Could SWTOR's Setting Move Into A Galactic Dark Age?

[Ylliarus]

I am sure it is something many of us have been thinking about: what could a potential future story setting for SWTOR be? We have seen the war between the Republic and Empire (which is a narrative I personally really love), we have seen the rise of the Hutt Cartel, the Revanites and subsequently the domination of the galaxy by Zakuul. Presently we are returning to the core story of this game, which is Republic vs Empire, Jedi vs Sith, a return I personally applaud very much but recognise and understand others might not be happy about. So perhaps something fresher might be preferable in this situation.

 

Enter a concept that has been discussed more than once on these forums and the game's Reddit forums: a Galactic Dark Age. From Legends continuity we know that, by the time of the New Sith Wars, the Republic falls into decline and eventually a so called "Republic Dark Age" ensues 100 years prior to the Ruusan Reformations. Now, all of that happens between 2000 and 1000 BBY and considering Jedi Under Siege takes place in 3630 BBY, all of that is still circa 1600 years away from this game's timeline perspective. However, considering the current state of the galaxy and the Third Galactic War having broken out between the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire, there is enough room for a Dark Age to occur now as well.

 

How could this Dark Age potentially look like? An interesting setting could be the fracturing of the two major factions that are currently again at war with one another:

 

The Sith Empire could break up into many smaller states, each ruled by a Warlord that seeks to obtain more power and territory. Considering how the Sith powerbases currently work, they're perfect material for such a setting. Perhaps the Imperial Throne on Dromund Kaas could come to be vacant and the Sith Civil War starts with multiple Sith Lords and Darths trying to claim the mantle of Emperor/Empress of the Sith for themselves. It could be reminiscent of the Three-Banner War in Elder Scrolls Online, where everyone fights to seat one of their own on the Ruby Throne, but in this case, the Imperial Throne on Dromund Kaas.

 

The Galactic Republic could face a Civil War of its own. How you ask? I could imagine other Core Worlds in the Republic, such as Corellia, Kuat, Alderaan, Alsakan etc etc, to be fed up with Coruscant as the center of the universe, especially with the start of the Third Galactic War. They could take up arms against the current Republic capital in a bid for becoming the new capital and center of the universe themselves. Such conflicts have happened before, especially between Coruscant and Alsakan (the Alsakan Conflicts). Perhaps new rising tensions between those two worlds could be the catalyst for other Core Worlds coming into conflict with Coruscant as well. In the meantime, a lot of other systems could want to secede from the Republic as they no longer want to be part of an endless war with the Sith that basically bleeds them dry for a cause they don't even believe in.

 

Other minor factions like the Hutt Cartel, the Tion Hegemony and so on, could take advantage of the galactic chaos in a bid for more power and influence as well. I realise including them in any major way might be very taxing on the current dev team, so perhaps this particular bit could be more backdrop fluff.

 

The question naturally would be how the player character would fit into this. Some might argue that the Alliance might be an excellent tool to create stories in this particular setting. While I would not disagree with that, because in a setting as I just described a faction like the Alliance would make a lot of sense, there might be other ways to include the PC in a meaningful way. Which is why I leave this particular bit open to discussion and you.

 

So, could this be an interesting story setting for SWTOR? Would people want to play in a galaxy where the major factions have fractured and are thrown into a massive civil war? Would a Galactic Dark Age like this be appealing to you or would you like to see something else happen? I am very curious as to your thoughts!

[sauceemynx]

I like the idea of warlord Sith roaming around & battling each other, particularly now that the all mighty Emperor is dead. They fell in line under Valkorion because he was far more powerful than any of them would ever be--none of the current Sith, even our own characters, can touch that. And the Republic is always on the verge of a breakdown, so I could easily buy a civil war. Those ideas would certainly mix things up and make it more interesting than the bog standard Imp vs. Pub thing.

[Ylliarus]

I like the idea of warlord Sith roaming around & battling each other, particularly now that the all mighty Emperor is dead. They fell in line under Valkorion because he was far more powerful than any of them would ever be--none of the current Sith, even our own characters, can touch that. And the Republic is always on the verge of a breakdown, so I could easily buy a civil war. Those ideas would certainly mix things up and make it more interesting than the bog standard Imp vs. Pub thing.

