Finished chapter 2 of my cat lady smuggler. Corso is a lot better when you leave him on the ship, which is about the greatest sign of failure for a Bioware companion. That said, the rest of her crew are awesome. If you're playing light side, there's a neat contrast between the smuggler (Chaotic Good), Risha (Chaotic Neutral), and Nok (Chaotic Evil). It's interesting that so many supporting characters are women, and that all of the main antagonists are men. I didn't notice it when I ran through smuggler as a dude, and I think it adds something to the narrative--especially if you're playing a (mostly) light side dashing rogue-type.
Started a consular and finished the first chapter. I like that it feels...small. The Knight deals with world-ending stakes from jump and never lets up. This feels like it could've been a Jedi Apprentice book. I miss self-contained adventure stories; they made the universe feel bigger than any number of superweapon plots. There isn't much character development though.
A light-side consular starts as a powerful young Jedi wise beyond her years, and ends exactly the same way. There's a lot of talk about how much the shielding ritual costs you, but they never show it. There aren't any scenes where the consular expresses doubt they can persevere, or fear that they'll die before it's done.
You don't see any of the rescued Masters dealing with their past, especially after it turns out Parchanas is very much not dead. I get that the other four are plot coupons with dialogue, but I wish Yuon had more depth.
Just like the Knight, you only get two companions in the first chapter--and neither them develop at all. I can't help but compare it to Kira's arc in the Knight's first chapter, which was solid enough to be a story all its own.
This is more general to the Jedi storylines, but I think it was a mistake to have the Knight/Consular meet their masters when the player does. Given how much Orgus and Yuon factor into the plot, they should've established much deeper relationships with the player than what we got.
Also, WHY IS THARAN SO THIRSTY? Holiday should give him a shock collar.
I´m on Chapter IX with my female nautolan smuggler. But she´s pretty DS (in a "how much you gonna pay me to save those civilians" way). Finished up the star fortresses and initiated romance with Lana.
I am entertained. And happy that I finally unlocked the "The Notorious Pirate" legacy title.
I just bit the bullet and bought the shroud of memory from the cartel market. It felt overpriced, but I had a lot of cartel coins and nothing to spend it on. I can only wear one hat at a time, after all, and most of the outfits look silly. (I am eyeing the invisible one, though.) Decorations are comically overpriced (sure, I´ll spend 1000 cc on 1 item of furniture. When hell freezes over. If it gave you a 1000 copies then we could talk.) and the rest don´t really interest me.
So SoM it was.
I actually found it rather entertaining. Z0-0M was funny, HK-55 is HK-55. Writing sufficiently witty.
I had never met the Shroud before, since the microbinocular quests are like pulling teeth.
So I'm reinstalling this after having not played since apparently like 2015, Knights of the Fallen Empire. Looks like the game is still going pretty strong?
So I'm reinstalling this after having not played since apparently like 2015, Knights of the Fallen Empire. Looks like the game is still going pretty strong?
Anything especially important to note?
Companion gear is no longer a thing - cosmetic only. Companion effectiveness is based on your level of influence with them. You gain some influence with any interaction, even when they disapprove. A good way to gain influence quickly is by giving them gifts, lots of gifts. (They like some better than most, that's still true.)
Likewise, your gear can be cosmetic only if you want. Outfit Designer (accessed through the Character Sheet, C) allows you to "stamp" armor pieces, with or without dyes, into slots and have that appearance override whatever you're actually currently wearing.
There was a round of server merges a while back, so the server you're on now is probably not where you were before. The big ones are Darth Malgus (Euro, English), Star Forge (US, East Coast), and Satele Shan (US, nominally West Coast, but I gather it's physically located in the same datacenter as SF).
The state of crafting currently is, IMO, not good. The best way to get endgame gear is not by making it yourself (except Augments, maybe) but simply by grinding Flashpoints etc until you get your gearscore up to 306 (the current max) through random drops. In terms of what drops for you, what matters is your current item level, not how close it matches your spec - so go ahead and slot that lousy +Alacrity stuff, if it ups your score, until you get something that's actually better.
Storywise, we're now a couple of arcs past KotFE. The devs had to rush the end of that, due to bad feedback and budget cuts from above; they'd planned on three "books" of about KotFE length, and instead we got just two, with the second (Knights of the Eternal Throne) being about 2/3 as long and having to wrap it all up. While a few "third faction" elements remain, for the most part we're back to familiar/cliche "Republic vs. Empire".
