If the game let you change factions, what would be your in-character explanation?

[SW_display_name]

I was thinking about this. Since BioWare has axed class-specific stories, the game from 50 forward is now faction-based, not class-based. This makes it much more hypothetically plausible to imagine a "defection" system implemented some day (from the perspective of development time).

 

I'm not worried about whether that ever actually happens or not, though. This is just a thought exercise:

 

If your class defected to the other faction, what would be the in-story explanation?

 

Since it would only really "work" mechanically post-50, think about this from the perspective that your defection has to occur — plot-wise — after you finish your class chapter 3.

[Roodbot]

I have one of everything, but most of my characters wouldn't change factions. So let's see:

 

Smuggler: Wouldn't change factions. Maybe under blackmail, but not happily.

Consular: Probably wouldn't change factions... maybe if she got promised the chance to study lots of old Sith documents.

Trooper: See Smuggler.

 

Jedi Knight: Wouldn't willingly. Might get accidentally mind-napped again, though.

 

Sith Inquisitor: Would change. (She's my smuggler's sister, and very light-side.) She'd be happier starting a pirate fleet with Andronikos, though.

Sith Warrior: Wouldn't. Not at all. Not even for blackmail.

Imperial Agent: Maybe if he got offered the chance to kill lots of people.

Bounty Hunter: Would change factions in a second. Besides being another sister of my smuggler, I think

 

Janarus would have been glad to help her defect since she didn't kill him.

 

 

In-game, I probably wouldn't, though.

[SithKoriandr]

Oooo...much like the poster before me, I have one of each class, played to different levels...

 

Consular, Knight and Smuggler wouldn't change fractions.

 

My Trooper however might. Haven't finished the story arc yet to really decide, buuuut, the idea for her is just how corrupted being a Trooper is, but then again, she is Twi'lek.

 

Sith Warrior wouldn't change fractions.

 

Inquisitor would. She's done everything she can to fight against the Empire (all bad for the Empire choices taken), she's a former slave, she'd be much happier as a pirate (or privateer) for the republic (like the poster above me as well...is it a common idea for the Inquistor to become a pirate?)

 

Bounty Hunter would in a second. Like the Inquisitor she took every choice that was anti-Empire.

 

Basically both of them aren't Pro-Slavery, anti-alien, or even Pro-Sith.

 

Undecided on my Agent, haven't played her enough to know.

[Tfranco]

Jedi sage: the Jedi have failed me time and time again, the republic has proven weak. It's time to follow my fathers foot steps and join the Sith.

 

Smuggler: She would get a message from Vette, explaining how she is the wrath's daughter. My smuggler would then choose to go to her family, regardless of the cost. (Obviously 90% of her companions hate imps so....)

 

Inquisitor sorcerer: she would realize the empire will never change, and her only hope is to throw her self at the Jedi's mercy.

 

Imperial agent: defect to sis.

 

Bounty hunter: I don't care, as long as I'm getting paid

 

Jedi knight: scourge would finally convince her the dark side is the only way.

 

My trooper and warrior would stay put. Very content with where they are

[DarthThuzad]

Sorcerer: Wishing nothing but wonton destruction on the Empire as revenge for what transpired in her slavery, she would turn on the Empire, but not defect to the Republic. She'd instead take her loyalists and secede similar to what the Dread Masters did.

 

Sentinel: Would never change, even if it meant redeeming my sorcerer (sorcerer being his sister).

 

Commando: Die-hard Republic loyalist. Next in line, please.

 

Operative: Loves the Empire, but hates the Sith. Can defect if it is feasible for him.

 

Juggernaut: Wouldn't even give it a thought, unless my Sorcerer recruits him.

Edited April 19, 2013 by DarthThuzad

[Sorei]

Er...

Marauder: whether she'd change factions would totally depend on the Empire's actions. She is mostly light side, but pro-Empire

If the Empire doesn't mess things up, she wouldn't defect. If they did... well, she's looking for a reasonable leadership without corruption...doesn't really fit the Republic though.

 

Sniper: She's pro-Empire as well, even though more light side than Marauder. She deliberatly didn't

join Kothe in the end and became a double-agent once more and instead became an independend agent

.

I doubt she'd defect as well.

 

Operative: She'll never defect, she's

the Hand of Jadus

and has no regrets about anything.

