan. Options for some new companions were implemented in Knights of the Fallen Empire.

During patch 1.5, HK-51 was added for all classes on both Empire and Republic factions. He was the first companion added to every classes, and can be obtained through a questline. He is an assassin droid based on the popular HK-47 from the original Knights of the Old Republic series.

A female Ewok companion, Treek, was implemented in patch 2.3 and is available to all classes. This companion requires either a purchase from the Cartel Market or a 1,000,000 credit fee along with a Legacy Level of 40.

Subscription

The Old Republic required a monthly subscription to play, following a month of play included with the initial purchase. Options are available to pay for one month, two month, three month, or six month blocks, with discounted rates for multiple month blocks. Payment is by credit card or time card. The free-to-play version integrates most of the primary features in the game, but has several restrictions, such as credit limits and reduced leveling speed.

After launch, the game's subscribers rose to 1.7 million by February 2012. By May 2012, those numbers fell to 1.3 million. By July 2012, the subscriber base fell below 1 million, prompting EA to convert the game to free-to-play. EA stated that 500,000 subscribers were needed to make the game profitable saying that they were "well above" that number, By May 2013, subscriptions had fallen below 500,000 but at the time, stabilized there. On November 15, 2012, the free-to-play option went live on all servers. As of August 2014 the game has over one million monthly players.

Development

The Old Republic is BioWare's first entry into the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) market, and is the second Star Wars MMORPG after Star Wars Galaxies, which was shut down in December 2011. BioWare had long been interested in working on a MMORPG, but waited until they had "the right partners, the right team, and the right I.P." A major focus in the game is on developing characters' individual stories and, in October 2008, BioWare considered this game to have more story content than all of their other games combined. The writing team worked on the project longer than any of the game's other development teams. An October 2008 preview noted some of the 12 full-time writers had been working on The Old Republic for more than two years at that point. Although BioWare has not disclosed development costs, industry leaders and financial analysts have estimated it to be between $150 million and $200 million or more, making it, at the time, the most expensive video game made, though if marketing costs are included, it is eclipsed by Grand Theft Auto V, with an estimated cost of $265 million. The game had 1 million subscribers within three days of its launch, making it the world's "fastest-growing MMO ever". However, in the following months the game lost a fair share of its subscriptions, but has remained profitable. The game has since adopted the hybrid free-to-play business model with remaining subscription option. It is estimated that the game made $139 million in additional revenues, in addition to the subscription income, in 2013.

The game's first cinematic trailer, "Deceived", was shown at the Electronic Arts 2009 E3 Press Conference on June 1, 2009. A public live demo was shown for the first time at the Gamescom. On September 29, 2009, BioWare announced that they would be accepting applications for testers from the game community. Within minutes, the official website was down due to traffic, and BioWare announced shortly after that the site was being changed in order to accommodate the increase in visitors. A second cinematic trailer, "Hope", was released on June 14, 2010, that depicts another battle that happened before the game, the Battle of Alderaan. On June 6, a new trailer "Return" was released at E3 2011 depicting the initial Sith invasion force as it retakes its home world of Korriban. Game testing was officially announced to be underway on July 9, 2010, for testers from North American territories.

Although released in most regions of the world, EA have said Australasia will be getting the game at a later date. The reason behind this is to hold back digital and boxed copies for a smooth launch so to avoid any problems encountered during launch. However, BioWare revealed that the game would not be region or IP blocked, allowing players to purchase the game from other regions. Additionally, BioWare allowed Australian and New Zealand players to take part in the beta stages of the game. BioWare community manager Allison Berryman said "Data from this test will be used to inform decisions about the launch of the game in Oceanic regions", however, she was unable to provide any information in regards to the game's launch in those regions.

On October 11, 2011, BioWare announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic would be released globally on December 20, 2011. However, this 'global' launch only included North America and a part of Europe, as the launch date had delayed for the Asia and Oceanic regions. On December 21, 2011, BioWare announced that an Australian and New Zealand release date had been set for March 1, 2012.

On January 18, 2012, the first content patch (1.1) was released, adding a new Flashpoint and adding four bosses to an existing Operation. Patch (1.2) was released on April 12, 2012. The update included the new Legacy system, a new Flashpoint, Operation, a PVP Warzone, as well as improved character textures and advanced options such as user interface customization. Guild banks and player character pets are also introduced. A Weekend Pass Free Trial was made available for new players but has since closed. Patch 1.3 was released in June 2012. The game update featured a New Group Finder, the ability to augment every item, and adaptable social gear. In addition, players will be able to request that their characters are able to transfer to other servers. Subsequent patches have introduced a 'Cartel Market' where players can purchase virtual currency to spend on cosmetic items in-game. These items include armour sets, lightsaber colour crystals, mounts, pets and character-perk unlocks.

