Empire or Republic?

[MasterMe]

Yep, except we don't have it. The Republic is an oligarchy (with monarchist worlds as members), not a democracy. At best you could call it a "polyarchy".

 

Good point. It's a democratic system that governs worlds in which many are monarchys. How's that?

[lobotaru]

I'm imperial because small pink twileks are cute. That and I like to spite my sith masters by being a goody-goody. It brings such warm joy to my heart to know they hate me so.

[unbilledrelic]

I play Republic mostly because i'm not on the 'evil is cool' bandwagon that seems to make up a lot ofStar Wars fans. That said, the Old Republic Jedi Order was a straight up cult and I much, much prefer Luke's Jedi Order.

 

I do plan to make a bounty hunter down the line though, as they've always been a very cool part of Star Wars lore.

Bounty hunters don't have to be played dark side though you can play them light and they are still bad asses.

[Kaedusz]

Right now the Republic is particularly insuferable and terribly boring to me,oh and cheesy.

 

The moment i hear the Smuggler theme or the general Republic theme sometimes heard in the Rep fleet,i wanna puke and my hand instinctively proceeds to press the escape button as quickly as humanly possible and go to the character selection screen,after which i log in with a sith or my agent or bounty hunter and my mental agonies are over.And i feel at peace.

 

Omg how i hate the smuggler and the republic theme.And the male consular voice.And the Jedi Guardian basic atack animation.:wea_03::wea_03::wea_03:

 

My dislike of the Republic has nothing to do with good/evil/government and whatnot .It has has to do purely with aesthetics and atmosphere.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Kaedusz

[Jeduthun]

Actually... If Sidious hadn't been defeated, his massive navy and elite troopers would have been ready for the Vong invasion. The death star would have been VERY convenient to have around to blow their moving home world away:rolleyes:

 

Well, as Han Solo said to someone, the Empire would have created something of gargantuan power to combat the Yuuzhan Vong, and give it a grandiose name, like the "Nostril of Palpatine," but then a hotshot Yuuzhan Vong pilot would have found something like a open heat vent of a sort, shot torpedoes through it and destroyed the weapon. "That's what the Empire would have done." - Han Solo

 

Anyway, I think that in spite of its problems, the Republic still represents the best of civilization that anybody, Human or not, could come up with, since it epitomizes the ideal of species coming together and resolving their differences peacefully without going to war over it, and symbolizes peace, unity, and freedom. However, I would be content to be a roamer in the Outer Rim Territories without worrying too much about galactic events.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Jeduthun

[LighterDarker]

I am a true patriot of the Empire, and the only reason is because I can't stand the Republic they lie to their people , the Jedi and the Republic are a bunch of hypocrites, The Jedi study and teach hypocrisy....... atleast the Sith and the Empire are honest about their doings : Edited August 10, 2013 by LighterDarker

[cool-dude]

I personally don't feel the Empire or Republic are good or evil. As you play the game on the Republic side, you run into several government officials and politicians. You quickly learn that the Republic government is full of politicians that are striving for their own ends, and care little about the goals of the people; sort of like real world politics. You also see the Republic trying to get more systems into the republic, ether for natural resources strategic positions, or military strength; Just like the U.N

 

From what I can tell, the only distinct difference between the Republic and the Empire, are their ways of doing things. This doesn't mean that one side is good or evil, it means you have two cultures who think and believes differently, and hate each other for it. Like the commies and Democracies

 

As for the Jedi and Sith, they hate each other, for the same reasons a Muslim and a Christian might hate each other.

Edited August 10, 2013 by cool-dude

[crqp]

Ok the empire proves it tries to do good because Darth Marr wants to create an Empire created by passion and held together by a government. And as Imp Agent you leave when imp intelligence becomes overrun by sith:D:sy_empire:

[Jeduthun]

Another good reason for my supporting the Republic would be that it is always subject to change. And I mean this in a good way. As a Jedi, without having to become involved in politics, I could nonetheless help root out corrupt politicians, acting as a sort of policemen, and help make the Republic a better place. The Republic can thus be influenced in a positive way and be molded and made into the image that the people so want.

