As wise Yoda once said "no such thing as a free meal is there," or something. Who knows what he was on about, he was small and strange. More importantly, he was WRONG. Not even the wise imp himself could have foreseen a free trial for Star Wars: The Old Republic so soon. If you've never had an active TOR account, you'll be able to jump in and gorge yourself on the hundreds of quests available on the homeworlds of all eight character classes.
A post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic site announces the trial, which is set to run from 12:01am CDT/ 5:01am GMT / 4:01pm EDT this Thursday March 15 to 2:00am CDT/ 7:00am GMT / 6:00pm EDT on March 19. That's four days of freedom that you can use to crush rebel scum, visit your faction's homeworld and take part in the first two Flashpoints. You'll also get to try out TOR's PvP Warzones. You'll be able to sign up for the weekend pass on Thursday morning, though you'll have to download the sizeable client first.
Your friend won't be deleted at the end of the trial, so you can choose to sign up and continue with that character once the free period is over. If you've any other questions, there's a handy free trial FAQ on the TOR site.
