What is the Appeal of the Empire?

[AlpsStranger]

I really doubt there were many banking conglomerates blockading planets during the period of the Galactic Empire.

 

Yeah, the trains ran on time for the whole month that the Empire managed to stay in power.

[Crackseed]

Two big reasons:

 

1) The Empire is winning. The Treaty of Coruscant was not a treaty forged between powers of equal strength who had fought each other to a standstill. The Empire had sacked the Republic capital and killed their head of state. the Republic was forced to cede almost half its territory. Sneak attack or no, if the Republic was unable to put up much of any resistance in the first war, I don't see them doing much better in the position they're in now.

 

2) The Sith Code is superior to that of the Jedi. The Jedi at the best of times are emotionless cloistered monks. As seen in the Mandalorian Wars, they will even leave the Republic to rot on occasion rather than risk dirtying their hands with fighting. They don't use their power to help the people of the galaxy, they hide away and hoard it for themselves. Now obviously "helping people" isn't a big part of Sith philosophy, but at least they don't pretend otherwise. The Sith are a more honest and pure expression of the power of the force. And say what you will about Palpatine, but he DID bring peace to the galaxy for a time. Under Imperial rule the factional infighting of the Republic is not tolerated. I really doubt there were many banking conglomerates blockading planets during the period of the Galactic Empire.

 

Both of these are open to interpretation. Currently, the Empire has the upper hand but that can definitely swing in Republic's favor at anytime.

 

Point 2 is the bigger one I want to respond to - I agree that many of the Jedi show being set in their ways, but we saw with Revan and Malak before their fall that being a Jedi doesn't mean being a cloistered monk. Generally I've always preferred the philosophy that Luke embodied after he became the leader of the new Jedi Order. It wasn't so much about always suffocating your emotions as much as using them to support order and peace when possible but not being afraid to cram your lightsaber in someone's head if they were threatening things.

 

Bioware created a good dichotomy IMO in which the Jedi Order shows reluctance to act because of all that's happened while as players on the Republic side, you can challenge that and take on the role of a much more pro-active Jedi which IMO, makes the story get more fun

[DarthMarisa]

And Don't forget the Yuuzhan Vong. Palpatine may have been evil, ruthless and cruel but he knew there were bigger threats out there and the only way to quickly unify a galaxy to stand against them was through force. I don't pretend he was noble but imo, a lot (I did not say all) of the Empire is ruthless for a reason rather than for evil's sake alone.

 

 

There a LOT of reasons I chose Empire and I can't remember if I replied in this thread somewhere or another just it a while back. Regarding Bioware, there are 2 reasons:

 

1. In Beta, I played the Jedi Consular and the Trooper and both stories bored me to tears. I'm NOT saying they weren't written well or acted well, they just didn't hook me in the early stages which for me, a story really needs to do. On The Empire side, I played IA and Sith Inquisitor and the stories hooked me pretty much right from login. That's why at launch, I chose Empire. Of course my husband is playing the IA and I'm playing a BH but I even love the BH story once I was past the prologue.

 

2. When KOTOR first came out, I played a very good Jedi throughout the game. Then when I faced Darth Malak again and found out for sure that I had been a sith Lord by my own choosing and the Council took away my free will and mind wiped me, I was PO'd. I don't care what the canon is, I was livid that they could take away someone's choice in life and then hide that fact and then still try to act like they were all noble and self serving. Ever since that moment, I've gravitated toward evil in SW games so blame Bioware.

 

I'm not going to list ALL my other reasons, I'm sure this is already TL;DR. Generally, I agree with previous posters. The Empire is not good, they are not noble. They are however, honest for the most part about their motivations for what they do. You know it won't be pleasant but you're more likely to understand why they're doing it. Whereas working for the Republic it seems they're willing to play dirty but they won't admit to it, they want to pretend they're noble and shining examples of good.

 

While I personally think the Sith Code is more "realistic" for lack of a better term, it's not the Jedi Code that bothers me. I think teaching restraint is a good thing but I think both codes overdo it a bit and for me personally, a truly honest force user that knows themselves well, falls in between the two.

[ClayPeopleCry]

I think if the Sith were real, they wouldn't be as evil as they look in the movies. They would probity be just like any other person. They would just use their own brain and morality to think and act rather than blindly following some dogmatic code like the Jedi. Edited December 31, 2011 by ClayPeopleCry

[AlpsStranger]

I think if the Sith were real, they wouldn't be as evil as they look in the movies. They would probity be just like any other person. They would just use their own brain and morality to think and act rather than blindly following some dogmatic code like the Jedi.

