firemenenthusiast

[dairine-bonnet]

Why is immortal Sion ready to fight with the Exile in the Sith Academy on Korriban and chase them to the entrance, but not ready to step out the door and chase the Exile? And why does Kreia recommend going to the Academy first, knowing that Sion is there, and only after that coming into the cave? Can't Sion enter the cave for some reason? I can't get it... Does anybody know the answers?:)

[enby-ernhardt]

Some things I’d like to see in the KOTOR remake(s), assuming they actually get released. I know some of it is a bit idealistic, but I can dream 😆

More customisation: maybe your character has a larger body, or freckles, or the braided hairstyle but blonde. They’re Twilek, Mirialan, or Zabraki! Non binary! Asexual! Anything goes, babey!!

Improved graphics and animation: ok, this is practically a given, but still. Have you seen characters get killed, then stand back up so they can die properly? Or characters knocked down when frozen getting back up and re-freezing (in that ridiculous pose) 😆. Revan’s dance moves stay, obviously, they’re just smoother.

Companions can roam ship/have schedules: Mostly they’ll be where they are now, but sometimes you’ll find Atton taking a nap, or Mission at the food replicator, and so on. Maybe you’ll even see someone patching themselves up in the med bay after a particularly rough battle.

Seperate the first name/last name fields: Sometimes I find a good first name but want to randomise the last. Also, giving every character my full name whilst trying to stay under the radar is counterintuitive. 😄

Romance: make Carth and Bastila bi, improve Juhani’s romance options (keep her a lesbian though), and add romance to the Kotor 2 characters (and Canderous in K1 because I know some people want that). You should be able to turn them down at any point though if you want.

Hide weapons unless fighting: We’ve all had a character stab themself when meditating or something. Also this

Small decorations: just having little trinkets and stuff appear throughout the game as you complete various tasks. Maybe you could keep one gizka, or pazzak cards/credits stack up as you win more games, or you get a sticker saying “Visit Manaan!”, etc.

Containers say when empty: this one is just here because I’m stupid and can’t remember shit 😆

[K1] Change Tach sound: those seconds between descending into the shadowlands and finding the mute button are the longest seconds of my life. (I know there’s mods, but they aren’t available on console)

[K1] Influence system/relationship changes: It really doesn’t make sense that Carth and Bastila will watch you do something dark sided and just make a small comment before pretending it never happened. Lightside companions should become more wary of you the darker you get, with Bastila giving you more lectures, for example.

[K1] Solo/not mc sections: I really like these sections in Kotor 2, so it’d be nice to have some in the first one too. Maybe someone could deal with the Mandalorian raiders while you’re training as a Jedi, or Canderous does the Genoharadan quest. Or entirely new stuff.

[K1] Change equipment on the Hawk: Also from Kotor 2. It’s very annoying to keep taking characters off the ship just to give them better stuff

[K1] Cutscenes on ship: yet another thing from Kotor 2. Carth asking Bastila how she got captured, Carth and Canderous’ Warrior or Soldier discussion, and Mission asking Bastila about using the force for fun could all easily take place on the ship, along with other convos.

[K2] references to/import data from K1: I’d like to see people talk about the time Revan saved/destroyed Hrakert rift and affected the kolto, or about them being swoop champ, and stuff like that.

[K2] Finished product: all the stuff the Restored Content Mod deals with should be there from the beginning, no need for mods or dlc *cough* Switch port *cough*. I know we’re going to mod the game anyway, but it should be for fun stuff and minor bug fixes, not restoring half the game!

[legendsofthegffa]

Knight Errent Review

The Republic, which for nearly twenty-five thousand years stood as the bastion of civilization in the galaxy, has been reduced to a rump state around the Core. The Sith conquest as been stalled as the various dark side factions fight both with and against each other, and only the Jedi remain to hold back the tide of darkness that threatens to completely consume the galaxy.

The resurgent Sith Empire has long been defeated; for centuries, the galaxy knew peace, until another Jedi fell to the dark side and resurrected the order. However, these Sith are no unified faction: countless Sith Lords all control their own territories outside the Republic, driving their populations to fuel their war machines against their enemies. With the Republic on the ropes, the Jedi have had to step up, working not only to stabilize the territory under their control, but also to undermine the Sith in their provinces. One such Jedi working in Sith space is Kerra Holt, Jedi Knight. Going undercover in order to find weak points in the Sith, Kerra works to sabotage the dark side forces while gathering much needed info on their enemies. After one such sabotage, during which she acquires a stealth suit from another saboteur working for a different Sith Lord, Kerra gets caught up in a battle between two Sith brothers. Gathering up a handful of young, exploited civilians, Kerra hitches a ride with an independent mercenary company.

