That's the catch, really. On theory, the Dark Side gives you absolute freedom... but in practice, it forces you to become a slave to your most basic and vile instincts, because anything lofty or noble (like love or mercy) is seen as a hindrance.

I'm currently leveling a Sith Warrior, and I'm loving the story so far. I find Darth Baras to be an awesome character, and I really find myself wanting to stick a knife in his fat back; which is totally immersive, considering I'm a Sith. In my conversations, I'm always toady and even laconic, but I already have a Cunning Plan and I hope the game offers the opportunity to go with it... The hunt for Jaesa Willsam is also pretty good so far. It makes you feel like your character is a predator closing in on his prey. Not unlike when Vader was chasing Luke's trail in Episode 5, come to think of it. So far I haven't felt like the story is underwhelming or bumming. But I also haven't really tried the other classes' stories, so who knows - maybe they're just as good, if not better.

My character is a Sith. He's born in the Sith Empire and he's raised in it. Since he's obviously a Force-sensitive, he was taken away from his family in an extremely early age so he's never known them (he knows the name, but they haven't met). What drives him to be a Sith? He's never known anything else. Being a Sith is as natural as breathing to him. It's not a conscious choice he's made. He is determined to survive. Always and at all cost. Even in the early training years he reveled in the whole "survival of the fittest" mentality of the Sith. However, his approach to it is slightly unortodox - he is subtle and careful; he was never the loud schoolyard bully-type one can meet in the Academy on Korriban. Instead, he relies on his smartness and resorcefulness. He avoided making outright enemies and hit his competitors whenever and wherever they didn't expect it. This mentality he has carried into adulthood, but it has also been accompanied by arrogance that can sometimes blind him. As a person, he's a firm believer in the "the ends justify the means" philosophy. He has never been truly open and honest with anyone in his life, and has no problem lying and manipulating others; he can pretend to be your friend or your servant, but it's never without an agenda. He would generally prefer to avoid a fight against a strong foe, because deep down he's afraid of death, but if he has to, he can be a tough opponent; against lesser enemies, he is more confident and would sometimes underestimate them. He favors the Soresu fighting form, relishing its defensive capabilities and its subtle and unpredictable attacks that come from nowhere. He is fully capable of murder and cold-blooded torture if they would serve a purpose. At the same time, though, he is not prone to rages and acts of random cruelty. If something doesn't serve his goals, it's not worth doing. He has ineteresting relationship with the companions he's met so far. He sees Vette as a pawn, ultimately, and is trying to keep her in good shape (both physically and emotionally - for example, he saw no use for her slave collar and removed it) because that makes her more useful. However, her snarky and dry sense of humor have begun to get to him. He finds her amusing... and he's never met anyone amusing among the Sith he's spent his life with. He likes her company, even with the constant blaberring and pointless chatter. Still, in his mind, she will always be a pawn to serve his interests. He doesn't like Quinn as a person, but recognizes his use and thus tries not to make the captain's life miserable. The reason that he mislikes Quinn is because in him he sees something of a mirror of himself - a servant of an Empire that doesn't really care for him. However, Quinn's patriotism and sense of duty annoy him and he thinks him naive and foolish. Those feelings are never shared with Quinn, of course. As far as Quinn is concerned, my character is a benevolent master who sometimes even listens to his advice. As a Sith, he is among those who are out for themselves. The interests of the Empire are all well and good, but his personal interests come first, and if the two colide, he's not a patriot who will die for his state. He finds the Imperial jingos laughable in their uselessness.

