Star Wars: The Old Republic's big modernisation plan kicks off today, giving players an excuse to revisit old haunts

Update: Star Wars: The Old Republic 7.6 is live now.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking a bit long in the tooth these days, despite being one of the most expensive videogames ever made. Age comes for us all. While the MMO has seen some upgrades over the years, it's hard to ignore that the environments—particularly those introduced back in 2011—and character models are looking a little rough 13 years after launch. After today's 7.6 update, though, your old stomping grounds are going to look a little different.

Last month, Broadsword revealed the scope of this update, as well as showcasing some of the changes on their way—which everyone will be able to see for themselves after today's expected five hours of downtime comes to an end. You should be able to hop back in at 6 pm GMT/10 am PST.

While the update is wide-ranging, of particular interest are the graphical updates to several of the galaxy far, far away's worlds, including Korriban, Tython, Hoth and Illum. The changes here are pretty broad, and while some of the improvements are fairly subtle, with some tweaks to lighting, certain objects being removed and foliage being given a fresh coat of paint, others are more immediately noticeable, like the imposing statues on Korriban's dramatic glow up.

Korriban's always been one of my faves, so this has given me a great excuse to make yet another alt, so I can play through that fantastic storyline all over again. Yep, I still have an alt problem.

Character models, specifically heads, have also been given a once over, with new textures, ocular specularity, lighting and shader improvements. Don't expect a huge change here, but that's probably for the best: You don't want characters you've been playing for over a decade to suddenly sport an entirely new face.

Beyond visual improvements, we've also got the introduction of dynamic encounters (which, as a Guild Wars 2 lad, I am very excited to see make their way over to SWTOR), starting with Tattooine and Hoth. I am particularly looking forward to "herding escaped banthas running amok in a space port".

And, finally, our companions and pets will no longer vanish when we hop on our mounts. Well, not every mount, anyway. 7.6 sees the introduction of the first companion and pet mount, the Meirm Cicada, which will be free for all subscribers. Some other new mounts will also let you zoom around with just your pet in tow. Life on the road doesn't need to be lonely anymore.

While Broadsword has been very active since it took the reins from BioWare last year, this update in particular puts any fears I had about the MMO effectively going into maintenance mode firmly to bed. Crucially, the improvements brought about by 7.6 are just the start: We'll be seeing more worlds getting gussied up in future updates as modernisation efforts continue. This goes for not just the art and graphical improvements, but the dynamic encounters as well.

That's my evening plans sorted, then. Lots of choking insubordinate troopers and carving up Korriban's wildlife. Good times.