I have been playing SWTOR for a while now and want to share something that might make leveling less tedious for the players who want to see the story in a new way, that does not just hit entirely Light or Dark buttons the entire time. I put this together because I wanted to think about my choices for the entire game, making the story more alive.

Pragmatic Side is the name because you are making choices based on what is in the greater interest of the faction you represent and, to a lesser degree, for establishing a noble reputation. This might sound like Light Side, but trust me, you'll be doing plenty of dark side choices. You will hover around Neutral for most of the game and will not deviate very far from that region, but not for the sake of being Neutral. There is a strategy to this and will be explained further.

There are four general foundations to this approach - military, espionage, economic, and political. The military aspect is that the security and resolution of operations and objectives is greater in importance than the moral implications of the action taken. The espionage element illustrates the importance of information, manipulating the enemy and allies, to a degree, and working quietly. The economic aspect is that resources are better off in the hands of your civilization than others, as well as making choices that are more efficient than inefficient. The political aspect is understanding the potential fallout of choices and how important your reputation and your civilization's image is to the exchange of information and resources that is commonly called politics.

You will notice that idealism is not included in these foundations. This is the fundamental difference between Pragmatic vs. Light/Dark Side approaches to decision making in these stories. Where Light Side allows their pacifism to interfere with military and political efforts, or Dark Side denies or destroys resources and ruins political opportunites, Pragmatic Side takes full advantage of the most useful elements of both to the Empire/Republic's desires to end the war victoriously and prevent the other faction from being able to recover. Another thing to avoid is selfishness, which can be manifested through knee jerk reactions to betrayal, profiting at the expense of your faction, and making deals with people or beings that are a potential or obvious threat.

The motivation to doing this is simple - if your faction defeats the enemy, then life is better for you and your civilization. People who would have died in a longer conflict do not, businesses that would have been destroyed survive, and relative stability of the galaxy becomes possible for a time. The more efficient you are in your choices, the faster this outcome can arrive, which is better for everyone. Idealism gets in the way of this efficiency - while it might feel good to save some people who are not contributing to the war, or Force choking to death someone annoying who could be useful, these hinder the resolution of the war and stronger position of your faction.

In this regard, you have to detach yourself from idealism and look at the utility of your choices - thinking economically and strategically. In this frame of mind, you see killing and lying as a tool, as well as diplomacy and maintaining an image of nobility. You basically become well-versed in Machiavellian philosophy and Master-Slave morality of Neitzsche and see a whole new way to play the game.

Here are some specific examples of Origin planet choices that illustrate this:

Hutta

- Charge the power cores for the former workers, at the foreman's family expense because you are there to please Nem'ro. Helping the foreman would help Fa'athra which is not in yours or the Empire's best interests.(DS)

- Kill the father of Gianna's son, who wants to try to escape the Sith. Zi'am potentially becoming a Jedi is an unacceptable outcome, and despite the obscenity of killing his father, you're doing the Sith and the Empire a favor. (DS)

- Freed Zeven and the slaves in the Rust Yards to drain Fa'athra's labor pool and secure the information Zeven knows about Nem'ro's operation. Heroism plus economic benefit is the best possible outcome. (LS)

- Helped Nokril to preserve an Imperial operation to secure spice that can be turned into painkillers for the military. Helping Getzo would be selfish profiteering that does not help the Empire. (LS)

Korriban

- Lied to Naman Fal to give him the impression that his son was valiant. This is good politics because it makes the Honor Guard appear to have strong bloodlines, maintaining their reputation. (LS)

- Poisoned Seh-run to ensure that the trials of Korriban involve the competition between acolytes and trials decided upon by the Overseers and Lords. An uncontrollable parasite can only make things worse for everyone. (LS)

- Maintained the operation to deceive Quorian Dorjis to help the Empire infiltrate and sow chaos among the Republic. It is treasonous and naive to tell him about what's going on and will cost the Empire. (DS)

- Helped Malora frame her master as a wasteful idiot, so that "dark side energy" research on critters is prioritized less than military/intelligence efforts or any number of other productive priorities. (LS)

Conversation and Crew Guidelines

In terms of conversation, I recommend being as polite and diplomatic as possible. Professionalism and nobility is attractive and gives people silly, but effective, reasons to let their guard down. If you are condescending, rebellious, and inappropriate in your manners you appear less favorable to others, which is not efficient or politically adept. This is one of the things mentioned in Machievelli's The Prince, speaking politely of others and to others, but reserving the ability to do what is necessary to enemies. Yes it's fake, but remember, idealism and inefficiency are not important here. Running your mouth just because you can makes you and the Empire/Republic look worse than the alternative.

