When Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic debuted in July 2003, it was an instant sensation. It sidestepped the controversy surrounding the Star Wars prequels by introducing a new era set 4,000 years prior that was packed with Jedi Knights and a whole army of their nemeses, the Sith. Using BioWare's trademark in-depth dialogue system, the game let player's choices in individual situations build up to a permanent alignment with either the Dark or the Light sides of The Force. At times, the dilemmas were deliciously agonizing, such as when, right at the game's climax, a player was forced to chose between killing an Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque father figure or a romantic interest made all the more tempting by the Dark Side.

Nichols agreed that having strong dramatic underpinning is what will set the Old Republic apart from competitors such as World of Warcraft. "What's really missing [in other MMOs] is context--why you're doing all these missions, why you're on this quest, why you're out killing 10 wolves," he asserted. "So story puts that in the context, and gives you a much more immersive experience where you're really building a stronger relationship with your online character than you would without it."

Indeed, BioWare is confident that The Old Republic's story will focus on character and affect gameplay like no other MMORPG before. "Because our stories revolve around a player's class, his role, we're able to tell stories that are very focused on who the player is, which is something other BioWare games haven't been able to do," explained Ohlen.

Ohlen went on to explain that each of the game's two factions will contain various classes, each with its own unique backstory. So far, the only classes confirmed are the Jedi and Sith, which will allow players to wield lightsabers and force powers "very early on," versus well into the game as was the case with the first KOTOR.

"The big difference, and what makes it so impactful when you're playing it, is you have no save button," said Erickson, a borderline sadistic glint in his eye.

"One of the ways people have traditionally played BioWare games is by saying 'Oh my god, that's huge!' and quickly saving. "Then you reload and say 'Oh, that would've happened! That's exciting!' Well guess what, you're how many dozens of hours in...[and] that decision is going to make huge ramifications that are going to affect [you] for hours and hours. And you have to make it, and you have to live with it. That really puts an impact onto choices and story that's much stronger than we've ever been able to do in a game...During our testing, you can tell when these moments were happening, because you'll see people leaning back from their keyboards, wringing their hands."

Such trepidation is understandable, given that a player's choices will permanently open and close storyline options--and their included quests--and affect non-player characters' reactions. This latter factor is especially important, since players will have NPC companions as in the first two KOTORs. "You'll have dialogue with them and start building relationships with them," said Nichols. The interactions with companion NPCs will also open up new options, as they did in Mass Effect and other BioWare games, not all of which will be welcome. "Piss them off enough, and they may leave, and say 'Screw this, I'm outta here!'" joked Nichols, channeling his inner Eric Cartman.

The Old Republic game will feature "dozens" of worlds inhabited by players, including Coruscant, Tython, and Korriban, the Sith homeworld. Other planets mentioned in the announcement include Alderran, Utapau, Agamar, Dathomir, and Manaan, though their role in the game is unclear.

The amount of energy, resources, and enthusiasm being thrown at The Old Republic raises one obvious question: What about Galaxies? LucasArts was emphatic about the fact that there's enough room for two viable Star Wars MMORPGs to co-exist.

"We're looking to continue to support Galaxies with high-quality updates on into the future," said Jake Neri, producer for LucasArts' online division. "We're focused on a chapter release around Hoth, where we're re-creating the battle at Echo Base. We'll allow players to get in groups and jump in and just participate in a very high-quality battle. We've just released a trading card game inside of Galaxies, and fans are eating it up. Looking into next year, we're going to revamp our droid system with something called droid commander." Neri also said that SOE Austin was working in conjunction with LucasArts on further additions to Galaxies for years to come, with no end to the game in sight.

That said, Nichols is confident that the lessons learned from Galaxies' checkered history will be applied to The Old Republic. "What we can bring to the table is our experience with the brand," he said. "We can bring our knowledge of what's worked and what hasn't [worked] with Star Wars, and what's popular with Star Wars fans. We can bring elements to BioWare and say 'Hey, we know what works here and what doesn't, and let's see if we can kind of work together to kind of tweak this a little bit and tweak that.' And that's how the collaborative partnership is working."