The first post-KotFE/ET arc, "Fractured Alliances", accomplishes the devs' goal of getting rid of the Eternal Fleet and mostly resetting things to the status quo. After that, your Alliance no longer has the powerbase to remain fully independent, and so you will need to pick a side, like you did on Iokath but more permanently. You can't fully switch sides (yet?), but if you choose the faction opposite your class's normal allegiance, you can become a "Saboteur" or double-agent, working against them in secret. This choice occurs in the mission "Inflection Point".
After that, you're off to the planet Ossus for "Jedi Under Siege", which was a mini-arc to fill time, offer some dailies and a new rep grind, and set the stage for the new status quo. And now we have "Onslaught", which is a bit like Shadow of Revan, or at least its first half (two planets, a flashpoint, and then some more story bits); there's more on the way, but it's been delayed due to RL events and other complications.
I think that covers most of it. Let us know if you have any questions.
I´m on Chapter IX with my female nautolan smuggler. But she´s pretty DS (in a "how much you gonna pay me to save those civilians" way). Finished up the star fortresses and initiated romance with Lana.
I am entertained. And happy that I finally unlocked the "The Notorious Pirate" legacy title.
Oh my God, Holiday actually did the shock collar thing! Well, shocking his bed, but close enough.
Also, they make you a Master way too soon. It's literally the next story scene after you're named Barsen'thor. Why not just make them the same?
The poor Knight had to kill the Literal Devil to get named a Master, and they don't even get a Council seat out of it.
Though it will help my headcanon that the Knight and Consular are rivals (though eventually close friends) who come to represent the two major political factions within the Order--one that wants to reform, becoming closer to the people of the galaxy and allowing marriage, and another that advocates dogma and further separation from the wider galaxy. In that context, the Council's conservative wing intentionally fast-tracks the Consular to have a powerful, young voice as a figurehead.
Why yes, I am putting way too much thought into what's ultimately just bad writing. What else is new?
After reviewing all the movies to date, and looking at the EU both old and new, I'm sadly inclined to simply call it all "Star Wars-quality writing". Extremely uneven, sometimes very good but often just silly.
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ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
My own fanwanky hypothesis about the Consular (includes spoilers for early Chapter 2):
The Barsen'thor title is warranted. The title means "Warden of the Order", and the Consular basically prevents a plague-based Order 66.
The Consular is indeed fast-tracked to Mastery, but for different political reasons. They know about the Rift Alliance and are promoting the Consular so that they have a master not already occupied with another task, as the Alliance won't take anyone but a master. Plus the Consular has already proven themselves adept at handling impossible tasks. Chop chop, kid.
My own fanwanky hypothesis about the Consular (includes spoilers for early Chapter 2):
The Barsen'thor title is warranted. The title means "Warden of the Order", and the Consular basically prevents a plague-based Order 66.
The Consular is indeed fast-tracked to Mastery, but for different political reasons. They know about the Rift Alliance and are promoting the Consular so that they have a master not already occupied with another task, as the Alliance won't take anyone but a master. Plus the Consular has already proven themselves adept at handling impossible tasks. Chop chop, kid.
Yeah, that fits.
Barsen'thor is definitely warranted, and is the exact kind of lore greeble I wish we had more of. I just wish there had been more of a break between getting that and being named Master. Like, you should've been named Master at the end of Chapter 2, and the Rift Alliance handwaved as just wanting an important Jedi. To tie it back to the movies, nobody in Clone Wars would've complained if the Council had "only" sent Anakin Skywalker, because he had a sterling reputation for getting shit done.
So I'm reinstalling this after having not played since apparently like 2015, Knights of the Fallen Empire. Looks like the game is still going pretty strong?
Anything especially important to note?
Companion gear is no longer a thing - cosmetic only. Companion effectiveness is based on your level of influence with them. You gain some influence with any interaction, even when they disapprove. A good way to gain influence quickly is by giving them gifts, lots of gifts. (They like some better than most, that's still true.)
Likewise, your gear can be cosmetic only if you want. Outfit Designer (accessed through the Character Sheet, C) allows you to "stamp" armor pieces, with or without dyes, into slots and have that appearance override whatever you're actually currently wearing.