I'm currently leveling a neutral-to-dark (or Dark Grey, if you like) Sith Warrior as my main character. I have made plenty of LS choices so far, and I felt that each one of them was justified given the way I imagine and view my character. When Vette asked me to remove her slave collar, I did so at once. The reason was not so much out of mercy or pity, but because at this point I had recognized that she's useful and I realized she'd be even more useful if she's not miserable. And besides, wanton cruelty means nothing to my character. When he kills or tortures someone, it's not for pleasure, it's always with a purpose. It served no purpose to torment Vette and now I have a useful and willing servant in her instead of a slave who hates my guts. Later, when I On Tatooine, when I Now I'm on Alderaan and I'm There are of course many more instances where I defined what sort of a person my character is. Overall, I'd say that he's definately a villain, even though his alignment isn't that dark. He doesn't have qualms about commiting murder and even if he shows mercy it's always with an agenda in mind. However, he is not a monster and he wouldn't hurt or kill someone who isn't a threat or a tool. He's not a raging maniac. He's also neither a true patriot, nor a loyal and devout Sith. The rampant jingoism of the Imperials is appaling and most Sith are just slaves to their basic animalistic urges. No, my Sith Warrior is out for himself only. This is what the Dark Side means to him - one's goal should be to break free of the shackles of morality and obedience in order to be able to truly reach out and grab his dreams. But he's also cunning enough to realize that you can't just take on the whole world and flip it off. Hence he's biding his time, watches his back and is always ready to go up the Empire's heriarchy. Baras is a dead man, but I always fake toadiness when with him - the time will come and he'll get what he deserves. See the beauty of the neutral alignment? This a nuanced character, whose actions are controversial and don't follow a simple pattern. But he's definately a villain. Just not the typical rampaging brute or a cackling madman.

As it was already said, the troopers in SWTOR are not the clonetroopers from the movies. The clonetroopers were genetically modified clones of bounty hunter Jango Fett and the TOR troopers are just elite soldiers from 3000 years before, recruited from all kinds of species and of both genders. With that in mind, the armor of those totally separate armies does look familiar which is strange, since from the movies I remained with the impression that the clones' armor was produced and designed on Kamino and based on Fett's Mandalorian gear.

Apart from the benefit of having a morally nuanced character... but that's only if you're into roleplaying or just attached to your toon. But things like gear or skills, nah.

If you're playing a female Warrior, your alignment is not a big deal - you'll have only one romance option (the male Warrior has two, one for each Side) no matter what. As long as you keep the Empire's best interests in mind, he'd be happy with you. As for the overall storyline, I'm playing as a neutral-to-dark character. It's incredibly entertaining because you get to follow your gut and do exactly what you feel. Going full-on Light Side is uncharacteristic for a Sith Warrior, I think, but the complete monster-like Dark Side is unattractive either (to me, at least) because it's overtly brutish and simplistic. I think that a darkish neutral is the way to go - the Sith Warror is the cream of the crop, a prodigy. Aside from your master, nobody in the whole Empire is going to boss you around. You are free to be whatever you want to be. Some situations call for a more evil approach, but with others you can actually damage the Enemy more by allowing them to live (there is one such moment on Balmorra). Another thing about the neutral alignment that I recently liked... I don't know how to explain it accurately and properly enough without actual spoilers... but at one point you end up facing a Force-apparation of yourself. It began to argue with me, urging me to give myself completely to the Dark Side, while I stood my ground and declared my own free will. The conversation was very good, and I feel it was better than it would have been had I been competely light or dark.

Anakin was ready to leave the Jedi Order on his own as soon as the Clone Wars were over. He didn't talk to the Jedi not because he was afraid they'd kick him out but because 1) he didn't trust them and 2) he didn't think they'd do anything useful. Palpatine managed to sway him because he offered knowledge that the Jedi couldn't give him. As for your previous question, yes, Anakin was a guy who was always susceptible to the call of the Dark Side, secret marriage or not. He was prideful, selfish and possessive. He fell because of those qualities, not because of love. Love actually redeemed him from the Dark Side in Episode 6.

He's close, though. In his later years he's almost skimming across the surface of the Dark Side. Not quite, almost, but still. Even Vaapad reflects it - in order to master and use it properly, one must allow himself to feel aggression and to be excited by the rush of the fight, which is totally unlike the ortodox Jedi like Obi-Wan or Yoda. In Episode 3's novelization it's noted a bunch of times that Mace's way of thinking is increasingly detoriating towards the darkness; Obi-Wan is even surprised by this change in personality in the beginning. After the reveal of Sidious' true personality, Mace suggests that the Jedi may need to overthrow the whole Senate and take power into their own hands, just to be sure and that the possibility of public unrest is meaningless, a politican's argument. Which is exactly what Sidious later told the Senate to demonize and antagonize them in front of the public (and it worked).

