The first one, imo. Actually, the BH has a scene where she grabs Torian's armor and pulls him in for a kiss and that one was excellent, too. But Quinn's, where he grabs the warrior, that one is the best in the game, I think.

I've completed three seperate romances, all with female characters. I tend to have a hard time playing male characters, since I'm not, and flirting, especially, as a male character seems awkward, to me. Having said that, I recently started playing a male IA and I'm having a generally enjoyable time playing his story. I'm hoping to eventually have him romance Raina but that's not something I've seen yet, so I can't say what even happens in regards their relationship. I do know I don't like Kaliyo, though, even though they've flirted back and forth a couple of times. Hey, my IA flirts with everyone, shrug. (1) Of all the romances, the one that seemed the absolute most natural was between my female bounty hunter and Torian Cadera. It was nearly seemless, like they just flowed together. Torian is just an awesome example of a Mandalorian man, with his sense of honor and duty and protectiveness proving incredibly attractive. The romance with him came off as providing another level of acceptance into the overarching Mandalorian society my bounty hunter was becoming a part of, and I enjoyed seeing the two of them together. (2) Corso Riggs, too, was a very good foil for my female smuggler. The two of them shared a rather quirky attitude, so that they generally met each encounter with smiles and teasing that proved intensely fun and engaging. I laughed, a lot, as I played through their romance. It was far sweeter than the BH romance, with Corso being a bit more sugary in his approach than Torian was. Corso is just a sweetheart, is all. (3) The last romance I played through was with my female Sith Warrior, and regardless of the level of criticism he's received I still find the romance with Malavi Quinn to be one of the most interesting and fascinating to play through. It's not an easy romance, in the end. Heck, it takes a long time for Quinn to even open up and actually respond to her teasing and flirtation. But by the time it was finished I couldn't see my warrior with anyone else, even after the "incident". The two of them just FIT together, shrug. Oh, and he provides perhaps the best kiss scene in the game, hehe. I'm waiting for Legacy to be fully implemented before trying out some other romance arcs. I'd really like to play through Aric Jorgan's romance with a female Trooper, but I've avoided it in the hopes of getting some more varied character creation options on that toon, for instance. In the meantime, I'm touching on the IA story and generally enjoying myself.

This. My two Sith are called "Lord" not "Lady". I always took it as something of a "gender neutral" practice.

There's a couple instances, where your moral alignment can make a difference in terms of romance. A LS warrior, for instance, can not romance a DS Jaesa. Too, a DS inquisitor will not really be able to romance Ashara. But beyond those instances, romancing any character isn't going to be dependent on your alignment. A DS bounty hunter can certainly romance Mako, although she may disagree with a great many of your choices, so take that into consideration as your building your relationship with her. My slightly-DS-leaning Hunter, on one playthrough, had to use gifts to smooth over those instances, as I recall. My characters are normally female, though. My final Hunter was a LS female, and Torian adored her. My final Warrior, though, was a DS female, and Quinn fell for her very easily. It's only important to consider your companion is "their own person" and won't neccessarily like you "just because they're drawn that way", iow. I charted my characters with their eventual relationships in mind. You don't HAVE to, though, and there are tools you can use to work around any dissatisfaction they may be feeling with your character. That's basically the challenge of that aspect of the game, shrug.

I suppose there's benefit to a bit of roleplay, then. I did the same thing with my Smuggler healer, btw. It seems important, to me, that my characters have a reason for the motions and techniques that they use, so that their choices, as they're going along, make more sense. To me, anyone who regularly rushes into violent fights and confrontations should have at least some basic understanding of how to repair bodily damage. Even the most ordinary Soldier in the Army is given first aid training. Some Soldiers just get more training than others. Some, too, excel at it. But the fact remains it's not even strange that a fighter and hunter would find value in the exercising of battlefield medicine. Mind you, my Bounty Hunter received tremendous guidance from an Imperial doctor subjugated to some lowly clinic for questioning of his superiors in the military, who healed a youngster brought to him after she was orphaned in a violent attack and then let the girl meander after him in his clinic when he couldn't run her off and away. After awhile, he simply began explaining what he was doing and why, as he was healing and fighting in the rough low class gang-riddled areas of the city. He told her, many times, "Be prepared to break those stupid enough to try and take from you what you don't want to lose and fix whatever damage they wreak as they go." She had a natural aptitude for the skills he shared with her, which netted her several decently-paying jobs and the eventual attention of an aging bounty hunter looking for a candidate capable of winning the Great Hunt. You can certainly RP a reasonable story that makes everything make sense, though, imo. There are plenty of reasons even a Bounty Hunter would turn to healing, not the least of which is the notion of "guarding" or "protecting". I'm generally leery of regular assumptions the bounty hunter is NOTHING but a killer, anyway. A good bounty hunter, imo, would be able to market multiple skills and the hunter capable of defending the life of his or her clients would, likely, have a regular supply of interested customers. That's just my opinion, however.

