/sarcasm on Yes, I can imagine, developing this FANTASTIC new event with TONS of NEW stuff and UNIQUE and COOL rewards must have put an inordinate strain on dev resources, so that they can't do 1 chapter and 1 alliance recruit mission on schedule. /sarcasm off

The oh-so-shocking and surprising ally "suddenly" and "unexpectedly" turning against you in Chapter XV. Seriously, was there anyone who did not see this happening from a million miles away? This has to be the most obvious betrayal I ever had the fortune to witness.

In other words, how to involve players when you're on a budget and cannot afford to release any new content. I thought about it a lot last night and I believe I have a few interesting ideas to offer to revamp and remake this event. I believe it would be entertaining for entire playerbase (as much as an event with 0 new content can be), for both new and old players. Here are some rough ideas to spice things up. Please consider implementing at least some of these changes: GENERAL OUTLINE: The "event" - if it can be called that - is permanent and has multiple facets, each with its own additional challenges. However, it resets once every 6 months, when rewards are handed out for it. Each time it resets, players get new and cool reward items, which encourages veterans to stick around to collect new shinies and as well new players (regardless of when they arrive) to aspire to complete these challenges. This event covers virtually all aspects of Star Wars: The Old Republic and aims to introduce and familiarize players with as much of the games as possible in a fun and entertaining way. It would also help GF, PvP and GSF matches pop faster. All characters can participate in most of these objectives, which are tracked Legacy-wide on a server. Do not force players to give up VIRTUALLY ALL OF THEIR CHARACTERS they have made so far for an event with 0 new content. LEVELING CHALLENGES: (Re)experience your favorite class story on the Republic and Imperial side again! Never forget that the Outlander is a Smuggler, Jedi Guardian, Sith Inquisitor or Imperial Agent at heart, here is the opportunity to (re)discover his motivation as well as to complete any class story you might be missing for your Legendary status. Challenge: The beginning of the journey: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Complete chapter 1 with any class. Challenge: It's about the journey...: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Complete chapter 2 with any class. Challenge:...but also about the destination!: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Complete chapter 3 with any class. Challenge: Hero of the Republic: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Fully finish a Republic class story (including the final mission on Rishi). Challenge: Hero of the Empire: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Fully finish an Imperial class story (including the final mission on Rishi). Challenge: Galactic Hero: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Fully finish both a Republic and an Imperial class story (including the final mission on Rishi). Challenge: Galactic Legend: Finish all class stories. Achievements count retroactively. Challenge: Power Leveler: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Reach level 65. Challenge: Elite Power Leveler: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Reach level 65 in less than 12 hours of playtime. Rewards: 5 boxes for each challenge completed. Description: This, if done correctly, only requires two new characters, one on Rep and one on Imp side. EXPANSION CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has 3 digital expansion packs! It's time to (re)experience them! Challenge: Putting the Hutts in their place: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Finish the Rise of the Hutt Cartel Digital Expansion Pack. Challenge: Returning to the Returned: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Finish the Shadow of Revan Digital Expansion Pack. Challenge: Your Empire cannot fall enough!: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Finish the first 16 Chapters of the Knights of the Fallen Empire Expansion Pack. Challenge: Statement: I am your loyal subscriber.: This is one of the challenges that can only be done on characters created after the 28th of June. Finish the HK bonus chapter. Challenge: Republic Heroic Grinder: Finish all available heroic quests from the Republic Heroic Weekly Terminal. Challenge: Imperial Heroic Grinder: Finish all available heroic quests from the Imperial Heroic Weekly Terminal. Challenge: Plugging the Black Hole: Finish the Black Hole Weekly Mission. Challenge: Section X Marks the Spot!: Finish the Section X Weekly Mission. Challenge: Makeb Cleanup Operations: Finish the Makeb Weekly Mission. Challenge: You Stay Neutral, But I Do Not: Finish the GSI Weekly Mission. Challenge: Dreaded No Longer: Finish the Oricon Weekly Mission. Challenge: Wilderness Expert: Finish the Yavin 4 Weekly Mission. Challenge: The Aftermath: Finish the Ziost Weekly Mission. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. Description: This is essentially a continuation of the previous facet. You can use one of your new characters to finish all the Expansion Packs, while you can use your existing characters to redo all daily quests and heroic quests in the game. FLASHPOINT CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has innumerable tactical and HM flashpoints. It's time to (re)experience each and every one of them! Challenge: Superior Tactics: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Finish the following flashpoints in Tactical Mode: The Esseles, Black Talon, Kuat Drive Yards, Hammer Station, Athiss, Mandalorian Raiders, Cademimu, Taral V, Maelstrom Prison, Boarding Party, The Foundry, Colicoid War Game, Red Reaper, Directive 7, The Battle of Ilum, The False Emperor, Kaon Under Siege, Lost Island, Czerka Corporate Labs, Czerka Core Meltdown, Blood Hunt, The Battle of Rishi, One Normal Star Fortress Challenge: They Ain't Hard At All: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Finish the following flashpoints in Hard Mode: The Esseles, Black Talon, Hammer Station, Athiss, Mandalorian Raiders, Cademimu, Taral V, Maelstrom Prison, Boarding Party, The Foundry, Red Reaper, Directive 7, The Battle of Ilum, The False Emperor, Kaon Under Siege, Lost Island, Czerka Corporate Labs, Czerka Core Meltdown, Blood Hunt, The Battle of Rishi, One Heroic Star Fortress Challenge: Meticulous Flashpoint Killer: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Kill the bonus bosses in the following flashpoints in Hard Mode: The Esseles, Black Talon, Hammer Station, Athiss, Mandalorian Raiders, Cademimu, Taral V, Maelstrom Prison, Boarding Party, The Foundry, Directive 7, The Battle of Ilum, The False Emperor, Kaon Under Siege, Lost Island, Blood Hunt, The Battle of Rishi (consider nerfing). Challenge: Shooting Star Fortresses: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Destroy the Star Fortresses on the following planets: Alderaan, Belsavis, Hoth, Nar Shaddaa, Tatooine, Voss. Challenge: The One and Only: Having this achievement counts retroactively. Possess the "One and Only" achievement. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. 1 box for every HM flashpoint completed. 1 extra box if someone in your group completes a flashpoint new to him. Description: Those people who have already done these flashpoints a million times get the objectives automatically. They are still incentivized to help new players because they get extra boxes if a group member finishes a Flashpoint he or she didn't do up to that point. Also, it would be a pretty effective way to speed up GF queue times and get more people to queue. OPERATION CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has a wide variety of Operations. It's time to (re)experience each and every one of them! Challenge: My Modus Operandi: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Finish the following Operations on Story Mode: The Eternity Vault, Karagga's Palace, Explosive Conflict, The Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, Dread Fortress, Dread Palace, Ravagers, Temple of Sacrifice Challenge: Meticulous Operator: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Finish the following Operations bosses in story mode: The Golden Fury, Xenoanalyst II, The Eyeless, Colossal Monolith Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. 2 boxes for every Operation completed. 2 extra boxes if someone in your group completes an operation new to him. Description: Those people who have already done these operations a million times get the objectives automatically. They are still incentivized to help new players because they get extra boxes if a group member finishes an Operation he or she didn't do up to that point. Also, it would be a pretty effective way to speed up GF queue times and get more people to queue. WARZONE CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has a wide variety of Warzones. It's time to (re)experience each and every one of them! Challenge: Battlefield Contender: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Play at least 1 match in the following Warzones: Alderaan Civil War, Voidstar, Huttball (both maps), Ancient Hypergates, Odessen Proving Grouds, 1 Arena-style map Challenge: Battlefield Expert: Play 100 Warzones. Challenge: Manhunter: Having the Manhunter achievement counts rectroactively. Perform or assist in 1000 player kills. Challenge: Valorous Warrior: Achievement counts rectroactively. Reach valor 40 on one Character. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. 