What is the Appeal of the Empire?

[Rafaedrin]

Id be a bad guy in real life but my wife would whoop my a**.

 

Yay for pixelated replacements for galaxywide(or at least 3 or 4 house) homicidal rampages fueled by narcisism and vani.......

 

Should probably stop there.........

[Thrage]

I don't feel like being a good guy makes for a good story, I don't know. I tried playing some repubs but I just can't do it for more than a couple of hours.

[Darkeus]

I have Republic characters. But I do have an Imperial Agent alt. Why? Because I heard the story is really good!

 

That is it, otherwise I would be straight Republic.

[cdstephen]

Bounty Hunter gets a Jawa companion.

 

That's all the reason you need.

[AlpsStranger]

Bounty Hunter gets a Jawa companion.

 

That's all the reason you need.

 

Interestingly, my friends and I consider this the best reason to join Empire. We went Republic purely due to pop balance issues, but still.

 

*sigh* Honestly, I would've had a good time being Empire as well, but somebody has to make sure this is still a two-sided conflict.

Edited December 31, 2011 by AlpsStranger

[brede_armozel]

I just liked the look and feel of the Empire over the Republic. The Republic just seems too soft considering its circumstances. Plus, the Imperial Agent class looked very interesting in terms of its support roles.

[Gaidax]

1. Looks - Empire classes end up having very nice designs and armors.

 

2. Republic is an experiment in government hypocrisy, Empire does not hide its true face, while Republic is trying to play the "good" card, while doing pure atrocities in the background like Belsavis, building apocalyptic weapons of mass destruction, employing brainwashing and it's Cenate is a badly masked every man for himself bureaucracy swamp.

 

3. We got loads of info on Republic from other sources and very little on the Empire.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Gaidax

[HeavensTerror]

It's "cool" to be bad.

[AlpsStranger]

You ARE aware that the largest MMO study ever done pegged the Horde as the younger side, right?

 

I'd also bet money that the Sith are younger in this game as well. I base this on their names and appearances on my server.

 

Fictional Example Republic in a Warfront:

Wu-Da Artois

Jedi Sentinel Body Type 2 Male

Conservative Haircut

 

Fictional Example Empire in a Warfront:

Bobbafet Bobafattsfattsfatts, He Who Has His Longest Title On 24/7

Sith Marauder Body Type 4 Male

Pink Mohawk and Beard

 

Bobafattsfattsfatts will soon be posting about changing his legacy name. He didn't realize you couldn't change it and he prefers XxThisIsSpartaxX.

Edited December 31, 2011 by AlpsStranger

[AlkalineKitten]

Because I rolled Alliance PvP in WoW.

 

That's a mistake you make once.

 

I feel, on the two servers I play on, that Empire is the "new Alliance".

[SodaOfYoda]

It's not the east or the west side

... no it's not

It's not the north or the south side

... no it's not

It's the dark side

... you are correct

 

... we got Death Star ...

... we got Death Star ...

Edited December 31, 2011 by SodaOfYoda

[RWScissors]

Let us compare the philosophy of the Jedi with that of the Sith, their codes courtesy of wookieepedia.

The Jedi Code.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

(There is no chaos, there is harmony.)(*)

There is no death, there is the Force.

—The Jedi Code (Based on the meditations of Odan-Urr)

The Sith Code.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

The Force shall free me.

Which sounds more appealing, for me it's the Sith.

[ArkhamNative]

Xanthe Elbrick

[Cyrana]

I guess people just like genocide (see Nar Shaddaa) and slavery.

[Kalfear]

So, maybe it's just me, but a general pattern I've seen is that people tend to favor the Empire over the Republic. On my own server, I would estimate that Imps outnumber Pubs about 1.8 to 1.

 

For those of you who only roll Imp or who have an Imp for a main, what's your reasoning behind rolling Imp?

 

Also, for reference, my main is a Smuggler/Scoundrel, and I've rolled a Knight/Guardian and an Inquisitor/Assassin as my alts.

 

Well the appeal to most people is its different then the Republic

 

While the argue about anything crowd will try to tell you Republic isnt the good guys and the Imps are not the villians.

