Star Wars: The Old Republic Preview

The folks at MMORPG.com have doled out a quick preview of Star Wars: The Old Republic based on what we know about BioWare's highly anticipated MMORPG thus far. A snip on combat:
From what I have seen in the recently released combat documentary, combat looks more like a visceral, fast paced experience. This is refreshing to see being that most times in RPG style games, we have to deal with horribly drab combat systems. We have all seen combat that requires no more skill than to stand still and hit a three story tall monster with the same few skills over and over. This becomes a bit dull after seeing it done to death in countless MMOs. Bioware seems to really be taking its time making sure that the classes are as balanced as possible, and that the combat flows naturally. One big concept that Associate Producer Tim Temmerman from Lucas Arts wanted to convey in the video was that they were designing the combat of The Old Republic around what they felt was the essence of the Star Wars movies. This quote seems to shine through when watching the combat video. Witnessing force-wielders flying toward each other, sabers drawn, and seeing Bounty Hunters firing off a wrist mounted rocket, I have to admit I was grinning ear to ear. PvP is in the game; however there are plans for PvE servers come launch. PvP consists of fierce faction based conflict, however according to a Q & A session at Comic Con, players might be able to play as a neutral character; this, however, is pure speculation at this point and may not make it into the game come launch. They have not made an official statement on if the factions can speak to each other or not, however they have made it clear that opposing faction members will be unable to group with each other.