Well, everybody is free to play the story out however they want - that's the beauty of it. My personal take is that if Theron wanted simple, he wouldn't have fallen head over heels for a Sith (not to mention he's also part of an OT3 in my head). I do like Jace's character...the one we were presented with in Annihilation. What they did with Iokath seems like a waste. He is indeed very blinded by an "us vs them" mentality, but I don't believe for an instant he would have disowned his son (the one he's been bending over backwards to get to know for years), nor do I think he would have said what he said on Iokath. The throne thing? Maybe? But there's no reason why my SI couldn't have just force thrown his patootie right out of there. Like seriously...what is she good for if all she can do is stand there? LOL.

Yeah, he's totes not the paragon of innocence a lot of people make him out to be. No matter how much my SI loves him, she could never side with the Republic. She has to do what she thinks is right for the course of the Alliance (even if that means potentially damaging her relationship). And of course, at the time that decision is made, you don't know Jace is going to go all mustache-twirler (which I think is just poor writing and very out of character for him anyways). That being said, even my main Knight would side with the Empire. Haha, I totes HC that he and my SI were all sorts of rolling around in the mud...or up against one of the walls of the many ruins...yeah, that works... <.<

Elara does show up in the story later...but once that reunion happens, she becomes a silent lawn ornament...just like all of the original companion romances other than Jorgan, Kaliyo, Vette, or Torian. Really, unless you've romanced the four listed above, the most you get is about 120sec of cutscene and that's it. Paperweight.

Timeline-wise, I'm just starting Ziost, so I have a long way to go with my writing. But I've already come to grips with the fact that I'm going to be playing very loose with canon, lol. There are just too many things that make no sense, too many plot holes, to write it the way BioWare has given us. Just one example (of many) is Ziost...there is absotootly no reason why Theron didn't end up a walking meat suit. None. Other than ooooh Plot Armor™. And don't even get me started on Iokath and the entirety of the traitor arc. Hooboy... Gotta love that little saying...fixes with fanfic.

I think a moderately sized portion of the population continues to pay for the game despite being unhappy with it is out of attachment for their characters. If I didn't have an original character (actually I have three that really stand out) I've nurtured and grown to love from level one, who is also the star of a 140,000+ fanfic, I would have cancelled a long time ago. I continue to pay, because I continue to write her story. And no, boycotts don't work. But...airing our concerns doesn't either (sadly). It's pretty obvious by now that the game is on autopilot because BioWare/EA is putting all of it's eggs into Anthem.

There are other things that BioWare is hoping we'll forget about. They're handwaving away Zakuul and un-named members of the Alliance...but what about all of the droid factories we control? That manufacture droids. To become assets. For us to control. What about our partnership with Shae and the Mandalorians? Torian is sticking with us, so...I don't think he's just going to turn his back on his people. Also, the entire Eternal Fleet was not swirling around Odessen when Gravedrog hit...so....what about the ships that were elsewhere? I guess the throne blowing up might have ended that, but seriously, what happened to the ships? And we do have our own Alliance fleet...not to mention an entire little planet called Iokath...where we could make more ships. I feel like I need to find that gif from Wayne's World where they're just going "duh-duh-doop!" to rewind everything that happened.

Things like that are immersion-breaking, and could easily have been avoided with proper special flags. As someone has pointed out, Rattataki were originally part of the IA foundation races. That being said, the IA story is actually my least favorite.

I frequent the fanart/fanfic circle on Tumblr, and I can say there is a large group of folks there who don't do Reddit or these forums and have very similar concerns as mine with the game direction. They may not be dead against the return to the original conflict, but they don't like having the last hundred or so hours of story pretty much erased. And that seems to be a common theme. As I've said before, the "It Was All A Dream" trope would make more sense to me than just forcing us to crawl back to our original factions. (Seriously, that was a joke, but it would make more sense. Really.)

Unfortunately, that quote from Charles does little to make me feel better...it's very wishy-washy feeling, like he doesn't want to confirm or deny anything. As a fic writer, I would imagine there should be a moderate level of contention in their relationship (I am a glutton for The Angst, lol). Even though Theron is pretty Ride or Die with the Alliance now, I still can't imagine he'd be happy with taking steps against his people. I think he's smart enough to understand that war is war, and doing your job is doing your job, but he wouldn't be happy about excessive cruelty, etc. Those are just my random thoughts, tho...for whatever they're worth. So if they want to add a bit of that contention in there, awesome...but Theron has already made his choice. He fought against his own people on Iokath, shot at his own father (even though he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn), and still continued on to potentially marry that same character. He should expect an Imp to be an Imp, though as I said above, that doesn't necessarily mean Imp-Who-Cackles-From-The-Rooftops. I'd also like to think that if BioWare gave him to us (as Imps) in the first place, going all the way back to SoR...they wouldn't take him away now. But...I still have those fears.

Yeah, I edited my post to say that a lot of what I read appears to be contradictory to what the devs have been sharing on social media so... *shrugs* But based on the quote from Charles Boyd, Lana and your contact are the only ones who know your true allegiance...no mention of Theron. And yeah, I'm only bringing testers through first. I'm starting to get fairly worried over an Imp player losing him by default (default meaning by not sabotaging the Imps).

