One thing many people point out about the original Star Wars movies is the lack of women. In the article on racism, I retold the joke from Family Guy about Lando being the only black man in the galaxy, but minorities aren't the only under-represented group. Most of the women we see in the original trilogy are Twi'leks dancing in Jabba's palace, and none of them are Imperials. Princess Leia is the obvious exception to this, but think about it for just a moment. If you're male especially, and the first thing you see when thinking of Princess Leia isn't her in a metal bikini, you're probably lying to yourself. 

So we've been in The Old Republic about a month now, and we've already seen some nice additions, as well as the planned additions for Game Update 1.2. Going beyond that now, BioWare has released a trailer which details their longer term plans for the game and the features to be added. First up is a continuation of what they've been talking about: PvP. There is going to be at least one new warzone, one of which may or may not be the promised second same-faction warzone. PvP enthusiasts will be excited to know that they're also going to be adding in rankings, as well as ranked matches, so you'll have more to boast about than just your Valor level!

For the first time in a while, Force Reflections are going back to individual topics by each of our reporters. To celebrate, today I'm asking you what you think about the outfits in The Old Republic and how they lend themselves to roleplay. For those of us that played beta, things were in a constant state of flux. Outfits got changed, added, removed, and swapped between classes. Some people have even changed classes to follow their favorite outfits. Maybe looking good is more important then matching IC powers with OOC ones!

Times have been tough for Vette. The quirky, bubbly and, at times, random Twi'lek has faced some harsh obstacles in her life. Born as a slave on the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth, Vette was separated from her family at a very early age, sold from minor crimelord to crimelord. This bouncing around stopped when a pirate going by the name of Nok Drayen destroyed her owner's holdings and Vette, along with the other slaves, were given a choice: to have their freedom or to join up with Nok and become a pirate. Vette signed on with Nok over personal freedom and became a pirate, traveling from world to world and learning many of her skills in the process, especially how to get in and out of places undetected -- places she otherwise wouldn't be allowed into.

Her time as a pirate didn't last, however, as Nok Drayen, years later, suddenly and inexplicably released everyone from his service. Vette was left to her own devices on the smuggler's moon of Nar Shaddaa, where she and other young Twi'leks used their ingenuity to rob and deceive those who would take advantage of them. Her mischief eventually led her to Korriban, where she first appears in her role as a companion character in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Vette is one of the confirmed companion characters for those who choose the Sith Warrior class. The Sith Warrior is given access to Vette as a sort of collateral for a task that is assigned to them. Vette is also said to be a potential romance option for Sith Warriors, too. Vette's fate, as well as her abilities and appearance, is up to the players. Will this spunky Twi'lek rebel against the Sith Warrior? Or will she fall, becoming a thrall to power and the insidious dark side? 

In recent weeks, the team at BioWare have posted trailers depicting two of their eight character classes from The Old Republic, placing them in a one-on-one battle. The developers of the game have narrated the battles and have rooted for their favourite classes. Previous battles have consisted of the Imperial Agent vs. Jedi Consular, Sith Inquisitor vs. Trooper, and the Jedi Knight vs Bounty Hunter. Each class has its own style of combat, and with the right tactics, any class could overpower the other. However, the trend has consisted of placing a non-Force user up against another that can call upon it to assist them in battle. What would happen, say, if we were to place two non-Force users such as the Trooper and Bounty Hunter against one another? That would be quite the spectacle.

                           

Darth Baras is perhaps one of the most prolific Sith Lords during The Old Republic's timeline. While Baras has suffered the same lack of appearances within game trailers alongside Jadus, he was first featured in the web comic series Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace, and then again later in the novel Deceived. Baras is also confirmed to play an integral role within Star Wars: The Old Republic as the master of those who choose the Sith Warrior class.

Baras is a curious figure. He is quite a stark contrast to several other Sith in history and his fellow Sith of his time, notably being Darth Angral. He was shown to be particularly unambitious and rather humble, declining the offer of more power from the Dark Council. Most peculiar, however, was that Baras was demonstrated to have more inner peace than a Jedi Master! But beyond these peculiarities, Baras was shown to be quite self assured and manipulative – all traits demonstrated by most (if not all) Sith.