[The Ones That Got Away... Romances and Friends]

 

Watcher 1 (depending on choices)

 

+ 1 for Watcher One. I have one knight I created just to ship with him. And I wonder why I have altoholism issues! I also wish Agent Kovach (from Ziost storyline) had stayed around for a little longer.

 

My biggest one is still Aristocra Saganu. But he isn't dead, and he showed up for the traitor storyline, so I still have some hope we're gonna end up seeing him again. Perhaps if Thrawn gets really popular in other parts of Star Wars or something -- I'm pretty sure the random mandalorian storyline showed up because of the mandalorian show.

[Stuck in "quick play mode" after patch. Download done, but I can't play my characters]

FIX: Change Compatibility mode of game launcher to WIndows XP SP3 and it is working now.

 

Seems it is compatibility problem of patch with Windows 10. Maybe that will help Devs to find problem?

 

I have the bug too. This fixed it, but I also lost all my UI customizations, keybinding imports and preferences, which really sucks.

[Let's celebrate what is good about SWTOR]

First MMORPG I've played and, based on the others I've tried (Neverwinter Online, ESO, WoW for 2 hours), the last MMORPG I will play. I enjoy pvp (especially lowbie/midbie) and the occasional SM operation, but I only got into those because of the quality of voice acting, storytelling and dialogue. I care about these characters -- not only the NPCs, but my own characters as well -- which makes playing the game that much more fun.

 

So many thanks for SWTOR! ♥ You were pretty much a full time job for me during some tough times, and now that I'm doing better, you remain a lovely hobby I can turn to when I need to relax for a couple of hours.

[Ability to deactivate alignment toggle LS/DS points gain.]

I used to greatly enjoy creating a personality for my characters, following it, and then seeing where they "naturally" land on the alignment bar. Now, they land on Light V or Dark V, depending on which button I press, regardless of their personality.

 

Yeah. Not a fan of this current system. Please let me opt out of it.

[While You Were Out...]

My "headcanon-canon" ( ) Outlander is my Imperial agent. As for my other "headcanon-canon" characters...

 

My JK probably went hiding after the jedi order scattered. He'd still try to help people around him, but also keep a low profile in hopes of not drawing any zakuulan attention. He'd hope for news that the jedi are back and ready to fight, but isn't the type of person to start organizing anything like that himself.

 

I'm not a 100% sure which of my consulars I should use as my "canon" Barsen'thor, but from the two strongest candidates: one would support Republic military and Saresh to the end, the other would try to head to the Chiss Ascendancy after the jedi order falls (she'd be worried about Saresh's dictatorship, and her own position in the Republic, since chiss are considered Imperial allies).

 

My smuggler would keep smuggling stuff. There's profit to be made of this war! Though since my imperial agent would never agree to become Alliance Commander (public speaking is not her thing at all, not as herself), I actually headcanon it as my smuggler getting hired to be the face of the Alliance, while my agent is actually making all the decisions.

 

My trooper would stay with the Republic. Probably even after Saresh, and after Havoc leaves -- he's too attached both to the Republic, and to his wife, Elara. He wouldn't like Saresh, or the fact that he's not allowed to fight Zakuul, but he'd follow orders (as long as they're not too evil).

 

I have too much headcanon for my SW, but long story short: she falls into deep depression after Marr's death, due to her strong need to believe in her leaders, and Marr being the only one she had left. Her father brings her to a secret facility of his to recover, which takes long enough that Zakuul pretty much has the galaxy conquered by the time she's in good enough condition to fight. Once Alliance shows that you can still resist Zakuul, she returns to the Empire, as Empire's Wrath, to inspire people to join Alliance's rebellion against Zakuul.

 

My SI likely got her power base destroyed in an attempt to seize political power after Marr's death while also fighting Zakuul, and had to retreat into hiding. She's quietly building a new power base to become the next Sith Empress. She respected Marr enough to not plot his doom, but Acina is a different thing altogether.

 

My BH has always been a mandalorian by heart, so I guess she would have stuck with them.

 

I also have a couple of more alts I could mention buuuuut let's stop here before I get carried away.

