bluefall

and why is there like NO other content apart from some abandoned fics and 4+ hour long YouTube videos of peoples game play. where is the fanart!? the ships!? WHERE ARE MY BABIES!?

There's a lot of completed fic out there, it's just usually a few years old at this point, and there's a lot of fanart, it's just also older. A lot of former swtor blogs (like myself) moved on to other games over the years after swtor kept getting worse. It got SO bad that the game was recently taken away from Bioware and given to another studio. THAT bad.

There were a number of contributing dev-factors to many in the fandom packing their bags and leaving. I don't know where you are in the story, so I don't want to spoil things for you, but basically all the story content after KotFE was... divisive, to say the least. It was pretty clear that the devs didn't give a damn about the years of story they'd built anymore, and for players that did care about companion characters, they were given pretty insulting narrative endings for almost all of them, drawn out over the course of irl years. For those playing non-force classes, it also felt as though the story was suddenly completely irrelevant to them - If you sign up to play Boba Fett, you're gonna be confused and probably disappointed when the story suddenly makes you be Luke Skywalker.

It looks like people have mentioned this in the notes, so I won't go too into detail on it, but the harassment. Oh my GOD the harassment. Fleet chat became a nightmare of slurs and bigotry, and it wasn't always like that, it was, like a lot of what the devs did, a slow frog boil.

Then there's the stuff that actually made people keep playing the game, the mechanical stuff that the devs started letting go. First, the economy became a nightmare. FtP players were capped at a ridiculously low amount of credits and prices skyrocketed to the point where if you weren't actively money farming as a subscriber, the GTN was unusable. Abilities that were rp-focused or immersed you in the class started to be removed - Infamously, people were really sad to see Sith Marauders lose the force choke ability. The release of 7.0 honestly broke the combat system and so for many removed the reason they'd log in every week. For anyone who was into the raiding scene, your raid team was basically thrown back to beginner level by how badly the new combat worked. The weekly rewards system being so limited (idk what it's like now, but it was really bad for the first year) made players feel as though they were being shoved towards content they didn't want to play, like galactic starfighter.

Fandom-specifically, there was kind of all the usual stuff you see on tumblr - the bad actors, the toxicity/harassment, the ship wars. It wasn't really that much worse than what you see in any other fandom, but the small size of the fandom made it stand out for some people, and there were some popular creators/writers who ended up just sort of throwing in the towel, and all of it was of course happening at the same time as the devs were torching their own game. I know for me personally, once I finished my longfic in 2022, I did it with kind of the sense that it might be the last thing I did in the fandom. I'd finished my passion project and was finding, as a lot of fandoms do, that creativity and passion are really difficult to sustain when the source material is actively being ruined

8 distinct class stories with arcs for each planet + planet stories some of which would intersect with the other side's stories for the same planet + tons of side quests some of which were really memorable at the time (all of which were completely voice acted, some with significantly different outcomes, some with recurring characters, to say nothing of the bonus series etc.)

to

1 main planet story per side (rep & imp) and a handful of sidequests (a lot of which came from the computer terminals, so less voice acting, fewer characters to interact with [and consequently fewer opportunities to flesh out your characters], and overall a quieter, less lived-in world)

to

1 story shared between all characters with almost no regard to your choices from the main game, and with little to no influence of the choices you made IN THAT SPECIFIC CURRENT STORYLINE, to say nothing of the things mentioned above re: companions, not-force-sensitive characters, etc., with pretty much no sidequesting at all (and a lot of it for a while had no voice acting from your character and a lot of recycled huttese-or-other-alien-languages-voicelines for the NPCs)...

so when KotFE and KotET (the last ones that I was still able to fully play in person) rolled around, the world felt just like a canvas on which the devs told their story, rather than a world in which my characters existed and could have distinct, different impacts on. Which, don't get me wrong, I don't mind, but then I'll play a linear RPG where I just want to experience the world and story instead of actively shaping it through My Decisions Matter (TM), not a game explicitly touted as having specific storylines for Republic and Empire and the different people therein.

