Alliance Alerts Returning to KOTET? Where can SWTOR go after KOTET?

[sturge]

First point is there any many companions left to return and this is what characters have back so far:

Bounty Hunter: Gault (story), Torian (story), Blizz (alert), Skadge (alert). Only Mako missing

 

Sith Warrior: Vette (story), Broonmack (alert mission), rest are missing stil.

 

Jedi Knight: T7 (story), Rusk (alert), rest are missing

 

Trooper: Aric (story), M1 (alert), Tanno (briefly met on asylum), Yuun (alert), rest missing.

 

Sith Inquisitor: Talos (alert), Xalek (alert), rest missing.

 

Imperial Agent: Kaliyo (story), Lokin (alert), Scorpio (story, later betrays you), rest missing.

 

Jedi Consular: Qyzen (alert), rest missing.

 

Smuggler: Bowdaar (alert), Risha (alert), rest missing.

 

Funny Jedi Knight promotes the game but it is bounty hunter who has the most companions back. Will alliance alert missions return? Will they affect LvD and gain Command points?

 

To the second point where does SWTOR go after KOTET? Does Zakuulans want an outlander with no royal blood to rule them? If we rule Zakuul then does that mean the alliance falls and all the members return to their original place? What about the conflict between Sith Empire and Republic? Looks like KOTET is the last chapter in the eternal empire story but then again it might not be, sure Valkorian has a plan up his sleeve. Where does the galaxy go after this?

[BlazeTomahawk]

Did I miss an alert somehow? Risha's back?

[JLazarillo]

Smuggler has Guss back now, not Risha. And Warrior also has Pierce back (but only if you're Imperial; if you're Republic, Forex takes his place).

I imagine that they won't want to make romanceable companions come back via alert, and I can't imagine not working Scourge into the story (can you imagine the uproar over either of those?), so that means that of the ones that remain, we have the following who will "need" to come back via story:

Kira

Doc

Scourge

Iresso

Nadia

Elara

Corso

Risha

Akaavi

Quinn

Jaesa

Andronikos

Ashara

Mako

Vector

Temple

 

And the following that are still "alert-friendly":

Tharan

Zenith

Vik

Khem (if he doesn't end up replaced by the other completely)

 

So we've got 3-4 that can be done via alerts and 16 that "need" to be in the plot. I can't imagine them fitting all those characters into 9 chapters of KotET, short of all the remaining romances just being lumped together in the plot and only coming back to someone who romanced them, maybe, at which point they could be added as alerts for non-romancers. It'd be a little bit of a cheap way out, but otherwise, they'll be gone until "Season 3" or later.

 

And yeah, "Season 3". As for "where we go from here", I don't expect the writers have an actual "endgame" in mind for the story. Like seasonal TV, they'll probably just sort of spin their wheels with new threats and complications as the story goes on.

[Limariko]

To the second point where does SWTOR go after KOTET? Does Zakuulans want an outlander with no royal blood to rule them? If we rule Zakuul then does that mean the alliance falls and all the members return to their original place? What about the conflict between Sith Empire and Republic? Looks like KOTET is the last chapter in the eternal empire story but then again it might not be, sure Valkorian has a plan up his sleeve. Where does the galaxy go after this?

 

As this is a popular topic on "Crafting to replenish the guild bank stores night" for my guild, here's some of the discussion points we've had:

 

With all the talk of the Outlander taking the Eternal Throne, that isn't quite the same as taking and keeping the throne. If this was a single player game, then being the new Eternal Emperor would work. But all nitpickery aside of solo-ness with the game, becoming Emperor simply wouldn't work with the questing style format. Just the thought of the Eternal Emperor having to go out and personally collect 15 nexu culos for a quest while funny as all hell, just doesn't work at all. If there was a total format change to something like the Civ games or Crusader Kings II, then maybe.

 

Considering all the metaphysicalness with the Force, the taking the Eternal Throne thing is meant to be more symbolic with the Outlander stepping up to be more of a galactic mover and shaker than they already are which keeps in with the questing style format of going out and getting **** done.

 

As far as where else can the game go, that really depends on how much the devs decide to take advantage of with the era the game's set in and pretty much having near anything goes since we're looking at something like hundreds of years to go before we hit the Galactic Republic era of the movies. A lot can happen during that time with some intense changes and events happening that just don't have an impact that lasts long enough for it to be commonly known during the Galactic Republic era.

 

Case in point, the Directive 7 flashpoint which isn't connected to any of the Revan/Emperor storyline yet does have a solo mode which all storyline flashpoints do have.

