Star Wars MMO free on 15 November as WoW enjoys boost

Star Wars: The Old Republic has been given a free-to-play date, meaning from next week gamers will be able to get their Jedi jollies without forking over a single penny.

The game's free mode goes live on 15 November, Videogamer reports, and lets you play through the game up to level 50. You won't get every aspect of the game for free though -- click here for a full list of which midi-chlorian-soaked features you can get for nothing, and which ones will cost you real-life galactic credits.

Publisher EA announced The Old Republic would be going free several months ago. The move is designed to get more players interested in the ailing title, which has seen subscriber numbers dwindling. EA said the game would break even if it can keep hold of 500,000 paying customers.

Meanwhile, there's a spot of good news for World of Warcraft, which once again boasts more than 10 million paying players, the BBC writes. The number of people forking over moolah to play Blizzard's frighteningly elaborate online title had dropped to 9.1 million.

As usual, pandas are to blame -- the increased subscriber count comes following the release of Kung Fu Panda 2 Mists of Pandaria, the fourth expansion set for Blizzard's Tauren-filled virtual world.

Those pesky pandas prompted publisher Activision to post a profit of $226m for the July to September period. Not too surprising when you consider the expansion pack itself costs about £25.

Are you sticking with Skywalker and chums? Or are you packing your bags for Pandaria? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.