An Era Untold: An Interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic writer Rob Chestney

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An Era Untold: An Interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic writer Rob Chestney

08/27/2010 9:34am

Chances are if you know anything about online gaming, you've heard about Bioware's newest MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. But before you sit down to play this much-anticipated game, pick up a copy of Dark Horse's new Star Wars: The Old Republic comic, which will shed some light on the game's story and the little documented era in the Star Wars universe in which it takes place. We recently asked Bioware writer Rob Chesney what it was like to work on both the comic series and the most talked about games of the year! Read on!

What are the challenges of writing for a little documented era in the Star Wars Universe?

Having a blank slate is always a good thing, especially if you want to tell an epic, sweeping story, and that's definitely what we at Bioware have tried to do in both the game and the comic. The greatest challenge in the initial approach is keeping the storyline enough like Star Wars that it still captures the spirit of what people love, but making it distinct enough that it still feels fresh and new and gives the era its own character.

Another huge challenge in the ongoing process of developing several stories in different media for this time period is keeping the lore consistent but also giving each piece the opportunity to shine. Between the game, the comics, the novels, and the cinematic trailers, there are a lot of moving parts. BioWare's Writing Director, Daniel Erickson, acts as the nexus for all of these materials and he works hard to keep us all honest, but we have a responsibility ourselves to keep the spirit of The Old Republic flowing through all the materials.

Did you read any of the other expanded universe Star Wars comics before writing The Old Republic?

I've read almost all the Star Wars comics, and when you look at that complete body of work, it's a pretty incredible collection. Getting a chance to be a part of it has been a real thrill. My favorite series are the Legacy and KotOR series, maybe just because I'm entrenched in the stories as they progress, but they're both really fun, and I've enjoyed reading them.

With Threat of Peace, we really wanted to write something that would be fundamentally distinctive from those series. Part of the motivation for the ensemble cast and the fast-paced events was in setting this piece apart from the other Star Wars comics that are currently out there.

Did you approach writing for The Old Republic comic differently than writing for the game?

Absolutely. Writing for the game is all about making the Player the hero and giving the Player the opportunity to choose where the story goes. It's a totally different medium from both comics and short stories. For the Threat of Peace comics in particular, besides giving readers an introduction to the setting, we wanted to write an inspiring and relevant story, and we also wanted to present the reader with heroes that represented variations on the class archetypes in the game.

When you’re creating my character in an RPG, it really helps if you have references to compare and contrast to better define who your character is. In Star Wars, we have the references of Luke, Han, Vader, and other characters from the films, but those characters are pretty cut and dry. In Threat of Peace, we wanted to give readers some alternative paradigms, some new characters that might encourage them to think of their own characters in a different way.

What is special about The Old Republic era in comparison to other moments in Star Wars history?

The coolest thing about the Old Republic era is that we're still creating it and we're inviting community members, fans, and eventually the Players of the game to join with us as it develops. This is an era so far before the events of the films that anything could happen. We've set up a really compelling classical scene in The Old Republic so far: a massive and domineering Sith Empire and a Galactic Republic that's been weakened, but still has hope. The story progresses in the comics and in the game, but we want there to be more chapters in this story. We want for this to change and evolve over time and we want people to experience that with us.

Will characters and events from the comic carry over to the game?

Yes. we actually tried to pull as many characters from the game as possible to feature in the comic. The greatest challenge in that was that a lot of these characters were actually created and developed for the game by other writers, so we had to really work together to answer the question : "what would this guy (or girl) have been doing at the time of the Sacking of Coruscant and immediately after the Treaty?" So the other writers deserve a lot of credit for developing these characters and working to fit them into the comic.

For the readers, it really pays off. When you meet these characters in the game, you'll have a lot more context for who they are, and it adds another layer to the experience. The cast of characters that have been created for the game is pretty amazing, and the characters who do show up in Threat of Peace and in the game are some of the key players. Satele is, of course, featured as well in the cinematic trailer. At the end of the day, we just hope the comic interested people further in this time period and we really hope we did all these characters justice.

Pick up the first issue of Star Wars: The Old Republic in your local comic shop now! And look for Star Wars: The Old Republic in stores early 2011!

Bioware's newest MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. But before you sit down to play this much-anticipated game, pick up a copy of Dark Horse's new Star Wars: The Old Republic comic, which will shed some light on the game's story and the little documented era in the Star Wars universe in which it takes place. We recently asked Bioware...">

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An Era Untold: An Interview with Star Wars: The Old Republic writer Rob Chestney

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