Jochim Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I recently started playing SWTOR and I primarily picked it up for the story arcs. While the main storyline is interesting i'm finding it difficult to care about my characters at all. Personally I think that the problem is that there is no 'scene setting' for your character, you don't see or make decisions about your characters past at character creation. Does anyone else have this problem? or has anyone managed to get past it somehow and do you think something should be done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazednconfuzed Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 It would be nice to be able to fill in parts of your background, but I don't think it's really necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochim Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Its just hard to give a damn about what your character goes through without it. Inquisitor. You're a slave. But you don't really get told what kind of slave, how you were treated, if you were born a slave. Trooper. You're in the best unit in republic military, but there's nothing on how you got there, why you wanted to be in it etc. Maybe its because I picked the game for its story, which is well written but doesn't make me care about anyone in the scenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maylen Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 Well I think that character backgrounds are deliberately left vague, so you can make your own background. I suggest making up your own background for your characters if you think it would help you care about them more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phyreblade Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) I appreciate the subtlety of the character openings. Allows me to create a story arc personal to me, to my character. It's why MY bounty hunter is unique among all those other bounty hunters, why MY sorcerer stands apart from all the other sorcerers, why MY smuggler looks, feels, and behaves just differently than all the other smugglers. Each one of my characters has a tale all their own, uniquely theirs, crafted by me in my own head and not neccessarily shared anywhere. It's why no matter the tale they embark on is pretty much the same journey as every other similar character, they end up somewhere quite different. I think that that sense would be lost if some writer, no matter how talented, came up with something and regurgitated it onto my screen. That's just me, though. Edited March 28, 2012 by Phyreblade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mia_Sohma Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) I appreciate the subtlety of the character openings. Allows me to create a story arc personal to me, to my character... Each one of my characters has a tale all their own, uniquely theirs, crafted by me in my own head and not neccessarily shared anywhere. It's why no matter the tale they embark on is pretty much the same journey as every other similar character, they end up somewhere quite different. I think that that sense would be lost if some writer, no matter how talented, came up with something and regurgitated it onto my screen. That's just me, though. This is me, too When creating my first character (which was a Zabrak Inq) the history and personality of my character just seemed to brew in my mind until I had a clear picture of who and what my character was. I'm a bit of an altoholic, mostly because sometimes when I'm playing I start thinking of a new character and history and personality and become so interested and hung up on the idea that I HAVE to make an alt!! Whilst I do not RP in MMOs and all my characters belong to a PvE server, I think that RPers are more likely to find creating their own backstory easier because they're sort of used to it. Admittedly though, before I got into MMOs, I used to play a Hell of a lot of RPGs... and one of my favourite past times (after gaming!) is creative writing... so I'm sort of trained to think up backstories and imagine histories for characters I create (in a sense). Now this is not meant to be a dig at the OP but I guess it just depends on your imagination and how good your brain is at generating a picture of 'what came before'. Given that I spend most of my time with my head in the clouds, it's not surprising that I have no trouble thinking these things up!! xD Edited March 28, 2012 by Mia_Sohma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochim Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hadn't really thought of it like that. I'm not unimaginative, its just something I've come to expect from RPGs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejadavidson Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) Well I think that character backgrounds are deliberately left vague, so you can make your own background.I suggest making up your own background for your characters if you think it would help you care about them more. This is exactly why I think your character's background is vague. If they detailed it, everyone would have the same story. As it is, you get to make it up yourself. For example, my female SI is the offspring of Jedi and her village was razed by imperials, her mother killed and she was taken as a slave. Sold as a sex slave, she killed her first 'customer', a high-ranking imperial officer, with force lightning. She was sentenced to death. Moments before her death, she was taken by the sith and trained. She absolutely hates the empire and sith, but it's her only path to freedom for the time being. See, that's a fun story and it allows me to play her in a more personal way which I would not be able to do if her story was already outlined. There's a thread here somewhere about people who've made up backgrounds for their characters. It's a lot of fun and their background will dictate their choices throughout the game. Because of my SI background, she's a snotty, arrogant nasty brat to anyone in authority and very nice to others. I am very glad BW did not give us detailed backgrounds. Edited March 28, 2012 by ejadavidson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Zone Posted March 28, 2012 Share Posted March 28, 2012 I feel that without a preset background, I can make the character who and what I want him to be. I noticed with the Imperial Agent, Smuggler, and several others that I could tell people whatever I wanted about my background and motivations. It's fun, and makes the character feel like it's mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRieh Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Personally I think that the problem is that there is no 'scene setting' for your character, you don't see or make decisions about your characters past at character creation. Does anyone else have this problem? or has anyone managed to get past it somehow and do you think something should be done? I really hope that they will NEVER get into my past. Even companions' past is somewhat undesired for me more then it was already revealed, as I always like filling those "time gaps" myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzellmer Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 i agree with most in this thread