Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

There are few events in the world that are as perfect for Star Wars fans as the San Diego Comic-Con, and that fact was readily apparent by the vast number of Jedi, stormtroopers, and Sith walking the show floor on a daily basis. The folks at Lucasarts and BioWare did not miss this fact during their summer convention planning, and Star Wars: The Old Republic had a strong presence at the show. With the latest cinematic trailer running full bore above their heads, Ten Ton Hammer's Cody Bye had a pleasant chat with developers Jake Neri, Hall Hood, Dallas Dickinson, Alexander Freed, and Jeff Dobson about multiple aspects of SW:TOR, including fan expectations, combat content, and exploring the expanded universe.

Ten Ton Hammer: I was talking with a gamer that hadn't actually heard of Star Wars: The Old Republic, and when I mentioned that the game was going to be fully voiced and would focus heavily on story, he thought it would never work simply because gamers - especially in MMOs - constantly skip past story to get to the action. How do you fight that sort of cynicism?

Dallas: There's something different with the story you get in BioWare RPGs. There's voice over on all the NPCs and all the characters. It creates an immersion that simply isn't there in other games. That's one of the things we learned with Mass Effect - and I think was one of the reasons why the game was so popular when it was released.

• To read the rest of the SW:TOR interview, click here!