Years ago when I joined SWTOR, I had only had some experience in STO, otherwise I didn't have much MMO experience, I didn't know what any of the terms meant, I still don't and don't really care. I just picked the class that seemed to fit my personality/beliefs/morals..etc the most, or at least who I strive to become. I ended up choosing the Jedi Consular Sage Female. She has been with me this whole time as a 'mostly' lightside. (fully lightside according to my definition of 'love and light' ) She has suffered as my guinea pig while I learned SWTOR through much trial and error...lots of error. Because she was my main through all that, I feel more connected to her. I've played the other stories, and enjoyed them for the most part. They all had highs and lows, but my JC is 'me', and she is the only one I have dragged through all of KOTEF and KOTET (including side stuff like star fortresses, extra companions, and so on). One thing I don't like about MMOs is the 'grindy' nature of it's structure, I think it's a waste of time, but if some grinding for stats is required to achieve some part of the story, the JC is the only one I will do that with...not going to go through that stuff again with other characters. Kinda like STO, my main is a starfleet guy, tho I did have a Klingon and Romulan who I completed their primary story arcs with. After the story becomes generic it is kinda pointless to grind all the way through again. I am glad I stuck with the JC, she really seemed to fit in well with KOTEF/KOTET framework. She seemed like a natural foil to Valkorion, and she had experience dealing with Emperor's Children. When she takes the Eternal throne, she also seemed like the most qualified to be a politician with her diplomatic experience. Athena Karkanis's voice suited my JC well, at least for the body type and face I created. All in All, I'll stick with the JC until the end. CHeers

Happy 4th day!....and don't forget in 3 weeks to wear your towels and drink Pan Galactic Gargleblasters for Towel Day May 25th. May the Force Be With You, Live Long and Prosper, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

It might be that 90% of the video games we play, we play the 'hero', or the Good Guy. So the Jedi story is more common. Having the ability to play the other side, or to play 'Grey'...those stories might be more intriguing. The female JC is my main, tho I have played the others up to Illum. I play her mostly light side, making decisions that I would, if it were me. I feel the Jedi's story is much stronger during KOTFE/KOTET. The Jedi seems to be the natural foil to Valkorion, and the JC seems to be the one most experienced and qualified to govern the Alliance after KOTET. The JC is a diplomat after all. The Sith had their moments, particularly playing light sided, and seeking to change the Empire from within, however after Corellia, the Sith story on Illum feels generic, like all their efforts to change the Empire had no effect. The LS Sith would likely agree with Malgus and his new Empire and not oppose him. It seems being am LS Sith rebelling/changing the Empire is better written than a Jedi going Dark. As far as voice acting, I didn't find Athena's voice to be bothersome. Athena's voice seems to fit the face and bodytype for my JC quite well. I felt she portrayed who the canonical JC is supposed to be. Diplomatic, confident yet humble. I think body shape/face and species might play a part too. For instance I had particular Chiss female body type and face that seemed to fit very well as a BH, but when I tried that same body/face/species as a Smuggler, it didn't seem to fit as well. I do agree with the above posters, all of the storylines have highs and lows. Consider the non force users too. Cheers

Lets see, my only toon going through this mess is my main LS JC, I leave all the others at Illum. My JC sides with the Republic, which shouldn't be a surprise....she...and I have a very dim view of slavery. Even tho the JC is romanced with Lana, Lana would expect a Jedi to side with the democracy. When the JC took the eternal throne, she declared the Alliance to be a beacon of peace and hope. She also declared slavery a crime against all humanity/alienity(sp)? and is outlawed permanently. With the combined Alliance and Republic forces, I bring the Empire to it's knees, and force unconditional surrender. The Dark Council is removed from power, slavery is abolished, and I set up an appoint light side Sith from the Empire's underground Light Sith movement...as mentioned in the LS SW story. I appoint this LS Sith to be the 'puppet' Emperor/Empress. However, I do not 'force' Democracy on the former Empire. History has shown that forcing democracy on people can lead to civil war and power vacuums. The transition to democracy needs to take it's time and happen when the people are ready for it. When the time comes for democracy in the former Empire, the LS Emp will preside over a smooth transition of power...monitored by the Alliance. The appointed LS Emp rules as a 'benevolent', yet firm. As punishment for their war crimes, former Dark Council and Sith alike are sent to labor camps and must perform menial labor for the rest of their lives. I feel this sentence is appropriate for former slavers, and is a more meaningful punishment. I feel execution is an 'out' for them that I will not let them have. Wealth and assets from war profiteering belonging to the former Dark council and Sith war criminals, is confiscated, then given to former slaves as war reparations so they may begin to live a free life. As for the Republic, I continue the Alliance, however, I keep contingency plans in place for possible Saresh type leaders coming to power in the Republic. All in all, I seek a peaceful galaxy, which is what the JC light side commander pledged in the beginning when she took the throne. Furthermore as head Jedi in the alliance, I reform Jedi code to be more liberal and much less a code, instead the Jedi code in the Alliance becomes a set of suggestions and guidelines for those Jedi living within the Alliance. I recognize the power of positive emotions, like love. I allow and encourage Jedi to pursue relationships and have families. I also see the benefit of force users having children....more force users. Happy Jedi means they are much less likely to be corrupted. Cheers

