The Old Republic: General Storyline (and Expanded Universe) Discussion

Been watching a Gameinformer interview where the lead writer talks a bit of the backstory of the game. Most of it I already knew, but there was one part which was kind of new to me where he talks about Revan's fall. Its said that Revan and Malak went off into the Unknown Regions where they found "something". That was the Sith Emperor he turned the two Jedi and sent them along with their Republic forces back to known space as part of a vanguard for the Sith Empire in order to conquer the Republic. The video goes on to say that this plan fell apart when Malak betrayed Revan. Later, the Jedi Council wiped Revan's memory and he forgot about the True Sith hiding out in Sith Space though he retained the feeling that something dangerous was out there.

So what do you all think about this? Kind of hints that Revan was a pawn which some people who have commented on the topic object to saying that it demeans the storyline of Revan. I think, personally, that he went off and perhaps realized the true power of the Sith Empire and knew that the Republic would not be ready for this threat. Thus, first he fell to the Dark Side and became a Sith where he was dispatched to the Republic to conquer but he wanted to make a force that could challenge the Sith Emperor's forces. Both Revan's plan and the Emperor's may have fallen apart due to Malaks desire to form his own Sith Empire. Perhaps then the redeemed Revan and the Exile then returned to confront the Sith Empire and managed to impede its attempts at returning thus delaying their invasion for three hundred years.

Also, its said that the Treaty of Coruscant seems to be a smokescreen for a larger plan in motion. Some of the content says that the Sith Empire are excavating something on different worlds within their dominion. But for what purpose? I mean its said that the Emperor has even pulled back from management of the Empire in order to focus on his own mysterous goal. Since its BioWare, could it potentially be some long forgotten Rakata weapons? Or perhaps there is a greater menace out there and the Emperor is scared of it and is trying to stop it? I mean we know that Killiks are present in the game so maybe whatever force that opposes the Celestials might be involved?

I'm probably wrong, but I have a very strong feeling the details behind Revan's story will alter according to the players' actions, similar to how some storylines work in WoW. I assume they'll be one over-arching Revan story that will hold true for everyone (probably along the lines of what we already know of him going back to the Sith area and all), but the choices he made afterward will be tied into the decisions we make with our own characters.

The sheer ammount of EU this game seems to be having is the reason I became interested in TOR in the first place. The histories of the Sith and Jedi you can study especially...

SPOILERS: I heard they have lightsabers in this one....

Well, Revan is needed to show up, if they even wanna try to sell it as kind of KOTOR III, at all. But I think the most interesting thing will be storyline in itself. Told through different stories. In all other games you have little customized elements (like the class quests in LOTRO, who were perfect) but here they say we get a storyline for every character.

Meaning we got one for every class, actually. But is there none for all? I doubt that. And if so, how do we integrate the other classes into the sotry? They need to enter the instances with, do they? Or do we all only meet between missions, when the instances are done which we actually have to play alone? Can´t imagine they are THAT daring in their design.

So technical this will become interesting. How they will tell their storyline in game. Once comics and videos are not enough anymore . . .

I could see Bioware doing something similar to Dragon Age, but instead of the main storyline converging after the origins portion, they would have multiple "main storylines."

Yes, but I think the main difference is that an MMO story does not progress linear. you can go back and revisit old instances. Often you even have to. That changes everything.

There is something i`v been curious about for a while now. For everyone who have seen th MMO official trailer, the one where the Sith attack the Jedi Temple.

I find it to be very convenient that the Sith all wear masks similar to the one Revan used in his time. I think BioWare has a great revelation in store for this game concerning Revan. Which is to be expected considering the characters reputation.

I am sure there was something significant going on in the unknown region while Revan was there, it appears that he somehow left his mark on the "True Sith".

Heh... that's would be fittingly ironic. Revan goes looking for the mysterious True Sith, jump a few hundred years later and they're all mimicking him.

Since the announcement of the game, I've been thinking that maybe Revan found a way to extend his life, and HE is the emperor.

