Jump to content

CaitlinSullivan

Broadsword
  • Posts

    11
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    1

CaitlinSullivan last won the day on December 11 2023

CaitlinSullivan had the most liked content!

Reputation

39 Excellent

2 Followers

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on what you’ve played through so far in 7.4, I’m glad you found a fair amount of things to enjoy! Since I was tagged, I’d like to take this opportunity to pull back the curtain slightly and look at why certain narrative threads do and do not end up in the final product. First, the most important thing to remember is that SWTOR is a BIG GAME. I know y’all know this already but I’m reiterating it anyway because it is a BIG. GAME. There are so many narrative threads–different character arcs, story permutations, big decisions–that you will experience from the second you arrive on the starter planet for your Origin Story. However, when you compare the vast amount of potential narrative foundations to the resources we have to build on them, we have to be very mindful. Even for the things that seem like a no-brainer, like the examples you pointed out, we have to be very cognizant of where we spend our finite time and effort. The more resources a piece of content uses, the wider breadth of the audience it has to be relevant to. A letter from a specific companion (even one that makes narrative sense to include) will only reach a portion of the audience, but it requires writing, feedback collecting, editing, revising, implementing, scripting, documentation, localization, and testing. On the other hand, a class-specific line in a KOTOR-style scene also reaches only a portion of the audience, but it has a considerably smaller impact on time and resources. A similar example that you mentioned–choosing recognizable characters from the Agent, Inquisitor, and Warrior Origin Stories to appear on Port Nowhere. If an option exists to kill a character–as is the case for many of the notable characters from these Origin Stories–including them in the story means writing double the lines, recording double the dialogue, which snowballs into additional cinematic, design, scripting, and testing tasks. Now, all that isn’t to say that killable characters will never be included (we’ve included several of them at the forefront of recent updates!), but it does partially inform our decisions. If we include a character with the potential to be so narrowly recognized, their inclusion in the narrative must be especially meaningful, even to players who do not recognize that character. Also, prioritizing content that has the widest impact across all players means our range of content can be polished to our necessary quality standards. All that was a lot of words to say that when we’re considering the narrative threads to include in content, we view all the options through this multi-faceted lens of cost vs. impact. We choose what to include based on what fits our narrative goals, has a meaningful and far-reaching impact, and won’t be a detriment to scope, cost, and quality in the ways I’ve described. As humans with a finite amount of resources, that sometimes means we can’t include everything we’d like to. But these stories aren’t forgotten, and they still mean as much to us as they do to y’all!
  2. I agree with Ashley, we have so many companions all over the spectrum of personalities, egos, motivations, and desires that it’s fun to see the discussion around everyone’s likes and dislikes! I may be a bit biased about our fearless Raven Squad leader, but I think Anri would be a blast to be around. I appreciate people who can crack snarky jokes with me, and she likes gardening–such a great hobby! I would definitely date Vector Hyllus, but maybe before his Joining? I will 100% admit I would be a little unnerved by a whole hivemind listening in , but it would be hard to pass up spending time with such an accepting, thoughtful, and well-traveled person. Out of everyone, I feel like he has the most fascinating stories to share. Also, I feel very validated that I saw someone else mention Sanju Pyne. When I first played the Imperial Agent story–many, many years ago–I was excited for that dashing smooth-talker to join my team.
  3. Thanks to all who have checked out “All That’s Left,” it means a lot to hear that y'all are enjoying it! I’m really proud of the journey we have planned for Sa’har, and it’s exciting now that we’re laying the foundation for it. Also, great job to all of you who figured out the identity of the mystery woman who gave Sa’har advice!
  4. Thank you for the positive feedback! I completely agree that these letters add depth and dimension to our relationships with such a diverse cast of characters. I’m so happy that y’all are enjoying them, and I look forward to adding more!