1 box for every PvP match played. Description: This would be a pretty effective way of farming boxes. It would considerably speed up PvP queue times. STARFIGHTER CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has a variety of Starfighter maps. It's time to (re)experience each and every one of them! Challenge: Battlespace Contender: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Play at least 1 match on the following maps: Lost Shipyards, Kuat Mesas, Denon Exosphere Challenge: Ace of Space: Perform or assist in 100 ship kills. Challenge: Fully Locked and Loaded: Achievements count rectroactively. Fully master any starship. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. 1 box for every PvP match played. Description: This would be a pretty effective way of farming boxes. It would considerably speed up GSF queue times. CONQUEST CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has weekly conquest objectives. It's time to get into those again. Challenge: Conquest Conqueror: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Finish all conquest events at least once: Clash in Hyperspace, Death Mark, Emergency Operations, Flashpoint Havoc, Relics of the Gree, Rakghoul Resurgence, Revenge of the Revanites, The Balance of Power, The Dread War, The Trade Emporium, Titans of Industry, Total Galactic War Challenge: Your Planet is Now Mine: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Conquer a planet. Challenge: Your Place or Mine?: Having their corresponding achievements counts them rectroactively. Obtain a Stronghold. Challenge: Lavish Decorator: Fully decorate a stronghold. Challenge: Decoration Maniac: Obtain a 125% conquest multiplier bonus. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. Description: This would encourage guilds to play conquest again. Obviously all types of Conquest events should run at least once within a 6 month period. EVENT CHALLENGES: Star Wars: The Old Republic has many recurring events. Have you explored all of them yet? Challenge: Returning to the Return of the Gree: Complete all quests during the Return of the Gree event. Challenge: Legendary Gree Supporter: Obtain Legendary reputation with the Gree enclave. (Counts if you already have it obviously.) Challenge: Resurging Again?: Complete all quests during the Rakghoul Resurgence event. Challenge: A major THORN in their side: Obtain Legendary reputation with THORN. (Counts if you already have it obviously.) Challenge: The Galaxy Never Runs Out of Scum: Capture or Kill all bounty targets at least once. Counts retroactively. Challenge: Underworld Legend: Obtain Legendary reputation with BBC. (Counts if you already have it obviously.) Challenge: Compulsory Gambler: Play 100 times on the slot machine during the Nar Shaddaa Casino Event. Reward: 5 boxes for each challenge. MISCELLANEOUS CHALLENGES: Other aspects of the game you may not know about. Challenge: Big Game Hunter: Defeat the following world bosses. (Achievements count rectroactively): SD-0, The First, Grandfather, Subject Alpha, Battledroid RL-G4, Ulgo Siegebreaker, The Ancient One, Rogue Cartel Warbot, Snowblind, Gargath, Primal Destroyer, Nightmare Pilgrim, Lucky, Dreadtooth, Worldbreaker Monolith (add achievements for those that do not have them already) Companion Enthusiast: Complete all Alliance Alerts. (Achievements count retroactively.) Alliance Commander: Reach Influence 20 with all Alliance Specialists. (Achievements count retroactively.) Devouted Follower: Reach Influence 50 with a Companion. (Counts retroactively.) Eternal Champion: Defeat the final boss in the Eternal Championship. (Achievements count retroactively.) Big Earner and Big Spender: Obtain, then spend 1 million credits. Datacron Master: Find all Datacrons. (Achievements count retroactively.) Fashionista: Customize your armor set. Statement: I am your humble servant, Master.: Obtain HK-51. (Counts rectroactively.) I am eager to explore the galaxy, Chief!: Obtain Treek. (Counts rectroactively.) A Legacy that Will Never Be Forgotten: Obtain Legacy level 50. Rewards: 5 boxes per objective. Closing thoughts: I believe this version of the Light Side and Dark Side event would entertain both newcomers and veteran players. The Legendary rewards could be given out to those players who complete every challenge by the end of the event. This would keep completionists in the game for a while, redoing most content for cool new rewards, but without absurd requirements such as redoing all class stories for the billionth time. It would help FPs, OPs, WZs and GFS matches pop faster and players get extra rewards for helping others who are missing a certain FP or Operation. All in all a reasonable good filler for off months and lean periods without new content, without pissing off your most loyal subscribers. New objectives can be added as new content is released over time, to keep even veteran players return to the game.

