Choices Coming Back To Bite You Later

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, this is awesome.  So I’m on my storyline quest (don’t worry, no spoilers, I’ll be vague) and I had the choice to (1) try to reason with this lady (light side), (2) punch her in the face and take the thing I wanted (dark side), or (3) kill her (presumably even MORE dark side.)  I wanted to kill her because she was pissing me off but, remembering Corso’s boy scoutishness, I punched her in the face instead (for which I got the -1 of SHAME).

Later on in that same quest line, I see her again playing a pretty central role.  Wow.  That’s pretty cool, because presumably if I had killed her, there would have been a completely different sort of encounter needed to progress on the storyline.  I have no idea what it would have been, but I’m INTENSELY curious.  Maybe I’ll ask the husband to kill her with his smuggler when he gets there so I can see what happens.

Character Appearance and Voice

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Have you gotten a toon into game and discovered that the voice coming out of your character’s mouth was just ALL WRONG?  Well, I did!

See, I was unaware that the female trooper was so badass.  Like amazingly badass.  Like kill you in the FACE badass.  And well, my trooper, despite her giant tattoo was just not badass enough.  The voice coming out was all wrong.

Out with the old...

So now she’s a zabrak who means SRS BZNS.

... and in with the PWN

OK, rerolling a lvl 11 toon was a bit painful (I had to delete the first one to reclaim the name), but better now than later.  Plus I am skipping some dialogue that I have done before and remember well.  What can I say?  It is easier the second time.

The new and improved trooper is casually at level 7, courtesy of the Master Jedi (Gramma) taking the Little Jedi to the park.

Questionable Morality

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

So, I’m not a roleplayer, and it’s really hard for me to develop “consistency” within a specific character because I often act the way the mood strikes me.  My characters definitely do not have much of their own personalities.  Having said that, here’s how I’ve been playing.  In no particular order.

The Asshole Rule

“Thou Shalt Not Suffer An Asshole To Live.”

-Me

If you try to kill me, if you kill or try to kill my friends, or maybe just kidnap them, or betray me or mah friends, I will exterminate you IN THE FACE.  I could get a gazillion dark points and the -100 of SHAME and I’d still do it.

If I go really far to the dark side, that just means there are way too many assholes in the galaxy.  Well, fewer now that I’m done with them.

Jedi Code, Schmedi Code

Man, it is really easy to rack up the dark side points by doing normal things that normal people do but that violate the Jedi Code.  Look, we’re all adults here.  If two padawan want to make out in the bushes, that’s their business.

Leave Those Kids Alone

I just do NOT have the stomach to go full dark side if it means beating up orphans and stuff.  Sure it’s just pixels, but no.  The killing innocent people thing I just CANNOT do, which is why I will never have a really really dark character.

Torture is Gross

Ok, maybe it’s been in the news too much, but I can’t stomach torture.  Well, unless the person is an asshole, in which case the Asshole Rule applies and we’re stuck in an infinite loop.

Being Smart Is Important

Now, why would I take on 5 dudes by myself if I can force persuade 4 of them to leave?  I wouldn’t.  Sure, they may deserve it (see asshole rule, above) but the thing I really hate is getting my ass handed to me following a conversation.  It’s just embarrassing.  In this case I have to weigh the smart path against the asshole rule and see which one wins.

Companion Affection

OK, I have a soft spot for Corso.  He’s staring at me with those puppy farm-boy eyes and if I make him unhappy, it’s so sad.  It doesn’t matter that I can buy back his affection with presents, it’s just too hard to disappoint that boy.  So sometimes I’ll do the right thing just to not get the -1 of Shame.  This means that we occasionally let assholes live because Corso doesn’t like beating up girls.  Sigh.  At least he’s a fan of killing imperials.

I’m having far more luck being a jerk on my jedi knight because the robot is too damn cute but not as… disapproving?  I’m ok with disappointing him every now and then.  I’ll, uh, wipe his memory later.

Right now, I hate Risha and she’s not even my companion yet.  I will do everything in my power to piss her off.  In my dreams there is a dialogue option that says “Goodbye, Risha [Toss Out Airlock]”

Money

This is one of the things that is character-specific.  Obviously, smugglers are out for the money.  I always ask about the money.  This earns me the -1 of SHAME often enough.  But then one of the things that Corso says when I click on him is something like “Do you have a plan to make us even richer?”  Um, stupid Corso, where do you think money comes from?

As a smuggler, I will also take bribes.  Well, never if it’s a bribe for something like torture, killing kids, etc.  But if it is taking a bribe versus killing an asshole in the FACE, it’s a difficult decision.

The Greater Good

This is a tough one, and again it varies by character.  Should corruption be exposed at all costs?  Should I let an asshole live for the greater good?  These are the ones I struggle with.  Don’t we all?

