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SWTOR News
4/23/10 10:05 AM -
Friday Update: Blood of the Empire Webcomic Debuts & More 
by emlaeh
, posted April 23rd, 2010 at 10:05 AM
BioWare offered a really packed Friday Update this week, and included several announcements. First up, they announced the premiere issue of Blood of the Empire, the new webcomic:

The first issue of Blood of the Empire takes us to a galaxy engaged in war. The Sith Empire strikes blow after blow against a Republic reeling from the return of its ancient enemies, and the Jedi scramble to defend their holdings. But Imperial victory is far from certain...

Teneb Kel, a fiercely clever young man apprenticed as a Sith, is selected by his masters for a secret mission--a mission concerning the Emperor himself and a threat to the Dark Lords thousand-year plan. Doomed if he fails, expendable if he succeeds, Teneb must unravel the schemes at work around him if he is to seize control of his destiny and alter the course of history.

Check out the first issue written by Alexander Freed, illustrated by Dave Ross, inked by Mark McKenna, colored by Michael Atiyeh, and lettered by Michael Heisler!

And the latest Video Documentary, Combat in The Old Republic, is now available on the official site:

Whether you dream of beating the odds with just your luck and a blaster, or imagine restoring order to the galaxy with Force powers and a Lightsaber, you'll have your chance in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Weve talked a lot about how The Old Republic is innovating on storytelling in MMOs, and now we want to share with you how combat in The Old Republic will deliver a new level of excitement for fans. Check out our latest Video Documentary that focuses on Combat to get an inside look at how were bringing dynamic Star Wars action to life in Star Wars: The Old Republic!

Watch Combat in The Old Republic now!

BioWare's Sean Dahlberg was also busy putting up some new polls on the official site, and announced a Fan Friday. This one included a ton of fan-created art, new forum avatars, a Developer Corner featuring a screenshot of a taxi and a video of Belsavis(?) focusing on environmental design with ZOMG WATER EFFECTS:

We're kicking off this Fan Friday by featuring some outstanding work by various members of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community. We also have some great stuff to show off in the Developer Corner, along with new polls and avatars! Make sure to catch it all!

More after the jump.
 
And finally, the announcement of the official publish date for Threat of Peace:

Great news for comic book collectors! BioWare, LucasArts, and Dark Horse Comics are gearing up for the release of a three issue comic series of Star Wars: The Old Republic Threat of Peace. Each issue features 27 vibrant full-color story pages, and will be priced at $2.99.

Experience the passions and convictions driven by a handful of Star Wars heroes and villains as they reignite a legendary war between dark and light in this comic series originally published entirely online. The story takes place more than three thousand six hundred years before the rise of Darth Vader, and three hundred years after the fall of Darth Malak. If you haven't seen Threat of Peace, you can check it out on The Old Republic website.

The first volume is embraced in a beautifully designed cover done by Benjamin Carr, and has a variant cover illustrated by Kai Li and Sunny Gho with art directed by Stan Zipnka from Attik. This action-packed, character-driven story was written by BioWare's Rob Chestney, illustrated by Alex Sanchez, colored by Michael Atiyeh, and lettered by Michael Heisler.

The first issue of this three-part series will be released in comic book stores starting July 7, 2010 with two other subsequent issues following monthly thereafter. Find out where you can get your hands on the Threat of Peace by visiting comicshoplocator.com or by calling 1-888-COMIC-BOOK to find the location nearest you!

You can pre-order your copy here.
 
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42 Comments
Comment by chronium made on April 26th, 2010 at 9:53pm
I wonder how effective fall damage is going to be in combat, especially when blasting people into canyons :D
 
Comment by adipokerface made on April 27th, 2010 at 12:57pm
I bet it would be pretty minimal. If you consider in the 20 minute long dev video when they do the mission after killing the captain the sith warrior does that flying attack thing from the top of a balcony down to the area below and i dont think there was any damage done unless i just didnt see it or it hadn't been set up right yet for fall damage. But otherwise i bet they could think of reasons to avoid fall damage for other characters such as bounty hunter using his/her jetpack just before hitting the ground etc..
EDIT; just read your comment properly lol i missed the "in combat" bit :P still should think it would be minimal unless you're stunned and fall a rediculous distance
 
Comment by chronium made on April 27th, 2010 at 2:49pm
Well the distance in the video was pretty small so no I wouldn't expect any damage from that but the charge attack also cancels out any fall damage he would have taken anyways. What I am reffering to is that some of the knock backs look like they are sending opponents over 10 feet away, which would be exploitable by throwing people off of buildings, especially if it's on a roof in some instance, or throwing someone of the edge of a 100 foot cliff.
 