I am in a similar situation as the OP and support his post wholeheartedly. Character levels need to be rectroactive.

Yes, thanks for the "incredible" challenge of having to redo everything you have already done a million times. I have to ask, though, why stop at 8 classes? Why not 20, 50 or 100? These numbers are totally arbitrary, would you be so enthusiastic if they told you to relevel all classes twice, three times or ten times?

I can't find the words to describe the amount of stupidity on the part of the developers regarding this "new" event. Because it NOT ONLY OFFERS ABSOLUTELY ZERO NEW CONTENT, but also INVALIDATES EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR. This is not an event, this is a huge middle finger to all Legendary players who already have 8+ characters at max levels. I have spent the past 4 and a half years playing this game, with increasing scorn over its seemingly deteriorating state, but I stuck around nonetheless because I like my guildies. In that time, I have leveled about 40 toons to 50/55/60/65. I have done all HM FPs, Operations, Starfighter and WZ maps and World Bosses literally innumerable times. I watched this game go from easy through very easy through ridiculously easy to so easy that a blind, deaf, comatose lobotomy patient could do it. On my primary server I have 24 lvl 65 characters (three from each class) and on my secondary server I have 10 more max lvl characters. I have every crew skill maxed to 550 twice with 6 Influence 50 comps on each character. I have collected every datacron in the game and done the HK-51 quest about 14 times. NO MORE! The fact that only characters created after the 28th of June can participate in this "new event" is ridiculous. You have nothing new to offer us, so you want us to redo the same thing for the billionth time, which I might be able to live with, but I WILL NOT START EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH AGAIN. I refuse to delete any of my existing characters or buy CC for character slots for characters I will end up deleting anyways. Remove these requirements please, you are spitting in the face of all the Legendary players in the game. If you don't have anything new to offer to your playerbase, at least do not upset those few loyal subs you have left with such idiotic measures.

I searched the forums, but I couldn't find a definitive answer to this question, so I'd like to ask it here, too. Maybe someone had more luck than me solving this quest. If you haven't done this Alliance Alert mission and you don't want to see spoilers, stop reading here. As it stands, I haven't started this mission on any of my meaningful characters until I get some advice on how to do it in a satisfactory way. Any advice on this topic would be much appreciated.

I believe this particular phenomenon has been in the game ever since they changed companions, so that they wouldn't speak whenever they were summoned, which is - essentially - whenever you got off your mount or rocket boost between two trash mobs. Some alien characters like Qyzen or Khem Val had lines so long, they wouldn't ever shut up, so they made this change. An unfortunate side effect is that you have to rebuff your comps every time they appear.

Please merge all same language servers into the regional PvE one. A paying customer should not have to choose between playing on a dead server or paying 10 or 20 thousand Cartel Coins to move all characters to a more populous one! And even if they do choose to pay this outrageous price to move their legacy, they end up losing tens of millions of credits worth of stronghold unlocks! Guilds cannot be moved at all, so they lose their fully unlocked and decorated strongholds and flagships with hundreds of millions of credits worth of decorations! If you don't have cross server queues in your game, then server transfers should be free. All you're doing is stranding potential paying customers on dead servers. If someone comes back to a dead server to check in on the game, it's extremely likely that he's not going to pay to transfer all his myriad characters to another server at a price of 1000 CC each. I realize that you care about your customers as much as you do about trash in a trash can, but I fail to see how this was a sound financial move. Far more people would purchase character transfers at a price of 90 CC than at the price of 1000, so you'll most likely end up losing money on this. I realize that the cheap transfers provide only a stopgap measure, but it's the best alternative since you continue to give us the middle finger whenever we ask for server mergers or cross server queues.

I'm guessing the reason for this is that the Revenge of the Sith novelization (and other book adaptations) make references to other published books. In particular, I think Revenge of the Sith references events and characters from the Clone Wars novels Shatterpoint, Cestus Deception, Jedi Trial and Dark Rendezvous. Canonizing it would make all those other works canon as well. Just like canonizing this game would make pretty much everything up this point canon, because SWTOR references almost the entire Legends Star Wars history up to this point. Canonizing one source would start a chain reaction of canonization. Although major elements of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (which is set during/after the events of Revenge of the Sith) were brought into canon in James Luceno's Tarkin novel, so significant canonization did occur from Legends sources around the timeline of Episode III. That is, to my understanding, at any rate.

