So I have mentioned in other few threads how I felt about the story aspect in the 3.0 expansion.

 

Good:

-Class Story (Thank you!)

-Cool that you actually got to interact with Satele and Marr and they really help you in the final Revan battle.

- I liked the story on Yavin 4 the most to be honest, though it was short but it was good to be able to talk to Marr and Satele on one table.

- I thought the first part on Rishi prior to meeting Lana and Theron was funny and entertaining,

 

Not so good:

-Too straightforward. I didn´t feel a lot of mystery or questions. It was just: Revan is mad and we need to stop his army." (though it was clever to see how Revan used the pirates to sabotage both reps and imps)

- No cool or interesting dark/light side choices. i think they have been the most dull from the entire game.

-only one story for both factions, would be good if there were some differences but the differences were so extremely minimal between both.

-Not enough rest, getting to know characters. It was too much of "Oh stop them, good, now stop them and do this."

-Not enough with Rishi. The Rishi questgivers should have gotten more cutscenes. We had only 2 cutscenes for a whole new species.

-No small consequences for certain actions. I don´t expect Imperial Agent cosequences but small one within the arc. Like you rescue someone and than he gives you a clue before the final fight. Something like that.

 

These are my two cents but I would like to hear what you guys thought.

Liked Rishi, did not like Yavin. The Revan's wrap up was just not there. Would have loved to experience more of the Pub and Imps work together stuff. Loved the concept of the solo Flashpoints, but do not like the paranoia attached to doing something wrong and losing the precious solo mode.

Regarding the Rishi/Yavin storyline- it felt like it didn't reach its potential. None of the characters really jumped out at you. No interesting light/dark side choices. No companion affection gains/losses. The voice acting was good but it didn't really hit the spot like it did in vanilla. For example, Spencer Garrett as Revan is bland and nowhere near as good as Jeff Bennett was. I wanted to listen to Revan in Maelstrom Prison and Foundry. in 3.0 I didn't give a crap and the ending was anticlimactic. Satele sounded a bit off and the Emperor's voice didn't have the same modulation as he did in the JK storyline.

 

I didn't expect different faction storylines like on Makeb given that this is based around Forged Alliances so I hope they get back to that in the future.

 

The moving camera in the cinematics can be an interesting tool but here it's just overused and distracting.

 

I thought the class stories, while short, were well done.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Projawa

I found the story for SoR underwhelming, and longed for something akin to RotHC, both in story and quality of the writing. Still do.

 

Rishi, as a planet, feels underused, if not unfinished, almost on par with Quesh.

 

The story there feels minimal to non-existent, and I find myself having issues trying to find a reason, as to why the Nova Blades would even be helping the Revanites. In addition, outside the class stories and Arankau, there are ZERO new characters that feel memorable, or that I would like to see again, further down the road.

 

The class story missions were the main draw for Rishi, but instead of being fairly beefy, in both longevity and writing, they come and go in a single gulp. I loved the one for the Sith Warrior, but it ends so fast I barely had the time to digest it, to let it sink in; Same with the Jedi Knight.

 

In addition to the above, I was also expecting something akin to the Staged Weekly on Makeb, after you were done with the story there, but aside the intro for the Ravagers -- which is the most AWFUL intro for an operation in this game -- there is ZERO, NOTHING.

 

The potential was there, but yet again, unfinished.

 

Then there's Blood Hunt and Battle of Rishi. The former, as far as the story goes, is perfect; The latter felt rushed, especially when both Marr and Satele declare a truce between both factions. There was no tension preceding it, and everything came down very naturally, as if the Forced dictated it so, and they were their very instruments.

 

Such a moment should NEVER take place inside a flashpoint and if it did, it required a more solemn tone to it, more gravitas, instead of typical gun-ho. Ironically enough, they got it right in the past for The Foundry, Maelstrom Prison and False Emperor but here? Terrible.

 

Then, there's Yavin 4, which -- as I always expected -- was a carbon-copy of Oricon.

 

Finally, the story started going somewhere, and the title of the expansion started to make some sense. Until then, I was unsure if it should have been called Shadow of Revan to begin with, seeing it's namesake had been missing for most of its duration.

