Agent Story.... I didn't like it at all, maybe I missed something?

[ElevenBfour]

I had finished all the stories except the Smuggler and Agent. I have never really tried a Smuggler, but i started an Agent several times, quitting in the mid 20's because the story was boring. With this bonus exp, I went ahead and just started a Sniper and finished it. While I really enjoyed the Sniper gameplay once I got Followthrough, I just didn't get/like the story. My wife has 3 agents since she love the story so much, and laughs (jokingly... I think) at me telling me I'm not smart enough to enjoy it....

 

What is the deal? I heard it was the greatest story, but as of right now I think it was the worst. Here's the thing though, I have a feeling I just didn't like it because I didn't grasp the entirety of it. I don't really know what to ask for other than maybe there are things I missed and didn't understand that made the story great, that I missed. What they are? I dont' know lol.

 

What are the things that you Agents out there really loved about the story?

Edited October 18, 2014 by ElevenBfour

[DogeDandolo]

1) No one ever tells you the truth. Or anyone else, for that matter.

2) A cool cast of companions. See 1) for why they are cool.

3) An actual support team at ImpIntel, unlike the other classes' solitary quest giver -- with emotional impact if Bad Things happen to them

4) Many ways to go about solving problems, influence politics and tough decisions which will actually impact the rest of the story.

5) Compelling villains in all three acts

6) You get to troll Sith!

7) Both male and female agents have daily one-night-stands

8) Plenty of foreshadowing

oh, and lest I forget ...

0) Act Two. All of it. It's bloody amazing.

[Rizartha]

It can leave you scratching your head a bit if you have long periods of time between play sessions.

 

You have to remember, at its heart, it is a spy story filled with back room deals, lies, blackmail, murder and mystery while giving you a glimpse into the second reason that the empire is as scarey as it was, the first being the sith.

 

Imperial agents also have a lot of fluidity in their story line, not only from the choices that they make during the storyline but also due to if they are dark side, light side or neutral

 

It's hard to point out some of the things that make it awesome with out spoiling the story for you however...

[Jduensing]

It isn't for everyone, i didn't like it much, and it isn't a matter of smarts. Kaliyo prevented me from playing an agent for the longest time, and she caused me to go through all of act one with gritted teeth. Vector was a relief, and when crazy dudes who think they are insects are a relief, you know kaliyo's bad. I never saw anything in the agent companions as a whole, and unfortunately the mmo side of swtor (stories more choppy and spaced out) made it too hard to grow to love the intelligence agency as a whole. and it really is boring until act 2. And even during act two, its a story I'd want too read, not watch or play. I think what makes or breaks agent for people is it has epic themes, not epic scenes.

[theUndead]

It isn't for everyone, i didn't like it much, and it isn't a matter of smarts. Kaliyo prevented me from playing an agent for the longest time, and she caused me to go through all of act one with gritted teeth. Vector was a relief, and when crazy dudes who think they are insects are a relief, you know kaliyo's bad. I never saw anything in the agent companions as a whole, and unfortunately the mmo side of swtor (stories more choppy and spaced out) made it too hard to grow to love the intelligence agency as a whole. and it really is boring until act 2. And even during act two, its a story I'd want too read, not watch or play. I think what makes or breaks agent for people is it has epic themes, not epic scenes.

 

I completely disagree. I have two Agents. A Sniper and Op and I can say that, to me, the story scenes are indeed epic. The trick to understanding the atory is to think of it as a complicated game of chess. Every move has a calculated effect. Furthermore, I really like Kalyio, I like her ruthless and sometimes quite witty take on things.

 

If anything, the only companion that annoyed me was Vector. The idea of a bug/man following you...yeah no. In any case, I liked the story alot and I feel that if the OP is a bit pactient, he may like it too.

[Gwena]

I like the Agent story, but it isn't one of my favorites. I can see why it is so popular though. It is less cliche than some stories and has parts that are genuinely unexpected and have a personal impact on your character. The Agent story is the one that most made me think, "Ah! My poor character! Must fix!" -- which drove me to want to see more of it.

 

It also lacks the sense of, well, inevitability (?), I suppose. Oh look, another super weapon, I wonder if my Jedi will find it? Hmm, my Smuggler's ship is stolen, I wonder if she'll get it back? Etc, etc. The Agent story is more unpredictable than most, IMHO. It has a lot of fairly meaningful choices too, making it a fun one to play through more than once. Overall, it seems to be a very well thought out story that for the most part lacks those "you have got to be kidding me, this is so stupid!" plot points.