You want to tailor your conversations with companions to make them feel understood as well, because a loyal crew is an efficient crew. Yes that means you'd deny yourself the perverse pleasure of using the shock collar on Vette, or telling Mako how stupid she is, or whatever, but in the end you're spending less on gifts that paying attention to what they like would replace. You do not want to get romantically involved with your crew, however, which is not going to be a popular piece of advice. The fewer methods your enemies have to get into your head, the better. What better way to screw with someone than to threaten their wife or husband? If you're a Jedi and have a wife that would cause some serious problems for your reputation. You see this in action with class stories in several ways, like the Warrior's involvement with Lord Grathan, or the Republic on Ilum with the apprentice. Do you want that possibility to happen to you?

Class Story Challenges

There are a number of challenges that the individual class stories present to this methodology that I'll address.

Jedi have their code, which provides a mix of utility and stupidity. Peace is the end result, but not the means to achieve that end. You possess power, information, and access as a Jedi and it is irresponsible to follow the Jedi code to the letter if you want to efficiently decide the war for the Republic. Its a huge waste of resources. If you have to cover up something immoral that gives an advantage for the Republic in the war, then you do it. If there is any possibility that sparing someone's life could create problems for the Republic later, you kill them. This conflict with the dogmas of the Jedi is the biggest obstacle, since they so strongly believe in them.

Smugglers are independent in affiliation, but this is not a reason to give up this approach. The Republic is a bloated joke of a civilization, which means that there will be plenty of business for you. If you quickly resolve the war in the Republic's favor, and do what is necessary to subvert independent criminal organizations into the Republic's employ, you will eliminate the possibility of a galactic police state that makes you a very poor man with little opportunity. The Empire is an existential threat to independent crime - it is in your best interest to work as an unassuming contractor that kills who the Republic needs dead and recruits gangs to fight for them, profiting in doing the necessary dirty work this can provide. Also, if your rivals to the underworld are subverted/destroyed, then who will challenge your rule?

Sith are supposed to be champions of power and glory through conquering others, but this has to be tempered with understanding matters of state. Internal Sith power struggles are the biggest obstacle to their war effort, and a Sith player will have to discern what is important for and against the Empire's goals as they navigate the galaxy. If a Sith Lord wants a slave rebellion raging to spite a rival, help put it down as quickly and quietly as possible. Measure your opportunities for power against what is in the Empire's interests - do not be selfish and run up costs against your subjects. You need to be a warrior and a statesman, not a barbarian with a temper. There has to be a civil responsiblity to being Sith.

Bounty Hunters are also independent in means, but can help the Empire in similar ways to the Smuggler helping the Republic. An Imperial is not welcome to the Mandalorians, and you can help accomplish the war efforts of the Empire through them. You can also work with and please allies of the Empire, which strengthens relations. You see the Empire winning the war as a great opportunity and worth sacrificing a bit of your independence, because a militaristic galaxy will always have "important threats" that need to be dealt with, meaning limitless business for you.

Finally, the Trooper and Agent classes are the easiest to navigate this way because everything you're doing is for the Republic/Empire's position in the galaxy, weighed against your conscience and beliefs. They both show you the ugliness, but necessity, of taking harsh actions to achieve goals for the greater good. There is plenty of opportunity for selfish and idealistic moments in both stories that you have to resist, and in the Agent's story you have to infiltrate the enemy, which might distract or even develop sympathy toward them. In the end, however, both exist to destroy the enemy and render them unable to recover.

Fun PvE or RP Server Opposite Faction Idea

With all this being said, what about the other guys? If you want to play Empire, for example, how do you play Republic on the same server?

*Evil Grin*

You do the total opposite of this on your enemy's side. Bring some worthless refugees medicine instead of giving it to the military. Shut down a superweapon project because of "idealism" disguised as Imperial loyalty. Kill someone who could have yielded important information. Profit as much as possible at the Republic's expense. Make the Jedi and the military look like idiots and thugs. Do everything possible to spread chaos and corruption, but with cute idealism to temper your obviously destructive motivations. Ironically, you're better off following the Jedi Code than breaking it if you want to be an Imperial spy Jedi hahaha.

