Invariably, my conversations with these individuals have been turning to the game. What's great, what's frustrating, what their character progression is. In TOR, you choose a faction (determines your "side" or group in a game) and a character class (determines your powers and abilities) just like in any other MMO. As per usual, the faction you chose affects the story you're told throughout the game. Factions are usually portrayed with a difference in art style-- there is usually a "light" and a"dark" side to choose from. This provides players with a choice in what sort of style they would like their character to have. The background story to these factions have traditionally been lore-rich but ambiguous in terms of which side is the correct or the "good" one. Motivations for factions have spanned political, religious, and economic disagreements.
Not so in TOR! The two factions presented are the Empire and the Republic. Never before has there been such a blatant non-moral gray area in MMO factioning. Anyone who has briefly popped their head into the realm of western pop-culture knows the moral implication of these sides. In their creation, every stereotypical good vs. bad trope was used. The Sith have billowing cloaks and bloodshot eyes and a fondness for black. The Jedi have light robes and fresh-faced youths and far more sage old men than are truly necessary.
Honestly, I don't think there is any real argument as to the "goodness" of the Empire. Which leads me to wonder who would want to play Empire? This is the side that explodes planets full of people, burns farmers alive, and only wins in one out of three movies.* (I'm fairly certain that there is puppy-kicking, balloon-popping and candy-stealing antics off-screen as well.) The Empire isn't just evil, it's eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil. It comes complete with a cackle and a rasp and a dramatic turn in an elaborate office chair-throne.
And yet, even with the pure evilness of the faction, I could still see reasons to play Empire. There's the allure of going rogue, for example. The character who becomes impatient, or fed up with the establishment and the rules and hoops to jump through, so decides to take a more volatile path. But that's not what happens here-- the Sith is "The Man" and is fully embracing all that comes with it. Or maybe if the game was the path to evil. (Like in those movies about Anakin Skywalker which were never made.) Where you start off and you just want some extra money, or if you cheat it's slightly faster to achieve your goal, or rationalizing that it's okay to kill just this one perso--whoops! I accidentally became evil. But again, this is not what happens. The steps to the Empire are:
- Purchase the game
- Choose an account name
- Choose a subscription plan
- Choose evil
So when I ask "who would want to play Empire?" it turns out the answer to that question is "the majority of my friends," which has me seriously questioning the choices I've made that have lead me to this social group. When I tell them I just cannot come to terms with playing pure, undeniable evil I am informed that I need to come to terms with MANNING UP AND GET TO THE MURDERING.
Of course I understand choosing Republic-- I'm sure most of us who saw the only three Star Wars movies that matter played Jedi at some point with large sticks that inevitably ended with someone being punctured or dinged. But why Empire? Is it the desire to act out things you would never do in real life? Is it the darker art style? Is it a backstory pre-written in a player's head? Are the stories more interesting? Is it the lightning? (Actually, I would totally understand if it's the lightning.) The only way to find out, I suppose, is to try it out. I hear you can be a light-side Sith-- is that even a thing?!
*Edit: Husband tells me that the Empire technically is winning in A New Hope, to which I countered "Yeah, but they weren't winning the BATTLE that was portrayed in that film." And he replied, "That's correct, the Empire did not win the Battle of Yavin" which sounded like he was saying that I won, but it doesn't feel like winning should and I think it may be because he out-nerded me, but I'm going to ignore that feeling since it doesn't suit my needs at this juncture.