There may be no Zygerrian Empire in our current SWTOR Timeline, but you can bet that Zygerrians existed as a species. It makes sense that their Empire would not have formed yet. The Sith Empire would snuff out any competition to their slave trade. The Republic would also attempt to stop any early Zygerrian slaver clan from becoming a big slaver empire. However just because the Zygerrians exists in our timeline as perhaps small slaver clans, that doesn't mean that the Zygerrians themselves don't have desires of their own big slaver Empire. It would also make sense that after the turmoil of KOTET and the eventual fall of the Sith Empire, along with Republic focused on rebuilding, that the Zygerrians would take the opportunity to expand. I apologize for not speaking correctly in history book terms on real world Empires, I am not a history buff. I am however fascinated with the Human Mind. So let me speak in terms of the Human psyche. The seeds of an Empire, are planted long long before the physical manifestation of said Empire. It originates in the Primal human psyche. The origins of an Empire can be traced from the customs and beliefs of the people who plant the seeds of that Empire. The customs and beliefs are traced back to the feeling of superiority over others. What is the purpose of an Empire? To control, subjugate, dominate others in order to remain in power through military superiority and control of resources. If an Empire is originated from the Human ego's desire to dominate others...how long in human history have humans groups felt superior to other human groups? Like since the entire time Humans have been around. Its a primal instinct carried over from animal nature. A brief story...Seeds of an Empire The leader of a clan...lets call him Bob and we'll call his clan Bobclan. Bob, who is likely the 'Alpha' male of the clan fears being defeated by the younger Alphas when he is older, wishes to remain in power. Bob convinces the group that 'God' made him special, and that he has divine power....This 'demonstrated' by his Alpha male status and defeating the other males. The people buy it, because that is their custom to always believe what the Alpha says...he is physically stronger and bigger, so therefore he must be right!...say these people. Bob seeks their loyalty by telling that they are guaranteed a happy afterlife if they follow him and remain loyal to their 'God'. Loyalty to a clan (or team) helps it become organized and solidify the clan...thus improving it's strength. It is human nature to want to be part of a 'team', especially one that is winning. Anyway, Bob and his clan go around dominating others because 'God' (Ego's desire for power) told them it was a good idea! (sorry, channeling some George Carlin there:D). Loosing clans are killed off or absorbed by Bob's clan. Hey if you can't beat em...join em right? And here you have it, the seeds of empire building...waaaay over simplified of course! Bob maybe replaced by others, but the beliefs of superiority keep this seed going. It may take centuries before Bobclan becomes a big empire. There may be revolts along the way, but the Bobclan Empire will exist, even for a short time, it may exist again with a different name, but it is ultimately the same Empire. Interestingly Revolts are also from a similar seed...the other side of the coin....our resistance to being controlled by others. The seed of a resistance is formed the instant one told they must conform to other belief or that they are told to be inferior....and so on. Thus you have the constant cycle of Empire and Republic. I personally believe that we do evolve from our primal instinct to a higher level of 'enlightenment' if you will. It may take millions of generations and eons of social evolution, but life is like a wheel, we keep going around and around, doing the same things over and over again, however each time we go around, we are a little bit farther along than we were before. Anyway, sorry for the long story, and long winded desire to see some evil slaver species in the story. They would make some good 'villains' but could also present some interesting moral quandaries from the point of view of either the Republic or Empire. Cheers

