I find the Miraluka "social" ability (check another player's alignment) helpful. If I walked near a flashpoint and see that there's a bunch of guys with red auras, it was a clear sign that I wasn't going to get squat for social points this run, and I'd probably be competing with them more than I'd be running the mission. As for whether or not droids are sentient? Well, I've been corrupted by my other fandom on that front. Higher-end have opinions, fear for their lives and minds, have distinct preferences and personalities, grow and learn...so yeah. I kinda wished there was a way to negotiate at Directive 7 (especially asking Healer if he would become a diplomat) or the Free Droids of Nar Shadaa. The other factor involved is that when it comes to Tharan and Holiday, it's the sentient hologram that's calling the shots on their relationship, and Tharan's truly in love with her...he just has to go elsewhere for the physical aspects, hence the playboy streak.

The only thing I could see it for is the HK51 quest (because I'm still on the fence about playing Imperials - one too many crazy Darths and omnicidial Sith maniacs to myself wanting to support that faction at all. If I have to, I'll take Bounty Hunter, as they're just in it for a paycheck), or a section that's for L50+ where the opposition are top-level troublemakers and the "home team" is trying to sabotage the saboteurs. Some good PvP and sidequest opportunity.

I agree. As it stands right now, if you WANT a higher-level mod you have to pay for it three times over: 1) Grind away and get your gear/commendations 2) Buy some ugly armor you don't want (PvP armor is a BIG offender. It looks like a toga party gone wrong) 3) Pay credits out the karking nose to strip the good mods out of the awful armor. 4) Pay another small fortune to strip the mods out of your existing armor to replace them. (20K to pull out a mod?! Seriously?!) 5) Repeat this garbage about 36 times if you and your crew have upgradable gear If the goal here was to make upgrading your characters and their crews an inconvenient, expensive, and definitely no-fun hassle, this works admirably. If you want us to keep upgrading (playing, paying for the privilege, buying upgradable armors from the Cartel), then cut at least one or two steps from this garbage and have the vendors sell the L50+ mods like they do with L7-49!

First of all, I've missed that option. I was so pleasantly delighted in KOTOR when I found out Juhani was a romance option (albeit, one that scared LucasArts so much that they gutted her dialogue). Sky and Silk Fox were also wonderful surprises. Same gender here? I would suppose it depends greatly on what story you have. Right now, I have a female Consular. All your companions, save Nadia, are gents. And you don't get Nadia until you're in the middle of Act 3. Furthermore, I'm feeling like I dodged a bullet playing female because the dear girl's so sweet and naive that I'd feel like I'm taking advantage if I played a romance with her - not to mention the questionable aspect of dating your student. The only time when dating the Padawan didn't come off as creepy was F!Exile/Atton (and Atton was creepy for many more reasons). As for same-sex romances on a male Consular? There's something about Iresso. I'm not sure I'd slash him with a male Consular. I'd actually mod Zenith or Tharan. Now, Tharan is because the guy is crazy enough to try anything twice for the sake of science, and it could lead to some comedic gold out of Holiday. Sure, she gets jealous if her Tharan is getting emotionally involved with another woman, but if it's a guy, she might just request to watch. The issue with Tharan is that he's pretty darned camp, which could play into some unfortunate implications. That leads to Zenith. He's certainly driven, focused, would definitely more along the manly or "straight acting" gay. The romance arc with him would either be an LS Male Consular getting him to loosen up and be a bit less of a jerk - "Once this is over, I will join you on Balmorra, and we'll remake it as a paragon for other worlds to follow" or a DS Male Consular essentially saying "Once we're through, we ditch the goofballs and take the fight to the Imperials - you and me, starting with Balmorra." All things considered, who in your party would make a good same-gender romance, and how could it play out differently from the heterosexual one?

As I mentioned, I was dreaming, so that detail did not come up, but I suppose you could make it so that opening one cage causes the other 2 to jam for a 20 second lockout. That's enough time for the other team to hear the inevitable alarm, get wind of the escape attempt, and try to nail anyone in their base before they get too far. It could also be left alone; in the Voidstar scenario, one can technically rush in and bomb both doors, but that's so rare in practice as to be almost impossible. Besides, the other team will also be rushing YOUR base trying to grab your prisoners, so a portion of your crew will have to be on defense.

Didn't think about it, but it could make for an additional challenge if they did have health bars.