 

 

Considering that the flashpoint does deal with a droid rebellion that could rival the Great Droid Revolt, and if you listen to some of the background chatter from the droids on Nar Shadda, they do talk about ways to kill off their owners in a discreet manner which does open up the possibility of an expansion dealing with a droid rebellion that considering how much droid forces are used by both Empire and Republic, would be a very big deal to both factions.

 

 

There's also regardless of how the Eternal Empire stuff ends, both the Empire and the Republic took a hell of a beating and aren't at the levels they were when our characters first stepped onto the starter planets. And as much as for now both Empire and Republic are kinda sorta playing nice together, the truth is they've only managed to do this with any success when they're facing a common enemy. For example:

In each case it's been against the Dread Masters, or Revan on a rampage, or Malgus wanting to take on all comers at once, and with each time the consensus is work together for now and it's all bets are off when it's over.

There's no reason why the same thing wouldn't apply to the Eternal Empire once all's said and done.

 

With that said, I can see once the Eternal Empire is either destroyed or seriously taken down some pegs, both the Republic and Empire going back to rebuilding with a definite eye on acquiring what assets they can from the weakened/devastated Eternal Empire. After all, we do hear from Lana about how the Eternal Fleet's able to beat out any of the ships the core worlds have save the ones with Isotope 5 upgrades. So I can see the state of things going back to the not quite at full war between the Empire and Republic as both rebuild and also want to test the other side's recovering strength. Another factor that can be considered during this is the growing shift within the Empire between the more rational pragmatic Sith and the comically stupid evil Sith along with the division within the Republic between the 'stick to the Republic's Ideals" types and the "act just like the Empire if not worse but insist we're better just because we're the Republc" hypocrites.

 

This could open up the doors for substantial story options of rebuilding while dealing with internal restructuring for both factions. From a game content perspective, this would give ample opportunity for more PvP maps for matches both opposing faction and same faction, and open up reasons for new Ops with dealing with any fighting over resources or someone growing too big for their britches. There's also if there were any needed reasons to be able to return to planets in game beyond the class quests, this would be a great opportunity as there could be new graphics to take into account what repercussions resulted from the first time our characters were on those planets.

 

Another angle for further content that's already been established in game would be exploring more into the Rakata's Infinite Empire and the secret projects Czerka was up to. For example:

On Tatooine, Czerka had a secret weapons facility that was abandoned when they recovered a Rakata artifact that infects people and turns them into necrocyborgs. One of the dialog options allows for this to escape off the planet, but who's to say there isn't other ways for this to end up spreading away from Tatooine.

With what we've seen from both Infinite Empire and Czerka, there's ample material to explore there.

 

With all that said, there's still plenty of story possibilities available for the game, it's just will the devs take advantage of the creative opportunities and run with it.

[KainrycKarr]

I don't think SWTOR will go anywhere after KOTET. I would bet money SWTOR's shutdown timer gets announced at some point in next 12-18 months.

[drfumblez]

We've got a whole galaxy of threats. I'm sure we'll be busy doing something.

[SerraShar]

We've got a whole galaxy of threats. I'm sure we'll be busy doing something.

 

True . And often you get ride of an idiot just to have another step up to replace the vaccum left .

 

But still..the way they wrote the story , it really make you wonder .

 

The way the 8 stories were wrotes they linked to each others leaving many ways open .

 

Here , it's unclear .

 

Maybe we could bring Harmony between the Imp and the repb . I know peoples just want them to genocide themself...but that is my wrath dream

[casirabit]

Did I miss an alert somehow? Risha's back?

 

Not that I am aware of. My smuggler is the only one that has done all the alerts and Risha is not back though I am actually waiting for Corso to see how that plays out since my smuggler decided to romance Koth lol and was married to Corso.

Edited October 24, 2016 by casirabit

[TrueBritannia]

Zakuul's power is likely already broken - the Eternal Throne no longer controls the Eternal Fleet, which is how Zakuul enforces its rule over the galaxy. Unless we somehow discover a way to regain direct control over the Fleet, when we take the Throne and oppose Scorpio, the Eternal Empire is effectively over. However, KOTET does seem to be heavily focused on learning more about the origin of the Fleet and how Valkorion built Zakuul, so who knows!

 

In terms of what's after KOTET, we still have to put an end to Valkorion. I suspect that's what will follow KOTET immediately, how long that takes is anyone's guess.

[SithKoriandr]

No reason to think KotET would be the end of the story. Inquisitor became a Dark Council member and the story continued. Counselor became a Council member and the story continued.

[DAWUSS]

No reason to think KotET would be the end of the story. Inquisitor became a Dark Council member and the story continued. Counselor became a Council member and the story continued.

 

And we saw neither do much of anything with either role.

[SithKoriandr]

And we saw neither do much of anything with either role.

 

Same will likely be true of any taking of the throne, if that's what happens.