 

Juggernaut: He wouldn't defect as well, doubt the Republic would even take him. He isn't as dark as possible and has a certain sense of honor but still, his methods are cruel.

 

Sorcerer: Her decisions are mostly light side, but she's loyal to the others. Also, she doesn't like the Republic government (even though she respects their soldiers).

 

 

Sentinel: Hates the Empire (even though she is less than a perfect Jedi - too concerned about letting the bad guys pay for what they do). If she changed factions it would be, because she ultimately fell to the dark side, thinks the Republic is unable to stop the bad guys and fails to see her own downfall.

 

 

2nd Juggernaut: He would never join the Republic, because if he did, he couldn't torture people that openly any more.

 

3rd Juggernaut: She doesn't care about factions at all. All that matters are her team and the galaxy at order.

 

I'll stop here. Maybe my other Republic toons would defect, I don't know yet.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Sorei

[YoshiRaphElan]

My Agent would, based on the Act 3 finale decision. None of my others would. My BH would like to, but the Mandalorians are firmly with the Empire so he reluctantly sticks with them to be with his people.

[BradTheImpaler]

My Agent would, based on the Act 3 finale decision.

 

 

You mean the dismantling of Imperial Intelligence?

 

 

My Agent sees himself as working for Imperial citizens, not the Sith, although he gets along with more far-sighted Sith. He's pretty much said he'd rather die than work for the Republic.

 

My Consular is kinda like Dooku in some ways. He follows the Jedi code almost all of the time, and generally only bends it in minor ways if he does, so he's not opposed to the Jedi, per se. He's pretty vocal about not liking the Republic's bureaucracy, though, and is more than willing to be diplomatic and work with Imperials. If he switched factions it would be because he thought Imperial citizens would do well governing themselves with Jedi guidance, instead of either Sith brutality or Republic bureaucracy.

[kEs_Ha]

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=628592

[Berronaxftw]

the only thing keeping me from playing republic is the horrible accents.. so I would love a deserter option lol.

 

Plus my reasons for doing it would be that the empire is beyond redemption or something and the only way to change it is to destroy it and rebuild it.

[Gurluas]

My Sith Warrior dislikes the Empire, wears Jedi clothing, wields blue sabers, has a Satele holostatue, and a Republic banner. It's pretty obvious that she'd switch, my Agent would probably also switch.

[wishihadaname]

I think it would be a very tough call for my Agent, mostly because of the head cannon I made up for his origin. I imagine that Intelligence saved him from the streets, that he started off an orphan on the streets of Kaas city and eventually joined the police force simply because they were the only thing he saw keeping order in the lower districts. Given the long string of betrayals and backstabbings that occur throughout the story, he ends up trusting only 3 people in the whole Empire. Keeper, Watcher 2 (personally favorite romance in the whole game, and only girl of my agent), and Darth Serevin (who later turns on him too). I think he would turn only if the republic were to assimilate the Imperial people without bloodshed. He is ultimately a cop and sees himself as a protector of his people, the same way Intelligence protected him in his youth, at the same time he sees the Sith as arrogant, dangerous, and responsible for almost as many Imperial deaths as the republic and Jedi. If he were to turn, it would be for the sake of seeing the downfall of the sith, and only if the war did not end the same way the last one did.

[Manginal]

My Imperial Agent would not defect to to the Republic because of the things that were done too him during chapter 2. He is a loyal ghost to the Empire and will change it from the inside if he has too.

 

Smuggler: He would love to help the Empire as he has this thing where he mocks everything the Republic stands for and is just in it for the money. He only does stuff for them because he knows that they will pay him given the chance he would definitely go to the Empire to get paid better.

 

Trooper: She isn't much of a person to change sides but sees the corruption in the Senate and would only really switch sides if she was forced to.

 

SI: Not much of changing sides unless the Jedi are willing to share their secret knowledge with him otherwise he might not do so.

[zzoorrzz]

The only reason I can think of which could make my agent change sides would be really big punch to the head, I mean with hammer or so. Anything can happen after something like that.

[GAG_Caedus]

My Imperial Agent already defected and joined republic. Don't even need this option.

[Amanuet]

Alright, umm...

 

Vi-quan Taven - Sith Marauder: She wouldn't change factions. She's a lightsider, and is perfectly content with her current situation, as she actually has a word or two in the decisions of the Dark Council. She wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything - her dream is a strong, funcioning Empire, and this way she can actually hope to achieve it. Has some sympathies to the Republic, but no, she wouldn't join them.