I haven't had her in my party long, but I was savvy enough to have Flashpoint-acquired gear waiting for her when I did. I don't mind that she had a saber already. As of Quesh, you were giving her a bit of training (at least I was - Daddy Grell asked nicely), so it's not a stretch that she could at least handle a training saber. My BIG complaint is that she's recruited so late! Heck, most of the other classes have all their crew by the time they're off Hoth, so why are we waiting so long for this sweetheart? Personality: She is SUCH a sweetie. I'm playing a female Consular to avoid the uncomfortable implications of Master/Padawan romance (Felix is a great guy, and too bad Holiday got jealous, so I'm cool on that front, anyway). She pulled double her weight before I even recruited her - just wished I could take her out to see the galaxy a little sooner. And I wanted the option to pull her away from her daddy's remains give her a hug (kinda like Shep had with Tali)! The kid needs it. Her dad? I REALLY liked him. GREAT character, and I was freaking tempted to haul that Sith back to my boat for a long "talk" with Zenith and me behind closed doors (because I'm SURE Zenith has some creative ideas on interrogation methods) , but held back because Daddy Grell would have been the first guy on the boat trying to talk me out of it (Felix would be the second). So basically, I'm trying to do right by her because I want to do right by Daddy's memory. NICELY PLAYED, Bioware! She thinks you're brave, strong, good, and wise. She's trusting you already. Don't screw it up. Mechanics wise? Nice to see someone who can use my perfectly-serviceable old gear. I actually put a lot of the Recruit PvP gear on her because it's got good L50 stats, but you can't sell it (you get ONE credit for it!). I'll grind for better, but it's nice to have that stopgap for hand-me-down gear. She isn't a damage sponge like Qyzen, but she's a lot less inclined to hit targets I already stunned. Been running her on Ilum, and she handles crowds nicely with those Force booms of hers.

Sorry, dude. You may not like Pick-up Groups, but I've found some good folks there I otherwise wouldn't have talked to. My Guild also doesn't have a lot of L50's, and most of the players are intimidated by PvP. Worse is that I play in the dead of night (1-5AM), so a pick-up is the only way I'll see any play at all. After a while, though, you start noticing the regulars like you would at a real-world pub. The point is to use the time before the zone launches to form a basic attack plan ("3 on right, 3 on left, 2 hassle mid" or "Everyone charge left except the stealthers; they hide and wait on right until the signal") and cross your fingers as no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

No, actually. I can't play FPS very well - my hands start cramping up about 10 minutes in and I end up unable to continue. Capture the Flag is a classic FPS/PvP/multiplayer scenario that I'm surprised we don't have yet. But a flag wouldn't fit the setting. The Star Wars universe isn't so big on symbolic gestures like enemy flags. They're more into tangibles - like prisoners. I think the prisoner idea was because I was trying to solo the heroic on Ilum, and part of the bonus is to open prisoner cages. So, my Shadow and Cedrax were stealthing, stunning, taking out small mobs, freeing prisoners, and then back to stealth. The turrets? Well, I think my imagination wanted to come up with something capable of evening the odds between heavy-geared and lighter-geared players because EVERY randomly matched team has someone (like me) that is still grinding for decent gear. A light-geared player on a turret could cause a lot of trouble until someone backstabs them off the turret - the challenge is getting close enough to do it!

Chalk it up to an awful night at work and a good night in the warzones, but I literally dreamed of a new warzone idea. The map looked a lot like Denova crossed with Belsalvis, and the general idea was "capture the flag." Each team has a base and in the base there are three prisoner cells. (The "flags"). In the center, there's a "no man's land" with turrets and players acting as sentries. The goal is to send some folks across No Man's Land, into the other player's base, retrieve a prisoner and escort them back to your base without getting killed. First to three rescued prisoners or the most in 10 minutes wins. -- The prisoner is a non-combatant and follows the rescuer like a pet. -- You can "pass" a prisoner to another player like a Huttball. -- You cannot stealth when you have a prisoner following you. -- Defenders can use the turrets like in Colicoid War Games. Those turrets will HURT, taking out large chunks of Hit points or even insta-kill for squishier players. Of course, enemy players can also capture turrets and act as a pain in the shebs while their buddy sneaks a prisoner across. Overall, it seems like it would be feasible to program, using elements from existing missions and aspects of the game. I just hope the fellows in Austin weren't thinking of something similar and now I jinxed it.