 

It really is laid out that way and most people will play the Republic and Jedi as lightside goodies

 

So the draw is you get to be evil as a imp/sith

 

I was one of those people until I found Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter

 

Now I want to be honest here so full disclosure:

 

Im playing my Sith Inq as about as evil, obnoxious, vile female you can ever imagine.

And its getting old.

 

I rolled a Sith warrior and I play him darkside but try not to be abusive darkside and it was a little better

 

So When I rolled my Imp agent and Bounty Hunter I told myself, these 2 are going to ignore faction

 

My bounty Hunter lives by the code: The employer always right. Doesnt matter if its a light side or darkside mission, I do the job and I NEVER sell out my employer, no matter how much I might disagree with the job or how it turns out!

 

I gotta say its been a breath of fresh air and ALLOT of fun.

 

BH still has one of the worst storylines going (Im told it gets better in act 2 and 3, it couldnt get any worse) but the class is lights out fun to play. Add in the extra dimension of playing the character beyond the lightside/darkside routine most stick to and my BH has quickly become one of my favorite characters to play.

 

My Imp Agent is much the same deal but hes a spy so he goes by philosophy of"leave no witnesses". He doesnt kill for the sake of killing and hes not a braggart whose constantly threatening peoples lives, but he does eliminate any and all loose ends (as much as game allows any ways) so he does tend to come down on the darkside more often then not.

 

Still hes interesting to play, the storyline is hands down amazing thus far (imp agent). His skill set takes a bit to get use to and isnt a class Id suggest as a first character to most players.

 

The only real downside to these 2 characters is I had to do level 1-11 on Hutta (which is by far the worst, most boring, dull, bland starter world of the 4. Feels like it was just slapped togather in the final moments to be honest.

 

But once your off Hutta, the fun begins in loads.

 

So whats the appeal of the Empire?

More flexibility in a character play style!

 

Ill never play a darkside or even neutral Jedi because they shouldnt exist and only in game as a game mechanic rather then a lore aspect.

 

Trooper is hands over each other fun to play, but again you have more freedom then what the Jedi bring.

 

When this game was announced I couldnt wait to be a jedi

Now im haveing far more fun with the BH,Imp Agent, Trooper (and I wouldnt be shocked if the Smuggler also fun)

 

Inquiz and Jedi Cons still amazingly good stories that everyone should see first hand at least once but if your playing sith and jedi as sith and jedi, they both get rather 1 dimensional pretty fast.

[Vegetian]

So, maybe it's just me, but a general pattern I've seen is that people tend to favor the Empire over the Republic. On my own server, I would estimate that Imps outnumber Pubs about 1.8 to 1.

 

For those of you who only roll Imp or who have an Imp for a main, what's your reasoning behind rolling Imp?

 

Also, for reference, my main is a Smuggler/Scoundrel, and I've rolled a Knight/Guardian and an Inquisitor/Assassin as my alts.

 

Because the dark side of the force is the true side of the force. Raw emotion makes you more powerful. It unleashes you, shows you your true potential. The stotic way of the jedi limits your power and attempts to constrain you in a bubble.

 

Ideology wise I consider the way of the jedi akin to communisim. Your constrained by your ideals and forced to walk the same path as everyone else, with the same expectations. Conversly the dark side of the force is much like a retarded oligarchy. The strongest survive by thier ability to harness thier potential and make something of it (oligarchy part). Thier not limited by rules or ideals (retarded oligarchy part), thier only limitations are thier own ethics (which in some cases are very limited).

 

Naturally the choice which makes freedom more applicable and allows creativity and freedom of choice is more appealing (to me) than an ideal thats stifiling.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Vegetian

[Krawzer]

Because the Empire is cool.

 

Doing Black Talon, when Satele shows up on the holo projector I thought, "Look out everyone, the Jedi are coming to bore us to death" and you end up fighting some lame Jedi padawan later on.

 

On the other side, in the Esseles, I couldn't help but feel how screwed we were up against Grand Moff Kilran (Not to mention most of the Republic dialogue is just lame, so your options are "We're so screwed! or We will never back down, we fight for the light and democracy!") and later on fight a pretty ****** Sith apprentice who wipes out a squad of soldiers with ease.

 

I primarily play Empire but the Republic is so cliche and bland I haven't been able to force myself past 11.