How do you make morality choices in the game?

Tracking Buff Procs

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Yes, I am whining again about the UI.  But seriously!

OK, I have this… thing called “upper hand.”  Without getting too technical for you non-smugglers out there, certain abilities trigger “upper hand” and certain abilities consume it.  I can have 2 stacks of upper hand at a time and consume each stack separately.  With me so far?

Now, I’m not perfect.  I can’t always remember whether I have one stack or two.  And sometimes the only reason I know I have any stacks at all is that the icons for abilities that consume upper hand are not grayed out.  Pretty ghetto, right?  The only other option is to look at the teeny weeny icons on your character frame.  Blech.

So, Dear Bioware, this is what I want for Xmas: A reasonably visible Upper Hand tracker that shows me (1) HOW MANY STACKS I have; and (2) HOW LONG I have before the damn thing drops off.  Kthx.

Why Corso Reminds Me Of Pug Tanks

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Corso, oh Corso, when will you ever learn?

1. He Breaks CC

What the hell, Corso?  Sure, he doesn’t single-target the mob that is crowd controlled… he throws a grenade at the one right next to it.  /facepalm

Naughty Corso!  I will confiscate your grenades! (or right click on the ability to turn it off…)

2. He Whines About His Health

This is every healer’s pet peeve.  Your tank (or dps or whatever) starts reminding you about his health bar.  Yes, I am a healer, I am already staring right at your health bar, I’m aware of the issue, SHUT UP.

Corso gets a scratch (ok, he’s probablyat 25% health) and starts melodramatically shouting that he’s going to diiiieeeee.  Shut up, Corso!  I see it.  I’m spamming heals.  They’re not particularly effective yet.

Meet the Girls

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, since the servers were down and all that junk, time to go through the screenshots folder.

Njessi, Cyborg Smuggler

So far, this is my main. She’s level 13 and a Scoundrel (Sawbones).  Unfortunately, that means 2 pitiful heals.  The first 10 levels were really hard because I really really suck at cover.  Sincerely suck.  But now that I have Corso the Boytoy1 to block for me, and I have a few up-close-and-personal moves from the Scoundrel tree, I am not constantly occupied by looking around for a convenient rock behind which to roll.  And if I don’t find a convenient rock, whatever, I still have decent non-cover abilities.  I don’t need to crouch down when there’s no cover available just so I can access abilities.

In beta, I had a badasser scar (losing an eye is srs bzns), but for some reason in live, the scar looked… angrier?  It didn’t work out and I downsized the scar.

Njess'i, Human Trooper

I think this one is lvl 11.  Commando, of course, and probably speccing in combat medic.  To be honest, this feels VERY different than Bounty Hunter that I played in beta.  Maybe it’s just the storyline.  I kinda suck at following orders.  It is, however, nice to be able to just stand there and shooting the shit out of things without having to crouch or cower.  If you like blowing shit up, this is for you.

I gotta say, I must have rerolled this toon 3 or 4 times before she looked “right”.  By that point, I knew that I had picked probably the MOST popular tattoo and didn’t care.  Do you know how hard it is to get eyebrows that work with that tattoo?  Did you know that if you put her hair in a bun, several of the tattoo options extend behind the hairline and look dumb?  Don’t even get me started.

N'jessi, Twi'lek Consular

This one was intended to be the proxy for my old toon n’Jessi, from SWG.  The SWG one was a tailor, so my goal was to make a yellow twi’lek that was a tailor (synthweaver, whatever).  And they sort of look alike.  As close as I could get.

n'Jessi, Twi'lek Tailor/Image Designer

With a few differences:

  • you can’t capitalize all weird.  It accepted the name as “n’Jessi” but fixed it to N’jessi when I zoned in-game.
  • the colors are obviously not the same.
  • lekku can’t go forward, they only go back
  • and, the face just did not look RIGHT unless I used body type 4.  It just looked too angular and weird.  The original n’Jessi was supposed to be a dancer so was smaller and more muscular.  But whatever2

Of course, as luck would have it, this is my least favorite toon so far.  I’m having a hell of a time doing this weird hybrid rock throwing thing.  I’m going to stick it out until 10 to see what happens.

Njes'si, Zabrak Knight

I was shocked and maybe appalled by how much fun I had with this one.  I was really not considering a knight at all because, duh, they don’t heal.  But the melee is just so easy and smooth but I don’t have to hide or crouch, and being able to close gaps quickly was a major improvement on the consular.  I find myself much better able to deal with targeting and disposing of multiple enemies who are sniping at me from range than I do with a ranged class (weird but true).  The badassery of a teeny weeny Zabrak who, in the future, will be holding two glowy swords is downright intoxicating.

