The Old Republic still on track for 2011

08 Jun 2011 at 00:40:26 by Tim McDonald

BioWare's live streaming session of The Old Republic has just finished, and we've got a few tidbits for you.

First and foremost is that, while BioWare was adamantly not giving out anything even resembling a release date, lead writer Daniel Erickson was happy to say "We are still on track for 2011."

That aside, we saw a new DPS-based companion character for the Bounty Hunter class (a Jawa, rather dangerously named Blizz) and a fair bit of gameplay based around the sandy and barren Tatooine.

We've finally got a look at how death is handled, for instance. Dead players have the option to either respawn back at a friendly area or to call in a medical probe to heal them. This revives the player with barely any health but puts them into a "stealth mode", letting them escape away from enemies to heal up. The more you die, the longer it takes for the probe to arrive.

In terms of other bits and bobs: the level cap is currently set at 50 while PvP is currently possible at level 1 (both subject to change), and there is indeed a Sarlacc in the game. "Jumping in it is sort of fun," mused Erickson, "but throwing somebody in it is REALLY fun."

The Old Republic is expected to hit PC late this year.

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