[ReachWar]

I am a true patriot of the Empire, and the only reason is because I can't stand the Republic they lie to their people , the Jedi and the Republic are a bunch of hypocrites, The Jedi study and teach hypocrisy....... atleast the Sith and the Empire are honest about their doings :

 

I completely agree. I started off as playin a Sith Inquisitor mostly because i thought i knew what the Republic where like: how wrong I was. I had always thought they were the good guys and the Sith were the bad guys, this i know is a widespread view, but if you play both factions in every class You'll see how corrupt the republic actually are.

 

The senators are almost all corrupt, you barely ever see a good-willed senator. it seemed to me that all they did was for their own means, and they LIE so much to make it seem like they only care about the people. In comparison the Sith are not corrupt even though one would expect them to be; they are united under hatred of the jedi and the desire to crush all their enemies. Obviously those are not good things and im not trying to say the Sith are good, im simply pointing out that the Republic are much worse than the Sith empire because they lie and try to cover up their true selves (at least their leaders do) whereas the Sith are mostly just plain evil, and they embrace that and do not deceive people to think otherwise.

 

Then there is the Jedi. In my opinion they Jedi Order are the only aspect of the Republic that is pure. The jedi do not lie nor deceive, and looking at the movies now, Yoda notices all the corruption in the Republic but he does not have enough authority to do something about it. I am not a major fan of the jedi, I am mostly an Imperial guy after having played for the Republic Faction and seeing the corruption. But i do believe that the Jedi are the only ones who try to uphold the motives that the Republic claimed to be following. Though there are some cases of corrupt Jedi as well. For example, Master Nomen Karr who was a false jedi because he harboured the darkside inside him, and in my opinion Satele Shan MAY be corrupt. She certainly shows signs of corruption but not in a bad way. I think it is just absolute hatred of the Sith that corrupts her.

[OldVengeance]

Senators aren't all corrupt. And saying the Sith aren't corrupt by comparison is silly. Sith Lords have so much more power than any republic official. They can literally do anything they want to lower classes.

 

The Republic are the good guys. The Empire are the bad guys. You can tell if you pay any attention at all to the quests both sides NPCs give you. Even the PCs sometimes aren't really given a choice in the matter.

 

Over the course of the game's time frame the Empire persistently practices genocide, conquest, slavery, and crushing the will of subjugated peoples.

[Dharkmoon]

I am dedicated to the Empire. Ever since I saw the twisted Anakin, I thought to myself " Damn, Sith are cool" and when I found Kotor 1, 2, and Swtor, My love for the Sith grew. I really love Darth Nihilus and Darth Revan. I also love the Sith species, they are my favorite species in Star Wars. I liked Boba Fett as well, and then liked Bounty Hunters, then I found out about the Mandos, and then adored the Empire. I love how merciless they are. I find the Republic too forgiving and the Jedi are too ignorant, and they always tell their opponent to surrender even though they know they will say no, the same thing with turning Sith to the Light, they already know the answer, and when Jedi do that in the game, automatic 'no' and then kill them without any thoughts. it's just not my type. Edited June 19, 2014 by Dharkmoon

[Spetulhu]

I have more Empire characters simply because I haven't managed to advance my Jedi very far yet. As for the two sides, both are imperfect.

 

Many of the Empire's policies would be seen as evil today. Slavery, for example, or how so many commanders (sith and military) seem to have a nasty habit of executing surrendering enemies. But at least they are brutally honest about it. Sith meddling brings down efficiency at times, and resources are often wasted for pride instead of a good reason. And the military (and intelligence) is often well aware of it, and none too pleased. The Sith want to be feared and respected so none speak out against them or resist their whims.

 

The Republic on the other hand would like to see itself as the good guys, conveniently forgetting that many member worlds might be just as unpleasant to live on as some in the Empire. If we don't say anything it means we didn't see so it's not our fault, right? They often leave helping people to the poor overworked Jedi, who are quietly told they're on their own if it goes wrong. Inefficient rulers, incompetent leaders, vast resources thrown at defeating the Sith instead of making their own member worlds better.

[Spetulhu]

weird Edited June 19, 2014 by Spetulhu
double post... sorry

[LanceCorporalDan]

I play both sides to experience the stories. But I prefer my Imperial characters more. I enjoy the stories, character voices, ability animations and the quicker wz pops/higher pvp skill (normally).

