strikeslip:

tallypants:

swtorconfess:

I hate the Republic side; I hate the planets, I hate most of the NPCs. I think the Republic is just as skeevy and nasty as the Empire, but they pretend they’re more heroic and free. Worst of all, there’s no organization, so it’s as chaotic as it is bad.

…One politician buying slave collars (who you can turn in to the authorities) does not equal pervasive and institutional slavery. Some corrupt politicians (who you can try to bring down) do not equal an entire ruling body of Sith who you can’t take a stand against without risking a lightsaber to the neck, and two loyal Republic squads left to die (sick as it makes me) do not equal hundreds upon hundreds of Imperial men killed by their own, caught in the crossfire of Sith infighting…

Now that’s my kind of logic. >:)

I enjoy playing Empire, but I see it as cheering the villains on to their inevitable doom. Then again, I also see a lot of the Empire as chaotic evil, not neutral or lawful evil, unlike the OP of the confession. Bringing a single sith into play pretty much erases all the ‘organization’. Also, being Chaotic Evil pays better.

I like the opportunities to play a darkside character on the ‘pub side too. It wouldn’t be half as fun if they were all goody-goodies.

I think the writers purposely lean hard on corrupt Pubs and honorable Imps in terms of NPC characterization to subvert player expectations, and that there’s an effort to show the benefits and downsides to the freedom vs. order dynamic that’s set up with Republic/Empire and the collectivism vs. atomism that’s suggested with Jedi/Sith. But the thing of fully-legal slavery, “human high culture” (i.e. overt, institutionally-accepted discrimination against non-human species) and that the Empire is ruled by an oligarchy of super-powered sociopaths is pretty difficult to ignore.