Friday is always an exciting day for Star Wars: The Old Republic fans because it marks the addition of new content to the official site. Today is no exception: the next class has officially been revealed as the Imperial Agent, Senior Writer Drew Karpyshyn published a blog entry about creating the Jedi Knight storyline, and Threat of Peace #19 was released. You can read Karpyshyn's blog after the jump.

The Imperial Agent was actually announced at the Electronic Arts European Press Tour earlier this week, but Sean Dahlberg officially revealed the class in the forums today. "Imperial Agents work behind the scenes to get the work of the Empire done. Specializing in high-tech gear, the Imperial Agent always has the right tools at the right time," he said. The Imperial Agent will be added to the HoloNet next week and you can view screenshots of the class over at IncGamers.

BioWare just unveiled the next playable class in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it's the Jedi Knight! While it should come as no surprise that you'll be able to pick up a lightsaber and fill the role of a Jedi in the upcoming MMO, this is still an exciting announcement for any Star Wars fan.

The HoloNet is filled with information on the Jedi Knight, including screenshots and videos of the class in action. The screenshots are also available in the media section of the official site, which contains two Jedi Knight wallpapers. If you want to use them as your desktop background, here they are: wallpaper #1 and wallpaper #2. Keep reading after the jump for more details on the Jedi Knight.

Master Gnost-Dural has added a new holorecord to the Jedi Archive that tells the tale of the battle of Bothawui, which was the Republic's first major victory in the war. The entire Republic fleet was waiting to take down the Imperial squadron when it arrived to seize Bothawui, which brought a much-needed ray of hope to the Republic forces.

Actually, the most inspirational event occured after the initial battle. A small force of Jedi and Republic troopers remained on Bothawui to wait for the arrival of Imperial reinforcements, and their heroic stand was enough to whittle away at the massive Imperial army to end the bloodshed in a draw.

In addition, the 18th issue of the Threat of Peace Web comic was released today. According to the announcement, the issue is "full of suspense and suspicion." Check it out to see if you agree with that statement.

The developers at Bioware just published a slew of new information on their official website, announcing the planet Balmorra to be included in the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic. Still in development and getting closer to its beta testing phase every day, the highly-anticipated MMO is set in Star Wars' past, thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader.

Fans can access the game's Web-based HoloNet database for info on new game elements as they're announced, like the recent Balmorra entry, which explains about the planet's "Republic-sponsored Balmorran Resistance forces [that] strive to keep the planet’s resources out of Imperial hands." The entry features lore-based information and stories about the planet, as well as new screenshots and other media. You can even check snag a couple new wallpapers featuring Balmorra's landscape, and check out the concept art that led to the planet's in-game design.

Read more about Balmorra's relevance in the SW:TOR universe after the jump, and stay tuned to our SW:TOR portal site for more news and information.

The Star Wars: The Old Republic Web site received two new updates today, and the big one is a video that details the making of Coruscant. According to the developers, players are going to see Coruscant like never before in the history of the franchise. For example, you'll get to see how the city is powered, from plumbing to electricity. Also, pockets of the city are still in distress following the Sith's sacking of Coruscant.

"This isn't just a city, it's a city world," said Rob Chestney, the manager of marketing production. "That's why we had to create just a massiveness and a depth and a vastness that you would almost get there and be astounded and feel small the first time you walked into Coruscant." The planet has no terrain, which adds to the qualities Chestney mentioned.

Also, the 17th issue of the Threat of Peace Web comic has been released. If you're interested in the game's lore, be sure to check out the issue after you watch the Coruscant video.

Writer Neil Pollner has written a dev blog entry discussing how the Sith Warrior class fits into Star Wars: The Old Republic. If you watched "A New Hope" and wanted to be Darth Vader, then now's your chance. "The Sith Warrior is about domination and control, as he seeks to utterly annihilate his enemies. No one wields a lightsaber with more devastating effect as he brings ferocity and all his rage to bear on every strike," Pollner said.

If you choose to play a Sith Warrior, you'll start out as an apprentice of a powerful Sith Lord. You'll fight against enemies of the Sith and become feared throughout the galaxy. It will be up to you to decide whether to follow your master's rules or plot to destroy him.

You can read Pollner's full dev blog entry after the jump. He seems pretty excited to play a Sith Warrior and already has Darth Vader's theme music blasting in his mind. Do you think you'll pick up a lightsaber and fight for the Empire?

As we reported, you can now sign up to test Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Community Manager Sean Dahlberg has confirmed on the official forums that the sign-ups are for Game Testing rather than a beta test. Regardless, our friends over at the Darth Hater blog have been combing through the Terms of Service agreement you have to accept to apply for a testing spot, and they've discovered that microtransactions may be a part of the game.

Terms H, I, J, and K in the agreement all deal with "points" and how BioWare controls them. Term K actually mentions a Game Store. Could these points be digital currency? It's certainly a possibility, although Darth Hater did point out that BioWare "reserves the right to add or remove points from your account without warning," which is quite different from most companies. Keep in mind this is pure speculation and the developers have not confirmed that SW:TOR will use microtransactions.

In addition, Darth Hater has gone through the Terms of Service and translated it into normal English. While it's a helpful read, please remember that this article was not written by a lawyer and should not be treated as legal advice.

UPDATE: Community Manager Sean Dahlberg has clarified on the official forums that they "are doing Game Testing sign-ups; we have not done any announcements about 'beta' testing."

The Star Wars: The Old Republic team has just announced that community members can now apply to be a part of the upcoming beta test! This news may come as no surprise to members of the officials forums, who noticed that the announcement was posted and quickly pulled from the site yesterday.

To register, all you need to do is be a member of the SW:TOR community and sign up on the Game Testing Portal. There's no guarantee you'll be selected, and the team has not finalized the start date for the beta. According to the announcement, "game testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be rolled out in several phases over an extended period of time. These test phases will begin with smaller, tightly focused test groups, and later tests will expand."

For more information, check out the FAQ on the Game Testing Portal. Do you plan on applying to be a part of the beta test?

Threat of Peace #16 has been released on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic site and features Jedi Grand Master Zym visiting the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to learn more about the attack on the Envoy. You can read the issue here.

Since most Star Wars: The Old Republic fans get a little agitated when the only update on Friday is a new issue of the Web comic, Sean Dahlberg explained in a post on the official forums that next week's post will be great. "Also, convention season is now over, the Austin Game Developers' Conference being the last. With that out of the way, we are ramping up our announcements and reveals," he said. You can read Dahlberg's full post below.

The 15th issue of the Threat of Peace Web comic has been released on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic site. This one "takes us to the chaotic conflict on Balmorra where Republic military forces have failed to make the deadline for withdrawal."

If you haven't been keeping up on the comic, there's still plently of time to catch up since each issue is only a few pages long. The series is produced in collaboration with Dark Horse and sets the stage for your entrance into the game. It's written by Rob Chestney and drawn by Alex Sanchez.