Tell it to the last Imp who tried taking my position at the Novare coast. Better one trick that works than a dozen that might.

Stealth does need a little buffing up, but I play a Shadow, and that feature REALLY helps when exploring. I've skirted the edge of many an Imperial base in stealth to get the exploration XP, or used it to get around areas that are higher level than my character using a cross of stealth and hit/run tactics.

Honestly, I have to wonder that myself: 1) The Senators have a 50/50 chance of being corrupt. But even the corrupt ones are SANE, and there are legal procedures to remove idiots from office. The way the Empire is set up? A bunch of nutcase, justifiably-paranoid axe murders whose only real credentials are the ability to slaughter their way to the top. 2) The Senators and Grand Moffs are both getting the same amount of kickbacks, nepotism, red tape, graft, pet projects that amount to "what in HELL were you thinking?!," and bribery. Again, the Republic has procedures to address it and the Empire only "addresses" it by being faster with a gun or lightsaber, leading to a goverment where the only real credential you have is being better at killing the other guy. Seriously, they want to think they're John Galt and they're really just Dexter Morgan. 3) The Republic is a mess partly due to the fact they have thousands of worlds, species, cultures, and sub-cultures to deal with. The Sith's idea to "deal" with it is to keep about 90% of their population as chattel slaves, so that their talents, intelligence, and possible contributions can't come to fruition. See that nutcase running a concentration camp on Nar Shadaa. How many scientists, technicians, fighters, and laborers did he just waste in the name of "Human High Culture?" Even better, any "advancement" you can make in society is by being better with a blaster, blade, or (rarest of rare) Force-Lit. This leads to stagnation, as much as the Sith want to boast that their way is adaptable and the way of the "strong," it only acknowledges two type of strength - brute force and backstabbing. 4) No one else has any incentive to do much aside from undermine their masters and each other. They're too busy stabbing each other in the back to get anything done. Sith advance by killing their masters at the first opportunity. Imperial officers do the same (but the trick it to not be so crass as to have it traced back to you - find some fall guy). Slaves have to stab each other to get a crumb out of their masters . their Masters always have to be on alert for a slave revolt - they're so busy squabbling with one another one wonders how they even manage to take the Republic on! 5) Their Emperor is an omninicidal nutcase! We're talking the grandbaby of Nihilus, a Reaper, Pinhead, and Cthulu. Meanwhile, the Darths are too busy backstabbing each other to add it all up and realize this guy needs to go. 6) If you're not Force-Lit, you're pretty much dirt in Imperial Society. You do all the grunt work but the Sith get to rule. You can get pretty high, but you'll always have to salute some punk kid with a lightsaber. A Republic fellow? You can work your way up to Supreme chancellor (at least in theory).

Or do what my Guild "sister" did; Recruit three more L50s and decide to make it a hunting party on Darth Pinhead.

Greetings: Meridius Guild is a "Helper's" guild with a PvE focus. Some of our crew dabbles in PvP, but it's not a focus of the Guild (yet). We're newbie friendly, free-to-play friendly, and friendly in general. We take on Flashpoints, Operations, World Bosses, datacron hunting tours, help each other by trading enhancements and upgrades, and swap advice in the chat. The whole idea is that we're only as strong as our weakest member, so it makes sense to reach a hand down and help each other buff up. This extends out from the Guild and into our attitude with other players in general; after all, we all were once Level 1 and figuring out how the controls worked! If you don't have patience with newbies, we're not the guild you're looking for. To that end, one of the guild "bylaws" is that we volunteer to help someone outside outside of the guild with a Flashpoint or other nasty quest at least once a week (assuming we log in that often). The only "bylaws?" Mind your manners in chat (we're adults, let's act like it), be willing to learn, and help your guildies when you can.

Well, I'm Regent for Meridius. We're a "helper's" Guild, about 70 members total. Translation, it means that we're there to help everyone build each other up, whether it's offering a hand with That One Boss, forming an Ops party to nail a World Boss, doing datacron hunting tours (I've got 49 of the 65), or trading around stuff we craft so that we all have a fighting chance with our weaponry. Meridius is not big on PvP. I seem to be the only one who does it regularly (others dabble in it). We're all big on exploration and flashpoints, though. The main "rules" are that we expect folks to behave like adults in chat (temper tantrums, racism, homophobic, and sexist comments are a no-go), assist when asked, and help at least one non-Guild player a week with a quest (again, helper's guild). If this sounds cool, then just hail one of us.

