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alias_sqbrI got a new chair! And then I realised I could install the game on steam and stream to my laptop in bed and now I just use the chair to play puzzle games while cooking dinner but the point is I have been playing a bunch of SWTOR.
It continues to be fun!
The combat is so hilariously easy that it suits playing in bed while too tired to do anything more mentally taxing, and making my way through the large maps full of easily killed but not actually harmless enemies got a lot less frustrating once I learned the quick-travel ability at about level 20.
I'm finding myself less emotionally engaged than by some other RPGs (not just Bioware games but Horizon Zero Dawn and FFXIV etc) and have decided it's not that the writing is bad per se, but that there isn't a sense of an ensemble cast with interesting interrelationships: the secondary characters are moderately well drawn and feel like they have their own lives, but we mostly only see them interacting in any interesting way with my PC. I technically have three companions at this point, but one is a one-note robot butler, and one was a reward for logging in who mostly seems to exist to collect event prizes. The only one who actually expresses any real personality is the amoral, thrill-seeking Kaliyo, who I like (she's basically a less angsty cross between Jack and Morrigan) but she doesn't really click with my Agent, ignores the other Imperials, and literally doesn't appear to be aware of the existence of the other two companions. I've met a few interesting characters during sidequests but again they feel kind of disconnected from each other. I'm wondering if this is partly specific to the Agent storyline, a reflection of the job's lonely nature.
Also I'm kind of basic and miss the Yay You're Saving The World We Love You positive vibes of more typical RPG storylines. People do still like you and thank you for Doing Good but the fact I'm working for the Empire really undercuts the positive vibes.
All that said, I am still enjoying it. Bioware are as always not quite as morally complex and clever as they think they are, but I like that they don't feel the need to have the story grind to a halt for heavy handed Is the Empire Evil?? arguments between Both Sides. They assume we players already know the empire is evil, while the character and her allies take it as read that the Empire is good, and they let that dissonance just...exist. There are plenty of opportunities to push back against individual evil acts and people, sometimes in ways which are pretty contrary to the Empire's interests and values, and involve sympathising with/helping those who hate and work against the empire. But it's always felt like she still thinks of herself as working to make the system better, rather than even considering that the system itself is awful and needs to be taken down. Maybe there's dialogue choices I didn't take which do feel that way, but it's certainly not an obvious aspect to her character despite me generally taking the Good options. But we know the system will be taken down, if not in this game then one day, and that this is both good and necessary.
Also, while it's still pretty male-gazey, the number of non-sex-object female characters has increased to reasonable levels, and Bioware is clearly being as half-assed as possible about the LucasArts mandated removal of gay. My PC just had a quest where she bonded with a charming female terrorist and I had to stare for a moment to be sure their good-bye hug wasn't a kiss, because the music/vibe certainly made it feel like one.
I'm really not sure how I feel about a lot of her enemies being anti-Imperial terrorists, who cover the spectrum from "just in it for the mass-murder/money" to "highly sympathetic freedom fighter". Like when this was written, ten years ago, I'm sure it was meant to evoke complicated sympathy with anti-American terrorists, but also the Imperials have English accents and act snooty/effete while the terrorists have American ones and are more likely to be Manly/Folksy, and I have to wonder how this would all read to someone who sympathises with alt-right American terrorists. But you can't always judge things by how they'll be read by the worst parts of the audience. In terms of how it reads to me I feel like...it's aiming for anti-imperialist/anti-colonialist but in a kinda shallow lazy way that isn't doing as many interesting things as it could be, and still, like...has Sand People be incomprehensible mooks you kill on your way to fighting more interesting villains etc.
I'm very curious to see where this story is going. I know that the Imperial Agent story wraps up at level 50, so I'm already about halfway through. And after that all the stories converge, implying that everyone from a Jedi knight to a sith inquisitor to my agent ends up working with the same people towards the same goal. Unless there's still an Empire/Republic split going forward. I guess I'll see! I have noticed clumps of friendly Imperial officers scattered around the place which I assume act as enemy mooks if you're playing Republic. Right now my reaction is "Phew, Imperials, I'm safe!" which always feels a little odd.
