Why is there no option to amicably part ways with Lana?

[Suzsi]

You know, people who don't care for Lana have said until we're blue in the face that most of us don't want or need to KILL her, however we DO want MORE interaction with OTHER Companions! BTW Nobody asked or demanded to kill Vette or Torian, it doesn't make sense that everyone survives every battle and confrontation during a war! Whether Lana Lovers like it or not a narrative has to progress and mature.

 

Killing Theron also made zero sense from the narrative perspective because he didn't betray anyone. It was done out of pure spite and for no other reason. Now the rest of us have to suffer from that spite with yet another bricked LI, of which hetro females now have a grand total of zero not bricked LIs.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[SithKoriandr]

Have you forgotten that Charles was quite pleased about modeling the FE/ET story off of Game of Thrones? He wanted to kill off companions just as much as the edgiest of the edge lords. He thought it was great that long established, well loved characters were going to die. If he didn't want to kill them off, he wouldn't have.

 

I hadn't heard that, but I'd still say that he only did it because players were accepting of it.

[Kataret]

I hadn't heard that, but I'd still say that he only did it because players were accepting of it.

 

You're totally right. It's not exactly rocket science. Players wanted more meaningful consequences for companions. The lack-of-kill-option in the original game for some controversial companions (Kaliyo, Quinn, Skadge, etc.) did irk people. They wanted kill options. And now that we have so many companions, and since all the companions can do all the roles, there was no longer a technical barrier. The writers gave players more freedom with how companions can act and be treated. Now they can be die, be exiled, or even walk out on players.

 

So in sum, yes, the choice to kill companions was a direct result of player feedback.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Kataret

[Suzsi]

You're totally right. It's not exactly rocket science. Players wanted more meaningful consequences for companions. The lack-of-kill-option in the original game for some controversial companions (Kaliyo, Quinn, Skadge, etc.) did irk people. They wanted kill options. And now that we have so many companions, and since all the companions can do all the roles, there was no longer a technical barrier. The writers gave players more freedom with how companions can act and be treated. Now they can be die, be exiled, or even walk out on players.

 

So in sum, yes, the choice to kill companions was a direct result of player feedback.

 

The result of some players feedback. - fixed

 

The vocal minority striking and now those who didnt ask for it are striking back.

 

Ive never asked for LIs to be killed, bricked or shelved. The opposite infact.

[phalczen]

I don't really care to get rid of her, but I'd absolutely love for other companions to take her place as quest giver and story commentator here and there.

 

Maybe. I kinda get the sense we're going to see more of Jonas Balkar/NR-02/General Daerun/Moff Pyron as quest givers moving forward, at least for the foreseeable future.

 

I would fully support the Devs choosing from a handful of companions that are either X or Y (i.e. mutually exclusive options) high up in your Alliance that serve as supporting cast in the cutscenes, though I can imagine it adds a level of complexity and expense the Devs may not be willing to tolerate. But, as I tried to explain in other posts above, Lana as a developed character makes a ton of sense as being one of the few NPCs that would be staying at your side pretty much no matter what. There are others, as I mentioned in those posts. Based on whom you save in KOTET 8, Vette or Torian might fall into that category as well … their letters definitely allude to the equivalent of a Wookiee life-debt. So, just as it would seem out of place for, say, Vette to up and leave the Alliance after that pivotal event, the same can be said for Lana.

[Kataret]

The result of some players feedback. - fixed

 

The vocal minority striking and now those who didnt ask for it are striking back.

 

Ive never asked for LIs to be killed, bricked or shelved. The opposite infact.

 

To be fair, most companions and LIs were "bricked" immediately you finished your class story. Taking them all away at the beginning of Fallen Empire actually opened the opportunity for a companion to return to the limelight again. Some got a ton of attention (ahem, SCORPIO...) and some get the rot end of the stick (Poor Andronikos, Mako, Risha... you know the rest).

 

While it's true that the old LIs have always had considerably less screentime than, say, Lana and Theron, it's certainly understandable why the devs went this route. Scenes for the "newer" romances simply have a much greater cost-benefit. Any player/faction/class/gender can romance Lana, Theron, Arcann, and Koth*, whereas all the other LIs are highly restricted. Jorgan, for example, is only romanceable by female troopers. Vette is only romanceable by male warriors. The point is that a whole lot more of the player base will experience those scenes/dialogues from a romanced KOTFE companion, compared to the fraction of players that would see the scenes from a romanced OG companion. It's frustrating, but it's obvious why this route was taken.