Add to that that for me, there was a personal issue of me not being able to play for years because I only had a glorified tablet, and when I had a proper PC again and wanted to go back to it, it turns out they basically delete inactive accounts and that combined with my old login-email being deleted since then means I lost multiple years worth of gameplay, story, and troves full of ingame stuff (including cartel market), so the only things I have left of my characters are screenshots and memories.

But SWTOR is still an important game for me, even though going back after losing all that seemed pointless. My profile picture is still my old main character, my online handle god-knows-where is still his name, and I spent wonderful years on this hellsite reading stuff from and talking to a number of absolutely delightful people (special shoutouts to @jakey-beefed-it @motheatenscarf @darthvronton @depizan @cole-saberhagen @kotorswtor @catpella @ravenkinlegacy @frauzet and god knows how many more) about this game and our characters.

The thing to understand about launch-era SWtOR is that, while it was absolutely just another WoW clone mechanically, it was, from a storytelling standpoint, kind of revolutionary, because it had a mechanism for multiplayer RPG play.

And I mean proper old-school BioWare storytelling RPG play. Kotor/Mass Effect/Dragon Age style. Where you can make decisions that define your character, not just big ones with "consequences" (always oversold), but minute-to-minute, every time your PC speaks you get to decide if they're a serious person, a funny one, if they're angry about this or chill. Where your character has friends, and those friends have personalities, and they care what choices you make.

The vast majority of launch-era SWtOR, including group content and sidequests and the main faction storylines, was voiced content, where players could make these choices... and they could make them together. If four people rolled up to an NPC and opened a conversation, when it was time for the PC to talk, everyone would pick a response, and the game would roll a number for everyone and whoever won would be the character who spoke. And the smuggler had different lines from the Knight, who had different lines from the Consular, because Jedi act differently from smugglers. And the NPCs responded appropriately. And different stories referenced each other; it was canon for every single PC that the seven other classes were also out their doing their own class stories at the same time. The game encouraged you in quite a few ways to create a "legacy" of multiple different classes on the same account who had relationships with each other, so that you could play out the game like your Agent and your Warrior are siblings and there were ways to directly acknowledge that in the UI.

So it was possible to get 1-3 friends, and play the game as three different classes from level 1 to the endgame doing everything together and the game actually felt like that. It felt like you and your friends were all visibly active in the same story. That your choices affected each other. That you were all different people in the same world, doing your own stuff and helping each other out, an actual multiplayer RPG.

The transition to a single story in KotFEET not only completely trashed that virtue - story choices cannot be shared, any longer - it also completely bricked every last scrap of lore support for the concept. Whoever the PC is at any given moment, it is now canon that the other seven are dead. Or missing. Or something. Irrelevant, in any case. Out of the picture. You cannot pretend your Agent and Warrior are siblings saving the galaxy together. You cannot play the story with your friends. Even the group content that they put out, if there's ever any story it's only in a single-player-only version of it.

@jedijune // Compassion

But I require motivation! So, a poll. Out of the six things I have worked on most recently:

summaries of the options under the cut, or snippets here:

Ship Tournament, Round 1 — Match 11 / 30

Karlach/Minthara

"minthara respects strength, and karlach is basically walking proof that joy and softness don’t make someone weak. i think that would mess with minthara’s worldview in a very fun way. karlach is kind, yeah, but she can also throw a grown man across a battlefield while on fire. minthara would be taking notes."

"They’d clash on morals but not on courage. Karlach would absolutely hate a lot of Minthara’s worldview, especially the casual cruelty and the drow noble “power is the only language anyone respects” thing. But Karlach also knows what it’s like to be owned, used as a weapon, dragged into someone else’s war, and forced to survive in a place built on violence. She wouldn’t excuse Minthara, but I think she’d understand more than Minthara expects. And Minthara with Karlach is interesting because Karlach is so emotionally honest. She doesn’t play court games, doesn’t hide behind piety or politics, doesn’t pretend not to care. For someone raised in Menzoberranzan, that kind of sincerity must look almost deranged. Threatening, even. Minthara would keep calling her foolish and then slowly realise she trusts Karlach more than almost anyone."

vs. Astarion/Gale/Halsin/Karlach/Lae'zel/Shadowheart/Wyll

"Tadpolycule. Do not separate. (Does Halsin have a tadpole? No. Is he an honourary Tadfool? Absolutely. Besides, you look me in the eye and tell me any one of the six Origins wouldn't be Down For That and vice versa.)"