I was thinking the same thing when I read the update, earlier! Truly good work, Bioware!

I like killing her, sorry. If I had to put up with her temper tantrums all the time, I think I'd scream.

Depends on what you liked about the Warrior. I immensely enjoyed the combat motions my Sith Juggernaut made, anyway. I liked the way she moved, that she ended feeling, to me, like a truly bad*** tank of a fighter. Now, if it's story you're looking for, that's different. Combat-wise, anyway, the Jedi Knight is most like the Sith Warrior. So if its combat you're looking for, you may feel most comfortable playing the Knight. I myself wouldn't play a Knight DS. It's like trying to play a Warrior LS. I mean, it can be done but it never really felt right, imo. For purely great story, though, on the Republic side, go Trooper. I think the Trooper story is really great. The Smuggler story is outstanding, too, but mostly because it's laugh-your-butt-off fun. My next alt will surely be a Trooper, although I'm waiting for Legacy to be fully implemented before I head back to the Republic side of the house again.

Just about perfection, that flirt, yes. I love how he just looks up at her, no smile, no grumble, just says, "I deserved that." I remember choking on my soda during that scene, I was laughing so hard. My friend was insisting I give her the low-down, and I looked over at her and said, "Oh, I just fell in love with the Mandalorian." Torian remains at the top of my list of favorite companions so far. He's sometimes been beat out by Blizz but typically ends up coming out ahead. Quinn is fascinating me, as well, but Torian is just...better. At least he would die before he even thought of betraying my BH, heh. I think the BH really did luck out when it came to companion charaters, though. When you sit back and think of those characters you'd really want to hang with, given the chance, there are few crews that match the BH's, anyway. I think I'd be stabbed in the back on the warrior's ship, fight off grabby hands on the knight's ship, have bad dreams on the inquisitor's ship, or worry I'm being indocrinated on the agent's ship. Not sure about the smuggler's crew, though. They play cards over there and that might be fun. And wookies are about as cool as jawas, I think.

I personally loved Quinn and Qyzen immensely. Had a friend, though, who endlessly complained about "my dang lizard". Which in ventrilo sounds particularly funny, mind you. And don't get me started about Quinn. He's like a nut you feel you just have to crack. Absolutely love flirting with him. Not sure how long he'd last on my BH's ship, once Torian got ahold of him, mind you. Probably have to settle for the lizard.

I would never say Quinn "deliberately failed". Rather, I think he was emotionally compromised and, thusly, not as capable in planning and/or excuting an assassination attempt against the SW. It's the only way I can RP the complete ineffectuality of Quinn's betrayal attempt. He'll declare endlessly the truth, that his attempt against the warrior was real. But the fact remains he wasn't coming at the thing with a completely clear focus, either. To say that didn't effect the event would be silly, imo.

I continue to love this game.

Not at all. On those incredibly rare occasions I have problems getting a group together, I toss myself down in front of my guild and bemoan, "I need helps over here." They laugh at me in teamspeak and then come save me from the waiting.

Yea! Quinn's author did an outstanding job. Here's where I admit I kept it all secret, yikes. I still think my warrior was just more ticked off with Baras, than she ever was with Quinn. After Quinn, she's just that much more determined to make...Baras...pay.

This, totally. Skadge is such a complete waste of space on my ship. I wish I could stuff him out an airlock. Or, better yet, not even watch him climb aboard my ship in the first place! He contributes absolutely nothing to my crew. Can not stand him! I hear loads of complaints about the Q's -- aka Quinn and Qyzen. Make a deal with those players looking to get rid of one of their Q's. I'll give ya a Skadge if you give me a Quinn or Qyzen. Anyone?