There was a round of server merges a while back, so the server you're on now is probably not where you were before. The big ones are Darth Malgus (Euro, English), Star Forge (US, East Coast), and Satele Shan (US, nominally West Coast, but I gather it's physically located in the same datacenter as SF).
The state of crafting currently is, IMO, not good. The best way to get endgame gear is not by making it yourself (except Augments, maybe) but simply by grinding Flashpoints etc until you get your gearscore up to 306 (the current max) through random drops. In terms of what drops for you, what matters is your current item level, not how close it matches your spec - so go ahead and slot that lousy +Alacrity stuff, if it ups your score, until you get something that's actually better.
Storywise, we're now a couple of arcs past KotFE. The devs had to rush the end of that, due to bad feedback and budget cuts from above; they'd planned on three "books" of about KotFE length, and instead we got just two, with the second (Knights of the Eternal Throne) being about 2/3 as long and having to wrap it all up. While a few "third faction" elements remain, for the most part we're back to familiar/cliche "Republic vs. Empire".
The first post-KotFE/ET arc, "Fractured Alliances", accomplishes the devs' goal of getting rid of the Eternal Fleet and mostly resetting things to the status quo. After that, your Alliance no longer has the powerbase to remain fully independent, and so you will need to pick a side, like you did on Iokath but more permanently. You can't fully switch sides (yet?), but if you choose the faction opposite your class's normal allegiance, you can become a "Saboteur" or double-agent, working against them in secret. This choice occurs in the mission "Inflection Point".
After that, you're off to the planet Ossus for "Jedi Under Siege", which was a mini-arc to fill time, offer some dailies and a new rep grind, and set the stage for the new status quo. And now we have "Onslaught", which is a bit like Shadow of Revan, or at least its first half (two planets, a flashpoint, and then some more story bits); there's more on the way, but it's been delayed due to RL events and other complications.
I think that covers most of it. Let us know if you have any questions.
I did not know this. I don't understand the criticism, really. While the story is obviously not perfect, I feel it is quite enjoyable. And I greatly enjoyed that my choices have (at least the appearance) of consequences.
Is there any info on what they wanted to do, story-wise?
Yes! There's a vendor in the Bazaar section of the Fleet (north or south elevator), in a shipping container to the right of the appearance station.
I didn’t know that! Neat.
I have reached a new level of Fucking Nerd.
I decided lightsaber colors based on what type of bender each class would be.
1. Knight—>Earthbender.
Their whole arc is about willpower and stubborn defense in the face of overwhelming odds. I went with viridian for the color, since it’s less basic than green and the silvery tone evokes metalbending.
2. Consular—>Waterbender
This one was a little tough for me. I was tempted to say Airbender, but I don’t think the Consular avoids conflict enough or has a deep enough connection to spirits in and of themselves. They’re wise, sure, but it’s more in service to a goal than to their own enlightenment. I went with derelict purple, since it’s in the blue palette range and water is much more of a powerhouse than people expect.
3. Sith Warrior—>Firebender
4. Sith Inquisitor—>Airbender
Haven’t actually made these two yet, so my reasoning is more a guess.
There are a lot of things in this game that are poorly explained. Until last month I didn't know you could hide the chat window. Until two days ago I didn't know you could customize what the chat window displays. Until yesterday I didn't know you could buy random gear for tech fragments. And until today I didn't know you could buy cross-faction companion customization :P
Couple of years back I missed out on recruiting Ashara because I didn't know you could hit escape to re-start a conversation (like I was not going to choose [Force lightning] as my response :P).
Sic transit gloria mundi.
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ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Yes! There's a vendor in the Bazaar section of the Fleet (north or south elevator), in a shipping container to the right of the appearance station.
I didn’t know that! Neat.
I have reached a new level of Fucking Nerd.
I decided lightsaber colors based on what type of bender each class would be.
1. Knight—>Earthbender.
Their whole arc is about willpower and stubborn defense in the face of overwhelming odds. I went with viridian for the color, since it’s less basic than green and the silvery tone evokes metalbending.