Trying desperately to reach the Republic, Kerra, the mercenaries and the civilians get caught up in a Sith plot to mentally dominate millions of beings and use them as disposable tools. The plot is foiled, but the group winds up in another Sith’s territory, though this one is far more congenial than the rest. What’s more, she reveals that a chunk of the Sith Lords are actually family, vying for the favor of the matriarch, who keeps a careful balance amongst her children and grandchildren. After turning down an offer to assassinate the Sith Matriarch, Kerra and the mercenaries throw the Sith forces into disarray while also capturing navigational data they finally need to get home. Kerra and the rest reach the safety of the Republic, while the Sith Matriarch plots her next move in the never-ending game.

By far, the what I was most looking forward to when I got to this book was a look at the Sith during one of their most chaotic times (really, one of the most chaotic times in galactic history), and it did not disappoint. During this time period, there is no unifying Sith force outside of a handful of fleeting alliances, which doesn’t happen often. By this point, there have been five Sith empires (Original Sith, Exar Kun’s, Revan’s, the Resurgent Sith and the New Sith)) along with a smattering of cults (Naddits, Krath, Brotherhood of the Sith, the Sith Triumvirate), and whenever a major Sith wasn’t leading them, they tended to tear each other apart, as we see here. The difference this time, is that the previous Sith power, the New Sith Empire, actually managed to deal such a devastating blow to the Republic, that it was forced to give up nearly everything outside the Core and Inner Rim. Of course, along with the Republic went the Jedi, who were forced to pull back from fighting in order to lend a guiding hand; this left the Sith in an interesting position, with their traditional enemies not strong enough to challenge them, and multiple Sith ruling over multiple territories, with, as I said, only tenuous alliances at best, including amongst family. Considering this set right before Kahn showed up, I have to wonder: who amongst the family submitted to the Brotherhood, and how many died fighting? I cannot imagine the Matriarch submitting to Khan, and I have a hard time Kahn seriously offering to include her in the organization, given that she has the personal allegiance of a dozen Sith Lords; he probably killed her outright.

Kerra was a very likable main character. She was talented, quick thinking & compassionate; while she was dedicated to her mission, she also seriously considered the lives of those enslaved by the Sith, and her her actions and attacks could make things worse for those she left in her wake. She tries to balance the scales by taking charge of a small group of exploited children, which puts her at odds with the mercenary captain, but ultimately, the two prove to be on the same side (for the most part).

I’ve already rambled on about the Sith, so I’ll make this last part brief: I liked how different each of the Sith fiefdoms were. I don’t know what it is about this family, but every single member is certifiably insane, and I honestly think most of them would not have survived long in a larger Sith organization. One brother believes that the universe was created by him before taking human form, while the other embraces a nihilistic mentality where he convinces his minions to throw their lives away, as he will annihilate the universe once he’s conquered it. Another pair of siblings had a brother mentally overwhelm anyone near him, turning his sister into a mouth piece, with a plan to do it on a multi-planetary scale. Finally, there’s the “sanest” Sith, who insists on all her workers change jobs constantly so no one person becomes skilled enough at anything to become a threat to her, all while she plots to kill her grandmother who holds the real power. It’s a fascinating period in Sith history, and a worthy counterpart to the Jedi Lords we’ll be talking about soon.

Much like with MedStar, I entered into this book with no real expectations, and mostly just in a rush to get through it to a much more eagerly awaited story. While Knight Errant didn’t impress me to the same level as the Duology, I still enjoyed this romp through an often-overlooked period of galactic history. But this is just a warm-up for what’s next, the beginning of one of the most acclaimed and revered stories in the Legends library: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.

Connections to the GFFA

This novel ties in with a comic series also called Knight Errant, which is a prequel to this story.

Revan’s visit to the Cathar massacre from the Knights of the Old Republic comic is mentioned.

The Endar Spire, the ship used by Revan, was seen in the Knights of the Old Republic video game.

Exar Kun, Jedi Master Ooroo, Vodo-Siosk Bass, and the Great Hyperspace War all appeared in the Tales of the Jedi comic series

Kerra mentions primitive line-of-sight communication devices, like those used on Kesh in Lost Tribe of the Sith.

Supreme Chancellor Fillorean and Duinuogwuin are mentioned.

Final Score: 8/10

[theboywhocan11]

Ben Solo, the Reincarnation of Light!Revan??? (A Fringe Theory Analysis)

Okay, I know this one is NOT likely going to happen and it’s just a crackpot theory, but let’s take a moment to look at this as a thought experiment, shall we.

Disclaimer: The following post covers a fringe theory. A fringe theory is defined as a theory that is not based entirely within the Official Star Wars Canon lore. The purpose of this fringe theory is to go over a what-if scenario in regards to the subject of interest at hand. This post is not to advocate for any certain perspective, but instead it is to educate an alternative point of view in regards to characters and/or events in the Star Wars Lore (both Canon and Legends).