I still haven't met a SINGLE male love interest. I mean, my character has managed to have one night stands with two different dudes but WHAT IF SHE WANTS MORE THAN THAT, GAME?? Unless you can romance the robot butler??? But I'm pretty sure you can't. He is not a sexy robot butler. Really I'd just like to have more than one companion with a personality.
I just googled to remind myself and there are FOUR MORE companions you can recruit as an Imperial Agent. Where are they?? Did I miss them, or are they all going to have their arcs smooshed into the last half of the route? Does it not actually finish at level 50?
Ok I skimmed carefully to avoid spoilers and looks like next companion, the male love interest Vector, is recruited on Alderaan, which is where I'm going next.
Since it gives some idea of the vibe of the game, here's Kaliyo's (first?) personal mission (I don't know if this is the only one)
This is Kaliyo, a freelance murderer with a history of betraying her employers.
Kaliyo disapproves of my PC every time she does something polite or pacifistic, but has been steadily gaining approval every time they complete a mission together, presumably because it involves murdering people and then being paid for it. Every now and then this unlocks a little conversation. Given how often my PC pisses her off I imagine I'm not as far along as I could be, but also companion arcs often run out well before the story does, so I have no idea how far through her arc I am.
Kaliyo told my PC about growing up in a backwater planet and escaping by stowing away on a drug dealer's ship, only to end up having a tough time in space, too. She eventually befriended a woman whose full name I forget but it started with A. The two inadvertently stole from a powerful organised crime group called the exchange, so killed a dock worker and said he was the thief, which you can either think was clever or immoral. A saved Kaliyo's life and helped her escape the exchange, leaving A behind to take the fall. Kaliyo's personal mission involves her asking you to save her friend from the exchange prison.
"Oh ho" thinks I. "I see a classic 'the one woman from their past your companion trusted turns around and stabs them in the back' plot coming up."
Once you rescue A, she shares a very shippy hug with Kaliyo, who, with rough affection, tells A to go wait in the spaceport for a ride out of here.
And then the moment she's gone, Kaliyo is all "Sweet, now to sell her to a bounty hunter :D"
My PC: But she's your friend. You said she saved your life :(
Kaliyo: Yeah, and I owed her for that, so I saved her from prison. But she saved me by PUTTING ME IN A SHIPPING CRATE, where I was stuck for WEEKS. It was humiliating, and I owe her for that too.
So naturally my PC tells A to hoof it when Kaliyo's back is turned. A is not remotely surprised and says Kaliyo is a habitual liar and made up her whole angsty backstory. Kaliyo is pissed off you let A go, but not surprised, and says A is the one lying. The end!
It continues to be fun!
The combat is so hilariously easy that it suits playing in bed while too tired to do anything more mentally taxing, and making my way through the large maps full of easily killed but not actually harmless enemies got a lot less frustrating once I learned the quick-travel ability at about level 20.
I'm finding myself less emotionally engaged than by some other RPGs (not just Bioware games but Horizon Zero Dawn and FFXIV etc) and have decided it's not that the writing is bad per se, but that there isn't a sense of an ensemble cast with interesting interrelationships: the secondary characters are moderately well drawn and feel like they have their own lives, but we mostly only see them interacting in any interesting way with my PC. I technically have three companions at this point, but one is a one-note robot butler, and one was a reward for logging in who mostly seems to exist to collect event prizes. The only one who actually expresses any real personality is the amoral, thrill-seeking Kaliyo, who I like (she's basically a less angsty cross between Jack and Morrigan) but she doesn't really click with my Agent, ignores the other Imperials, and literally doesn't appear to be aware of the existence of the other two companions. I've met a few interesting characters during sidequests but again they feel kind of disconnected from each other. I'm wondering if this is partly specific to the Agent storyline, a reflection of the job's lonely nature.
