I have been keeping something from you.
To be fair, I haven’t really worked at keeping it from you -there have been plenty of hints. My postings tend to ramble, that is a given, between many topics already -parenting, writing, school, depression, attention deficit disorder, politics, etc. This list could go on for days, honestly. Over the years my blogging has evolved from something extremely personal to something moderately personal and bordering on relevant to anybody else who’s browsing the web for something to spend a few minutes reading. My secret is that I am more than just a student, a mother, a writer and a weekend DJ.
I am also a Sith Inquisitor.
That’s right, I don’t just have a thing for bad boys (who doesn’t, really?) -sometimes I wanna be the bad girl, too. Don’t get me wrong -I would never strangle you with the power of my mind and a pinching hand gesture, or use force lightning to reduce you to a whimpering fool (unless you ask for it). I just really love to play Massive Multiplayer Online games like the brand-spanking-new (still in Beta) SWTOR, and the darkside is usually better. Aside from their consistent false promises of having cookies (I have STILL never tasted these darkside cookies everyone’s raving about) they get to do a lot of nasty things in the storyline for each class of character. Dark side points are awarded for particularly snarky responses or selfish choices in NPC conversations. You actually get to CHOOSE what response your character will give to the NPC/mission contact when you’re playing.
That’s one of the things that really sets this game apart from others I’ve played (Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Vanguard, Dungeons & Dragons Online…) and makes it feel like I’ve finally come home. Vanguard stands out more than the rest of my sordid past game-loves, for at least having the parlay option with other NPC’s… but it always irritated me that I was playing a card game to get points for socializing -and there was little to no ACTUAL story-driving conversation going on in the process. Granted, I haven’t played that game in ages -maybe it’s improved.
Another great thing about SWTOR (and yes, there’s Epic Advice for that other game most of you have heard about -World of Warcraft) is that there are collaboratively edited sites to help you on your way with user-generated questions and answer regarding everything in-game from finding specific items to choosing the best skill tree for your toon. For SWTOR, that site is called R2-Db and now that they’ve partnered with TORhead (delinquent cousin of that other game’s help site, WOWhead) there are virtually no questions that should go unanswered. The power of the force is with you in all things.
Now that the beta is rolling for yet another weekend, I’m anxious to finish writing assignments and DJing this evening so that I can crawl straight into my office (I can sleep when I’m dead) and get another fix of SWTOR. I played my inquisitor to level 13 last weekend (I’m a busy woman, don’t judge) and toyed around with an Imperial Agent who’s now around level 6 I think… the agent is definitely in the running for becoming my main after launch, but the whole game is just plain fun. I can’t wait to try all the angles.
Take all that excitement you felt as a kid watching the yellow text scroll away into deep space while John Williams music charged your blood and multiply it by the narcissistic joy of knowing that YOU are going to be the main character in the space epic that’s about to unfold. Then you shake it up (not stir) with the asthetically inspiring graphics and game environments BioWare has put into this masterpiece of MMORPG’s and you’ve got an idea what Star Wars: The Old Republic is like. Or you could check out the trailer for Imperial Agents below.
I guess the only way to find out for sure, though… is to come and play.