 

That particular setting could really play into PvP, especially with how guilds can now challenge one another in PvP as well. But the setting might also revive the individual class stories: a Sith Warrior could be a Dromund Kaas loyalist, protecting what they consider to be the true Empire. A Sith Inquisitor could be one of the Warlords seeking to obtain more power, influence and the Imperial Throne. Those two are the ones that immediately spring to mind, but every other class could have their own interesting story in a setting like this

[Goreshaga]

This could be a more interesting setting than Pub vs Imp.

 

As for the Alliance, it somehow could stay as it is, but only slightly change in name and shape depending on the player's choice. It could stay as the Alliance, pretty much the same as now, or become a sort of independant kingdom on its own trying to find its place in the Galaxy, trying to forge alliance with other independant worlds, or a Sith Warlord's powerbase, a criminal organization, an intelligence organisation or an army....

Edited January 6, 2019 by Goreshaga

[McBaal]

I agree that this would be the most satisfying story element and allow to return to Empire vs Republic as well as to keep the Alliance.

However, i doubt it's going to happen. Acina revived and enslaved Darth Malgus to reunite the Empire by force (in case she died Vowrawn just picked up his leash). Right now the empire is as united as it ever was since the Sith emperor went rogue. In case the devs are trying to consolidate the storyline and move on with two branches instead of one (empire and republic), i expect Darth Malgus to find a way to regain his freedom, overwhelm whoever is holding his leash (meaning both Acina and Vowrawn are killed) and declaring himself the new Sith emperor once more. Just this time there is noone to stop him since the PC, who stopped him the last time, is no longer a part of the empire and the republic doesn't want to clean up the empire's mess.

Malgus very aggressive stance towards the Jedi and the republic then leads directly into an all out war (part of 6.0) and the story continues via local battlefields in the style of Ossus.

 

That's just my opinion of course.

[Kataret]

This idea actually sounds like a really sweet follow-up to the current Imperial v Republic war they're setting out to do. It would accomplish a lot of things that I think players would want.

 

 

• There would still be a focus on the core elements of the game, Sith and Republic, while veering into "fresher" territory, as you said.
  
• It's been set up for a long time with Resource Crisis plot thread started way back in Fallen Empire.
  
• A total Dark Age with independent warlords would serve as a great story reset button to unite the various plot continuities that currently exist in the story.
  
• The Alliance would still fit logically into this story, either with the player working to rebuild the Galaxy or defending the Imperial/Republic remnant or taking power as a Warlord.
  

 

Overall, I think this is a solid concept. I would be very interested in seeing how this plays out after the untold destruction that will undoubtedly be brought by the Republic v Empire war.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Kataret

[MadDutchman]

This is a concept I've thought of/talked about before and I think it really is the best way forward.

 

With the serious resource shortages in all factions, there is going to be a lot of instability and war weariness at play in the galaxy (especially in the Republic). All it would really take are some ambitious Moffs to go rouge and a few more Rift Alliances to pop up and boom, everything falls to pieces

[OldVengeance]

Although this is a really cool idea for a setting, I don't see it as a good fit for Swtor. I think it would work better for a different game or movie or something.

 

I don't know that I'd want our current crop of characters to experience something like the Republic Dark Age because that would mean many of them will have failed in most (or much) of what they were fighting for, a strong Republic or Empire.

[FlameYOL]

I would love for all of what you've described to happen, it would be a really interesting setting to explore (I'd say somebody should explore the New Sith Wars but that would mean getting our characters stuck in Carbonite again). I don't see it happening with the current budget but I really would love if we ever got to see the Empire falling into warlord states fighting against each other for control of the galaxy, much like during the New Sith Wars.

 

A Separatist movement could rise within the Republic out of genuine concern they would not be able to properly manage its own government. I could see that movement seeing the Republic being crushed by its own weight.

 

But if Bioware has the resources to properly do this story I would be very interested to explore it. (Also would give nearly endless material to explore in regards to planet and factions since we would finish one and then be able to deal with the next and so on, unless Bioware chose to deal with all of them at once but I don't think this would happen even if they had a budget for it).

[Ardrossan]

After Nathema, there were suggestions along this line, and I was definitely in favor. After Ossus, eh.

 

I still think it's a good idea, I just think it's a standalone game.

[Paulsutherland]

That's not a bad idea. We're already partially there with the current resource crisis.