[Why does Lana have FOUR different face models?]

hack the character model into something that looks like a plague-ridden 20 year old goth.

 

Now now. There's nothing wrong with trying to look like a plague-ridden 20 year old goth. I aim to do that every day.

 

Anyway, at least I'd be happy if I could get a customization for Lana that would make her look like her SoR version. Like, face and hair too, not just the outfit.

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

I don't agree with the argument that Quinn has nowhere to go after the SW disappears, or after Acina dies. This is years after he left Balmorra, and after that, he has served under the SW and therefore had a part in resolving quite a few major conflicts during that time. That's a pretty impressive resume, enough to overshine Druckenwell imo. I doubt he'd have any trouble landing a job under some moff or becoming part of a sith's power base if he wanted to. Especially since he probably made some connections during the time he was serving the SW.

 

So, he has options. But it isn't in his nature to just abandon the SW and find a new boss because, well, loyalty.

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

He clearly has divided loyalties, but inmy opinion that does not make him loyal; not at least to the SW were only at the end he "changes".

People still say Quinn is loyal to a fault to the SW. If that were the case he would have side with you against the empire in the first place (if you make that choice). Like i said many time, bad story mechanics are the real issue here.

 

I don't think Quinn is loyal to a fault to the SW. He's loyal to a fault, period. And that's exactly his problem. He's loyal to several different people, and a faction in addition to that. When those loyalties start conflicting, he's having a hard time deciding on the right thing to do. He doesn't want to betray anyone, but he wants to serve the Empire the best he can, which tends to lead to him bowing to several masters at the same time -- and suffering the consequences.

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

I appreciate and agree with the things you said, thank you. I think the above paragraph sums up quite nicely why I love the character of Quinn so much. He's an imperfect character, and he's made mistakes, which makes him quite realistic and well written (at least until they try to cookie cutter him on Iokath) and I often wonder, what we all would do if faced with the choices he's had to make. I suspect that each and every decision he made was pretty much gut-wrenching, painful and not something he took lightly. Much of the time, his choices are between a rock and a hard place.

 

I think he strives to be loyal and he believes in the Empire and the SW who loves him.

 

I agree! I would have liked him even if he didn't have this strong story arc (I apparently have a pattern of liking "smart military leader"-types in fiction ), but it definitely made him stand out more. He's forced to make hard decisions, and sometimes he makes the right ones. Sometimes, he doesn't.

 

I do understand why some people don't like him, but I guess that will always be the case with characters who have deeply flawed personalities. There will be people who like them, and people who can't stand those particular flaws, and therefore can't stand the character.

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

I read this time and time agin without it actually making sense. So i decided to look up the phrase to see if my interpretation of it was wrong (english is not even my native language). Well, i was not wrong. At most, during vanilla story Quinn could be considered that way about Baras. But only for Baras; there is nothing to translate the same loyalty to you as a fact (his promises can be really empty). Now, in iokath writers had the chance to make or brake it. Sadly for fans, it was writen that Quinn is not loyal to the SW at ALL. If he was loyal to a fault to the SW he would just Switch side on the spot. Both Dorne and Quinn should have branch behavior for SW and Trooper. Maybe limited to not go against the Outlander, but also not against their faction.

 

(Sorry for cutting your post, but it was very long, and I felt like just commenting about this.)

 

I agree with with the statement that Quinn is "loyal to the fault", and would like to explain my reasoning for it, if you don't mind.

 

To be exact, I would even say Quinn is, in a way, a deconstruction of a loyal follower. He is a very loyal person...which becomes a difficult thing to be when the people you're supposed to be loyal to, start fighting each other. Any side you pick, you'll be disloyal to someone. You spend too long picking it, someone else will pick it for you. In addition, I think he's a military man to the core. Following orders from his commanders is what he's most comfortable doing, which is why he tends to fall back to this behavior when he's unsure how to continue.

 

First and foremost, Quinn is loyal to the Empire. I'd assume he joined the military because of his loyalty and desire to serve his faction. This first came to question during the battle of Druckenwell, where he had to choose between following his orders (loyalty to his commander) or disobeying them and saving the day (loyalty to the Empire). He chose the Empire, and it blew up on his face.