According to Wookiepedia the Zygerrian Slave Empire existed during the Old Republic. I don't see why they wouldn't. Big empires take a long time to build, so I would imagine the well established Zygerrian Empire seen in Clone Wars was around a long long time before that.. Also social customs from a particular empire usually were around before and often after that empire's official existence. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zygerrian_Slave_Empire I believe SWTOR sets itself so far in the past merely for relative storytelling independence and writing reasons. That way BW can tell the stories they want without affecting the main SW lore too much. Even so, most of the established SW elements are a part of SWTOR, because it's Star Wars, and to have Star Wars fans play it, you need Star Wars stuff in it. Anyway, I think a Zygerrian story could be an intriguing one. Perhaps not a direct conflict, but more of how your alliance chooses to associate with Zygerria. As a Light Alliance, you assist or instigate a slave rebellion. As a Dark Alliance, you help put down the Zygerrians put down the slave rebellion. I would love to see BW write a story that presents the player with some tough moral choices. A place like Zygerria might be a good platform for that. I could see tough moral choices for both sides. The obvious openly support slavery for the Imperial player, and for the Republic player, supporting a resistance movement comes at a very high cost in resources, perhaps putting the safety of the Alliance in jeopardy....Is ending slavery worth that cost?

Just out of curiosity, will BW take this game through Zygerria eventually? I am surprised Zygerria wasn't part of the original storyline. Zygerria seemed to be a semi major player in the Clone Wars. No doubt my Republic leaning 'Alliance Commander', would look forward to rolling through Zygerria and bust up their vile slave trade. I would even let Vette command a liberation squad. I imagine the Imperial leaning Alliance Commander would seek to add Zygerria as an ally. Cheers

All of the Empire story lines involve frequent corruption. The BH, you actively help a corrupt military officer gain favor by sabotaging his rival. Then you doom a whole race (Selonians) to slavery. You also shoot up a medical ward. The IA who is arguably the biggest 'Empire Patriot' of the bunch, of who expresses the most interest in serving the Empire and it's people. The LS IA lets you know he/she dislikes the Sith meddling in their missions, and dislikes the Sith using the Imperial Intel service for their personal gain. This sentiment mirror's Elara Dorne's comment to the Trooper as to why she left the Empire...paraphrasing "The Empire used to stand for order and discipline, but that all went out the window when a Sith walked in the room" The SI and SW both either help or stop Sith rivals from sabotaging the Empire's war effort for personal gain. How can you possibly win a war if you spend over half the time engaging in inter faction rivalries. Of all the Empire Story arc's the BH is really the only one who actually fights for the Empire with any sort of success, and even the LS BH ends up bringing down the Sith controlling him/her. Interestingly this is not too different than the Klingon Empire in Star Trek. The Klingons claim to live by a code of honor, and preach honor all the time, yet only a handful shown in the whole Star Trek series actually appear to live by that said code of honor. (Worf, Kurn, Martok, Grilka and maybe Chancellor Gorkon) While the rest of the Klingons use the 'Honor' code as a shield to do dis-honorable acts or protect dis-honorable Klingons in the name of protecting the Empire. The Sith Empire is evil, plain and simple, there is no way around it for obvious historical parallels, and simply because Lucas wrote it that way. He made things very 'Black - White' for the sake of his style of storytelling. The Sith are clearly the Reich, mixed in with some Holy Roman Empire...complete with Inquisitors....cause nobody EXPECTS the Spanish Inquisition! Perhaps the political landscape of Star Wars might be more intriguing and 'GREY' if the Empire was more like the British Empire...ie more 'Benevolent' (PLEASE take that with a grain of salt....cause it depends who you ask) and the Republic more like a corrupt Rome. That way both sides would be equally a mixed bag. Perhaps with the Empire headed toward peaceful democracy and the Republic headed toward tyranny.