 

I find both Jedi stories uninteresting to me, the smuggler isn't bad, trooper is what is to be expected. Pub side is generally more mature of a playerbase I find but that is not always the case. Longer time for wz pops and more chance of having crap players on my team.

 

That said, I still main on my Vanguard because my guild is pub side

Edited June 19, 2014 by LanceCorporalDan

[errant_knight]

First, why do you play as Empire or as Republic?

What if all the sith emperors were good? What if instead of palpatine the emperor was a sith that just tried to make the galaxy a better place to everyone?

Think about it, all that is needed to make the galaxy the best place to live is a sith leader that is willing to fix things and knows how to do it. Palpatine could fix all the evil and problems of the galaxy if himself wasn’t crazy and evil.

Also, isn’t the republic almost as evil as the empire? Theoretically the republic is against slavery, but it does nothing about it. There are a lot of planets, like tatooine, that have slaves. Besides, the whole political system of the republic is corrupt and therefore evil. We see that in the movies, were they LET palpatine do whatever he wants because there are a lot of corrupt senators.

What I mean is, if one want to make a peaceful and prosper galaxy, isn’t a lot easier in a unified sith empire than a corrupted republic? In the empire just the emperor must be good, while in the republic all politicians do.

I’ll leave another question here. There is any famous light side sith? I know sith that later changed to light side, but left the order. And I know that the characters in this game can be lights side sith (mine is neutral). In Dromund Kaas there is a quest where a sith lord named Kel’eth Ur says about peace as a path the sith should follow. Besides him, there is any other?

 

This is why my light side warrior plans to rule the galaxy, lol.

 

I play both sides and enjoy both. Really, this game was designed for you to play all the stories. Without doing that you don't have a full picture of what's going on or all the game lore. I do prefer to play against expectation on both sides. I find it more interesting and that it creates more of a sense of danger for all my characters. My jedi tend to be gray and my imperials lean toward Keleth Ur's teachings, but not to the point of acting like jedi.

 

To be fair, the empire is equally corrupt, just in a different way. Yes, there is less crime, but that's because crossing those who have anything to steal will get you dead. If you think that the majority of people in power wouldn't slaughter their own mothers for a bigger piece of the pie, you're kidding yourself. Lightsiders, even powerful ones have to keep it on the down low and are at constant risk that their beliefs become public knowledge. Basically, both sides are bad, with a few good people trying to hold things together.

 

Do I think that the empire would be in a better position to effect positive, organized change? Yes, but that's because they have a functioning hierarchy where those below are terrified of disobeying. A lightside character who *did* manage to take over would have to hid the reasons for that change under arguments that it was to make the empire and the sith more powerful or the whole thing would fall apart. It would have to be through extremely slow and careful cultural manipulation that would take generations, so they would need to be immortal, which is probably impossible without being as dark as the current emperor.

 

If people became aware of what he or she was really doing, that person would need to kill the majority of the council, almost all the sith, and a big chunk of the military. After that, the empire would probably be just as ineffectual as the republic.

Edited June 22, 2014 by errant_knight

[Kaedusz]

Empire because what makes Star Wars interesting at least for me is the Mandalorian and Sith lore + art style.

+ the Agent is an interesting character by himself.

 

I have some republic characters just for variety.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Kaedusz

[DomiSotto]

I didn't care one way or another, but playing this game made me a Republic girl. Not that I like Republic so much, it's that I hate the Empire and its miserable characters with passion.

[Darth_Krushya]

I play with characters on BOTH factions.

 

In real life, I consider myself to be a half-way decent guy. I do my best to respect others in public or at work.

 

I can be selfish too. Sometimes I want to be surrounded by friends and family whom I love dearly, so I can have the satisfaction of knowing I'm loved in return, but I like my alone time too. I don't want to be bothered. I do have a temper, although I never lash out or take my issues out on others. I keep it all in.

 

In SWTOR I do feel some satisfaction in helping and saving others and being the good guy. If I could go out into the real world and save or people from others or themselves, I would. SWTOR is the extreme extension of being a real life law abiding citizen who simply wants to collect my paycheck, pay my bills and go home.