 

Scra'de'nuruodo - Sith Assassin: Don't think he would either. He's - quite oddly - probably one of my most tolerant characters (and a Chiss), and although he doesn't really share my Marauder's patriotic views, he also hopes for a change (for the better, obviously). Doesn't have anything against the Republic, though.

 

"Zhar'win" /Scra'yse'nuruodo/ - Sniper: She's not as tolerant as my Siths. After the things that happened in Act II, she doesn't even think about joining the Republic. She hates them, and that event gave her a very strong sense of patriotism. She doesn't like the Sith either, but she would chose them over the Republic anytime.

 

Regu-phaet - Mercenary: She probably wouldn't. She's far too annoyed with them to even consider it, and they wouldn't take them either. After some of those in-game events, she developed a certain fondness for seeing dead Jedi.

She's a lightsider, though.

 

Aaand my Republic characters!

 

Zaihn Kerniss - Jedi Guardian: Oddly enough, she's probably my darkest character - and that means she's a neutral. Impatient, rude, somewhat power hungry and "angry at the whole world". Frankly, I don't even know why didn't the Jedi kick her out of the Order - none of us would be surprised. Don't know if she would join the Empire or not, but she would gladly defect from the Republic, and run off with Lord Scourge.

 

Selswyn Norrington - Scoundrel: Actually, she began as an Imperial Agent in-training, but failed hard at something (even I don't know in what). Somehow escaped the punishment of failure, and as a frreelancer she can put her skills in use, but in heart she never left the Empire. Don't think she would join them again, but she would gladly lend her skills to them, if asked.

 

Kala-vel Vvorne - Jedi Shadow: Probably my most good-natured, and also my youngest character. She's a hippie, with no loyalty to anyone but her loved ones. And she loves many people... that is why I'm annoyed with the fact that Consulars get so few flirt options. She pretty much falls in love with anyone she meets with, and enjoys the emotions through other people - as she "shouldn't experience them herself".

That means, she doesn't really care about the factions.

[AlexDougherty]

My Jedi wouldn't change sides, ever.

My Smuggler might change sides if he got the right offer, it would have to be a non-combat conversion as he's lightside, but he's also very materialistic.

My Trooper would only change sides if the republic tried to kill him, he's loyal and only the worst kind of betrayal would affect him.

 

My Agent might defect to "Game of Thrones" to get away from the bad accents.

My Bounty Hunter might change sides if he got a good offer including immunity from any prosecution, as he's extremely self-centred.

My Sith Marauder loves his role and wouldn't defect.

My Sith Sorceror might defect for love, but nothing else.

 

PS. my Agent might defect for the same reasons as my Bounty Hunter.

PPS. In Britian Bounty is a chocolate bar, so Bounty Hunter sounds like he hunts down snacks.

[sir_star_wars]

First off, I'm not going to put spoiler tags but there will be spoilers in my post.

 

Secondly... Love this thread. Loved the answers. This is perfect. Sadly, I only have three characters though, although I have a pretty good idea on what would happen if they defected...

 

Vanguard, Human, Female: She would NEVER defect. She cant stand the Empire, and wants to see them all destroyed, especially after what happened to Jaxo, who she was very close with.

 

Juggernaut, Human, Male: With the Emperor gone, he might defect, but most likely not. He is still loyal to the Empire.

 

Sage, Human (Soon to be Cathar! ;D), Female: She is the one that I could see most likely defecting. She was mainly light side, but chose a few options of dark side here and there, mainly out of curiosity. She would never willingly defect, and I use "willingly" loosely. By that, I mean, the duties of the Republic, and the safe being of all of it citizens has always come first, but maybe she went to far with one of her curious DS choices, and the dark side began to consume her, and it turned into an obsession, so the Empire took her into their arms openly.

[Antisthienes]

I was thinking about this. Since BioWare has axed class-specific stories, the game from 50 forward is now faction-based, not class-based. This makes it much more hypothetically plausible to imagine a "defection" system implemented some day (from the perspective of development time).

 

I'm not worried about whether that ever actually happens or not, though. This is just a thought exercise:

 

If your class defected to the other faction, what would be the in-story explanation?