 

Characters behaved the way they should, especially Marr and Satele, and I'm glad that in that aspect, the writing still holds up. Ending felt fairly anti-climatic -- as expected -- so their options remain opened and you get a pat on the back, plus a supposedly meaningful title to accommodate for the lackluster storytelling.

 

/rant

Edited December 20, 2014 by Darth_Wicked

Copy-pasting my thoughts from another forum. It's pretty long, but over there I posted spoilers, so... sorry, just click on the button .

 

 

 

I was mostly happy about the class-specific mission, Rishi and Raider's cove, and connection to emperor. Other than that, I am not fond of the story. I have always hated darth "Mary Sue" Revan, and this story didn't make him any more tolerable, quite the contrary. It was even more ridiculous than bringing him into SWTOR in the first place. It certainly doesn't help that I had to go through the story multiple times in short succession, with all the different voice actors saying same things.

Thanks guys for sharing your views on this!

 

I definitely agree with almost every point you guys made. I don`t find the expanion "Omg so bad" or anything. It had a lot of good moments but all in all it was underwhelming and too short.

I wouldn't say 'too short'. A great story is tight. Here, I was going 'story, what story?' It actually had that roaming the world, doing disjointed side-quests feel of Baldur's Gate I tbh. And that's charming, but after the tight run through the Class stories on 12xXP it did feel like there should be more to it (not the length, the story). I am doing it on my 2nd character now,and by the time I hit the third toon, I am afraid the only thing that I would be getting off the rails and stopping for is deciding if each toon romances Lana or Theron. Edited December 21, 2014 by DomiSotto

I just hope Revan is actually dead for good.

I just hope Revan is actually dead for good.

 

Awww, such adorable optimism.

Awww, such adorable optimism.

 

He's fooling himself. He probably knows it too.

 

There's a reason why, every so often, characters go about saying:

There is no death. There is the Force.

Which roughly translates as:

If the writers want me to return because reasons, I will.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Edited December 22, 2014 by Darth_Wicked

The problem with Revan isn't that he's a mary sue.

 

I mean, his portrayal in this certainly does qualify him for at least borderline Sue status. His uber-secret conspiracy makes the Star Cabal look low key and sensible, and then there's his stated power level. The problem is a simple question: What else is there to him?

 

He's not a lesson on the need for balance. He's not a parable on redemption. He never once directly talks to Satele, and only has a brief seen exchange with Theron, so this isn't really about his legacy. The connection to Rakata tech and Manaan are dropped after the Forged Alliances quests. There's barely any references to any of his previous fun, none of the companions from KOTOR or the Exile (aside from Bastila, and that's only if you stretch things).

 

In short, if you scratched out the name "Revan" and replaced it with "Darth Stabbywonkers", what would change?

 

That's what Shadow of Revan runs into: It has little to do with Revan. He's just there's a big name threat that both sides can go smack around. We end up getting a better impression of the head of the Pirate gang on Rishi than we do about who Revan really is now... and that's kinda terrible for what's supposed to be the main antagonist of an expansion.

If the writers want me to return because reasons, I will.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Also known as the first law of resurrection.

 

It should be noted however, that this does NOT create great stories. Revan's story has been twisted beyond all recognition already, anything that follows this gets only ridicule from me. I did NOT gain any enjoyment killing him again, because I had killed him ALREADY in foundry. Not to mention that his resurrection isn't explained AT ALL.

 

While somebody might think that the great tag-team of jedi, sith and all other impressive NPCs in the final battle is somehow cool, all I see are desperate attempts to camouflage the fact that the devs only have resources to make one story for the two different factions and all the different classes.

 

While I liked the planets and the class missions, the actual storyline of SOR remains a hot mess equivalent to mad cookings of desperate marketing people.

While I applaud some things about the expansion, (class stories, planet visuals, killing massassi) the fact it was about Revan ruined it. Overused. Both Revan and the basic plot.

 

Follow with me now, an outside faction not of the Empire or Republic gains power and a number of followers. It is now our characters job to fight against this outside threat before it can destroy their faction. So, which bad guy/guys am I talking about? Hutt Cartel? Check. Dread Masters? Check. Revan? Check. Honestly BW, what happened to the so called war between the Empire and Republic. It's been two years since either side fired an honest shot at each other*.