Comment by adipokerface made on April 27th, 2010 at 4:22pm
Was it? Hmm maybe my memory of it has been exaggerated since! But still theres no reason why someone with a jetpack should fall to their death. Maybe an obese bounty hunter..
 
Comment by mysterio73 made on April 26th, 2010 at 8:22pm
Hmmmm... Me thinks there may be some TK elements in game (possibly)--with the comment from one of the characters about the 9 edicts of Teras Kasi.... I can only hope LOL
 
Comment by Daspien made on April 24th, 2010 at 11:19am
Teneb Kel facial feature is kinda like the one shown in a Fan Friday on a female head, its red on the female though.
 
DH Team
Comment by Zoidberg made on April 25th, 2010 at 9:26am
"Barbados Slim! Last I heard, you were in Barbados!" Now that that distraction is out of the way, I noticed the facial feature on Teneb Kel will sometimes be different colors. It starts out red but ends up black by the end.
 
Comment by adipokerface made on April 26th, 2010 at 5:41am
RUN, YOU MAHOGANY GOD!
 
Comment by nedostup made on April 26th, 2010 at 9:24am
If I'd wanted a human Adonis for a husband, I'd have stayed married to Barbados Slim.
 
Comment by adipokerface made on April 24th, 2010 at 11:05am
Because the video showed jedi defeating sith on republic planets and sith beating jedi on empire planets (some of the fights, not all) i wonder if you get a little stat boost on one of your own planets. For example the sith on korriban beating 2 jedi, if they were PCs then you'd need a boost to beat them both you should think..

Also i know its WiP but did anyone else think the wrist rockets looked a bit crappy? Like the way they flew all weird and not in a straight line lol.

On the bounty subject, im not convinced the BH really needs a "GET OVER HERE!!!" ability. Or rather im surprised they've put it in considering they're just going to get slated for "copying" WoW by fan boys. Plus they clearly already have an ability to get up close to enemies (that jetpack attack). Meh whatever it's gonna be awesome anyway.
 
Comment by Reliant made on April 23rd, 2010 at 5:27pm
Anyone think the first couple pages of the comic are a hint at what they are trying for with PvP? Again with the turrets. They seem to keep coming up...hmm
 
Comment by Korrick made on April 23rd, 2010 at 3:21pm
Love the new comic the artwork is way better.
 
Comment by heybarn made on April 23rd, 2010 at 6:06pm
Yeah, more than 3 pages and some very smart linework & inking /salute
 
Comment by r2d2arm made on April 23rd, 2010 at 4:56pm
Agreed! Very nice artwork and a rather intriguing story so far.
 
Comment by Jamis made on April 23rd, 2010 at 3:19pm
Loved the new comic much more then Threat of Peace. The art style is much better also.
 
Comment by Ianril made on April 23rd, 2010 at 2:13pm
The lighter side of the dark side.... The Sith showing compassion for his slave. Love it.
 
DH Team
Comment by Sleeper made on April 23rd, 2010 at 8:47pm
Not only for the companion, but for what the Republic has done to the planet is what I caught.
 
Comment by Ianril made on April 26th, 2010 at 2:01pm
Definitely. It almost makes me (a hardcore Republic player in SWG) see a place for someone like myself on the dark side of things... Shows a SITH in a different light rather than just utter destruction for no reason.
 
Comment by adipokerface made on April 24th, 2010 at 10:31am
And! For the soldiers, when he says about the view from the balcony or whatever it was.
 
Comment by Sztanyi made on April 23rd, 2010 at 12:41pm
I really liked the new comic... Since BW loves hiding things i'd like to speculate on 2 things... First off, it is mentioned in the comic on page 3 that the statues were monuments to warriors and alchemists.. and the governor is mining for gem stones... so maybe alchemy is a profession in TOR? with gem stones being an ingredient for the items they can make?

Also Maggot, the apprentice.. on page 4 he says a human would have died from his injuries... So maybe he is a playable race (sry i can't tell what race he is, im not very familiar with recognizing different species..).

As a bonus it can be presumed that different species have racial bonuses.... for Maggot this may be something like a passive +hp regen, or maybe tough skin which gives plus armor or something...
 
DH Team
Comment by emlaeh made on April 25th, 2010 at 1:41am
You don't build monuments for secondary professions. ;)

Naga Sadow wrote many Sith Alchemy texts. So did Darth Sidious/Palpatine & Darth Plageus.

One of the biggest things about Sith Alchemy was getting the dead to rise to work for you and mutating species, as well as creating special items that did unique things.