To start off:

This is Revan and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. Two characters, one legend (might become canon) and one canon. According to Pablo Hidalgo, Revan is not the sole inspiration behind Ben Solo’s background story. However, over time, there have been many call backs to the Knights of the Old Republic story (Revan’s story).

For instance, in Star Wars Rebels, Kanan Jarrus mentioned the “Jedi-Mandalorian Wars” where Revan led a team of renegade Jedi who disobeyed Jedi Council orders in order to fight and stop the Mandalorian advance.

There’s another instance where in the official Star Wars Databanks, there’s a mention of “a mysterious connection" linking the two in analogous of the Force Bond between Revan and Bastila Shan.

In Legends novel, Revan, by Drew Karpyshyn, in Chapter 17, Bastila Shan stated, “I led that strike team. I don’t know why, but I took it when Revan fell. Perhaps even then I sensed our fates were intertwined.”

Now, with letting aside the background info about Revan and the possible connections on the elements of Legends and Canon material possibly linking Revan’s story and Ben Solo’s, let’s get to the main points of this “Fringe” theory.

In legends: When Revan was about to die at the Foundry (Emperor Vitiate’s Fortress), he was split into two: Light!Revan (good) and Dark!Revan (bad) as explained in the video below.

Then, there’s the deleted Clone War scene (below) where Dark!Revan talking to the Son of Mortis. Dark!Revan in the clip below tells the Son, the key to silencing his pain is to control the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker.

Yes, during the [Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan] story, both Light and Dark!Revan did merge in the end. However…

Many fans hated this “Shadow of Revan” arc in addition to how that scene alone did not jive with the deleted scene in the Clone Wars (as shown above).

So, in alignment with the narrative of this fringe theory, what may have happened is that Revan did die in his fight with Emperor Vitiate in [Star Wars: The Old Republic]. Revan helped the Jedi Outcast to defeat Emperor Vitiate. Upon Revan’s death bed, Revan thanked the Jedi Outcast and reconciled with his descendant “Satele Shan”. When Revan passed away, his spirit was split into two: Light and Dark.

Dark!Revan remained in the “Chaos” realm of the Netherworld of the Force. “Chaos” is basically ‘hell’ where the dark siders reside. This Dark!Revan would make his way somehow to communicate with the “Son of Mortis”.

As for Light!Revan, thousands years into the future, he was re-born as Ben Solo. The possible reason for Light!Revan for being reborn as Ben Solo is stop a much darker entity who is bringing imbalance to the Force. When reborn as Ben Solo, Ben’s memories of his past life as Revan was no more. 

Why would Light!Revan’s memories be erased when reincarnated as Ben Solo?

According to many real life reincarnation theories, there are instances that when a person was reborn as another person, that person would not remember his/her past life. In order to remember such past lives, they have to undergo either hypnosis or some form of meditation. The only time a person can remember a past life if only that person suffered a traumatic event before death. Such memory would stick with that person even after being born in a new body, many years in the future. As for Ben Solo’s case, it’s uncertain on why the Force would not allow Ben Solo to remember his past memories as Light!Revan. Maybe it was done to hide his dormant power during childhood before being reawakened at later time, assuming Ben Solo is indeed Light!Revan reincarnated.

Furthermore, as Ben Solo, he would live his life as an individual harnessing the light and dark side of the Force as he was years ago as Revan. But, this time being more pulled to the light side of the Force. Thus, another source of Ben’s light is not only the light force itself, but the light from within…the light of his past life as Light!Revan. Also, Light!Revan, as Ben Solo, would bring back elements of his past life as a force user of light and dark in addition to wearing clothing similar to that of his past life when he was Revan. This may explain why Kyo Ren’s clothing is similar to Revan. This is something Ben Solo sub-consciously pulled out in designing his Kylo Ren clothing without realizing he was Revan in the past life. 

Furthermore, the ADDITIONAL reason (not the main reason) for Kylo Ren’s compassion for Rey and his so-called mysterious connection with Rey is either of the following items below:

(1) Rey is the reincarnation of Bastila Shan even though this may not be likely in canon.

or

(2) Within Kylo’s sub-conscious, the inner Light!Revan may have caused Kylo’s perception to confused Rey as Bastila Shan since Bastila Shan resembles Rey. See below.

or

(3) Rey is not a descendant of Bastila Shan and Revan, but her force signature is coincidentally so similar to Bastila’s that this caused this “force connection/link/bond” to happen between Kylo Ren (Light!Revan reincarnated) and Rey herself.