 

Um... yeah. Not exactly relevant here.

 

I'm sure that if this were real we'd have figured out how to give midi-chlorian injections by now.

Edited December 31, 2011 by AlpsStranger

[gannonmoss]

Because I rolled Alliance PvP in WoW.

 

That's a mistake you make once.

 

I peed a little when I read this.

 

+10 internetz for hilariousness.

[Crackseed]

Yeah, every Republic story outside of Smuggler does start out rather...tame. But so far I've loved the ramp-up on them. Trooper is getting really intense and the snippets I've seen of the JK one, especially considering one of his companions after reading Revan, it'll be pretty insane by the end.

 

Empire is fun though - playing Light Side Sith Warrior with your Master being who he is? Man that causes some hilarity IA is the story arc Empire side I'm most interested in though.

[gannonmoss]

I think if the Sith were real, they wouldn't be as evil as they look in the movies. They would probity be just like any other person. They would just use their own brain and morality to think and act rather than blindly following some dogmatic code like the Jedi.

 

They totally embrace being evil. It's not like WoW where the Horde was supposed to be misuderstood. We Sith are straight pure evil and it's awesome.

[AlpsStranger]

I peed a little when I read this.

 

+10 internetz for hilariousness.

 

Ok, but wasn't the Horde the underdog? I really don't see how Republic=Alliance when we're outnumbered.

[Flyceratops]

They totally embrace being evil. It's not like WoW where the Horde was supposed to be misuderstood. We Sith are straight pure evil and it's awesome.

Nah. The Empire is evil, yes, but the Sith can be good, too.

 

Take a look at the Doctor: A force for good, but also blazing righteousness. In season three, in episode three if I remember right (the Christmas one/last one featuring Donna), he basically kills everyone in a room because they were evil and never gave them a second chance (because they did something evil).

 

Donna tells him to get a companion but that it won't be her. "Because sometimes, you need someone to stop you."

 

If the Doctor isn't a Sith I don't know what the hell he is! D:

 

Edit: Note, this is about the Doctor in the 2005 Doctor Who reboot. >.> I forget to mention that. xD

Edited December 31, 2011 by Flyceratops

[SmittyOnDaBeat]

Look at it this way:

 

If you had the force, what would you do? Would you really follow some kind of sterile dogmatic code? Would you lead a monkish lifestyle, free of all corruption and attachments? I mean, is that *really* realistic?

 

Think about how often you, on a given, random day, for perhaps a moment just toy with hurting someone. Like, say you're out driving, and some guy cuts you off and then flips you the bird. If you were given the ability to hurt or kill him without any consequences (moral, religious, legal or otherwise), can you honestly say you'd be able to restrain yourself? He's just some random slob, and you can obliterate him with your mind.

 

The darkside is the force. The Jedi just have it wrong. Peace is a lie. That's the appeal of the Empire.

 

very well said fellow sith. Peace is a lie.

[AlpsStranger]

very well said fellow sith. Peace is a lie.

 

"War is delightful to those who have never experienced it."

Edited December 31, 2011 by AlpsStranger

[Haxes]

~~

Easy, we were Imperial in SWG.

~~

 

^^^^

 

I also prefer the "bad" guy....i love the sith code and imperial side...always have ever since i seen starwars...

[salteggerh]

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

 

That's very very interesting to see... Considering that whenever I played Horde there were FAR more mature and older players than when I played Alliance. Like I liked the races of the Alliance better, but simply couldn't bring myself to play as them because all the little kids running around.

[Badonkastomp]

I didn'tread the books, but I don't know why a third Jedi faction never started. Jedi are too rigid and empire is too destructive. Why couldn't a branch of jedis go off to create, love, and prosper elsewhere. AO had three factions.

 

Because like in the real world people only pay attention to the fanatics. The squeeky wheel gets the oil. It's awful lonely in the middle, but there's no place I'd rather be.

To the main topic, I didn't want to play Empire any more than Republic, I just wanted to play a Bounty Hunter first. I want to play them all eventually.

[Darth_Acherus]

Don't know where you people are getting the kids want to be the hero crap from.

 

They all want to be raging teenage drama queen sith lol.

[Goretzu]

The accent.

I mean.. they make everything sound so posh. I'll believe anything, if it's said with an accent like that.

 

You're mine! Muhahahaha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like both sides, but the LS imperial is probably the most interesting to play.

 

DS Imperial is a cross between Stalin and the Hulk (and just as ridculous).