About the Names

I struggled with whether to uniquely name my toons or go with a naming convention, but ultimately went with the naming convention to be identifiable when I’m on my alts (less for the guild to remember). Although I had a distinctly different naming convention in the WoW-sphere, it seemed right to go back to my SWG name (rather than stick to my WoW name) for a new Star Wars Game.  I was giving some helpful instructions in general chat when I suddenly got a tell from someone… someone whom I knew in SWG.  He saw the name and thought to ask.  So in my mind, it was totally worthwhile to be “findable” for people I knew back in the day.

  1. regrettably not “Pool boy” ↩
  2. I do like body type 4, I think it’s great that they put it in the game and have totally used it for other toons.  If you tell me that body type 4 is “fat”, I will kick you. ↩

Companions and the -1 of Shame

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

My companions are really cramping my style.  Each of them has their own little likes and dislikes and if I feel feisty and snark off in front of a non-snarky companion I get the -1 of Shame.

You know what I mean.  The little companion portrait pops up and there’s a -1.  It’s like a virtual eyeroll.  Like “I am not annoyed at you enough to talk about it now, but we are definitely discussing your attitude once we get back to the car, young lady.”

Well, I want my companions to like me.  Not necessarily for humping purposes, but because supposedly if they like me, they give me access to stuff.  Quests? Faster crafting?  Oh hell, I’m vague on the details, but I know I want them to like me.

But sometimes I’m baffled by what to say to get them to like me.  I read the codex.  I research on the internet.  But I’m still flailing.  I can go through a whole conversation behaving as I think the companion likes… sure I don’t get a -1 of Shame but sometimes I don’t get a single +15 of Luv.  So I end up playing a whole scene in a way I totally wouldn’t in a way to get brownie points… and no brownie points.

Now I understand what it’s like to be a guy and want to say the right thing or a girl won’t drop her pants.

That was a quote by ME last night.  Ugh. Seriously.

I went out and bought my companion a present he loves.  I got 96 affection for it.  There, now I can get the -1 of Shame 96 times and not worry about it.  Much better.

Complexion? How the Eff Does That Work?

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

OK, so you get to the character creation screen and there are like… 40 settings for complexion.  2 have freckles, a few have veins, weird tans, wrinkles, or spots.  And then there are a good number that look like “clear skin normal”.  What the hell is the difference?

Eyebrows.  Folks, complexion determines eyebrow size and shape.  So if you’re having trouble telling the difference, focus on the eyebrows.

Also, if you plan to be bald, complexion controls the head stubble (which shows up as a shading, not real textured stubble).  Like a tiny mohawk shadow on some.

Speaking of eyebrows, why the eff do twi’lek even HAVE eyebrows?  Do they have hair?

I Am Underwhelmed By Support Of Community Building

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

Normally, I don’t do a “U SUCK (insert game development company here)” because it doesn’t do any good.  But things have been so thoroughly bungled in this launch that I have to say something or I’ll explode.

No, it’s not anything to do with the servers or gameplay.  It’s to do with community building.

1. Guild Allies and Adversaries.  For months, guilds were told to pick their allies and adversaries and that Bioware would “try” for them to be on the same server.  From the reports of several guilds I know, this was not even close to the case.  The assignments were no better than random. Because the assignment were given hours before pre-launch, this caused guilds to be scrambling at the last moment to make arrangements that they could have made months ago, had they known that the allies and adversaries system was not going to work at all. Which leads me to…

2. Forums were Down.  Ok, forums need to be down for maintenance, I get that.  But having the entire community site down, private messaging included, when you needed to coordinate with other guilds after the allies thing got borked was awful.  You couldn’t even SEE the guild members of any guild, let alone try to speak with them.1

3. There are no server forums.  That’s right.  The forums are back up with no forums for servers.  How are we supposed to reach out to our community from THAT?2

In SWG, each server had a community and a culture.  People who played for even a year still remember people on their server who were not in their guild.  In WoW, we barely had that from the beginning, and it was eroded by the dungeon finder and server transfers.  Each guild was essentially an island.

A week ago, I really thought that Bioware was trying to build server communities and was super-excited.  Now, I feel like we’re slipping into “each guild is an island.”  And I don’t like it.

  1. Honestly, the forums/site seem to be down pretty much every time there is a completely predictable spike in traffic. ↩
  2. Well I didn’t see any.  Maybe I am a moron and can’t find things.  Or maybe they don’t exist. ↩

[Spoiler] About The Female Trooper Romance Option

Hawtpants of the Old Republic Posted on by

SPOILER WARNING: This post contains the identity of a romanceable male companion for the female republic trooper and the identities/characteristics of other romanceable companions in the game.  It does not reveal storyline of those romances, as I have no idea what they are.  Enter at your own risk.

*****POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW*****

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