 

On my agent, most options are 1) [Responsible Imperial]. 2) [Greedy Bastard]. or 3) [No BS Renegade]

 

On my trooper (at least so far) we have 1) [sIR, YES SIR] 2. [Yeah, sure] or 3) [Awwww but I don't wanna!]

Edited December 31, 2011 by Krawzer

[Akkalevil]

For those of you who only roll Imp or who have an Imp for a main, what's your reasoning behind rolling Imp?

My guild went to the Empire :-/

I'd REALLY prefer to play Republic, but they massively favoured the Sith. I would have gladly taken the Empire's side if it had been the one from the "first trilogy", but the Empire from KotOR just doesn't please me.

 

So meh :-/

Edited December 31, 2011 by Akkalevil

[christianizcool]

I prefer playing more marginalized races/classes/factions. In WoW, this meant playing almost exclusively Tauren and Troll because I felt they were misunderstood. In TES I exclusively play Argonian. In TOR, the Empire isn't marginalized, but I play a Zabrak Bounty Hunter and I am playing him light side, so I feel misunderstood and marginalized.

 

I am not sure why, maybe it is some sort of subconscious way to cover up Freudian guilt for being a straight white male in America.

[Kalisperas]

It is easy to play a good guy within the imperial faction, and you are not so hemmed in by the strictures of the Republic. There is a genuine ability to do good as an Empire player, but there is nothing making it so that you must; true character is not displayed merely in acting good when it should be expected of you, but in doing so when it gains you nothing, or even loses you much.

 

Not having played the Empire yet, are they (as a faction) as objectively evil as the opening cinematics make them out to be? The opening blurbs about the two factions sort of paint the Empire as a purely destructive force, burning and destroying their way across the galaxy. If that's the case, then wouldn't a character still rank as "evil" if they're supporting the goals of this organization, even if they do nice things for individuals along the way (only so they can later be squashed under the collective imperial boot)? Or are the collective goals and motivations of the Empire less cartoonishly evil than they appear from the outset?

[Crackseed]

Because Alliance/Republic=Blue and Horde/Empire=Red. It's already programmed in your mind as being related.

 

Republic is expected to be "good" and I can assume will draw in kids and carebears. Empire is about being powerful and cruel so I'd expect a more mature group there. You EVE players will know carebears (least the pirates will)

 

This is so inaccurate it's funny I've seen so much more random idiocy on the Empire side then I have on the Republic. Republic has started out like the Horde did in WoW - the underdog that's fighting a mass of players rolling the "cool" side, which in this game so far seems to be Empire.

 

Unlike WoW at least, both factions ARE legitimately cool - I just find playing Republic more interesting. People keep saying Sith have better storylines, which I find entertaining because while Republic starts out a bit tamer, when you walk the light side line, you end up getting into more crap then when you're all dark and killing everyone w/o a second thought.

 

That being said, I will be playing on both sides for sure, but my primary side is definitely going to be Republic.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Crackseed

[Draksen]

If you fancy, in no particular order:

 

Racism,

Genocide,

Torture,

Lack of speech liberty,

Lack of liberty in general,

Violence,

Aggression,

...

(all these are in the sw lore, and in the game)

 

then be my guest, play the Empire.

 

I know it's a game, but as for me I cant play a "side" which is so dark, for the pleasure to be dark. Totally psychopathic I would have said. Doesnt suit me.

 

In term of real "empires", the republic is the real empire, in term of constitution, and the closest thing to real life Roman or French Napoleonic Empire. The "empire" of SWTOR is closely relative to a stalinian state à la North Korea, and for the ideas to what Hitler planned to do (and did) of Germany/Europe during WW2: mass murder gas and concentration camps? (present in the game too, no need to extrapolate!)

 

The boots of the SS maybe shiny, they remain the boots of the SS.

So thanks but no thanks.

[fro_do_fraggins]

You ARE aware that the largest MMO study ever done pegged the Horde as the younger side, right?

 

Was that before or after blood elves?

[Ashal]

The appeal of the empire for me is all the hot hot zombie chicks. Edited December 31, 2011 by Ashal

[fro_do_fraggins]

The empire would never put up with Jar Jar, let alone let him tag along.

 

What's the attraction to playing humans in MMOs that have non humans? Every game out there is basically you being a good human. It's nice to go the other way.

 

The movies pretty much flesh out how boring most of the republic is.