 

Baras swooped in and saved his career. The military had obviously disappointed him, but he still believed in the Empire, and he was very thankful for Baras. I'd even say Quinn believed what was best for Baras was best for the Empire, as he believed in him and in his leadership.

 

Then came the Sith Warrior. Baras, to whom Quinn owed everything, instructed him to get in the SWs crew and report to him. Quinn didn't refuse. At first, it was probably an easy job, since Baras and the SW were on the same side. But then, Baras betrayed the SW, and Quinn had to pick a side between the two.

 

We can only speculate what went through his mind then. Honestly, it would probably depend on what sort of SW you play. If you played a SW who was destructive towards Imperial property, troops and other personnel, the choice was likely easy. If not, it might have been hard. Regardless, this time Quinn stuck with following his orders and sided with Baras, the man he owed his career to. Not necessarily because he had no loyalty to the SW, but because he was loyal to both, and was forced to choose. (Note that I'm aware of the different interpretations of the situation, but I'll leave them out of the argument for now, as they don't really re-enforce my point.)

 

We know the result from that. SW wins, Quinn gets to serve them. Maybe it was because he was having doubts in the first place, maybe because he feared for his life, but he does switch sides. He, in example, starts gaining approval when SW declares that Baras needs to be defeated. Before the Quinncident, he disapproved of such talk.

 

After Baras is dead, Quinn's conflicting loyalties are once again resolved. He serves the SW, and he serves the Sith Empire. I would argue that at this point, he is very much devoted to the SW. That's why, after the SW disappears, he keeps searching him/her until he's literally put to prison.

 

Then, Acina springs him out of there. As he has no idea where the SW is and Acina has helped him -- not to mention he's still loyal to the Empire, and Acina's literally the Empress -- he serves her. Once again his loyalties are nicely aligned, right until the SW decides to show up again.

 

Maybe it would have made more sense for him to approach the SW, during KotET chapter 2. But that didn't happen, and we gotta take his excuse of "I was afraid you still haven't forgiven me/have fallen out of love with me". To me, this means when he gets insecure about something, he tends to respond with inaction, and -- I'd argue -- "just following orders"-mindset.

 

So, he finally meets the SW on Iokath. If the SW sides with Empire, Quinn has no conflict of loyalty here. He can be loyal to the SW, Acina and Sith Empire at the same time. However, if the SW does side with the Republic, Quinn's facing a huge problem. Because it's just not his loyalty to the SW against his loyalty to Acina -- it's his loyalty to SW against his loyalty to the Sith Empire. He's a hardcore Imperial patriot, and suddenly he needs to make a decision between that, and someone he used to follow and greatly respects. Maybe even loves.

 

So, what does he pick? Inaction and following orders, naturally. I haven't actually seen what happens when a SW sides with Republic, but based on the comments in this thread, he follows through with Acina's plan (aka follows his orders), but doesn't seriously hurt the Alliance, and doesn't directly attack the SW. Apparently sometimes he even apologizes for doing it? To me, this seems like half measures, because he doesn't want to pick a side, but he has to.

 

Later Acina forces him to choose between his loyalty to the Sith Empire, and loyalty to SW. And, based to this thread, he picks the SW (at least if romanced), refusing to directly attack her, even if it means betraying the Empire.

 

Quinn's an imperfect man, who makes imperfect decisions. I'm sure his decisions are sometimes affected by the fact that he has to fear for his life, because a sith could easily kill him. I do understand why someone would see him as disloyal and opportunistic, but I don't think that's actually the case. I think he's in fact an idealist, who so desperately wants to be loyal, that he actually fails at it several times.

 

And...uh. Sorry for the essay. Anyone who bothered to read this can have a free cookie. I'll mail them...sometime, I promise.

[Why does Lana have FOUR different face models?]

I liked SoR Lana the best. Pity we can't have that one as a customization or something.

 

But yeah, I agree that the last change was likely due to needing to have another model so she could be customized. The other two look like they just tried to improve on her looks. Many people didn't like SoR Lana, and at least I think #3 is a huge improvement to #2.

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

When i played Iokath with a Pub siding SW, he openly sided with my SW in front of Acina, against her sitting on that throne, before she died miserably.