 

Revan is and should be dead. If he comes back again, (never should have been the game in the first place, but that is my opinion) I promise it will be to the same tune as before. All powerfull outside faction that must be taken down by imps or pubs before he destroys both.

 

*

 

While I applaud some things about the expansion, (class stories, planet visuals, killing massassi) the fact it was about Revan ruined it. Overused. Both Revan and the basic plot.

 

Follow with me now, an outside faction not of the Empire or Republic gains power and a number of followers. It is now our characters job to fight against this outside threat before it can destroy their faction. So, which bad guy/guys am I talking about? Hutt Cartel? Check. Dread Masters? Check. Revan? Check. Honestly BW, what happened to the so called war between the Empire and Republic. It's been two years since either side fired an honest shot at each other*.

 

Revan is and should be dead. If he comes back again, (never should have been the game in the first place, but that is my opinion) I promise it will be to the same tune as before. All powerfull outside faction that must be taken down by imps or pubs before he destroys both.

 

 

Not to worry, Revan isn't coming back. The Emperor is...now as an all powerful outside faction that Republic and Empire must unite to fight against.

 

The problem with this whole "war" between the Republic and the Empire is that it requires writing separate, interesting storylines for both sides, and who has time for that?

Edited December 26, 2014 by jovianus

I'm rather positive about SOR. Both planets were very neatly done, especially Rishi, which felt like how Nar Shaddaa should've felt.

 

The story itself was good, a lot better than RotC. Lot of excitement, climaxes, interesting conversations and mystery. The whole coalition part felt realistic; necessary but fragile. Very nice to see more conversions with Satele Shan and, especially, Darth Marr.

 

Theron, Lana, Jakorra and C2D4 appealed less imo, Theron being the best worked out of 'm, i think.

 

The class stories are very nice, even though they are short. I really like it when you meet persons you already know, or if they are mentioned. Makes it feel like the story continues. Did 5 of 'm so far, and like the agent's the most (agent always seems the best...)

 

The only problem is that having to do the story 8 times, including the 4 fp's at the start, is rather tiresome ofc, but by small changes in conversion and the class story part, it is MUCH better than RotC in this aspect.

Through all the things I criticized about the expansion I have to say that the Yavin 4 story cutscenes were good. More Darth Marr! I also enjoyed that the emperor had some special dialouge for the wrath, seeing as there is no Lord Scourge I thought the wrath would be treated like all the other classes. I heard the jedi knight doesn`t get a lot of mention from his class story. It seems the rep side still took the short stick in this lol.

 

Nah but I like that Darth Marr at the end declared that the short term alliance is over and mentioning the Isotop 5 production, showing that he still wants to utterly defeat the Republic. I was afraid that Darth Marr became too nice but I think they had a good balance with him, not being overly sadisticly evil but also not being stupidly good.

SoR story is too weak. To start, Rishi entire story is ridiculous, made no sence. the Revanites plan has no logic at all.

 

If Revan goal was to destroy the Emperor at Yavin4, there was no logic in Rishi plan.

Rishi plan was to lure fleets from both factions, but for what? Even if you destroy both fleets, what would Revan have gained?

And some pirates disrupt some comercial routes, and then we get the leader of the Dark Council, and leader of the Jedi Order in police duties???

And why did Revan fleet joined the battle, instead of waiting for them to destroy each other, and then mop up the remaining ships? Revan fleet, that we were made to believe was strong, was gonne from the story, in some irrelevant way, like if never existed.

And if the Emperor spirit thrives on conflict, then why cause Republic and Empire to re-start the war, since would just made him stronger, and not weaker???

Etc, etc...

I heard the jedi knight doesn`t get a lot of mention from his class story. It seems the rep side still took the short stick in this lol.

 

The JK gets a bit of unique dialog from Marr, but it basically amounts to (to paraphrase Clue):

 

 

 

I really wish they had never put Revan into this game now. Talk about poorly implemented.

Plainly put: It felt disjointed.

