The Emperor is literally Valkorian simultaneously as the Voice is trapped on Voss. The Emperor is a liar/doesn't share the full details(he certainly doesn't tell the Sith Warrior about Valkorion).

 

Because it's irrelevant. Again why can't the emperor just possess another body and go free the Voice (and or kill Barras) since he clearly doesn't like the fact that Barras trapped him on Voss.

 

"It is correct that Valkorion was a person that he possessed(this is confirmed canon) before technologically uplifting Zakuul, but so is literally every body he uses that isn't his original Sith body. It's never really suggested that some "real" Valkorion is still in there. "

 

When the emperor leaves the Voice on Voss. The real personality re-emerges.

 

"The original Valkorian did not found Zakuul. Overall the two expansions pretty comprehensively answered/closed up questions about the Emperor, his decision-making and what was going on. I think the final battle with Scourge and Kira might've originally been intended to be part of that expansion series, but it was just a final piece of exposition."

 

Which I didn't like because you end Valkorian after KotET. (you even get several emails and comments from npcs stating as such) Then he comes back *again*.

 

"The events regarding the Treaty of Coruscant and Senya's talk about him going distant are intentional points in the lore. Malgus was right, it was ******** for the Empire to stop when on the verge of victory."

 

Not disputing that Malgus may have been on to something.

 

"Darth Marr wasn't going after Zakuul. He didn't know Zakuul exists, or that these attacks were related to the Sith Emperor. The identity of the attackers was unknown. "

 

According to the opening scrawl of KotFE Marr is hunting the forces (who all have powerful force powers) that attacked imperial and republic worlds and then fled into the unkown regions *and* tracking down the emperor - who also disappeared into the Unknown regions. Yeah, no coincidence there. Again, shouldn't be too hard to mobilize the DC to help.

 

"The Emperor's original body is essentially his last(for now) backup plan. He hadn't used it in forever. It is clear though that he can create "copies" of himself as made apparent by Tenebrae's lack of knowledge of his own activities as well as his contempt for his behavior in the Eternal Empire."

 

Again, so why is he upset that Barras trapped him on Voss?

 

"2. All of the members of the Dark Council who died die regardless of what character you play(up until recently). Same for Vitiate. You don't get to choose the join the Dark Council, the SIth Inquisitor always joins the Dark Council (not that this really matters compared to Thanaton being dead thanks to PC disappearing regardless) and kills his predecessor. Vitiate is always killed. "

 

So? All character deaths, events in game are to some extent orchestrated. You were always going to kill Valkorian. Ziost is unsaveable. Malgus will betray the empire. Baras will betray you. Thanaton will hate your guts. Saresh is going to betray you. etc. etc. You can't save both Torian and Vette no matter what you do. You have to go on the robbery mission with Vette and Gault. Heck you can't even turn off alliance alerts that you don't want to progress further and get the next set. I stopped at Lokinn, Bowdaar and Qyzen. My point was that the Dark Council does change in the course of Vanilla game - we didn't need the expansion or the Zakuul hitting the worlds of the Empire to shake up the council - it's always being shaken up.

 

"Only starting from Iokath have we seen player control over things that appear to be carrying forward and not on a predetermined path. "

 

Which would be a good thing if it got backed up by story. I saved Arcann and Senya and now they contribute nothing to the story. Koth disappeared. Theron "betrays" you regardless of what you do. The scions are still massacred. You lose the Gravestone. Vaylin always dies. In fact, given the limited resources of the game if a character is "killable" it will probably mean that they won't spend a lot of time investing in their development going forward.

 

"The fleet put the Alliance in a position of overwhelming dominance, not merely enough to turn the tide. It's not surprising that they'd tone that down, otherwise the player can just choose the winner or choose to rule themselves."

 

The fleet largely didn't factor much into the story once you gain control of it. It would have been nice to have had it for even a little while but your lose control of it pretty much right after getting it.

