Lana, as a character in this game, is very important to me.

 

This thread seems to have apparently convinced the devs to sideline the character, which is annoying and disappointing and is spoiling MY enjoyment of the game.

 

If you all manage to convince them to remove her, through leaving or through death, then that will ruin MY enjoyment of the game, and most likely drive me out of playing altogether. Which will cost Bioware a dedicated, paying subscriber.

 

Just back off and think about other people, would you, please? I'm really tired of whiners ruining games for me. It's happened too many times.

I completely disagree that Lana has been sidelined. She had two scenes in Echoes of Vengeance, one of which yet again had our characters wake up to see her face - something many people here have complained about. I don't see any reason to believe that the writers are being guided by this thread.

 

I appreciate that you like Lana. But please maybe you could think about other people too? Many people have favourites who get nothing like Lana's screentime. Respectfully, we'd be delighted to have what you're complaining about.

Lana, as a character in this game, is very important to me.

 

This thread seems to have apparently convinced the devs to sideline the character, which is annoying and disappointing and is spoiling MY enjoyment of the game.

 

If you all manage to convince them to remove her, through leaving or through death, then that will ruin MY enjoyment of the game, and most likely drive me out of playing altogether. Which will cost Bioware a dedicated, paying subscriber.

 

Just back off and think about other people, would you, please? I'm really tired of whiners ruining games for me. It's happened too many times.

 

All I see here is "me, me, me, me".

They haven't sidelined Lana btw. She still already showed up in the last 2 or 3 cutscenes even tho no one besides her fangirls wants her to. What about the enjoyement of the rest of the players in this thread?

And please stop with things like "IF THEY DO X, THEN I'LL QUIT". No one cares, really.

All I see here is "me, me, me, me".

They haven't sidelined Lana btw. She still already showed up in the last 2 or 3 cutscenes even tho no one besides her fangirls wants her to. What about the enjoyement of the rest of the players in this thread?

And please stop with things like "IF THEY DO X, THEN I'LL QUIT". No one cares, really.

In fairness, you could say the same thing about the proponents posts.

 

Of course we all approach the game from what we want. We’re paying for subscriptions.

I loves me some Lana

A couple things to comment on.

 

This thread seems to have apparently convinced the devs to sideline the character, which is annoying and disappointing and is spoiling MY enjoyment of the game.

 

First of all, Charles Boyd had already said back in 2018 before this thread's existence that the focus would not be on the SoR companions going forward. This is an MMO, not a single player game. If you thought the game was supposed to focus only on your love interest for the rest of it's lifespan like this is some single player Dragon Age or Mass Effect catering to only your personal interest, I hate to tell you this, but you should be playing a normal RPG and not a constantly developing MMO that must keep the story consistent, cohesive and moving forward.

 

Second, Lana maybe sidelined out of the main arcs (and rightfully so, she's been front and center for an over-extended amount of the game through multiple expansions often at the expense of other people's beloved companions getting no screentime), but she is still practically the only person in the alliance right now despite the alliance being passed off as some sort of well you know.....Alliance?

 

She is the only person you meet, she is the only person who gives you quest, she is the only person giving real briefings unless you count Theron on imp side when you first go to Onderon which is also with Lana, every single quest is "speak to lana" while every other companion mostly get single lines or filler content, the fact that some of you still complain about her not having enough when she is practically the head of all right now, speaking on matters that would better suit other characters like SIS topics, or Zakuul topics or literally becoming an expert on matters not associated with her expertise, is bizarre. It's clear you want the whole game to just be Lana beniko presents.....

 

The fact that a few of you say she doesn't have enough despite her even having more dialogue with characters that OTHER characters were associated with more, is ridiculous. She has more dialogue with characters that were not involved in her backstory but with some of our other companions in the comics and novels. Gnost Dural being one of them. It's a complete tragedy that a character that was associated with Theron's background and has history with that character in particular gets a full on conversation with Lana, and just a short message from Theron after completion of the mission lmao

 

But yeah, Lana has been sidelined compared to SoR/Kotfe obviously. But the question is, why wouldn't she be? Lana has not even had much of a relevant arc, she has almost zero connections to any of the major characters in the world of swtor. They tried to give her some attachments in Kotfe with Koth and Senya, that went nowhere. She hasen't really developed much from the expansions + having no real deep connection to the major players. No relatives even. So why does she warrant being more important than she already is to any major story arc?