Of course, to be fair to the Republic people, it's very easy to infiltrate and sow chaos in the Empire. Be the stupid Sith Warrior who kills everyone just because he can force choke. Be the Imperial Agent who becomes sympathetic. Be the Bounty Hunter who doesn't care at all about the Empire and makes big profit at their expense. Make the Empire look even more bloodthirsty than it already appears. Be xenophobic, etc. etc.

Conclusion

I hope some of you read this and enjoy it. It's a lot of fun to level toons using this, and you might be able to think of some other ideas if you apply it.

Here is a revolutionary idea. Don't plan your responses. Take every conversation and choice as is without thinking about any "overall" way to play. You might even learn something about yourself.

Btw OP, I enjoyed your post and actually read through it. I play mostly like that with a SI but lean more towards light side on many choices. The problem with the SI is that the good and evil options often sound so radically different that they seem to be coming from different people. The kind options are often uncharacteristically kind and the evil options are just... out there ("I want robes of solid gold!").

You have to be careful with normal dialogue options as well if you want to make your character consistent (I actually think it's impossible without hitting ESC and going through the different dialogue options).

Some lightside choices do help the enemy though, like letting the doctor on Balmorra go (but the dialogue and voice acting in that scene is so well done for LS, as a female inq).

Try that with a Sith Inquisitor. Congratulations, your character now has a multiple personality disorder!

Well, the SI does say at some point which I can't remember now as it's been awhile "You should meet my other personalities". So, yes, he/she is supposed to be. Especially evident in the way they deteriorate with the ghosts as you progress.

Well, the SI does say at some point which I can't remember now as it's been awhile "You should meet my other personalities". So, yes, he/she is supposed to be. Especially evident in the way they deteriorate with the ghosts as you progress.

The lightside options are pretty consistent overall except for a short discrepency when you leave Korriban. Your voice somehow takes on a harsher tone and is less naive/young sounding. But it's easy to roleplay that as your character having spent some time training before moving on to Dromund Kaas (which has shaped her to be less innocent).

Well, only if you choose that dialogue option. The game gives you the option of making your character unbalanced but in no way does it suggest every SI is unbalanced.

You're right, some are just "differently reasoned". Which is another SI quote.

You're right, some are just "differently reasoned". Which is another SI quote.

Hmm, I haven't come across that line yet. I do like the "How do you know I'm not a Collicoid?" line though. Works for both dark and light side (DS you're just unhinged, with LS it's more like teasing).

It's on Balmorra. Some imperial says to you "that's insane!" and you can respond with "I prefer the term... differently reasoned"

EDIT: There are many lines throughout the conversations though that make it rather obvious that the ghosts are driving the SI insane.

It's on Balmorra. Some imperial says to you "that's insane!" and you can respond with "I prefer the term... differently reasoned"

 

EDIT: There are many lines throughout the conversations though that make it rather obvious that the ghosts are driving the SI insane.

Oh, I probably missed it cause mostly play as LS. And yea, I guess the SI starts to go crazy as part of the story but I don't think it's implied the SI was unstable to begin with unless you choose those dialogue options.

Oh, I probably missed it cause mostly play as LS. And yea, I guess the SI starts to go crazy as part of the story but I don't think it's implied the SI was unstable to begin with unless you choose those dialogue options.

Guess it's a matter of perspective. I always found the SI to be bat-**** crazy but maybe that's just me.

With SI, they do a good job of tempting you to be idealistic with sympathetic characters like Bessiker and Rehanna Rist. Bessiker's son is a Sith, got captured, told you that he has a map to hidden treasure, and makes for a perfect stepping stone. It's harder to do that though because his father is such a good guy. It's easy to feel sorry for Rehanna too, but the reality is that she is aligned with an enemy House and in love with an enemy of the Sith Empire. They are a means to an end, and should be manipulated and killed when they are no longer useful. The Rists lose more of their elders, the Jedi lose a valuable personality and give up a Sith artifact.