Tatoinne is typically in Act 1 of the story arc, at least for the Republic side. You'll finish Act 1 when you get done with Alderaan.

I've tossed this idea around endlessly. I just can't correlate the genius Quinn demonstrates time and again, with the very lame attempt he ends up making on the warrior's life. It seems off somehow. It seems to me he'd have done something far more effective, if killing her really was what he wanted to do. As it is, I'm left bewildered. The Bounty Hunter got a chance to rush off to save Torian when he was kidnapped by her enemies. Torian looks up at her as she's untying him and just smiles, "That's my girl." It was a purely awesome bit of adventure, that quest, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'd like to see something similar in the warrior's story at some point. It would be alot of fun to see how she'd react, how he'd react...oh, how her other companions would react! Could you imagine telling Pierce they need to go and save Quinn, muahaha! Darth Malgus' emotional equilibrium was compromised at one point during his story, too, where he ended up force pushing crowds of people to get to his own lover after she'd been wounded. I just think it would be a fun and interesting bit of adventuring, to see how our warriors would react to the idea of their lover's safety being compromised. Maybe my warrior is just that simplistic, I dunno, lol.

It was absolutely adorable, that conversation. I think I played around with it for a good ten minutes, picking every possible option combination until I was utterly satisfied with the course of conversation. My friend and I ended up laughing so hard just watching the looks he gave her whenever she said something. "Well, we're in your quarters, isn't that the perfect location for a discussion like this, <sly smile>?" Classic. She just plain liked him. That makes real sense. I still can't really figure this one out. Honestly, I really do think Quinn would've provided a far more effective attempt on the warrior's life, than to toss a couple of droids at her. He does know she's more than capable of defeating a couple of lousy droids, after all. Perhaps it's largely an emotional failing, that he didn't really want to kill her, and so he subconsciously compromised his own betrayal. But nothing in the confrontation itself really portrays the thing as anything less than real and full blown. I just don't know. Purposely, no. But I do think he has the potential of being so important to her day to day dealings and business as to be absolutely essential. The Sith teach that love of someone constitutes a real weakness. Quinn can quickly become a real achilles heal for the warrior. It will be interesting to see if Bioware takes the story in that direction someday. Oh, I can appreciate the "toss him into the wall and choke him within an inch of his life" option. It just didn't make sense to the way I thought my warrior would react. Maybe it's just me. When I am angry, I yell and scream and it's just over. I don't hold grudges, nor understand such tendencies. I tend to think of my warrior as being alot like that. She'd just beaten the crap out of Quinn and he's now doubled over in pain. Her anger is pretty much spent. She's also one-dimensional in her focus. She wouldn't dwell on it, wouldn't mull it over and over. To her, once she's beaten Quinn and his measly droids, she's won his loyalty and there's no reason whatsoever to agonize over the event. It just doesn't occur to her to worry about it, and she's certainly not afraid he'll do it again. She just moves on, shrug.

That is perhaps one of my favorite companion conversations in the game. It only seems so dang cute, the way she teases him and how he just soaks it up, really. My friend was watching me flirt with him during the Balmorra playthrough and said I needed to be careful I didn't scare him off, as he kept stuttering through the interaction. I just rolled my eyes, "Nah, he'll end up loving her for it." In another discussion on this topic, someone insisted to me Quinn just wanted to be a Sith. I just never felt that way. To me, Quinn seems utterly comfortable with the idea he himself is not and never will be Sith. Idolization is a good word, I suppose. He's utterly devoted to the Sith. Not so much to the Sith code, as it's not something I think he really understands. But to see the Sith stronger than the Jedi, overcome the Jedi, be greater than the Jedi -- yea, that would prove to him his own service to such an ideal is worthwhile. It's almost like she's read a book or article entitled "how to make friends", rather than really, I don't know, made some friends, lol. My warrior is basically self-centered and self-serving, and she simply can't wrap her head around why not everyone reacts well to her generally selfish nature. It's not that she doesn't care about other people, either. She's just more inclined than not to see others as serving her needs, firstly. I was playing through the war scenario on Taris, where the warrior accedes to Quinn the real decision-making, when it occurred to me how truly strong they were together. If the warrior is the blade, Quinn is the brain wielding it. They will always be tough to beat, if they fight together. I kind of think her forgiveness is a sort of "I won" moment for her. That's how she'd feel, walking away from that confrontation. Not that she'd ever articulate it as such. But she never says "how could you" to Quinn. She takes it and beats it and just plain moves on to the next challenge. She's perfectly comfortable seeing the thing as over and done with, past, and finished. She won and now she has her prize, shrug.