And she Force pushed him on a wall for that.

 

...now I kind of want to play a fem SW who romances Quinn but sides with Republic.

[Report from the ranked front lines, from a rookie]

I agree. I know when I started pvp, I waited until I was max level because I thought I was supposed to (and I think early on the game did not even do level bolster, it went ahead and put you as level 10 in with the 50s?). I had no idea what I was doing, obviously. Running the wrong way in voidstar, because who knew the spawn points changed!? Defensive Cooldowns? What are those? Keybinding? I never had to do that to beat the biggest, baddest boss in my PvE story! Etc. Etc.

 

NO ONE yelled at me. I got a guild invite, and got into a guild where they gave some advice, but mostly just didn't worry too much about it and let people learn. It was what you might call a "welcoming" community. I am 100% sure that if I tried to start PvP from scratch today I would not even bother. As I've said, even in lowbies there are people that will start "chatting" that people should stop queuing, or "learn to PvP". If I see that and it's a same-faction target I will try to whisper said target afterwards and tell them to ignore the idiots.

 

I wish to recommend you for this behavior. I used to stand up to these people in chat, but I don't feel it's worth the bother anymore. From my experience, they just start arguing with you and then the whole chat is littered with dumb things not related to the warzone. Now I just put them in my ignore list so I don't have to see their messages, which (unfortunately) often means I have no idea who they're commenting to this time and can't whisper to them for support. x.x

 

I don't remember being called names or told to stop queuing when I started pvp, either. The only time I can remember was when someone thought I had called incs after dying, even though I had not -- my recruit geared sniper just melted so fast that I was dead before anyone realized I had called for help. It was only when I started using forums I was told I shouldn't pvp because I wasn't good enough, or good geared enough (I didn't know anything about gearing. Still don't, in fact. I just google a guide when I feel determined to play max level pvp).

 

Funny how that has shifted nowadays. The pvp forums feel much more accepting nowadays, and certain in-game people are determined to aggressively call out any and all sub-optimal playing, regardless if they're winning or now.

 

Dunno why I'm posting in a thread about ranked though, since I doubt I'll ever play ranked. But I suppose this is a subject I feel strongly about. I came back from a semi-break (only logged in to play class stories with a friend) and have been leveling 3 different characters for a week now. On every one of those characters, I've had to ignore the same damn player for throwing tantrums because people made mistakes. In lowbie. Exactly where does he think new players are supposed to learn?

[Iokath Quinn Issue]

Exactly. When Quinn spies on you for Darth Acina,that's just like when he spied on you for Darth Baras.

We don't get to kill him (anymore) for doing that the first time, but the second time...

*strangle*

 

No. It's nothing like what he did for Baras. With Baras, he hid the fact that he was taking orders from him. Now, he works for Acina, is very upfront about it, and if there's something on Iokath that hints towards him spying the Commander or the Alliance, I haven't seen it.

[Bug, exploit, or just a new thing?]

This is definitely not an intended mechanic. Though next time you hear of a possible exploit, report it and/or PM Eric on the forums -- posting about it brings it to the attention of more people, therefore resulting in more exploiting.

[Idea for semi choosing pvp maps using incentives so it doesn’t kill pop times]

It’s a good point. I’m not sure how it would affect people’s desire to queue. But if they were trying to do dailies and they needed to choose a queue type, I’m guessing they would be more annoyed to pop into an arena instead.

 

I feel it wouldn't necessarily need to switch at all, just work it into the system. The random queue could include arenas too, and "map of the week" could have an alternative "arena of the week" for the low population times (both announced side by side). In addition, you could let people queue to specific arenas with the "4 map choice queue", not only 8 vs. 8 maps. Maybe someone wants to practice for ranked and wants arenas only, or maybe 8 man is just not popping, they want to pvp, but hate a particular arena. ^^

[Idea for semi choosing pvp maps using incentives so it doesn’t kill pop times]

During low pop times when the queues revert to arena.

 

MOTW ( map of the week) queue would revert to one specific arena during low population times of the day. ie AOTW (Arena of the week). This would require doing more matches to get the same daily done as the MOTW.