 

*Admittedly, Koth has "bricked" ever since the end of KOTET, even as one of the newer romances. Lana and Theron have received consistent romance dialogues over the last few patches, and Arcann has even had a few moments, but Koth is no where to be seen

[uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu]

Some got a ton of attention (ahem, SCORPIO...)

 

 

Grrrrr. I'm still steaming about that. They take the most boring, annoying companion of them all, and make her a central character of KOTFE/ET. Make us spend hours waiting for the least shocking betrayal of all time. Her chapters and the Iokath chapters are among the suckiest things of the already extremely sucky KOTFE/ET saga.

[Suzsi]

To be fair, most companions and LIs were "bricked" immediately you finished your class story. Taking them all away at the beginning of Fallen Empire actually opened the opportunity for a companion to return to the limelight again. Some got a ton of attention (ahem, SCORPIO...) and some get the rot end of the stick (Poor Andronikos, Mako, Risha... you know the rest).

 

While it's true that the old LIs have always had considerably less screentime than, say, Lana and Theron, it's certainly understandable why the devs went this route. Scenes for the "newer" romances simply have a much greater cost-benefit. Any player/faction/class/gender can romance Lana, Theron, Arcann, and Koth*, whereas all the other LIs are highly restricted. Jorgan, for example, is only romanceable by female troopers. Vette is only romanceable by male warriors. The point is that a whole lot more of the player base will experience those scenes/dialogues from a romanced KOTFE companion, compared to the fraction of players that would see the scenes from a romanced OG companion. It's frustrating, but it's obvious why this route was taken.

 

*Admittedly, Koth has "bricked" ever since the end of KOTET, even as one of the newer romances. Lana and Theron have received consistent romance dialogues over the last few patches, and Arcann has even had a few moments, but Koth is no where to be seen

 

They could have fixed that by opening up past LIs for new romances also as opposed to bricking them for everyone.

 

Lets face it, Koth got bugger all romance also throughout all of kotet and kotfe. Lana and Theron are the only two who got a reasonable amount. Now it's just Lana, so only hetro males and girls into girls(or guys who fetish this) get anything decent. The rest get scraps.

 

LIs being gated by class is old school when they could have opened those romances in Kotet and Kotfe, then everyone could have done those also. The lack of this is part of what I mean by all hetro female romance options being bricked. We have zero options that are not currently gated by death in some stories or locked behind classes. Would have happily taken up a new Aric romance on other toons then just my trooper. As a new LI for say a JK etc but not only did they not make this an option when all classes and players had Aric, they went and screwed over any need to bring back the VA by killing him for some of the game pop. We get next to nothing now that Theron is also gated. 2 lines and a hug, not even a kiss when Lana gets two kisses and two scenes.

 

Sucks to be a hetro female who likes romances playing swtor atm.

 

Even Nadia guys got to fight along side where as Doc was all like nah gotta do other stuff.

 

Kira is gunna get some awesome reunion where we got crap all since Aric. Even Torians while ok wasn't as good. Docs was flat almost non existent, barely better then an alliance alert. Quinn tried to kill us, again. The rest alerts only.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[IoNonSoEVero]

The result of some players feedback. - fixed

 

The vocal minority striking and now those who didnt ask for it are striking back.

 

Ive never asked for LIs to be killed, bricked or shelved. The opposite infact.

 

And in doing so, you're "striking back" against a lot of people who never asked for your LI to be bricked, actually tried to stand with you to keep your LIs from getting kill options, and have relentlessly campaigned for more content for ALL LIs, including yours.

 

Meanwhile the edgelords who want to kill anything that talks or moves in the game will likely shrug and just find another female companion to dress in a slave costume if Lana is killed off or written out.

 

So think really carefully about who you think this would hurt, and who it actually would.

[Suzsi]

And in doing so, you're "striking back" against a lot of people who never asked for your LI to be bricked, actually tried to stand with you to keep your LIs from getting kill options, and have relentlessly campaigned for more content for ALL LIs, including yours.

 

Meanwhile the edgelords who want to kill anything that talks or moves in the game will likely shrug and just find another female companion to dress in a slave costume if Lana is killed off or written out.

 

So think really carefully about who you think this would hurt, and who it actually would.