(Above) Adam Driver (Kylo Ren/Ben Solo) and Revan.

According to various reincarnation theories in real life, when person(s) reincarnate in their next body, they maintain their past live’s facial features. So, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo maintained his prior life’s appearance of Revan.

An example of this reincarnation theory in real life is the following picture(s),

(Above) Jennifer Lawrence and her Egyptian twin-actress Zubaida Tharwat.

(Above) James Dean and James Franco

Now, whether this particular reincarnation is true or not, that remains to be seen. But if you look at the following documentary below about this particular reincarnation theory, there may be something to consider.

Note: it’s uncertain on whether the above video’s content is authentic or not.

Issues with this theory: 

So, far there is nothing in canon thus far suggesting reincarnation is an actual occurrence in the Star Wars Universe. Even though [The Phantom Menace Visual Dictionary] mentioned how the Chosen One Prophecy implied a reincarnation process of a Chosen entity coming back again and again to restore balance to the force, there is no official word from Lucasfilm story group confirming if reincarnation does occur in the Star Wars Universe. 

In addition, the narrative focus for Kylo Ren and Rey is that they are stand alone characters with NO BIG DIRECT connection to the heroes of the ancient past, i.e. Knight of the Old Republic. Rey’s narrative is about a normal individual from a completely separate family who can make a difference in a galaxy far, far away. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo’s narrative is about just another Skywalker trying to regain his humanity. Both of these characters do not have to rely on being a reincarnated entity to achieve their ends.

Now, there is a possibility of reincarnation occurring in the form of Ahsoka Tano coming back as a wolf being in [Star Wars Rebels Season 4]. However, some people stated that it could just be Ahsoka Tano as a Force Wielder entity who can shape shift. Others say said that the wolf is something separate from Ahsoka Tano itself. 

If “reincarnation” were to be canon, how is it going to be applied in the greater scheme of things in the Star Wars Canon?

Two ways:

(1) Use Force Wielder-type characters to be the reincarnation-based characters. Also, assuming the "Daughter" is to be alive, then the “Daughter” can be the one to pull off the reincarnation technique of being reborn in a fresh and blood body. 

(2) A completely new character who is not Ben or Rey, but either be Ben and Rey’s child or a friend/associate of Ben and Rey (after Episode IX).. This particular character would either be a wise man who is reborn again to help Ben and Rey in a future conflict or be another character who remembers memories of his/her past life and these memories help Ben and Rey to get out of a sticky situation in a future story (post-Episode IX).

In conclusion: Ben Solo may not be the actual reincarnation of Revan. But, Ben Solo may borrow certain traits from Revan himself, assuming Ben Solo is aware of Revan’s existence during his time as a Knight of Ren. If reincarnation were to be canon, it’s most likely other characters from other canon sources like the “Daughter of Mortis” or new characters being these reincarnated beings.

[bioware-chronicles]

Analysis: SWTOR Today v. The 2014 Leak

Back in May of 2014, an anonymous user made a post on reddit titled “The Future of SWTOR” that supposedly containing behind-the-scenes information on upcoming gameplay and narrative plans for everyone’s favorite / least favorite / only current option for a Star Wars MMO. Almost three years later, I thought it would be interesting to see how the predictions panned out. The original “leak” can be found here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/26jrrf/the_future_of_swtor/

For the sake of analysis, I am going to be extremely optimistic and assume this post was not a troll/fake post, though I fully concede that it is a possibility. Even if it wasn’t a fake leak, much can change within 3 years and a lot of what is stated in the reddit thread sounded ambitious even back in 2014. That said, there are some elements in the information presented that seem to have at least some interesting connections to how things are now in 2017.

For narrative context, the leak was posted just after the first of the Forged Alliances patches were deployed in April 2014. Shadow of Revan would not be announced until October of the same year and would not be released until December.

Max level at the time of the leak was still 55 (Shadow of Revan would later bring it up to 60, KOTFE up to 65 and KOTET up to 70).

SPOILERS FOR SWTOR & CURRENT STAR WARS CANON FOLLOW:

I will examine each part of the post, quoting from the original thread as below:

Star Wars: Prelude to Darkness

A bunch of us ended up being privy to some meetings that were meant to be kept secret from us, so I should be safe and anonymous enough to share this information. I’m only doing this because I love this game and I think the plans to keep all of this secret until the last moment are only to the game’s detriment. I’m not actually a super lore-nerd, so I might miscommunicate some of what I heard—I tried SO hard to get this accurate and to remember as best as I could for you guys.

First off, it’s not clear if the title “Prelude to Darkness” is in reference to the upcoming expansion or if it was just the title the poster chose to use for his leak. If it was the former, obviously we now know that was incorrect. Shadow of Revan would be the title of the next expansion.