Well as far as writing goes, the dialogue pack mod I whipped up for KOTOR 1 is still getting mistaken for BioWare cut content, even the stuff that I thought would be a red flag for "this is fan-made." like a discussion with Carth about being a foster parent for Mission. I already have a mental image of what some conversations between Tharan and Felix would probably be like. And too bad they don't have this option - take Nadia and/or Felix to go meet Master Yuon (provided you didn't take the dark side option with Parkanas). Something tells me Yuon would be like the grandma Nadia wished she had. Felix might be a little nervous, though.

Here's what I noticed about my crew: Qyzen: He's very religious and devoted to the way of Madame Scorekeeper. So first of all, respect his faith. You don;t need to understand it, just respect it (I did lose points with him for calling "what the hell hero" on his collection of Wookiee pelts, though). He's rebuilding a lifetime's worth of "score" with Her, so he will love it if you volunteer to hunt dangerous and nasty wildlife. The more dangerous the prey, the more numerous the critters, or (conversely) a very rare and highly lethal creature? He's there with bells on. He dislikes it if you do someone's hunting for them, but if you even the odds so that the weaker party can have a more level playing field and the hunters have to work harder? Yeah, he likes that too. He also believes in honorable behavior - not nice, but honorable. The Esseles run? He likes saving the engineers because they proposed a challenge instead of taking the easy route. He also likes tipping off Asara to the first officer's proposal, but then making sure not to leave her behind. Only honorable that she know the truth, after all. He also doesn't like thugs or crime gangs for the same reason the guy going out hunting with a crossbow to hunt bear thinks the guy bringing an assault rifle to hunt rabbit is a pansy - there's no challenge in bullying weak and small prey. Letting powerful enemies live also tends to be a downer for him - unless they're the plague-addled masters. Lastly, he REALLY thinks fondly of Master Yuon. Being respectful and dutiful to her nets you brownie points. Gifts: Get him weaponry (all the better to hunt with), Military Gear (again, it's useful), or Underworld goods (even bigger prey!) Don't bother with luxury (he won't know what to do with it) or trophy (he'll get his own) Tharan: The fellow prides himself on being a scientist, a gentleman, and a product of Nar Shaddaa - in that order. A good way to think about how he sees things - he has scoured the galaxy for exotic and dangerous technology. Along the way, he probably ran across some cargo cults where the "experts" turned out to be silly priests worshiping alien tech. He doesn't think much of the Force because the only ones who know anything about it are Jedi spouting Ice Cream Koans or bats--t nuts Sith foaming at the mouth about "POWER!" There's a whole, incredible field of science he would love to analyze wit his instruments and logic, but he wasn't (un) fortunate enough to have a high midichlorine count, so he's locked out of it! He's cautious about risking his neck - there were a lot of ways to die on Nar Shaddaa, after all, but he might make an exception for pretty girls or scientists caught in a crossfire. His weakness is scientific research; the more untested, exotic, unethical, or outright insane it is, the more he wants to keep it. He's big on sentients being bad and knowledge being neutral. Don't bring him if you're going to blow up that shiny WMD. On the other hand, proposing ways to solve a situation that does not involve drawing weapons or taking up a high muckety-muck on a luxurious dinner and use of the guest wing will totally make him happy. Gifts: Luxury (he's a fop and totally shameless about it), or Technology (shiny toys to play with). Zenith: The fellow's a bit of a cipher to me so far. He's paranoid in ways that would befit the cast of X-Files and responds favorably if you think he's justified. Definitely not a nice guy. Frankly, being screwed over by the Republic and the Imperials makes him unfriendly to everyone, though the Republic (via you) is trying to redeem itself, and he REALLY hates the Imperials more. Remember their policy towards Twi'leks? Yeah. The Republic is a MUCH better deal between the two evils. He's like Qyzen in that he likes dangerous, dirty, hands-on work. And if it kicks the Imperials in the shebs? BONUS! No, he does not give a pile of ossik about civilian casualties - an Imperial soldier, civilian, or collaborator are all the same to him. The way he probably wants to die is on Dromund Kaas with a nuclear bomb detonator in one hand and a blaster in the other, taking about half the capitol with him. Gifts: Imperial memorabilia (for the same reason Thawn had an art collection; know your enemy), weaponry (all the better to send the Imps to hell) Lt. Iresso: The guy is WAY too cheerful for all the crap he's been through. Textbook Neutral Good; he'd rather do what's right than bother with hierarchy and protocol (he got in dutch with Trooper companion Jorgan over that one). Good ways to rack up points with him is to help out Republic military with the dangerous and dirty jobs no one else wants to do, or to be merciful to someone who's down and surrendered. He's one of those fellows who wants to believe the Republic are the good guys, so behave like one and you'll get everywhere with him. Gifts: Trophies (maybe he liked hunting wampa when he was stuck on Hoth?), weaponry, or luxuries. A female Consular courting him also can give him courting presents. Nadia Grell: I haven't recruited her in my game yet, so I'm going off what I've seen of her so far and what she's like in other people's parties. Being the Tron geek I am, she reminds me a bit of Quorra. Nadia hero-worships you. She thinks you're brave and strong and good - don't screw it up. She's your Padawan. Set a good example of what Jedi should be and she'll be all too happy to follow. She likes mercy and kindness, and light side actions...but she also has those powers of hers that she's just learning how to control (instead of them controlling her), and she's itching to put those to work. Give her a big galaxy and the opportunity to use her Force abilities for good, and you'll do fine. Gifts: She loves Cultural artifacts (she's new to the galaxy and EVERYTHING'S fascinating to her), Republic memorabilia (again, new to the galaxy and the Republic), Underworld Goods (again, big new galaxy), and male consulars who want to romance her can give her courting gifts.