Also I'm kind of basic and miss the Yay You're Saving The World We Love You positive vibes of more typical RPG storylines. People do still like you and thank you for Doing Good but the fact I'm working for the Empire really undercuts the positive vibes.
All that said, I am still enjoying it. Bioware are as always not quite as morally complex and clever as they think they are, but I like that they don't feel the need to have the story grind to a halt for heavy handed Is the Empire Evil?? arguments between Both Sides. They assume we players already know the empire is evil, while the character and her allies take it as read that the Empire is good, and they let that dissonance just...exist. There are plenty of opportunities to push back against individual evil acts and people, sometimes in ways which are pretty contrary to the Empire's interests and values, and involve sympathising with/helping those who hate and work against the empire. But it's always felt like she still thinks of herself as working to make the system better, rather than even considering that the system itself is awful and needs to be taken down. Maybe there's dialogue choices I didn't take which do feel that way, but it's certainly not an obvious aspect to her character despite me generally taking the Good options. But we know the system will be taken down, if not in this game then one day, and that this is both good and necessary.
Also, while it's still pretty male-gazey, the number of non-sex-object female characters has increased to reasonable levels, and Bioware is clearly being as half-assed as possible about the LucasArts mandated removal of gay. My PC just had a quest where she bonded with a charming female terrorist and I had to stare for a moment to be sure their good-bye hug wasn't a kiss, because the music/vibe certainly made it feel like one.
I'm really not sure how I feel about a lot of her enemies being anti-Imperial terrorists, who cover the spectrum from "just in it for the mass-murder/money" to "highly sympathetic freedom fighter". Like when this was written, ten years ago, I'm sure it was meant to evoke complicated sympathy with anti-American terrorists, but also the Imperials have English accents and act snooty/effete while the terrorists have American ones and are more likely to be Manly/Folksy, and I have to wonder how this would all read to someone who sympathises with alt-right American terrorists. But you can't always judge things by how they'll be read by the worst parts of the audience. In terms of how it reads to me I feel like...it's aiming for anti-imperialist/anti-colonialist but in a kinda shallow lazy way that isn't doing as many interesting things as it could be, and still, like...has Sand People be incomprehensible mooks you kill on your way to fighting more interesting villains etc.
I'm very curious to see where this story is going. I know that the Imperial Agent story wraps up at level 50, so I'm already about halfway through. And after that all the stories converge, implying that everyone from a Jedi knight to a sith inquisitor to my agent ends up working with the same people towards the same goal. Unless there's still an Empire/Republic split going forward. I guess I'll see! I have noticed clumps of friendly Imperial officers scattered around the place which I assume act as enemy mooks if you're playing Republic. Right now my reaction is "Phew, Imperials, I'm safe!" which always feels a little odd.
I still haven't met a SINGLE male love interest. I mean, my character has managed to have one night stands with two different dudes but WHAT IF SHE WANTS MORE THAN THAT, GAME?? Unless you can romance the robot butler??? But I'm pretty sure you can't. He is not a sexy robot butler. Really I'd just like to have more than one companion with a personality.
I just googled to remind myself and there are FOUR MORE companions you can recruit as an Imperial Agent. Where are they?? Did I miss them, or are they all going to have their arcs smooshed into the last half of the route? Does it not actually finish at level 50?
Ok I skimmed carefully to avoid spoilers and looks like next companion, the male love interest Vector, is recruited on Alderaan, which is where I'm going next.
Since it gives some idea of the vibe of the game, here's Kaliyo's (first?) personal mission (I don't know if this is the only one)
This is Kaliyo, a freelance murderer with a history of betraying her employers.
Kaliyo disapproves of my PC every time she does something polite or pacifistic, but has been steadily gaining approval every time they complete a mission together, presumably because it involves murdering people and then being paid for it. Every now and then this unlocks a little conversation. Given how often my PC pisses her off I imagine I'm not as far along as I could be, but also companion arcs often run out well before the story does, so I have no idea how far through her arc I am.