* 2 AOTW would equal 1 MOTW matches towards getting the daily done.

 

RQM (Random queue maps) that revert to RQA (random queue arena)

* 2 RQA would equal 1 RQM matches towards getting the daily done.

 

Both the AOTM and RQM

 

4MCQ (4 map choice queue) wouldn’t revert to Arena. It would still stay as 8 man. This is because there aren’t enough people in the queue to start with.

Maybe Bioware could add flashy emblem to this queue option that told them when the other queues had reverted to arena. Then they could choose to sit and wait or they could choose one of the other ways to queue.

 

@Banderal. I hope you don’t mind I stole your abreviation for map it the week (MOTW) and added some for the other queues too.

 

I worry showing people the queue is only popping arenas would make them less likely to queue. As I mostly play lowbie/midbie, I end up playing a lot of arenas -- but every time I queue, I do secretly hope that this time, it's gonna be a full 8 vs. 8 warzone. If I saw it's only popping arenas, I'd likely do something else entirely and just wait to see if it will switch. And if enough people just decide not to queue until it switches, it would never switch.

[Cool Reception Mission: Just When You Think The Writing Can't Get Any Worse]

I usually forgive problems like that, because I'm not convinced it's a writing problem as much as a...uh, "programming problem", for the lack of a better word. Sure, they could write a cool action cutscene where the bad guy flees through a window and you chase him down until he hops onto his speeder and escapes...but that would cost a lot of time, effort and money since it would require several custom actions from the character models. We don't exactly have a /jumpoutofthewindow emote we could use there. It's faster and cheaper to show "bad guy manages to escape" as "bad guy walks away while his goons slow you down".

[According to reports, EA won't let Bioware make KOTOR 3...]

I was saddened by these news, but if they lose the licence, this game gets shut down, so I hope they'll get to keep it.

[New Thrawn book announced]

It´s fine not to like it, its not everyone's cup of tea. I had my own issues with the Rebels at first, but as the series progressed it grew on me and really began to love the story of the members of the Ghost-crew. Especially when Thrawn made his appearance. I would definitely suggest on giving it a try one day to get it to end though, there are some absolutely fascinating things in season 4 that tie into the larger Star Wars-universe, particularly to Mortis-arc from TCW and to Death Star-project.

I'll be super excited to see where Thrawn's story will be heading, I'm giddy as a child in candy store while waiting for a new book about him.

Also, sorry for late response, been having hectic time with my service in FDF after the new recruits came few weeks back.

 

 

Don't worry about slow responses, I'm sure we all have a life outside the forums. Can't prioritize internet discussions over everything else!

 

I think I'm gonna try to watch season 4 (or at least the episodes that have Thrawn in it) before the next book actually gets released... or at least before I actually read it. Otherwise the book's gonna be filled with references to things I've never heard of, and I hate that.

 

I'm excited for Thrawn's story, but I'm also excited because I feel the next book has a chance to be a bit more...complex, I guess. Don't take me wrong, I did like the first 2 books quite a bit, but they didn't have many players with different agendas and plot threads that eventually come together, like i.e. original Thrawn trilogy, Hand of Thrawn duology and Outbound Flight had. I love the first book because it's a tale about how he got from nothing to a Grand Admiral in a society that didn't want aliens to advance like that...yet, I feel it was a pretty simple book of "there's a problem -> Thrawn solves it because he's brilliant -> Thrawn gets promoted".

 

The second book had a bit more plot elements to it, but since we didn't know who was involved until the very end, it didn't feel as satisfying. Now, we have a better picture on who's who and what everyone wants, everything's been set up in the previous books, so I'm hoping it will be more like...well, Outbound Flight. Because I really like Outbound Flight.

 

[New Thrawn book announced]

I cant see any hints about a Chiss Civil war in the first look of the third canon Thrawn book of Timothy Zahn.

Eli Vanto returns with a message from the Chiss Ascendancy to Thrawn reminding him that he cant be loyal to the Ascendancy and the Empire at the same time.

 

So I think Timothy Zahn will present us an interesting story of Thrawn who has to find a way to solve this problem of loyality.

 

But I cant see any hints of a chiss-civil war.