 

Since it would only really "work" mechanically post-50, think about this from the perspective that your defection has to occur — plot-wise — after you finish your class chapter 3.

 

I think Kira gives a great opening to the Knight for a possible start in this direction when resolving her child of the emperor situation one of the conversations has an option of "I don't think I'm really a Jedi" nagging self-doubt or moral haze that you see in the New Sith Wars for example (Bane Trilogy) Another great opening provided by Kira along these lines is the futility of the fight between the Jedi and Sith -one thinks they wiped out or devastated the other just for them to come right back and stronger than before. Yes, Einstein's definition of insanity as a factor. For a Trooper the source of disillusion might be that they don't ever make General or have a time-table for retiring from death defiant disasters of some dubious superior's making. Or the opposite case of the Trooper is totally institutionalized to battlefield conditions and the Empire promises War while the Republic still tries for diplomatic peace. Bounty Hunter and Smuggler here have the advantage in that they are from the start independents for hire so the other side could make the better legitimate offer. Since I haven't played on the Agent I can't speak to what about the job would finally cause the mental break for them.

[bowlergirl]

Plain and simple.....Republic offered more credits to my merc:D

[THorsblood]

I have one of each advanced class spread 4 imps 4 reps.

 

My consular,knight,smuggler and trooper would never switch to the imperials.

(however if there was a "grey" faction (NOT THE HUTT CARTEL) they would possibly switch over to that, seeing as how the republic is becoming more of an empire the longer the war wages)

 

As for my Imperials in my head cannon, they are already with the republic, with the intentions of learning the ways of the darkside, and other goodies the republic can't provide, but they would also possibly join a 3rd faction.

 

P.S. In head cannon all 8 are sisters and were separated at a young age, they keep in touch, but very secretly, they believe that the jedi are too strict, but the sith are much too reckless and too easy to anger or betray one another, thus they all lean more to the "grey" side using both sides of the force, however my sith's do have a darker tendency, were my Jedi's have a more light sided approach both sides masking their knowledge of the other side of the force.

[stormdrakelord]

My Jedi/Sith characters would never leave their respective factions. But:

 

Zhaltra, my Bounty Hunter would, if my lady smuggler offered her a chance at them getting back together.

 

"Cherris", my Smuggler has developed a sense of paid patriotism for the republic, and is on the Jedi's payroll, so no.

[kEs_Ha]

My characters would do the following:

 

Sith warrior: Never ever! not in a million years. He kills republicans for fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sith Inq: see sith warrior!

 

Bounty hunter: If the paid him well

Agent: Nope! Loves the empire!

 

Jedi knight: Even though he is dark side, he cant. He killed the ......

Jedi counsulur: why not he killed all of the ....... instead of saving them! he is evil.

 

Smugler: see bounty hunter.

[ThatGnome]

My Bounty Hunter goes where the money is. He isn't remotely loyal to the Empire, just to his "crew". If he got a good offer, he'd work for the Republic with no hesitation. Or for a third faction, for that matter. The Hutt Cartel has money, Hutt Cartel has his attention.

 

My Smuggler is also pretty mercenary, but she hates the Hutts and is well in with the Republic. The Empire seems like it would be bad for business, so she wouldn't go to them. A third faction that wasn't the Hutts, she might think about it. They'd have to offer something equivalent to being in the Supreme Chancellor's good books, though.

 

My Trooper is a Republic loyalist with a crew that mostly feels similarly. No desire, reason, or safety in defection, especially since he expects to be on the winning side.

 

My Agent despises the Sith. She also hates the Republic for the hypocrisy of it's agents. Her most rational choice is to get out of the crosshairs and be independent.

 

My Consular is immensely curious. For a chance to investigate ancient Sith writings, he'd "pretend" to defect.. That is might then stick doesn't really bother him.

[AlaricSevGirl]

I had to create a new account due to a security key issue and in that new account, I created 2 old characters that I had taken to level 50. My jedi shadow is now a mercenary. Her story is that she was so disillusioned by the jedi order and being taken from her family at such a young age and their belief that romance leads to the dark side that she left the order and went to the Outer Rim. Since she was a shadow, she wasn't a well known jedi, taking care of business behind the scenes so now she passes as a mercenary and keeps her force sensitivity a secret.

 

My power tech goes where the money is. She could easily turn smuggler and would have no problem with it.

Edited May 8, 2013 by AlaricSevGirl