By
Cody "Micajah" Bye, Managing Editor



The first time we were given a true hint of the identity of BioWare's
upcoming MMOG, the Ten Ton Hammer staff decided to give interested
gamers a taste of what they could expect in a few of the classes that
we were fairly certain would make their way into the game. As the
resident Star Wars nerd, I volunteered for fairly formidable task by
quickly raising a lightsaber wielding hand.



Now that the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/starwarstor/"
target="_blank">official announcement for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1422"
target="_blank">Star Wars: The Old Republic has
come and gone, I thought it might be worthwhile to again take a look at
the background behind each of the three classes that I explored in my
editorials. Take a look, read the editorials, then make sure you drop
us a line in our forums!

style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: right; width: 200px;"
border="1">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47095"> src="/image/view/47095/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">

The Jedi
seem to be far from the "watchdogs" I describe them to be in the
editorial.

The Jedi Order



In our target="_blank">editorial on the Jedi Knights, I
speculated that the BioWare developers would allow Jedi Knights to be
created at the very beginning of the players' journey through the
massively multiplayer game. The Jedi Knights - while still being the
"protectors" of the galaxy - have been painted with a very interesting
brush by the writer's at BioWare. Although the Jedi class story will
probably extol the virtues of the Order, it seems that the Jedi
themselves can be twisted by darkness and still maintain their
allegiance with the Galactic Republic.



That said, there will still be many, many Jedi scattered throughout the
game. Whether or not they outnumber the Sith has yet to be seen, but
BioWare has assured the gaming community that they have prepared
systems to handle the load of hundreds - if not thousands - of players
wanting to jump into the world as a Jedi Knight.



While we still haven't heard whether other Force-using classes will be
available in the game, it certainly sounds like the Jedi Knights - and
the Sith Lords - will be flexible in their own make-up and no two Jedi
or Sith will be alike. With this in mind, it sounds like BioWare is on
the right track.



The Sith Lords



Unlike the target="_blank">Sith that I discuss in my editorial,
the Sith Lords that BioWare describes are intriguing. Rather than
making the Sith a purely evil class, the developers at BioWare have put
an interesting spin on the Sith Empire and the Sith Lord class in
general. Rather than making the Sith Lords purely Dark Side, it seems
that BioWare is allowing for "good" Sith Lords to be created.

style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: left; width: 200px;"
border="1">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47093"> src="/image/view/47093/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">

The Sith can
actually become "good guys" in SWTOR.

While I have no idea how this mechanic is going to play in terms of
what Force powers the Sith are going to have access too, it's going to
make for an interesting dynamic in the context of the world the Sith
play in. Honestly, it's going to be interesting to see how many Sith
Lords decide to go down the path of "goodness" rather than follow the
path of Vader. I may certainly try this path, just to see what kind of
man a "good" Sith Lord can be.



The Mandalorians



As the SWTOR message boards can attest, the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41837" target="_blank">Mandalorians
are one of the most intriguing classes that BioWare has yet
to announce. From what I can tell, it seems reasonable to believe that
the Mandalorians will actually be on the side of the Galactic Republic
in SWTOR. Although this may sound unreasonable to many of you, the
great Mandalore was instructed to help Revan and the Jedi Exile against
the ancient Sith Empire at the end of KOTOR II. With this fact in mind,
it seems like the Mandalorians will still have their warrior culture
but will assume it as part of the Galactic Republic rather than the
Sith Empire.



What do you think? Were my editorials totally off base? Let us know on
the forums!