Come Get Your Old Republic Special Editions…Maybe

Dear Reader,

So you can start pre-ordering “Star Wars: The Old Republic” right…about…now. But I know, you’re looking to me to tell you if you should. My definitive answer is “perhaps.” I played the hell out of it at E3, and got a special backstage presentation from Bioware, but my mind still isn’t made up. On the one hand, the basic raiding myself, Eric, Break and Mecha experienced was certainly enjoyable. We went to a place with bad things. We killed them. Some numbers appeared above our heads next to a plus sign.

On the other hand, TOR’s space combat has a lot of people worried, and with even WoW going free up until Level 20, it’s possible that Bioware has jumped into the subscription-based MMO pool too late. With the amount that this thing is costing to make, they’re not going to have the financial leeway to cut you a break. They built this city on the assumption that you’d be shelling out on a monthly basis. And rock and roll.

Anyway, whatever you decide, hit the jump to read about the collector’s editions you’ll possibly be ordering. Unless you don’t, in which case you shouldn’t.

So you got three choices:

-Standard. Comes with 30 free days of play, pretty standard.

-Digital Deluxe. For about another ten Euros (do your own conversions!), you get five exclusive virtual items: a flare gun (yawn), training droid (snore), HoloCam (oh for the love of God, snore), STAP vehicle (looks like this), and a personal HoloDancer. If that last one is what it sounds like, then congratulations, Bioware, you just won Ten Andrew Euros.

-Collector’s Edition. And for those of you with disposable income and no self-respect, there’s the Collector’s Edition. This one contains all of the above-mentioned perks, along with a statue of Darth Malgus, some phony journal from an in-game character which you should be punched for actually reading, the score on a CD (whatever those are), a map of the in-game galaxy, and a “custom security authorization key.”

The only actually cool thing the Collector’s Edition offers is access to an exclusive in game “Collector’s Store,” where you’ll allegedly be able to purchase or acquire items that the plebeians who were foolish enough to purchase the Digital Deluxe could never dream of. Depending on how thoroughly they implement that idea, it could be one of the cooler perks I’ve heard of.

But you’re paying well over a hundred bucks for the privilege, so make sure it’s worth it.

–AA

like regular chickens