We’ve all been waiting quietly and patiently, storing up huge amounts of nerdiness and now we can RELEASE!!!!

*pop*

Bioware announces that we can now Pre-Order Star Wars: The Old republic. Collectors, Standard and a Digital Deluxe Editions have been announced.

For those of you who have pre-ordered your copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic and have signed up to The Shadowhand Guild HQ you will help guarantee that A) you get provided with a server, B) that server will also have all of your friends, and C) the guild will be there for you all ready to go.

I paid the crazy US$149.99 for the Collectors Edition without really looking at what I was actually getting. It was more of a gut reaction to the announcement and to make sure I got one before they sold out. Now I’ve secured my order let’s have a closer look at what is actually included;

30-Days for game time

Early Game Access

Color Stone (virtual item) – An item used to change the colour of your Lightsaber blade and Blaster bolts.

Exclusive Gentle Giant Darth Malgus Statue – It’s a statue. It will be the centre point for any Star Wars fan’s room/shrine. It’s probably worth $70-$80 as it is. Maybe even up to $100. So this item alone makes the price of the Collectors Edition very reasonable.

Game Disks Collectible Metal Case – Nothing super-special but still significant. It will keep it’s shape and integrity longer than a plastic case.

The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural as annotated by Satele Shan – The Old Republic Timeline in journal form? Or events leading up to the start of SW:TOR. Looking forward to finding out.

The Old Republic Galaxy Map – “I hear TOR has maps now” -GG hehe. I hope this comes in a poster form, like MMOs used to have. Bioware has released great little maps with previous games (e.g. Neverwinter Nights).

Custom Security Authentication Key – “Free” security token? Yes, please. =)

Music of Star Wars: The Old Republic CD – Always love the music from Star Wars. Sorry, no Imperial March. If you want that, go get the movie soundtracks.

High-quality Collector’s Edition Box – Yes, it comes in a box!! No more carrying loose items! =)

Exclusive Mouse Droid – Cute little non-combat pet.

Exclusive Collector’s Edition Store – Interesting little feature. Keywords are “dynamic content”. Maybe as CE holders we will continually be given access to special items. Hopefully nothing too game breaking. More exclusive pets, mounts, accessories, RP armour, etc. It will be interesting to see what we will be provided.

In addition all pre-ordered gamer will include 7 additional digital items:

Flare Gun – Fun little toy that goes “bang-whizz-KAPOW!!!” ^.^

Training Droid – Another non-combat pet? A portable class trainer? An attackable non-combat pet (used like training dummies in WoW)?

HoloDancer – Roleplayers, here’s your holy grail. Be the centre of attention with this sexy little virtual girl. Chance to make some extra money too to show her off.

HoloCam – Not sure how this is going to work. Whether it’s an RP item or it intergrates with the video capturing features or saves a little moment as a hologram to be displayed later. More on this item later.

STAP – Exclusive mount. Hopefully usable from level 1 but I’m not going to get my hopes up too high.