A couple of ruminations on SW:TOR
I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but I find it very interesting that the various classes start at different points in their careers. This means that, for some classes, your character's age range is pretty set in stone by the game, while others give you far more flexibility as far as age goes. And it means that, for all classes, you're handed where you are in your career.
Strangely enough (or not, if one looks at Star Wars), the Smuggler class starts off the most established. You have a ship and have made a name for yourself. Granted, your ship gets stolen immediately by the slimewad you pursue or are pursued by for the first chapter of your story. But still, you're an established, fully adult (even older adult if you want) character. This is kind of interesting, and meant that, nearly the instant I started playing her, I decided my Smuggler was about my age.
Jedi Knights, Jedi Consulars, and Sith Warriors all start out as Padawans or...Initiates?...whatever, the trainee levels of their respective orders. This means you're pretty definitely playing teenagers, especially as a Consular or Warrior, since your training's been sped up in both cases. Sith Inquisitors, since they had a previous life as a slave, are, potentially, older, even again an older adult. (They have probably the biggest plausible age range.)
Imperial Agents begin on their first mission. I figure that puts them in their early to mid twenties, unless the Empire has a specialized school that turns out agents. (Which, I suppose, they could.) But even then, I can't see them being younger than 18. (And not just because the female Agent has the option to sleep with a guy to keep him from blowing her cover. Which would bother me if it weren't for the fact that you sleep with people for information as a male Agent. Agents are very much James Bond in space.)
Republic Troopers begin having just been given a posting to the most elite special forces group in the military. So I peg them at early to mid (to possibly late) twenties, too. Though much further along in their career than Agents, obviously.
Bounty Hunters are probably also in their mid twenties, unless they got into bounty hunting not as their first career. You're working to establish a name for yourself and take part in the Great Hunt, so you're not a beginner, but neither do you seem as established as the Smugglers do.
Not much is made of the obvious starting age differences in game (so far as I've noticed), but it does give the classes different feels. There's an element of finding yourself to the force sensitive classes and the Agent, since you begin at the beginning of your career. With them, the starting planet feels like "what sort of person will I be?" With the other three classes, you just feel much more established, like your decisions are about who you already are. (And I'm probably not explaining this well at all.) The odd thing is, it felt like that despite my having ideas for what my various characters were like before I began playing them. So, to take my Agent, even though I'd already decided he would be a good man in a bad world, the choices felt like deciding "how far am I willing to go in this job?" (With the decision being "Treason? What's so bad about that?")
I'd say starting out at the beginning of your career makes figuring out a character easier, but that really wasn't the case. What it does effect as how the class feels as you continue. In some classes, you're growing up. In others, you're having longer standing ideas challenged or reenforced. It's kind of cool, really. (Though I'm not sure if some of the idea challenging is intentional or not. Did they really mean for the Republic to come off as woefully incompetent? I hope so, since they did a marvelous job of it, but this is Star Wars.)
The other thing, which I know I've mentioned before a little bit, is that the game is extraordinarily satisfying if you play a lightside Imperial. More so, so far, than as a lightside Republic person. That is to say, in both instances, if we're talking about the classes that truly work for their respective governments. (Smugglers and Bounty Hunters are independent contractors.) Oh, don't get me wrong, playing a hero is fun, period. But playing a hero when your government should want to execute you for it is... even more fun.
It's also contrary to a lot of action/adventure movie cliches. My Agent keeps trying to be diplomatic. (And it once worked, hilariously.) I don't remember James Bond and his ilk approaching their enemies with the hopes of talking things over like reasonable people. He's also gotten to point out when the Empire is going about things in ways that make no sense. (Being the Sith Empire, no one listens to him, but at least he got to try.) I like this.
Even better, in some ways, is the Sith Warrior, so far. (I've only gotten her off the first planet, but I never thought I'd like a force sensitive character as much as I'm enjoying her.) She's...she's like the opposite of the rogue cop, in some ways. She keeps having to explain her lightside decisions. (And so far, this is the only class I've played where this is true. Well, no, my Agent's had to explain one or two, but mostly his lightside decisions are very much in the "let's hope HQ never finds out" category.) Though, the weird thing is, some of her lightsside choices would've been darkside if she were a Jedi. Oh, Force, why are you so Orange and Blue when it comes to the Force users?
One of these days, I'm going to have to post on the incoherency of the Force when it comes to Force users.