 

LS Republic is generally decent, but sometimes feels far, far too saintly.

 

And DS Republic generally just seem like you're RPing a spoilt 5 year old kid.

[ScottStebbs]

I have toons on both sides and i enjoy the stories on both sides. The jedi consular though probably has the most evil decision in the game by killing hundreds of masters at one time. Playing a lightside sith or a dark side jedi seem like the more interesting was to play the game and the most enjoyable.

 

Its too bad that BW decided to make so much nicer things for the IMPs and the republic gets the short end of the stick.

[Stenrik]

Fists for sure. I mean come on, what is more "epic?" Running through blaster fire to stab someone, or running through blaster fire to PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE?

 

This.

[LieutenantCole]

Because everyone wants to live in a totalitarian dictatorship society ruled by a tyrant who endorses its ideals of war, genocide, slavery and torture.

 

Evil is so cool, screw democracy!

Edited July 15, 2012 by LieutenantCole

[Blackweb]

I rolled republic cuz I didn't wanna have discussions with depressed emo kids all the time, this was at launch and before knowing which side would have the most "kids". Having played abit on both sides now I realise I made the right choice, geeze some of these ppl have serious issues.

[Sebah]

Look at it this way:

 

If you had the force, what would you do? Would you really follow some kind of sterile dogmatic code? Would you lead a monkish lifestyle, free of all corruption and attachments? I mean, is that *really* realistic?

 

Think about how often you, on a given, random day, for perhaps a moment just toy with hurting someone. Like, say you're out driving, and some guy cuts you off and then flips you the bird. If you were given the ability to hurt or kill him without any consequences (moral, religious, legal or otherwise), can you honestly say you'd be able to restrain yourself? He's just some random slob, and you can obliterate him with your mind.

 

The darkside is the force. The Jedi just have it wrong. Peace is a lie. That's the appeal of the Empire.

"So look at it this way", what would you say if someone would just decide it's fun to torture and kill your child? By making an analogy with the ideas you told, this should be awesome because your kid is just a worthless slob and there's no code against killing him, right? Boy I really think some of you guys live in "La-la Land". You and everyone that agrees with you scare me and thank God for those "sterile dogmatic codes" or I would be afraid to get out of the house.

[SajmanPeetee]

First three characters I played were Sentinel, Sage and Vanguard. My rationale was that I consider myself to be a good person and did not want to play an evil character or be affiliated with evil characters.

 

Then the requirement of 1 Imperial and 1 Republic character came down for the HK-51 companion, so I rolled an Assassin and I will never return to the republic again.

 

Everything about Imperial from the quest lines, to the gear, to the zone layouts, to the world environment, everything is just better and more enjoyable. It's not Bioware's fault, there's only so many ways you can do up gray/brown and being the good guys.

 

Morally, there's really only ever 1 good answer but there's a heck of a lot of bad ones, and it's nice to have the freedom to choose.

[Baphomet_x]

"So look at it this way", what would you say if someone would just decide it's fun to torture and kill your child? By making an analogy with the ideas you told, this should be awesome because your kid is just a worthless slob and there's no code against killing him, right? Boy I really think some of you guys live in "La-la Land". You and everyone that agrees with you scare me and thank God for those "sterile dogmatic codes" or I would be afraid to get out of the house.

 

you do realize its this same sterile dogmatic code thats lets to thousands of people throughout history,that were innocent,being prosecuted for having a different creed than whatever the society`s was at the time,including now days,even if there non violent,non criminal types,just having different beleifs on things can get you in trouble....

 

after i think it was,the great hyperspace war (or whiever,dont remember exactly)....the jedi with there code,along with the republic,slaughtered every sentient thing living on korriban...even the innocent people,women,children,that there only crime was living on an empire planet under the protection of the empire

 

billions of innocent people exterminated by the jedi,even though there enemy was already defeated in a sense

[Kurokage]

I rolled an Empire character first solely because the IA is my favorite class. I have a few alts on each side and have found each side to be equally immature at times. And since I don't like involving politics (even fictional politics) in any decisions I make that aren't directly related to politics, this pretty much narrowed down my decision making process to "Which class sounds like fun?". I play an Empire character because I wanted to play an IA, not the other way around.

 

As for other people's decision to go Empire, I assume it's because playing an Empire character gives you a valid excuse to be a completely morally-bankrupt monster with no consequences for doing so. Or because most of the more popular Star Wars media focuses on the Jedi and the Republic and other "Good Guys" and some players just want to see what the other side is like.