Massively-multiplayer role-playing games have spawned few things more ridiculous than businesses created for the sole purpose of playing said games for their customers. Traditionally known as "gold farmers," they allow players to pay real world money for in-game credits and other amenities, rather than earning their own rewards.

It was bound to happen eventually, but at least one such company--IGXE--has already announced that it's set up shop to offer its services to misguided interested players of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Read more: The oh-so-awkward sales pitch »

Shipping times can be unpredictable in the run-up to Christmas but if you've pre-ordered Star Wars: The Old Republic, don't fret too much about receiving it on launch day. There'll be a "grace period" for players who've signed up for early access, giving two days to receive your copy and enter the registration code.

Read more: Grace period won't eat into free game time »

Star Wars: The Old Republic is rolling out its early access as it prepares to launch, but like any good MMO, the developers already have ambitious plans for the future. Game director James Ohlen outlined some of the patches to come soon.

New Guild features are a top priority, including Guild banks in the near future, and the longer-term goal of Guild Capital Ships. Speaking of ships, Ohlen also promises more space combat missions, and a "special project" that will "expand space gameplay in a significant way."

Read more: Guilds features, expanded PvP, and more »

A few hours ago, in a galaxy awfully, awfully close, the Star Wars: The Old Republic early access program launched. Those who pre-ordered BioWare's MMORPG are now being invited in waves to sign up and start their new life as a space-wizard. Or bounty hunter. Or smuggler. Or... oh, the impossible question of which class to play first in a new MMO!

Read more: Invites going out in ordering of signups »

With Star Wars: The Old Republic is less than twenty days from launch, developer BioWare has decided to allow pre-order customers to pre-load the game now. "To ensure that players can get into the game as quickly as possible when their Early Game Access begins, we are now allowing everyone who has redeemed a Pre-Order Code at our Code Redemption Center to pre-load the game to their computer," the developer announced.

According to an official post on the game's blog, Star Wars: The Old Republic will begin rolling early access to the game for users beginning December 13.

Read more: Details and stipulations on early access, pre-loading »

Between its license and the reputation of developer BioWare, the impending release of Star Wars: The Old Republic could bring a real threat to Activision Blizzard's MMO dominance. Now Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has chimed in with his thoughts on World of Warcraft's competition.

Read more: 'The economics will always accrue to the benefit of Lucas' »

World of WarCraft has been perched high atop the massively-multiplayer throne for seven years now, but is about to get its first serious dose of competition when the Electronic Arts-published Star Wars: The Old Republic launches. While it's not really a shock to learn that some folks have already indicated that they'll be leaving Azeroth for a galaxy far, far away, a new survey indicates that World of WarCraft could shed anywhere between 900,000 and 1.6M players when the lightsabers start swinging.

Read more: The Force is strong with this one »

The staggered early access to Star Wars: The Old Republic, which you can get by pre-ordering the boldly-going MMO, will let you in "up to five days" early, BioWare has revealed.

Read more: Staggered to ensure server stability »

The Old Republic is coming mere days before Christmas and on first night of Hanukkah, so chances are pretty good you Star Wars fans will be unwrapping a big box of Jedi this holiday season. Just in case you want to watch your gift get unwrapped before you get a chance to do it yourself, EA has released a new unboxing video for the Collector's Edition of the game.

Watch: Shiny Star Wars bonuses »

Now that Star Wars: The Old Republic has a release date, those who have pre-ordered the game might wonder when they're getting their promised early access to the game. Now BioWare has shed a little more light on how the first-come, first-served access will work.

Read more: Staggered early access separated by 'days, not weeks' »

BioWare's long-awaited MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic finally has a solid release date of December 20, but you won't necessarily get in on that day. The developer has talked about staggering the release, even of online orders, to assure the servers don't get overcrowded.

Now as the game prepares to launch, BioWare heads Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk are explaining that decision, and sharing thoughts on the increasing popularity of free-to-play games.

Read more: How to make a game 'nice' and 'smooth' »

Star Wars: The Old Republic will be arriving in 2011... just barely. The hotly anticipated MMO will launch in North America on December 20th, with a European launch following on December 22nd.

"We appreciate the patience of the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game’s release," Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare, told audiences at Eurogamer Expo today. "When we launch this groundbreaking MMO with world class storytelling this holiday season, we hope you will agree that it was worth the wait."

Read more: How much will it cost? »

Star Wars: The Old Republic still doesn't have a solid release date, but it must be getting closer to completion. BioWare is talking about the finishing stages, from polish and tutorials to feedback from its closed beta test. In a new interview, project lead James Ohlen shares the studio's focus as the game makes its last lap before the finish line.

Read more: 'Polishing, tutorials, and teaching new players' »

BioWare and Electronic Arts have both been very careful not to talk too specifically about the release date of their highly-anticipated MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. However, in a recent investor update by EA CFO Eric Brown, he said that a firm release date was unlikely to be revealed before the end of October.

Read more: Possible 2012 release for SWTOR »

Though Star Wars: The Old Republic has wooing, romance, and all that soppy stuff one would expect from a BioWare game, the developer had so far said that the MMORPG would only allow coupling with NPCs of the opposite sex, not same-sex pairings. Delightfully, it's now changed its mind, announcing that same-sex romance will be added post-launch.

Read more: BioWare's official statement»