A/V The Old Republic MMO: The New Official Thread

I dunno, I think the perfect ending for SWTOR was when the three Vitiates were vanquished. Valkorion, Vitiate and Tenebrae. It just seems like the perfect conclusion with the final death of the main villain of the game. Everything after just pales in comparison in terms of scale.

 

You get some extra dialogue but it's not essential. Though I do like those flashpoints so I would say do them.

 

I've played the Republic-side Revan-freeing flashpoints, I'm just wondering if doing the Sith versions would give any extra insight going in.

 

It does, though nothing major. But they are fun flashpoints so I say give them a play.

 

This is kinda Relevant

 

Well, i suppose i finally have an excuse to read decieved.

 

Spoiler

I would not say it narrows down the timeline. If anything it makes some things a little more complicated as:

• Children of the Emperor were quite "recent" thing in the Galaxy as supposedly first of them were created around 40 years before game timeline (events of Blood of the Empire comics).
  
• The artifacts of Darth Nul were to be found in the destroyed Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, which implies that she lived at least 300 years ago.

So, either they will retcon that Children of the Emperor were a thing much earlier or they will say that the concept existed much earlier but later it was realized by the Emperor.

EDIT:
Oh, there are new codex entries:

Spoiler

Children of the Emperor: A Sinister History
The select few who knew of the Children of the Emperor's existence believed that they were a fairly recent creation of the Sith Emperor, Vitiate. In truth, this dark project was conceived by the mysterious Sith inventor and scientist known as "Darth Nul," centuries before the Children were discovered.

According to Darth Malgus, the Emperor wielded the power to create new Children, but it was Nul who first developed the method of indoctrinating them. By the time the Children were exposed, the process had evolved into imbuing infants with a piece of the Emperor's considerable power, turning them into "vessels" whose bodies and minds he could possess.

Over the years, enough "Children" had been created to form a veritable army of thralls. Each could be controlled by the Emperor whenever he wished. These puppets unknowingly infiltrated several organizations within the galaxy, including the Jedi Order.

For the Emperor, the Children lost their usefulness when their leader-a Jedi Master totally unaware of his condition-was exposed. Years later, after every incarnation of the Sith Emperor was completely destroyed, the remaining Children of the Emperor were freed from his influence for good.

Master Denolm Orr
Born on Serenno at the height of the Great Galactic War, Denolm Orr was a young child when Darth Malgus began the occupation of Denolm's homeworld. With the population mostly under Imperial control, it was easy for a cadre of Sith-"the Emperor's Hand"--to spirit Denolm away to Korriban.

Before he was returned to his family, Denolm, along with many other young children from throughout the galaxy, had been unknowingly connected to the Sith Emperor.

As a young Jedi Knight, visions of hooded figures and the red sands of Korriban plagued Denolm, and he began to hear a mysterious, commanding voice in his dreams. Once the "Children of the Emperor" were exposed, Denolm finally understood what he was.

Rather than risk expulsion from the Jedi Order, Master Denolm kept his past a secret. With the help of his friend, Master Gnost-Dural, Denolm decided to pursue historical studies in the hopes of understanding exactly what had happened to him, so that no other child would suffer the same fate.

His progress was interrupted, however, after the Eternal Empire invaded the Core Worlds. Master Denolm and his Padawan, Sa'har Kateen, evaded capture by the occupying forces for more than a year before ultimately settling down in Gnost-Dural's secluded Ossus colony.

Sa'har Kateen
Orphaned at a young age, Sa'har Kateen spent her earliest years at the Mek-Sha Home for Lost Children with her older brother, Ri'kan. The pair were inseparable-until Sa'har began to show signs of Force sensitivity.

Before long, Sa'har was located by Jedi Master Denolm Orr. After Sa'har easily passed the test required to initiate her into the Jedi Order, she left Mek-Sha with Master Denolm to begin training on Tython.