  5. Hey, everyone! Now that update 7.1 “Digging Deeper” has been out for a couple of days and we’ve had a chance to explore Manaan and a few secrets behind Darth Malgus’s plans, I’ve got a little something extra for you. If you’re curious about what happened to Sa’har Kateen just after she escaped the ruins of Darth Nul’s fortress on Elom, I’ve written a new short story that answers those questions! Check out “All That’s Left” here: https://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20220804
  6. Hey, everyone! I’ve posted here before, but it’s been awhile, so allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Caitlin Sullivan Kelly, and I’m now the Lead Writer for Star Wars: the Old Republic. Some of you may remember me sharing my short story, “Quite a Story to Tell,” but I also had the pleasure of writing–among many other things–the Imperial Manaan story for Legacy of the Sith, both versions of the Secrets of the Enclave flashpoint, the All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally event, and some major scenes in Echoes of Oblivion. Before I was a Game Writer, I was a Narrative Specialist, and my contributions to the narrative team go as far back as 2014, when I started providing feedback for the expansion’s story during the development of Shadow of Revan. In every Star Wars: the Old Republic update since then, my primary responsibility has been working with writing, design, art, and cinematics to ensure our story content adheres to a particular standard of quality. I’ve learned so much from working so closely with Charles over the years; he’s been an amazing supporter, mentor, and friend. While it’ll be very hard to see him go, I’ve also learned a lot from working with Ashley, and I’m so excited to continue supporting her in her new role. We both recognize our team’s talent for collaboration and creativity, as well as the passion for the amazing stories we tell: the twists and turns, the characters and relationships, the settings and the lore. I love this game, this team, and this community, and I look forward to continuing our storytelling journey together!
  7. Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all as excited as we are as we count down the days to “Legacy of the Sith.” As many of you may remember from our announcement livestream, we’ll be returning to Manaan as part of the storyline in “Legacy of the Sith.” Although some of you visit Manaan regularly via your stronghold, it’s been awhile since we’ve had players travel to Manaan for story reasons. If you’d like to get reacquainted with the status and history of Manaan before diving into “Legacy of the Sith,” check out the newest state-of-the-galaxy blog! As always, thank you all for being a part of this amazing community, and may the Force be with you!
  8. Hey again, everyone! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read “Quite A Story To Tell” and provide your feedback. I’m so happy to see that many of you enjoyed reading it, because I really enjoyed writing it! And seeing so much discussion has gotten me really excited to hear all your thoughts about "Secrets of the Enclave." If you take a look at the ending of "Quite A Story To Tell," you’ll notice that I’ve changed the Jedi Master that Syl and Satele mention. I’d like to thank those of you who constructively pointed out Master Gnost-Dural’s inclusion, and I’d like to apologize to anyone who took this story as an implication that anyone’s choices are more “canon” than others. I want to reassure everyone that that is absolutely not the case. I hope you all consider this change to be a welcome addition, as well as an improvement to the quality of “Quite A Story To Tell.” Thank you all again for your engagement, and may the Force be with you… always!
  9. Hey everyone! Caitlin Sullivan Kelly here, your resident SWTOR Narrative Specialist. I'm so excited to share a short story that I wrote with you all. "Quite A Story to Tell" takes place after "Echoes of Vengeance" (Game Update 6.2) and shortly before the events of "The Dark Descent" (Game Update 6.3, coming soon). If you love Aryn Leneer, Darth Malgus, old Jedi ruins, or spelunking (or all of the above!) check out "Quite A Story To Tell" here: http://www.swtor.com/info/news/article/20210413
  10. Hi all, I'm Caitlin! For me--and probably a lot of other people, too--2020 felt a lot like the movie Groundhog Day. I’d wake up every morning feeling almost exactly like I did the day before. But, with everything going on in the world, including going almost a year without seeing my friends and family in person, working on SWTOR was one consistent bright spot I had to look forward to. Talking with the team about all the exciting things we had planned and seeing our amazing community’s reception of that content got me through a lot. I LOVED everyone's reactions to the All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally, which was my first major writing contribution to SWTOR! Seeing so many players enjoy the Echoes of Oblivion story meant so much as well. With another year in the books for SWTOR, and an end to the not-so-great 2020, I'm so looking forward to sharing more with you all!
×
×
  • Create New...