Any way to stop the Corso romance dead in its tracks early on?

[Dawncatcher]

Well, all my (primary) characters are male, so as far as I'm concerned my female companions are having babies. But I could see it being annoying the other way, when your male companions say "we're going to have kids/kittens!" Don't you get some input? But as I recall (at least with Kira) we definitely agreed that we were having kids, there was a whole conversation and everything.

 

I don't see how the words future, babies, and commitment would be any less scary for a disinterested guy? Unless your idea of "babies" is just impregnating the woman during a one-night stand (or brief temporary relationship) and your idea of future and commitment is sending the occasional child support payment, men may not be the ones carrying the baby, but in a serious relationship, he's still expected to provide physical and emotional support over the course of the pregnancy, and potentially equal responsibility raising the kids after they are born. (And there's always the risk the woman will die at some point and you'll be left raising the kids as a single dad -- especially with that war going on.) All of that is well and good if she's really "the one" and you want to have "a family" together, but coming from someone you once found mildly cute when you first met them, flirted with a bit, and lost interest in? Really?

Edited May 12, 2013 by Dawncatcher

[SW_display_name]

Don't respond to his advances?

 

Your companions only move in on you if you take [Flirt] options in conversations.

[Tatile]

Don't respond to his advances?

 

Your companions only move in on you if you take [Flirt] options in conversations.

 

Yes, but he still acts like an obsessive, possessive creep-freak regardless. And god help you if you chose a [Flirt] early on - you'll still end up with the sexual assault ending.

[SW_display_name]

Yes, but he still acts like an obsessive, possessive creep-freak regardless. And god help you if you chose a [Flirt] early on - you'll still end up with the sexual assault ending.

Just to be clear, by "sexual assault" you're referring to one stolen kiss?

[Tatile]

Just to be clear, by "sexual assault" you're referring to one stolen kiss?

 

I mentioned it an earlier post and to some, yes, it can be seen as sexual assault. Particularly to those who have been the victims of assault. The problem to me is more in the fact that he grabs you and the game does not allow an retribution to the fact.

 

But go ahead and laugh at me and call me insane. Everybody else does.

[Dawncatcher]

I mentioned it an earlier post and to some, yes, it can be seen as sexual assault. Particularly to those who have been the victims of assault. The problem to me is more in the fact that he grabs you and the game does not allow an retribution to the fact.

 

But go ahead and laugh at me and call me insane. Everybody else does.

 

As you say, Tatile, it's not just a surprise kiss on an interested (or supposedly interested) girlfriend out of the blue. It's a grab and kiss after the lady smuggler picks "no" conversation options *twice in a row*.

 

I solved the lack of retribution in conversation options by using the slap emote on him after the conversation was over.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Dawncatcher

[Seireeni]

I mentioned it an earlier post and to some, yes, it can be seen as sexual assault. Particularly to those who have been the victims of assault. The problem to me is more in the fact that he grabs you and the game does not allow an retribution to the fact.

 

I don't think there is a woman who wouldn't be offended if a guy kisses her, regardless of if she likes it or not. I'd slap the guy. Annoying that the game won't let you do that.

[Dawncatcher]

Don't respond to his advances?

 

Your companions only move in on you if you take [Flirt] options in conversations.

 

The question has already been answered in more detail. Others have stated that in order to kill the Corso romance, one must tell Corso to "Sleep in Off" in Happier times, a level 18 quest with a minimum level of 1.

http://www.torhead.com/mission/hnPPCdu/happier-times

 

If you do not kill the romance off in that early conversation, before it's even started, and decide later that you don't like him, whether you *really* don't like him, or just not enough to have the serious relationship he clearly expects, it's too late, he'll never take the hint, just continue to stalk you, be jealous as you pursue other interests, grab you and kiss you even after you tell him no twice, propose marriage even after that doesn't go over well, keep talking about having kids even after you turn down the marriage proposal, and keep sending love letters talking about settling down even after you say you don't want kids.