The funny thing is, Saresh behaves just like any power seeking Sith would. Scheming and backstabbing her way to power is Sith standard operating procedure. I am surprised she didn't earn more respect from the Empire for her role in destabilizing the Republic, and for acting like they would in the same situation. Power hungry egomaniacs who can't to let go of grudges...sounds familiar. How many insecure egomaniac Darth's do you have to deal with through out all the storylines? Too many to count. Democracies are far from perfect, even the ones we live in. It shouldn't surprise anyone that during times of uncertainty and instability, power hungry egomaniacs can and do take advantage of the situation for their rise to power...sometimes through the very instability that they in fact instigated...ie Palpatine. The whole political point of the Prequels was to demonstrate the process in which a Democracy becomes a Tyranny under the guise of 'security'. It's a total Mafia move...You secretly pay thugs to rough up a neighborhood, then you 'offer' the people of that neighborhood security, the people buy it, you 'clean up' the same thugs you secretly paid, then you own the place. Maybe that's the appeal of the Empire. You already know what to expect. You already know you have to deal with Darth McLargeHuge, so you are prepared for it. In the Republic, Senator McLargeHuge can play behind the scenes for awhile and then blindside you.

I feel that BW really missed the boat on romances in KOTFE/KOTET.,.etc...or at least missed a great opportunity to really open up romance possibilities. Why not allow 'cross class' romances with returning companions. Certainly a Smuggler might take an interest in Vette or Gault. Wouldn't the BH possibly have an interest in Kaliyo or Akaavi if/when she comes back? I could see my JC taking an interest in Elara. Maybe those kinds of romances don't have to be a part of the main story, but as side story interludes like they were in the legacy stories. That way our characters could really romance whoever they really felt attracted to. It seems like a waste of the voice actor talent for Elara to only be romanced by a male trooper,. If they were going to pay the voice actors for Elara/Quinn and other companions, why not have the voice actors record a few more lines for romantic interlude possibilities. Lana is fine for sure, but given that she has no customization options, it feels a bit forced and limiting. Wouldn't the Vette/Torian choice in KOTET have had more weight if your character had been able to romance them? Cheers TJ

I'll have to replay that chapter, maybe Acina wasn't 'light side' per se, but she was definitely talking about reforms and how the old ways must change. Then again, as you say, that was just an act to gain our favor. A Sith saying 'We promise not to stab you in the back" is code for "We wont betray you now, but will stab you in the back later when the opportunity presents itself"

I agree, I have a feeling both Malcom and Acina will be either dead or out of power by the time the Iokath campaign is over, so it won't really matter. My main light side JC is the only one I am dragging through all this. I'm not dragging 8 other characters through this long slog, not even for my Trooper for his beloved Elara. (My headcannon is all the other characters pretty much retire, die, or lived happily ever after after Legacy). I play my main as 'what I would do if it were me in that situation according to my personal beliefs, moral compass, etc' With that said, I must go with the Republic. True the Republic is corrupt, but it is still the democracy, while the Sith Empire is still the slave loving totalitarian 'Space Reich'. My personal opinion on the use of slavery and of totalitarian regimes is very low, so any opportunity to bring the Empire to it's knees I will take. Honestly, I find the logic of 'Oh the Republic is corrupt' a very silly logic...what? and the Empire isn't? In the Empire storylines, particularly the Sith storylines, you find the Sith Lords and Empire Commanders spending more time sabotaging the Empire's own war effort in ego power plays than they do fighting the Republic...I'd say that's pretty corrupt. It's like the USA certainly had plenty of flaws during WWII and did plenty of terrible things to win the war, along with the rest of the Allies. However those flaws and terrible acts pale in comparison to the flaws and terrible acts committed by the Axis regimes.. Anyway back to the Iokath logic, by removing Acina, the Empire is weakened. No matter who the Dark Council replaces her with, the Empire is in no position to challenge the combined force of Republic and Alliance. If it were me, I would use this alliance to bring the Empire to it's knees and basically do the same thing the Allies did to the Axis powers after WWII. Remove the Dark Council from power, establish contact with the 'light side' Sith movement that was alluded to in the SW storyline and support or 'appoint' them as leaders until a democracy is established within the former Empire, similarly to the former WWII Axis powers. It''s too bad BW changed the character of Acina from her KOTET personality. I thought she was an intriguing character in KOTET, but BW had to change her character to fit this Iokath storyline. She went from being a 'reform minded light side Sith' to typical power hungry back-stabbing Sith. Maybe her whole "I'm a reformed Sith' bit in KOTET was just an act so she could manipulate your light side self later. Considering Acina violated your order not to go to Iokath...'a minor transgression'...hardly...I would consider making a grab for a super weapon that will be used against my alliance a serious transgression. Backstabbing for power gains is standard operating procedure for Sith so I would not trust her even if I did side with her. She would backstab me when the time came anyway. Better to remove her from power, defeat the Empire, then establish a more favorable government within it. The only other character I would consider dragging through all this would be my LS SI and her response would be pretty much the same. The LS SI wanted to reform the Empire within based on her storyline, and siding with the Republic would cap that off, allowing her to establish a light side government in the Empire. But all of this is meaningless as our Alliance commander is subject to the direction of BW storytelling. Now a possible direction that could be fun is that whatever side you choose, you defeat the other side...but then the Alliance is seen as a rival by the winning faction...thus starting a cold war. Cheers