2. Consular—>Waterbender
This one was a little tough for me. I was tempted to say Airbender, but I don’t think the Consular avoids conflict enough or has a deep enough connection to spirits in and of themselves. They’re wise, sure, but it’s more in service to a goal than to their own enlightenment. I went with derelict purple, since it’s in the blue palette range and water is much more of a powerhouse than people expect.
3. Sith Warrior—>Firebender
4. Sith Inquisitor—>Airbender
Haven’t actually made these two yet, so my reasoning is more a guess.
Mechanically, the Inquisitor is more Firebender, what with the lightning and such. Consular literally chucks rocks around. I have a Miraluka Telekinetic Sage named Mountaintoph, based on the original design for Toph (a big loud boisterous man--so basically the character from the Ember Island Players). It also depends on whether you're playing a Marauder/Sentinel or Juggernaut/Guardian, for which gets which element.
But if you get into the philosophies of the elements:
Fire is the element of power. It's about desire and will and drive, and the Inquisitor's story, or at least origin, is better suited to that than the others.
Earth is the element of substance. It's about endurance and persistence, and finding strength from diversity and through adversity. While all stories go through their share of trials, chapter 1 of the Consular story has (only in story, but I can imagine it might have been mechanical in a single-player game) the player character deliberately choosing to weaken themselves (or not, but conservatism and xenophobia isn't outside the realm of the Earth Kingdom's philosophy either) to protect others yet pushing on.
Water is the element of change. It might seem odd to give it to the Warrior, but (minor SPOILERS for the prologue), I always perceived the warrior as a sort of rich privileged party kid, suddenly thrust into a world where they might have a leg up but if they make a mistake they'll still die. They get fast-tracked through the Sith Academy without even knowing the Sith code, but still come out on top. There is no more restriction on what you can do in the game than any other story, of course, but I find the best story for the Warrior is light-side, as you take such unexpected decisions that your foes are genuinely confused. On top of that, there is a moment in the story where the Warrior's companions show surprisingly loyalty and friendship towards them, a true form of community bonding.
Air is the element of freedom, detaching oneself from worldly trappings to find peace. This is, of course, basically the Jedi philosophy as it already exists, because both are based partly on Buddhism, so it could be either Consular or Knight, but what cracks it for me is that the Consular is generally very dour while the Knight has a lot more opportunity to be funny--that detachment from worldliness apparently gives most Airbenders a good sense of humor.
I finished Consular chapter 2--I'm trying to unlock all the class buffs--and I have to say...not as strong as chapter 1, and certainly weaker than the second chapters for Knight or Smuggler.
So, the opening really talks up the diplomatic crisis and sets up all these personalities and simmering political conflicts--and then it doesn't do anything with them. The missions you undertake are things any Jedi could've done; go here, wipe out the bad guys and save the helpless, collect plot coupon. Balmorra's the strongest piece, thanks to the dynamic between Zenith and Tai Cordon. I was pleasantly surprised that Zenith's a companion, but the way the story gets there is weak. Cordon, the one who ran, unceremoniously exiles Zenith, the one who fought for years, and...everyone's cool with it? That's the kind the thing that could spark another war, but the story just leaves it on the table. Better if the Consular recruited Zenith to save him from Cordon's betrayal, and you'd have to play it carefully so Balmorra stays loyal. I don't know--other classes' companions add more texture to their stories.
The ending is terrible. So, a Sith has been hiding out on your ship for weeks or months, secretly watching you. That's fantastic. That keeps the Sith a real threat instead of just canon fodder or BBEG #83. But...he doesn't actually do anything. If his goal is to stop the Rift Alliance from mending fences with the Republic, why not just blow up your ship? That kills you, wipes out the Alliance's political leadership, and proves quite definitively that the Republic can't get the job done. Killing Sarkai's royal family only serves to drive them further into the Republic's arms--the only game in town that can match the Sith.
I had some issues with chapter 1, but it was pretty unique for a Star Wars game story and had some interesting character moments. Hopefully chapter 3 measures up.
That said, Nadia's awesome and her introduction is top notch. Her being a romance option is skeevy as hell, though. She comes off like she's 15, and even if you're RPing a teen prodigy, the power dynamics are way off. Just compare it to Kira's romance. Sure, Kira starts off as a Padawan--but she's implied to be of age with the Knight and shown to be an extremely skilled Jedi. Plus,the romance doesn't start until after she's Knighted, and only separated from the Knight by their greater fame and talent.