[fovzwk]

And we saw neither do much of anything with either role.

 

What, you want a mission about sitting in the Dark council and discussing the tax-rates in the Sith Empire? Because last time I checked people complained like crazy when something similar happened in "The Phantom Menace."

[Rolodome]

With what Charles said in the livestream in mind, I'm thinking when they get the chance, they should do some one-off stuff that brings a bunch of companions back at once. Like as much as 3 in one "chapter" worth of content. They managed 2 in that one KOTFE chapter and I think it worked ok. I think as many as 3 or even 4 would be workable if they figured out a way to do it in a kind of an avengers-style plot, where the 4 have come together as a team in a dire situation and they need you to be the Captain America of the group.

 

Like Kira, Jaesa, Nadia, and Ashara could come back as part of a force enclave type of story, perhaps.

 

Risha could have an instanced thing on that planet of hers, mixed in with some weird chemistry going on with Doc (I think those two would make for some fun dialogue together) and maybe Temple as the head of Risha's intelligence team. Iresso as the captain of her guard.

 

Elara and Quinn at each other's throats about procedure would be hilarious.

 

Vector could be working with Andronikos, the two of them chasing after some crazy artifact on Alderaan, using the guidance of the Kiliks to help find it.

 

Corso, Akaavi, and Mako could make for a good bounty hunting team, targeting evil doers mainly, with Akaavi having some consternation about how obsessed Corso and Mako are with doing the right thing.

[sturge]

Yeah a spouse would come to the aid. My JK gets a message from Kira knowing I'm not dead and wishes me to meet or something (no alert or anything), I would put the conflict on hold to get Kira back. Like eternal fleet bombarding the galaxy and I'm the last hope.....**** off I'm getting Kira back the galaxy has to wait for a moment. If I am to take the throne or die trying I want Kira beside me.

[DAWUSS]

Punchline: Lana is keeping them away.

[Limariko]

Punchline: Lana is keeping them away.

 

I know this is a joke answer, but after mulling it around, that would be a doozy of a drama bomb in the story.

 

Now I'm thinking of how this would play out such as why would Lana do it as she's always been presented as pragmatic and not prone to the usual Sith personal agendas thing. It could work if it's going from a premise of how Sith tend to see loved ones as a weakness that can be targetted and she truly believed she was working for the good of our characters and the Alliance to keep them separated.

[sturge]

Maybe the companions are sending messages but Lana intercepts them and prevent them from reaching us (she was head of Sith Intelligence) thinking love ones might cause issues and only allows certain messages to be seen and recruit those who might be useful. Maybe Theron is on it too. But if that is the case then why does Sith players get Vette back but probably most Sith players romance Jaesa.

[Limariko]

Maybe the companions are sending messages but Lana intercepts them and prevent them from reaching us (she was head of Sith Intelligence) thinking love ones might cause issues and only allows certain messages to be seen and recruit those who might be useful. Maybe Theron is on it too. But if that is the case then why does Sith players get Vette back but probably most Sith players romance Jaesa.

 

The way that would work would be Lana didn't realize it at first since we really don't have anything to show that our characters have been public with being in relationships or married so some essentially slipped through before she started running interference. For Sith it'd be a serious deal to keep thier loved ones in secret because of the chance of getting targetted, for Jedi it would be to avoid Council censure. Agent could be along the lines of loved ones at risk as well. Not sure how the Republic would look upon officer fraternization for the Trooper and I can't think of a reason off hand for the Bounty Hunter or Smuggler.

 

While Theron could be in on it, equally I could see Lana keeping him in the dark on this as well since I just don't get that sort of going to that length vibe from him.

[wolfmez]

Do Bioware have to respect Star wars cannon anymore? I mean Disney went and said all of the old cannon is in stasis until they want to use it. so whats to stop them doing something completely new? Edited November 5, 2016 by wolfmez

[Estelindis]

While Theron could be in on it, equally I could see Lana keeping him in the dark on this as well since I just don't get that sort of going to that length vibe from him.

I couldn't see Theron in on that sort of thing either. Lana and Theron have both been willing to do sketchy things behind each other's backs, but she's always gone further and been more ruthless about it. Cases in point: 1) her allowing Theron to be captured and tortured without letting him in on it in advance, and 2) her altering Satele's letter to Theron if the Outlander tries to kill Satele (and suggesting the Outlander should succeed next time). All the while, she presents the face of an ally (even a friend?) to Theron. What might she be hiding from other people?

Edited November 5, 2016 by Estelindis

[Limariko]

I couldn't see Theron in on that sort of thing either. Lana and Theron have both been willing to do sketchy things behind each other's backs, but she's always gone further and been more ruthless about it. Cases in point: 1) her allowing Theron to be captured and tortured without letting him in on it in advance, and 2) her altering Satele's letter to Theron if the Outlander tries to kill Satele (and suggesting the Outlander should succeed next time). All the while, she presents the face of an ally (even a friend?) to Theron. What might she be hiding from other people?