So, yeah, still playing SW:TOR. Still writing SW:TOR fan fic. Oh I love Star Wars. *heart*
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/111033.html.
Strangely enough (or not, if one looks at Star Wars), the Smuggler class starts off the most established. You have a ship and have made a name for yourself. Granted, your ship gets stolen immediately by the slimewad you pursue or are pursued by for the first chapter of your story. But still, you're an established, fully adult (even older adult if you want) character. This is kind of interesting, and meant that, nearly the instant I started playing her, I decided my Smuggler was about my age.
Jedi Knights, Jedi Consulars, and Sith Warriors all start out as Padawans or...Initiates?...whatever, the trainee levels of their respective orders. This means you're pretty definitely playing teenagers, especially as a Consular or Warrior, since your training's been sped up in both cases. Sith Inquisitors, since they had a previous life as a slave, are, potentially, older, even again an older adult. (They have probably the biggest plausible age range.)
Imperial Agents begin on their first mission. I figure that puts them in their early to mid twenties, unless the Empire has a specialized school that turns out agents. (Which, I suppose, they could.) But even then, I can't see them being younger than 18. (And not just because the female Agent has the option to sleep with a guy to keep him from blowing her cover. Which would bother me if it weren't for the fact that you sleep with people for information as a male Agent. Agents are very much James Bond in space.)
Republic Troopers begin having just been given a posting to the most elite special forces group in the military. So I peg them at early to mid (to possibly late) twenties, too. Though much further along in their career than Agents, obviously.
Bounty Hunters are probably also in their mid twenties, unless they got into bounty hunting not as their first career. You're working to establish a name for yourself and take part in the Great Hunt, so you're not a beginner, but neither do you seem as established as the Smugglers do.
Not much is made of the obvious starting age differences in game (so far as I've noticed), but it does give the classes different feels. There's an element of finding yourself to the force sensitive classes and the Agent, since you begin at the beginning of your career. With them, the starting planet feels like "what sort of person will I be?" With the other three classes, you just feel much more established, like your decisions are about who you already are. (And I'm probably not explaining this well at all.) The odd thing is, it felt like that despite my having ideas for what my various characters were like before I began playing them. So, to take my Agent, even though I'd already decided he would be a good man in a bad world, the choices felt like deciding "how far am I willing to go in this job?" (With the decision being "Treason? What's so bad about that?")
I'd say starting out at the beginning of your career makes figuring out a character easier, but that really wasn't the case. What it does effect as how the class feels as you continue. In some classes, you're growing up. In others, you're having longer standing ideas challenged or reenforced. It's kind of cool, really. (Though I'm not sure if some of the idea challenging is intentional or not. Did they really mean for the Republic to come off as woefully incompetent? I hope so, since they did a marvelous job of it, but this is Star Wars.)
The other thing, which I know I've mentioned before a little bit, is that the game is extraordinarily satisfying if you play a lightside Imperial. More so, so far, than as a lightside Republic person. That is to say, in both instances, if we're talking about the classes that truly work for their respective governments. (Smugglers and Bounty Hunters are independent contractors.) Oh, don't get me wrong, playing a hero is fun, period. But playing a hero when your government should want to execute you for it is... even more fun.
It's also contrary to a lot of action/adventure movie cliches. My Agent keeps trying to be diplomatic. (And it once worked, hilariously.) I don't remember James Bond and his ilk approaching their enemies with the hopes of talking things over like reasonable people. He's also gotten to point out when the Empire is going about things in ways that make no sense. (Being the Sith Empire, no one listens to him, but at least he got to try.) I like this.
Even better, in some ways, is the Sith Warrior, so far. (I've only gotten her off the first planet, but I never thought I'd like a force sensitive character as much as I'm enjoying her.) She's...she's like the opposite of the rogue cop, in some ways. She keeps having to explain her lightside decisions. (And so far, this is the only class I've played where this is true. Well, no, my Agent's had to explain one or two, but mostly his lightside decisions are very much in the "let's hope HQ never finds out" category.) Though, the weird thing is, some of her lightsside choices would've been darkside if she were a Jedi. Oh, Force, why are you so Orange and Blue when it comes to the Force users?
One of these days, I'm going to have to post on the incoherency of the Force when it comes to Force users.
So, yeah, still playing SW:TOR. Still writing SW:TOR fan fic. Oh I love Star Wars. *heart*
This entry was originally posted at http://smurasaki.dreamwidth.org/111033.html.