 

Also we have to differ between the canon-storyline (like the new books of Timothy Zahn regarding Thrawn and his presence in Star Wars Rebels) and the legend-storyline with the Yuuzhan vong or the twin-children of Han and Leia and other book- and background contents which are not part of the official Star Wars canon-lore.

 

There is still the possibility that some elements will be implemented in future (like Thrawn became canon with his appearance in Star Wars Rebels). But others - like the children of Leia and Han are lost for the lore after the movies Episode VII and VIII.

 

 

 

 

 

The civil war is not hinted in the third book's summary, it's hinted in Thrawn: Alliances.

 

EDIT: Also, nothing is said about the kind of news Eli is delivering, only that they're dire. So they could be news about the civil war.

 

[New Thrawn book announced]

Agreed with what you said, if the civil war within the Ascendancy happens, it would be interesting to read about it. I think Eli's POV might serve as a narrator for the events there, since we know we know that he returns to Thrawn's side to warn him about trouble in Ascendancy at some point, if the released summary serves as a pointer.

I wonder if Thrawn will get back to his people to help them. Maybe during the time lapse that he and Ezra spent in the Unknown Regions during the events of the Original trilogy, especially if they might team up? Hard to say, but I am eagerly awaiting for more answers.

 

 

I had already forgotten about the summary. Went ahead to re-read it, and I agree. I know Zahn doesn't like to write alien POWs unless there's a good reason to (and when he does, he commits to make sure the POW really does feel alien), and Eli is both conveniently placed and conveniently human.

 

I can't imagine Thrawn not doing everything in his power to help his people, though I also can't speculate when or how it could happen. I'm not well versed in Disneycanon apart from the Thrawn novels (managed to watch the Thrawn episodes of Star Wars Rebels season 3, but haven't been able to stomach season 4 just yet... I know you like the series, and it's fine, but I just can't get into it. The storytelling style doesn't leave enough room for nuanced characters imo).

 

Though it would be very much like Thrawn to fake a disappearance to help his people. I'm really looking forward to getting more info, too.

 

[Let us kill Lana Beniko]

What, again?

 

If the story had been focused around Vette, she'd likely not be dead.

[New Thrawn book announced]

I definitely agree with this, though I wonder if they're building for the Gryssk to be a more universal threat for the rest of Galaxy, like the Yuuzhan Vong in Legends. The Chiss going into civil war is not a new thing though, we know from Legends that the Ruling Families have always clashed amongst themselves, leaving into as few Families as three. But then, I don´t think any of them have had an outer influencer like now, who could very much turn things for worse.

 

 

I suppose they could be a more universal threat, though I doubt it would be to the extent of Yuuzhan Vong. That part of Legends was often criticized, I doubt they'd be looking to bring it back. I always assumed they'd take the place of the Vagaari as one of the threatening species in the Unknown Regions. But the Gryssk seem more bold and aggressive than the Vagaari did, so you could be right.

 

And it's different to know there has been civil wars, and to actually read about them. Especially due to the Gryssk influence. Even if the Ruling Families clash, they still have the Chiss' best interests at heart, so diplomacy should be an option at some point. But if one side is influenced by the Gryssk, who are NOT willing to negotiate and actually just want to conquer the Ascendancy... I don't know, I just feel it won't be easy to stop, not unless you stop it right on it's tracks.

 

Not to mention that the Gryssk very likely are taking steps to make sure Thrawn can't meddle with their infiltration plan. Just reading about that in Thrawn: Alliances made me feel somewhat horrified. Thrawn cares so much about his people. The idea that the Gryssk manage to get the Chiss start slaughtering each other in a civil war and he can't even get there to try to put an end to it...

 

[Let us kill Lana Beniko]

Which is why they should have kept focusing on fan favorite LI companions instead of just giving them a kill option or just leaving them abandoned without any further interaction, or comments on zones or whatever and instead of wasting resources on companions no one cares about.

And it doesn't take a poll to know which ones are the most favorite, which aren't that many imo, first ones probably are, Kira, Vette and Jaesa.

 

So you'd prefer reading "Please let us kill Kira, Vette and Jaesa"-threads instead?