I was under the impression that Maul was the inspiration for the Sith Assassin advanced class. In fact I had the following ideas of roughly whom each advanced class was based upon. They could have copied various moves and outfits from these characters. Sith Assassin - Darth Maul Sith Sorcerer - Emperor Palpatine Sith Juggernaut - Darth Vader and Malgus Sith Marauder - no particular person, think they copied the class from KOTOR 2 Powertech - Boba Fett Mercenary - Jango Fett Operative - Mara Jade Sniper - no idea Jedi Guardian - Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and most of the Jedi in published works Jedi Sentinel - Ahsoka Tano Jedi Shadow - Bastila/Satele Shan Jedi Sage - Yoda Commando/Vanguard - various prominent clone Troopers from the 501st in the Clone Wars TV series (like Rex, Fives or Echo) and the Republic Commando PC game Scoundrel - Han Solo and Lando Calrissian Gunslinger - Han Solo had he actually beaten Gallandro to the draw or Gallandro himself. EDIT 1: Oh just noticed there was a pretty similar post above, sorry didn't read the whole thread. EDIT 2: Actually Maul must be an Immortal specced Sith Juggernaut because he sure as hell seems immortal these days...

We had a lengthy chat about transferring the whole guild to another server, but in the end decided against it and decided to wait for server mergers, which will hopefully happen soon. Since you can't transfer the guild as a whole, we'd lose both our fully unlocked and decorated flagship and stronghold. Almost all of our members unlocked their strongholds with credits, so all of those would go down the drain as well. In the end we didn't want them to lose their stronghold bonuses and reinvest tens of millions of credits into unlocking strongholds again. It is a monumentally stupid decision to increase the price of Character Transfers more than tenfold while some servers are practically dead and there is no cheap and reliable way to connect to players on more populated servers. Mechanically there is no distinction between RP and PvE servers, so it shouldn't be a problem to merge those. With the addition of PvP-focused instances, the distinction between PvE and PvP servers disappeared, too. There is nothing preventing you now from merging all US servers into 2 (East Coast, West Coast) and EU servers into 3 (English, French, German). Since Bioware stated on multiple occasions that their technology doesn't allow for cross-server queues, (which is baffling since xserver has been present in pretty much every other MMO that has ever hit the market years before SWTOR even came out), the best solution would be to merge all regional, same language servers. Either that or make it so that upon transferring to a new server, people don't lose their strongholds and outfits.

Just wait until you get to the chapters after IX. That's when things start really falling apart...

Yes, me and a lot of my friends on a weekly basis, depending on what was needed at a given time. We'd transfer characters back and forth between the Red Eclipse and the Progenitor because it was cheaper than getting min/maxed sets on both servers for duplicate characters. I was going to get two sets of PvP gear for my characters eventually, but it looks like that it might be better if I just transferred those chars to the TRE permanently. Just merge the *********** servers already because I'm sure as hell not going to pay twenty thousand Cartel Coins to get my characters off a server that has 23 people on the Republic fleet on a Sunday evening....

I just told this to my friends and they were speechless. Needless to say, they said they wouldn't be able to transfer characters to play team ranked arenas anymore. I also won't be able to keep transferring my geared PvP chars to the Red Eclipse anymore to play team ranked there. Are you actively trying to destroy what's left of the PvP community? You can't do this without merging all servers into 3 (US East Coast, US West Coast and Europe) megaservers or implementing cross server queues. Also, congratulations, you just killed our Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening fun. We worked so hard to convince some old PvP players to return and breathe life into the corpse of ranked PVP on the Progenitor. And now you **** this up...