I've dawdled on my class quests, and I'm heading into the third act. Playing LS Shadow. I'm no saint - 4 Dark Side hits, only one I regret. Story: Takes a long time to get any good. The Act 1 of hunting down the crazy masters? I wish I got to see and learn more about what went down on Malachor 3. It had to be a really good story. Unfortunately, you only get enough of it to want to have a LONG talk with Yuon over it that you can't do. The artificial drama about "OMG, the shield technique weakens you!" when it CLEARLY doesn't felt totally fake and really needed to be better handled. There should have at least been a temporary stat drop or something to make it believable. Act 2? Now we're getting somewhere. You saw a bit of this on Alderaan when you were dealing with Master Sidonie getting plastered on the Dark Side and trying to get the squabbling nobles into a fight most of them were itching to have. The Consular's job is diplomacy, often backed up with a lightsaber, and you don't get to see much of that in other Star Wars material. Now, we get this Rift Alliance. Nice to see Manaan represented. The Selkath in Kotor1 were tough, and a bit Lawful Stupid, but they do respond to justice and reason. The so-called president of Balmorra you helped put in charge? Well, Force be with him. He'll need it. It was quite satisfying to win over the gruff Twi'lek lady. And Senator Grell - wonderful guy (too bad about what I hear happens to the fellow. The Republic needed more like him). Children of the Emperor? Well, I'm campaigning with a Knight, and we're helping one another with the class quests. Looks like we'll have our hands full here. She's got Darth Cthulhu to deal with. I've got Darth Cthulhu's bastard offspring. And why am I getting flashbacks to all those Bhaalspawn siblings my poor Bard had in Baldur's Gate? Companions: Quyzen: I seem to have a fair amount of approval with him (2500). He was unhappy when I let that mass murdering Mengle wannabe on Nar Shadaa get arrested instead of killed. Wanted to explain to the guy "Look, he's been captured alive. His score is now less than zero, he had the humiliation of being arrested by a Togruta, an Evocii, a Miraluka (me), and a Trandoshan (you). Now, all he's going to be good for is bait to catch bigger prey. Killing the guy would have sent him to the Scorekeeper intact." Really want to know how in the bleep he managed to cross paths with Master Yuon in the first place. I found he digs weaponry and underworld goods. Conversation options he likes? Accept a challenging hunt, help others hunt, or make a hunt more challenging by arming the prey. He also likes taking out mercs and gang members because those are wannabe hunters who go after easy prey and don't challenge themselves. Theran: This guy may look like Byers from X-Files, but he acts like Augur from Earth: Final Conflict. He likes his tech, but he likes shiny luxury items and high lifestyle more. At first, I figured him for just a silly pervert with some good medical tech. But the guy grew on me. Yeah, he flirts a good game, but it's very obvious that Holiday is the only one for him in the end. I've got 6000 approval on him at this point, mostly because I like his snarking, so I keep him in the party a lot. He's smarter and sweeter than he looks. Just be careful if your quest involves technological toys. The more unethical, experimental, untested, and outright insane it is, the more he wants to keep it. Holiday: True, she's an extension of Theran as far as game mechanics, but she's pretty much a companion in her own right, just one you can't build points with. Her voice is instant flashbacks to "Dear Princess Celestia" as Tara Strong is using the same cadence as Twilight Sparkle, but just a touch higher-pitched. She's a sweetie, though. No need for my Consular to make her jealous. I wouldn't dream of trying to get between her and Theran. Zenith: Not sure what to make of this guy, aside from he needs a vacation from Balmorra and a PTSD shrink in the worst possible way. Very few words, very much all business, but if the job involves kicking Imperial shebs, he's in. He likes Imperial memorabilia - probably for the same reason Thrawn kept an art stash - understand what your enemy values, and you know how to fight them more effectively. Felix Irisso: This guy is WAY too cheerful for someone who got shoved on Hoth, assigned a bunch of jumpy privates, and given a task he was probably set up to fail. Not sure why he likes trophies - maybe he hunted wampa in his spare time. I've heard he has an issue involving a Sith datacron downloaded into his head. If that was the case, why didn't his superiors call the Jedi? This is the kind of crap we specialize in. This is the kind of guy whose biggest problem is being in the wrong universe. Starfleet, Babylon 5, and the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs (ESPECIALLY B.E.T.A) would get into bidding wars over him. Nadia Grell: Sweet girl. Already pulled double her weight and I haven't formally recruited her yet. Those Force Powers need to be controlled, or they'll end up controlling her, and that would be a crying shame. At the same time, she does not need the Order's paranoia, doubletalk, and isolation. Hopefully, I can do right by the kid and set a good example for her.