SI is a good test of how much you really comprehend being part of the ruling class means. If you spare the defecting doctor, spare the son, spare the enemy assassin, try to help a Jedi... are you really handling your civic authority responsibly? How does their happiness help resolve the war that is costing your people their lives? What would they think of your decision? What about the Dark Council?

Idealism... not the Pragmatic Side thing to do

With SI, they do a good job of tempting you to be idealistic with sympathetic characters like Bessiker and Rehanna Rist. Bessiker's son is a Sith, got captured, told you that he has a map to hidden treasure, and makes for a perfect stepping stone. It's harder to do that though because his father is such a good guy. It's easy to feel sorry for Rehanna too, but the reality is that she is aligned with an enemy House and in love with an enemy of the Sith Empire. They are a means to an end, and should be manipulated and killed when they are no longer useful. The Rists lose more of their elders, the Jedi lose a valuable personality and give up a Sith artifact.

 

SI is a good test of how much you really comprehend being part of the ruling class means. If you spare the defecting doctor, spare the son, spare the enemy assassin, try to help a Jedi... are you really handling your civic authority responsibly? How does their happiness help resolve the war that is costing your people their lives? What would they think of your decision? What about the Dark Council?

 

Idealism... not the Pragmatic Side thing to do

I play my Sith Inquisitor as someone who doesn't really give too much of a damn about the Empire as an institution; in fact, she tells the truth to Quorian Dorjis as a "**** you" to the Empire in addition to her feeling sorry for him. She works alongside the Empire for more or less the same reasons as the Bounty Hunter, except for Force power instead of just money. She won't anger the Empire too much because it's a convenient way to raise her own power, and she sees the Republic as corrupt hypocrites, but has no particular investiture in the Empire's victory... until her power grows enough that taking control of at least some part of the Empire seems arguably plausible, and she begins wondering how she might use that power to better other peoples' lives.

With SI, they do a good job of tempting you to be idealistic with sympathetic characters like Bessiker and Rehanna Rist. Bessiker's son is a Sith, got captured, told you that he has a map to hidden treasure, and makes for a perfect stepping stone. It's harder to do that though because his father is such a good guy. It's easy to feel sorry for Rehanna too, but the reality is that she is aligned with an enemy House and in love with an enemy of the Sith Empire. They are a means to an end, and should be manipulated and killed when they are no longer useful. The Rists lose more of their elders, the Jedi lose a valuable personality and give up a Sith artifact.

 

SI is a good test of how much you really comprehend being part of the ruling class means. If you spare the defecting doctor, spare the son, spare the enemy assassin, try to help a Jedi... are you really handling your civic authority responsibly? How does their happiness help resolve the war that is costing your people their lives? What would they think of your decision? What about the Dark Council?

 

Idealism... not the Pragmatic Side thing to do

What you're describing there is the end justifies the means. Why would a SI who grew up as a slave be so loyal to the Empire in its current form? Why would the SI even care so passionately about the lives of its citizens when the SI casually executes people as "civic duty"? Why is the SI so interested in keeping the status quo?

With more LS choices you can RP it as the SI having doubts about her loyalty to the Empire (because of past mistreatment, its inefficiencies, bad policies, constant feuding, etc) but ultimately choosing to aid it in the hopes of transforming it into something greater. Works for me! Works even better in some of the conversations you have with Darth Marr about saving the Empire from collapsing, about how the Emperor's absence is a chance to transform it.

Besides, in helping others, you might be able to call on their aid in the future. It's more about coaxing people to help you and keeping them alive as potential future assets/allies, rather than intimidating and executing them when you're finished.

I play my Sith Inquisitor as someone who doesn't really give too much of a damn about the Empire as an institution; in fact, she tells the truth to Quorian Dorjis as a "**** you" to the Empire in addition to her feeling sorry for him. She works alongside the Empire for more or less the same reasons as the Bounty Hunter, except for Force power instead of just money. She won't anger the Empire too much because it's a convenient way to raise her own power, and she sees the Republic as corrupt hypocrites, but has no particular investiture in the Empire's victory... until her power grows enough that taking control of at least some part of the Empire seems arguably plausible, and she begins wondering how she might use that power to better other peoples' lives.

Yea, I kinda play it this way too. My SI's loyalty to the Empire grows as her power and responsibilities grow. At first she's just an apathetic slave but as time goes on and she wields more influence and is able to change things, she becomes more and more involved with the people of the Empire. By the time she joins the Dark Council, she already has a personal power base that she needs to take care of and has to take an active interest in preserving them, both against rival Sith and against Republic retribution.