 

As for the companions, it is purely a matter of taste. The only one of the bunch that I like is Vector (one of my favorite companions, actually), and I'd gladly toss everyone else but Lokin out the airlock.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Gwena

[Galdos]

Like every story in this game, it is all subject to personal opinion. For example I always heard the Consular was the worse story and the Bounty Hunter was fun. For me, the Consular was my 5th on the order of stories and the Bounty Hunter I found so bad I was losing my mind. I could not enjoy the Bounty Hunter until CORELLIA I found it so bad.

 

So if you dont like the Agent dont worry. The companions for the Agent are ALL awful so that doesnt help things. What makes the Agent's story good is that it does a good job of surprising you and once you hit act 2, the story starts to get very personal. I think the big thing though about the Agent is the surprises, even if you guessed it before hand (the Act 1 boss I figured out very early on) its still nice they took the time to actually surprise you compared with the other stories in which you know about your act 1 villains before you finished the prologues.

[AlixMV]

It took me until my second Agent playthrough to Get It. As another commenter said, seeing it chopped up (the first time) really hurt my enjoyment of it.

 

When I solo'ed it the second time and played it much faster (and knew what was coming), it was a lot more enjoyable. A big thing about--how the entire story is connected to itself, and into the other class stories.

 

 

Nar Shadaa is tied into all of Chapter 2. The theme of Tatooine's story into Hunter's big reveal. I loved Chapter 2 as one big mind f**k, especially since I'd killed Watcher X and couldn't figure out if what my Agent was seeing was from the control chip or hallucinations. Chapter 3 is the fall from grace and a little bit of the Jason Bourne spy story, of what happens to spies when they're no longer in the fold?

 

 

Then there's the offhand mentions of stuff that ties into at least the Trooper, Sith Warrior, and Sith Inquisitor class stories, and the fact that it's the only class (that I can recall) where the Companion conversations frequently have other Companions wandering in instead of constantly being solo. It actually made them feel like a team instead of people who never left their little designated area of the ship.

 

It's still not my all time favorite story, but it's solidly in the middle.

Edited October 28, 2014 by AlixMV

[errant_knight]

He hasn't finished it yet. Might want to take a few of those specific details out of that post

[AlixMV]

Sorry, I double-checked and verified it was on the Spoilers forum and thought it'd be safe.

 

To the OP: double-sorry. I've put the particularly spoiler'y bits behind a screen.

[errant_knight]

No, you were completely correct. I just thought that in this particullar instance, it might be better to be safe than sorry.

 

Regarding the agent story...I was rivited, myself. When I got to the second chapter I was so involved with my agent's dilemas, the I played the whole thing through allmost without stopping. Little sleep was had, lol.

 

I agree that stopping and starting would be detrimental, although I think that's the case with all the stories. Switching between characters dilutes the emotional impact of all of them. This is particularlly true of the agent, warrior, inquisitor and knight however, and perhaps most true in the case of the agent because of all the twists and turns the story takes.

[DomiSotto]

I am about to attempt it the second time starting this weekend with the 12xXP. I started IA as my very first character because I was told how amazing it is and how great the romance is, and erm, I have 2 55s, 2 chars over 40, and all of them I love.

 

IA is still at L24 on Nar Shaddaa. I hate her. The only one of my own characters that I truly deeply despise. I tried Light, I tried Dark, I still hate her.

 

I don't like the story, Kalyio grew boring after a while, and no new companions in sight. Now Kaliyo is just disgusting after her class quest...

 

The whole revisionism of the other stories in the "gotccha, stupid!" way... yakes. Tieing it in is one thing, but making your other characters, favorite characters look stupid? Well, thanks, IA! Was it really that necessary? I am kindda afraid to play it now. Who else is going to be thrown under the IA's heavy boots?

 

The first FTB with that Zab guy was good (well, that was the only Zabrack I saw that was flirting...), but the second was eww; and little in between.

 

And I don't get the cool spy feel at all. I got the small servant of the Empire feel who is going to get duped worse than the Smuggler was only without the sense of humor and self-laughs. No other story made me feel more of an Empire's servant and supporter, and having to have the loyalty to the Empire... I just can't take it. There is nothing at all I like about the Empire so serving and protecting it just doesn't appeal in the slightest.

 

Oh, well, nothing for it, but to get it over and done with. I'd say can't wait, but actually, I really could... but 12xXP, too tempting to miss...