EA and Disney have a brilliant plan for SWTOR. It will be upgraded to canon in the next expansion and will have some subtle tie-ins with Star Wars 7. (Specifically, a certain planet will be used and lord Vitiate will be an off-screen influence on the main villain of 7).

No upgrade to canon has arrived, at least not by any definitive move on the part of Disney (or EA, for that matter). It’s also unlikely - though not impossible - that tie-ins exist between SWTOR and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I have a baseless speculation that Zakuul might somehow be related to Jakku (Korriban is referred to as Moraband in Disney canon, so there is precedence for planets taking on multiple names), but I fully concede this is not probable. Also, whether or not Vitiate is an off-screen influence on Force Awaken’s antagonists has still not been definitively ruled out, but that’s only because we still know very little about those villains (Kylo Ren/Snoke) at this point.

The first step, although it won’t be obvious how, to SWTOR’s ending has begun in Forged Alliances.

As far as we know (or at least from the latest developer livestreams), SWTOR’s ending is not in the immediate future. That said, we did recently see the ending of SWTOR’s longest recurring villain and antagonist, and the root of that defeat definitely began in Forged Alliances. Vitiate/Valkorion wasn’t even really on most of the non Jedi/Sith classes’ radar until the Forged Alliances story-arc, which culminated in Shadow of Revan’s reveal that the Sith Emperor had been reborn on Yavin IV.

The storyline for SWTOR is going to end in about 3.5 years, and the sequel is already in development.

At this point, this statement has not been definitively ruled out yet, though given the state of MMOs as a business model, I am highly suspicious of any sequel talk.

These next 3 years are going to see an increase in funding as the game is brought back in line with initial expectations. There is a fun plan to let SWTOR run for as long as players want it to, with dynamic and scaling end-game content, but focus will shift to SWTOR 2. It will run on the Cryengine 3 Frostbite 3 (sorry I was excited and they look similar to me), so your first preview of how the game might look/run will be Dragon Age 3 later this year.

Hahahaha … ?

The personal stories of SWTOR will continue in the next major Xpac, and they will each have an “ending”. YOUR character from SWTOR will appear in the as-yet-unnamed SWTOR 2 in various forms. Force Ghosts, holocrons, etc. As of right now, only one class appears to be able to survive until SWTOR 2 (Sith Inquisitor), but that might change. These will use your appearance settings and dialogue based on the actions you chose in the game. I will detail what I could gather about the plot later on in this post.

The class stories each had a mission or two in Shadow of Revan. There was no definitive “ending” though, unless you want to count the merging of all the class stories into a single story starting with Shadow of Revan … which I don’t.

Again, talk of SWTOR 2 is only speculation at this point.

There will be a newgame+ option added to SWTOR, some big bonuses for players who use it, and some major tweaks to the leveling experience and early planets. For example, coroscant lets you turn in most quests via holocalls rather than walking back. Newgame+ will be important as some characters that were not previously able to will become companions if certain story options are taken, and same gender romance will be added. It appears LucasArts was the one behind not allowing them in the first place. There will be some hefty rewards and updates to the original game that make going through newgame+ for that new companion romance feel less painful if you don’t want to. For example, a “rocket boots” type move for each class that is specific to each class (SI get to ride the lightning), and a class specific mount granted at level 15, that upgrades to a better appearance at level 30.

The newgame+ feature mentioned here was initially one of the main reasons I chalked this reddit up as fake on initial viewing. Also, I’m all for more SGR’s, but I was skeptical that a new SGR would be the only prominent feature to encourage a newgame+ character. We also have yet to receive class-specific rocket-boots (although that lightning-riding definitely sounds cool).

That said, there are elements here that definitely did happen. We now do have the ability to repeat chapters from KOTFE and KOTET on various difficulty modes, which is kind of like newgame+ I guess?

Further, KOTFE saw the release of a streamlined 1-50 class story playthrough. Quick-travel and fleet-travel had their timers removed to speed up the class stories. Speeder perks reduced the levels needed to access speeders. XP boosts to class quests also removed the need for a lot of the grinding and side missions that were originally necessary to hit max level by playing only the story.

The engine will be heavily revamped, and with the expansion, the game will be brought to consoles as a buy-to-play title with a cartel market. The goal will be to revamp all existing game systems so that everything fits nicely into place as one coherent whole game.

Another reason to suspect this was fake news. This might’ve been an aspirational goal, but engine revamps are impractical and SWTOR has so many abilities for all the classes that it would be impossible to map them all onto a controller / gamepad.

New species—Torgruta, some other ugly thing

Togruta turned out to be true! We have yet to see what some other ugly thing could be. No new races have been announced since Togruta. For reference sake, togrutas would not be speculated on until late 2014 and officially announced until 2015 (make of that what you will).

