Convention season allows us the opportunity to learn a great deal about a game through presentations and hands on time, but it also gives us the ability to talk directly with the men and women working on every aspect of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. While our interviews normally focus on members of the LucasArts and BioWare teams, sometimes we are lucky enough to talk with other professionals who are working to bring you everything else TOR related. Today we spent some time with Dave Marshall, Associate Editor at Dark Horse Comics, to learn a little more about the webcomics Blood of the Empire and Threat of Peace.

This week's Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ update is a planet update in the form of Nar Shaddaa:



Also included in this week's update is a new issue of Blood of the Empire and information on the Threat of Peace in print. Working Dissection and decoded Aurebesh after the jump.

As a thank you to our community, our first Darth Hater Anniversary Week surprise is a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of Star Wars™: The Old Republic™: Threat of Peace™ - Part 1 from Dark Horse Comics, and each copy is autographed by author Rob Chestney!

TheForce.Net is reporting that Rob Chestney will be signing in the Austin area on Thursday, July 8th from 5-7pm:


For those interested, you can find directions and store info at Austin Books & Comics.

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.

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:


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


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:


More after the jump.

Although Dantooine has not been officially announced as a planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic, we repeatedly see it crop up in the marketing: namely within the Threat of Peace webcomic. With the recent influx of planet reveals, we thought it would be a good idea to reevaluate other locations we may see in future updates. Since BioWare is known to give hints to unreleased content, we feel it is in the community's best interest to take a closer look at one of the first known planets of the Star Wars universe.

According to various booksellers taking pre-orders, the Dark Horse's Star Wars: The Old Republic Volume 1 - Threat of Peace is supposedly on sale starting May 5, 2010. However, BioWare originally announced on the official site the publish date would be in April, and of course, all dates are subject to change. The paperback authored by BioWare's Rob Chestney, art by Alex Sanchez, and colors by Michael Atiyeh will feature 96 pages and carries this description:



Yesterday, G4's Fresh Ink reported the new webcomic Blood of The Empire will debut later this month.

In addition to Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams in July, swbooks.co.uk reported the second Star Wars: The Old Republic novel by Jack Kemp with what we think is a tentative or placeholder title of Star Wars: Stand-Alone 3.

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.

Its that time of the week again. Time to see what treats the developers have left for us. First up is a nice Developer Dispatch on Taris:


Along with the video on Taris is issue #27 of the Threat of Peace.

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.

Late last night, Sean Dahlberg made a post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic official forums regarding today's Friday Update. In addition to covering the actual update, Threat of Peace 25, he also briefly discussed how BioWare will be approaching the release of information over the coming weeks.