Interview: Star Wars The Sith Legacy of the Old Republic premieres December 14

Ten years Star Wars: The Old Republic. Ten years of storytelling in the vast universe millions of people around the world have loved since the first movies came out in the 70’s. BioWare, the developer behind the hugely successful MMO as well as single player RPG Knight of the old republic The series hasn’t slowed down either. The next expansion in SWTOR the lineup is Legacy of the Sith, will be out on December 14^NS, in 2021.

The expansion takes players back to the ocean planet Manaan, although this time returning players may notice some changes. The planet itself became the center of a struggle between the Empire and the Republic, with both factions fighting over a substance called Kolto, known for its healing properties. Because of the struggle between the Empire and the Republic, the Sith have invaded the often idyllic planet Manaan, taking the player to a very different experience than before when he got there.

Manaan is not the only place SWTOR Players will visit, as a new Flashpoint, Elom, will also appear alongside the MMO’s expansion. Players will pursue Darth Malgus to a temple dedicated to a mysterious Sith lord. Elom is a distant planet, and in the territory of the Sith it is not known to many people. Dotted with ancient ruins, technology as well as rival forces are searching for the mysterious Sith lord whose temple is there, as well as trying to figure out what drew Sith lord Darth Malgus to the area. this area.

A new activity will be released soon Legacy of the Sith, with the player entering deep space to investigate an anomaly. The team describes it as having a “space horror vibe” with a “scary” and “intense” environment. The activities, for those unfamiliar with the title, are Star Wars: The Old Republic version of the raid. The R-4 Installation is a secret research facility in an Empire asteroid and has been taken over by a Sith, Unmasked cult.

Players will recognize some characters that will intersect your path in Legacy of the Sith, which includes the aforementioned evil character Darth Malgus, as well as newer characters introduced in the previous expansion, Onslaught. Players will join Imperial Commando Major Arni, now graduated Jedi Knight Arn Prealun, Lana Beniko, Tau Idair, Darth Rivix, and more.

Legacy of the Sith however, not simply an expansion release. Project Manager Keith Kanneg talked about how this was a platform update for SWTOR and how it started to work, which the group hopes will be the foundation for the next ten years.

“Yea, you look at it, we have a ten year old game, don’t we?” Kanneg told MMORPG in an interview earlier this week. “And there are a lot of decisions that have been made about the game since ten, even twelve or fifteen years ago. So what we have to do is relax some of that and look and say, ‘Well, what do we want to do? Where do we want to go? How do we want to expand? Because if you look at it as a platform product, what are you looking at as how can we attract new players? It’s not just about continuing to attract players who have been there and bringing them back. Yes, we want that too, but how do you attract new people, right? ”

To that end, the team is looking at everything from the underlying technology including improving the user interface to better scaling on modern screens, even looking at the basic way players play. MMO access. While Kanneg stipulates a full engine overhaul, there’s still a desire to improve the technology so that the work the artists do on the mediums and models shine and look like they’re a good fit. games in 2021 compared to 10 years ago.

Charles Boyd, creative director for SWTOR added that while MMOs are an investment for players, the team wants those players to feel like BioWare and EA are invested in more than simply updating content.

“MMO is a kind of investment, right? As a player, you will spend a lot of time on this. You will probably play it for a while. And it’s a game that will last for a while and will grow, change, and evolve. So it’s important for both existing players and potential new players to hear us talk about that stuff, to know that we’ve invested in this game from the start, right? BioWare, Electronic Arts, the dev team – we’re all great Star Wars: The Old Republic and it has been our passion for many, many years and will continue to be. And part of that is creating new content, new content. That’s very important, but shows that we want to make this game a game of the present for the future, not just adding new bells and whistles. We are ready, will and can update”.

It’s fitting that in addition to the new content coming with this update, Legacy of the Sith is also seeing a fundamental change to the way classes work and the way characters are built with Battle style update. This puts more power in the hands of players to create the Star Wars character they’ve always dreamed of. Boyd uses the example of Captain Rex when talking about building a character using the new Combat Styles system, which allows players to create their own version of the character type in the game. SWTOR – an example soldier now carries two pistols and fights like a gunman.

This is important, especially in a BioWare game where too many player and agency choices can affect how you feel about the story. Unlike other MMO games where you are just another person in the grand scheme of things in a story, SWTOR still retains some of the charm of BioWare, where you really get to play as an important character in the plot. But creating combat styles and allowing more players to control their characters, that brings even more of the player agency the studio is known for into MMOs.

It’s that level of character development and character control that feels unique in the MMO space, especially in the story-driven experience. While one can easily register SWTOR’s long in the MMO world until it’s a Star Wars game, there’s something to be said for a studio that delivers the uniqueness of the genre to fans, as well as a team always listen and try to respond to as much feedback as possible.

“For me, I think it’s because it brings that BioWare experience into this MMO space where you can share it with your friends, right?” Boyd said when asked what the team would say helped keep things going in the long run. “Other MMOs have certainly gone deeper into the story, haven’t they? You can see some great storytelling today compared to what happened before, in the MMOs and online content of the ’00s and late ’90s. But [to] still having the level of interaction and character development as well as controlling your own characters and what their motivations are is something that is still pretty unique to the MMO space. And it’s constantly merging with itself, because every time you add new content, you’re adding new choices, new content, new developments, new little touches about your character or whatever. What makes you love it, keeps you invested and what doesn’t. It’s not just ‘What will happen to all my favorite characters.’ It was ‘What will happen to my character? [What’s] What will my character do? ‘ I feel like [that] make it stand out and give it that longevity. “