Gameplay
The Old Republic will use cover mechanics for the second time in MMO gameplay, the first being Tabula Rasa. Members of the two main factions – the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire – will have different moralities; the project's key focus is to differentiate between the player's faction and morality.
While each class in The Old Republic will still favor a certain play style (be it ranged, melee, or otherwise), customization combined with companion characters will make for having a class be able to tackle many different situations, with or without the support of other player characters, and without requiring specific other classes in order to move forward.
Players' choices will permanently open or close storylines and affect players' non-player character (NPC) companions. It is intended that the game should provide more context for characters' missions than any previous MMORPG. Every character in the game, including the player character, will feature full voice dialog to enhance gameplay, and interactions will feature a dialogue system similar to that used in the Mass Effect series. Players will be able to choose from a variety of NPCs, although spending time with a single companion will help more in developing story and content than dividing time among several, and may even develop a love interest. It is possible for players to "blow it big time" if they fail to meet NPCs' expectations. Players will also have access to dozens of planets, including Korriban, Ord Mantell, Nal Hutta, Tython, Coruscant, Balmorra, Alderaan, Tatooine, Dromund Kaas, Taris,Belsavis, Voss, Hoth, Corellia, Ilum and Quesh, and the moon Nar Shaddaa.[26] Every player will receive their own starship, which was announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010.[citation needed]
Footage of space combat was released at Gamescom. The short clip provided by BioWare revealed that space combat would be a "tunnel shooter."[A tunnel shooter, otherwise known as a scrolling shooter, is a flying game where the player is on a predetermined track. Game play includes moving right and left on the X axis and up and down on the Y axis; however, players won't have control of the speed of their space craft. Jake Neri, LucasArts Producer, told PC Gamer in their upcoming October 2010 issue that their goal is to "capture the most cinematic moments that we can create. We want players to get in and feel like they're in the movies. It's about highly cinematic, controlled combat moments ... very heroic, action-packed, exciting, visceral and dangerous encounters that'll make you pee your pants."