So far I'm playing only with my main, a male Sith Warrior. Initially - meaning in the months before the release of the game - I thought I'd make him romance Vette, but now that I've actually played with her and got to "know" her, it wouldn't feel right for my character; if anything, he'd have more of a mentorly-kind of bond with her, not unlike a protective big brother or something. I'm considering having him pair with Jaesa when I get her, but we'll see where that goes. By the way, I think Quinn is gay. I know that he's not, and is infact a romancable option for female Warriors, but I just can't help it Maybe it's the accent and the voice

Interesting. I'm not yet a 50 SW, but the (NPC) Jedi I've dealt with so far almost always brought up the "surrender peacefully" line. On Balmorra one even offered me a "chance for redemption". And I'm not a Light Side Sith - actually, I'm a slightly dark Neutral.

I think that the main problem is not with the stagnant level of technology but rather with the aesthetics. I.e. it's not that they wear a certain kind of armor or fly on spaceships with similair capabilities or somesuch, but the fact that a lot of things look almost exactly the same as they do in the movies/TV shows. And it's kinda true. For example, you can mistake the Republic troopers for some special task force of the clonetroopers from the PT or something; and the two armies have nothing in common in the lore.

Without checking up on lore, I'd guess that the Sith species have mostly died out by the time of the films; at most there can be small, obscure groups or cults here and there, but that's it. Even in SWTOR, their bloodline has already been weakened and is far from pure. I'd think that this tendency would continue in the future, and the wars with the Republic couldn't have helped.

I am an Empire player, a Sith Warrior, and the regular Imperials (i.e. military, spies etc.) so far have not impressed me. From my perspective, they're a bunch of toady and servile boot-lickers and brown noses. Little men with little ambitions. I haven't yet leveled any of the Republic alts I've planned, but I'm curious wether they'll be any different. So no, I don't really like the Imperials (I just can't respect them), but the Sith are cool. I like their philosophy of what is, essentially, survival of the fittest. It feels very natural and down to earth, as opposed by the tiresome, self-restraining teachings of the Jedi.

Decisions do matter. For example, I'm a Sith Warrior and my early-level adventures on Dromund Kaas had me fighting against the forces of a renegade Sith, Lord Grathan. Eventually, my master sent me into his estate to kill his son in order to break Grathan's morale. I did what I was ordered and killed both Grathan's son and his wife who wanted to protect the boy. Just before I killed them, Grathan's wife tried to weasle out, but I had none of it and that was basically the end of my character's dealing with the Grathans. However, it's possible to decide to spare the son and kill the father instead, by the wife's scheme (they both hate Grathan). Then, Grathan's son will fake his death at my hands and assume his father's role with his mother at his side. Publically, it would be as if I followed Baras' orders strictly, but I would have two secret allies in the Grathans. Now, wether they'd come to have a role later-on with this scenario, I don't know - probably not - but those are two different outcomes altogether. In the first case (when you obey Baras and kill the son), you don't even get to meet Lord Grathan himself. Sure, it'd be nice if you had a real impact on the world, but that's impossible in an MMO. I supposedly broke the resistance on Balmorra and embarrased the Republic by exposing their violation of the Treaty, but you won't be able to tell by going there - the same rebel mobs and NPCs are still sitting there and the lower-level Sith and Imperial players are still fighting them. If I viewed the game as the personal story of only my Sith Warrior, Balmorra should be a totally different place now. It's not and it will never be. That's how it is in an MMO - you share the world with the other players and you simply can't make world-shattering decisions that actually reshape everything. You can't blame BioWare for that/

Well, I kinda dig Geonosis, but really, it's just another red rocky desert; after Korriban it'll feel like 'same old, same old'. I'd like to see Mustafar, it's an environment we haven't had in the game. Maybe Utapau as well, it'd be interesting to see the deep canyons and the vertical, built into the cliffs, cities of the naties. Yavin IV would be perfect for an expansion with stories centered around the Sith tombs there. Other worlds I'd randomly like because they'd be fresh and new as far as environment goes... Saleucami, Felucia and Haruun Kal.

