How far can we go with this light/dark?

[Fordel]

I have a question:

 - How major an impact will my Light/Dark choices have on the companions and their stories? Will I be able to run around shoving kittens in blenders while making my companions watch, then turn around and give them shiny baubles to make them love me? (Not that I advocate shoving kittens in blenders.) Does it reach the point that if you keep doing bad things, you push good hearted companions over the edge? In a single player game, you just reload if you make one to many bad guesses on what your companions will like - in an MMO, not so much.

My assumption is that due to the MMO nature, they telegraph stuff well enough and give you enough chances to turn things around - otherwise you are looking at another reason for the Official Forum crowd to go apoplectic about the designers ruining "their" game.

There are a few dialogue choices that can close doors, mostly about relationships and a very few specific characters let you really influence their world view. It's all very telegraphed. As to the affection gains and losses, you can pick every single option that will piss off your companion, then buy back the love through gifts.

You can do the same with Light/Dark points even and Diplomacy/Underworld trading Missions and/or running flash points. Just pick which ever option you feel is best. You can always dig yourself out of the hole (or dig yourself deeper if you want), pretty trivially at 50.


Like if you want to game your affection gains for companions, you throw low level gifts at them for their first like 3-4k affection points as soon as you get each one. The cost of low level gifts relative to the wealth of a higher level player is nothing at all.




-edit-

You people siding WITH the landmine obstacle course guys, yea I don't know how to help you if you think stopping that is "Stupid Goody Two-Shoes Fluff" 

[Sjofn]

So, can I play an Empire Agent dedicated to preserving the Order of the Empire from the chaotic nihilism of our Sith overlords?

I felt like that's essentially what my IA was doing most of the time with his choices, but your mileage may vary, of course.

[Ingmar]

You people siding WITH the landmine obstacle course guys, yea I don't know how to help you if you think stopping that is "Stupid Goody Two-Shoes Fluff" 

I'm almost always frightened to find out how other people play RPGs. It probably makes me fear for the country more than our politics. 

[Fordel]

So, can I play an Empire Agent dedicated to preserving the Order of the Empire from the chaotic nihilism of our Sith overlords?

I felt like that's essentially what my IA was doing most of the time with his choices, but your mileage may vary, of course.

Another thing to keep in mind when making any Empire Character, is aliens (other then Sith Purebloods) are second class citizens and it often shows in dialogues. A Chiss IA gets a different reaction from many NPCs then a Human one would.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, my IA was a human so I was vaguely respected, my manquisitor was a twi'lek that only got respect when it became clear he could kill people with mind bullets. I let him bitch about racism whenever the dialogue let me. 

[Sobelius]

You people siding WITH the landmine obstacle course guys, yea I don't know how to help you if you think stopping that is "Stupid Goody Two-Shoes Fluff" 

I'm almost always frightened to find out how other people play RPGs. It probably makes me fear for the country more than our politics. 

Not so sure we should be assuming people made this choice because they would IRL.

My first run through, my Trooper ratted them out and I knew when I did that I was making the choice from my own moral compass rather than my character's. I was actually repulsed by what they were doing and didn't run the choices through my "character attitude filter". However, if I ever create a character who aligns with the attitude of the inf at the minefield, then he'll side with them because that's what he'd do not because *i* think it's right.

[Ingmar]

Sure, but you're not dismissing the 'good' option OUT of character as "stupid goody two-shoes fluff" either.

It's a larger thing that bothers me though, this is a pretty minor example of it. Bigger ones would be people who whine about not being able to kill the kids in Little Lamplight in FO3, etc.

[Sjofn]

Sobelius, you are a better man than me. That dude's voice is hot but I don't know if I will get past the way he looks. Maybe I'll just avert my eyes from the screen when he's talking. I totally did that with Zevran in DA2 and it worked alright. 

[Mattemeo]

I can tell that I'm going to need to up my repetoire of non-sequiter Smiths lyrics for those moments in /guild chat when Sjofn's heavy breathing comes through in type.

[tmp]

Bigger ones would be people who whine about not being able to kill the kids in Little Lamplight in FO3, etc.

The Little Lamplight brats were totally asking for it, though.

[Sjofn]

I can tell that I'm going to need to up my repetoire of non-sequiter Smiths lyrics for those moments in /guild chat when Sjofn's heavy breathing comes through in type.

I am totally going to give as many "yes, slept with a new hot dude!" updates when I'm playing my smuggler as I can. 

[Merusk]

Sure, but you're not dismissing the 'good' option OUT of character as "stupid goody two-shoes fluff" either.

It's a larger thing that bothers me though, this is a pretty minor example of it. Bigger ones would be people who whine about not being able to kill the kids in Little Lamplight in FO3, etc.

Exactly.  I'm not disgusted by the option, nor anyone choosing it.  In character is all in character. I'll do it but get a queasy or uneasy feeling about it because I want to see a path.

The disturbing/ disgust comes from players - not characters - calling it "over the top stupidly goody two-shoes." No, it's not.  Not in the least.

[Draegan]

What is this "supposed to" nonsense? My smuggler has a heart of gold.  


EDIT: Also, there's still shit with no requirements, it's just if you desperately want your lightsaber to be red, you best be going dark side.

Or just buy a red crystal, or craft one.

[Sjofn]

The red crystals I made during Thanksgiving weekend all had "requires dark 1" or whatever on them.

EDIT: Actually, I think it was past the newbie tier, thinking about it. Still.

[Draegan]

Ah, must of been a new thingy. I check a few builds ago and never looked again.