Gameplay/expansion features:

-Most level 60 content will involve cross-faction queues, when story appropriate.

The PVP-centric Odessen-Proving Grounds is - as far as I am aware - the only cross-faction queue content. Other warzones and operations’ queues are sadly still limited to members of your character’s faction.

-There will be some cross-faction planets where you can work cooperatively with the other faction. On PVP servers, you can flag yourselves PvP on these planets anyway.

Odessen exists as a strictly cross-faction planet, although there is not much you can do cooperatively.

-New action mode that allows mouselook and changes some of your move to macros to reduce your number of keybinds.

No new action mode or macros access exist as far as I am aware. At least, not ones that are permitted by the developers. Companions were largely revamped from having their own stats to the Influence system though.

-Can use appearance changer on most companions, including species change.

Rather than allowing us to change the appearance of our companions, most of our companions nowadays can’t even change their gear, much less their species.

-Same sex romance for most companions, including a few new romance options (Jaesa Lightside is one)

Many of the newer companions featuring romances have same-sex options (Lana, Theron, Koth). None of the original class-story companions have new same-sex options.

The Ending of SWTOR:

-Lord Vitiate has regained his power for the most part. His 300 year link to Revan allowed him to subsume Revan at the end of Foundry. (The two are now one, mostly integrated personality, although both sides will have chances to flash to the forefront). He has also been able to absorb power from the “deaths” of many powerful force users. (Spoilers: Darth Thanaton, for example, and Lord Baras if you’re on a Sith Warrior who didn’t spare him, same thing for Syo Bakarn and many other characters, Jadus, etc. You kill a lot of powerful Sith, and apparently the Emperor had their essences on tap. Choosing to spare various Sith will make Vitiate a bit weaker for your account).

-Vitiate has assembled a host of what are basically all the enemies that have been fought in SWTOR—Directive 7, some dread stuff, some cosmic horrors. Not all of them realize they are directly controlled by him, instead acting as puppets, but they serve his purposes.

This is entirely wrong, as we would later learn in Shadow of Revan. It is actually Revan - as a distinct entity - that spurs the Emperor’s resurrection. He was never subsumed. There is also no indication in anything from SoR, KOTFE, or KOTET that suggests the Emperor has the power of your defeated enemies on tap. And while Vitiate did have an entire separate Empire hiding away in Wild Space, we did not have to rehash through previously-defeated antagonists (except for in the metagame, where we have been fighting the same operations bosses for the last 2+ years).

-NEW CLASS STORIES: Each of the 8 characters will take on a major role in opposing Vitiate’s new attempt to absorb all life in the galaxy and become a God.

This … technically happened? All 8 classes had new class missions in Shadow of Revan and they did all “take on a pivotal role” opposing Vitiate, starting with the Rise of the Emperor game update, and continuing through KOTFE to KOTET.

Interesting, many characters and companions will appear in each other’s stories, and will make the dialogue choices that your character would based on LS/DS alignment.

This is also true, if only because many companions have become so prolific as required by the KOTFE and KOTET stories.

Some combinations will even have flirt options and such, which is fun, and some dialogue options will change based on how your characters are placed on the family tree (for example, rude options chosen if they are a rival, some indication of family/alliances/relationships between others. No, you wont be able to flirt with family, even if this is star wars).

This doesn’t make any sense. The family tree applies only to your own characters, not any of their companions. The reason you can’t flirt with familial characters is because that would require you playing more than one character at a time and within the same cutscene.

Story spoilers:

The planetary story arcs will all deal with differing elements of fighting Vitiate and what he is doing. Many planets will be returned to for new level 55+ content

This turned out to be somewhat true. We did return to many planets in KOTFE and KOTET, but that was ostensibly to fight Arcann and Vaylin, not Vitiate specifically, who is “killed” and reduced to a spirit in our mind at the end of Chapter 1 of KOTFE.

Korriban and Tython are important because Vitiate gets some powers from these planets, and some ancient droids/force-weapons.

I don’t know anything about ancient droids/force weapons from Korriban or Tython, but we do see the sacking of Korriban as part of Arcann’s invasion.

At this point, the thread goes into specific details of upcoming class stories. I won’t address them individually or even post them here, because - as we now know - there are no specific class stories after Shadow of Revan, so all of it has been proven untrue. They also focus on Vitiate being the primary antagonist, which we now know is false. Arcann and Vaylin served as the main villains of KOTFE and KOTET respectively. While the Emperor did ultimately “reveal” himself as an antagonist in the final chapter of KOTET (it was so obvious), it would be a stretch to say that the majority of KOTFE and KOTET were about trying to defeat the Emperor.