 

"4. The factions were not just weakened, they lost their fleets and were all impoverished. The Eternal Empire's intervention had more of an impact than decades of war. "

 

Only because the game tells us this. There is absolutely zero reason to say that decades of war couldn't have always diminished both powers - the republic because they were losing and the empire because they were also fighting amongst themselves (which was one of the reasons Malgus stages his little coup).

 

"Malgus's rebellion and the Dread War aren't really on a comparable scale. It'd be a different story if Maglus or the Dread Masters had conquered both Empire and Republic before being defeated, but they didn't. This is a pretty good set up for one faction or the other to secure something like a permanent victory, which if they do take it that way is more convincing than winning just one major battle like Corellia. It also makes it plausible for the player to choose the result."

 

I never mentioned the Dread Masters (don't get me started on a story you have to do an operation to see the conclusion of). As for Malgus - we don't know the extent of his rebellion or what effect it had. And it is explicitly stated in the game when you go to Illum that taking Corellia drained the empire's military power. I would argue that Valkorian and the Eternal Empire weren't even considered when the vanilla game was made. Just like Lucas never intended Vader to be Luke's father in ANH*. Killing the voice did weaken Valkorian - as confirmed by the instability in the former Children of the Emperor. If the "real" Vitiate was still there - still directing events then that wouldn't happened.

 

*"Darth" as a title is a retcon. Easily provable by the following bit of dialogue.

 

Obi-Wan: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.

 

The JEDI's name was "Darth Vader". He even says "Vader" was seduced by the dark side. After the retcon it became "Anakin was seduced by the dark side" or some variant. If "Darth" was a title all along the line should read:

 

Obi-Wan: A young Jedi, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil and became Darth Vader, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct.

 

Vader: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now, *I* am the master.

 

Obi-Wan: Only a master of evil, Darth.

 

Again, Darth isn't a title. It's the character's first name. Using Darth as a title in that context changes Obi-Wan's response to:

 

"Only a master of evil, LORD" which is redundant.

The problem is that players didn't like the way the game was going, so they had to change their plans... so that doesn't help.

 

But when you think about it... what's the point of anything in the game? It's just stories. None of your decisions ever make any big difference in the long run. KotFE and KotET get a lot of hate but they're not drastically different from the rest of the expansions when it comes to the impact of decisions... Makeb? Whatever your choice is in the end on the imp side, it makes 0 difference. Republic? Imps still get the Isotope 5 even if you kill the imps who try to get it. Revan... he dies. Onslaught - absolutely no difference in the last 3 story updates whether you decided to stay independent or rejoin your faction.

 

If anything actually - the whole thing with Koth, and Arcann/Senya actually changes things more than anything in the other expansions... At least there are actual consequences for your decisions with them.

 

You're wrong though - they added more scenes with Theron/Lana/Arcann/Senya. Theron and Lana show up in Onslaught, and they all show up in Echoes of Oblivion.

"You're wrong though - they added more scenes with Theron/Lana/Arcann/Senya. Theron and Lana show up in Onslaught, and they all show up in Echoes of Oblivion."

 

You mean when I kill Valkorian/Vitiate/Tenebrae again after I supposedly destroyed him at the end of KotET? I don't count that because it's just a fake-out from the ending of Eternal Throne. Remember this scene?

 

Senya: It's over.

Arcann: You defeated Valkorian once and for all.

You: Valkorian's risen from the grave more times than I can count. Are we sure he won't return again?

Arcann: I no longer feel my father's presence. We will never see him again.

Senya: Now we can look to the future.

 

NOT. :-)

 

Then at the end of Echoes of Oblivion we get another montage that THIS time we REALLY killed him. Then they go back to having all the personality of a statue.

 

Until the Devs decide to pull a JJ Abrams and resurrect Palpatine yet again.

 

I think that's my biggest problem with end-game SWtOR. There is so much potential in the vanilla game to expand on existing characters and the Devs just keep going back to Vitiate and resurrecting him again and again and again.

What was the point, Really?

 

What was/is the point of this game, any game, any expansions? The Films, Books, Comics and so on.

 

OK you did not like that particular expansion(s)? Other's did.