I really want to know why Bioware felt the need to make the female love interest for every Force class a Padawan. I mean, I know the answer, I just want to know why Bioware wasn't better.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I really want to know why Bioware felt the need to make the female love interest for every Force class a Padawan. I mean, I know the answer, I just want to know why Bioware wasn't better.
Word is that Bioware Austin, the specific studio that makes the game, is rabidly sexist:
I really want to know why Bioware felt the need to make the female love interest for every Force class a Padawan. I mean, I know the answer, I just want to know why Bioware wasn't better.
Word is that Bioware Austin, the specific studio that makes the game, is rabidly sexist:
I really want to know why Bioware felt the need to make the female love interest for every Force class a Padawan. I mean, I know the answer, I just want to know why Bioware wasn't better.
Word is that Bioware Austin, the specific studio that makes the game, is rabidly sexist:
This is a bitmap copy, but the original is a vector image I drew in Inkscape (freeware equivalent of Adobe Illustrator). Vector means infinitely scalable, so I can make it as large as I want without loss of quality.
I used these two reference images:
I overlayed them on top of each other and hand traced the image.
I'm reasonably happy, especially since I haven't drawn anything other than technical or scientific illustrations since I was in school. Constructive criticism welcome
ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Since I spent a solid three weeks grinding one of my characters to get the Limitless achievement, I figured I would devote some time to the Republic sister guild of the one that character is in. I've managed to figure out how to reach the conquest goal on all 25(!) of my Republic characters each week while spending less time actually playing than I was just playing on one.
Just be prepared to dial it back when burnout hits.
Also, everyone should be aware that Bounty Contract Week returns on Tuesday. Let's hope the patch notes were correct and they've actually fixed it this time.
+1
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ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
Eh, my sub runs out in like a week and a half anyway.
I've taken my smuggler through the Jedi Under Siege story and just started Onslaught.
Thoughts, containing story spoilers:
I've heard complaints that the traitor story doesn't work very well, since some feel that the little acts of sabotage don't make sense for characters who genuinely wish to join the other side.
But it makes perfect sense for my smuggler. She doesn't give a shit about either side, just about making as much money as possible off of everybody. And working for the Empire and pretending to work for the Republic means she gets two paychecks. And a general state of conflict and lawlessness is just the sort of situation a clever "entrepeneur" could exploit. Best if no one wins, really.
She let Theron live after Nathema, but didn't tell him about selling out to the Empire. He was so happy to be back working for the Republic, and it didn't seem prudent to let him know. Lana is the only one who knows, but she's Empire and also the smuggler's wife, and anyways arranged the whole thing.
I do say it's a fun bonus that Nautolans (she's a Nautolan) are increadibly hard to read, since their eyes show no emotion or expression. Perfect for a pathological liar / double agent.
One might ask how such a character ended up Alliance Commander in the first place. Up to KotFE, she ended up in the thick of things by being skilled and the Republic handing her a big sack of cash and pointing her at the problem whenever they ran into something they couldn't solve. And after Valkorian for his own reasons took an interest and the events of Chapters 1–9 it just sort of happened. But never look a gift bantha in the mouth.
[Expletive deleted] on
Sic transit gloria mundi.
+2
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
Swoop racing is going to be an event it looks like, starting next week. Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event also coming back in July.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
+1
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ShadowenSnores in the morningLoserdomRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
They updated the social bar (the thing that tells you how many people are in the instance with you, how many people from the guild are online, etc). It can be moved (I don't know if it could have been before), but now it can also be popped open to tell you about the oldest quests you current have in your log, and now it tells you how many of your friends.
And also, incidentally, advertise one of the specials on the cartel market.
In the social bar.
It's minor, but knowing how cosmetic items are not "just cosmetic" (even in games like this one where they are mechanically "just cosmetic"), it's really got me side-eying the game and anticipating more subtle and not-so-subtle in-game ads for the game itself.
Swoop racing is going to be an event it looks like, starting next week. Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event also coming back in July.
Man, they are terrible at communicating. The patch notes say next week. This page says this week ("The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally will be available with Game Update 6.1.2 on June 24th!").
