My suggestions, and, how I made 'good' badguys..

[SirWill]

Alrighty, first off, good to be here. Really looking forward to TSL.

 

A while back, I hosted a game online using Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, and built a very long game where each player in my game had a unique talent. I've heard this idea is already addressed in TSL, so I don't need to get into it, but it gave me a lot of practice in honing those Dark Side type characters.

 

The first thing, and I believe this fits into Star Wars as well as most good stories, is having the villian with a more complex motivation than just 'I want to take over the world/galaxy/universe/multiverse/ just because it's there and I need that space for my ego.' Nobody in Star Wars just woke up one day and became the Dark Lord of the Sith, unless they were a psychopath to begin with, anyway. They all took little steps to get there.

 

All I'm saying is, I'd like to have an actual, personal, history behind the main badguy, why he or she has gone to those depths to become such a monster, if they are.

 

Here's some do's and don'ts I learned to follow when making a deep, complex, interesting and dangerous badguy.

 

Don'ts.

 

1) Don't overuse them in appearences. They should only appear when needed to advance the plot and even then they shouldn't actually fight the PC or the party until it's time for the final battle. We can watch him in action, like seeing the new Sith Lord blow away an entire regiment of Republic troops with Force Storm, but to overuse the badguy weakens their impact.

 

2) Don't allow something to diminish their impact when they are introduced or used. While one could have the option to taunt the badguy to throw him/her off balance before the fight, if that option is going to be there, ensure he/she has a decent recovery, or it'll just be foolish.

 

3) Don't have the Sith Lord leave a single notepad lying around explaining the entire plot away. That's rather annoying. He might as well have a five year old child advisor, too.

 

Do's.

 

1) Make them intelligent. I've nothing against a stupid enemy, but stupid enemies aren't going to climb to the top of the Sith ladder. If the person is brutal, then make them so, but at least make them able to be dangerously smart on when to unleash that brutality. Bonus points if the badguy can get the goodguys to do the dirty work with only a few hints as to what's going on. Misdirection is important, especially in times of war.

 

2) Have them change their tactics depending on what the PC is doing. If your PC is climbing the ranks of the Sith, have a different encounter in a different place at a different tone, than you'd have if your PC is fighting for the Jedi. Bioware messed up here, I'd hate to see a repeat of that. I'd suggest for a Darkside ending, the fight would be on Korriban where you try to wrest control of the Sith from the other Lord, after you've gone through the others of course. But for a Lightsider, the entire scenario could be different, say, you infiltrate the base and are forced to face him/her without support or backup.

 

Anyway, those are my two cents. I'll add more later, please review!

[Barzarel]

Would have been fun in Kotor to have been sith lord in game a while rather than just claim title and end game.

 

For instance if you seized power at Korriban, so you had actual time to play sith lord, i really missed that part alot and i havent seen any games so far being able to deliver that, would be a fun play exsperience i think but who knows.

 

Also would be nice to be able in Kotor2 to take power from other Sith lords, the starwars universe talks about the sith becoming near extinct because they destroyed each other to gain more power, why the Sith Master started having only one apprentice at a time.

 

Would be nice to see if you choose DS that you gain a Sith lord title at some point during game a start a war for total sith control, Also this would allow you to play a Sith Lord for a while.

 

EDIT: Also this would allow a possible option of making a Kotor3, since if you have a power struggle if sith then the republic might have a opening to strenghen themselves, if light side you would defeat the sith and either one would lay a option to make a Kotor3 later.

[GhostofAnakin]

The one thing I'll say is it would have been better if Malak reacted to you differently based on your current alignment. In both cases, whether you had a halo over your head and had angels singing in the background, or whether you were pale grey with veins sticking out, he still acted the same towards you.

 

Even if his ultimate plan was to betray you, if you were DS, he should have "pretended" to be humbled to see his former master still alive and try and convince Revan to come back with him to the Star Forge, THEN double cross him on the Star Forge. Something like that. Just something that adds a bit of differentiation between playing LS and DS.

[Barzarel]

The one thing I'll say is it would have been better if Malak reacted to you differently based on your current alignment.  In both cases, whether you had a halo over your head and had angels singing in the background, or whether you were pale grey with veins sticking out, he still acted the same towards you.

 

Even if his ultimate plan was to betray you, if you were DS, he should have "pretended" to be humbled to see his former master still alive and try and convince Revan to come back with him to the Star Forge, THEN double cross him on the Star Forge.  Something like that.  Just something that adds a bit of differentiation between playing LS and DS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Little surprised to that there werent any Revan loyalist, they to that he was a charismatic leader and many started to follow him, so i would indeed appear that there might have been more loyalist to Revan than Malak given logic, i was surprised after discovering plot that there werent a Sith pretending to be jedi after discovering he was indeed Revan and try to make him remember who he was again.

[GhostofAnakin]

Little surprised to that there werent any Revan loyalist, they to that he was a charismatic leader and many started to follow him, so i would indeed appear that there might have been more loyalist to Revan than Malak given logic, i was surprised after discovering plot that there werent a Sith pretending to be jedi after discovering he was indeed Revan and try to make him remember who he was again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I suppose hindsight is 20/20, but there are numerous things Bioware could have done differently with the Revan angle, but seemed to have, atleast in terms of variety, fallen short.

[Master Jedi]

bear in mind we have had longer to pick this game apart then they have had to make it i think, not sure about exact time

[Barzarel]

Well they do react to alignment but very little degree, it funny qouting Malak you always inspired loyalty, yet at every corner old sith attack you everyone basically attack you aside from npc members, even thou they know your revan, id have thought there be at least a few loyalist trying to help you dethrone malak again when they saw you returned.

 

Think about it a moment if you had a leader that every logic would have said died and see him alive again wouldnt you be very surprised or for one rather team with one that a survivor rather than a coward, so much for sith been strong *sigh*.

 

EDIT: If followers around Malak had started to rejoin you and there were a power struggle instead, then it would have felt more as a ascension into sith again.

 

Like it was a redemption with jedi.

 

Really thought there were given little thought into sith part of the game.