As many young Padawans do, Sa'har soon began to view Master Denolm as a parental figure. But the pair shared a closer bond than others-a few years after Sa'har arrived on Tython, the Eternal Empire invaded most of the galaxy, and Sa'har and Master Denolm were forced to flee together.

For more than a year, Sa'har and Master Denolm lived in seclusion, constantly moving to avoid discovery, until Denolm's friend and colleague invited them to Ossus. Master Gnost-Dural had founded a small colony there as a place to begin rebuilding the Jedi Order after the Eternal Empire's defeat.

Although she was one of the youngest settlers in the colony, Sa'har was considered one of the most diligent. She worked farmland, learned to repair machinery, and eagerly took on chores, all while continuing her Jedi training, mastering combat, and investigating the nearby ruins of a Jedi library with her master.

 

Yes, it will give you a little better understanding behind Revan actions in SoR.

 

Very interesting. Really interested to see where this goes.

 

I finally got to play the Iokath story with my Agent at a friend's house, starting the traitor arc so we can both laugh at Theron's betrayal later, but it was really satisfying to 1. play the game again after a long time, and 2. get this character through that specific part of the story.

I decided to join the Republic, for the sole reason that Acina has, in my mind, proven to my Agent that the Empire is beyond saving from the Sith's power-hungry clutches, a path she started in the vanilla story.

I didin't outright defect (well, i couldn't since Ardun Kothe got blown to pieces ) but i chose the option to become a shadow agent, working outside the jurisdiction of the Empire to make it better, without so many Sith power plays undermining the safety of the people and corrupting the efficient institutions, she sort of blamed the brainwashing purely on the Sith, not the Empire, it was fun playing the character according to her personality and ideals i decided she would have, and how, due to the story, she slowly became more morally righteous as time went on (she was my first Agent so i had no idea how the story would go, it was full of suprises that changed in some ways how she acted). In the KOTET chapter, i accepted Acina's proposal because she proved to be a good ally then, only to later betray the Commander's trust and try to steal the Superweapon, i honestly don't get how anyone would pick the Empire here if they were previously allied with Acina in KOTET, but for my agent it was the last straw regarding the Empire and how corrupted it was because of who ruled it, at least the Republic weren't my allies before trying to steal a Superweapon from Alliance territory.

She also got to finally reunite with her husband, Vector, it was really sweet, as always, actually back in the Class story it was partially Vector's influence that made me play the character as slightly more righteous, as early on she was more ruthless, and in fact i hadn't even planned on romancing him when i started playing the character, but he was just so sweet i couldn't say no to him they just had chemistry.

What Vector says about how the Empire treated the Killiks as cannon fodder also served to solidify how done my character is with the Sith Empire at this point.

It was really fun playing that natural character evolution over the years.

I also noticed that the Iokath story has some good foreshadowing for the Theron betrayal that i hadn't noticed before (since, back when i first played it with the other characters that got this far, Iokath was the latest expansion so i had no idea who the traitor was) for instance, in the first cutscene, if you suggest that the Republic and Empire arriving on the same place at the same time can't be a coincidence, the camera shows Theron looking kind of uncomfortable, guess Theron underestimated the Master Conspirator (and the power of hindsight).

Oh, i'm also happy that they smoothed out the colors of the inventory, the last time i played it the new interface had far too aggressive colors.

It was really fun playing this again.

 

Eh I mean the Empire helped defeat the EE while the the Republic hung you out to dry. Also they go after the super weapon, which I think is more dramatic as it has Theron's dad dying.

 

Yes but the fact that the Empire later tries to steal right from under your nose shows that Acina only did so out of self-interest and survival, i much appreciate the honesty displayed by Malcolm than Acina's treachery.

Sure, but they are not your allies, even though it is bad that they do that after taking the Peacekeeper option, it's not as bad as Acina doing the same.

That was Saresh, not the Republic, we are shown in Ossus onwards (and mails from KOTET) that the current administration doesn't approve of Saresh's corruption.