*"Darth" as a title is a retcon. Easily provable by the following bit of dialogue.

 

Obi-Wan: A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.

 

The JEDI's name was "Darth Vader". He even says "Vader" was seduced by the dark side. After the retcon it became "Anakin was seduced by the dark side" or some variant. If "Darth" was a title all along the line should read:

 

Obi-Wan: A young Jedi, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil and became Darth Vader, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct.

 

Vader: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now, *I* am the master.

 

Obi-Wan: Only a master of evil, Darth.

 

Again, Darth isn't a title. It's the character's first name. Using Darth as a title in that context changes Obi-Wan's response to:

 

"Only a master of evil, LORD" which is redundant.

 

I chalk that up to Unreliable Narrator, and how Mentors are always giving their pupils the version of the story that fits their narrative. It's possible that he just no longer wants to acknowledge who Vader was. I always saw it as a title, even back when we were playing with the toys. In the same way as Moff, Grand Moff, Lord, etc, it felt like Obi-Wan was taunting him, in a sense, by not even referring to him using his new given name, but by the informal title.

"What was the point, Really? What was/is the point of this game, any game, any expansions? The Films, Books, Comics and so on. OK you did not like that particular expansion(s)? Other's did."

 

I think there is a HUGE chasm between criticizing an expansion for telling a story I didn't personally care for and criticizing an expansion which RETCONS the events of a previous expansion and tells you that the big payoff-defeat of the Big Bad that you've spent the last 16 chapters in KotFE, 9 chapters in KotET not to mention Ziost working against and supposedly defeating according the everybody you talk to at the end of the last chapter ...

 

... and then being told. "Nope. You didn't. Sorry. You've got to go kill him again. But THIS time, he's REALLY dead*. We promise."

 

* not just MOSTLY dead. :-)

 

I really love SWtOR. But it does have some major and some minor issues:

- crafting's a little buggy (why can't my RT craft heavy armor for a DPS character that looks like TROOPER armor).

- companions that join towards the end of the vanilla game seem to not have much development compared to intial companions (and yes, I'm talking to you Yuun, Rusk, Gus Tano, Xalek, Broonmark, Temple and Felix).

- some companions brought back for the expansions got a lot more attention than others. For example Drellik vs. Lokin or Tanno Vik vs. Qyzen and some were made major parts of the story Scorpio, Kaliyo, Vette, Gault, Elara, and some were relegated to just being collection quest givers - Lokin, Qyzen, Bowdaar,

- Gold sellers are vastly inflating prices on the GTN and crafters are following suit. Early planet armors (Level 10) being sold on GTN for 200,000 credits? Low level mods for weapons being sold for 150K a pop? I mean who is going to put out that kind of money for something that they're just going to level out of in under an hour (even less time if they're a subscriber).

- Different Heroic Missions on same planet giving repeats of the same armor pieces that you already have. So if you're trying for a set - forget it.

- adaptive armor venders NOT being located on starting planets, so if you wait to go to the fleet to get the armor, you've already leveled out of it.

- no crafting trainers until *after* the starting planet but you still have to start by crafting equipment that you've already levelled beyond (oh and no GTN access on starting planets) so new players will already level out of any equipment you could make and sell unless they have a stronghold with a GTN node.

- companion affection being a big credit sink game

- requiring an operation to finish the Dread Masters storyline with no option to solo it.

 

Most of these would not require major effort to fix.

 

Fix the over-inflated prices on the GTN and CM: Do something like ESO does and have it be that if you buy something on the CM it binds to legacy and you can't sell it on the CM. It's insane that someone can go on the CM buy something with REAL money and then trade it on the GTN for tens of millions (or hundreds of millions of dollars) in in-game currency.