 

Again Ive NEVER ASKED for any LI to be bricked. I've done the opposite. Check who you are directing your dont kill Lana off anger at before directing it.

 

Im saying the people who haven't asked for it for any LI and never wanted it are the ones fighting back now.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[IoNonSoEVero]

Again Ive NEVER ASKED for any LI to be bricked. I've done the opposite. Check who you are directing your dont kill Lana off anger at before directing it.

 

Im saying the people who haven't asked for it are the ones fighting back now.

 

I'm not getting angry. I'm pointing out that you said you're "striking back." Who do you think you are striking? A lot of us were fighting to try to keep the LIs from being bricked before.

Edited January 2, 2019 by IoNonSoEVero

[Suzsi]

I'm not getting angry. I'm pointing out that you said you're "striking back." Who do you think you are striking? A lot of us were fighting to try to keep the LIs from being bricked before.

 

The ones who asked for chars to be killed in the first place.

You may wish to read the post I was responding to.

 

I said it was only the vocal minority who asked for that to happen and that those who didnt are striking back.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[IoNonSoEVero]

The ones who asked for chars to be killed in the first place.

You may wish to read the post I was responding to.

 

I said it was only the vocal minority who asked for that to happen and that those who didnt are striking back.

 

And do you think the "vocal minority" are going to be the only ones harmed by your "striking back" perchance? Lana will be bricked just for them and the rest of us who stood with you and tried to prevent YOUR LIs from being lost will magically get to keep her?

[Suzsi]

And do you think the "vocal minority" are going to be the only ones harmed by your "striking back" perchance? Lana will be bricked just for them and the rest of us who stood with you and tried to prevent YOUR LIs from being lost will magically get to keep her?

 

*** dude read what im saying!

 

Im fighting the same fight as you.

 

I am NOT asking for Lana or ANY LI to be bricked. Never have.

 

I was responding to some dude who said we all got what we asked for in asking for chars to be killed, by pointing out that the vocal minority asked for that. The rest of us did not and that now we are fighting back against killing LIs.

 

Are we done now?

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[IoNonSoEVero]

*** dude read what im saying!

 

Im fighting the same fight as you.

 

I am NOT asking for Lana or ANY LI to be bricked. Never have.

 

I was responding to some dude who said we all got what we asked for in asking for chars to be killed by pointing out that the vocal minority asked for that. The rest of us did not and that now we are fighting back against killing LIs.

 

Are we done now?

 

If you were saying that you were fighting back against killing any more LIs, I completely apologize. I took what you wrote and your subsequent responses as the usual petty "they hurt us, so we're going to snip back by taking their companion now too" that I've seen here and in other threads. So again, if that wasn't your intent, I'm sorry and didn't mean to bite your head off.

[Suzsi]

If you were saying that you were fighting back against killing any more LIs, I completely apologize. I took what you wrote and your subsequent responses as the usual petty "they hurt us, so we're going to snip back by taking their companion now too" that I've seen here and in other threads. So again, if that wasn't your intent, I'm sorry and didn't mean to bite your head off.

 

I even fixed the dudes line that said the player base asked for it to some of the player based asked for it. Then went on to say it was the vocal minority. That the rest of us didn't want that. So yeah you miss read and continued to do so but appology accepted .

 

No i dont think for a second killing off more LIs will solve anything.

 

[Edit]

Am I sick of Lana? Yes, but thats only because they killed off everyone else now the alliance is like Lana and the Commander. I used to like her.

Am I bitter she got more content then Theron in the update? Hell yes.

Do I want her dead or gone? No. I have a JK romancing her.

Do I want any LIs dead or gone? NO. Enoughs enough already. Stop killing them.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Suzsi

[IoNonSoEVero]

I even fixed the dudes line that said the player base asked for it to some of the player based asked for it. Then went on to say it was the vocal minority. That the rest of us didn't want that. So yeah you miss read and continued to do so but appology accepted .

 

No i dont think for a second killing off more LIs will solve anything.

 

[Edit]

Am I sick of Lana? Yes, but thats only because they killed off everyone else now the alliance is like Lana and the Commander. I used to like her.

Am I bitter she got more content then Theron in the update? Hell yes.

Do I want her dead or gone? No. I have a JK romancing her.

Do I want any LIs dead or gone? NO. Enoughs enough already. Stop killing them.

 

Fair enough.