That said the Republic is definetly not the obvious "good side" in SWTOR, with a lot of corruption and moral grayness to show, which i like, as narratively it allows for more interesting stories.

But from the point of view of the Agent, anything the Republic does makeb-onwards isn't even a fraction of how much the Empire screwed them over, so i think it makes perfect sense for a mostly LS Agent to just forego it, especially now that they got the Alliance as a good way to stabilize the Galaxy.

 

Just found out that Theron was a traitor last week. I have a feeling he's actually a double agent.

 

The Republic of SWTOR is portrayed realistically as the predecessor to Palpatine's Empire, and the successor to the Pius Dea era Republic. I only wish that the Republic was the one with the triangle ships.

Perfection.

 

Phew, thank god my post didin't spoil you, then, that was close

Personally, without going into story details, i think that story arc is among the weakest the game has to offer, but i think the main reason i disliked that era of SWTOR was because of the Copero Flashpoint being a slog to play through, that really bogged down the story for me (as well as other issues), which is a shame because they got Tim Zahn himself to help with the worldbuilding of that particular Flashpoint.

 

It has some bad elements. But After Ossus it shows it's true colours.

 

The Jedi are always decent in SWTOR (except in the Sith stories) and even then Garza is ruthless not out and out evil.

Though Belsavis...

 

Jedi/republic = flawed
Sith/empire = evil and not even trying to hide it.

 

I like the contrast between Iresso and and Vector.
The Empire and Republic basically screwed these characters over, despite their faction loyalties, and left them out to dry, and when they're reintroduced they're completely disillusioned with their respective factions, and any loyalty they may have is out of proxy to your character's actions.

Ha, I've always joked the conflict in the game as two lawful evil factions fighting for control of the galaxy, except one of them pretends to be lawful good.

But at the same time they did nothing to stop Saresh or reign her in. Not Jace, not any of the Rans family, not the Senate either due to their political impotence or tacitly agreeing with Saresh. They only disavowed her once she was defeated by the PC when it would be politically opportunistic to do so, not before. This is the same issue in the class storylines with Godera and Garza, members of the Republic who do incredibly shady/evil stuff in the name of the greater good, but their actions are never held accountable nor are they reigned in. All the JK can do is disapprovingly wag their fingers at Var Suthra once or twice and that's it.

 

That happens, yes, but it is because of the political power the corrupt figures like Saresh have, we see many times how she's able to twist everyone's arms like in Ziost, even when there's good people working under her, i do not see it as the Republic being evil, but more like the corrupt figures and factions inside the Republic have too much power and the good people are incapable of stopping them, or fall to their lies.

In the case of KOTET, i don't see how the Republic would've been able to stop Saresh, as they didin't have any control over the Alliance and she had established a puppet chancellor, meaning the Republic couldn't do much against her as an individual even though she has been losing power for a while after the cadre of senators voted her out, her political and economic pull was still very strong, we see this happening a lot with corrupt Ex-Presidents in the real world, even then her KOTET plans were basically just private endeavors, it had nothing to do with the Republic's actions or inactions.

I wouldn't call the Republic itself Lawful Evil pretending to be Lawful Good, it's a Lawful organization that has many bad eggs, but not inherently an evil organization, and the Empire also tries to give a good image of itself, as they claim to be bringing "order" to the Galaxy, and in the late war, in light of the Republic's corruption, they use that as a moral standing for themselves, Acina says that joining the Empire is "wiping the slate clean" from the corruption, the Empire isn't unapologetically evil, hence why there's plenty of good imperials who believe in what the Empire promises in regards to order and stability.

But even without all of that, i'd still say that, in a general sense, the Republic is inherently better than the Empire, for the simple virtue of democracy instead of totalitarian rule.

 

The republic has some rotten apples. The Empire is a rotten orchard.

Though I do think the Sith Empire are less evil as an organisation than Palpatines Empire.