There’s nothing like the feeling of a warm blaster rifle nestled in your hands. The hot metal is a reassuring reminder that you’re still alive after a harrowing exchange of fire between you and your enemy, and no other class in Star Wars: The Old Republic treats the hot blaster with as much respect as the Trooper. At this year’s GDC, the staff at ZAM had the opportunity to go hands-on with this DPS demolitionist, and we came away still smelling the gritty smoke of this class’ explosive tendencies.

Time for more Star Wars: The Old Republic info! This time around, Joanna Berry, a writer for SW:TOR talks about the thought process that went into crafting the Jedi Consular. Perhaps the most revealing piece of information when it comes to the storyline of the Jedi Consular comes from Joanna herself when she notes that:

 BioWare has a long history of producing kick-ass RPGs. With recent hits like Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, and older games like Baulder’s Gate and Knights of The Old Republic, it’s hard to argue with their success. MMOGs are a different beast altogether though, and many obstacles lay ahead for BioWare if they hope to bring any of the roleplaying elements they are famous for to Star Wars The Old Republic.

Today's update to the Star Wars: The Old Republic site is a look at the Sith Inquisitor through the eyes of writer Rebecca Harwick. She explains that the team knew from the start that the game needed more than one Sith class to explore the Sith order from different perspectives. The Inquisitor is the epitome of "everything that's weird and unsettling and dangerous about the Force."

Players who choose the Inquisitor class will start as a slave and have to decide what to do with their freedom once they earn it. As Harwick puts it, "the Sith Inquisitor is about the individual at odds with the community, and whether to ultimately embrace that community, transform it, or act in defiance of it." You can read her full article after the jump.

“Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.”

How to explain the Sith Inquisitor?

I could tell you that the Sith Inquisitor is the Emperor Palpatine to the Sith Warrior's Darth Vader, but that sells it short. The archetype is just inspiration. It's not the destination, or the road we take to get there, but the guide. The Sith Inquisitor is Raistlin. The Sith Inquisitor is Lucifer. The Sith Inquisitor is Julius Caesar. The Sith Inquisitor is

As per our Bioware contact:
While we have not announced a specific date, we can confirm that we are targeting a spring 2011 release for Star Wars(tm): The Old Republic(tm). We've got a lot of exciting updates and reveals planned throughout 2010, including the first-ever hands-on testing for the game. It's not

BioWare has revealed Dromund Kaas as the latest playable planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Dromund Kaas is the home of the Emperor and the center of the Empire. You can read more about the planet on the HoloNet or after the jump. Also, check out the flythrough video for a closer look at Dromund Kaas.

In addition,

No rest for BioWare as they release a new Star Wars: The Old Republic developer diary for the holidays.

Inspired by notorious characters such as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, the Sith Inquisitor and Sith Warrior take different approaches to their rise to power. The Sith Warrior achieves victory through pure aggression and might while the Sith Inquisitor excels by cunning ambition and Force manipulation.

From storyline, to art style, to combat tactics, each design decision was made to support the dark side themes of power, domination, and destruction.

Watch Developer Dispatch: Designing the Dark Side, and learn how Star Wars: The Old Republic developers created this dominating force.

We've known about the class for weeks, but today marks the addition of the Sith Inquisitor to the HoloNet. Information on all eight classes can now be found on the HoloNet, so check them out and decide which ones you'll be playing when the game launches.

You can read all about the Sith Inquisitor after the jump. Be sure to check the HoloNet page for screenshots and videos of the Force user in action.