Why hasn't SWTOR gone to Zygerria yet?

[AndorianTJ]

Just out of curiosity, will BW take this game through Zygerria eventually? I am surprised Zygerria wasn't part of the original storyline. Zygerria seemed to be a semi major player in the Clone Wars.

 

No doubt my Republic leaning 'Alliance Commander', would look forward to rolling through Zygerria and bust up their vile slave trade. I would even let Vette command a liberation squad.

 

I imagine the Imperial leaning Alliance Commander would seek to add Zygerria as an ally.

 

Cheers

Edited April 28, 2017 by AndorianTJ

[AshlaBoga]

I don't think the slave trade on Zygerria exists yet.

[Jagaimee]

In the Clone Wars era, yeah, Zygerria was an infamous slave trading empire. But we're three and a half thousand years before that time period. A LOT can happen in that time (like, for instance, we all know the Sith Empire in SWTOR's era will cease to exist somewhere down the line, long enough before the Clone Wars that people think the Sith are a myth, etc.).

[AndorianTJ]

According to Wookiepedia the Zygerrian Slave Empire existed during the Old Republic. I don't see why they wouldn't. Big empires take a long time to build, so I would imagine the well established Zygerrian Empire seen in Clone Wars was around a long long time before that.. Also social customs from a particular empire usually were around before and often after that empire's official existence.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zygerrian_Slave_Empire

 

 

I believe SWTOR sets itself so far in the past merely for relative storytelling independence and writing reasons. That way BW can tell the stories they want without affecting the main SW lore too much. Even so, most of the established SW elements are a part of SWTOR, because it's Star Wars, and to have Star Wars fans play it, you need Star Wars stuff in it.

 

Anyway, I think a Zygerrian story could be an intriguing one. Perhaps not a direct conflict, but more of how your alliance chooses to associate with Zygerria. As a Light Alliance, you assist or instigate a slave rebellion. As a Dark Alliance, you help put down the Zygerrians put down the slave rebellion.

 

I would love to see BW write a story that presents the player with some tough moral choices. A place like Zygerria might be a good platform for that. I could see tough moral choices for both sides. The obvious openly support slavery for the Imperial player, and for the Republic player, supporting a resistance movement comes at a very high cost in resources, perhaps putting the safety of the Alliance in jeopardy....Is ending slavery worth that cost?

Edited April 28, 2017 by AndorianTJ

[Celise]

According to Wookiepedia the Zygerrian Slave Empire existed during the Old Republic. I don't see why they wouldn't. Big empires take a long time to build, so I would imagine the well established Zygerrian Empire seen in Clone Wars was around a long long time before that.. Also social customs from a particular empire usually were around before and often after that empire's official existence.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zygerrian_Slave_Empire

 

Correction they have a slave industry, so people are found by the Zygerrians and they sell these slaves to whoever needs them, at this point they were a collection of slave traders. the empire didn't exist until about 2,500 in the future. however according to that same wiki, their slaving days were numbered when the jedi effectively pushed their trading practices into the underworld during this same era.

[SteveTheCynic]

Big empires take a long time to build

Really? Tell that to Temüjin, better known to us as Genghis Khan. He launched an empire that spanned Asia from the East to the West, and into parts of Eastern and Central Europe - it is usually described as starting in around 1206, and reaching its greatest extent at the end of the 1250s, maybe into 1260, so less than 60 years from next to nothing to almost a sixth of the Earth's land area.

 

The British Empire was larger still, close to a quarter of the Earth's land area, but a comparatively slow grower, taking a little over three hundred years to reach that size, but that growth is noteworthy for being intermittent rather than the more continuous growth of the Mongols.

 

So an empire based on superior transportation technology and a sufficient will to expand would be able to hit many worlds in a lot less time than the cited 3600 years between the time of SWTOR and the Clone Wars time.

[AshlaBoga]

Really? Tell that to Temüjin, better known to us as Genghis Khan. He launched an empire that spanned Asia from the East to the West, and into parts of Eastern and Central Europe - it is usually described as starting in around 1206, and reaching its greatest extent at the end of the 1250s, maybe into 1260, so less than 60 years from next to nothing to almost a sixth of the Earth's land area.

 

The British Empire was larger still, close to a quarter of the Earth's land area, but a comparatively slow grower, taking a little over three hundred years to reach that size, but that growth is noteworthy for being intermittent rather than the more continuous growth of the Mongols.