If you want to read these fake storylines, here’s another link to the reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/26jrrf/the_future_of_swtor/

-Elder game content will involve rebuilding the galaxy, as the Republic and the Sith Empire have basically crumbled, and the galaxy will now be lawless.

This is kind of the case now as we look at things after the story of KOTET. Both the Republic and the Sith are working to rebuild after finally being freed from the Eternal Empire’s control.

-The final patch of the game will involve Warlords rising to power.

Uprisings, anyone?

This will be to set up the next Star Wars MMO, which will take place about 100 years later, in a time period where the Republic and Sith Empire do not exist as they do now. Players will instead choose between multiple factions that have various relationships with each other. The Republic will be a monarchy that exists mostly only on Coroscant with influence on few other worlds, but will be able to be partially restored as the next game progresses. The Sith forces will be divided into multiple factions. The coolest thing will be seeing YOUR character get imported into the next game. Some scenes will just be via recorded holos—such as the BH taking down Vitiate. But some of the characters will have a major role. The Sith Inquisitor character will remain alive and well due to absorbing Vitiate’s power, and will be a major player on at least one planet of the next MMO. The JK Force Ghost will be influential.

More sequel talk, so it’s only speculation.

So there you have it … some of the elements from this “leak” did indeed prove to be real. A lot more ended up not happening or to not be true, especially concerning the individual class stories. Can I say definitively that the “leak” was a fake one? I don’t think so. I think it’s still possible that changes occurred mid-development that could have scrapped what could have been initial plans for the next phase of SWTOR at the time. But it’s definitely also possible that this was just someone shooting in the dark with their own speculations.

Either way, I had fun looking at this thread again and imagining what SWTOR might’ve been.

[aion-rsa]

What Star Wars: The High Republic Can Learn From Knights of the Old Republic

https://ift.tt/36EbO2U

The High Republic is the first major Star Wars publishing initiative since the end of the Sequel Trilogy. Set about 200 years before The Phantom Menace, The High Republic line of books and comics shows the Jedi in their heyday, led by new heroes and faced with new enemies and challenges. Made up of three novels (one for each age category) and comic series from Marvel and IDW, the story begins with a “Great Disaster” which disrupts hyperspace travel.

Originally slated to launch in August just days before this year’s Star Wars Celebration convention, the beginning of the series has now been pushed to January 5, 2021. Spearheading the story are all-star Star Wars writers Charles Soule, Claudia Gray, Cavan Scott, Daniel Jose Older, and Justina Ireland.

As Lucasfilm introduces a new era of stories to capture the imagination of fans, there are a few things the company could learn from the last time it introduced an era of Star Wars set hundreds of years before The Phantom Menace. We’re of course talking about the Old Republic era, the setting of Star Wars adventures like the Tales of the Jedi comics and Knights of the Old Republic video game. While the Dark Horse comics spawned this era of war between the Jedi and the Sith (and later, the Mandalorians), it’s arguably the video game that solidified the Old Republic as a fan-favorite era in Star Wars history.

Knights of the Old Republic showed fans an era of Star Wars not completely unlike the one in the movies but that also felt new, with uncharted planets to explore and legendary characters to meet. This is the same balance that The High Republic will have to strike to be successful. Here are the lessons The High Republic can learn from Knights of the Old Republic:

Avoid the Skywalker Saga

Knights of the Old Republic had its own powerhouse character in Darth Revan. It didn’t try to connect Revan’s story to the Skywalkers or to rely on a family legacy for ideas about the Force. That’s one of the benefits of working outside of the movies: you can play around more freely with new characters instead of relying on cameos from old favorites.

Set 4,000 years before the film saga, developer BioWare was able to do pretty much anything it wanted with the game’s characters, planets, and factions without interfering with the movies. 200 years into the past isn’t as long of a time jump, but it still means The High Republic can avoid retreading Prequel era stories that have been told before.

The High Republic will have some element of family legacy, though. According to Lucasfilm, this era will explore “the Starros and San Tekka clans,” a reference to Lor San Tekka, a minor character in The Force Awakens, and Sana Starros, a friend of Han Solo in the recent Marvel comics. Hopefully, these connections to the Skywalker Saga will be in support of a new story and not a way to drive readers back to the Original and Sequel Trilogies.

Deeper Lore

One of the strengths of the original Star Wars was that the galaxy felt lived in and full of history. Even if you were only following Luke’s story, mention of historical events like the Clone Wars and the battered quality of the ships immediately established that a lot had happened before the movie had even started.

Today, we know the Star Wars galaxy is vast both in time and space, and one of the benefits of a story set before what we’ve already seen is reaching farther back in time to unlock new mysteries and lore. After all, exploring ancient ruins and thousand-year-old temples is part of the fantasy of Star Wars.