Guess it's a matter of perspective. I always found the SI to be bat-**** crazy but maybe that's just me.

That's what I thought too when I played DS but my perspective changed when I switched to light side and tried out the different options.

The hope of advancing your civilization into something greater is the whole point of PS. Your military will strike more effectively, your resources will expand, your information base will be more accurate, and your image will be both fearsome and attractive.

The whole idea of this is that the other side is a hindrance to a vision of galactic society that has the virtues of the Republic/Empire, and limited measureable weaknesses. While the ethics of the decisions you make individually might be suspect to the uninformed, the idealistic, and the soft-hearted, the truth is those kinds of people will likely never know any real specifics of what you did or how you did it and benefit from it far more than not.

You're just taking the emotional idealism out of it and focusing on what gets the job done.

The hope of advancing your civilization into something greater is the whole point of PS. Your military will strike more effectively, your resources will expand, your information base will be more accurate, and your image will be both fearsome and attractive.

 

The whole idea of this is that the other side is a hindrance to a vision of galactic society that has the virtues of the Republic/Empire, and limited measureable weaknesses. While the ethics of the decisions you make individually might be suspect to the uninformed, the idealistic, and the soft-hearted, the truth is those kinds of people will likely never know any real specifics of what you did or how you did it and benefit from it far more than not.

 

You're just taking the emotional idealism out of it and focusing on what gets the job done.

Well, I suppose my characters tend to be idealists. Especially the Jedi, who have to be an example for others.

Yeah that's why I list the dogmas of the Jedi as their main challenge.

Jedi are looked to as the heroes of the Republic, and reputation is important, but so is keeping the eye on the prize of a galaxy free of the Sith and the Empire's influence. War is hell, and the faster it is over the better for everyone. You can't win the war alone, but you can make sure that the Republic has every advantage necessary, even if they dont' ever use it.

Peace is the end result, not the means to achieve it against an enemy who feeds on rage, fear, and who are led by better, stronger, and more resourceful men and women than the corporate sleaze, career politicians, and "nobility" of the Republic.

The Republic and Jedi used severe means against the Sith in the Great Hyperspace War and enjoyed quite a long period of galactic stability afterward. That's the idea here.

Yeah that's why I list the dogmas of the Jedi as their main challenge.

 

Jedi are looked to as the heroes of the Republic, and reputation is important, but so is keeping the eye on the prize of a galaxy free of the Sith and the Empire's influence. War is hell, and the faster it is over the better for everyone. You can't win the war alone, but you can make sure that the Republic has every advantage necessary, even if they dont' ever use it.

 

Peace is the end result, not the means to achieve it against an enemy who feeds on rage, fear, and who are led by better, stronger, and more resourceful men and women than the corporate sleaze, career politicians, and "nobility" of the Republic.

 

The Republic and Jedi used severe means against the Sith in the Great Hyperspace War and enjoyed quite a long period of galactic stability afterward. That's the idea here.

Well, the Barrager is not only too mind-numbingly stupid a concept to exist in a sane universe, but I was sent to Balmorra to keep it in the Republic, not to screw it over completely for the sake of a superweapon that's apparently immobile. If that's one of the things you were referring to, as by and large, I don't see any other major dark side decision that's really justifiable as highly pragmatic. The only time I ever thought it was a good idea was with one sidequest on Coruscant, with the retrieval of information on an upcoming vote.

Unfortunately the Barrager is a trump card for the Republic. Yes, it's 100% morally bankrupt and yes it would be 1000x worse than an atomic bomb, but giving that advantage up to defend a military-industrial super planet just because of what could happen is a devastating strategic mistake.

Consider if the Republic had to use that weapon to make sure the Imperials could not conquer it - they'd lose Balmorra but so would the Empire, and presumably they'd be taking down an invasion force with them. That's assuming that nobody infiltrated the Arms Factory and disabled a kill switch contingency.

It would be awful, but strategically worth the price.

Again... war is hell. Trying to be noble in war is more likely to get more people killed, not less.