As much as I really disliked that misplaced Reverend Mother, I really can't give a counterargument to her notions about the Force itself as dickishly uncaring at best to outright malevolent at worst. And as creepy as Atton was? Yeah, I can't argue some of his points, either. Think about it: Sith kill Jedi, Jedi kill Sith. The Republic and Empire stand as essentially muggle meat shields for the respective Force schools, and while the saber-swingers are busy killing one another, trillions of these muggles are caught in the crossfire - killed, displaced, maimed. But when you get down to it, the fight isn't really about them. It's back to the men and women with too much power, squabbling over two fossilized schools of dogma while everyone else gets dragged into it and killed. One side kills the other down to a handful of survivors, then the survivors rally back, smash their rivals down to a handful, and the cycle continues. This $%#! war has been fought on and off for 25,000 years with no point! There still is no resolution forthcoming, even in the era of Cade Skywalker. And both sides think they have the Force on their side, when it's really playing both sides, soaking up the blood sacrifice and maintaining its balance and existence at all costs. Force Sensitivity is the absolute worst fate you can inflict on someone. It means they'll likely be snatched up by one of the warring religious factions before they get much of a say in the matter, conscripted into their war, and taught the muggles are just cattle - sheep to guard for a Jedi, prey to slaughter as a Sith...but the muggle is still just a sheep. For both, the Force is a jealous, cruel, and possessive thing. There is no love, save love of the Force - the Force simply won't allow it in the end. You either become Jedi ("The Order is Mother, the Order is Father, the Order are your friends; trust the Jedi Order") and spend your life "above and apart" from everyone, or you go Sith and your sanity takes a short dive out the airlock as you get absolutely drunk on "power," live a philosophy that resembles Ayn Rand on a cocaine binge, and live in a world where everyone's in a self-destructive pattern of backstabbing that makes 16th-century Venice or a Tang Dynasty court look stable and well-governed. It's likely going to be a short, brutal, painful existence that ends at a rival faction's saber point. There are the trappings of power, but the more you use the Force, the more it uses you. You're just another slave, no matter how well you can shoot Force Lightening. The only advantage swinging a saber will get you is that you might be able to affect the course of the particular skirmish happening in your lifetime...but remember, the Force doesn't care, so long as it can keep the balance and the blood sacrifice coming.