Detailed spoilers for Kaliyo's arc thus far
Kaliyo told my PC about growing up in a backwater planet and escaping by stowing away on a drug dealer's ship, only to end up having a tough time in space, too. She eventually befriended a woman whose full name I forget but it started with A. The two inadvertently stole from a powerful organised crime group called the exchange, so killed a dock worker and said he was the thief, which you can either think was clever or immoral. A saved Kaliyo's life and helped her escape the exchange, leaving A behind to take the fall. Kaliyo's personal mission involves her asking you to save her friend from the exchange prison.
"Oh ho" thinks I. "I see a classic 'the one woman from their past your companion trusted turns around and stabs them in the back' plot coming up."
Once you rescue A, she shares a very shippy hug with Kaliyo, who, with rough affection, tells A to go wait in the spaceport for a ride out of here.
And then the moment she's gone, Kaliyo is all "Sweet, now to sell her to a bounty hunter :D"
My PC: But she's your friend. You said she saved your life :(
Kaliyo: Yeah, and I owed her for that, so I saved her from prison. But she saved me by PUTTING ME IN A SHIPPING CRATE, where I was stuck for WEEKS. It was humiliating, and I owe her for that too.
So naturally my PC tells A to hoof it when Kaliyo's back is turned. A is not remotely surprised and says Kaliyo is a habitual liar and made up her whole angsty backstory. Kaliyo is pissed off you let A go, but not surprised, and says A is the one lying. The end!
no subject
Date: 2022-10-30 04:46 am (UTC)Jedi Consular has a bad rep, maybe because you end up doing a lot of diplomacy and alliance-building and some people find that boring, but I thought it was one of the better stories, and you really do get that satisfaction of "I am making things better!"
If you only have Kaliyo, you're a lot less than halfway through the Agent story! Leveling happens much faster than it used to, so you may well hit the cap while you're still in the middle of your class story, especially if you do any side quests or the planetary storylines. The class story companions will notice and comment on each other a bit, though not a huge amount. Vector's interesting; I'd be interested to see what you think of him.
If you decide you want to play through the later expansions, I recommend doing it on a Force User of some kind; Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan are fine on any class, but KOTFE/KOTET (Knights of the Fallen Empire/Knights of the Eternal Throne, iirc, though I never write them out) channel all the classes into one storyline and it is infamously ill-fitting for non-Force classes. After that the story splits into Rep-side and Imp-side, and playing through both can give you a fuller picture of events. You can skip ahead with alts if you want to see the later story but hate KOTFE (oh, how I hate KOTFE), but some things won't make sense without having played through it once.
I've been playing SWTOR for years and have a lot of stuff, so let me know if you want any help with stuff like armor sets or dyes! Play some Space Barbie, it's fun. :D
ETA: I forgot, Rise of the Hutt Cartel (the first expansion after finishing the class stories and the interlude on Ilum) was the first place they did the Rep/Imp story split. Doing both definitely gives you a fuller picture of what's happening on Makeb. The next expansion, Shadow of Revan, is almost the same for both sides except that a couple of flashpoints happen in reverse order. It's a good one though. Beautiful planets.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-31 11:38 am (UTC)This is all really useful, thank you! I might try a consular for the expansions then.
Also, I have met Vector now, and I LOVE HIM. So delightfully odd :D
no subject
Date: 2022-10-31 06:01 pm (UTC)*Technically all of the love interests can be different species from the PC and therefore xenophilia, but Star Wars doesn't really lean into the otherness, you know? Human or Twi'lek or Zabrak or whatever doesn't have any impact on the romance. But Vector really does feel like there's a gap to be bridged, First Contact in the process of being made. [reasons why redacted in case of spoilers - not sure how much of his deal is clear from the beginning, it's been a long time!]
no subject
Date: 2022-11-11 03:50 am (UTC)