I can see how this approach would be similar to the Jedi Code, but, unlike the idiocy of "no passion", this does not prevent things like having yourself cloned, sperm donation, or something along those lines. Settling down and having kids would only make sense if a fairly conclusive victory occurred which is not something we'd likely ever see in the game cycle.

Everything is a weapon or a tool in PS, even things that shouldn't be.

Settling down and having kids would only make sense if a fairly conclusive victory occurred which is not something we'd likely ever see in the game cycle.

Yet in RL people don't even have these options. Even worse, theitr children are often forced upon them. Mass Rape is an known military action in Africa.

In an area where there is war constantly going on - spanning over several decades, like the Thirty Years War - how do people live, then ? Without any way to get seciurity, to live a save life ?

And that makes impressions on the psychology of the people there, too. Post-traumatic stress disorder is just one of many examples of this. Shell shock is another.

And, interestingly, things like post traumatic stress or shell shock disorder NEVER appear within video games. So do war crippled men and women. It would be just too much Reality.

Unfortunately the Barrager is a trump card for the Republic. Yes, it's 100% morally bankrupt and yes it would be 1000x worse than an atomic bomb, but giving that advantage up to defend a military-industrial super planet just because of what could happen is a devastating strategic mistake.

 

Consider if the Republic had to use that weapon to make sure the Imperials could not conquer it - they'd lose Balmorra but so would the Empire, and presumably they'd be taking down an invasion force with them. That's assuming that nobody infiltrated the Arms Factory and disabled a kill switch contingency.

 

It would be awful, but strategically worth the price.

 

Again... war is hell. Trying to be noble in war is more likely to get more people killed, not less.

 

I can see how this approach would be similar to the Jedi Code, but, unlike the idiocy of "no passion", this does not prevent things like having yourself cloned, sperm donation, or something along those lines. Settling down and having kids would only make sense if a fairly conclusive victory occurred which is not something we'd likely ever see in the game cycle.

 

Everything is a weapon or a tool in PS, even things that shouldn't be.

It's really not a trump card for the Republic, because... well, for one thing, it clearly can't be moved off of Balmorra, otherwise we could have just done that without either using or destroying it. For another, it's effectively destroying every location it's attached to so the Empire doesn't have to, unless it was attached to some kind of space station... and the Barrager's power requirements would probably brick the entire thing every time it was fired, so you'd have to keep building new stations to mount the Barrager on.

It's a hideously impractical tool whose flaws are far too many to seriously consider destroying a whole planet for.

It's really not a trump card for the Republic, because... well, for one thing, it clearly can't be moved off of Balmorra, otherwise we could have just done that without either using or destroying it. For another, it's effectively destroying every location it's attached to so the Empire doesn't have to, unless it was attached to some kind of space station... and the Barrager's power requirements would probably brick the entire thing every time it was fired, so you'd have to keep building new stations to mount the Barrager on.

 

It's a hideously impractical tool whose flaws are far too many to seriously consider destroying a whole planet for.

Let's be honest here, the barrager is a moronic device and the whole thing is nonsensical.

Let's be honest here, the barrager is a moronic device and the whole thing is nonsensical.

Indeed, it's probably the dumbest plot point in the game.

That is essentially how I play my sniper. She does what she feels is best for the empire, whether she likes what she has to do or not.

I tend to decide on a personality for each of my characters, and work with that, regardless of light or dark. Sometimes that personality starts to change overtime, depending on in-game circumstances. For example, my Assassin was a bit too trusting of everyone, and trusted Zash completely. After being betrayed by Zash, and then Thanaton, he became very untrusting and skeptical of most everyone, but especially sith.

My favorite to play personality wise is my Powertech. Imperial or Republic, or whatever else, means nothing to her. She takes whatever job she can find, and is interested only in what profits her. She loves violence and killing, and will take any excuse to cause destruction (what do you expect when her name is Kyramla'naast, which means fatal destroyer in mando...). However, she still has her own very strong sense of honor. She will always do what she was hired for, and would rather die trying than to fail her job. She would never betray her employer. If you want to hire her to take out her employer, you'll have to talk to her after her job for said person is complete. Trying to bribe her out of doing her job will probably result in a blaster in your face. As a result of her complete loyalty, employers who try to "clean up loose ends" by turning against her tend to die horrible deaths.

I find that trying to play pure dark or light tends to make your character look like an idiot, and is rather boring.