 

Which answers my question on how to avoid the problem of avoiding his unwanted attentions on my Twi'lek gunslinger, other than his jealousy which is apparently there whether you flirt with him or not, but doesn't leave my scoundrel feeling any less like locking him in the brig or marooning him on some random planet.

[Tatile]

There's going to be a planet full of morose Corsos wondering why their brilliant "stalk her and ruin all her romance prospects" plan didn't work out.

 

Hahaha.

[SW_display_name]

You're projecting overreaction onto an event which itself is harmless. Like real life, events in the game's story are intended to not always follow the exact path you want — companions are meant to be "people", not sock puppets, and they do, say, and feel things you don't necessarily agree with or approve of.

 

Corso is a complex character, and it's really not out-of-bounds for his somewhat adolescent personality to try something like that. In fact it's very, very "teenage boy" trying to save the moment by doing something impulsive/stupid that sounded like a good idea in his head until he did it.

 

I suppose, though, that a follow-up scene where you put him on janitorial duty for a week or threaten to kick him off the ship wouldn't have been out of line — I can see the argument that a subordinate crew member pulling a stunt like that and suffering no consequences can be seen as somewhat sexist.

 

Then again, are you conditioning your gender into a self-made victim status? Imagine your Smuggler is male and has a clingy, annoying crew member named Corsette that really wants to marry you. But you keep making clear you're not interested. Finally, out of frustration, she grabs you and kisses you.

 

Reaction? Shoot her in the kneecap? Kick her off the ship? Punish her? Or is a girl unwantedly advancing on a guy somehow supposed to be treated more gently? Would you expect the scene to simply be a firm push away and "No, Corsette." and it would be "mean" to break her kneecap instead?

[Dawncatcher]

I suppose, though, that a follow-up scene where you put him on janitorial duty for a week or threaten to kick him off the ship wouldn't have been out of line — I can see the argument that a subordinate crew member pulling a stunt like that and suffering no consequences can be seen as somewhat sexist.

 

This. I want to lock him in the brig or put him on kitchen duty for a week. Then kick him off the ship if he still doesn't get the memo.

 

My ship, my rules. If he doesn't like it, he can leave.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Dawncatcher

[Seireeni]

Then again, are you conditioning your gender into a self-made victim status? Imagine your Smuggler is male and has a clingy, annoying crew member named Corsette that really wants to marry you. But you keep making clear you're not interested. Finally, out of frustration, she grabs you and kisses you.

 

Reaction? Shoot her in the kneecap? Kick her off the ship? Punish her? Or is a girl unwantedly advancing on a guy somehow supposed to be treated more gently? Would you expect the scene to simply be a firm push away and "No, Corsette." and it would be "mean" to break her kneecap instead?

 

I'd like to see both options. Sure, it's mean to shoot at a person, no matter their gender, but since this is a RPG, I think our characters should have the possibility to choose. If my smuggler is on dark V and shoots pretty much everything that moves, it's not logical that she would be nice to a guy who kissed her even told she told him no. And the same would go for a male smuggler and a female comp: if the guy is a cold-blooded killer who barely knows what "empathy" means, hell yeah he would try to shoot her.

[Ellyria]

Then again, are you conditioning your gender into a self-made victim status? Imagine your Smuggler is male and has a clingy, annoying crew member named Corsette that really wants to marry you. But you keep making clear you're not interested. Finally, out of frustration, she grabs you and kisses you.

 

Reaction? Shoot her in the kneecap? Kick her off the ship? Punish her? Or is a girl unwantedly advancing on a guy somehow supposed to be treated more gently? Would you expect the scene to simply be a firm push away and "No, Corsette." and it would be "mean" to break her kneecap instead?

 

I'm all for equal opportunity violence! Shoot her in the kneecap!

 

Question: Does Corsette have dreads too?

[Tatile]

Then again, are you conditioning your gender into a self-made victim status? Imagine your Smuggler is male and has a clingy, annoying crew member named Corsette that really wants to marry you. But you keep making clear you're not interested. Finally, out of frustration, she grabs you and kisses you.