 

So an empire based on superior transportation technology and a sufficient will to expand would be able to hit many worlds in a lot less time than the cited 3600 years between the time of SWTOR and the Clone Wars time.

 

Genghis Khan and a bunch of slave traders are pretty different though.

 

Khan unified the Mongols and forged an Empire that would the planetary equivalent of the Galactic Sith Empire or the Eternal Empire, comparing him to a bunch of slave traders is an insult to the empire builder and butcher.*

 

Now the OP was surprised we hadn't visited this planet yet, but it's important to note that there are many worlds with far greater historical significance: Dathomir, Naboo, Ryloth, Kashyyyk, Geonosis...

 

*His military brilliance is undeniable, but he still depopulated vast swathes of land and altered the population geography of Asia and what we call the Middle East.

[Celise]

Genghis knew who his enemies were and who his allies were, he knew how to get victory, China was the key to that victory and by removing their threat from the Mongol hordes Genghis had the ability to spread out his hordes that reached as far as Hungary, the thing is that he didn't live long enough to see the Mongols continue their conquest and the Goths ands Romans were also giving the Mongols a hard time as well. Ghenghis murdered, pillaged, raped and beaten people and forces along the way and those that survived were a part of the Mongol invasion.

 

Despite the romanticism of the Mongol invasion, it was a bloody ugly business and the Mongols were very savage about it. But the Mongols were not the only ones to try this, a bit later in history and Attila the Hun also tried it with his Ostrogoth, Hun and Alan forces. in both cases the main leader of these forces died before their victory and their empires quickly faded after their fall, either due to internal fighting or treason.

[SteveTheCynic]

Genghis knew who his enemies were and who his allies were, he knew how to get victory, China was the key to that victory and by removing their threat from the Mongol hordes Genghis had the ability to spread out his hordes that reached as far as Hungary, the thing is that he didn't live long enough to see the Mongols continue their conquest and the Goths ands Romans were also giving the Mongols a hard time as well. Ghenghis murdered, pillaged, raped and beaten people and forces along the way and those that survived were a part of the Mongol invasion.

 

Despite the romanticism of the Mongol invasion, it was a bloody ugly business and the Mongols were very savage about it. But the Mongols were not the only ones to try this, a bit later in history and Attila the Hun also tried it with his Ostrogoth, Hun and Alan forces. in both cases the main leader of these forces died before their victory and their empires quickly faded after their fall, either due to internal fighting or treason.

Your dates are a little confused. The Western Roman Empire fell over 700 years before Genghis Khan got started - the conventional dates are 451 AD for the fall of Rome, and 1205 for the beginning of Khan's campaigns of expansion once he united the Mongols. But you are, indeed, quite right about the degree of brutality in the way he conducted his empire-building.

[SteveTheCynic]

Genghis Khan and a bunch of slave traders are pretty different though.

 

Khan unified the Mongols and forged an Empire that would the planetary equivalent of the Galactic Sith Empire or the Eternal Empire, comparing him to a bunch of slave traders is an insult to the empire builder and butcher.*

For sure, but I wasn't actually comparing him to them. I was pointing out the weakness of the original flat unqualified assertion that big empires take a long time to build. They don't, or at least not automatically. If you have the push and resources and all that, you can expand and build a large empire fairly quickly. (Stabilising it afterwards may take a little longer, which is undoubtedly a big part of why the Mongol Empire didn't last very long after Kublai Khan died.) I cited the Mongols and the British as two empire-building powers who built *large* empires in substantially shorter times than was implied in the post I cited.

[Celise]

Your dates are a little confused. The Western Roman Empire fell over 700 years before Genghis Khan got started - the conventional dates are 451 AD for the fall of Rome, and 1205 for the beginning of Khan's campaigns of expansion once he united the Mongols..

 

no not confused, there was this empire called the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from 800 AD to 1800AD, i'm pretty sure you missed that in your history classes, it had a alot of control over Central Europe and Italy.

