Peace is a Lie: Fuck the Jedi

Guess I'm writing another SWTOR blog after all. I've only been playing 4 days now and I'm still pretty early in the game for my Jedi Knight. The problem I've been facing has been plaguing me since the beginning. Are the Jedi really for peace and are they really in the right? This is about to get nerdy- so hold onto your butts.

The Old Republic game is set during one of my favorite periods in Star Wars lore. Set some 3,600 years before the film, the Jedi are a different kind of organization at this point and the ethical line becomes blurry as many blame the Jedi and Sith for many atrocities across the galaxy when the eventual invasion of the Sith Empire burns across the galaxy. But it's important to remember how the Jedi got here and for that- we have to rewind the clocks to the years leading up the war.

Prior to the war, two Jedi- Reven and Malik become aware of the looming insurgence of the Sith Empire. A fact that was denied and ignored by the Jedi as a whole. This marked the first step towards what would become the core fundamental conflict in the Jedi Civil War. Growing increasingly concerned, Reven and Malik urged numerous Jedi to their cause and dived deep into the unknown to seek out and destroy the Sith presence. Unfortunately they found the Sith Empire- but were consumed by it and returned unknowingly as agents of the Sith.

When Reven and Malik returned they attempted to use their accumulated power to overtake the Republic and produce a force strong enough to combat the true Sith. While many can argue that while distorted by the dark side- the intent to save the Republic from itself was still pure at heart. Unfortunately, many in the political realm believed Revin and Malik were the Sith Empire they had warned about and disregarded any further belief in the Sith after the conflict ended.

At a time when the Jedi were still licking their own wounds, the true Sith Empire emerged and wrought devastation upon the galaxy. Which is pretty much where The Old Republic games begins. During a lull in the war, both sides temporarily form a peace treaty. But it's only a pause before the looming storm. It's a really interesting dynamic for the Jedi, they're weaker then ever before and searching out new recruits as quickly as they can train them. But the fundamental question that spurred the The Jedi Civil War is still there. That war- at its core was a question of ethics. Was it ethical to break the law to save a life? How far should someone go when no one listens? The game casts the player in many of the same situations and so far- I'm loosing the light side fight.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm playing as a Jedi Knight and truthfully I understand how Revin fell into that darkness. While my character remains a 'Gray Jedi' cast neither in light or darkness. Many of the decisions that thrust my character towards the dark side are merely because I'm willing to make the difficult decisions. Is it worth sacrificing the lives of a the few for the many? Absolutely. Is it fair- no. I wouldn't argue that it is. But the game itself takes the perspective of the Jedi council of this day and age. Short term victories over the Sith are more important than thinking about the long term future of the galaxy. I would tend to disagree- like Revin the future of the galaxy is at stake, hypothetical trillions upon trillions of people are at risk and while it may not be the popular answer- the lives of a few matter little.

I've never beaten this game and in previous attempts I know only a little more storyline than where I'm currently at. But this is the first time I've jotted down my thoughts on the ethics of this game's message. It will be a lot more interesting of a play for that reason alone.

Return to the Republic

It's been easily over a year since I've sat down to let The Old Republic absorb hours of my life. Needless to say there's been a lot of updates and expansions to SWTOR since I've last played it. Truthfully, I enjoyed the game previously- but the game was out of wack. There were elements that were still being tweaked and changed and ultimately I became discouraged and stopped prescribing.

Now, I love Star Wars- but what I've always loved most is the Old Republic era, set thousands of years prior to the iconic movies, it tells the story of galactic conquest in a much more uncivilized era. You can think of the Old Republic like the height of Ancient Rome. It's big and impressive, with classic enemies like Hannibal and the Roman Emperors. But it's no modern Rome by any extent. That's basically the Old Republic in a nutshell. It's Star Wars- just historically different and the writers and creators have produced a wonderfully fleshed out universe for this era.

After Star Wars was bought by Disney and much of the canon vanished overnight, it seemed like the final nail in the coffin for the Old Republic era. Which made me pretty sad to see it wouldn't be included. Fast forward to today and I recently read this article. The summary being that Disney hasn't said yes- or no. In reality, The Old Republic is no threat to the Disney franchise because it's chronologically so far away from the film saga, which has left SWTOR in a very gray murky area.

