Star Wars: The Old Republic has been around for 12 years, and is still going strong. New graphics and story content are coming soon.

Star Wars: The Old Republic revealed what players can expect from its upcoming updates. Weapons, armor, mounts and new overworld missions will be included in the 7.6 update in December, while the continuation to The Old Republic's 12-year story is expected in early 2025.

Originally developed by BioWare, before Broadsword Online assumed care in early 2023. TOR has always had a unique story-driven MMO with cinematic cutscenes and dialogue options. It also features romantic companions. It is impressive that this story with its branching pathways and relatively high production value -- playable Jedi Knights are voiced by Solid Snake actress David Hayter, for example -- is still being told after all these years.

The teaser video for TOR's Galactic Threads story continuation shows a tense encounter between a Jedi Knight character and a Sith Admiral from a previous storyline. Broadsword stated that Galactic Threads would be released later than Update 7.6's main body: "While "Galactic Threads", the story chapter, is well underway, the SWTOR Narrative Team does not have all of the components necessary to deliver high-quality content that adheres both to the team standards and player expectations for story. The release date of "Galactic Threads", is currently being delayed until this content is completed."

Update 7.6 brings three major additions, including the new premium shop items. Hoth will get a new lair-boss, and some worlds will be getting "Dynamic Encounters," which is a new world event that the team hopes "breathes life into the planets, giving players the sense that there is always something happening."

"As the player explores planets, he will come across Dynamic Encounters. Or he can find active Encounters in their map. Missions range from destroying Hidden Chain forces to capturing escaped Banthas in a spaceport. These Encounters debut on Hoth with 7.6."

The last major update is a new version of TOR's graphics. This will include texture and lighting changes to characters and environments. Broadsword has released a comparison video that shows before and after footage to highlight the upcoming changes.

The Old Republic will receive Update 7.6 at the start of December. It's encouraging to see that TOR is still supported after all these years. I've considered dipping my toes back in, but it seems that MMOs will always pull you in.