Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Gaming fans’ long wait will be over in December: The MMO will launch on December 20 in the U.S./Canada, and December 22 in “European Launch Territories,” whatever that means.
A subscription will cost between $14.99 and $12.99 per month, which I hear is pretty average for an MMO.
Remember the message board kerfuffle in ’09 about gay and lesbian relationships in The Old Republic MMO? Well, it looks like they will be an option – eventually – in The Old Republic after all. Here’s the official statement:
Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.
Given Bioware’s track record, this isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s good to know it is a consideration.
At Penny Arcade Expo this past weekend, a group of Calrissian aficionados held a protest against the lack of Lando in the Star Wars: The Old Republic online game. Members of The Lando Society chanted “Never forget!” and donned mustaches and capes to draw attention to their cause: to ensure that everyone’s favorite baron-administrator (or a distant relative, which is more likely for a game taking place 3,500 years prior to Lando’s time) appear in the upcoming Bioware MMO title.
Want to support their drive to have the galaxy’s smoothest businessman (or his ancestor) included in the game? The Lando Society’s got a petition. Although, judging from this video of the society encountering a TOR developer, Bioware has its own in-house Lando fans, with Lando Calrissian’s moustache and outfit in mind for the game, due to release this holiday season. At least we now know who bought all the excess Lando ‘staches from Celebration V.
It’s the last San Diego Comic-Con 2011 post, I swear! Here’s some different thoughts and recaps on what came out of Comic-Con this year:
And let’s end our wrap-up with a photo gallery progression of the artwork drawn on the Volkswagen Passat in the Star Wars pavilion by a Sharpie-wielding comic artist, Ken Lashley. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8.
Thursday’s lineup at Comic-Con in San Diego included panels for The Clone Wars Season 4, The Old Republic MMO.
The Clone Wars panel started off with a general trailer for season four, which will be subtitled ‘Battle Lines’ – the preview showed off many cool things, primarily focusing on an underwater battle between Republic forces and Mon Calamari fighting against Separatist forces, Quarren, and more. Also shown were clone soldiers getting their type two armor & helmets (moving closer to the Revenge of the Sith look). Moderator Pablo Hidalgo tossed questions to director Dave Filoni and producer Cary Silver and showed several more video clips and art slide shows, which hinted at:
During the Q&A, Filoni mentioned that he has put a lot of though into Ahsoka’s eventual fate in the show – and that he keeps changing it (at least 8 times) & discussing it with George Lucas as the show and her character continue to develop. Also from the Q&A:
Seth Green was invited up in the Q&A, and he helped field a few audience questions, but nothing specific to his upcoming comedy animated Star Wars series.
Overall, I am very excited about season four – it looks like they are going to where the show is the strongest: good Star Wars stories: lots of action and battles, and bringing in new heroes and villains, and some more fun with the droids. And no, Captain Ackbar won’t learn from Anakin Skywalker about the possibility of getting snared by enemy forces, so that he can later recognize his situation at Endor.
As for The Old Republic MMO: Pre-orders have officially begun, with a release date of “Holidays 2011” but with major beta test weekends in September. All panel attendees were given tickets to redeem for guaranteed pre-order reservations. I’m not an MMO player, but given what I saw and heard about TOR, and Bioware’s track record with KOTOR and other single-player role-playing games (Mass Effect, Dragon Age), I’m a bit excited for The Old Republic.
Also emerging from E3 is the latest trailer for The Old Republic MMO. And no, it still doesn’t have a release date.
Update from James: Even if you have no interest in the game, you should watch this trailer for sheer Star Wars awesome. They distilled some of the things fans love most about the saga and blended them into this sequence. A cocky gun-slinging smuggler, lightsaber battles with Jedi and Sith, narrow escapes and new alliances.
The MMO – which has never had a solid release date, but was (apparently?) tentative for late this year – may get pushed back to 2012, Kotaku reports.
Fear not, gamers, at least you’ll have the novels.
Revan will be Karpyshyn’s Old Republic novel. The third novel tie-in to Bioware’s Old Republic MMO will feature the Sith Lord from Knights of the Old Republic, SWTOR.com announced today. Other characters from the KOTOR games, including Canderous, T3-M4, the Exile and Bastila Shan, will also appear.
Upcoming. Dan Wallace is currently working on an updated Essential Guide to Characters.
Art books. Abrams will follow up last year’s Star Wars Visions with Star Wars Art: Comics.
Interview. Sci-Fi block talks to comic writer Tom Taylor.
Opinion Lightsaber Rattling makes a point for Star Wars eBooks.
Another Old Republic comic is coming. The new Insider contain news of a mini-series called The Lost Suns. Game writer Alexander Freed will be doing the writing honors, with the team from Blood of the Empire on art. Head on over to NJOE and/or Star Wars Universe for the full image and details.
This is the same issue that features Paul S. Kemp’s ‘The Third Lesson,‘ a Darth Malgus short story, so if you’re a fan of the era it’ll no doubt be worth picking up. On that note, Kemp is giving away a Deceived audiobook or two.
Also upcoming… Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff reveals a new tentative title for her and Reaves’ Coruscant Knights followup: The Last Jedi.
More on the Dark Side: Scott Allie talks more with MTV Geek about Qui-Gon Jinn’s adventures in the upcoming comic Star Wars: Jedi – The Dark Side. Without revealing whether Qui-Gon is the one to cross over to the dark side, Allie talks about developing a story about the Jedi’s imperfect judgment, with a plot that is flashbacked to in the YA books, and describes Qui-Gon’s role here as a “powerful Jedi out on the rim of the galaxy, angry and alone, like a hero from the Clint Eastwood western.”
Recent releases. John Jackson Miller has notes for Knight Errant.
Nonfiction. J. W. Rinzler tweets about a new Star Wars Art installment.
Learn something. In his latest blog entry, Drew Karpyshyn writes about how a book makes it from outline to novel.
Coming in the back way. A prequel fan’s review of Heir to the Empire. He liked it!
Sales. LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary is selling like crazy. It’s been on the New York Times Children’s Picture Book Bestseller List for 52 weeks. (Guess that explains all the LEGO stuff that DK has coming.) To celebrate the books’ NYT longevity, Lucasfilm and DK are donating $52,000 worth of books to charities supported by 501st and Rebel Legions.
In question. J. W. Rinzler will find out if he gets to write a Making of Return of the Jedi by the end of the month, he tweeted last night. Somehow I doubt they’re going to say no.
The blogside. Chris at EUC takes a look at the EU offerings of 2010 and 2011.
Comics. The upcoming return of Dark Horse Presents will feature details on the wildly anticipated Crimson Empire 3.
Interview. Our pal Mandy interviews comic artist Michael Golden, who drew Marvel’s Riders in the Void back in 1980.
Podcastery. The latest Jedi Journals is up.
Giveaway. Comment at Paul S. Kemp’s blog and you could win an ARC of The Old Republic: Deceived. Meanwhile, the EUCast is giving away a copy of Knight Errant.
