The fourth pillar of story has just widened its base this morning as BioWare announced three more supporting characters to the line-up. An Alderaani noble, a tight-lipped Sullustan, and an Imperial super-spy brand the front web page of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Who are they, and what role do they play in the world arc?
The Alderaani known as Bouris Ulgo "gave us pants" according to Daniel Erickson's joke at the PAX presentation. However, the truth is Ulgo is the self-proclaimed King of Alderaan. What role does the House of Ulgo play in the conflict on this independent planet? That is yet to be discovered, but we do know Ulgo has gone mad since the return of the banished House of Thule (not the one from the EverQuest expansion -- it confused me, too.)
Diab Duin is the Sullustan diplomat Supreme Chancellor entrusted to keep the secret of Aeten II. It is possible the Chancellor believed this quiet pessimist would be over-looked by Imperial spies and assassins, but one this is for certain: the secret of the stygium crystals is safe with him.
When one has risen to the the upper echelons of Imperial Intelligence, he loses his personal identity and becomes known only by his code name. In this case, we are talking about the "Keeper." Every unscrupulous deal of assassination or territorial infiltration is controlled by the Keeper. If he fails at his job, the Empire is quick to replace him.
To find out more about these spies and nobles of the SWTOR universe, check out their biographies on the official site.
Reader Comments (7)
Posted: Oct 22nd 2010 7:28PM (Unverified) said
I know a lot of people are skeptical about the whole 're-rolling is endgame' thing Bioware has hinted at. However I'm pretty damn excited for this story.
Honestly, I think I'll play all 8 classes to get the whole story, beyond what the gameplay does to keep me coming back to a certain class and toon, or main. So even if I end up loving the Trooper, which is my plan for my first toon, and hating the Consular, I'll probably play through all of the Consular just to absorb it all.
I got 3 toons beyond my main to 80 in WoW, getting there however was nowhere near as rewarding as dinging. I ended up looking at the time I spent leveling these alts skeptically wondering if I had wasted it. With TOR I'm getting the feeling that I'll feel a definite sense of achievement after completing a class story. And it will be a good one!
This is all my opinion, and hopeful speculation.
Honestly, I think I'll play all 8 classes to get the whole story, beyond what the gameplay does to keep me coming back to a certain class and toon, or main. So even if I end up loving the Trooper, which is my plan for my first toon, and hating the Consular, I'll probably play through all of the Consular just to absorb it all.
I got 3 toons beyond my main to 80 in WoW, getting there however was nowhere near as rewarding as dinging. I ended up looking at the time I spent leveling these alts skeptically wondering if I had wasted it. With TOR I'm getting the feeling that I'll feel a definite sense of achievement after completing a class story. And it will be a good one!
This is all my opinion, and hopeful speculation.
Posted: Oct 23rd 2010 12:50PM Tom in VA said
Different experiences in most MMOs, WoW among them, are offered through playing alts of different classes. This, for me, was fairly fun, as it at least allows one a *slightly* different playing experience, even if the quests all become painfully familiar after a couple playthroughs.
WoW (and similar MMOs) also offers different factions. Again, this affords players with a slightly different leveling experience, with sometimes different quests.
SWTOR really takes this "re-rolling a toon" aspect of play a quantum leap forward, by offering different quest and story experiences for each individual classes. Leveling alts is my "endgame" in most MMOs (since I won't raid or grind dungeons), I am really looking forward to this aspect of SWTOR.
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WoW (and similar MMOs) also offers different factions. Again, this affords players with a slightly different leveling experience, with sometimes different quests.
SWTOR really takes this "re-rolling a toon" aspect of play a quantum leap forward, by offering different quest and story experiences for each individual classes. Leveling alts is my "endgame" in most MMOs (since I won't raid or grind dungeons), I am really looking forward to this aspect of SWTOR.
Posted: Oct 22nd 2010 7:30PM Larry Everett said
I am totally with you there, but then I have 300+ hours logged into Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. I'm in it for the story as well as the gameplay.
Posted: Oct 22nd 2010 7:39PM RogueJedi86 said
I like the Sullustan's backstory, seems like a nice guy. And I know Bouris' thing in the news post says he's renegade, but I think he was very justified in declaring martial law to stop the political squabbling between the rivaling Houses of Alderaan. I can imagine us encountering him early on Alderaan before we're sent off to deal with the House that's friendly to our faction.
Posted: Oct 22nd 2010 9:39PM (Unverified) said
I quite enjoy these bios and yes, I will play all available classes because of different storylines. In fact I think I'll be playing this game to 2020 or something
Posted: Oct 23rd 2010 6:50AM Bezza said
I suspect SWTOR is one game where Altitis is the norm. I honestly can not think of any reason i would not play, and enjoy playing each class. Doing so for both the experiance of playing each class and the subsiquent storyline.
I don't consider this endgame content; i simply consider it good development. End content as always will grow in time.
I don't consider this endgame content; i simply consider it good development. End content as always will grow in time.
Posted: Oct 23rd 2010 2:02PM (Unverified) said
When i hear about this "reroll as endgame" approach it feels like bioware, being a single player game company for the most part, is forgetting that the "real content" in an mmo are the players & what they do w/ the game, the social environment theay they create.....not what the developers come up with as a back drop.
Also: allowing mythic to get it hands on the pvp aspects of TORs design worries me, as WARs "canned pvp" was rather dismal...
all in all tho: im exited about the game, just cautiously so ~_^
Also: allowing mythic to get it hands on the pvp aspects of TORs design worries me, as WARs "canned pvp" was rather dismal...
all in all tho: im exited about the game, just cautiously so ~_^