No, quite the opposite. I started new games with my LSF!Revan and my DSM!Exile, and started looking into an AU scenario based on that. Seriously, is everyone at Bioware having a bad day for the last five years?! Dragon Age was a conga line of nasty people doing nasty things to one another...oh, and there's a darkspawn horde everyone's too busy backstabbing each other to fix. Mass Effect Three? I got spoilered on the ending, and am going "WHAT?!" like the rest of the fandom. For crying out loud, after Malachor, they had a third of the fleet directly under them and the loyalty of the other two thirds. They were big damn heroes in the Republic, and they had evidence about the Mandalorians being pawns of the True Sith. Instead, they get absolutely plastered on the Dark Side, charge in, and dig themselves deeper by becoming tools of the very entity (can't really call the Emperor a "person") they were trying to take out. They turn around and cause more damage to the already bleeding Republic, sending it right to near-collapse, destroying ships, men, and resources that could have been used. Telos? Great example! Strategic hyperspace route, lots of Sensitives, strong military...Malak turned it to ash, and they got nothing but a magnificent jerk of an admiral. So, Malak does what Sith do best and backstabs Revan at a key moment. Queue the events of the game. Presuming an LS Revan, s/he is now a Big Damn Hero again. And better? They have pull with everyone from Republic admirals to the future Mandalore the Preserver, and presumably learned their lesson about running off with no backup. Nope. Instead, Revan the alleged hero, leaves his pals with no answers, no closure, no indication of what's going on. He leaves Bastila knocked-up to face whatever consequences (remember Arren Kae got exiled over having a kid), screws over those who loved and trusted him, takes Exile (who leaves HER disciples half-trained and in the lurch), and the droids and thinks that's enough to take down the Empire! So, this foolishness ends with Exile and T3 getting turned to ash, HK being stripped for parts, and Revan being the Emperor's toy for a few centuries. Oh, and the Sith charge in and curb stomp the Republic ANYWAY. Again, we're supposed to buy the tactical genius/great leader theory? Filing it with "Han shot second" and appointing Jar Jar Binks to a position of authority.

I find her style a little off-putting sometimes, but I appreciate her for calling out just how wrong the so-called "Grand Army of the Republic" really was, and how the Jedi and Republic became complicit in slavery and worse in the name of fighting the Separatists. I also appreciated it when she pointed out the Separatists had a point - the Republic truly was making questionable bedfellows and allowing a lot of things it shouldn't have. Really, she's like Chris "KOTOR 2" Avellone, although I find her style a bit less obnoxious and in-your-face than a guy who uses Kreia as a mouthpiece to describe the futility of morality and the Force as either dickishly uncaring or downright evil (I'll fully admit that he had a point, though). I appreciate the realism, and the fact she will play up muggle contributions, almost as a counter-argument to David Brin's "war of the demigods" rants. The issue with her hyping the Mandalorians? Ok, think of her as Canderous in drag and it's easier to overlook. Like it or not, if you're writing Mandos, she's your resource. I started reading through her stuff because I write a lot of KOTOR fanfic and wanted to get a better grasp on Canderous, so I could explain why he sticks around on a boatload of Republic sympathizers and Jedi. The whole Mara Jade thing? Well, she's like Salvatore and drew the short straw from the publisher. Neither of them wanted the job of killing off beloved characters, but the suits had made the call.

Hello! For those of you who haven't seen me in a long time, I'm a big KOTOR nut and fanfic writer who comes to these boards from time to time. Currently playing through as a LS Shadow for this game. Anyway, I'm writing some SW fanfic, and I could use the perspective of other fans for this. Currently, I have a Jedi character who's struggling with the Force and the Order. She's good with a lightsaber, better with powers (a Consular), but the more she's out in the universe, the more isolated and lonely she's feeling. All around her, she sees families, people with close friendships, lovers, marriages...attachment. You know, that horrible, horrible thing Jedi are never supposed to have? Well, it's gnawing on her. She finds herself wondering what it would be like to throw the lightsaber away and live in peaceful obscurity. She wonders would it would be like to become a mother. She's craving those close ties, and a life where the fate of the galaxy isn't on her shoulders all the damn time. She's starting to resent the Force itself for her situation, and it's limiting her ability to use it. She doesn't want to go Sith; she loves the Republic's ideals too much. She just doesn't know what to do with her feelings, and the Code is sounding hollow. At the same time, she knows that her position could do the Republic a lot of good, and enable her to help others. She also knows that she has obligation and duties to perform, and doesn't want to betray the Order in its hours of need. So, what advice would anyone have for a Jedi wondering if it's worth it?