Delving into the history of the people, places, and things in Star Wars: The Old Republic is our favorite hobby here at Darth Hater. While dissecting and discussing, we realized a very important aspect of Star Wars was missing on our site: factions. We wanted to take a closer look at the groups that may play a key role in the adventures we will experience in game, and our premiere entry for this series was an obvious choice. Here is our in-depth look at the Mandalorians.

While not officially announced as a playable planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic, Geonosis sits with Dantooine and Yavin IV on the list of possible additions. A promising candidate, Geonosis is mentioned in multiple forms of marketing: including the Timeline, Biography section, and even the Threat of Peace. Geonosis is an iconic location with an important role in the films and continued development in books. A closer look at Geonosis reveals some interesting possibilities.

Sean Dahlberg alerted us to a new tab on the HoloNet: Inhabitants.


Darth Hater consensus speculation is none of the described Inhabitants are playable so far, including both Humanoids.

Plus, we were informed about three more characters we may see in game:


Aurebesh translations and dissections after the jump (keep checking back; we're updating this on the fly).

Here at Darth Hater we are constantly examining any media released for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The Holonet, in particular, quickly became one of our most valued resources in this endeavor. Framed by the ever important fourth pillar, each new release on the official site slowly increases our knowledge of the people and places we will encounter when players finally get their hands on the game. In light of the recent addition of a biographies section, we thought it might be a good idea to look back over the Holonet and find all the people we have been introduced to over the past year and a half.

Note: This article will be updated over time as we include new items to the dissection.

As reported on Club Jade, Random House revealed a description for the new Star Wars: The Old Republic novel, Fatal Alliance. The Sean Williams novel hits shelves on July 20, 2010. Pre-orders are available through the Random House online store, and the price listed is $27 USD for Del Ray's hardcover edition.

Description after the jump.

A few weeks ago Belsavis was revealed as the 11th planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Although this planet isn't very well known, it offers a chance for BioWare to showcase their abilities at developing a unique story. A quick glance at the available lore helps to showcase this fact and helps to highlight BioWare's interesting choice in planets.

The official Star Wars website posted an original short story today by Rob Chestney entitled Smuggler's Vanguard. Rob Chestney previously brought us the Threat of Peace webcomic. The story focuses on Hylo Visz, a Mirialan smuggler known to us from the timeline series as the leader of the smuggler fleet that broke the Mandalorian Blockade.

There are many interesting references in the story. Planets referenced include Corellia, Talus, and Nal Hutta, as well as Hutta's moon, Nar Shaddaa. Hylo's ship is called the Crimson Fleece, and the supporting characters include a Nikto named Musk, Barrga the Hutt, and an unnamed Weequay.

The story contains a mix of action and subterfuge and fits the concept of the Smuggler to a tee. For more details, follow the link to the full story below. Hat tip to Jedidsm on the heads up.

There have been six Star Wars: The Old Republic timeline videos produced and presented by BioWare and LucasArts to date. Each one reveals more about the history leading up to the story we will see in Star Wars: The Old Republic. With an analysis of the timeline videos, both individually and as a whole, an idea of the greater story begins to appear. Note: ATC (After the Treaty of Coruscant) / BTC (Before the Treaty of Coruscant)

A few months ago we got a not-so-subtle tip from Rob Chestney that the Threat of Peace webcomic is an important asset for internet detectives following Star Wars: The Old Republic. For us here at Darth Hater, we see it as a relatively untapped well of gameplay and story information, possibly rivaling the Holonet. To this end we thought it might be a good idea to look at some of the more unusual or interesting clues that may be hidden in the art and story of the comic. Hit the jump for a fresh look at the Threat of Peace.

Last Friday, Taris became the tenth announced planet for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Taris is an iconic and special location for fans of BioWare, first seen in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Taris was mentioned in numerous books and other video games, such as Star Wars: Empire at War. Perhaps by understanding how Taris evolved into abandoned ruins, we can understand why the Republic would wish to start anew.

Literally a week after fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic received big news with the Jedi Knight reveal, we got another exciting news-bit with the announcement of the Imperial Agent. I do have to say, after some voiced concerns that the updates for the game were not "ramping up", two class announcements in as many weeks goes a long way to counteract such feelings. The number of classes revealed for The Old Republic is now at six, with two more still waiting in the wings. For now, let's focus a bit on our newest class for TOR.

Sith. Is it a species? Is it an empire? Is it an ideology? Lets go with all of the above. Most important when thinking of the Sith these days is the ideology. The Sith Order is the evil counterpart to the Jedi. They stole their name from the first aliens they subjugated when they were exiled from the Jedi Order. Time to put on your thinking caps class, because it is time to study the Dark Side