My character, Chanter, is a failure as a bounty hunter. Oh, she has killing power. She’s got monster dps skills. But she has no guile. She has no evil core. She struggles with making dark side choices because she sees the reasonable side to each argument.
How can she get great Empire loot if she’s a pansy?
I envisioned Chanter as a galactic bad ass, storming around in Boba Fett headgear, killing all the skanks and lowlifes. Using fire, missiles, and really cool jet packs.
And then she had to decide what to do about some eels. No spoiler. But she never thought her slide to the light side would involve seafood.
It is a slippery slope. Just because you’re a bounty hunter doesn’t mean you are without conscience or morality, does it? And what kind of a future will a fair-minded bounty hunter have in the SW world? Will she be exempt from extra-good loot and commendations because she chose to be reasonable rather than ruthless?
Can a bounty hunter be a person, too?
The light/dark choices in SW: TOR are interesting. Some of them are even surprising. Like the time my evil female Sith Inquisitor got light side points for having sex with a guy in a bar. OK, so the other choice was killing him, but honestly, would Yoda give a Jedi a thumbs up for that slutty behavior?
The choices don’t really start until you’ve had a couple levels to grow very fond of your character. That’s what makes the choices more difficult and more fun. Sure, you’ve only gotten five or six levels, but now you start your path to light or dark. And what gear will Chanter miss if she goes weenie-down the middle gray? Because that seems to be what she is. A big weenie. She thought it seemed a reasonable choice to let a prisoner fight her to the death. She was pretty sure she’d win. But then her mentor informs her, no, the more evil choice would have been to let them suffer and stew in their own failure. A Sith girl can’t win. She kills them – she gets no dark points. She sleeps with a guy in a bar, she gets light points. What is up with the dark side these days?
The option is there in preferences to show which cut scene choices will take you to the light side, or the dark side. With the options visible, it’s easy enough to just click and move on with your class story. No agonizing over building reputation. But without the visible, easy choice to make, the cut scenes become much more interesting and fun. Now it’s your choice about who your character is. And what she will become. The choices get harder. There are consequences. And that’s a fantastic element to this game.