That's the one! And yes, that is, for lack of a better word...******. If Lana knows, then Theron should know too. But because Theron can be "dead", he is essentially being written out. Even if he wasn't to be a focus, Lana is still getting preferential treatment.

I was talking about one of the dev comments about how Lana will be the only one of our companions who knows our true allegiance (if we're supporting our faction or sabotaging). I forget where I saw it, but someone quoted it out on the forums. If that is true...that's kinda...crappy. Because if Lana knows, Theron should know too. (And don't even get me started on Koth.) I always spoil myself so I've already read everything I could find...but a lot of what I've read is contradictory to what the devs have been saying on social media, so right now I'm just taking everything with a grain of salt.

Really good points here. I'm not ready to unsub yet because of my writing...but just wanted to say you have some great points.

Is it possible that Vitiate and the Sith Emperor in the novel are two different characters? I haven't read it...just throwing it out there....

Yeah, these are concerns I have as well. I know they're saying Lana is it because she's literally the only companion we have who can't be dead. But why couldn't it have been Theron too? If he has lines anywhere in this content, that means they did have Troy Baker in the booth...so why not? For those of us where he's not dead? I'm sick of having her be It™ (And no, I don't want her to die...I just think it's really crappy that she's all we have...I'd just like to have my Idiot Spy Boyfriend be my contact and/or confidant for once.) And now I'm even worried that my Imp characters will lose Theron by default...simply for being Imperial...and not sabotaging the Imperials.

This is one of my many concerns as well... I'm still waiting for the "I could be open to it...if it's done well" option...which I suspect more than a few of your respondents would have chosen. So, until that happens, consider me Not Voting. Just wanted to point out that I'm part of a Discord server too...and we're not happy with the changes for the exact reasons I've said over numerous threads. We could be down with it...if the story made a lick of sense...

The problem is that they (BioWare) gave us these choices and are now handwaving them away, expecting us to just forget the last hundred or so hours of gameplay. And if we don't voice our concerns, how else are the writers supposed to get any sort of feedback? Just taking our cookies and being happy with them, no matter how stale they may be, isn't how things are supposed to work. I do realize that we have to get back to The Conflict, but we have three thousand years to play with here. There was no reason to throw us into it overnight. And there was no reason to just discapoof the Alliance...because we would still have assets, such as the droid factories (where we make droids that are assets) as well as remnant Fleet ships...and that's not even taking into consideration our control of Iokath. All of that is just...handwaved away with some ill-written footnote we're supposed to swallow.

They're handlebars...swing from those suckers like a monkey!

There are only two Purebloods that I could sit and stare out for days...we already know one...and the other is the Imperial rep vendor on Makeb...who is pretty much a visual clone of the other. Oh wait! No...Praven.... Nevermind...forget what I first said... *hangs head in shame*

Maybe we can find it and have a bonfire! Dance around it naked! Roast some marshmallows!

Yeah, Koth didn't deserve to be completely forgotten. I haven't played his romance through yet, but I do like him as a character and it's really crappy that he's just...like not there anymore.

Ha, I could show you a screenshot of what I envision my warrior as...I've been building everybody out in a 3D rendering program (Daz3D)...and that includes three of the NPC's so far (Theron, Andronikos, and Pierce).

Pierce also makes mention of "this post getting better all the time" after you say it's part of his regular duties (and he doesn't say it like he's chewing on nails either). A few of his exploration barks are also very suggestive. But, we all see what we see. Personally, I see him as being attracted to the SW for her power and prowess in battle...he's a friend and brother on the battlefield...and then the relationship escalates after the Quinncident (I always wait for the fade-to-black scene to happen afterwards). But that's just me. I will go down with my widdle Pierce Canoe of a ship. About the SW's appearance...I never got that idea. And beauty is very subjective. To a difference species, she could be horrific to look at. And of course, a SW can be many different species. With the racial unlock, I play a Twi'lek. *edit* On the other hand, I was kinda squicked by the initial flirting with Quinn...but again, we all see what we see.

I've been finding the information very contradictory, between tweets and stuff we can't talk about...so I'm really taking everything with a grain of salt at this point.

By your example, Theron has already fought and killed Pubs on Iokath...and then continued on to shoot at his father for you (granted he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in that scene) and go through Nathema for you and marry you...someone who sided with the Empire over the Republic. So... *shrugs* But what about an Imperial character who could potentially lose Theron by default? Why would BioWare have given him to us at all going all the way back to SoR? And now we can marry him? That's what people are afraid of. Investing time and money into a romance companion and then losing him through no fault of their own. (It was the same fear many had during the traitor arc, even though I didn't really have it...I was pretty sure he was faking all along.) I may not like the rushed and handwavy feeling of this new storyline, but I'll still play it, and even though my character may want no part of having to take part in a war that makes no sense, she'll go with the Empire over the Republic. I wonder if it's not as simple as choosing sides. I wonder if they'll give you some choices in-between, such as killing Jedi after they've surrendered or something. That could be an example of a "war crime" that Boyd had mentioned in his tweets. I can see both Theron and Lana really having no interest in picking sides either...but I don't see them relishing the idea of watching their spouse and/or leader going all stabbity-stab-kill-kill just for the sake of it on their former people (Theron more so than Lana).