I pretty certain i heard a rumor that the Emperor is in fact Naga Sadow. One of the great Sith Lords of the old days..
Probably just a rumor, i dont know if he is even qualified as a "True Sith".

No, he didn't, and that's the sad thing. The Sith Empire here Bioware claims to be the true Sith, but they aren't. I much preferred what Obsidian intended than what Bioware has distorted.

I must strongly disagree. As someone else said, which I unfortunately cannot find: before, the Sith had no continuity, just a bunch of random people popping up and starting wars. The True Sith, as implied in KOTOR 2, would just yet another group of eviler than thou jerks, Yuzhan Vong wannabes as someone put it, to shoehorn into an already convoluted story. Now, with the simple gesture of tying the True Sith into the Sith Empire, things flow so much better now. It was brilliant move on Bioware's part.

Maybe so.. But i think what many people find very disappointing is that the True Sith seem to be of the same steriotype sort as all the other "regular Sith". They want war and galactic domination; Nothing new.. After KOTOR II, people had been given the impression that the True Sith had a much deeper or darker scheme going on. But now it seems they are just the same as any other Sith. I guess what im saying is that people probably had higher expectations for the "True Stih". I dont know, but i think it could be a good idea for BioWare to incorporate some of the depth that Obsidian introduced in KOTOR II.

I must strongly disagree. The True Sith in KOTOR 2 were a mysterious and dark menace. They were not the remnants of Naga Sadow's Empire come to seek revenge. Everything in that game was a mystery, and yet you had the feeling it all tied in to the enemy waiting in the dark, no matter light or dark endings for KOTOR or KOTOR 2. Bastila's holocron, talking about Revan, T3-M4's recordings, Kreia's speeches about Nihilus and the True Sith, Mical saying how it didn't make sense, that the attacks throughout the galaxy didn't seem to be to do with galactic domination, but the destruction of life... it was all so ominous. The True Sith were an ancient threat, more ancient than anything else we'd known so far, and one that was clearly bent on destruction not domination and conquest. The whole ancient evil thing was played masterfully. The fact these were the TRUE SITH, the original Sith, who had been causing echoes in the Force and manipulating events subtly for the past decades... all of it was preparing you for the grand finale, the final battle against the true Sith.

It also would have (or could have) tied in many other things; the Rakata and their Infinite Empire, the Darth title, King Adas, the Killik Sith Lord, various pre-Corbos Sith outposts, and many other things in the galaxy's ancient past. And brought it more in line with the original intentions for the Sith, as seen in the Tales of the Jedi Companion. A whole dark empire of red-skinned Sith, and wraiths with the power to destroy entire worlds, and probably some sort of awesome super villain, maybe even something born from the dark side itself or some such, waiting at the end... The True Sith and KOTOR 3 had such promise, and I think TOR has ruined that. That said, I still love the ancient Sith with a deep, undying and perhaps somewhat unsettling and disturbing love, so matter whether it's the remnants of Naga Sadow's Empire or not. Even then, TOR still seems to be doing a fine job of messing that up too, since what we've seen so far are Dark Jedi lookalikes wielding lightsabers and blasting Force lightning.

Anything can made mysterious by being vague. Anything can sound impressive by saying how much better it was than group X-basic sorting algorithm of evil.

Them being more ancient than the Sith Empire didn't make sense: the Sith Empire was the very species, its history stretching back even before the Republic. There wasn't room for anything older and more powerful.

Trying to destroy all life really doesn't make sense as a motive. Who has anything to gain by destroying things? I like this version, where there is an actual motive: revenge for the Great Hyperspace War, and an ideology combining feudalism with more modern militarism.

Plus, as others have said, it really ties in all the Old Sith Wars together, and makes the distinction between the Old Sith Wars and the New Sith Wars all the more important.