that leaving the backgrounds of characters in swtor open-ended is a massive positive. george lucas himself turned out a tremendously shoddy prequel trilogy by attempting to "background" the stories of established characters... some stories are simply best left untold, otherwise the imagination has nowhere to find footing. my personal view of anakin skywalker was significantly altered by the prequels, for example. i feel that my imagination had already done an adequate job of filling in those gaps, and i find lucas' backgrounding in that instance unnecessary and regressive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Pancakes Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I recently started playing SWTOR and I primarily picked it up for the story arcs. While the main storyline is interesting i'm finding it difficult to care about my characters at all. Personally I think that the problem is that there is no 'scene setting' for your character, you don't see or make decisions about your characters past at character creation. Does anyone else have this problem? or has anyone managed to get past it somehow and do you think something should be done? yeah its to bad at early beta u were able to do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormNaara Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Nope, don't find that it spoils my investment in the character if he has no background. I don't create one for myself and neither do I feel the need for one being already established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordika Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Several members of my guild have written and posted the background stories of their characters, what they were doing leading up to the beginning of the game, how they got to that point. I am happy just picking up the story where it begins and seeing where it takes me, but others want the background. Like others have said, they were left vague for a reason, so that players can craft their own background, or origin, story to fit their own character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachlloyd Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) In EQ 1 there was a spot open for you to input your own text on your character screen, so YOU were able to put it in so everyone who inspected you could see it. I LOVED this on my RP servers, this could also lend to explaining the events and happenings in your legacy. You could explain why you took to the DS as a Jedi or LS as a sith pureblood. True you can find all this out by talking to people, asking them questions. Its just a nice touch that adds to immersion and RP experiences. I do wish in MMORPG's they were able to do first person view animations etc, for those who like to get rid of the HUD and play in FP, otherwise I keep the HUD and player in a tight third. I am glad to see the scalability of the UI coming, its far too large and bulky as is. Of course I use hotkeys, so I do not need to be able to click on anything really. I do think the on character screen text box, explaining your past/lineage would be nice. Edited April 5, 2012 by zachlloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenovan Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 In EQ 1 there was a spot open for you to input your own text on your character screen, so YOU were able to put it in so everyone who inspected you could see it. I LOVED this on my RP servers, this could also lend to explaining the events and happenings in your legacy. You could explain why you took to the DS as a Jedi or LS as a sith pureblood. True you can find all this out by talking to people, asking them questions. -snip- I do think the on character screen text box, explaining your past/lineage would be nice. Wow, never played EQ, but a feature like that would be amazing here. Especially, as you mentioned, with potentially unusual combinations of race/class coming, it'd be great to be able to offer some background to your character if you wanted. Agreed with most in this thread, though; the lack of highly detailed background leaves lots of room to build your own, which I appreciate. I think that freedom was something I missed from Dragon Age: Origins when I played DA2 -- Hawke's history is pretty well-defined, and I never felt particularly close to my Hawke, especially compared to my DA: O characters, or my SWTOR toons now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Vicente Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I just wish when characters DID ask about your background, instead of giving the same answer, or choosing not to (which is what currently happens in those rare instances) it gave you DIFFERENT answers so your past/perception of your past isn't identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconDC Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I think it's important to remember that the way Bioware developed the class quest structure for the game, it's simply implausible for people to make a differentiation on their own character to start. Also, it becomes too cumbersome for Bioware to work around backstories for Troopers, for example, that would require a rationale for "how did a Chiss (or Sith Pureblood) become a Trooper" with the Legacy update. We all know that you, as a player, cannot expect or take the class quest events as your character's personal IC storyline... The character's storyline is defined by the events leading up to the prologue, and the character is then set on a story-line that is by definition unique in the galaxy. Why deal with this "need" for game-forced background work? You can just as easily create a background for your character creatively by yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranadiel_Marius Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I just wish when characters DID ask about your background, instead of giving the same answer, or choosing not to (which is what currently happens in those rare instances) it gave you DIFFERENT answers so your past/perception of your past isn't identical. These conversations regarding your background are left overs from an earlier development period in time where you selected the background for your character. I'm not 100% but I think the background actually determined your species, so your background answers are basically determined by your race now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliotcat Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 IDK, I like it vague. As I play through I come up with lots of new ideas for my character and where she has been before. I love getting to a new planet and thinking, "So, was Ayang here before? What was she doing? How long did she stay?" and such. Maybe picking out a few traits like your homeworld would be cool - LOTRO does this, with all 4 races getting a list of 5 places they can hail from; for example your elf can be from Mirkwood, Rivendell, Edhellond, Lindon, or Lorien. I really, REALLY wish there were a biography option though. This is the first game I've played that hasn't had one and that sucks. I want to explain who my character is and why she's here and all that stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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