 

Reaction? Shoot her in the kneecap? Kick her off the ship? Punish her? Or is a girl unwantedly advancing on a guy somehow supposed to be treated more gently? Would you expect the scene to simply be a firm push away and "No, Corsette." and it would be "mean" to break her kneecap instead?

 

Corso's got a tough guy, heart of gold act. Corsette would presumably be similar. Whether or not you shoot either of them in the knee is up to the personality of the Smuggler in question, but assault is assault regardless of the victim or attacker's genders. But would you really want someone on your ship who doesn't make you feel safe?

 

I don't care the gender or circumstance, for any of my characters, if a companion did what Corso does in that conversation, they'd be out the door. Depending on the history of the character, their personality and their relationship with the companion up til that point, yes, all the bits might not be intact.

 

Just because he acts like a teenage boy doesn't mean he gets off light. I don't think a sit down chat about how what he did was very, very wrong would really get through his skull.

[SW_display_name]

This. I want to lock him in the brig or put him on kitchen duty for a week. Then kick him off the ship if he still doesn't get the memo.

 

My ship, my rules. If he doesn't like it, he can leave.

This I can sympathize with, but part of the problem is the writers are writing in a world where it's a storyline conceit that you accept your crew for who they are and keep them — even if that forces some suspension-of-disbelief.

 

In a perfect world I would have honorably collected my bounty on "Gault" and blown Skadge's head off in The Tomb of Belsavis, shot Doc out an airlock and married Lord Scourge, told Zenith to get his pathetic scheming butt off my ship, shocked Andronikos Revel to death the second he suggested boarding my ship, ... etc. But, instead it makes me flex my RP muscle to come up with in-character explanations for why I tolerate some of these people.

 

I think I can agree though, overall, that some more flexibility in how you react to certain companions probably would have been an improvement. Some of the scenes — especially with male companions — really do rub me the wrong way too, but I guess I'm a little more laid back about it.

Edited May 12, 2013 by SW_display_name

[Tatile]

If Bioware had had the foresight to keep the killing of Companions in the game and given us ways and means around the subsequent loss of crew, this wouldn't even be an issue.

 

But no, we're stuck with the guy. My Smuggler wouldn't kill him, she probably wouldn't even shoot - she'd definitely give a fat lip and a black eye for his troubles and dump him somewhere, though.

 

Skadge I'd kill without a second thought.

[SithKoriandr]

If Bioware had had the foresight to keep the killing of Companions in the game and given us ways and means around the subsequent loss of crew, this wouldn't even be an issue.

 

But no, we're stuck with the guy. My Smuggler wouldn't kill him, she probably wouldn't even shoot - she'd definitely give a fat lip and a black eye for his troubles and dump him somewhere, though.

 

Skadge I'd kill without a second thought.

 

Agreed about Skadge, but with Corso, I think people are forgetting the whole grab them and kiss them is a very movie style scene. The problem is, if they kept with the movie ideal of that, as soon as he does it, one should be able to select *keep kissing* or *slap him*

 

But I chalk that a bit up to their limited options. They did say having all the different options and trying to account for them is what turned out to be the most expensive thing with TOR, so it could be it fell in line with "to much time, not enough money"

[Dawncatcher]

This I can sympathize with, but part of the problem is the writers are writing in a world where it's a storyline conceit that you accept your crew for who they are and keep them — even if that forces some suspension-of-disbelief.

 

In a perfect world I would have honorably collected my bounty on "Gault" and blown Skadge's head off in The Tomb of Belsavis, shot Doc out an airlock and married Lord Scourge, told Zenith to get his pathetic scheming butt off my ship, shocked Andronikos Revel to death the second he suggested boarding my ship, ... etc. But, instead it makes me flex my RP muscle to come up with in-character explanations for why I tolerate some of these people.