I think I agree with MercenaryAce, there was no way that there was going to be anything older then the original Sith Empire. And again there was no way that such Sith would want to destroy all life. There might be some Sith that think like that but ultimately, the Sith don't want to destroy life. They simply want to be in charge and be all powerful. Plus, if it was going to be surviviors of the original Sith Empire, they were going to get revenge anyway. That seems like a solid motive. They had a glorious and powerful empire so long ago which got destroyed by the Jedi and Republic. So, from their perspective, revenge is a good motive. I think my only disappointment with the True Sith in TOR is that their designs and structure seem too modelled on the Galactic Empire but thats about it.

Regardless, KOTOR 2 pulled it off. The True Sith seemed much more menacing than as they appear in TOR. They negotiate peace? They're supposed to be the greatest threat ever faced by the Jedi and Republic, the one Revan did everything to stop.

Incorrect. The Sith Empire was started in 6,900 BBY; it was the result of Dark Jedi conquering and then breeding with a (weaker and more primitive) Sith species. It would make much more sense if the true Sith were... true Sith.

If that route had been followed, the potential was unlimited. As I said, it would have explained many things to do with the ancient history of the galaxy. We could have seen a true Sith Empire menacing the free races of the galaxy long before there ever was a Republic, ruling over the Killiks through a Joiner Sith Lord, fighting the Celestials, setting up outposts throughout the galaxy (the Trayus Academy on Malachor V, the Sith library-temple on Krayiss II, etc.), perhaps even fighting the very first Jedi, or their predecessors, the Bendu. And planet-killing wraiths a la Nihilus.

It would have tied in with what is said in the original Tales of the Jedi comics, and the Tales of the Jedi Companion. For example, the Sith holocron which documents their history, dating back to 100,000 BBY, and the Sith history stated in the TOTJ Companion, for example: "The Sith have existed for well over a hundred thousand years. Over that barely imaginable space of time many Sith magicians emerged with the might of the dark side grasped firmly in their hands..." and "Evil began in a time before recorded history, when magicians made themselves into kings?and gods?using the powers of the dark side of the Force. The weak-minded have ever been ready to obey one who wields great power. Those who learned the powers of the dark side were quick to exploit this weakness?to make war. Again and again the dark side has surged forth, like a storm?devouring whole worlds and entire star systems. Those who mastered dark power became dark power. They unleashed destruction, for no other reason for selfish gain. They despoiled nations?destroyed whole civilizations. SOME (emphasis mine) of them, I am ashamed to say, were Jedi." and finally "The Sith have existed for well over a hundred thousand years; the dark side has been a part of the universe since the beginning of time. Clearly, the Sith developed second in chronological progression, but did this wicked brotherhood grow out of the dark side, or did it share a common philosophy with the dark side and join forces to increase the chances of bringing their mutual goals to fruition? Little knowledge of the Sith's origins remains. In truth, Sith history before the reign of Dark Lord Naga Sadow a thousand years before the time of Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun lies masked in shadow, hidden away by the dark siders during the Fall of the Sith Empire or destroyed in the war's aftermath by the Jedi. Only a few Sith strongholds were allowed to survive the purge, and from these the Jedi hoped to gain insight into the mysteries of Sith powers - they wished to discover the weaknesses of these dark side magicks so that the Sith could never resurrect their fallen empire. One artifact discovered from a remaining Sith library was the Holocron created by Naga Sadow himself (DLOS1). It detailed the nature of the Sith people, of their philosophies and teacing methods, and of their belief in the power of the dark side. From the Holocron's recordings the Jedi learned that at first the word Sith designated a species of sentients. Only later, as these people spread across the galaxy did the term Sith become associated more with their teachings a

I personally feel that the True Sith and the new Lost Tribe of the Sith could be apart of the same group, but that is just me.

Funnily enough, when the Millenium Falcon novel and the Fate of the Jedi series began, I was hoping the mysterious threat in the Maw was a true Sith, and the lost tribe was a primitive descendant of them. Abeloth is cool, but an ancient evil Sith Lord? Much cooler IMO.