 

I do think all the romance companions should have had content in 5.10 and that it would have been a nice gesture to give everyone a scene like the sunset one. But FWIW I think both Lana and Theron are both on their way to being squeezed out or pushed all the way to the sidelines. Even with that extra scene for Lana, they did almost nothing in 5.10. Heck, they've even made a point of writing out some of the AA companions even though they have no part in the story anymore, by making them leave the Alliance. I'm going to guess that Pyron, Jonas, etc. are going to take more and more focus, that we'll be doing our playthroughs with whatever "temporary companion" they decide to throw at us, and we'll be lucky if any of the LIs get a line or two thrown their way by the time we get to 6.0.

[Dracofish]

LIs being gated by class is old school when they could have opened those romances in Kotet and Kotfe, then everyone could have done those also. The lack of this is part of what I mean by all hetro female romance options being bricked. We have zero options that are not currently gated by death in some stories or locked behind classes. Would have happily taken up a new Aric romance on other toons then just my trooper. As a new LI for say a JK etc but not only did they not make this an option when all classes and players had Aric, they went and screwed over any need to bring back the VA by killing him for some of the game pop. We get next to nothing now that Theron is also gated. 2 lines and a hug, not even a kiss when Lana gets two kisses and two scenes.

 

The only problem I have with this is that some of the original class companions make no sense with anybody else. Take Jorgan, for example. I don't ever see him itching to scratch at a Sith...except maybe in a bar fight he'd lose. On the other end, I don't see Quinn ever "lowering" himself to date anybody outside of a Sith or high-ranking Imperial officer...and I'd imagine he'd even be offended at the idea of dating a Pub. *gasp* The travesty! Even Andronikos...I dunno about seeing him with a Knight or Consular. A lot of those just don't make sense, so I can see keeping them class-gated.

[Suzsi]

Fair enough.

 

I do think all the romance companions should have had content in 5.10 and that it would have been a nice gesture to give everyone a scene like the sunset one. But FWIW I think both Lana and Theron are both on their way to being squeezed out or pushed all the way to the sidelines. Even with that extra scene for Lana, they did almost nothing in 5.10. Heck, they've even made a point of writing out some of the AA companions even though they have no part in the story anymore, by making them leave the Alliance. I'm going to guess that Pyron, Jonas, etc. are going to take more and more focus, that we'll be doing our playthroughs with whatever "temporary companion" they decide to throw at us, and we'll be lucky if any of the LIs get a line or two thrown their way by the time we get to 6.0.

 

This is what I'm afraid of and I am pretty well ready to unsub over it tbh. I can't see me holding out much longer if everyone keeps getting sidelined

 

I was very tempted to just have my Theron girls retire after Nathema and ride off into the sunset with him because I thought this would happen. I just couldnt care less about new romances. I want to keep playing my current chars and theyll never cheat on their LIs. Id have to make all new chars and with the length of story that comes before thats a massive undertaking now.

[Suzsi]

The only problem I have with this is that some of the original class companions make no sense with anybody else. Take Jorgan, for example. I don't ever see him itching to scratch at a Sith...except maybe in a bar fight he'd lose. On the other end, I don't see Quinn ever "lowering" himself to date anybody outside of a Sith or high-ranking Imperial officer...and I'd imagine he'd even be offended at the idea of dating a Pub. *gasp* The travesty! Even Andronikos...I dunno about seeing him with a Knight or Consular. A lot of those just don't make sense, so I can see keeping them class-gated.

 

there's always a way though.

 

I could see Aric with republic siding lightside former empire chars and double agents etc.

 

Otherwise its no different to Theron who I still can't see with a Sith even though its an option.

 

As for Quinn I don't think he is as empire loyal as he once was. Who can blame him after they shoved him in prison?

 

Theres other chars too who wouldn't really be suited to a light or dark toon, it happens but never stopped them making it an option so far.

[Dracofish]

there's always a way though.

 

I could see Aric with republic siding lightside former empire chars and double agents etc.

 

Otherwise its no different to Theron who I still can't see with a Sith even though its an option.

 

As for Quinn I don't think he is as empire loyal as he once was. Who can blame him after they shoved him in prison?

 

Theres other chars too who wouldn't really be suited to a light or dark toon, it happens but never stopped them making it an option so far.

 

I think making such sweeping stretches would erase a lot of who the characters are, but that's just my opinion.