Sith Alchemist might be a proper name. ;)
 
Comment by zechio made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:15pm


I think Maggot is more of an example of a companion than player. I recently read about his species, but I'll have to look that back up..gimme a few.
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 12:50pm
Maggot looks like the the same species as the tank companion from the Inquisitor demo preview.

I would more think from how alchemy is used in Star Wars universe it would either be our form of enchanting or a specialty tree branch for Sith Inquisitors.
 
Comment by GreenT made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:22pm
Isn't he an Abyssin?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Abyssin

They can regenerate very quickly.
 
Comment by RogueJedi86 made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:21pm
Maggot is an Abyssin, and the Inquisitor companion is a Dashade. Notice Maggot's one eye, it gives it away. Abyssin are notoriously good at regenerating from near-death, which was a nice nod in the comic. :)
 
Comment by ValiceKohn made on April 23rd, 2010 at 2:35pm
Didn't the dev's mention that there will be more than one option (for each class) when it comes to your companion? (I'm about 90% on this)
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 2:44pm
There's going to be at least 5 companion variations the melee tank, ranged tank, melee dps, ranged dps, and the healer.
 
Comment by zechio made on April 24th, 2010 at 3:53pm
I'm banking on 8. They mentioned once that they didn't think they could do as much as with their other games. It would be insane to have that many, but it was needed so they did it. That sure would be crazy though ( 64 companions in total! )
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:27pm
yeah it's been a while since I looked at the Inquisitor companion. But thanks for pointing that out.
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 12:40pm
hmm have they hinted at the next planet reveal in the fan friday video?

The scene with the holographic star system is not one of the already revealed planets because this system made up of 1 sun with 5 planets. The 2nd planet from the sun has 6 moons, and the3rd planet from the sun has 3 moons. EDIT: The 4th planet from the sun has 1 moon. My guess just based on the camera zoom is that the planet with 5 moons is the playable planet.
 
Comment by zechio made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:27pm
From the webcomic: "Twenty-five years before the treaty of Coruscant. The planet Begeren."

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Begeren

It fits right in with Voss..it had barely been mentioned in 2 source books previously, and the little given was about it around the time of the original trilogy...leaving things very wide open for TOR.

Who knows if this relates to what you saw, but a map in game could be a map of any system. They could have maps of star systems that have been destroyed, or ones we can't go to, etc. :)
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:37pm
Sure it could be a brand new system but we have access to a large amount of systems that already exist that should be checked on before ruling them out.
 
Comment by Caliber made on April 23rd, 2010 at 12:47pm
"Yavin 4 was one of three habitable moons orbiting the gas giant Yavin."
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yavin_4

Yavin IV could be one possibility for the 3rd planet from the star, but I don't know what the rest of the system looks like.
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 12:53pm
Yavin system doesn't work http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yavin_system />
The Yavin system was a three-planet star system in the Outer Rim Territories that contained the gas giant Yavin Prime and its twenty-six moons; three of which were habitable: Yavin 4, Yavin 8, and Yavin 13.
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 1:15pm
Huh I actually could be wrong, it could be the Dromund System. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dromund_system I missed the moon on the 4th planet. Also in the video the 3rd moon is so small that it actually could be a space station, the Starforge maybe?
 
Comment by chronium made on April 23rd, 2010 at 2:01pm
Just looking at the Outer Rim alone there are 3 other possible systems

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yartiv_system />http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lan_system />http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lamaro_system />
But they can't be confirmed due to lack of information.
 
Comment by Xavier made on April 23rd, 2010 at 11:59am
Three entries in one week. That was pretty sweet. Even the "work in progress" video on the Fan Friday was pretty cool. Since we've had all of our "normal" updates for the month and then some, I'm curious to see what next week holds. Biographies maybe? Or, perhaps something new?
 
Comment by PercMerc made on April 23rd, 2010 at 11:57am
Maggot seems like a cool companion for the Sith. Hope there's a possible companion like him in the game.
 
Comment by Savich made on April 23rd, 2010 at 11:10am
Blood of the Empire is so much better looking than Threat of Peace. :)
 
Comment by GreenT made on April 23rd, 2010 at 10:50am
Sarlacc Enforcer forum avatars! Yeah!

 
Comment by Xilln made on April 23rd, 2010 at 10:21am
Lovely stuff, I assumed the combat video would count as the Friday update, glad to see this isn't the case!
 
Comment by ValiceKohn made on April 23rd, 2010 at 10:16am
Love the art-style of the new comic and the introduction of new characters and a new planet. :)