(Star Wars: Crimson Reign #3 - The Archivist)

the concept of jedi as celebrities is so interesting to me, mostly because they're monks of an order whose philosophy is grounded on egoless service and humility. one jedi should be roughly the same as any other when sent on a mission, because the jedi serve the force. there may be slight differences in methodologies, yes, but fundamentally, they're not there to make a name for themselves as anything other than as representatives of the jedi order.

but of COURSE it makes sense that the galaxy would be obsessed with them. a mysterious group of wizards who use flashy swords and make peace through persuasive words and heroic deeds? of course people wrote books about them, watched shows about them, adults gossiped about them, and kids pretended to be them when playing. so the question of how all that knowledge was wiped away within a generation is a good one, and the comic presents a good one

(Star Wars: Crimson Reign #3 - The Archivist)

the earnest goodness of the jedi comes across to many as sanctimonious. they're too responsible with their power, too cool and restrained. they don't lash out with anger on behalf of those they love, you know? they don't smile enough, too serious. they're seen as the embodiment of "we have food at home" energy. the reality of the canonical order as gentle and joyful, surprisingly playful and open, isn't sexy enough to redeem their moral authority.

based on my inbox and the way people respond to some of my posts about the jedi, the resentment that this engenders in the population of the GFFA feels very real. there is actual HATRED directed toward this fictional group, irrational and out of all proportion. the comic suggests that people jump to hate those who make them feel guilty and self-conscious, because lashing out absolves yourself of confronting the reason you secretly know you'd be judged and found wanting, and that seems accurate.

babsgirl & jaybin for @flourkkay via @dcforgaza

Donald Trump gets attacked by an eagle.

The Reflecting Pool is filled with algae.

Mount Rushmore sent sodding 1" hailstones when he gave a speech there yesterday.

Henry the Fifth

- ALWAYS encourage others to do their best.

- NEVER talk about people behind their back.

Antony and Cleopatra

- ALWAYS check your produce for pests. [They liked this one so much made a rap about it.]

- NEVER count your chickens before they hatch.

Hamlet

- ALWAYS act decisively

- NEVER tell your girlfriend to go to a convent and become a nun [Oh boy they REALLY liked this one]

Romeo and Juliet

- ALWAYS collect all the important information before making an important decision

- NEVER bite your thumb at us, sir. [They enacted this scene in the original language a lot, except they swapped every “sir” for “bro.”]

The Merchant of Venice

- ALWAYS pay your debts.

- NEVER judge based on appearances, because “all that glisters is not gold.”

The Tempest

- ALWAYS try to forgive others.

- NEVER be a colonizer. [Yes, a middle schooler said this]

Midsummer Night’s Dream

- ALWAYS stay on forest trails

- NEVER fall in love with an ass. [They were excited about this one for obvious reasons.]

Twelfth Night

- ALWAYS stay in touch with those important to us

- NEVER read other people’s mail

Macbeth

- ALWAYS wash your hands. [One of the girls performed Lady Macbeth’s entire Out Damn Spot monologue at the end of the semester]

Yeah, I was re-reading the Tempest like “hmmm will they even understand the subtle themes here… this might be a cut-and-dry magic story to them.”

Kid 1 (known intellectual): Wait, Prospero is like… a colonizer to the magical creatures. He showed up on their island and enslaved them.

Kid 2: Enslaving people is bad! Is Prospero a bad guy?

Kid 3: But Caliban is bad! He wanted to kidnap Miranda.

Me: Yeah, it’s kind of hard, isn’t it? Just like how in real life most people are a mix of good and bad.