 

I believe the sidelining of both Lana and Theron was always planned. It's also why I think they became comfortable with giving one a death option because they knew they would not focus on them as much in the future to come. As they needed to move the story forward.

 

However there's another possibility, that making one able to be killed stunted the other, well both actually. Before they always worked as a pair, polar opposites to each other, the two different moral compasses of the PC. When one was made to possibly leave, the other suffered. Also, before, they always had two equal characters that could be romanced by both sexes. Then they gave one an option to be sent away, possibly limiting their place in any future story. To fans this would not be fair to just take a crap on the hetero female and or gay male playerbase, one demographic being represented well in the major story while the others shafted, and so I can also see Lana being sidelined due to that as well. There's many possibilities.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Jaxterone

I really like Lana but hey this is enough, she is the main character for far too long, lets develop someone else.

Remember how it was cool to get to know Lana and Thero at first.

A couple things to comment on.

 

 

 

First of all, Charles Boyd had already said back in 2018 before this thread's existence that the focus would not be on the SoR companions going forward. This is an MMO, not a single player game. If you thought the game was supposed to focus only on your love interest for the rest of it's lifespan like this is some single player Dragon Age or Mass Effect catering to only your personal interest, I hate to tell you this, but you should be playing a normal RPG and not a constantly developing MMO that must keep the story consistent, cohesive and moving forward.

 

Second, Lana maybe sidelined out of the main arcs (and rightfully so, she's been front and center for an over-extended amount of the game through multiple expansions often at the expense of other people's beloved companions getting no screentime), but she is still practically the only person in the alliance right now despite the alliance being passed off as some sort of well you know.....Alliance?

 

She is the only person you meet, she is the only person who gives you quest, she is the only person giving real briefings unless you count Theron on imp side when you first go to Onderon which is also with Lana, every single quest is "speak to lana" while every other companion mostly get single lines or filler content, the fact that some of you still complain about her not having enough when she is practically the head of all right now, speaking on matters that would better suit other characters like SIS topics, or Zakuul topics or literally becoming an expert on matters not associated with her expertise, is bizarre. It's clear you want the whole game to just be Lana beniko presents.....

 

The fact that a few of you say she doesn't have enough despite her even having more dialogue with characters that OTHER characters were associated with more, is ridiculous. She has more dialogue with characters that were not involved in her backstory but with some of our other companions in the comics and novels. Gnost Dural being one of them. It's a complete tragedy that a character that was associated with Theron's background and has history with that character in particular gets a full on conversation with Lana, and just a short message from Theron after completion of the mission lmao

 

But yeah, Lana has been sidelined compared to SoR/Kotfe obviously. But the question is, why wouldn't she be? Lana has not even had much of a relevant arc, she has almost zero connections to any of the major characters in the world of swtor. They tried to give her some attachments in Kotfe with Koth and Senya, that went nowhere. She hasen't really developed much from the expansions + having no real deep connection to the major players. No relatives even. So why does she warrant being more important than she already is to any major story arc?

 

I believe the sidelining of both Lana and Theron was always planned. It's also why I think they became comfortable with giving one a death option because they knew they would not focus on them as much in the future to come. As they needed to move the story forward.

 

However there's another possibility, that making one able to be killed stunted the other, well both actually. Before they always worked as a pair, polar opposites to each other, the two different moral compasses of the PC. When one was made to possibly leave, the other suffered. Also, before, they always had two equal characters that could be romanced by both sexes. Then they gave one an option to be sent away, possibly limiting their place in any future story. To fans this would not be fair to just take a crap on the hetero female and or gay male playerbase, one demographic being represented well in the major story while the others shafted, and so I can also see Lana being sidelined due to that as well. There's many possibilities.

 

If the last part of your post was a reason it'd be the ultimate karma for some of the more obsessed lana fans who screeched about him in the past lol. But I agree with your general point. Even being "sidelined", Lana is still quite predominant over other characters so I don't see how a Lana fan could be complaining.

Edited April 17, 2021 by vallixas

Lana, as a character in this game, is very important to me.

 

This thread seems to have apparently convinced the devs to sideline the character, which is annoying and disappointing and is spoiling MY enjoyment of the game.

 

If you all manage to convince them to remove her, through leaving or through death, then that will ruin MY enjoyment of the game, and most likely drive me out of playing altogether. Which will cost Bioware a dedicated, paying subscriber.

 

Just back off and think about other people, would you, please? I'm really tired of whiners ruining games for me. It's happened too many times.

 

I haven't had a single line from Aric since KOTET and you think Lana, who has yet to miss a single chapter/story drop, has been sidelined. For real??

As much as I love Theron, it's time both he and Lana missed a story drop or two to bring forward other favourite LIs for some screen time, story focus and adventuring.

 

In saying that, putting a kill order on Lana or any LI is not the way to do it.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Suzsi

This thread is ridiculous, and there seems to be a general fallacy here, that Lana getting more screen time (even though she is the PC's main advisor, no matter what class or side they are) necessarily means that other NPCs don't get screen time. Correlation does not equal causation. It's not the fan's fault. Spite is a terrible thing, you people want to kill off the most popular NPC in the game, who brings the majority of fans a greater sense of enjoyment. A character who now is to SWTOR, what Jaina, or Thrall is to WoW. IMO no companion NPCs should be killed off, and you guys need to give it a rest.

^ It 100% means exactly that, when a character has effectlively stolen the roles of other characters. Their budget for this content, not exactly huge. Focusing on one or two characters IS effectively taking screentime away from others. Lana fans don't want to admit it's a problem, and why would they, their fave is the one reaping the benefits of this. But that does not make the problem non-existent. Too many people have acknowledged it at this point. An excellent way to solve this problem while keeping the budget intact, is by giving other characters their own shine and development from content release to content release while sidelining the ones who already had their share for the specific release, similar to how Scourge and Kira got.

 

And secondly the most popular character in this game was already killed off, Marr. His character was beloved for being well.... a well written character, Lana's love comes from mostly romance simps who had to romance her because all their original LI's were shipped away, boosted even further by being the first same sex romance option. Not necessarily because her character is developed or good. But even from a romance perspective it's not as if she's the definitive one. On virtually most of the polls i've seen she is never the "definitive option" completely overshadowing all others to the point it's like Lana or nothing. You usually see Kira, Vette or the other girls competing quite fine in votes on the official reddit polls.

 

Giving Lana a kill or boot option is not driving away subs it didn't for Vette and it's not for Lana, because it's not bringing them in to begin with. The game is probably more subscribed to NOW, than it was back then when Lana was even more exposed and in the forefront of the story, you know when most of the fanbase dropped off from the game. She didn't save it then. Kotxx still got cancelled halfway through and most of the subs dropped the game. Actually, the game has more subs now that most of the classes original companions are back then it did then. Furthermore, if she actually was the sole reason for playing this game as suggested, she would not be sidelined in the story as much as her fans claim she is at the moment lol

Edited April 18, 2021 by Jaxterone

Furthermore, if she actually was the sole reason for playing this game as suggested, she would not be sidelined in the story as much as her fans claim she is at the moment lol

 

I've thought about what you originally said about the possibility of the nathema option being the reason both are sidelined and it makes even more sense to me now that i've remembered things devs said in the past. Like not wanting to give too much romance stuff to other characters unfairly. It makes sense that both characters would have less than before to keep them equal. Because as you said one demographic having a constant consistent LI throughout the mainstory while the others got left out would not be fair to all players. So both get sidelined now to keep them even.

 

And you're also right about the decision to sideline them happening way before 2021

Edited April 18, 2021 by vallixas

I've thought about what you originally said about the possibility of the nathema option being the reason both are sidelined and it makes even more sense to me now that i've remembered things devs said in the past. Like not wanting to give too much romance stuff to other characters unfairly. It makes sense that both characters would have less than before to keep them equal. Because as you said one demographic having a constant consistent LI throughout the mainstory while the others got left out would not be fair to all players. So both get sidelined now to keep them even.

 

And you're also right about the decision to sideline them happening way before 2021

 

That doesn't make sense because those who want to romance Theron wouldn't have played the game incorrectly in getting rid of him, so they can have equal romance time. Theron is not the main NPC character in the latest stories, but you still get kissing scenes. That's what ticked people off. You wake up to Lana, again, not Theron or whomever your love interest is. If your Trooper married Aric you want to see Aric. If your Bounty Hunter married Torian you want to see Torian. The budget is in the voice acting not the programming. All characters are class objects. It's a simple matter of choosing values with Case statements to plug into a scene. It would be nice if other companions get their stories like Kira and Scourge, but it's enough to get a short scene when it's appropriate and not have it be Lana, again.

[...]It would be nice if other companions get their stories like Kira and Scourge, but it's enough to get a short scene when it's appropriate and not have it be Lana, again.

 

Have to chime in here and point out that even those romancing Kira or Scourge got shafted in EoO with no acknowledgment of the romances whatsoever while Arcann, Theron and Lana at least got one (the latter got two), which made waking up to Lana again in the end doubly annoying. I never want to wake up to her ever again with any of my non-romanced characters, tyvm!

 

That said, I think it would be enough to tone down her role as your personal secretary...er..."advisor". I never understood the cries for kill options for characters simply because some find them annoying. If there are companion kill options, they must fit the narrative and make sense.

That doesn't make sense because those who want to romance Theron wouldn't have played the game incorrectly in getting rid of him, so they can have equal romance time. Theron is not the main NPC character in the latest stories, but you still get kissing scenes. That's what ticked people off. You wake up to Lana, again, not Theron or whomever your love interest is. If your Trooper married Aric you want to see Aric. If your Bounty Hunter married Torian you want to see Torian. The budget is in the voice acting not the programming. All characters are class objects. It's a simple matter of choosing values with Case statements to plug into a scene. It would be nice if other companions get their stories like Kira and Scourge, but it's enough to get a short scene when it's appropriate and not have it be Lana, again.

 

But do you not see the real issue? That still limits him as a character by comparison, which is honestly sad for a character who had so many connections to other existing swtor characters in the world. Because of him and so many others have a boot option, Lana is now the default, meaning a lot of those characters with the boot options are destined to either play filler roles. Eg: casually mentioning some irrelevant thing, or playing the swapped character version role of a part Lana also plays had they not been present, or being barely acknowledged by NPCS they are supposed to have long histories with. This is why waking up to Lana, will continue to happen. And why Lana may continue to get more intimate scenes in general despite the "sidelining" of her character.

 

Theron appears alongside Koth and the other alliance members when everyone has their big meetings. But he's seemingly not present in the latest scene with Hylo and Lana. Hylo now has more engagement with other present characters than him. Another example, Lana got to have full on conversations with Anri, Arn and Gnost. Theron iirc doesn't meet Arn at all, only sends a short message about gnost, and on impside just shows up randomly from the shuttle on Mek-sha to have a one liner with anri. The new characters can even acknowledge the relationship the PC has with Lana, none do for Theron

 

Granted, Theron is still treated better than other characters, a few pros

 

- He seemingly comes with you on Onderon, and debriefs you alongside Lana, although he seemingly disapears afterwards while Lana shows up later, I think they tried to make it fair though because after you finish things on Onderon, they both show up at the end without much to say other than "lets go, what's our next destination".

 

- He is present on Mek-sha, albeit a very small scene

- He is present after Onslaught concludes, but even here it seems like Anri barely acknowledges him

- He is present in echoes, and comes with you, though has a very small part overall, and ends up not even getting a conversation with his mother

 

But in short, I could totally see them sidelining both to make it fair, because one can no longer be involved as much as he should have been.

Edited April 19, 2021 by vallixas

I would definitely want Theron to have more screen time, but there exists another thread to talk about it.

Satele actually does acknowledge the relationship, so there's that

I think all sides are just struggling of wanting more of a bygone era, we all just want to continue our adventures with the characters we've done in the past, and that's just not happening as much now for none of the mains simply because the story has moved forward. But therein lies the problem. This game has a much smaller fanbase than other games, so you have a bunch of people who have grown close to these characters and don't really want "new", but more of the same. I will say, Theron and Lana are lucky in that both get to stay near the PC going forward, despite me not agreeing with the direction of the writing always. Edited April 20, 2021 by vallixas

I think all sides are just struggling of wanting more of a bygone era, we all just want to continue our adventures with the characters we've done in the past, and that's just not happening as much now for none of the mains simply because the story has moved forward. But therein lies the problem. This game has a much smaller fanbase than other games, so you have a bunch of people who have grown close to these characters and don't really want "new", but more of the same. I will say, Theron and Lana are lucky in that both get to stay near the PC going forward, despite me not agreeing with the direction of the writing always.

 

I'd like some meaningful conversation and interactions with them, beyond just a quick kiss now and then. Hell we don't even know if we're married or just engaged atm.

But not necessarily directly romantic conversations but meaningful convs of things they may not discuss with non-romantic partners. Comfort after a bad day etc. Something that lasts more then 3 lines of dialogue. Then maybe it could make up for lack of former LI content.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Suzsi

For now we can hope for something big for the 10th anniversary. Maybe we'll get a wedding scene, and it could even be with your Class Companion love interest. Maybe they'll fix their error and Theron comes back for those who played wrong. He was rescued and healed after you left Nathema by Someone or he started to work with Someone after he left the Alliance, but a crisis brings him back.

 

Maybe not, but it's nice to think about.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Hadsil

This thread is ridiculous, and there seems to be a general fallacy here, that Lana getting more screen time (even though she is the PC's main advisor, no matter what class or side they are) necessarily means that other NPCs don't get screen time. Correlation does not equal causation. It's not the fan's fault. Spite is a terrible thing, you people want to kill off the most popular NPC in the game, who brings the majority of fans a greater sense of enjoyment. A character who now is to SWTOR, what Jaina, or Thrall is to WoW. IMO no companion NPCs should be killed off, and you guys need to give it a rest.

 

Comparing her to Jaina or Thrall is a bit of a stretch as Wow does not have companions such as SWTOR. Jaina or Thrall are essentially just NPC characters that have nothing to do with your character like the companions here do, so that comparison doesn't really work.

 

Lana is a companion character character nothing more. While some like her and that is good, some don't and where were you when they started killing companions in the first place? I disliked any companions being killed as it mess up with another person's enjoyment of their companion.

I think all sides are just struggling of wanting more of a bygone era, we all just want to continue our adventures with the characters we've done in the past, and that's just not happening as much now for none of the mains simply because the story has moved forward. But therein lies the problem. This game has a much smaller fanbase than other games, so you have a bunch of people who have grown close to these characters and don't really want "new", but more of the same. I will say, Theron and Lana are lucky in that both get to stay near the PC going forward, despite me not agreeing with the direction of the writing always.

 

Perhaps, but I think it's a stronger case that; the devs have killed off so many characters that it's made people who don't or never really liked Lana dislike her more because now there's not enough balance between her and other people within the alliance. Whereas in the past there were more people to alternate between, now it's just Lana which makes her a bit overexposed.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Jaxterone

Perhaps, but I think it's a stronger case that; the devs have killed off so many characters that it's made people who don't or never really liked Lana dislike her more because now there's not enough balance between her and other people within the alliance. Whereas in the past there were more people to alternate between, now it's just Lana which makes her a bit overexposed.

 

They are trying to I think with the Mando story. Just sad Torian hasn't had more screen time with it. I saved him for a reason!

It was all Shae though, no Lana which was a nice change of pace there. Like the Commander actually does do some things without Lana! As they should. Hopefully theyll continue to mix it up some and have some more companion specific storylines like this. Also include other comps (like Torian) who the story relates to - so vanilla romance comps can get more screentime.

 

No reason they can't keep running side stories along side of the 'main' story.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Suzsi

Problem is, the writers killed off too many legacy characters too soon. You look at characters like Malcom, or Gnost they had a lot of history of content in the books some comics even. All to be wasted in one expansion, some in the dumbest of ways. The writers have wasted just about all the legacy characters within the swtor universe. Satele is just about one of the few still remaining. Where we should have had tons of legacy characters being developed in the story simultaneously throughout, the devs just decided to throw most of them away and place all their bets on Lana. Which would not be so much a problem IF she was as entertaining and developed to warrant the focus. But she isn't, infact as other's have stated she arguably has the least attachments or connections to the other characters in the swtor universe besides the PC himself/herself. Edited April 23, 2021 by Jaxterone

She's just awfull and so is SoR and everything after Kotet. Every sensable solution gets handwaved away with flimsy excuses. You're railroaded into these convoluted storylines without any regard to the pc personality or the choices you made in this and past Star Wars games. Everything gets thrown in there for recognizability sake choices be damned.

 

And what's with the stuff post Kotet anyway. Rush through 3 tropey missions and then grind your eyes out for some cosmetics. I guess you don't have to do real content when the dress up simulator people shell out enough cash to keep the devs employed. The writing is just godawfull. I rejected every new companion they introduced because i would have died of cringe otherwise. I guess hiring your friends from deviantart is cheaper than professionals.

She proved she could not be trusted when she let Theron get captured on Rishi. She may not have done anything since but she has shown she is capable of underhanded actions.

 

I don't like her but that's not the main reason I would like the option of killing her. The fact that she alone of all other companions in the main Kofte/et storyline cannot be killed is. Why not Theron or Koth? No, precious Lana is where they draw the line.

 

You know, Theron shows he's just as capable of underhanded actions, in that same storyline, before it even gets to that point on Rishi.