Something That Made Me Think

B, A, and E are my reasons.  Let me explain why:  (I apologise in advance for the rant I can feel brewing)

 

I started playing SWG in April this year.  At first, I was thrilled to hear that one could meet Jedi players and even potentially become one.  (This was my very first MMORPG)  I am a tabletop gamer, and have extensively played the Star Wars RPG by West End Games.

So I got SWG thinking "Yay!  International Star Wars roleplaying!  Fellow geeks of the genre to game with and against!"  Naive?  Maybe, but in my defense I reiterate that I had no experience of online roleplaying at all.  A little Jedi Knight 2, some CS, some AvP 2, but those are FPS not MMORPG's. 

So I had these starry-eyed illusions about how those playing the game, and particularly Jedi (and Dark Jedi) would be, in the majority, people with a genuine love of the genre and would be suitably serious-minded in how they played such a character. Not to say they wouldn't have fun, but I was sure their behaviour would be regulated by online "referees" and their behaviour, good and bad, would have in-character rewards and punishments (like Dark Side points, for those fellow tabletop gamers).   Surely NO-ONE would allow people to play jedi without any regulation or consequence to their actions?  Jedi in the Star Wars RPG, for those who don't know, have to walk very fine lines of behaviour or fall to the Dark Side.  Being on the Dark Side has its own problems, like being unable to use certain benevolent force skills etc, etc. Going back to the Light after being on the Dark Side results in a severe loss of power.  And so on.  People had to watch their behaviour and actions when playing Jedi of either shade.

 

The first Jedi I ever met was in Mos Eisley 5 days after I started playing.  I had settled on the concept of a Rifleman/Ranger as a template that would be fun to roleplay whilst providing plenty of excitement working towards.  I remember it very clearly:  I was watching an entertainer in the Lucky Despot with some other players, all new like me, when a Jedi came in.  He was a new jedi, as I recall, and was enjoying flashing his saber around.  Someone challenged him to a friendly spar, no DB.  The guy was a novice brawler with a metal staff.  He just wanted some harmless fun while waiting for his buddy to arrive to get buffed.  The jedi knocked him down, incapped him, DB'd and that was that.  I was a little perturbed to say the least.  Perturbed gave way to disgusted as the Jedi gloated over his "victory".

 

"Okay."  A lot of you are thinking "There's always a few limp d*cks like that.  Not all are that way."  Sure.  I know that.  But in the months I have been playing, I have seen and studied a LOT of Jedi on Bria server.  I can count on both hands (and have fingers left over) the decent ones.  The ones that DON'T trash talk.  The ones that keep their visibility low and only draw their sabres when needed.  The ones that AREN'T strutting, preening adolescents who band together and heckle those of other factions like smirking street punks trying to prove how tough they are.  The ones who take their being hunted with good grace and accept it as the price they pay for being Jedi, neither whining if they lose nor gloating if they win. The ones who realise that as Jedi, Light or Dark, they are an integral part of the Star Wars universe.  Good vs Evil is what Star Wars is about, not "PwNing sOmE n00bs tO pr0v3 how £33t I am".  To those who want THAT experience, go back to smegging FPS's where most share that sentiment!

 

Sure, its your money.  Sure, I have no right to tell you off for being a d*ckhead.  Blah-blah-blah.  Free world, do as I please.  Well, that particular lightsaber cuts both ways, pal.  It IS a free world, at least in cyberspace.  And you CAN do as you please.  All I am doing here is SAYING as I please.  For people like me, people like you ruin the game.  We see Jedi acting like super-powered street thugs.  We see people like you p*ssing on something we love.  I know I'm not alone here in that sentiment.  Oh, and to those Jedi on Bria who are thinking "Wait, that isn't fair, I'm not like that!" :  Great!  Glad to hear it.  I hope to meet you someday and roleplay with a jedi, either as an adversary or an ally.

 

So there it is.  Main reason I'm a BH (nearly a Master BH & Master Carbineer) is because I like the cachet of being a mysterious lone manhunter.  I love the thrill of the hunt and the kill.  And the money is nice too   But I would be lying if I said that the Jedi I have met over the last 6-8 months haven't steered me that way.  I love seeing a name I recognise from way back on the terminals and thinking "Oh I remember you, sunshine, this is going to be FUN."  It's funny the way Jedi spook and get nervous when a solitary blue dot appears on their radar.  I drove past one on Endor the other day (wasn't even hunting them!) and they FD'd.  Curious and amused, I hung around a few minutes, and sure enough, a small bunch of TKM's and Swordsmen came swooping in.  Hilarious!    Ego issues?  I have them alright, but they are satisfied by the thrill of being the most feared and notorious profession in the galaxy.  "My kind of scum. Fearless and inventive."?  Damn right. 

 

So there it is.  Flame me, denigrate me, call me a n00b.  It does not change my perception.  Understand that.  I don't expect what I have written here to spark a flame of roleplaying amongst so-called "Jedi" players.  But if just one pays attention and seeks out a webpage with the Jedi Code on it, then I have done some good for this game which I still want to love.  If this falls on deaf ears, then at least everyone knows how I feel.

 

/salute

 

Hunting since Publish 9!