I was having fun being back, but after todays patch the game crashes before I load in and apparently there isn't a fix for this? I tried reinstalling, deleting bit raider, nothing fixes it and apparently I'm just fucked.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
edited July 2020
I tried swoop racing yesterday. It is fun enough that I keep going back, but I think they should have made the racers faster. I'm fairly certain that mount speed is an engine restriction, but I dunno, they can make the taxis pretty fast. Still not a bad side game. Definitely a much funner event than the upcoming gambling event (that I will nevertheless participate in because I want all the achievements like an idiot).
Edit: I guess I should say, it's more like an obstacle course and showing off tricks than a pure speed race the way the original swoop racing is. Depending on what team you're playing for, you're either asked to set of explosives and fireworks, or perform flair in front of the crowd and get all the high jumps. Once you know the tracks it's not difficult.
Cambiata on
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
The taxis can go fast because they're on rails and only the stops at both ends are fully rendered.
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CambiataCommander ShepardThe likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered Userregular
I forgot the third swoop gang wants you to collect orbs and speed boosts. Even though the speed boosts make the bikes slightly faster it's still the least fun type of track to run.
"If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Posts
Started a consular and finished the first chapter. I like that it feels...small. The Knight deals with world-ending stakes from jump and never lets up. This feels like it could've been a Jedi Apprentice book. I miss self-contained adventure stories; they made the universe feel bigger than any number of superweapon plots. There isn't much character development though.
You don't see any of the rescued Masters dealing with their past, especially after it turns out Parchanas is very much not dead. I get that the other four are plot coupons with dialogue, but I wish Yuon had more depth.
Just like the Knight, you only get two companions in the first chapter--and neither them develop at all. I can't help but compare it to Kira's arc in the Knight's first chapter, which was solid enough to be a story all its own.
This is more general to the Jedi storylines, but I think it was a mistake to have the Knight/Consular meet their masters when the player does. Given how much Orgus and Yuon factor into the plot, they should've established much deeper relationships with the player than what we got.
Also, WHY IS THARAN SO THIRSTY? Holiday should give him a shock collar.
Alas, you're forced to accept a Mandalorian as a companion in Act 3, and... no. Just no. Never.
I´m on Chapter IX with my female nautolan smuggler. But she´s pretty DS (in a "how much you gonna pay me to save those civilians" way). Finished up the star fortresses and initiated romance with Lana.
I am entertained. And happy that I finally unlocked the "The Notorious Pirate" legacy title.
So SoM it was.
I had never met the Shroud before, since the microbinocular quests are like pulling teeth.
Anything especially important to note?
Companion gear is no longer a thing - cosmetic only. Companion effectiveness is based on your level of influence with them. You gain some influence with any interaction, even when they disapprove. A good way to gain influence quickly is by giving them gifts, lots of gifts. (They like some better than most, that's still true.)
Likewise, your gear can be cosmetic only if you want. Outfit Designer (accessed through the Character Sheet, C) allows you to "stamp" armor pieces, with or without dyes, into slots and have that appearance override whatever you're actually currently wearing.
There was a round of server merges a while back, so the server you're on now is probably not where you were before. The big ones are Darth Malgus (Euro, English), Star Forge (US, East Coast), and Satele Shan (US, nominally West Coast, but I gather it's physically located in the same datacenter as SF).
The state of crafting currently is, IMO, not good. The best way to get endgame gear is not by making it yourself (except Augments, maybe) but simply by grinding Flashpoints etc until you get your gearscore up to 306 (the current max) through random drops. In terms of what drops for you, what matters is your current item level, not how close it matches your spec - so go ahead and slot that lousy +Alacrity stuff, if it ups your score, until you get something that's actually better.
Storywise, we're now a couple of arcs past KotFE. The devs had to rush the end of that, due to bad feedback and budget cuts from above; they'd planned on three "books" of about KotFE length, and instead we got just two, with the second (Knights of the Eternal Throne) being about 2/3 as long and having to wrap it all up. While a few "third faction" elements remain, for the most part we're back to familiar/cliche "Republic vs. Empire".
After that, you're off to the planet Ossus for "Jedi Under Siege", which was a mini-arc to fill time, offer some dailies and a new rep grind, and set the stage for the new status quo. And now we have "Onslaught", which is a bit like Shadow of Revan, or at least its first half (two planets, a flashpoint, and then some more story bits); there's more on the way, but it's been delayed due to RL events and other complications.