[Celise]

I am sure it is something many of us have been thinking about: what could a potential future story setting for SWTOR be? We have seen the war between the Republic and Empire (which is a narrative I personally really love), we have seen the rise of the Hutt Cartel, the Revanites and subsequently the domination of the galaxy by Zakuul. Presently we are returning to the core story of this game, which is Republic vs Empire, Jedi vs Sith, a return I personally applaud very much but recognise and understand others might not be happy about. So perhaps something fresher might be preferable in this situation.

 

Enter a concept that has been discussed more than once on these forums and the game's Reddit forums: a Galactic Dark Age. From Legends continuity we know that, by the time of the New Sith Wars, the Republic falls into decline and eventually a so called "Republic Dark Age" ensues 100 years prior to the Ruusan Reformations. Now, all of that happens between 2000 and 1000 BBY and considering Jedi Under Siege takes place in 3630 BBY, all of that is still circa 1600 years away from this game's timeline perspective. However, considering the current state of the galaxy and the Third Galactic War having broken out between the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire, there is enough room for a Dark Age to occur now as well.

 

How could this Dark Age potentially look like? An interesting setting could be the fracturing of the two major factions that are currently again at war with one another:

 

The Sith Empire could break up into many smaller states, each ruled by a Warlord that seeks to obtain more power and territory. Considering how the Sith powerbases currently work, they're perfect material for such a setting. Perhaps the Imperial Throne on Dromund Kaas could come to be vacant and the Sith Civil War starts with multiple Sith Lords and Darths trying to claim the mantle of Emperor/Empress of the Sith for themselves. It could be reminiscent of the Three-Banner War in Elder Scrolls Online, where everyone fights to seat one of their own on the Ruby Throne, but in this case, the Imperial Throne on Dromund Kaas.

 

The Galactic Republic could face a Civil War of its own. How you ask? I could imagine other Core Worlds in the Republic, such as Corellia, Kuat, Alderaan, Alsakan etc etc, to be fed up with Coruscant as the center of the universe, especially with the start of the Third Galactic War. They could take up arms against the current Republic capital in a bid for becoming the new capital and center of the universe themselves. Such conflicts have happened before, especially between Coruscant and Alsakan (the Alsakan Conflicts). Perhaps new rising tensions between those two worlds could be the catalyst for other Core Worlds coming into conflict with Coruscant as well. In the meantime, a lot of other systems could want to secede from the Republic as they no longer want to be part of an endless war with the Sith that basically bleeds them dry for a cause they don't even believe in.

 

Other minor factions like the Hutt Cartel, the Tion Hegemony and so on, could take advantage of the galactic chaos in a bid for more power and influence as well. I realise including them in any major way might be very taxing on the current dev team, so perhaps this particular bit could be more backdrop fluff.

 

The question naturally would be how the player character would fit into this. Some might argue that the Alliance might be an excellent tool to create stories in this particular setting. While I would not disagree with that, because in a setting as I just described a faction like the Alliance would make a lot of sense, there might be other ways to include the PC in a meaningful way. Which is why I leave this particular bit open to discussion and you.

 

So, could this be an interesting story setting for SWTOR? Would people want to play in a galaxy where the major factions have fractured and are thrown into a massive civil war? Would a Galactic Dark Age like this be appealing to you or would you like to see something else happen? I am very curious as to your thoughts!

 

i couldn't see it happening especially with 1600 years gap. The thing is that the conflict between the Sith Empire and Republic is expected to continue for at least 1,600 years, some point before the fourth schism with Darth Ruin and his new sith empire.

 

No, at some point the empire has to be defeated in the time line, because the Jedi rebuild the temple and expand on it 130 years later, it suggests the Jedi weren't defeated and something happened that made the Jedi bold enough to have their temple rebuilt. It wouldn't make much sense trying to rebuild the temple on Coruscant with all the current chaos in the galaxy.

[Ylliarus]

That's not a bad idea. We're already partially there with the current resource crisis.

 

The resource crisis might be good fuel for why Alsakan or Corellia and other Core Worlds might rise up against Coruscant. Their own resources are gobbled up by the Republic capital for a war they only suffered from? Rebellions started with less

 

And the Warlords in the Sith Empire might have selfish reasons, trying to protect their own resources but simultaneously also want more by taking it from others.

