Go Go Gadget Flamethrower

A great week for Star Wars: The Old Republic updates. I was particularly interested in reading a lot of the many new hands-on articles out there, simply because they focus on the Bounty Hunter, which is still so far my class of choice.

Watching the Star Wars movies as a kid, I was never dazzled by Luke Skywalker or even by the roguish charms of Han Solo. No, for me, it was always about the Fett man. To this day, I still try to convince myself that the new prequel movies never happened, that they were really just in my head, a waking nightmare induced by all the wild shenanigans of my teenage years. But alas, they did happen and with every blasted Spike TV Star Wars marathon I am reminded of how those movies robbed my favorite bounty hunter of all his delicious mystery.

But I digress.

Reading these articles, what really interests me is that the Bounty Hunter doesn’t necessarily have to be a depraved and evil class, despite the shady archetype. If I can choose to be a self-serving character, unbeholden to any Sith Master or Empire stooge, and have the ability to make decisions based on own moral compass, I’ll be a happy camper. That said, the alignment system will probably make a light-sided Bounty Hunter out of me. The prospect of being a “gadgeteer” is also very appealing, in addition to the mobile and aggressive “cover-is-for-pussies” play style.

This week’s EA EU Press Event also gave us a wealth of information. With the introduction of the Advanced Class System, Bioware has set up a new page to give us more information on how it will work. This game just officially gave me one of those pinch-myself-to-make-sure-I’m-awake moments. Every time I turn around it seems like they’re announcing something fabulous, but this stands to make a lot of people happy if they manage to pull it off. Take as much time as you need, Bioware, I can wait a while longer if it means a fine polish over everything you promise to deliver.

There’s also a new dev blog out on creating worlds, with a focus on the mysterious planet of Voss. Their choice of planet to talk about was probably no accident, given how very little anyone knows about Voss. “Open for creativity” was a relatively good way to put it. A few days ago, fellow blogger Hunter wrote up a nice summary of his thoughts on the SWTOR planets revealed to date, and he called it — Voss appears to be rife with original story elements. I just love seeing how the devs think, and the amount of thought and care being invested into their game never ceases to amaze me.