Moon Over Endor: BioWare Blog: Writing the Jedi Knight

Alright, so it seems that I can't predict worth a damn. Last week I predicted that we'd get the next class reveal sometime around Christmas. And though technically not a reveal (no holonet entry yet), today we get to know the sixth class. But I'll get to that in a moment.

First of all we have another Threat of Peace comic; the nineteenth issue and the start of the third chapter (and here I didn't even realize that the previous chapter had finished). Here’s the official news:

The nineteenth issue of Threat of Peace™ marks the start of the third chapter in the story, beginning with the Bounty Hunter Braden returning from his visit to Coruscant. Reporting in, Braden gets further orders from Nok Drayen, and an insightful question. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Tavus meets Jedi Knight Fortris Gall in the ruins of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. The truth about the recent attacks begins to unfold.

Fans of the series will be pleased to know that the Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace webcomic will be published as a graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics in Spring of 2010. The book will comprise all issues of Threat of Peace as well as all new, previously unreleased content.

Additional materials will include all-new cover art and previously unseen sketches from the comic as well as concept art from the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game. Liner notes will provide new insight on the characters and storylines in the comic and how they relate to what players will experience in the game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Threat of Peace will be available at comic shops and bookstores in early May 2010. We’ll have more information about the publication early next year.

Check out the latest issue of Threat of Peace now.

The main update this Friday however is another BioWare blog entry, this one by Drew Karpyshyn (writer of the Darth Bane novels). It seems that Drew has been redeemed, leaving the darkside behind as he's working on the Jedi Knight class. Though he still seems to struggle with all those tempting darkside choices. Here's an excerpt:

Let’s start this blog off with an introduction. My name is Drew Karpyshyn. I was the lead writer on the original Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic™ game, as well as the author of several Star Wars™ novels. And I’m here to tell you about the Jedi Knight character class.

Now, anyone who’s familiar with my novels Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Darth Bane: Rule of Two and the upcoming Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil might be surprised to hear I’m working on the Jedi Knight class. But I was excited to step away from the dark side so I could embrace the challenge of writing the “good guy”. (Or “girl,” of course.)

The blog makes me feel a lot better about the Jedi Knight class than the GameSpot Q&A does actually. All those moral choices that Drew talks about should make for a very delicious class (where the Q&A painted the Jedi Knight more as a "Sith Warrior in a different color robe"). The only real drawback tend to be that in the morally black-and-white Star Wars universe such moral choices are always incredibly obvious. Even with Drew's examples I'm scratching my head trying to figure out where the dilemma is.

Anyway.

I thought that that was it, a nice blog entry and the fortnightly comic. That's about in line with the usual Friday updates. But then I got a second email from Sean noting this little gem:

And the next class reveal is…

For those of you who may have attended or read reviews from the Electronic Arts European Press Tour that happened earlier this week, you already know the answer to this. It’s the Imperial Agent!

The Imperial Agent is heavily inspired by several classic Star Wars characters such as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin. Imperial Agents work behind the scenes to get the work of the Empire done. Specializing in high-tech gear, the Imperial Agent always has the right tools at the right time. They use abilities of subversion and subterfuge to infiltrate and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire with deadly efficiency. Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic (TOR) will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light.

Stay tuned for the Imperial Agent’s HoloNet update next week. In the meanwhile, join the speculation on the Imperial Agent’s class forums!

UPDATE: IncGamer has some screenshots up, too:

http://www.incgamers.com/News/19490/...imperial-agent

... as well as our very own Darth Hater:

http://darthhater.com/2009/11/06/imp...n-perss-event/

So the next class is the Imperial Agent. Very nice to have that bit of persistent speculation finally confirmed. Though I must say that I'm a tad surprised that this class is the Grand Moff Tarkin archetype as that leaves me utterly confused about the fourth class (ok, not 'utterly', I can still see something like a Trade Federation Viceroy type class, commanding battle droids).

And as said, IncGamer has a bunch of screenshots as well: