I've had a busy past few days and my weekend was plesently consumed with my girlfriend and the one day Florida provided us with upper 70s weather. It was a tantalizing cruel taste of the summer we all long for. That goes double for me- who rides a motorcycle 99% of the year.
But my bud gave me a call yesterday and we talked a bit about the new
Total War game,
Attila that recently launched. Now, I'm usually not the type of gamer that will buy a recently released game- because I'm cheap, but in the case of PC games, due to the all to often buggy problems that are attached I usually wait even longer. In the case of Total War, who's previous title
Rome II was a hot mess for months before they supplied enough patches to almost build a new game: that hasn't inspired me to run out and buy Attila. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm going to buy it at this point.
Perhaps I've had my head in the sand, but I didn't even know about Attila until it launched. Which is strange because I'm a pretty big fan of the Total War franchise. So perhaps they didn't PR the shit out of this title, or maybe I really did just miss everything. Either way, from what my bud has explained to me: it seems like a giant apology for
Rome II. The era is roughly the same as Rome II and much of the features missing from Rome II have been added in Attila. Best yet, the game seems to be launching rather smoothly from what I hear. So perhaps I'll purchase it eventually, but either way I booted up Rome II recently to give it another go.
My biggest complaint (as I bought the game long after the patches were applied) was how long Rome II was. In my previous campaign, I played as Greece who at the time was occupying Egypt- after dozens of hours of campaigning I had taken most of North Africa and parts of the Middle East. A decent feat in Rome II, but Europe was still immense and terrifying frankly. This go around I did things a little differently and decided to begin as a humble British tribe and as of last night conquered all opposing British tribes- uniting the British Isles under my rule. Problem is where to go from here! Europe is a big place and landing on the shoreline means a massive invasion force in order to take a city and begin my conquest. 200 BC is a long ways off from the 1940s.
So lets switch things up a bit and run back to
Star Wars: The Old Republic. I've run into a problem and it's called Alderaan. The 'perfect' utopia of a planet that's split in Civil War. The problem lies in a conflict of interests, where various ruling families are fighting over control of the planets Monarchy. Because nothing says peace, love and equality like a monarchy. Really, what grinds my gears about Alderaan is how upper class most of the characters you encounter are. In my time I spent living in Fort Lauderdale, I recall a similar experience that aggravated the shit out of me. Which is part of why I'm a little sensitive to being bossed around like a simpleton to these rich bastards. Needless to say, I see the value in a Pro-Republic family taking control of the Monarchy, but at the same time I hate everyone I've had to work with on the planet. I doubt the devs planned on encoring the wrath of their players through character experiences, but I feel very strongly behind the decisions I make on this planet.
While nobody has outright said it, I also find it a little suspicious that there is no lower class- even the middle class looks pretty rich. I've seen a few farms or estates- but even they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves and seem to be more a novelty than actual farming. For all we know they're growing grapes for wine. Which really makes me wonder about this planets economy. There hasn't been an empire on Earth that hasn't been built on the lower class. So when I see these towering buildings and grand gates, all I can think is 'cool, so where is the slave labor?' That being said however, it's curious to note this planet has native inhabitants, a very organic bug like creature that the Alderaan people regard as lesser beings and leave you to exterminate throughout your time there. A rather rash thing to do in my mind, considering the creatures:
Killik are part of a hive mind and show enough intelligence to use blaster rifles and other crafted tools. Showing that they aren't just mindless beasts, but together a rather intelligent and powerful force. But the important distinction is this: Alderaan views the Killik as
different and like any society that is different and unwilling to conform to society's rules, they are hunted down and exterminated.
Yet once again, as a Jedi I've been tasked to save the people from these creatures by going on various slaughter-fests. While I know what I'm doing is wrong, this is yet again another example of how I see my character falling to the dark side. The Killik have certainly been motivated to swarm and kill the people of Alderaan and honestly I could see this happening even without Imperial influences (which at the moment I'm not sure are even involved.). From what I've read about the Species the majority of their kind left the system some time ago and those who remain often lay dormant underground. Those who do awaken are a mixture of territorial and docile. So does that mean I should be exterminating these creatures? Going as far as to destroy their eggs and plant mines to catch them off guard? It should be no ones surprise that my character would choose to murder an opponent when the opportunity arrives then let them live, when so much of the characters experiences are shaped to enjoy bloodshed and encourages the death and murder of not just the enemy soldiers, but the young and defenseless as well. Worse yet, I feel it says something that the Jedi as a whole haven't stepped up to question the Killik's motives or to even recognize them as a society that deserves its equal respect in a Civil War between monarchies. All this being said however, it does remind me of why I enjoy this time period. The Jedi have a very particular set of rules in mind when it comes to right and wrong. The universe is a very black and white place, but people like me are showing up and asking 'why?' and bending the rules despite the ruling council. You can argue that Reven and I have a lot in common in this sense.
But who knows, maybe we're the outsiders because we see the Universe as a unified being, rather than simply warring factions. In my opinion, to be a true Jedi is to renounce all bloodshed, anger and conflict and pursue a life of knowledge and wisdom. You can pretend you're all that shit while you're lopping off heads and arms- but we both know you're lying. Nobody walks into battle with the emotion of serenity and peace unless you plan on walking out of that battle emotionally scarred with the eyes of the fallen forever burned into your mind. And after a thousand have fallen as with my character, what is death anymore- and are you its instrument?
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