 

Basically the grounds for a Dark Age are already inside the current setting, it just needs that one step further into chaos.

[MandFlurry]

This could be a more interesting setting than Pub vs Imp.

 

As for the Alliance, it somehow could stay as it is, but only slightly change in name and shape depending on the player's choice. It could stay as the Alliance, pretty much the same as now, or become a sort of independant kingdom on its own trying to find its place in the Galaxy, trying to forge alliance with other independant worlds, or a Sith Warlord's powerbase, a criminal organization, an intelligence organisation or an army....

 

As i have said along with others here, in the George Lucas' Star Wars lore, the Republic and Sith Empire did go through a Dark Ages kind of time, just as this is happening here, we have said this many times on the Forums here. Where both the Sith Empire and Republic, because of their stupid Jedi vs, Sith Wars countless Star systems left both sides because of their stupidity, and they got sick of all the warring. So much blood shed, that the Republic and Sith Empire could not muster enough forces to even try to take their own systems back because they were too focused on the Jedi vs. Sith war that lasted 1,000 years.

 

One reason why a lot of us hate this stupid Republic vs. Empire junk.

Edited January 7, 2019 by MandFlurry

[Lhancelot]

I think this is a great idea. Only I would take it further.

 

Being a real Dark Age, all technology would somehow be destroyed except for really basic things, sort of like a post apocalyptic theme. The movie, The Book of Eli or if you are older, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, something along those lines come to mind.

 

This theme would dictate that some classes would have to have their abilities altered, as weaponry and some of the highly evolved technological weaponry would no longer be usable. This would enable the devs to cut away tons of the ability bloat, including much of the DCDs and movement enhancing abilities that have compounded the technical issues in the game.

 

With a post-apocalyptic theme, SWTOR would be turned into a much darker game, too. That would be nice. This change would enable really gritty writing on behalf of the writing team making for truly gripping and dramatic stories.

 

I am sure this type of theme could be used to improve upon SWTOR, these were just a couple ideas that came to me as I thought on it. Along with these ideas would include the entire world landscapes being altered to represent such a theme, lots of destruction, lots of death, lots of misery essentially. All the zones and worlds would have to show the Dark Age impact!

 

I love the idea though, and support this thread in hope that the writing team and EA/BW choose this much darker and intriguing route in the future regarding the direction SWTOR goes.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Lhancelot

[TonyTricicolo]

Being that Bioware are the masters of recycling content, Malgus returning from the dead surely ain't a coincidence. He'll be the main bad guy for 6.0.

[Paulsutherland]

The resource crisis might be good fuel for why Alsakan or Corellia and other Core Worlds might rise up against Coruscant. Their own resources are gobbled up by the Republic capital for a war they only suffered from? Rebellions started with less

 

And the Warlords in the Sith Empire might have selfish reasons, trying to protect their own resources but simultaneously also want more by taking it from others.

 

Basically the grounds for a Dark Age are already inside the current setting, it just needs that one step further into chaos.

 

Well Corellia is also under risk of the Rakghoul plague thanks to the infection from the Tion Hegonomy ... they could be getting desperate to deal with that.

[Kataret]

I like the Dark Ages idea, though I don't think it's necessary to connect it to something 1600 years down the line in legends.

[Ylliarus]

I like the Dark Ages idea, though I don't think it's necessary to connect it to something 1600 years down the line in legends.

 

Well, it doesn't need to be of course, but as Charles Boyd has said they do need to keep in mind what happens in the future. Even if all of it is Legends continuity, the story team is still obligated to follow the narrative set out by the content of Legends.

 

That said, I could imagine the period between SWTOR's time and 1100 BBY to be full of Dark Ages, especially since the conflict between the Jedi and Sith is ebbing and flowing within this period. It's why I am so in favour of the current return to Empire vs Republic, because it aligns with the established Legends continuity perfectly, but also would see more than enough room for a Dark Age to occur as well

[TalleraLane]

It could yes. Anything is possible. Personally I think its unlikely OP. Nice read though.

[Ylliarus]

It could yes. Anything is possible. Personally I think its unlikely OP. Nice read though.

 

Oh the likelihood of it happening is an entirely different discussion and I am sceptical myself whether this would ever be implemented into this incarnation of the game.