I loved the smuggler story. It was fun to play such a snarky, smart-alek of a character. Few real plot twists as you're going along. But, dang, I laughed my butt off a lot! Still, my favorite story, by far, is the Bounty Hunter's. There were plenty of funny moments, too. But it was more the sheer independence, the personal growth of the character that really grabbed at me. This was a character who regularly gave the finger to the Imperials she was working for, even the Sith. But she didn't have any hesitation in taking down Jedi and Republic officers, then nabbing the wages she earned for the doing, either. She was fundamentally altered, in her perspective and her values by the time the story ended, too. It was awesome! I'm currently completing a playthrough of the Sith Warrior. Her relationship with Quinn is hands-down the most fascinating companion/romance arc of the game, so that I end up carefully analyzing every interaction they share together. The story itself is very straightforward. But it's highly engaging. I'd like to go back to playing a Republic character after my warrior. But I may reserve those playthroughs for after the Legacy system is truly implemented. I'm particularly interested in making a Trooper and then a Knight. I just want to see what kind of changes to customization and the like that Legacy will make possible, before I venture back to that side. So we'll see.

Let me take a moment to second this. I was worrying in the same vein, glad to see otherwise. Thanks much! Funnily, I was just thinking the other day about day to day family life for the Sith. I went looking for information about actual Sith cultural life, anything that might hint at family interactions, in particular, but I discovered a serious lack of any real consideration of how the Sith truly relate to each other. How do they talk to each other, do siblings hug, do parents read their kids bedtime stories, etc? It just seems to me, as you say, there's more to this society than the brusque and incredibly formal interactions you see between people in the game. What are they really doing or saying when in private? Seriously, there has to be some degree of caring, support, respect between various people. It can be limited. But there has to be something that teaches people how to live together in some level of mutual understanding. Human society can not allow for complete disunity, a chaotic disruption of every bit of friendship and familial bonds at every turn. People have to have something to believe in or fight for, something worth it. Every time my characters come across a Soldier in the field, holding his wounded self barely together, saying how he charged forward regardless, it leaves me thinking there's far more to the Empire than just an endless routine of betrayal and infighting. Maybe it's just the division between formal and informal. Behind closed doors, anyway, there's surely very real warmth and care. I tend to think Quinn has a much different demeanor once he gets my warrior into the privacy of her quarters, for instance. And I don't say that simply about "fade to black" intimacy, either. It's more he'll relax there with her, as he wouldn't anywhere else. I think the warrior's teasing is a tweaking against those societal rules, as well. Just a subtle poke against the formality demanded of public interaction, like a teenager who determines to dye her hair purple, maybe. Such stiff reserve, imo, speaks to a very distinctive upbringing. I'm not sure I've seen anything in game or otherwise that describes Quinn's family background, mind you. I only tend to see him as coming from a more upper-class family, one of the higher castes in the Empire. But his lack of force sensitivity would've been disappointing, I think. It could be, even, that that disappointment was impressed upon him repeatedly. I don't think he begrudges those who are force sensitive, either. It's not really envy, I mean. I just think he truly believes the Sith are "better" or "superior" than he'll ever be. It's a heady regard that almost defines Quinn. This speaks, as well, to a real and fundamental lack of understanding of the feelings they were both feeling. Passion and sex are easily understood, used and then set aside, even encouraged. These are two people, though, who truly ended up caring for each other. I'm not sure either one of them could figure out what that really meant. It was probably incredibly frightening, as they each were trying to appreciate where they stood with the other. I once described the warrior's story as "simple". A better word might be "straightforward", though. It's just the warrior is brash, blunt. I picture her as I would a sword, something that's strong and capable of inflicting great damage all while retaining a single and cohesive definition. There just isn't much twisting or turning in the tale. I pretty much knew where the story was going even as it started, from the first moment Tremmel told me Baras wanted to meet me, in fact. I thought, "This guy's gonna try to kill me. This is about becoming strong enough I can kill him first." Like you, I have a hard time picturing her deviating very far from that understanding, ever. No, the "philosopher" in her story, or strategical genius, more like, is the guy she ended up married to. Quinn is the one who'll most likely point out the twists and turns coming her way, I think. I don't think trust is a word that will ever really be a part of my warrior's vocabulary. I think she's left feeling "secure" with Quinn. She may think, "I've got him." Maybe it's a feeling of control, shrug. Exactly. Of all the classes, the warrior seems the least likely to ever be "good" or "nice". I respect those who go in that direction. I just don't think that makes much sense given the dynamics of the story.

