My sword didn't go through you!

You’re in control. All those abilities and spells at your disposal. An enemy is incoming. You start mashing buttons. You can’t really tell what your opponent is doing except that they are taking more damage as you spin around each other. Look! You parried an attack, but the notification was not from a visual clash but a textual cue. There is no visual mergence of hits and misses between opponents.

There is something naked if not hollow about MMOG combat. It’s an area BioWare wants to radicalize in Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare is approaching The Old Republic as the biggest and bad ass Star Wars game to date and combat is no exception. The team’s mantra is if you saw it in the movies then it should be in the game.

One of the most epic battles from the movies was no doubt what I remember as Duel of the Fates, the final lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Will this acrobatic combat play out in the MMOG? BioWare president Greg Zeschuk believes they can overcome the technological hurdles to provide a new kind of combat experience in MMORPG’s.

“One big difference, especially against the MMO space, is that typically everyone swings through each other. That’s the way it’s been done. It doesn’t look great for Star Wars.

Star Wars is choreographed, it’s elegant; it’s big, powerful moves and lightning bolts flashing, but in a way that makes sense visually and aesthetically. One of the goals we have it to create this choreographed type of combat that looks as though it could be taking place in a Star Wars movie.”

Combat systems are at the core of every MMOG, and there’s been an evolution in combat systems that go above and beyond the typical auto attack schemes. Most experienced MMOG players know that Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures are good examples.

The most important thing is that combat isn't tedious and it's visceral There is a balance and if coordination can be achieved, such as light sabers crashing and epic acrobatic maneuvers entwined into reactionary outcomes it could very well be revolutionary for MMORPG’s.