I think that covers most of it. Let us know if you have any questions.
ym "The Nautorious Pirate"
Also, they make you a Master way too soon. It's literally the next story scene after you're named Barsen'thor. Why not just make them the same?
The poor Knight had to kill the Literal Devil to get named a Master, and they don't even get a Council seat out of it.
Though it will help my headcanon that the Knight and Consular are rivals (though eventually close friends) who come to represent the two major political factions within the Order--one that wants to reform, becoming closer to the people of the galaxy and allowing marriage, and another that advocates dogma and further separation from the wider galaxy. In that context, the Council's conservative wing intentionally fast-tracks the Consular to have a powerful, young voice as a figurehead.
Why yes, I am putting way too much thought into what's ultimately just bad writing. What else is new?
The Consular is indeed fast-tracked to Mastery, but for different political reasons. They know about the Rift Alliance and are promoting the Consular so that they have a master not already occupied with another task, as the Alliance won't take anyone but a master. Plus the Consular has already proven themselves adept at handling impossible tasks. Chop chop, kid.
Yeah, that fits.
I did not know this. I don't understand the criticism, really. While the story is obviously not perfect, I feel it is quite enjoyable. And I greatly enjoyed that my choices have (at least the appearance) of consequences.
Is there any info on what they wanted to do, story-wise?
I didn’t know that! Neat.
I have reached a new level of Fucking Nerd.
I decided lightsaber colors based on what type of bender each class would be.
Their whole arc is about willpower and stubborn defense in the face of overwhelming odds. I went with viridian for the color, since it’s less basic than green and the silvery tone evokes metalbending.
2. Consular—>Waterbender
This one was a little tough for me. I was tempted to say Airbender, but I don’t think the Consular avoids conflict enough or has a deep enough connection to spirits in and of themselves. They’re wise, sure, but it’s more in service to a goal than to their own enlightenment. I went with derelict purple, since it’s in the blue palette range and water is much more of a powerhouse than people expect.
3. Sith Warrior—>Firebender
4. Sith Inquisitor—>Airbender
Haven’t actually made these two yet, so my reasoning is more a guess.
Couple of years back I missed out on recruiting Ashara because I didn't know you could hit escape to re-start a conversation (like I was not going to choose [Force lightning] as my response :P).
Mechanically, the Inquisitor is more Firebender, what with the lightning and such. Consular literally chucks rocks around. I have a Miraluka Telekinetic Sage named Mountaintoph, based on the original design for Toph (a big loud boisterous man--so basically the character from the Ember Island Players). It also depends on whether you're playing a Marauder/Sentinel or Juggernaut/Guardian, for which gets which element.
But if you get into the philosophies of the elements:
Fire is the element of power. It's about desire and will and drive, and the Inquisitor's story, or at least origin, is better suited to that than the others.
Earth is the element of substance. It's about endurance and persistence, and finding strength from diversity and through adversity. While all stories go through their share of trials, chapter 1 of the Consular story has (only in story, but I can imagine it might have been mechanical in a single-player game) the player character deliberately choosing to weaken themselves (or not, but conservatism and xenophobia isn't outside the realm of the Earth Kingdom's philosophy either) to protect others yet pushing on.
Water is the element of change. It might seem odd to give it to the Warrior, but (minor SPOILERS for the prologue), I always perceived the warrior as a sort of rich privileged party kid, suddenly thrust into a world where they might have a leg up but if they make a mistake they'll still die. They get fast-tracked through the Sith Academy without even knowing the Sith code, but still come out on top. There is no more restriction on what you can do in the game than any other story, of course, but I find the best story for the Warrior is light-side, as you take such unexpected decisions that your foes are genuinely confused. On top of that, there is a moment in the story where the Warrior's companions show surprisingly loyalty and friendship towards them, a true form of community bonding.
Air is the element of freedom, detaching oneself from worldly trappings to find peace. This is, of course, basically the Jedi philosophy as it already exists, because both are based partly on Buddhism, so it could be either Consular or Knight, but what cracks it for me is that the Consular is generally very dour while the Knight has a lot more opportunity to be funny--that detachment from worldliness apparently gives most Airbenders a good sense of humor.
Also, Kira Carsen is a firebender. Fight me.