I wish opposing Valkorion had more serious consequences, especially if you are a Jedi or a 'Light' character. My JC refused to kneel, didn't ask for Valkorion's help to save Lana (who was a romantic interest), didn't ask for help during any of the fights. Lana lived and was eventually romanced, the Scion fight was ended, and the fight with Arcann was survived. Yes the JC took a light saber to the gut, but I feel that is something the JC would rather do than give in to Valkorion. The JC ended up surviving anyway. Now if the choices opposing Valkorion really were more severe...especially for one romanced to one of the original companions. Say if Trooper refuses Valkorions help, Elara will die. Perhaps if BW has some cojones, you face a REALLY tough choice between the moral choice for good or being reunited with the loved one. That would be the hardest choice to make for me, for my Trooper who longs to be runited with his wife. As painful as it would be, I think I would still go for the moral choice. The universe is bigger than Valkorion, he is not as powerful as he claims, and I would rather have short term sacrifice for long term gains. Besides someone like Elara fell in love with you because you stuck to your morals, she would probably strongly dissaprove if you accepted Valkorion's help for her sake. I don't know if anyone here has played Life is Strange, that had some hugely tough decisions to make. I remember playing Episode 4 right after it came out, then almost immediately get hit with some huge decision....'Euthanize your best friend (and lover) who is now a paraplegic(because of you) or continue to let her suffer and her parents sufffer from the crushing medical bills'. They didn't hit you with many softies in that game LOL. Cheers TJ

I don't mind the 'easy' combat because I am more interested in the story. The sooner I can get through the mobs and grinding the better. I also care more about my character and compaion's outfits, so I enjoy that those things don't have huge overall effect on the main story missions. Like many, I have easily run through late chapter missions wearing just underwear for the fun of it. I would rather the outfit look the way I want rather than have to change it to increase the armor rating. For instance, I rather liked the pirate outfit from Rishi on my JC and her companion. I had her wear that outfit throught the KOTFE story. I intend on keeping that outfit throughout the rest of the chapters if possible. That's one area where I think STO has an advantage, the actual clothing you wear doesn't have any affect your armor rating, however the personal shield and the armor peice (which can be made invisible) do affect the armor rating. So as long as you have the good armor/shield, you can wear whatever you want. I think the MMO combat mechanics are kind of silly to begin with...its very 'Harry Potter'ish If people want the combat to be more challenging, make it more 'realistic'...ie you can't just lob an explosive into a scrum and not have it also injure/kill your teammates who are in that scrum. You can't launch a gernade at point blank and some how not be damaged from the explosion. This kind of thing changes the tactics. How about adding consequences of friendly fire, that means you have to aim and not just hold down the trigger. Timing, aim, and position would be come a much bigger factor. How about fewer mobs, but a few more 'hard' targets along the way. Targets that require you to attack a certain way...you can't just walk up to them and start slapping them with your salami lightsaber or shoot at them point blank for long tedious time. Add more 'cat n mouse' and 'cloak n dagger' type stuff too. Add some suspense to the combat that will make you sweat a little bit. Cheers TJ

Intercourse...is that the meal between the first course and main course? Sorry couldn't help it. But yeah if BW took NPC interaction to a Sims like level, that would do wonders for the immersion of the game. Heck the technology is around to go beyond Sims. I have had text 'conversations' with AI bots that were quite good and damn near convincing. I was showing my friend and she thought I was actually talking to another person online. The technology is there, it would be awseome if it could be applied to NPCs in SWTOR. Cheers TJ