(Please keep this civil, I want a serious discussion.)

My question is not about which faction some people prefer to PLAY, it's which faction people actually "SUPPORT."

I have seen many comments from people on this forum, saying things like "I agree with the Empire, I feel like I belong in the Empire, I play Empire because it's a 'better' faction, I support it, etc..."

Every time I see comments like that, I can't understand how anyone can really feel that way. Do these people actually want their real life governments to be more like the Empire, or are 100% of them really just roleplaying when they say they like the Empire better? If they truly prefer violent efficiency and racial purity, there are a few infamous countries/time periods I wish I could take them to visit...

OK, then let's instead pretend players prefer the Empire as as faction, because it's a lesser of 2 evils:

So what makes the republic so bad to some people? Who CARES if it's kinda dissonant and slow to act... isn't that better than opressing its people and being run by psychopathic maniacs? (Many citizens in my country actually LIKE having a government that can't agree on anything, because it keeps it from becomming too powerful as a whole.) And sure there's corruption in the Republic, but I saw a lot more backstabbing when leveling my Empire characters.

I'm just thinking I might be missing something in the lore here, so please fill me in if you can. There's gotta be more reasons for some people to hate the Republic more than the Empire.

Most of the backstabbing comes from the sith, and the people who are forced to serve them. I think people favor the empire because:

A) the empire gets things done without debating and squabbling with itself.

B) There are a vast many people who view the empire as cool because they are evil and edgy.

C) Lightning, force chockes, and flamethrowers.

D) many people agree that agent has the best story in the game.

Speaking strictly from a military standpoint: The Empire has a well oiled military machine (with occasional backfire from sith in fighting) compared to the republic. A prime example are the main military bases on Hoth. If you visit Aurek Base and then Dorn base you will see that Dorn base is better organized with better fortifications and defense. On top of that they are better staffed and lack Sith overlords (for the time being). Aurek base is disorganized, with minimal defenses. Everything is spread out (not unlike the republic itself) which makes it hard to defend.

The Imperial military is all about efficiency and that is something to be admired. The republic, although diverse which helps with different theater of war, has a very convoluted command structure. You have commanders that speak basic and huttese (and possibly other languages) which may not mesh well when sending orders with mixed divisions. The empire soldiers all know and use basic (even their chiss allies). This way there are no confusions on orders and there is a clear passing down of orders from the top to the bottom. The republic staff (including the spec forces) seem to fade in and out with each other and cause a lot of confusion unless a huge campaign/offensive is being planned. They seem to have a hard time adapting to situations as they are used to using specialists (like the Talz for hoth) to deal with these adverse situations. For example the big guy and tiny guy at Aurek base complaining that they dont have the proper winter gear for this.

The actual ideals for the empire (we conquer everyone so they're is peace) is pretty misguided but has decent intentions (though the sith aristocrats probably want war as revenge and expression of power, yadda yadda yadda). The republic on the other hand is about uniting people through peace and allowing all people regardless of species to have equal representation in the galaxy.

I would write more but im hungry....

Nah it's not about politics, it's about that sexy imperial officer uniform!

I think it's really because being a sith/imperial is just more exciting, dramatic, and unpredicatable and people say they support it because they get into character.

No one really wants to serve under an evil dictator.

That is a great response, LeeC. I guess I had assumed that people include the Sith as part of the whole "Empire Package" but you're saying people can reasonably like the Empire but hate the Sith, correct? Also, if the empire is so strong and efficient, I don't see why they let the Sith push them around. Maybe I'm underestimating the power of the Sith here, but it seems like the Empire would benefit in efficiency (and overall) by parting ways with them. Teaming up with them seems like they're ideologically supporting the Sith (yeah, "enemy of my enemy is my friend" but still...)

The reason I was under the impression that there was a lot of backstabbing was

I remember similar sentiments from empire officers while leveling, too. Don't remember specifics though since, again, it's been awhile since I did all the imp side quests.

As for the whole "Peace through Unity" thing, I mean... that is a good point. But to be honest it seems like a very thinly-veiled excuse to gain money and power violently. I'm sure a certain German Dictator several decades ago wanted peace in the end as well, just by his terms. "All's well that ends well" isn't a very good saying for politics!

And I might be able to buy the Empire's "peace through unity" thing if they weren't so speciest. I don't see why they couldn't have peace through IDEALOGICAL unity, attempting to condition more exotic alien cultures to follow their ways, instead of rejecting them altogether. If the Empire truly wants power, it just seems dumb for them to ignore so many able-bodied aliens.

I dunno, the whole thing just doesn't come together with me. I tend to have seen the Rep's inefficiency in a positive light, but it's possible my relatively "small government" political views are making me biased?

And I might be able to buy the Empire's "peace through unity" thing if they weren't so speciest. I don't see why they couldn't have peace through IDEALOGICAL unity, attempting to condition more exotic alien cultures to follow their ways, instead of rejecting them altogether. If the Empire truly wants power, it just seems dumb for them to ignore so many able-bodied aliens.