 

Exactly the train of thought I was having. Considering our characters prior interactions with Lana, she'd likely know who was a love interest or at least who was very close to them and she'd weigh whether it would be helping or hindering the Alliance by having them reconnect.

 

Trying to think how Lana would consider this, spouses would be seen as a guaranteed target to break our characters will to keep fighting but could also fuel our characters drive to keep fighting or fight harder. They could also be a distraction to our characters who'd be naturally worried over their well being, or make them take choices that could be to the detriment of the Alliance. The same can be said of those companions our characters consider almost family. Those points alone might have her thinking keeping them separated is for the best even though it could backfire on her like it did with the reactions to Theron's capture.

[oblivionskwalker]

Smuggler has Guss back now, not Risha. And Warrior also has Pierce back (but only if you're Imperial; if you're Republic, Forex takes his place).

I imagine that they won't want to make romanceable companions come back via alert, and I can't imagine not working Scourge into the story (can you imagine the uproar over either of those?), so that means that of the ones that remain, we have the following who will "need" to come back via story:

Kira

Doc

Scourge

Iresso

Nadia

Elara

Corso

Risha

Akaavi

Quinn

Jaesa

Andronikos

Ashara

Mako

Vector

Temple

 

And the following that are still "alert-friendly":

Tharan

Zenith

Vik

Khem (if he doesn't end up replaced by the other completely)

 

So we've got 3-4 that can be done via alerts and 16 that "need" to be in the plot. I can't imagine them fitting all those characters into 9 chapters of KotET, short of all the remaining romances just being lumped together in the plot and only coming back to someone who romanced them, maybe, at which point they could be added as alerts for non-romancers. It'd be a little bit of a cheap way out, but otherwise, they'll be gone until "Season 3" or later.

 

And yeah, "Season 3". As for "where we go from here", I don't expect the writers have an actual "endgame" in mind for the story. Like seasonal TV, they'll probably just sort of spin their wheels with new threats and complications as the story goes on.

 

I've got to admit, I'm kinda worried about Ashara appearing, mainly because I now romance Lana in KOTFE...but also romanced Ashara on my SI, I'm not really good at those "I found someone else" talks!

[Typhaos]

I've got to admit, I'm kinda worried about Ashara appearing, mainly because I now romance Lana in KOTFE...but also romanced Ashara on my SI, I'm not really good at those "I found someone else" talks!

 

Phew, don't worry too much. SI has right to be angry with Ashara and she is the one who needs to explain herself.

1) they were not married (unlike many other couples), because Ashara said she needs permission from Jedi Council - this is just excuse as Jedi Knight gets married without it

2) she didn't try to save SI or find him even though she DID NOT felt his death, which she states in the one letter she sent before disappearing.

My SI is waiting for this reuninon with Ashara, I just hope it will be properly done, not just "Oh hi, I'm back, missed me?"

[Rocel_Umbara]

With what Charles said in the livestream in mind, I'm thinking when they get the chance, they should do some one-off stuff that brings a bunch of companions back at once. Like as much as 3 in one "chapter" worth of content. They managed 2 in that one KOTFE chapter and I think it worked ok. I think as many as 3 or even 4 would be workable if they figured out a way to do it in a kind of an avengers-style plot, where the 4 have come together as a team in a dire situation and they need you to be the Captain America of the group.

 

Like Kira, Jaesa, Nadia, and Ashara could come back as part of a force enclave type of story, perhaps.

 

Risha could have an instanced thing on that planet of hers, mixed in with some weird chemistry going on with Doc (I think those two would make for some fun dialogue together) and maybe Temple as the head of Risha's intelligence team. Iresso as the captain of her guard.

 

Elara and Quinn at each other's throats about procedure would be hilarious.

 

Vector could be working with Andronikos, the two of them chasing after some crazy artifact on Alderaan, using the guidance of the Kiliks to help find it.

 

Corso, Akaavi, and Mako could make for a good bounty hunting team, targeting evil doers mainly, with Akaavi having some consternation about how obsessed Corso and Mako are with doing the right thing.

 

Can I just say that I LOVE the character interactions you described? I can totally picture all of them in my head and it's absolutely hilarious.

 

In all seriousness though, I'm dying to see how they return the remaining spouse companions. I've played through KotET on my Knight and my Bounty Hunter, and while everything seems all well and good for my Hunter, my poor Knight is left over here pining away for Doc! So unfair...

 

I'm playing through on my Trooper now, but only because I know she gets most of her crew back early on.