[Sky]

Confirmed my turkey saber had a dark 1 red crafted crystal in it. I actually like the vibrancy of the red, it was fitting for my dark Knight. But it was really tough to play that character, it made me feel horrible several times. Whereas the consular made me feel good because a few times he found interesting ways out of situations that I was sure were going to a bad place.

[Evildrider]

I think it's Red = Neutral & Dark 1+ only and Green/Blue = Neutral & Light 1+ only

[Lantyssa]

I think it's Red = Neutral & Dark 1+ only and Green/Blue = Neutral & Light 1+ only

Correct.  There are some neutral colors.  I'm not sure about any of the more rare ones.

[Sobelius]

Sobelius, you are a better man than me. That dude's voice is hot but I don't know if I will get past the way he looks. Maybe I'll just avert my eyes from the screen when he's talking. I totally did that with Zevran in DA2 and it worked alright. 

Hehe -- well I'll admit I *couldn't* get past that in DA1 -- the elf dude was a no-go for me.

I also wouldn't mind some companion characters with this level of campy response dialogue -- for the lulz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcuI6K9daIw&feature=player_embedded

[Sjofn]

Hehe -- well I'll admit I *couldn't* get past that in DA1 -- the elf dude was a no-go for me.

More Zevran for me, then, I loved the elf dude in DA1.  He looked like a freaky mutant in DA2.


Uh, on topic (I guess), I have a huge weakness from a roleplaying standpoint, I think. There are some things I find so terrible, I will not do them, even if I am RPing a terrible person. My "renegade" Shepard, for example, wound up being about 80% renegade, 50% paragon. And that was me making a huge effort. And that was just RENEGADE, not EVIL.

[Cyrrex]

further question. once you've pissed off your companion i there any way to make them like you again or are all conversations a one time thing? If you can't, the thought of perma-fucking over a faction in an mmo seems a bad idea.

I want my choices to have consequences, and even be permanent in extreme cases.  It is this whole mindset of "oh noes! you ruined my character by letting me make bad choices!" that is limiting the potenital of this kind of game, IMO.  I know why MMO devs cater to the crybabies, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

[Fordel]

Okay, you alienated your tanking/healing companion and he's gone forever, congratulations your class doesn't work properly anymore. Time to Re-roll! 

[Maledict]

From my understanding red and blue are limited by your force allegiance. I didn't see any neutral red crystals and everything I read said you needed to be on the dark side to get access to that colour. (same with blue and the light side).

Re. IA - I don't understand how anyone could NOT play Chiss for their IA. They have such a fantastic sexy voice - and im British!  From my understanding of the lore the Chiss are in a slightly different place to other aliens anyway, being the IA only 'official allies' rather than a servant race.

[Sjofn]

I think green is also light-side but I'm not 100% sure on that, as I prefer the blue color and kept making those for myself when I needed an upgrade. 

[Fordel]

From my understanding red and blue are limited by your force allegiance. I didn't see any neutral red crystals and everything I read said you needed to be on the dark side to get access to that colour. (same with blue and the light side).

Re. IA - I don't understand how anyone could NOT play Chiss for their IA. They have such a fantastic sexy voice - and im British!  From my understanding of the lore the Chiss are in a slightly different place to other aliens anyway, being the IA only 'official allies' rather than a servant race.

All IA's have the same voice.

But yes the Chiss are 'official allies' of the Empire. Mostly they are mystery to everyone, even the Empire. Just how the Chiss like it.

[Maledict]

For some reason I had assumed different aliens would have different voices. Guess it makes sense they don't given how many spoken lines of dialogue there are and how many options. Still, that smug patronising sexy voice sounds better from someone who is all blue for some reason!

[Fordel]

Yea it's broken down by class, not race.

[eldaec]

further question. once you've pissed off your companion i there any way to make them like you again or are all conversations a one time thing? If you can't, the thought of perma-fucking over a faction in an mmo seems a bad idea.

I want my choices to have consequences, and even be permanent in extreme cases.  It is this whole mindset of "oh noes! you ruined my character by letting me make bad choices!" that is limiting the potenital of this kind of game, IMO.  I know why MMO devs cater to the crybabies, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Then play eve or UO and stop playing level based directed experience games.

[Draegan]

Yea it's broken down by class, not race.

Just in case it isn't obvious, Class and Sex.

[Sobelius]

Yeah, I did the Chiss IA and loved it. I made a balding roly-poly asian-looking Chiss and imagined he had a philosophical detachment from his choices and the consequences of his actions (allowing him to rationalize away any cognitive dissonance). I viewed him as a "thinking" assassin type, perhaps a little like Varys from Game of Thrones -- if Varys had had balls.

[Draegan]

I still haven't figured out what I'm going to make my Bounty Hunter.  It's the first time in a long time I care what my character's face and voice sound like.   

I can't remember what the female bounty hunter sounds like vs the male.

[Ingmar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_DeLisle

She's been in everything ever.

[eldaec]

Though almost never in a part you will remember.

Jeanette and Terese from Vampire Bloodlines is literally the only video game character on that list I can remember existing.

[Bunk]

Baldur's Gate - Viconia De Vir
Neverwinter - Sharwyn
A crapton of voices in SW games I never played
Catwoman in Arkam City is I assume a fairly big role.

I always thought the Malkavian Sisters were the real highlight of Bloodlines.

[Ingmar]

She's Catwoman in Arkham City which just came out, if nothing else. But, I certainly recognize her from her BG/KOTOR/ME work personally.

EDIT: Oh, right and Velanna in Awakenings.