Bioware brings its renowned NPC teammate crafting to the MMO world.

Bioware has announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic will feature one of their trademarks: a team of companion characters. Bioware's made their name by crafting stories with realistic and compelling characters like Mass Effect's Urdnot Wrex and Tali'Zorah and Knights of the Old Republic's Canderous Ordo and Carth Onasi. The surprise comes from knowing that The Old Republic will be an MMORPG, which usually implies that your teammates are other players, not NPC's.

How the NPC team members and human teammates will coexist, or even if they do coexist, is open to speculation. Bioware has promised that, like many of its successful past RPG's, your NPC companions will accompany you on missions, see the world and interpret events through their own unique perspectives and offer unique quests and rewards. You can also outfit them with gear and have romantic relationships with them.

Like the Star Wars: The Old Republic website states, "Every Star Wars hero needs a companion. Han had Chewie..." Indeed, but here's to hoping that The Old Republic's design meetings never have the words "wookie" and "romance" occupying the same sentence.