Knights of the Old Republic established various ancient aliens, including the Rakata, which created the puzzles and ruins key to Revan’s story. It also explored Korriban, a secret Sith planet and the final resting place of several Sith lords, as well as old Jedi enclaves where masters taught a legendary generation of Jedi Knights.

Since The High Republic will focus on Jedi, this is a chance for readers to learn more about what traditions have been passed down and how they might have changed between the High Republic and the Prequel eras. The introduction of the Nihil, the “space Vikings” billed as the villains of the story, could also be a way to show more of the “Wild West” aspect of the era before all sectors of the galaxy were under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Republic.

More Varied Characters

From the Original Trilogy templates of farmboy Jedi, smuggler with a heart of gold, and warrior princess came a near-infinite variety of characters types. Knights of the Old Republic starred Republic soldiers, an arrogant Jedi, and a murderous droid named HK-47 that couldn’t have been less like C-3PO.

And at the center of the story was a Sith lord suffering from amnesia who was unlike any “villain” we’d ever seen before in Star Wars. Revan was a former bad guy tricked into becoming a hero by his Jedi custodians, a big character twist that’s still regarded as one of the big moments in Star Wars history.

Read more

TV

What Star Wars: The Clone Wars Says About Maul and Ahsoka’s Connection

By Megan Crouse

Movies

How Star Wars Hypeman Charles Lippincott Changed Fandom Forever

By Ryan Britt

The High Republic is yet another chance for storytellers to introduce new kinds of characters never before seen in the canon. So far, we know there will be a primarily Jedi cast with a variety of species, ages, and experiences, but the unsettled territories of the galaxy could also provide some surprising characters.

Aliens Acting Against Type 

Star Wars has a tendency to “typecast” alien species. If the first Zabrak character ever seen on screen was Darth Maul, future members of the same species are probably going to be warlike, acrobatic, and tough. Even a Jedi Master of this species was known primarily for his thick skin and rough upbringing. But Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords introduced a very different type of Zabrak: a soft-spoken mechanic named Bao-Dur who was good at a different kind of killing (he had invented a super-weapon and regretted it).

Meanwhile, the first Twi’leks were servants in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi, potentially dooming all members of their species to some form of slavery. But Knights of the Old Republic gave us Mission Vao, a street-smart thief who would fit in perfectly with the smugglers and scoundrels of the galaxy.

The High Republic has a chance to give aliens as much diversity as humans. We know that the cast will feature at least two alien characters, the Twi’lek Loden Greatstorm and the Mirialin Vern Rwoh. What other characters might the series introduce and how might they surprise us?

New Jedi Abilities

If the High Republic is the heyday of the Jedi, Force powers must play a big part in this golden age. Knights of the Old Republic popularized Jedi Battle Meditation, a special power that allows certain Force users to turn the tide of massive battles. In the game, Jedi hero Bastila Shan is considered one of the most powerful knights in the galaxy due to the way she can influence entire war fleets. (In Tales of the Jedi, hero Nomi Sunrider could also use Battle Meditation to defeat enemies without having to lift her lightsaber.)

The High Republic cast is supposed to include some of the best Jedi who ever lived. “Best” doesn’t just mean martial prowess, either. In fact, since this era takes place before Sidious’ rise, the Jedi are supposed to be more ethically-minded than the ones in the Prequels. Master Avar Kriss is described as “compassionate, not dogmatic, and always ready to sacrifice herself over others.” This might lend itself to new kinds of Force healing or other powers that help others become stronger. 

Ancient Science 

Star Wars is science-fantasy at its core, magical crystals powering lasers. The combination of the two genres is key to telling a great story set in this universe. In Knights of the Old Republic, this aesthetic manifests itself in the ancient Rakatan technology that leads players through their adventure. Revan, Bastila, and the rest of the cast hunt for ancient Star Maps, exploring the deepest corners of several planets to find these artifacts powered by the dark side of the Force.

After finding all the Star Maps, the characters uncover the mystery of the Star Forge, an enormous factory in space built by the Rakatan Empire in order to produce the greatest army in the galaxy. But while the Star Forge was designed to slowly feed off the energy of a nearby star, it also fed on the dark side energy of the Rakata themselves, eventually leading to the fall of their Infinite Empire. In essence, the Rakata had created a self-aware dark side superweapon that led to their own destruction. The High Republic will visit a place called the Starlight Beacon, a station that serves as a lighthouse meant to help space travelers navigate dangerous hyperspace routes. Is there more to the origin of this station? And what else might the Jedi uncover in the uncharted parts of the galaxy? We hope to see interesting new technology in the series that fuses science with magic.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post What Star Wars: The High Republic Can Learn From Knights of the Old Republic appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Comics – Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2An7wRe