 

I think I can agree though, overall, that some more flexibility in how you react to certain companions probably would have been an improvement. Some of the scenes — especially with male companions — really do rub me the wrong way too, but I guess I'm a little more laid back about it.

 

Well, I could completely ignore the companion conversation, and in my head do the whole Captain Janeway tough love act and lock him in the brig / put him on kitchen duty / whatever act, and while I'm at it re-write those love-letters in my head to letters telling me how his therapy is going, but it would be nice to actually be able to do it in the conversations Bioware wrote, or if they they want to spare me the trouble, they could just write a less clingy character to begin with? I've read with the male smuggler, if you romance both Risha and Akaavi, at some point you have to choose between them, ending the romance with one, and also that you can end the romance with Risha by advising her to marry some other guy late in the story. So, there are ways to end romance with other characters, and I can't see why they couldn't easily throw that in with Corso too.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Dawncatcher

[SithKoriandr]

Well, I could completely ignore the companion conversation, and in my head do the whole Captain Janeway tough love act and lock him in the brig / put him on kitchen duty / whatever act, and while I'm at it re-write those love-letters in my head to letters telling me how his therapy is going, but it would be nice to actually be able to do it in the conversations Bioware wrote, or if they they want to spare me the trouble, they could just write a less clingy character to begin with? I've read with the male smuggler, if you romance both Risha and Akaavi, at some point you have to choose between them, ending the romance with one, and also that you can end the romance with Risha by advising her to marry some other guy late in the story. So, there are ways to end romance with other characters, and I can't see why they couldn't easily throw that in with Corso too.

 

Not all companions are created equal. Also, you mentioned a class, that the male smuggler gets two options to begin with. BW could be under the assumption, that all players want to have their character with someone for all eternity.

 

And I'm not to inclined to not believe that. Seriously, if they did make a SGR companion, I can imagine lots of people going "OMG <3" even if they came off as Corso, just because it got them their SGR companion.

[Bytemite]

 

I'll admit, I really liked Corso when I first started playing. If you do a "I'll love you forever and never look at another man" faithful smuggler, then his romance can be sweet.

 

Alas, his insane jealousy and massive stink eye when you do anything he disapproves of is a major turnoff. I currently have two female smugglers and in my headcanon both left him for other men.

 

Frankly I'm more bewildered how the girls even manage to get off the crazy pedestal or whatever he builds for women, or overlook the constant patronizing and controlling. It's more than just making one guy jealous because the character keeps flirting with other characters, that's just kind of a whatever. The problem is the expectations that the girl smugglers NEED help and protection and that in return they owe him...

 

Ugh. I'm not even going to go there. But suffice to say, Corso might be lightside, but he's a charicature of some terrible people.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Bytemite

[Bytemite]

They keep trying to tell me how wonderful children are - in truth, I find every aspect of the entire thing utterly, *********** terrifying. And that's in a first world country, during (relative) peace time, with a free national health service. Entirely removed the state of our characters, who seem to be being forced under the assumption that pregnancy, labour and child care are easy things a) on a space ship b) in a time of war and/or c) with their high profile status as Sith, Jedi, Grand Master of the Great Hunt, Military Personnel Target #1.

 

It's too ludicrous for words. It's insane.

 

Hear hear. On both the "biological horror story" aspect and the "welcome to reality, this is unlikely to work out" angle.

 

And that's not even getting into the genetic compatibility questions with human and other species pairing up. Some of them are canonically known to result in dangerous and tricky pregnancies. Though I was impressed that some of the storylines do bring that issue up.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Bytemite

[Bytemite]

I went from being annoyed, to being borderline furious, to finding his pathetic, pleading man-tears to be the nourishment I required to fuel my Eternal Rage Machine.

 

Corso is second only to Skadge in companions I utterly dislike and which leave a bad taste in my mouth. I have a Sith Warrior and I have been through the Quinncident but that, on reflection, is understandable within the roles of Imperial society. Sure, my Warrior hates him, but I find Quinn to be a sympathetic character.

