Star Wars: The Old Republic Preview

The folks over at Massively have conjured up an informative preview of Star Wars: The Old Republic after spending some hands-on time with the demonstration that was available to the press at last week's Game Developers Conference.
I started out by talking to a quest-giving NPC standing near me. A cinematic-style dialogue started, with a fully-voiced exchange between my character and the NPC. My answers to the NPC's questions were based on a few choices, ranging from positive and agreeable to frankly argumentative. Against my best instincts to always cause problems for NPCs in games, I agreed to the terms of the mission and headed off towards the giant base just up the hill.

At first, I aimlessly wandered up towards some enemies, not realizing they wanted to blast me, until they actually did. I quickly figured out how to retaliate, killing both guards quite easily. As I made my way through the rest of the base, I realized that not only is the combat extremely easy to grasp, but it's easy to master as well. There is no auto attack, so you feel more involved in what you're doing. The skills are clearly labeled, the cooldowns on each are distinct and the mouse-over tips are brief enough to understand with a quick glance-over during intense combat.