“Let me answer it the way they answered it to us,” he said. “Because we asked when this first came up, we were like, ‘What does this mean for us?’ And they were like, ‘Guys, this doesn’t change anything. You tell great Star Wars stories set in this time frame; you continue to do that, and we’ll continue to support you.’

So there you have it. But the article got me thinking back to playing SWTOR and truthfully I had missed playing the game, even if it did have a few shortcomings. So last night I powered up my computer and dropped the $15 for a month subscription and gave it a whirl. A lots changed since I last played and while my biggest fear was that the community might have become very gimmicky in an attempt to keep users attached to the game, in reality that doesn't seem to be the case. There are a few cosmetic additions to the game, such as strongholds you can purchase- which at the moment as far as I can tell are just normal homes you can choose to decorate. But it's all pretty optional.

I'm not sure how much I'll write about SWTOR in the future. It may fizzle on me yet, but for now it's been a refreshing game to return to. For those curious, I've been playing as a Jedi Guardian- but I've turned off the light/dark side indications and let my own personal opinions control the fate of the character. No surprise, but I'm already leaning dark side. The damn Jedi just don't have the stomach to do what's necessary. They'd rather see a clearly evil and twisted man live (to eventually escape or cause further chaos) then end the cycle and stomp out the Sith. It's the whole reason the Sith keep emerging from the shadows! It's ironic that the Jedi are so against killing as it is anyways- there code speaks of peace and only action in a defensive manor, but then send me on missions to root out attacking tribal forces or slaughter entire underworld mob organizations. Sure- you can argue the bad guys attacked first- but after enough blood is on your hands. It just seems like you're trying to justify your blood lust? If you're going to offer me a mission to protect the people- don't make my side mission to kill 20 additional bad guys. Worse yet, don't get pissy when I come to finish my objective and I decide to finish things rather then show restraint and let the bad guys go. Anyways- as usual I'm walking a thin line with the Jedi.

Jurassic World Ate My Lunch

Let it be said- Jurassic World's trailer that was released today was bad ass. After months of waiting and worrying my favorite childhood franchise might be ruined (again, Jurassic Park III anyone?) It was really happy to see the production quality appeared pretty top notch and the story seemed fairly solid. There's been a bit of pissing and moaning about a few issues, but nothing that can't be explained away.

First, there's been a lot of annoyance over the 'low' quality of the CGI in the film. While I admit, the CGI doesn't appear as top notch as even say 'King Kong' where I was extremely impressed by the lighting and textures of the creatures depicted. Lets keep in mind the film won't be released until next June and the CGI itself doesn't look poor aside for a couple of shots. The main gate in particular looks a tad fake. With such a span of time between now and the release there's no doubt in my mind work on the film, post production in particular is still chugging away- and that means the CGI will make improvements.
Another issue that's been circling the message boards has been the credibility of a made up dinosaur. This is a real fine line, because on the surface a 'genetically built from scratch' dino sounds pretty lame. But lets take a moment to realize that A) None of the animals in Jurassic Park were 'real'. They had already been altered. A fact I'm sure will be made clear in the film. B) Cross genetics isn't really that lame unless this thing has wings, spits venom and can survive outer space. Lets remind ourselves to be rational. The trailer as a whole looks very well thought out, there's no reason to jump to conclusions. The brief glimpse we get at the dinosaur itself appears to be very... well. Dinosaur like. I get the impression it's going to be fairly familiar- perhaps it's real threat is its intelligence.
The last issue I've heard is the fact that Chris Pratt's character is working with 'trained dinosaurs'. A fact that Pratt himself acknowledged sounded silly- and again, this is one of those ideas that sounds lame until we stop to think about it. First, lets keep in mind that humans and seemingly dangerous animals such as lions or sharks have managed to be studied in extremely close proximity. There's no reason to believe that the Raptors are simply killing machines, a fact I'm sure Chris Pratt's character will attempt to drive home. The second thing to consider, is that Pratt's made a point to say that 'trained' doesn't mean tricks as much as it means the broad sense of the word. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the Raptors might be used as bloodhounds in a sense. Especially considering there's a dinosaur on the loose. On the flipside I could be wrong and maybe the Raptors are so smart they're using their relationship with Pratt for their own advantage. Sneaky bastards.

So there you have it. That's been my day. Oh and kissing Vanity without a beard f'n rules.