And Bioware stupidity strikes again. Increasing the price more than tenfold is a terrible idea and will certainly prevent many people from helping out friends on other servers or doing shopping on other servers. Right now I can help out my friends on other servers if they're shorthanded for operations but this will put a stop to that. It seems you're very determined to kill off the low population servers, so why not just merge them into a megaserver? Really keep coming with these stupid ideas, you sure know how to upset your players.... EDIT: This price would be unreasonable even if you had xservers or megaservers, but your silence on this topic speaks volumes...

Also, Yoda isn't infallible by any means. It could be that he's simply wrong and relaying misinformation to Luke. The fact that he does not know of other Jedi who survived Order 66 doesn't mean they don't exist.

I couldn't find any specific numbers or even generic estimates to that question. If you're playing a Jedi, Lana can comment that the Jedi Order suffered heavy losses in the war against Arcann, just as the Sith did. At the end Chapter IX, you can ask Theron about Satele and he replies that his contacts among the Jedi hadn't been able to locate her. That would imply that they still exist in some form or another. When you talk to Choza Rabaat, he says he doesn't not know what happened to the Jedi order but he doesn't believe that it had been completely wiped out. The Republic isn't destroyed, however, it still has a standing military, a fleet, a chain of command, albeit much weaker than 5 years ago. Based on this, I'd say that the Jedi and the Sith are shells of their former selves, their numbers had been reduced significantly but they had not been completely wiped out and they're still serving what's left of the Republic/Empire.

Well my guess would be because the script demands that you and Valkorion be enemies, no matter your previous relationship. It doesn't matter if you had been fighting him for pretty much the whole game (e.g. Jedi Knight) or if you had been his loyal servant from Korriban onwards (e.g. Sith Warrior). It doesn't matter if you kneel to him on Zakuul or defy him, if you accept or reject his power, if you're open to his ideas or treat him with hostility. One-size-fits-all story at its best.

Yeah, being able to practice the mechanics of a boss even after you killed it sounds like a good idea. In the past we actually had to deliberately /stuck HM and NiM encounters when taking new guild members (especially tanks) through the operation so that they would get more face time with certain ops mechanics in a given week.

I actually had a post about this as well several months back. Made a comment somewhere how nonsensical it is that we have on demand access to Zakuul in our highly customized and nonstandard starship. I mean how many X-70B Phantom prototypes, Thunderbolts, D-5 Mantis, Consular and Fury-class starships are prowling the galaxy? I can MAYBE see the XS Freighter common enough in the galaxy that it might land without raising an eyebrow. The X-70B is supposedly equipped with a cloaking device we never actually get to use. But the rest, as you say, are highly conspicuous. This whole rebellion would be long over by now if the Eternal Fleet was on the lookout for approaching custom ships and stolen military shuttles...