The Sith, I find it, are extremely amoral. That's the basic of their philosophy - the individual must be unrestrained by laws or morality in order to be free to achieve perfection. They are also callous in the extreme, to the point when to most of them everyone else is just either a tool or an enemy. For all of the talk how the Jedi restrain their feelings and are rendering themselves emotionless, they are still operating by core values like compassion and general kindness and well-meaning; the Sith, on the other hand, have no values at all. With them, everything goes. You want to murder a rival? No problem, just cover your tracks well to avoid retaliation. You want to torture a captive or a slave? Go ahead, buddy, have a blast. You want to backstab a person who trusts you? Just don't botch it. So is this evil? I don't know. The problem is that when you have no rules, that means you have no rules. Whatsoever. The Sith can do whatever they want. And that includes acts one might not expect from people like them. In a way, I view the Sith as physical manifestations of the Id. They don't care for rules or morals, they see themselves as all-important and omnipresent. To a Sith there is nothing more important than him/her in the whole Universe. The only thing that matters in their lives is the fulfillment of their desires. Is this evil? It can certainly lead to evil actions, but this is something that all sentient beings seem to have; it's just that the Sith don't restrain it. In the end, to be honest, the most evil character I've seen so far was an Imperial military officer on Balmorra. He wanted to plant explosive communication collars on dead rebels at the battlefield in order to weaken their ranks when their comrades tried to retrieve their gear; he was perfectly aware that civilians, children included, also looted the corpses and was actually counting on inflicting colateral damage in order to crush the spirit of the Balmorrans. Honestly, this was the single most vile plan I've seen in the game so far (I'm still a beginner, though). This was more evil than what any Sith so far had done or said in my presence. And the guy is just a random quest giver, he's not a Sith or even a Force-sensitive person, he's not even an extremely high-ranking officer in the military - he's nobody of importance, certainly not a grand villain or something like that. Just a vile little man with a vile little plan. What does this tell you?

I didn't read through all of the 50 pages, but I will say this - the OP misses the point. The game actually gives you, the player, the ability to choose. You can choose what person your character is. You are not forced to be a horrible monster who tortures and ***** Vette. Yes, you have the option to become such a person, but you have the other options too. For example, the minute Vette asked me to remove the shock collar, I did so, but I also kept my emotional distance and asserted my leading role instead of toading up to her by proposing a partnership - it felt logical given the way I want to develop my Sith Warrior. I have never once tortured her - it's just not something my character would do. He recognizes that a happy Vette is a useful Vette. And he actually doesn't mind her constant blabbering and wisecracking - it's refreshing for him after a lifetime among brooding murderers who are so full of themselves that it's a wonder they haven't blown up already... Another example - I have recently landed on Balmorra and a quest had me planting explosive collars on rebel corpses on the battlefields in order to weaken the resistance when they try to get the gear of their dead. However, I also found out that a lot of innocent civilans, children included, looted the battlefield and there was a chance of huge colateral damage. So why did I do? I planted explosive grenades, to be sure that only enemy soldiers would get blown up when they try to get them. The Imperials weren't happy with me at all - they wanted the colateral damage on the civilians, but my character is not a blood-thirsty maniac and he'd totally think that killing innocents would only lend credence to the rebels' cause. This is how the game is. Yes, the cartoony graphics are misleading and the game is kinda dark. Yes, the Galaxy is not a happy place right now. But you do have a choice. You can choose good or neutrality (myself, I'm not even a Light Side Sith; I'm neutral leaning slightly to the darkness - the above were just examples). But, more importantly, to the OP - when you choose the Empire, you get the bad guys. You don't want to be a bad guy? Go to the Republic, then. The Jedi are not murderers and tortures, the Troopers don't kill for money, the Smugglers... are witty and funny. Overall - yes, this is Star Wars, I know, it's not Dostoevsky or something. It's pure entertainment made mostly for teenagers and young adults. But the point of view of the OP is flawed and skewed. Just because this is only entertainment, doesn't mean the story is so flat or one-sided. There are bad people and there are wrong choices and evil actions; this goes for both Star Wars and the real life. But you are not robbed of the right to choose. If you chose to be evil and to torture Vette and are now feeling guilty, that's your problem - you made the choice, now live with it. But come on - this is just a game. And it's not the game's fault if the player wants to be an evil character. That's a slippery slope that leads to censure and overall bull****.