In January 2012, Star Wars: The Old Republic was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project Ever", with over 200,000 lines of recorded dialogue. This feat is recorded in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition book. On April 26, 2012, BioWare announced that the game was available in the Middle East and remaining European countries who were excluded from the original launch.

Expansion packs

In October 2012, BioWare announced The Old Republic's first digital expansion pack, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The expansion is centered on the rising threat of the Hutt Cartel, which has arisen to challenge the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire for control of the galaxy. The battle with the Hutts is centered on the planet Makeb, which hides a "powerful secret". Much like the main game, the campaign on Makeb is fully voiced. The level cap was raised to 55, with the leveling from 50 onwards centered on Makeb.

Rise of the Hutt Cartel was released on April 14, 2013. Those who pre-ordered the expansion prior to January 7, 2013, were allowed early access on April 9. In late September, Rise of the Hutt Cartel became free after subscribing to the game.

In October 2013, BioWare announced a major update, Galactic Starfighter, which introduces 12v12 space-based PvP combat on two maps, with 2 'capture-the-flag' combat missions. Three stock starfighters were made available - a scout, a strike fighter, and a gunship. More are accessible for Cartel Coins. Subscribers began their early access on December 3, 2013, with full subscriber awards if they maintained an active subscription on November 1. "Preferred access" players, those who do not have an active subscription but have purchased items via the Cartel Market, will receive their early access on January 14, 2014, with some rewards. Full access to all players with an account opened on February 4, 2014. A new 'deathmatch' game style was added with the update, as well as a new starfighter class, the bomber.

In January 2014, BioWare revealed plans for 2014 including two expansion packs, with one similar to Galactic Starfighter in scope and one more closely resembling Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The first is entitled Galactic Strongholds, introducing player housing and flagships for guilds. Subscribers received early access August 19, 2014, as well as access to the exclusive "Nar Shaddaa Sky Palace"; preferred access players received early access starting in September. Full access to all players with an account opened in October.

On October 6, BioWare announced the second planned expansion, entitled Shadow of Revan. The expansion is centered on the Order of Revan, formerly a fringe group that appeared early in Imperial missions, now a great army seeking to establish a new galactic order, led by the reborn Revan himself. The campaign raised the level cap to 60, and takes place on two new worlds: Rishi, a tropical pirate haven on the edge of the galaxy, and Yavin 4 (which first appeared in the original Star Wars film), home of an ancient Sith warrior sect called the Massassi. Shadow of Revan was available for preorder. Players who preordered before November 2, 2014, received an experience boost that granted twelve times multiplicative experience for class-related missions, seven days of early access, a grand statue of Revan for placement in strongholds, and a free edition of Rise of the Hutt Cartel (to give to another player). The expansion was released on December 9, 2014.

In June 2015, the third expansion for the game, titled Knights of the Fallen Empire, was announced at EA's E3 2015 press conference. Knights of the Fallen Empire features a renewed focus on cinematic storytelling, as well as new planets, new companions, a dynamic story affected by player choices and a level cap of 65. A cinematic trailer, titled "Sacrifice", was released along with the initial announcement. The trailer, made by Blur Studio, received critical acclaim, and was awarded the "Best Trailer of E3" Award by IGN. The first nine chapters of Knights of the Fallen Empire were launched on October 27, 2015, with additional chapters starting in early 2016. Subscribers received one level 60 character token. After the release of Knights of the Fallen Empire, Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan became free for those subscribing to the game, and access remains on the account if a subscription is canceled.

The release of Knights of the Fallen Empire depicts the story of "The Outlander" - the player character. The expansion introduced new companion characters available to all classes. One feature introduced with the expansion was the Alliance system. It entails recruiting allies, including some companions from other classes that formerly were restricted, from across the galaxy to join the fight against the Eternal Empire. Players were given the ability to strengthen their rebellion by providing resources to "Specialists" that oversee four areas of operation: Technology, Underworld Trade, Military and Force-Usage. Most of the early game content was heavily streamlined, allowing players to level up a character by completing solely story and class-specific missions if they so choose. A solo mode was also introduced for story-critical flashpoints. The new storyline, featuring primarily solo content, has 13 chapters.

In December 2016, Knights of the Eternal Throne was released as the sixth expansion that coincided with the game's five-year anniversary. It continues the story of the Outlander. Subscribers received one level 65 character token, with additional tokens available at the cartel store. The storyline has nine chapters of solo content and it raises the level cap to 70. The expansion focuses on defeating Empress Vaylin and the Eternal Empire. Subscribing for a single month then canceling it will permanently unlock all the expansions .