I've finished Chapter XII on all classes now and there were a lot of odd things that I've observed throughout the chapter. Things that didn't make sense, didn't feel elaborate enough or felt strangely out of place. I have to admit, though, the overall feel of the chapter felt good and appropriate on some characters. That is, despite the fact that I'm listing things I consider mostly negative here. These are mostly little things that I noticed during subsequent playthroughs: - The Gemini Frequency hyperwave comms station is 10 kms beneath Zakuul: This just feels weird, you don't really put signal transcievers underground. Not at least if you want to get clear reception. I would expect such a facility to have an antenna that stretches into orbit, past atmospheric interference. Maybe it does and we're just invading the control room below the surface. - Speaking to Valkorion in a secluded location outside the base: Why? If I gathered something at the mission briefing, it's that the raid on the comms facility is extremely urgent. Why do we have to talk to Valkorion outside the base and waste valuable time? Why can we not talk to him on the hours-long shuttle ride to Zakuul? Pretty much everyone at the base knows the Eternal Emperor is in your head, what's to keep secret? A more time-effective way would be to get advice on the fly as you're moving through the base. - Satele chilling in the woods 2 minutes from the Alliance base: I can accept that Satele and Marr can somehow conceal their presence in the Force from Lana, Senya, Sana-Rae and the others. But how the hell are they concealing their starship? It's got power on, the navicomputer is running, the lights are turned on and there is no camouflage netting on top of it. Things like this tend to be noticed in the Star Wars universe. We've been on Odessen for months now and nobody scouted the area around the base? Nobody noticed Satele's not-at-all hidden camp on an aerial flyby mission or something? Not even the people who placed navigation cairns all around the base? But if it was Satele, then nobody noticed the orderly piled rocks on every pathway leading away from the base? The very least Dr. Oggorubb should have noticed them, since he was observing the accelerated evolution of imported wildlife in the Odessen wilderness. - The first confrontation with Valkorion is happening in full view of base personnel: I just noticed this yesterday. There is a landing platform outside the base and two guys are on it, conversing with each other. The platform has a direct view of the pond below, where your first confrontation takes place. It is within hearing distance, too, so when the Commander is inexplicably hit by lightning, shouldn't they be running screaming to Lana? - Arcann struck a killing blow against us?: Wait, what? When? If you go DS at the end of Chapter VIII, Arcann most definitely does NOT strike a killing blow against you, despite Valkorion's claim to the contrary. You beat the crap out of him, but then he activates his cutscene awesomeness. Then we have a chance to activate our cutscene awesomeness, which trumps his and he ends up flying out of the building. (This line is only appropriate if you go LS at the end of Chapter VIII). - Satele's idea of casual manslaughter in the woods: When you meet Satele for the first time, she makes an offhand remark about deciding not kill you, when she and Valkorion found you. I've found this especially baffling on a Jedi Knight or Consular. Satele is integral to the story of the Jedi Knight, she is practically our mentor and the Knight saves the Republic and the Jedi Order single-handedly on multiple occassions. We even saved Satele's life on Yavin, when we destroyed the Temple of Sacrifice. And her thanks is what, "be grateful I didn't kill you"? This is very, very un-Satele like. There should be some extra catch-up dialogue between her and Jedi classes. I mean we can't even ask what the **** happened to the Jedi Order and how many survivors there are. - Satele abandonded the Republic and the Jedi Order?: This again, seems to go against everything that was established about her. Maybe, just maybe she and the Jedi no longer serve the Republic, when it went from democracy to dictatorship overnight. But the Satele we got to know previously would NEVER, EVER abandon her fellow Jedi in the time of their greatest need. "Yo, the war has taken a bad turn, this responsibility is too much for me to bear, I'm out. I need to build a log-jumping obstacle course on Odessen, because it's extremely important right now. Peace." - Marr still serving the Empire?: Again, how? When you ask Marr about his reasons for taking a spirit form, he comments that he's still defending what's left of the Empire.....apparently by spending years arguing with Satele, exploring Odessen and making elaborate log-jumping obstacle courses. How is this in any way helpful to the remnants of the Empire? He's a freaking ghost, he could go to Zakuul and gather all kinds of useful intelligence for both the Empire and the Alliance. With his help, toppling Arcann's Empire would be so much easier, but no he leaves without sharing a single piece of useful information. - Arcann and Vaylin are beyond Light and Dark?: Everything we've seen about these two points to the contrary. Arcann is ruthless, cunning, calculating, manipulative and shrewd. Vaylin is a murderous psychopath. They're as evil and dark-sided as they come. They're both driven by passion. They're as much Sith as anyone can be. I can accept that most Knights of Zakuul are not inherently bad or evil and are just following their duty, but come on, Arcann and Vaylin are just pure evil. We do happen to have a former Knight on our team, but Senya doesn't mention anything about their children being more than Light or Dark. - Non-Force users can suddenly use the Force?: Because through the Force everything is possible. Except four classes are not Force-sensitive. I can accept Tech classes, too, have latent Force sensitivity and Valkorion somehow awakens this in them. But this is never elaborated in any meaningful way. One moment you're just an ordinary mook off the street, the next you can levitate weapon parts, tame animals with your mind, activate holocrons and jump ridiculous distances with pinpoint precision. I've found this silly and it felt really out-of-place. - Resilience, Transcendence or Sacrifice?: I honestly liked the weapon-building concept, but we have three fancy words without context to explain what these ideals are good for. They're just not fitting for many classes. A far better option would have been (in my opinion) to use Peace (LS), Power (Neutral) and Passion (DS). These could have given bonuses against Arcann based on your alignment. The more lightsided you are, the more powerful the first weapon becomes. The more evil you are, the more lethal the dark sided weapon becomes. Peace, Power and Passion are more easily indentifiable and relatable concepts than Resilience, Transcendence and Sacrifice. - Satele and Marr embraced Valkorion's ideals?: This felt particularly weird, the two mentors felt like simple mouthpieces for Valkorion. When all was said and done, the overall impression I got from them was "you must get more powaaah!" Anchor yourself to power. Change from within. Become something greater. Transcend Jedi and Sith philosophy. It's like you're still talking to Valkorion. (Maybe you are...) All in all, the more I played through this chapter, the more off it felt. I don't know if it's the fact that they're cramming every class, faction and alignment into a singular one-size-fits-all story or that events on Odessen didn't exactly transpire as you thought they did. This kind of reminds me of the Mass Effect 3 indoctrination theory, where fans tried to come up with reasonable explanations for truly mediocre and nonsensical writing. Maybe Bioware got an idea there?