 

Corso? Not so much. If his character had evolved over the course of knowing the Smuggler and you, know, he stopped being a prat about every little thing (my Smuggler actually genuinely likes Darmas Palaran and she liked that...guy... on Alderaan, but Corso seems to think that they - the men - are playing her. As if my Smuggler, who has run weapons in and out of war zones, needs protection) and started to accept, however begrudgingly, that She is a woman capable in and of herself, then and only then, might he have been a good character. As it is, he's first off the ship.

 

Skadge can go DIAF.

 

Edit: Oh, and I think we get a similar to male Smuggler ending, about Corso teaching kids to shoot. Another thing I hate: the assumption that all female characters and companions in this game desire to have children. Go pop a couple out yourself, Corso, if you think it's so damn easy.

 

Oh my gosh this so much too.

 

I started getting the bad vibes from him on Ord Mantell when he insisted that I take a blaster - had a perfectly good one thank you very much, don't need help with all those blatantly obvious STRINGS attached. I didn't even do the quest turn in and I refuse to take the gun still.

 

Then he insists on going with me into the Separatist Base.

 

I spare the girl on Ord Mantell, and he talks about how he's glad that ended peacefully and that he hates girls being mean to each other. In Corso speak his way of saying oh girls, aren't they just so irrational and crazy?

 

After that point my "go to HELL Corso" attitude had solidified so completely, that my only reaction to his "I'm pretending to be a naive farmboy but I have criminal contacts everywhere aren't I mysteeeeerious" was just "haha, I knew you were full of it go jump off a building."

 

There's pretty much no way at this point that I can ever like that guy. and that's in only ten-ish or so levels. I can only imagine how much I'd hate the guy if I accidentally ended up in a relationship with him. Shudder to think.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Bytemite

[SithKoriandr]

Oh my gosh this so much too.

 

I started getting the bad vibes from him on Ord Mantell when he insisted that I take a blaster - had a perfectly good one thank you very much, don't need help with all those blatantly obvious STRINGS attached. I didn't even do the quest turn in and I refuse to take the gun still.

 

Then he insists on going with me into the Separatist Base.

 

I spare the girl on Ord Mantell, and he talks about how he's glad that ended peacefully and that he hates girls being mean to each other. In Corso speak his way of saying oh girls, aren't they just so irrational and crazy?

 

After that point my "go to HELL Corso" attitude had solidified so completely, that my only reaction to his "I'm pretending to be a naive farmboy but I have criminal contacts everywhere aren't I mysteeeeerious" was just "haha, I knew you were full of it go jump off a building."

 

There's pretty much no way at this point that I can ever like that guy. and that's in only ten-ish or so levels. I can only imagine how much I'd hate the guy if I accidentally ended up in a relationship with him. Shudder to think.

 

He still has one of the better combat lines when running with him in game.

 

I've enjoyed the flirts Ive had with Doc for instance, but his "Kolto Bomb incoming" just isn't as fun. :/

 

Quinn's lines aren't fun either :/ And I like him! But DS Jaesa's lines where so much more fun, that I tended to run with her more.

[Noblis]

Ladies, if Corso continues to harass you, just kick him in the cobblers.

 

He won't strike a woman.

[Tatile]

Ladies, if Corso continues to harass you, just kick him in the cobblers.

 

He won't strike a woman.

 

Oh, if only I could, just to see his ideal of my Smuggler being this passive, sweet little "bakes in an apron" home-maker shatter and the ensuing crisis of faith he has. I'll have Risha take pictures.

 

And that's another thing - he's on a ship surrounded by strong, intelligent and wholly independent women: the Smuggler, Risha and Akaavi - and yet, he's still got this "Hyuk, ladies are them pretty china things what go on a shelf" attitude at the end of the storyline. I want the Smuggler storyline to continue post-55, if only to see if Ms. Helper and Mr. Hood make any attempt to have Corso be a redeemable character or if he just goes straight out the airlock.

 

God I wish they would continue the class story lines.