I still think Torian provides the absolute best romance arc in the game.

I think the difficulty people have with Quinn boils down to their innate misunderstanding of the real nature of good versus evil. I saw the same thing in countless scenarios in my tabletop RPG games, where my friends and I would just fall back on the "evil, just because". As in, "I'm bad, just because I'm a vampire...or a demon...or a whatever." It's why I generally avoided "evil" campaigns with my friends, the stories were so superficial, so blah. It's when I really dug deep and started asking WHY someone was so bad as that, that the stories became much more interesting. Quinn isn't easy to understand. There's a complexity to his character. I have no doubt he was designed to make you stop and think, hard. Because if you leave off with the most superficial understanding of him, you're going to miss out on quite a bit. Alot of people stop at his accent, even. Very often, people judge him as if he's "normal", like he isn't a product of a particular social and ethical background purely different from what we would think of as "normal", I mean. The Sith are the "bad guys" but what does that really mean? And what would someone who grew up in that sort of world, one dominated by Sith, what would that person really be like? Quinn is a fascinating character in that particular light of consideration, I think. I think she greatly admires loyalty to the Empire, above all else, at the story's end. It's a superficial understanding of what that means that she's going to have flesh out over time, however. I think in the immediate she doesn't really understand Sith philosophy past the most simplistic level, anyway. How she comes to terms with all of it will make for some interesting directions in her tale, shrug. Yes, Quinn is a perfect foil for the female Sith Warrior. His loyalty to her is utterly secure by the end of the story. Heck, he'd sooner lose a limb than ever fail her again, I think. And I say that without having even thought of that conversation about Broysc until you pointed it out, wow, lol. I'm not much help, here. I get stuck on "my canon" more often than not. I mean, once I have a basic understanding of a particular character, I stay with it almost to a fault. And to me the Warrior is darkside, bottom line. The only one of my characters I ever truly created I was perfectly comfortable with going that direction. Even my Inquisitor is lightside, mind you. But I find the concept of a lightside Warrior about as alien and strange as I do a darkside Knight. Just...off.

I ended up playing my SI as a male, precisely because I just couldn't romance Oghren...err...Andronikus. Haven't played the story long enough to really play out the romance with Ashara, yet. But I had a hard hard time flirting with someone who just sounded like my bestest drunken dwarf buddy, sigh.

Which is kind of why I personally don't end up disliking Quinn. To me, Quinn was in a very difficult position. He was just pulled in too many directions by questions and doubts and manipulations galore. His ultimate act is done, imo, mostly to clarify once and for all where the heck he stands, even if that means he ends up dead. From his perspective, it's just better to escape the morass of anxiety and doubt that he feels he's trapped in. Precisely. Had she killed Quinn, Baras would've had the satisfaction of ruining something the warrior wanted for herself. He would've effectively taken something of importance from her. Forgiving Quinn and securing his loyalty denies him the satisfaction. That appeals to my warrior. I also think she's fairly immature. The SW story doesn't allow for alot of tremendous personal growth, really. My BH was able to change dynamically through the experience of her story, in contrast. But the SW seems pretty static. She starts off as a bit simplistic in her determinations and there doesn't seem to be too much real change or difference as she's going along. She just comes off to me as immature, pushed into challenges very fast, strong enough to overcome them, but still learning, even at the end of the story. I don't think she's ever going to love the way I think love should be, but that's, again, because I don't think a Sith really would love like that. Her love for Quinn is as you describe it, here. It's possessive, protective, and very passionate. But it's always going to be about what he gives or does for her, not really who he is, as a person. Luckily, I do think Quinn is pretty okay with that, in the end. Once he survives his little test of her, he'll settle quite comfortably into loyal subservience to his Sith. I may not see it as the healthiest of relationships, would never want anything like it for myself. But I think it would work for these two, regardless.