[AndorianTJ]

There may be no Zygerrian Empire in our current SWTOR Timeline, but you can bet that Zygerrians existed as a species. It makes sense that their Empire would not have formed yet. The Sith Empire would snuff out any competition to their slave trade. The Republic would also attempt to stop any early Zygerrian slaver clan from becoming a big slaver empire. However just because the Zygerrians exists in our timeline as perhaps small slaver clans, that doesn't mean that the Zygerrians themselves don't have desires of their own big slaver Empire. It would also make sense that after the turmoil of KOTET and the eventual fall of the Sith Empire, along with Republic focused on rebuilding, that the Zygerrians would take the opportunity to expand.

 

I apologize for not speaking correctly in history book terms on real world Empires, I am not a history buff. I am however fascinated with the Human Mind. So let me speak in terms of the Human psyche. The seeds of an Empire, are planted long long before the physical manifestation of said Empire. It originates in the Primal human psyche.

 

The origins of an Empire can be traced from the customs and beliefs of the people who plant the seeds of that Empire. The customs and beliefs are traced back to the feeling of superiority over others. What is the purpose of an Empire? To control, subjugate, dominate others in order to remain in power through military superiority and control of resources. If an Empire is originated from the Human ego's desire to dominate others...how long in human history have humans groups felt superior to other human groups? Like since the entire time Humans have been around. Its a primal instinct carried over from animal nature.

 

A brief story...Seeds of an Empire

The leader of a clan...lets call him Bob and we'll call his clan Bobclan. Bob, who is likely the 'Alpha' male of the clan fears being defeated by the younger Alphas when he is older, wishes to remain in power. Bob convinces the group that 'God' made him special, and that he has divine power....This 'demonstrated' by his Alpha male status and defeating the other males. The people buy it, because that is their custom to always believe what the Alpha says...he is physically stronger and bigger, so therefore he must be right!...say these people. Bob seeks their loyalty by telling that they are guaranteed a happy afterlife if they follow him and remain loyal to their 'God'. Loyalty to a clan (or team) helps it become organized and solidify the clan...thus improving it's strength. It is human nature to want to be part of a 'team', especially one that is winning.

 

Anyway, Bob and his clan go around dominating others because 'God' (Ego's desire for power) told them it was a good idea! (sorry, channeling some George Carlin there:D). Loosing clans are killed off or absorbed by Bob's clan. Hey if you can't beat em...join em right? And here you have it, the seeds of empire building...waaaay over simplified of course! Bob maybe replaced by others, but the beliefs of superiority keep this seed going.

 

It may take centuries before Bobclan becomes a big empire. There may be revolts along the way, but the Bobclan Empire will exist, even for a short time, it may exist again with a different name, but it is ultimately the same Empire. Interestingly Revolts are also from a similar seed...the other side of the coin....our resistance to being controlled by others. The seed of a resistance is formed the instant one told they must conform to other belief or that they are told to be inferior....and so on.

 

Thus you have the constant cycle of Empire and Republic. I personally believe that we do evolve from our primal instinct to a higher level of 'enlightenment' if you will. It may take millions of generations and eons of social evolution, but life is like a wheel, we keep going around and around, doing the same things over and over again, however each time we go around, we are a little bit farther along than we were before.

 

Anyway, sorry for the long story, and long winded desire to see some evil slaver species in the story. They would make some good 'villains' but could also present some interesting moral quandaries from the point of view of either the Republic or Empire.

 

Cheers

Edited May 1, 2017 by AndorianTJ

[MadDutchman]

Zygerrians are kinda small potatoes compared to the Hutts. It would be hard to make them real villains as any of the major factions could stomp them at will if they were so inclined.

 

Honestly without a galaxy wide cataclysm severely limiting the power of the major factions, i'd be hard to have yet another faction come up that could have any real interesting (and believable) opposition.

[SteveTheCynic]

no not confused, there was this empire called the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from 800 AD to 1800AD, i'm pretty sure you missed that in your history classes, it had a alot of control over Central Europe and Italy.

But it *wasn't* "the Romans". (It is sometimes said, half in jest, that it was neither holy nor Roman, and wasn't really much of an empire either.)(1)

 

Used unqualified, "the Romans" normally means "the Roman Empire", which is an entirely separate thing from "the Holy Roman Empire", whence my remark about confusion. (If you wanted a handy term for the Holy Roman Empire, try "Austro-Germans" or similar.)

 

(1) a misquotation of Voltaire...

Ce corps qui s'appelait et qui s'appelle encore le saint empire romain n'était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire

Translation: "This agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."

Source: The Unreliable Source, aka Wikipedia.