What I don't understand is why we can't actually beat Valkorion. Sure increase the damage he deals over time but I don't like scripted endings, where you lose no matter what. Outcome should be based on performance. If Valkorion is going to leave anyways, make it so that if you (by some miracle) actually manage to beat him, he says that he had underestimated your resolve, which wouldn't happen again and you earn his grudging respect. And a promise that the next time you fought things would turn out different. If Valkorion beats you (which should be the more common outcome), he sneers at your weakness. Tells you that you're not worthy of hosting him and leaves. He tells you that the next time you fight, he'll kill you. Same fight, same outcome but it actually matters to the player. Not this silly I'm on 98%, he's on 70% but wins anyways with a measly Force Push.

I felt this chapter was very thematic and appropriate on my LS Guardian and neutral Assassin. It was okay on my DS Juggernaut. It was utterly ridiculous, silly and non-sensical on my Smuggler, Trooper and Imperial Agent.

I actually had pretty similar feelings to this, albeit I finished Chapter XII on my Smuggler first, then on my Trooper. I have to agree, the story of the chapter is completely non-sensical from a Tech user's perspective. But that can be said for pretty much every other Force-related chapter in KOTFE. The problem, as I see it, is that from a story perspective, Force-sensitivity adds a certain depth to a character that non-Force users cannot explore and immerse themselves in. While mundane chapters like (X, XI and XIII) can be fitting for Force users, mystical, Force-related chapters aren't really fitting for non-Force users. Chapter X was Imperial Agent themed, yet all classes can appreciate and enjoy the thrill of working undercover in enemy territory. Chapter XI was Trooper themed, yet all classes and can appreciate and enjoy taking on a dangerous mission. Chapter XII is Force-themed and Tech user classes are baffled how they're supposed to comprehend subtle differences between Jedi and Sith philosophies, when they cannot even feel the Force in the first place. Chapter XIII will be Smuggler themed I guess, but all classes will be able to enjoy and appreciate a daring heist. The underlying problem is that there is no substitute for being Force-sensitive. I agree with the OP that more explanation is required how suddenly a Tech user can tame animals with his/her mind, jump hilarious distances with pinpoint precision or even comprehend subtle nuances between Jedi/Sith and Gray Jedi philosophy. Or why it is signficant if one or both powerful Force users add their strength to a mystical Force-imbued weapon. Or why the concepts of resilience, transcendence or sacrifice to come immediately to the mind of a dutiful Trooper, amoral Bounty Hunter, cunning Agent or greedy Smuggler. I don't think the word "transcendence" is even in the dictionary of my Smuggler. But, hey don't worry, because now you have a Force-imbued pistol? Cannon? Sniper rifle? I guess it makes sense for a Lightsaber but for Tech weapons it's just silly. And frankly, that mystical weapon is just an orange Cartel Market reskin... So yeah, long story short, this chapter seemed very silly for all of the Tech using classes I've finished it on so far. (But I guess it doesn't matter since Vanguards and Powertechs can inexplicably teleport anyways....)