Bioware really wants you to play The Old Republic, so they've put out yet another free weekend pass, in case you and a few buddies haven't bought Diablo III and want to mess around. As usual, it only applies to new accounts, so you can't use your last character again, and it runs out late Monday night.

It's time to talk Star Wars with Bioware. The bi-weekly Q+A's second session starts up, including guild capacity caps, the Alacrity stat, and issues with Huttball. There's some spoilery stuff in there, though, hidden behind a log-in, that talks about storyline stuff with the Sith Warrior. 

Lots of cool stuff today for Star Wars fans like you and me, celebrated by both The Old Republic and Clone Wars Adventures! In Clone Wars Adventures, you've got a limited time to snag a free pile of boost points, a highly rare double-bladed lightsaber, and a discount on a Jedi Membership. And if you haven't already picked up The Old Republic, now's a good time, as it's on sale. The standard game comes at 35$, and the Digital Deluxe is slashed from 80$ to 45$. Both of these offers end May 6th!

Talk of SWTOR in decline has been circulating for a while now, and Bioware has dismissed the claims. But now, talking to Lead Designer Daniel Erickson, they say that instead of declining, population is increasing. "We've seen a huge increase in activity with 1.2 as people return to see all of the new content," he says. The Rakghoul outbreak, PVP and PVE, and all of the new planned content is on the table behind the link. 

Previously, stories were circulating that SWTOR - everyone's favorite galaxy far, far away, during a time slightly longer ago - was losing population and servers were lightening. Bioware is here to clarify, in a PC Gamer article, that no, this isn't the case.

Daniel Erickson, a Bioware developer, explains that the servers are drifting to 'light' server pop not because of dropped subscriptions, but dropped use in peak hours. Which is, incidentally, why the suggestion of server merges are being thought about. The article also talks about how they have some clever tricks planned, such as the recent Rakghoul plague, and how the community interacts with the developers. 

Don't count The Old Republic out just yet. It's got a lot more life in it than that. 

There's some community Q+A going about in the Old Republic website. Thanks to Bioware, we get answers for lot of long-hanging questions players have had, like Legacy unlocks and deleting characters, a hood toggle button, and distinctive signs/guild uniforms. 

Normally a new site wouldn't be terribly noteworthy, but there's a lot of great changes that just hit the Star Wars: The Old Republic Website. It looks nicer and browses better, but they've added Flashpoints to the Holonet, including info on all of them, and promise that skill trees and character profiles are coming next.