 

As for Theron, I personally do ship him with a Sith, so I can easily see it...though not with a stabbity-stab-kill-kill one, of course. Theron isn't quite the squeaky clean paragon of light a lot of folks make him out to be. His hands are dirty, quite dirty...and he's not afraid of it, so I can definitely see him with someone with a darker side. But, of course...there are extremes that make sense for pretty much nobody, even in the original class stories.

[Suzsi]

I think making such sweeping stretches would erase a lot of who the characters are, but that's just my opinion.

 

As for Theron, I personally do ship him with a Sith, so I can easily see it...though not with a stabbity-stab-kill-kill one, of course. Theron isn't quite the squeaky clean paragon of light a lot of folks make him out to be. His hands are dirty, quite dirty...and he's not afraid of it, so I can definitely see him with someone with a darker side. But, of course...there are extremes that make sense for pretty much nobody, even in the original class stories.

 

Yeah I mean the extreme darksiders not the ones who sit in a relatively grey spot (hell some of my republic troopers sre more grey and work great with Aric who also isn't perfectly light. On coruscant Aric wants you to save the soldiers not the civvies for eg.). I couldn't see Theron staying with someone who would gladly let a planet of people die or something like that. Or one who continues to kill say Jedi or other friends of his. I just can't see it. Yes, to me it takes away from the char when it is allowed to keep going. As a player I just dont ship those chars with toons i dont think they mesh with tho and others do. Comes down to a matter of gaming choice then. I dont do it because it doesnt suit me to do it, I don’t begrudge those who choose otherwise though as not everyone hard core rps the story.

[Inspirals]

Yeah I mean the extreme darksiders not the ones who sit in a relatively grey spot (hell some of my republic troopers sre more grey and work great with Aric who also isn't perfectly light. On coruscant Aric wants you to save the soldiers not the civvies for eg.). I couldn't see Theron staying with someone who would gladly let a planet of people die or something like that. Or one who continues to kill say Jedi or other friends of his. I just can't see it. Yes, to me it takes away from the char when it is allowed to keep going. As a player I just dont ship those chars with toons i dont think they mesh with tho and others do. Comes down to a matter of gaming choice then. I dont do it because it doesnt suit me to do it, I don’t begrudge those who choose otherwise though as not everyone hard core rps the story.

 

Theron started the War on Iokath. He caused thousands of innocent deaths. You may think it was "for the greater good", but try telling that to the families of the dead. You can head-canon him as some sort of saint, but that's certainly not how he was written. Other companions have had kill options for far less than that. I think he was lucky to have the run he had, to be honest.

[ruffolofi]

If people didn't want to kill companions, my guess is, the others wouldn't have betrayed you and had a kill option either.

 

It's not a matter of Lana or Lana is a dev fave, it's a matter of some companions actually need to stay with us and stay a live.

 

The story is actually quite crap if the idea is to replace your crew every update or just not have one. One of the things that makes TOR different from other MMOs is the crew (and story).

 

However, some players got involved and wanted to kill off companions left and right. Screwing it up for everyone.

 

Time to let companions live and rebuilding the PC's crew with NPCs who will stay with us and not die.

 

I think it's great to have that choice of whether a companion lives or dies... sometimes, anyway. Koth and Quinn certainly deserved to pay for their betrayal. Same with Jorgan. But if you have a very interesting character like Theron and Arcann, then it might be beneficial to not let the player kill them permanently. There's time and place for everything.

 

Like I said I do love Lana, she's a good LI and even better friend, but I'm getting sick and tired of hearing her voice all the time. That's why I think she could serve a greater purpose in the story by dying a meaningful death. Now with the Alliance over it's time to bring in new companions and LI's and not make them all killable. I have no use for companions who just sit there in my companions log and do nothing.

Edited January 2, 2019 by ruffolofi

[Inspirals]

This is what I'm afraid of and I am pretty well ready to unsub over it tbh. I can't see me holding out much longer if everyone keeps getting sidelined

 

I was very tempted to just have my Theron girls retire after Nathema and ride off into the sunset with him because I thought this would happen. I just couldnt care less about new romances. I want to keep playing my current chars and theyll never cheat on their LIs. Id have to make all new chars and with the length of story that comes before thats a massive undertaking now.

 

That seems like a rather drastic reason to unsub. Maybe you could try making some of your characters polyamorous, that way they wouldn't be cheating, and it's fun too.