{"id":56353,"date":"2023-10-30T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T04:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=56353"},"modified":"2023-11-04T20:26:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T00:26:55","slug":"changing-gears-inaccessible-to-easy-accessible-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=56353","title":{"rendered":"Changing Gears: Inaccessible to Easy Accessible Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

After reaching level 60 in World of Warcraft<\/em>, I was inundated with quest starters for different major quest-lines in Battle for Azeroth<\/em>. I’m still paying through those options to maybe figure out a better way to handle it, and there will be lots to talk about why this is in the future. But all the discussion about how Star Wars: The Old Republic handled stories prompted me to re-install and take a look at how my other favorite MMORPG is doing. It is very easy to just do a comparison between World of Warcraft<\/em> and Star Wars: The Old Republic<\/em>. I don’t think that really serves either game well. But the starting point is simple: Star Wars: The Old Republic<\/em> does a better job telling its stories, and has done a better job CURATING its stories, than World of Warcraft<\/em>. And I don’t think anyone is going to make the argument that Star Wars<\/em> lore, even narrowed to The Old Republic<\/em> era, is more easily contained than Warcraft<\/em> lore.<\/p>\n

However, as far as I know anyway, the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic<\/em> is *almost* entirely self-contained. It does take as history the two Bioware Knights of the Old Republic<\/em> games, but all other background lore is either derived from basic canon or tweaked from newer canon to fit the ethos of the MMORPG.<\/p>\n

It *is* important to keep in mind that Star Wars canon started fracturing in 1990’s, and that trend only increased. There is a moderate amount of retconning, but there is also a great deal that depends on when any given property was created. For example, most people forget that BOTH Knights of the Old Republic<\/em> games were released AFTER The Phantom Menace<\/em> and Attack of the Clones<\/em>. The most obvious impact the prequels had on the games is the existence of a Jedi Counsel that tends to make bad decisions, and the idea that Sith are always the main bad guys and they always use some kind of basic soldier that looks like a Stormtrooper. These concepts didn’t exist before the prequel movies (I’m not talking about the basic ideas of Sith or Stormtroopers, I’m talking about the pervasiveness).<\/p>\n

The setting of Star Wars: The Old Republic is a galaxy divided into two equal factions, with several neutral NPC factions. On one side is The Republic, represented in the game through the eyes of the military; the Jedi order, and independent traders (smugglers who are all bad boys and girls with hearts of gold). They are opposed by The Empire, run by the Sith: an order of Force users diametrically opposed to the Jedi. The Sith tolerate the presence of an Imperial Bureaucracy to coordinate the few things they don’t want direct control over, in this case Imperial Intelligence. The third Imperial faction is the Mandalorian Order, a mercenary faction that allied with the Empire. While other major Mandalorian groups exist in the galaxy, the Sith-allied faction is the only playable faction in the game. This gives the game 4 classes in each faction, with each class having two specializations. (EDITED for factual correction, see comments): For The Republic you can play as a Jedi Knight or Consular, a Republic special forces Trooper, or a Smuggler. Directly opposed, on the side of the Empire you can play a Sith Warrior or Inquisitor, a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter or an Imperial Intelligence Agent.<\/p>\n

While your class, with minor concessions to your race, determine your story (which is why they are most commonly referred to as “Class Stories,”) your play-style is determined by your specialization. The specialization sub-classes were unique to each class until the eighth expansion, Legacy of the Sith<\/em> was released about 18 months ago. With that expansion, any force using class could use any force-class specialization. For example, Force Lightning was a Sith Inquisitor Assassin specialty, but became available to Jedi classes as well (i.e. you could be a Jedi Knight Assassin). Your smuggler could now use Bounty Hunter flamethrowers. Your trooper now has access to the Sniper specialty. I have to admit, when I first logged back in to SWTOR for the first time in a while and saw this (last year), I deleted all my characters and re-built them with different specialties. Something I had to re-do this past week, because I couldn’t remember how to play. And something, as a side-note, I will mention SWTOR has made quite easy to do, now.<\/p>\n

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This is my main, technically the 3rd version of this character. Rix is also the only character that I’ve ever taken past the first few expansions into the newer full stories, although I’ve lost that version of the character. The Imperial Agent is generally considered one of the best class stories, although opinions vary quite a bit more over which is the worst (it’s Trooper.) Playing a Chiss agent gets you some additional dialogue, and has some lore value as well.<\/p>\n

I mentioned the Mandalorian faction allied with the Empire is a mercenary group…not a race. The Mandalorians have been at various times a race, an empire, and a job. Sometimes all three at the same time. You can also start a lot of arguments online by claiming Mandalorians are THIS and NOT THAT. And I’m going to leave alone what Mandalorians WERE ORIGINALLY before retcons. Point being, the Mandalorians are a faction of mercenaries and big-game hunters at this point, and that means that lore-wise, the Chiss are the only Imperial ally that AREN’T actually “off the Empire,” as it were.<\/p>\n

While your own character’s back story is up to your own imagination, there are dialogue options available that hint at some kind of trouble forcing you to leave Chiss space. The NPC Chiss you run into in the game will share dialogue that indicate the Chiss are allied with the Empire out of expediency and defense. The Chiss Ascendancy views itself as the rightful rulers of the galaxy, or rather than rulers, more as the group occupying the apex. They are monitoring and, it is hinted at, subtly controlling the Empire to their own benefit. It is also implied the Chiss’ primary superpower is bureaucracy, but I may be getting that from the unfinished-but-great Imperial Entanglements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When you create a new character these days, you can choose to create a boosted-to-level 70 character that starts in the 7th expansion, Onslaught<\/em>; or you can still create a level 1 character that starts at the very beginning of the game. I have yet to try a boosted character; neither have I played in either Onslaught<\/em> or Legacy of the Sith<\/em>, the 8th expansion. But we’re here for the story, and so we choose to start a level 1 character from the beginning.<\/p>\n

