Game:

Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011)

Duration: 6:12

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BioWare developers provide a complex video documentary on the MMORPG combat within the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Star Wars: The Old Republic (TOR) is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe. Currently in development by BioWare Austin and a supplemental team at BioWare Edmonton, the game was first announced on October 21, 2008 at an invitation-only press event. The Old Republic will be released as a PC title.

The 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 3,500 years before the events in the Star Wars films. The Jedi are held responsible for the success of the Sith and choose to relocate from Coruscant to Tython, where the Jedi order had been initially founded, to seek guidance from the Force. The Sith control Korriban, where they re-established a Sith Academy. The game begins as new conflicts arise.

A collaborative effort between Bioware, Lucasarts and Dark Horse Comics has resulted in a webcomic entitled "Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace", the purpose of which is to set up the story as the game opens.

Members of the two main factions—the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire—will have different moralities; the project's key focus is to differentiate between the player's faction and morality. Each faction will contain different classes, each with a distinct backstory and a branching storyline affected by players' moral choices. Classes will also be exclusive to one faction or the other. All eight of the classes have been confirmed: 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 will have a distinct storyline, they will be integrated with the game's overall arc.

Unlike traditional MMORPGs, classes in the Old Republic are not limited to the typical archetypes (healer, tank, dps, etc...). Bioware has stated that each class will support on-the-fly customization that will allow any class to fill any role within a party, eliminating the need to spam channels in search of a specific class needed to fill a role within a group, which can delay or outright stop parties from completing group quests. While the classes in The Old Republic will still be guilded toward a certain play style (be it ranged, melee, or otherwise), customization combined with companion characters will make for having a class 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 will permanently open or close storylines and affect players' non-player character (NPC) companions. The game's developers believe that the game will provide more context for characters' missions and quests than other MMORPGs offer. Every character in the game, including the player character, will feature full voice dialog to enhance gameplay, and interactions with those characters will feature a dialogue system similar to that used in the Mass Effect series. Players will be 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' expectation. Players will also have access to dozens of planets, including Korriban, Ord Mantell, Nal Hutta, Tython, Coruscant, Balmorra, Alderaan, Tatooine, Dromund Kaas, and Taris.

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