 

It could be the setting of a SWTOR 2, but I think the likelihood of that happening is even smaller. Still, if SWTOR will still be around after the plot of the new Third Galactic War is finished, a Dark Age like this could be the next major plotline.

[TalleraLane]

Oh the likelihood of it happening is an entirely different discussion and I am sceptical myself whether this would ever be implemented into this incarnation of the game.

 

It could be the setting of a SWTOR 2, but I think the likelihood of that happening is even smaller. Still, if SWTOR will still be around after the plot of the new Third Galactic War is finished, a Dark Age like this could be the next major plotline.

 

It could. Personally I hope there's a huge time jump if it ever go's into SWTOR 2. The reason is BW and any writer evolved with SW has little respect for any of these characters. Would any fan of the kotor x-box game wanted Reven's fate for there character? or the way the Exile was written and killed in the novel. Even now which ever character you happen to be playing as the outlander, all other 7 have well.....nothing I can write without been warned. Don't get me wrong here I have enjoyed the story but I think BW could of come up with far better reasons other than disappeared for the other 7 class's. As such I hope anything that comes next leaves it to the players themselves and there imagination the fate of the outlander. Otherwise it be killed in some god-awful way.

 

Even if there is a time jump, does not mean all that much. Yes Reven again.

 

As for the accrual future story in say 6.0, well I don't overthink it or really want players to have any say in it. The issue is far to many ask "kill this character" which really spoils the game and story for everyone else. I agree to some degree that companions should be picked by the player and not by BW. So if you really dislike ay Lana you just tick a box and a different companion becomes your advisor. Players choice. So far the kill options in game are the only part of the story I have not liked. Most of these are directly because of other players. Most won't get any reasonable dialog going forward. None of those players asking for kill options would like it if players like me demanded x companion was used in every scene if it was one they did not like. Yet they not only demand it, BW gives in to them time and time again.

Edited January 7, 2019 by TalleraLane

[phalczen]

I suspect the story for 6.0 is already set in stone. However, I like this idea.

 

I could definitely see planets like Manaan, Corellia, etc, leaving the Republic. Years of bellicosity, corruption under Saresh, and in some cases, like Balmorra, abandonment, would make a lot of planets disillusioned. It isn't a huge stretch to think that something akin to the Confederacy of Independent Systems (a' la the Clone Wars) could try to secede from the Republic. Possibly even more so than the circumstances surrounding the secession of the CIS, since after the war with the Eternal Empire, not only is the Republic corrupt, but unable to defend its members.

[FlameYOL]

I think this is a great idea. Only I would take it further.

 

Being a real Dark Age, all technology would somehow be destroyed except for really basic things, sort of like a post apocalyptic theme. The movie, The Book of Eli or if you are older, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, something along those lines come to mind.

 

This theme would dictate that some classes would have to have their abilities altered, as weaponry and some of the highly evolved technological weaponry would no longer be usable. This would enable the devs to cut away tons of the ability bloat, including much of the DCDs and movement enhancing abilities that have compounded the technical issues in the game.

 

With a post-apocalyptic theme, SWTOR would be turned into a much darker game, too. That would be nice. This change would enable really gritty writing on behalf of the writing team making for truly gripping and dramatic stories.

 

I am sure this type of theme could be used to improve upon SWTOR, these were just a couple ideas that came to me as I thought on it. Along with these ideas would include the entire world landscapes being altered to represent such a theme, lots of destruction, lots of death, lots of misery essentially. All the zones and worlds would have to show the Dark Age impact!

 

I love the idea though, and support this thread in hope that the writing team and EA/BW choose this much darker and intriguing route in the future regarding the direction SWTOR goes.

 

Honestly I would love for an apocalyptic setting in Star Wars to explore, but I really think that something along those lines would be better off as its own stand-alone game ya know?

[uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu]

I like the idea of warlord Sith roaming around & battling each other, particularly now that the all mighty Emperor is dead. They fell in line under Valkorion because he was far more powerful than any of them would ever be--none of the current Sith, even our own characters, can touch that.

 

This idea irks me. So my SW/SI characters defeated Valkorion (Who of course, was also the Sith Emperor) along with both his children and his wife (If you went full DS) yet I'm not considered "as powerful" as him? I killed him in combat! I'm definitely as powerful lol.