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2014 by xDagurasu

I recommend watching , because for some reason, the Republic story seems to significantly differ from the Imperial one in terms of detail (and sometimes personality). I mean, FFS, Republic Torch was aligned with the Revanites directly for a time, Imperial Torch wasn't.

I found the story for SoR underwhelming, and longed for something akin to RotHC, both in story and quality of the writing. Still do.

 

Rishi, as a planet, feels underused, if not unfinished, almost on par with Quesh.

 

The story there feels minimal to non-existent, and I find myself having issues trying to find a reason, as to why the Nova Blades would even be helping the Revanites. In addition, outside the class stories and Arankau, there are ZERO new characters that feel memorable, or that I would like to see again, further down the road.

 

The class story missions were the main draw for Rishi, but instead of being fairly beefy, in both longevity and writing, they come and go in a single gulp. I loved the one for the Sith Warrior, but it ends so fast I barely had the time to digest it, to let it sink in; Same with the Jedi Knight.

 

In addition to the above, I was also expecting something akin to the Staged Weekly on Makeb, after you were done with the story there, but aside the intro for the Ravagers -- which is the most AWFUL intro for an operation in this game -- there is ZERO, NOTHING.

 

The potential was there, but yet again, unfinished.

 

Then there's Blood Hunt and Battle of Rishi. The former, as far as the story goes, is perfect; The latter felt rushed, especially when both Marr and Satele declare a truce between both factions. There was no tension preceding it, and everything came down very naturally, as if the Forced dictated it so, and they were their very instruments.

 

Such a moment should NEVER take place inside a flashpoint and if it did, it required a more solemn tone to it, more gravitas, instead of typical gun-ho. Ironically enough, they got it right in the past for The Foundry, Maelstrom Prison and False Emperor but here? Terrible.

 

Then, there's Yavin 4, which -- as I always expected -- was a carbon-copy of Oricon.

 

Finally, the story started going somewhere, and the title of the expansion started to make some sense. Until then, I was unsure if it should have been called Shadow of Revan to begin with, seeing it's namesake had been missing for most of its duration.

 

Characters behaved the way they should, especially Marr and Satele, and I'm glad that in that aspect, the writing still holds up. Ending felt fairly anti-climatic -- as expected -- so their options remain opened and you get a pat on the back, plus a supposedly meaningful title to accommodate for the lackluster storytelling.

 

/rant

 

Your opinion. I thought RotHC was terrible. The story was boring, the characters were bland and Makeb was not interesting at all. I leveled my chars up to 55 and never set foot on Makeb again.

Your opinion. I thought RotHC was terrible.

 

It was infinitely superior to SoR, in every regard.

 

The story was boring, the characters were bland and Makeb was not interesting at all. I leveled my chars up to 55 and never set foot on Makeb again.

 

Story for both factions was evenly paced, not to mention that the story telling and its writing was far better next to what SoR has to offer. The latter feels disjointed, not to mention half-baked throughout: It's also the EXACT same for both factions.

 

Also, I wouldn't call Katha Niar or Szajin "bland". Zykken and Margok on the other hand...

Edited December 29, 2014 by Darth_Wicked

my impression of the expansion is simple. it was okay.

 

i mean anyone who came from the recent Delta Rising on STO would know exactly how bad that is and the devs cover it up by false metrics which has led to a meme uprising.. but BW's SoR compared to it, SoR is obviously a far superior product, so while there are a few things that need some work on, it is by no means perfect nor is it even close to being bad.

 

the things i liked most:

Darth Marr - Typical Marr, i like that a lot.

Commander Izen - Insane but plays it very well if your an imperial character.

Margok - sounds like he's really driven and very confident.

the free gear and companion stuff.

 

things i didnt like:

Revan final fight - takes an age and repeated multiple times each week...

Lana Beniko's nose - specifically one nose hole is larger then the other.

Jakarro - too much complaining.

Rishi datacron grophet hunt - takes an epoch + an ice age.

Satele - underused, not asserted enough.

Companion tech sword - its primary stats are horrible for a 192 weapon, i would never use it on khem val.

no offhand companion blaster.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Celise