Other media

Chronicle Books released The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic in November 2011, which chronicles the creation of the game and includes concept artwork and interviews from the development team. The book was written by former Star Wars Insider editor Frank Parisi and BioWare writing director Daniel Erickson. The book includes a foreword by Penny Arcade's Mike "Gabe" Krahulik.

Leading up to game's release on December 20, BioWare released music tracks from the game each day which were not included with the soundtrack which came with the Collector's Edition of the game. The first track released was titled "The Mandalorian Blockade".

Razer released several peripherals based on the game to coincide with the launch date. The peripherals included custom made keyboards, mice, gaming headsets and mouse pads.

In August 2012, Lego announced plans to release two sets based on the game, the Sith Fury-class Interceptor and the Striker-class Starfighter.

Comics

An internet comic produced by Dark Horse and written by The Old Republic developer Rob Chestney offers backstory to the game. The story spans ten years from the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant to the events that start the game. The comic, titled Threat of Peace, was released bi-monthly, and reached its conclusion in March 2010.

A second internet comic titled Blood of the Empire has been released and follows the story of a Sith apprentice on a dangerous secret mission. It is produced by Dark Horse and written by BioWare's senior writer Alexander Freed. The story is set 25 years before the Treaty of Coruscant, and offers readers a new perspective of the events leading up to the start of The Old Republic. A sneak preview of the art was released, followed by the first issue on April 23, 2010.

Novels

A 256-page novel called Deceived was released by Del Rey on March 22, 2011. This story, by Paul S. Kemp, tells of Darth Malgus, the Sith Lord responsible for the sacking of Coruscant. Another novel written by Sean Williams called Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance was published on July 21, 2010. Drew Karpyshyn wrote a novel titled Revan, published on November 15, 2011. It features Revan, revealing his fate after the Knights of the Old Republic games. Karpyshyn wrote another novel, The Old Republic: Annihilation, that was released on November 13, 2012.

Reception

Star Wars: The Old Republic has received generally positive reviews from critics, with a score of 85 on Metacritic and an 83.87% on GameRankings. G4TV gave a review of 5/5 and praised the game for "Top notch music and voice acting" and "hundreds of hours of content." PC Gamer gave a 93/100, praising the story, voice acting, and the amount of content available. Gamespy gave a review of 4/5, praising the story lines and companion system but criticising the "standard kill and fetch" quests. GameSpot gave the game 8.0/10, saying "[The Old Republic] isn't the next step in online role-playing games. Instead, it's a highly entertaining refinement of what has come before it." GamesRadar gave the game 8/10 calling it "an extremely satisfying experience that sets the stage for a bright future". The game has received a 9.0/10 "Amazing" rating from IGN.com.

During Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch week, long queue times were seen on some servers, with BioWare increasing population caps and adding more servers to attempt to resolve them. Some pre-order users discovered they had invalid registration codes. After release, at least one reviewer was less favorable as Eurogamer lowered their rating to a 4/10 from its initial high score.

MSNBC awarded Star Wars: The Old Republic as game of the year. In 2012, The AbleGamers Foundation awarded Star Wars: The Old Republic as their Mainstream Game for 2011 for being able to accommodate gamers with special needs. It praised the game's features which included many accessibility options, including full subtitles, queue-able actions, multiple action bars, area looting, auto looting, and built-in mouse sensitivity.

One character, a slave companion for the Sith Warrior named Vette, drew controversy. Writing for Kotaku, Mike Fahey, after playing the game, recalled players boasting of their torturing of Vette and her low affection rating for them. The Daily Mail ran an article about Fahey's story on their Mail Online website, remarking on how the option to treat Vette decently did not seem popular, and while noting Star Wars was "no stranger to slavery" said "the idea of playing 'master' yourself is unsavoury". The Mail was criticised for its lack of evidence for its statements and its selective information. Forbes's Erik Kain criticised gaming as overly focused on "teenage boys", calling the inclusion of a shock-collar-wearing slave "not so much surprising as it is disappointing" and "really creepy". Kain commented how it enforced how gaming could be a "hostile environment" for girls and felt that the inclusion of choice failed to make the situation better. The Mary Sue contributor Becky Chambers felt Vette's inclusion was less "sexist" than "shortsighted". Religion Dispatches researched the matter, surveying 369 players to ask them how they acted. The survey's findings suggested that most players chose the good options and felt uncomfortable doing any evil ones. They suggested that the presence of characters like Vette influenced the player's actions, making them want to take choices that would gain Affection.