(If she weren't the Avatar, Korra would basically have been a firebender in a waterbender's body.)
The ending is terrible. So, a Sith has been hiding out on your ship for weeks or months, secretly watching you. That's fantastic. That keeps the Sith a real threat instead of just canon fodder or BBEG #83. But...he doesn't actually do anything. If his goal is to stop the Rift Alliance from mending fences with the Republic, why not just blow up your ship? That kills you, wipes out the Alliance's political leadership, and proves quite definitively that the Republic can't get the job done. Killing Sarkai's royal family only serves to drive them further into the Republic's arms--the only game in town that can match the Sith.
I had some issues with chapter 1, but it was pretty unique for a Star Wars game story and had some interesting character moments. Hopefully chapter 3 measures up.
That said, Nadia's awesome and her introduction is top notch. Her being a romance option is skeevy as hell, though. She comes off like she's 15, and even if you're RPing a teen prodigy, the power dynamics are way off. Just compare it to Kira's romance. Sure, Kira starts off as a Padawan--but she's implied to be of age with the Knight and shown to be an extremely skilled Jedi. Plus,the romance doesn't start until after she's Knighted, and only separated from the Knight by their greater fame and talent.
I really want to know why Bioware felt the need to make the female love interest for every Force class a Padawan. I mean, I know the answer, I just want to know why Bioware wasn't better.
Word is that Bioware Austin, the specific studio that makes the game, is rabidly sexist:
http://www.nymgamer.com/?p=12067
wow, that was an... unpleasant read. :bigfrown:
Well, that's horrifying.
My Sith assassin main, Marmoni (on Darth Malgus).
Artsy details:
I used these two reference images:
I overlayed them on top of each other and hand traced the image.
I'm reasonably happy, especially since I haven't drawn anything other than technical or scientific illustrations since I was in school. Constructive criticism welcome
SFDebris is finishing off the Empire-side of SWTOR with his look at the Bounty Hunter's story.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Also, everyone should be aware that Bounty Contract Week returns on Tuesday. Let's hope the patch notes were correct and they've actually fixed it this time.
Thoughts, containing story spoilers:
But it makes perfect sense for my smuggler. She doesn't give a shit about either side, just about making as much money as possible off of everybody. And working for the Empire and pretending to work for the Republic means she gets two paychecks. And a general state of conflict and lawlessness is just the sort of situation a clever "entrepeneur" could exploit. Best if no one wins, really.
She let Theron live after Nathema, but didn't tell him about selling out to the Empire. He was so happy to be back working for the Republic, and it didn't seem prudent to let him know. Lana is the only one who knows, but she's Empire and also the smuggler's wife, and anyways arranged the whole thing.
I do say it's a fun bonus that Nautolans (she's a Nautolan) are increadibly hard to read, since their eyes show no emotion or expression. Perfect for a pathological liar / double agent.
One might ask how such a character ended up Alliance Commander in the first place. Up to KotFE, she ended up in the thick of things by being skilled and the Republic handing her a big sack of cash and pointing her at the problem whenever they ran into something they couldn't solve. And after Valkorian for his own reasons took an interest and the events of Chapters 1–9 it just sort of happened. But never look a gift bantha in the mouth.
Swoop racing is going to be an event it looks like, starting next week. Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event also coming back in July.
And also, incidentally, advertise one of the specials on the cartel market.
In the social bar.
It's minor, but knowing how cosmetic items are not "just cosmetic" (even in games like this one where they are mechanically "just cosmetic"), it's really got me side-eying the game and anticipating more subtle and not-so-subtle in-game ads for the game itself.
Man, they are terrible at communicating. The patch notes say next week. This page says this week ("The All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally will be available with Game Update 6.1.2 on June 24th!").
pleasepaypreacher.net
Anyone recognize at least the chest and gloves here? Spotted this on a Bounty Hunter LP and I was thinking of maybe getting that stuff if available.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
Gloves... no idea, sorry.
https://torf.mmo-fashion.com/satele-shan/
Edit: I guess I should say, it's more like an obstacle course and showing off tricks than a pure speed race the way the original swoop racing is. Depending on what team you're playing for, you're either asked to set of explosives and fireworks, or perform flair in front of the crowd and get all the high jumps. Once you know the tracks it's not difficult.