 

Fix Crafting: Give crafters the ability to craft unique armor sets and create visually distinct armor sets that are faction specific for each of the three roles. Tank, DPS and Healer. Replace the mod sellers on the fleet with schematic sellers. Encouraging players to once again purchase in-game crafted items from the GTN. I mean seriously I've played through three characters since the change and I'm literally only upgrading my armor 2-3 times. Finish starting planet around level 20. Got to fleet and by level 20+ mods for my armor. Wait a planet or two. Upgrade armor to around level 40 mods. And by the time the game catches up to my level -- I'm in end-game armor.

 

Also get rid of the legacy gear schematics and drops that aren't supported anymore.

 

If they're not going to fix crafting --- then just get rid of it. It only affects the main toons now anyway since companion stats are based on affection and not gear anymore and most players can play the game without ever crafting equipment or buying crafted equipment on the GTN.

 

Okay enough of a rant.

To take us from 8 class stories to one story that is the same for everyone. To keep the publisher from having to spend money on actually developing the next chapter of 8 class quests. There are hints of the sort of thing that was supposed to happen in dialogue during the first 3 chapters. For example the sith inquistor was clearly supposed to have more dealings with either the cult or the new owners he/she turned it over to. I don't believe our companions promised to never leave you just so we could leave them. I'm still disappointed that Risha didnt return with a five year old child. She says she wants children if you romanced her. And she goes off alone with you multiple times trying to make that happen. What you thought she had some other reason for all the blank screens? Edited June 22, 2021 by RameiArashi

I'm still disappointed that Risha didnt return with a five year old child. She says she wants children if you romanced her. And she goes off alone with you multiple times trying to make that happen. What you thought she had some other reason for all the blank screens?

 

Luckily all of my "blank screens" involved my male toons and Theron so unless there's some funky space magic going on, not worrying about five-year-olds demanding crayon boxes for kindergarten.

Edited June 22, 2021 by xordevoreaux

"I chalk that up to Unreliable Narrator, and how Mentors are always giving their pupils the version of the story that fits their narrative."

 

We literally see Obi-Wan say "Only a master of evil, Darth." I know Lucas struggles with writing dialogue but "Only a master of evil, Lord" is kind of grammatically redundant. He also says that the Jedi's name was Darth Vader.

 

"It's possible that he just no longer wants to acknowledge who Vader was. I always saw it as a title, even back when we were playing with the toys. In the same way as Moff, Grand Moff, Lord, etc, it felt like Obi-Wan was taunting him, in a sense, by not even referring to him using his new given name, but by the informal title."

 

Sorry, but you're reaching. Lucas did more than retcon Vader's origin in Star Wars by the time of the ESB. Consider that in ANH, Vader repeatedly defers to Tarkin. Low-ranking officers openly speak against him (something that definitely does NOT happen in ESB and beyond). Princess Leia even jokes that Tarkin is holding Vader's leash. Vader is NOT the #2 guy in the empire in ANH. He's a thug that the Empire uses as an enforcer - which completely fits Obi-Wan's story of a failed apprentice that switched sides to save his own skin and betrayed better men (including Luke's father) than he will *ever* be.

"I chalk that up to Unreliable Narrator, and how Mentors are always giving their pupils the version of the story that fits their narrative."

 

We literally see Obi-Wan say "Only a master of evil, Darth." I know Lucas struggles with writing dialogue but "Only a master of evil, Lord" is kind of grammatically redundant. He also says that the Jedi's name was Darth Vader.

 

"It's possible that he just no longer wants to acknowledge who Vader was. I always saw it as a title, even back when we were playing with the toys. In the same way as Moff, Grand Moff, Lord, etc, it felt like Obi-Wan was taunting him, in a sense, by not even referring to him using his new given name, but by the informal title."

 

Sorry, but you're reaching. Lucas did more than retcon Vader's origin in Star Wars by the time of the ESB. Consider that in ANH, Vader repeatedly defers to Tarkin. Low-ranking officers openly speak against him (something that definitely does NOT happen in ESB and beyond). Princess Leia even jokes that Tarkin is holding Vader's leash. Vader is NOT the #2 guy in the empire in ANH. He's a thug that the Empire uses as an enforcer - which completely fits Obi-Wan's story of a failed apprentice that switched sides to save his own skin and betrayed better men (including Luke's father) than he will *ever* be.