 

When I get an attitude or in a bad mood, and it does happen, I get selfish and introverted. I want to be alone and be left alone. When I have free time to play SWTOR in a bad mood, I play as a BAD GUY, because I can destroy, kill, maim, and torture CG cartoons, without legal ramifications. Sometimes it's good to be bad. I always feel better after slaughtering hoards of innocent NPC's.

[Branosaros]

I play as the Empire, mainly because I find the Republic insufferable and self-righteous, even in their own storyline. At least with the Empire they don't bother to preach before they fight. We're here to conquer the Galaxy because we want it. It's not for The Light, or for Democracy, it's because we are the Empire, and the Empire is "war incarnate".

 

I play an Imperial Agent, and I tend to play as a Light Side leaning character (my guild calls my agent as carebear), so I don't play as an "Evil" character. Besides, the Republic, though many people call it good, has done many things that point it out to be corrupt, and it has even been seen doing things that you'd expect from the Empire.

 

The Empire IS changing. In the expansion, alien races are now a more common sight in the army, out of necessity, and with Darth Marr in control we could become more appealing. An Empire united by passion and government, battle-hardened and awesome. As it says in the codex, we're marching forward into a new age. Now to see the Republic's response to it.

 

So yes, I sorta want Darth Marr to take overall control.

[Mohi]

Either way, the Empire is reborn (Darth Malgus)

 

 

Yes i like the new Empire too, very much so

[Nydus]

What I mean is, if one want to make a peaceful and prosper galaxy, isn’t a lot easier in a unified sith empire than a corrupted republic? In the empire just the emperor must be good, while in the republic all politicians do.

 

You are sort of getting into an argument about dictatorship vs. democracy. I would argue that dictatorships are just as corrupt as democracies and, just like in democracies, are corrupting to anyone in a position of power. The difference is, the democracies have a mechanism for replacing people in key positions of power while dictatorships are designed to keep various people and/or a faction in power. In the end, you are better off with a democracy. Firstly, can you think of a dictator in real life without a horrendous human rights record? Secondly, because of a dictatorship's resistance to change they tend not to be as adaptable to new circumstances and inevitably stagnate.

 

To bring this back to star wars, all those who gain power are afraid to lose it, even the Jedi (good guys) .

 

I play Republic and Empire. Most of my republic characters I would say are jaded about their political system but believe their overall direction and approach is superior to that of the Sith. My Sith characters are not jaded by the system in so much as jaded about the people in positions of power and are attempting to replace them. They view the republic as hypocritical but are unnerved by their successes (i.e. if the Sith are so superior, why is the Republic so effectively pushing back?).

 

Therein lies the ultimate problem with the sith, in order to get to that position of power you are going to have to do a lot of evil $h!t and aren't exactly in a position to moralize to anyone after rising through the ranks.

 

- Arcada

Edited September 8, 2014 by Nydus

[Callaron]

Empire for life.

My characters run the gamut from ambitious and ruthless Sith, to ideological ones trying to change the Empire from within. And various other shades of grey that work better on the Empire side.

[Volnara]

Neither, both are too huge, mon the disparate factions!

 

Seriously though, I would reform one of them, and since the Empire is easier to reform I would probally make the

"New Age Empire" . it would ideally have a middle ground between Rep and Emp, it would have Planetary representatives, but not in the thousands like the Republic, probally in the tens or hundreds, so as to keep things simple and smoother.

Republic = way too much going on to work efficiently -> exploited by greedy Senators -> people exploited -> bad

Empire = one guy with all power -> corrupted by power -> greed insues -> oppression -> bad naughty bad

New Age Empire = Each Planetary government is allowed 10 - 50 representatives (depending on size) to be a part of the NAE Council, these representatives can make requests and inform the High Council (one appointed representitive from each Planet) of things that the people want or need, Emperor gets the deciding vote as to what goes on. A sort of balanced system... kinda.

 

Or you can say **** it and live by your own rules ;-)

[oked]

I play a bounty hunter because the galaxy will always be at war in one way or the other, might as well profit from it

 

if there was a 3rd faction id take it

 

Zann consortium for life

Edited April 9, 2015 by oked