Edited October 28, 2014 by DomiSotto

[Rizartha]

Try to think of your agents choices as less LS and DS options and instead think about which option do you think would serve the empire better. Ive found that my play through using that mentality has actually been the more enjoyable than going LS or DS. In fact going neutral had an impact on several points of the agent story, such as your first encounter with Keeper and your last encounter with him.

[CloudCastle]

With the 12x going on I just finished my second agent. Once I had completed all 8 classes, the agent was the first class that I knew I wanted to experience again. What I loved about it was the sense of realness and danger associated with the whole story. I really feared for my character, really wondered about her sanity or her ability to get out of the latest scrape. You are the underdog in the agent's story but that was part of what makes it so compelling. I was an ordinary person struggling against extraordinary things - living in a world where people have terrifying power and the government can't be trusted - and yet I survived through my wits and my training and my sheer will.

 

The agent's story had moments in it where I sat at my screen with my jaw dropping open, because some of the twists and turns were so unexpected. My husband walked in once after a particularly emotional cut scene to find me sitting in my chair, shoulders slumped and with my head in my hands. "Are you all right?" he asked me. Yup, just another crazy scene in the agent's story.

 

I loved the characters as well. The agent's story was one of the few that I really felt true emotional attachment to the people in the story. I felt like I had been through the wringer and back with Keeper, that Watcher 2 also understood the burden of the secrets I carried, that Vector could relate to my struggles to hold onto my identity and my free will, because he too had been through the same.

 

The villains too were not cookie cutter, but were in shades of gray. With one agent I may have killed someone that my other agent supported, but both of them had logical reasons for doing so, and both choices still made sense.

 

I liked how the story played differently whether you go light or dark. In one version I was an unsung champion of the people, trying to protect them from the violence and whims of the Sith. In the other I was the Sith's right-hand-man, and I stalked through the story wielding their name and dark authority as my own.

 

So, yes I'm a big fan of the agent's story.

[Rizartha]

 

I liked how the story played differently whether you go light or dark. In one version I was an unsung champion of the people, trying to protect them from the violence and whims of the Sith. In the other I was the Sith's right-hand-man, and I stalked through the story wielding their name and dark authority as my own.

 

So, yes I'm a big fan of the agent's story.

 

 

Try the Neutral path, never going into LS or DS 1, the differences are about as stark as they are from LS to DS flavored agents. Always choosing the path that is the best for the empire as a whole and running FP's in order to keep things balanced [i recommend solo BT run once you get high enough that nothing there is a threat because it will be faster]

 

I'm working on my 4th agent in order to see all the twists and turns the story can take.

[Ridickilis]

I don't like the story, Kalyio grew boring after a while, and no new companions in sight. Now Kaliyo is just disgusting after her class quest...

 

Eh, as much as I love her you're probably going to hate her guts even more, then. You barely scratched the surface if you've only seen up to her first quest.

 

And I don't get the cool spy feel at all. I got the small servant of the Empire feel who is going to get duped worse than the Smuggler was only without the sense of humor and self-laughs. No other story made me feel more of an Empire's servant and supporter, and having to have the loyalty to the Empire... I just can't take it. There is nothing at all I like about the Empire so serving and protecting it just doesn't appeal in the slightest.

 

You need to get past Nar Shadda, see the finale of act one and get into chapter 2. All I say is, use this anger you're feeling to guide your choices moving forward. This story pissed me off (well, my agent anyway) more than any other, which is why I liked it so much. I can't say anymore.

 

^^^Yeah agree with other's. I've run it 3 times now, picking different options because there are just so many different choices to make that you can't possibly see all outcomes in one play through.

Edited October 30, 2014 by Ridickilis

[DomiSotto]

Well, I like Kalyio in the 'evil characters that actually do evil and unpleasant things, and not just rude to people'. Which doesn't mean I would not have taken the option to carbonize or kill her if it was still available

 

This thread gives me hope that I can both shoot everyone who is on the Empire's side in the face and still screw up the Empire as much as I can, in other words that option to end up as a double-agent I heard about doesn't require LS and sparing the filth like Sanju.

Edited October 30, 2014 by DomiSotto

[Darka]

I have always felt the Agent class story had far more freedom, where as other classes you knew what to expect because of our awareness of those roles already in the star wars universe.

With Agent, it seemed like they had no expectations and that allowed for a better story

The decisions you make i felt had greater far reaching consequences then other classes, it felt like who you trusted, or killed actually mattered. Especially with the chance for multiple endings.