 

It's not inconsistent if you consider all his superiors died when the Death Star blew up. Also, the Emperor learned of the relationship to Vader of the one who did it, so a tighter leash was necessary. Promote him to give him the power he craves but not realize the true meaning of why he only answers to the Emperor now.

"It's not inconsistent if you consider all his superiors died when the Death Star blew up. "

 

Vader was Palpatine's apprentice. He had no superiors other than emperor himself. You could possibly argue that Tarkin was respected enough that Vader wouldn't go after him - but in ANH you have staff officers talking back to Vader, even questioning him. That doesn't happen when you're the apprentice to the guy who runs the galaxy.

 

"Also, the Emperor learned of the relationship to Vader of the one who did it, so a tighter leash was necessary. Promote him to give him the power he craves but not realize the true meaning of why he only answers to the Emperor now."

 

Which retcons the events of RotS where Palpatine refers to Vader as someone that will surpass him in power and that together they will rule the galaxy. Not "*I* will rule the galaxy and YOU, you have to take sarcasm from staff officers until everyone above you in the chain of command dies." :-)

 

Vader is Luke's Father is a retcon. Lucas tried to fix it - but without redoing specific scenes from the earlier movies, it doesn't work perfectly. Similarly to Leia claiming she remembered her mother (retconned to be some kind of vision through the force) in RotJ and yet it RotS Padme dies shortly after giving birth to her and Han talking in ANH as if the Jedi were some hokey religion and not believing in the Force - the clone wars were only 20 years ago, Han would have been in 10-12 years old at the time, he would clearly have seen Jedi in action and the amazing things they can do.

Don't count me among those. My main has well more than 30 comps and it's not a mental crisis when suddenly presented with more.

 

so does mine. most of which are nonsensical and only exist as collection fodder like getting one per star fortress. and, as the OP already stated, the vast majority of these comps have zero impact on the game or story line. and with the exception of a few characters (e.g., Lana), they have zero relevance or impact outside of the narrow xpack story for which they were created.

 

furthermore, you cannot USE all of those comps. I may have thirty, but I can only summon one and I can only send out what? 8 is it now? but hey, I have all 30 collected and leveled to 50 affection!

 

so does mine. most of which are nonsensical and only exist as collection fodder like getting one per star fortress. and, as the OP already stated, the vast majority of these comps have zero impact on the game or story line. and with the exception of a few characters (e.g., Lana), they have zero relevance or impact outside of the narrow xpack story for which they were created.

 

furthermore, you cannot USE all of those comps. I may have thirty, but I can only summon one and I can only send out what? 8 is it now? but hey, I have all 30 collected and leveled to 50 affection!

 

 

My main has all the comps that is possible to get, no killings, unless forced, etc. and all the star fortress ones, sub ones, event ones, and cartel ones.....will have to count them up one day...lol, But i never say no to more

 

 

Edit: Just counted, they have 78 companions...lol

Edited June 25, 2021 by DarkTergon

My only gripe with KotFE and KotET was just the flood of companions. Personally the only change I would make would be that instead of getting 80 companions that don't speak outside their into would be to just make it to where you lose your original companions as before and then have to go and get them back through the story.

 

Maybe add 1 or 2 new ones but the massive flood of all these I feel was over kill. Maybe there would be more dialogue in that setup instead with the companions we have.

My main has all the comps that is possible to get, no killings, unless forced, etc. and all the star fortress ones, sub ones, event ones, and cartel ones.....will have to count them up one day...lol, But i never say no to more

 

 

Edit: Just counted, they have 78 companions...lol

 

 

collector, I guess? no cheevos like in wow?

 

before I quit the game I had all of the in-game comps (and paid for treek). even ran them all to 50 the old fashioned way. just for completion's sake. but now I look at comps and wonder...why did I bother? I don't use most of them. I don't like the look of many. and I can only deploy 8 at a time. don't rmember any sort of achievement either.

Edited June 29, 2021 by CheesyEZ