WEP '12, Day 26 - Old Republic Log XV

Note: I recently realized that my longer titles made the sidebar navigation less useful, so at the risk of getting confused with "Wired Equivalent Privacy", I've gone back and shortened "Write Everyday Project" to "WEP".


It seems as if my "Memoirs of a Gamer" feature is running long, so let me step back for a moment to keep the Old Republic Log updated.

I haven't really played all that much, but I've nevertheless gotten Kelynn up to level 23.  That was mostly through going back to finish off old Heroics and the bounty of pulling off the Athiss Flashpoint with the Midnight Runners last Monday.  Still, it's progress, however desultory.

I also completed Taris which was....eh.  I mean, it was fun to revisit an important locale from The Old Republic and all, but the actual Trooper story there felt kind of blah.  I'll cover my feelings about that in detail in the Spoiler section after the portrait.

Speaking of which, I've discovered a flaw in my methodology.  You see, I try to put up a new portrait every Log, and to do that I need either new headgear or a new chest piece.  Except that with Orange customizable gear, it's pretty easy to just keep your old gear and never need a new helmet or chest piece!  Fortunately, I did fin a new chest piece during Athiss that was worth wearing, so that's reflected in Kelynn's new portrait.

Kelynn, Level 23 Vanguard, Republic Fleet
Tasia, Level 21 Sith Sorceress, Balmorra
Alia, Level 12 Jedi Shadow, Coruscant
Leanra, Level 3 Imperial Agent, Hutta

The SPOILERS are buried deep.

Some things, like SPOILERS, are best left forgotten.

The problem with Taris, and indeed with Balmora on the Sith side, is that your Class quest takes a backseat to what's going on planetside.  Okay, sure, dealing the Rakghouls is important and all, I just wish that my personal story meshed better.  I really felt like I was doing everything else except my assigned mission most of the time, in a way that wasn't true on Ord Mantell or Coruscant.

It also didn't help that the renegade Havoc troopers that you're chasing go from interesting characters to villainous caricatures when you meet them the second time.  Needles, the Havoc medic you run down on Taris, was a friendly and efficent guy when you worked with him on Ord Mantell.  By the time he reaches Taris, though, he's become Space Doctor Mengele, with a plan to infect whole planets with the Rakghoul virus.  This, it seems to me, is a gross over-reaction to the feelings of abandonment he felt from Havoc being left to die by the Republic Military.  It really undercuts the idea that maybe the deserters had a point when their response is "wipe out civilization throughout the galaxy."

So yeah, I was disappointed by the story lines on Taris, even if I did enjoy walking through the remains of the Endar Spire, the ship that you start on in Old Republic.  That was cool, but the rest of it?  Kind of blah. Here's hoping that things pick up once I hit Nar Shadda.