On the Imperial side, the Agent and the Bounty Hunter both start on the Hutt homeworld of Hutta. As a rookie Agent, you have been sent on what should have been a simple, but important mission: curry favor for the Empire with a minor Hutt crimelord to secure an ongoing supply of medical stimulants. Of course, the Empire can’t OPENLY make this deal; the Hutt Cartel controls all business the two governments and other factions do with Hutt bosses, and the Cartel does not wish to anger one group by favoring the other too much. So this deal has to be done SECRETLY. And it can’t be seen to be initiated by the Empire in any case.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the local Intelligence agent responsible for getting you an audience with the Hutt, Nemro, has lost track of your generous “gift” for the Hutt; and determines a highly unbelievable and unreliable cover identity. Trained in infiltration, assassination, and intelligence gathering, this is no problem for you. Since this is a MMORPG, most of your challenges can be overcome with the swift application of a knife the to back from the shadows.<\/p>\n

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The Agent with Operative specialization has three combat roles available: Medicine for group heals, Concealment for single-target damage, and Lethality for Damage-Over-Time. The primary difference at this point in the grind is with a skill triggered by the Agent’s special resource, which has only recently become available. If you spec for Lethality, you spend “Tactical Advantage” on an Area-of-effect damage enhancement. If you spec for Concealment, this skill is replaced with a powerful single-target knife attack. In World of Warcraft<\/em> terms, the Agent Operative plays a lot like a damage-dealing Rogue.<\/p>\n

The first two incarnations of this character were both Snipers. Sniper play is quite fun, but isn’t necessarily compatible with a lot of gameplay. As with any ranged attacker, this role works best with a tank pet or companion, and the Agent doesn’t acquire a companion capable of tanking. OK, technically EVERY companion can tank…every companion can do EVERY role; it’s just drop-down menu. I mean lore-wise, and appearance-wise. Additionally, the general rule-of-thumb for solo play is to always have your companion set to heal; and this has certainly been my experience SO FAR. I’ll give tanking a companion a try again when I get to a Sniper character. In all class stories, you pick up your first companion toward the end of the introductory questline. In the Agent story, you get Kaliyo Jhannis:<\/p>\n

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Kaliyo is essentially an underworld, criminal version of the Agent. She’s an assassin, enforcer, and brawl-loving Rattataki. She wanders from criminal employer to criminal employer, sometimes working for the money and sometimes working to stay hidden. Star Wars: The Old Republic has a companion influence system and an active alignment system. In addition to dialogue options you can choose while talking to companions, your alignment choices, which are also made via dialogue in cut-scenes, can influence your relationships.<\/p>\n

Kaliyo is one of a handful of characters coded almost entirely “Dark Side.” She loves murder, pain, and betraying anyone other than her or you. She profoundly dislikes Sith and has no use for loyalty to the Empire, which means she doesn’t like it if YOU DO. Now, to be honest, all of it is really for fun and it doesn’t matter what you say…you can use gifts to get your influence up to the highest level with every character you wish. And you DO get in-game benefits from having high influence with your companion.<\/p>\n

The one thing you will want to watch out for is the companions that you can engage in a romance with. Many of these are NPC’s that you can have a single-planet relationship with…or “fling” if you will; but each class story has one or more companions that you can romance. Engaging the romance arc on one companion can affect your relationship with other companions, so you may want to look out for those choices to avoid or at least understand before you do something you may regret. The romances are entirely story-related…you don’t get rare or unusual gifts or abilities that alter gameplay in any way. Just additional dialogue and altered relationships with your companions. But Rix likely won’t engage in any relationships until WAY down the line.<\/p>\n

The Agent picks up six story-related companions initially, but you’re stuck with Kaliyo for, if I remember correctly, the entire first chapter of the story. Of the remaining five, I only have any interest in two; you don’t pick them up until near the end of the original game. And you can’t romance either of them, anyway. You complete the introductory story by using fake evidence that Nemro’s rival in the region is getting help from the Republic to steal Nemro’s chemical rights, and you casually suggest maybe contacting the Empire for help would be fair play. Kaliyo, who has been on to you the whole time (according to her, anyway), assists you with this ploy and joins you in Imperial Intelligence just for funsies (she says). The two of you take a shuttle to the current Imperial capital world of Dromund Kaas for debriefing and to get new orders. Unfortunately, they don’t have ANYTHING to do with the introduction, except for a long-standing hatred of Hutts.<\/p>\n

That’s it for this week, guys; and I apologize it’s weak. This is the third version of this post I’ve done. Neither of the first two versions were any good, and this one is only better-enough to be acceptable. I had to completely re-think my angle just to get it to something basic. But at least it’s given me ideas for how to make the follow-up to this much better.<\/p>\n

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After reaching level 60 in World of Warcraft, I was inundated with quest starters for different major quest-lines in Battle for Azeroth. I’m still paying through those options to maybe figure out a better way to handle it, and there will be lots to talk about why this is in the future. But all the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[638],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paige-writes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56353"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56419,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56353\/revisions\/56419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}