The Chapter Menu was added with Knights of the Fallen Empire. And I played it when it was initially released. You've NEVER been able to replay the early class story via the Chapter Menu. It's ALWAYS been only the Eternal Empire story. Not sure where you've gotten this mistaken belief that at one point you could replay the class story.

Is the Rakghoul Event running? (The tunnels are only accessible during it. Lokin can only be obtained during the Rakghoul Event.)

I've heard that back when the game was in beta, using the Shielding Technique actually DID cause you to suffer lowered stats in gameplay. But this obviously led to balancing problems, so it was removed.

"Without precise calculations, we'd fly right through a star, bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" ―Han Solo, to Luke Skywalker, while being pursued by an Imperial Star Destroyer Yeah, the necessary calculations ARE a part of canon, whether you remember them or not. Btw, what scenes are you referring to? Because if there was no action going on, it's possible it was just a case of "the audience doesn't want to watch all the steps if they don't add anything to the scene." Not to mention that I don't remember any instance of there being "next to zero" time between them expressing the desire to go to hyperspace and being in hyperspace.

Certainly makes me wish they had followed the model of Fallen Empire and Eternal Throne, and made it a repeatable chapter. Don't quote me on this, but I've heard that originally there was planned to be a part 3 of the Eternal Empire saga, but it was scrapped. The Echoes of Oblivion story and the events leading into it are basically an abridged version of what was planned.

I dunno if this is in particular is a bug or not, but I do hope the devs make sure to keep up references to the Origin Stories. On another Consular-related note, the fact Akaavi is officially part of the story, if still not an available companion, for all classes gives reason to believe Mako will show up too at some point. I hope it will be possible for Consulars to acknowledge that they've talked to Mako.

While how "evil" they are can vary, the following companions tend to approve their share of Dark Side choices: Jedi Knight: Rusk and Scourge Jedi Consular: Zenith Trooper: Vik Smuggler: Akaavi Sith Warrior: Jaesa (if Dark), Pierce, and Broonmark. Sith Inquisitor: Khem Val and Xalek Bounty Hunter: Gault and Skadge Agent: Kaliyo and SCORPIO.

Level scaling is fine for the most part, but since your gear stats are still intact, it actually makes certain things on low-level planets easier. This mostly comes into play when you have a class story that requires you to go back to an earlier planet. (The two Sith classes are the most noticeable cases, since they both fight their final bosses on Korriban.) I think the best compromise would be to have level scaling be disabled when you enter an instance as part of a quest where you're expected to be a higher level.

It's being made by Quantic Dream, the same company that made Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human. Those games are basically what can be described as interactive cinema with branching narratives. (Most notably, there are no "game overs". If a playable character dies, the story will continue without them.) I wonder how similar this game with be to their previous work.

I think another possibility is that Renning has enough influence that his actual position isn't strongly affected even if you do help Malora. In this case, the way Malora herself is affected is the meaning of the quest. (I imagine it as her either leaving Renning on her terms through a surge of influence courtesy of Renning's rivals that gives her a head-start on her future career, or knocked down to the bottom of the barrel when Renning kicks her out and forcing her to claw her way up.)

Malora recognizes you when she appears in the Empire version of Jedi Under Siege, and has different dialogue depending on whether you helped her or not. Clearly, BioWare doesn't want there to be a specific canon. I say, just do what you like and use your imagination as to how things worked out the way they did.

I got the vibe that, until their final fateful duel, that Thexan was the "always someone better" to Arcaan. Because of this, I suspect that Valkorian had enough respect (but not love) for Thexan to not abuse him as badly as Arcaan.

I recall there being a scene before a major chapter where, if you had a romanced companion, you would have a chat with them before heading off. I don't remember if Ashara is one of them. As for companions in general, let's not kid ourselves, they have indeed been taking a major backseat lately. This is the downside of allowing players to kill off old companions. If you're going to make a scene that features a determinant character, it goes without saying only a portion of people will see it. Thus, a lot of devs might see animating such a scene to be a waste of money.

