Star Wars The Old Republic launched a new expansion this week. That’s great. More importantly, it launched a new playable race: Nautolan. I don’t know why this game doesn’t push out more races, because it always brings me back and makes me much more likely to open my wallet than endless streams of lockboxes ever will.

It’s hard to explain why, but, as much as I love making alts in every MMO, I think this is the game I most enjoy it in. I think it’s because there’s a big roleplay aspect to the game. Yes, I have played this story before, but how will this character react to it? And a new species brings a whole new layer to my mental narrative for my character.

I made a Nautolan Jedi Sentinel. Man, I had forgotten how good the melee combat in this game feels. My Jedi Guardian has been my main SWTOR character for many years, so I’ve played the Knight storyline before, but it has, like I said, been many years, so I’m excited to see it again. I think he’s going to be a little less by-the-book than my full light side Guardian. Not dark side, but not so sure that all of the Jedi’s rules and regulations are for the best. The Nautolans from canon (which is… mostly Kit Fisto) are pretty laid back, and I can imagine the Jedi Order being very different from their native culture.

I saw some players complaining that it’s hard to make a good looking Nautolan — there are no perfectly clear skin options, and the faces are all a little bit odd looking — but I kind of like that. They’re a race of alien amphibious squid people. I feel like that fits. Also, have you seen Kit Fisto from the movies? Not going to be winning any beauty pageants.

I also bought an extra character slot while they were on sale, but I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Maybe a bounty hunter? I’ve been through the BH story, but it was during the Dark vs. Light event (the last time I played seriously), and I was kind of rushing through it to get those achievements. I’ve also never made it all the way through the smuggler story, which is a shame since smugglers are such an iconic Star Wars archetype. Either way, I remember being curious last time I played to see how some of those Fallen Empire stories play out for non-force users (my guess is “basically the same; you’ve dealt with enough Jedi/Sith mumbojumbo by now that you just take it all in stride,” but maybe I’ll be surprised).