Its because they are the "bad guys" and eventually, they have to lose.

Think about it. If you removed the "RAWR, all aliens must die!!" bit, and made the Sith slightly less short-fused, homicidal maniacs, the Empire would roll right over the Republic like it was an old, worn down speed bump. The only point for those facets to be there is so that people will be able to tell the black hats from the white hats, and to make sure that the black hats end up defeating themselves.

Its because they are the "bad guys" and eventually, they have to lose.

 

Think about it. If you removed the "RAWR, all aliens must die!!" bit, and made the Sith slightly less short-fused, homicidal maniacs, the Empire would roll right over the Republic like it was an old, worn down speed bump. The only point for those facets to be there is so that people will be able to tell the black hats from the white hats, and to make sure that the black hats end up defeating themselves.

Makes sense to me.

I'm an Empire player, but I don't prefer their ideological beliefs. I just wanted the cool force powers and uniforms. I like to think of myself as a good person IRL, but why would I want to be something that I am in a video game, when I can experience something different?

Yeah I totally get that. I myself tend to pick whatever faction is the underdog when I start a game. I just like that feeling.

But my OP isn't really targeted at people with your approach to the faction, more for the people who seem to actually prefer the Empire's ideology.

That is a great response, LeeC. I guess I had assumed that people include the Sith as part of the whole "Empire Package" but you're saying people can reasonably like the Empire but hate the Sith, correct? Also, if the empire is so strong and efficient, I don't see why they let the Sith push them around. Maybe I'm underestimating the power of the Sith here, but it seems like the Empire would benefit in efficiency (and overall) by parting ways with them. Teaming up with them seems like they're ideologically supporting the Sith (yeah, "enemy of my enemy is my friend" but still...)

The empire never "teamed up" with the sith. It just always belonged to them. They are the elite upper class with the power of the dark side of the force to back it up. The sith are manipulative and powerful enough to keep the population from revolution and keeping them loyal. After the great hyperspace war the survivors fled to dromund kaas and the sith, still in power, helped rebuild the empire from scratch. On dromund kaas if you pay attention to what some of the officers had to say, they seem like they want an efficient empire but the sith always seem to screw it up on a whim. Though displeased with what the sith can do they always take it in stride like the sith are the drunk uncle at a family reunion who embarrassed the family, but hey they are family and you're not going to abandon family. This has been going on for 3 thousand (arguably longer) years. The emperor, though absent publicly for us in game, has still been around since the reforging of the empire after the great hyperspace war. He is beloved by the people. It is like having an extremely popular king with squabbling or inept lords/ladies/barons/etc.

As for your comment on balmorra, this is not limited to the empire. All societies do that to try and one up and get promoted in one way shape or form. And being that those officers are part of the empire (and in the occupational force division of the military which probably doesnt advance careers as fast as the military on the front lines) I am sure the ways of the sith progressing in their own subculture probably has rubbed off on those officers who have witnessed first hand the effectiveness of subverting or competing with others for high positions. That isnt to say all imperials do this. Quite honestly, sith aside, I think this is the only time ive seen this happen in the imperial military, granted my imperial classes have onl;y made it as far as hoth. So I think this is more the exception to the rule. And one has to question the personal loyalties of the officers in question here as well. Those die hard loyalists may not be tempted to do such a thing.

As far as the players favoring their ideology: I strongly disagree. I think its probably more role playing on the player's character than actually accepting the imperial ideology. and as stated before the uniforms on the imperial side are so crisp and nice looking. They are just purty.

Well, almost 70 years ago, that German dictator made his ideology law, and what did the people in Germany do(no offense to German people, it's just how all humans are)? Protest? No, they just let it all happen because it wasn't a disadvantage to them. However, sometime later, there was an actress who went nude for a film, and then suddenly everyone said she was a shame to the German people.

What I want to say is that (Imperial) people don't care if others have to die as long they're alive and well themselves.

Well, almost 70 years ago, that German dictator made his ideology law, and what did the people in Germany do(no offense to German people, it's just how all humans are)? Protest? No, they just let it all happen because it wasn't a disadvantage to them. However, sometime later, there was an actress who went nude for a film, and then suddenly everyone said she was a shame to the German people.

 

What I want to say is that (Imperial) people don't care if others have to die as long they're alive and well themselves.

However, there were some people who disliked him (not necessarily for his ideology, also because eventually he started being less careful for civilian deaths, etc), but they didn't protest because they were not so dumb to start protesting to be eventually executed.

I can't believe every Imperial citizen agreed with the emperor that they HAD to take revenge at the Republic and the Jedi, there must have been some who just wanted to live in peace and leave the Republic for what it is, but if they would have started to protest, they would have all just been killed.

I would support the Republic and fight the Empire if the conflict was real.

I support freedom not because I believe it might do right, in fact there exists lots of proof it doesn't, but because I think it's right in itself as a concept. Of course the Republic is not a democratic state, all planets and systems choose their own governing option, but that's a option the Empire wouldn't allow in the first place.

I play as a Empire character though because they always have the coolest toys.