Considering the nature of them as player characters, I believe this is a matter best left for players to decide in regards to their own personal canons.

Y'know, Cytharat probably could come back for people who saved him, seeing as he showed up on Makeb, which was after the story merge.

The situation with Arcaan is different. His situation occurs after the story merge. The issue here is the class stories. If a character who can die suddenly shows up alive and well in the current story, people WILL make a stink over their choice being declared non-canon. Plenty of people like to imagine the class stories happening alongside each other, and the devs are actively encouraging it. Whenever the stories of classes you aren't playing as are alluded to, the details are deliberately kept vague so as not to establish an actual canon. And while a few class story characters have shown up in the merged story, it's strictly characters who were non-determinately alive anyway. Long story short, there's a REASON it took Khem Val and Jaesea, who have determinant fates, so long to return as companions. And why BioWare evidently gave up on trying to find a way to have all characters get them and ultimately made them exclusive to the classes who had them as companions to begin with.

Another problem is that I'm pretty sure BioWare doesn't want to make any "canon" choices, for people who like to roleplay their characters as existing in the same universe. If Praven showed up, that would prompt anger from players who chose to kill him in their Jedi Knight playthroughs. (And as for your "wound non-fatal" idea, that would also anger players. The game has a bad "your choices don't matter" reputation as it is.) I can't see determinant characters who only showed up in specific class stories appearing unless BioWare finds a way to allow players to implement choices made in other class stories.

SWTOR has already outlasted SWG in terms of staying power. SWG only lasted 8 years before it was shut down, while SWTOR is soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Pretty sure it's a bug. Theron is outright DEAD in my Sith Inquisitor continuity, and a scene featuring him still played out... but he was invisible. This leads me to think his absence is SUPPOSED to be recognized, but apparently there's some issues with the event triggers.

She wasn't Mandalore at the time you fought her.

I think it does matter... but I also want to play SWTOR, not Dragon Age Origins.

Neither would I, honestly. (I haven't touched any of my characters aside from my Jedi Knight and Sith Inquisitor since the Eternal Empire story.)

Scorpio CAN upload her conciousness to Iokath... or you destroy her in response to her actions up to that point. (It's one of the light-side/dark-side decisions.) As for everything else... well, it's all opinion at the end of the day, so think what you will. (Truth be told, even though I do find reasons to enjoy the new content, I nonetheless do agree that nothing compares to the vanilla story of seeing the galaxy through the eyes of eight individuals going on their own separate adventures.)

I agree with you on Scorpio... but I would also like to remind you that for some, she's now dead. As for Firebrand... what are you on about? She only has real importance for one chapter in KOTFE. She does have a background role in a second... but she has to share it with Jorgan. And she can die at the end. But in any case, her relevance ends there. She really doesn't do much beyond her role in her reunion chapter. I don't see how she gets it better than Vette. (In fact, I'd argue Vette gets a bigger role since she actually always survives to KOTET, and plays a role during Vaylin's invasion... where she can potentially die in the end. Yeah... this killing off companions thing has its downsides, as been pointed out earlier.) BTW, to cut BioWare some slack, I've heard somewhere that originally the plan was for expansions to continue the class stories, but when SWTOR's early sales weren't as high as EA liked, they gut the budget. This led to the unified stories in Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan. I dunno if BioWare still wants to do individual stories, but it's probably safe to say that even if they do have the budget now (I dunno if they do, though), they probably have been entrenched too deep in the hole to dig out now.

Ashara isn't a perfect Jedi; her overall attitude (as made clear by her companion convos) may be more merciful than a Sith, but is still VERY dark by Jedi standards. She's the kind of person who would not burn down a village full of innocent people for kicks. She IS, however, the kind of person who would burn down a village full of innocent people if it would lead to long-term peace in the galaxy. She's far from the ideal Jedi... but she is the perfect ideal Light-Side Sith.