Different Identities: Choosing a Gender That is Not the Same as Behind the Screen

In SWTOR, you are not asked what gender you are and then given a character that matches that gender.  Most games allow you to pick if your character is male or female.  A lot of people will choose the gender that they are for their character.   However, there are some that decide that they want to play the opposite sex.

I will say this had baffled me for a bit.  I was always wondering why a guy would want to play a girl character and vice versa.  I couldn't see me playing a male character.  Why would I want to be a guy?  Was there an advantage to being a guy?  If you can choose why choose to play what you're not.

I have a friend that plays regularly and 95% of his characters are female.  Finally, I had the guts to ask him why.  He told me it was because if he was going to look at something on the screen for a few hours while playing the game it might as well be a beautiful woman.  His characters are very nice looking ladies.  I can see his point on this.  Why not.  Still I wasn't sure about making myself a male character.

One day I said, what the hell.  I created a male gunslinger.  He is a race called the Mirialan.  This means he is a lovely shade of green.  I am quite proud of how I made my male character.  His looks aren't bad.  I had gotten some armor that really fits a gunslinger, so he is dressed rather nicely too. Whether you're male or female fashion is everything.

The real tricky thing about making this character was the name.  However, names are very difficult for either gender and sometimes you have to play with a name's spelling to get what you want.  He is named after my great grandfather.  I had to spell it a little differently to get the name.  Anyway, here is Sallvator.

T

 This

This other picture is me and my friend I play with.  We have swapped genders for the game.  He is playing his female character and I'm on my male character.  This was before the change in clothing.  I have to say my friend makes a pretty woman. 

Whether you are a guy playing a guy, a guy playing a girl, a girl playing a girl or a girl playing a guy it doesn't matter.  SWTOR is a place where you can be exactly who you want to be.  On that note, if you're one of these people who likes to flirt in games, you might want to be careful because you never know who might be behind the av.  The gender of the character might not match the gender of the person playing it.  Keep that in mind.

I'm Too Sexy for my Armor

You say sexy and Star Wars don't go together.  Alright then explain Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi.  That was quite the scantily clad outfit she was in.  Notice she still kicked butt while wearing it.  You can get this very outfit for your character in Nar Shaddar in the cantina on the main promenade.

It does seem that the challenge in SWTOR is to make your female character as scantily clad as possible.  The outfit shown here is quite revealing. However, I have seen some that show even more skin.  I know you're thinking how is that even possible.  My character Lio'eg is showing quite a bit already.  

Nadia Grell Jedi Sage Companion

You're not limited to dressing your character provocatively.   You can also dress your companion in a revealing outfit.  This is probably the most skin I have seen in SWTOR.  Nadia here is basically running around in lingerie.  If you're wondering no you can't strip down totally.  Naughty bits showing is not allowed in SWTOR.  

Ladies aren't the only ones that can rock the sexy look in SWTOR.  The guys can do it too.  Here is a certain Jedi shirtless.  There are some open jackets that achieve the shirtless look too.  Of course there is the Covert Shirt that looks like the character isn't wearing a shirt at all.  To all the girls playing SWTOR see you're not left out.  O.k. maybe you are since most guys aren't running around looking like this.  There are more half naked female characters around then male characters.  However, there are some nice looking Twi'lek dancers in the same cantina where you can get the slave girl outfit.




However, you don't have to show a whole lot of skin to look sexy. In my opinion, showing little bits of skin is more tantalizing then showing nearly everything you have.  

Lio'eg March 2017

Currently this is how my character looks right now.  I think she looks very attractive for a Torgruta.  She is showing a little bit of her beautiful purple skin but not so much that she looks as if she belongs on a street corner.  I think I have her dressed to look like one sexy smuggler.

Stay tuned for the next post about fashion on the darkside.

Project Runway has Nothing on SWTOR

Yes you too can look fashionable while running around on different planets and killing things.  One of the incredible things in this game is creating your character and this is done by the character's appearance.  You can have a different look to your characters by changing different things, such as hair styles, facial markings, skin color.  Who doesn't want to look their best.  I like to have my armor match my character's so called job.  Right now my friend says my female smuggler looks like a cheerleader.  Hmmm this might not be a bad thing.

When you start off though you are put in a basic outfit.  Here is my Jedi Knight, Raechal in her starting outfit.  Notice how bland it is.  Lots of brown.  It's not supposed to look good. It's just supposed to keep you from getting killed until you can get better armor.  I changed both her looks and her outfit so she's looking very different now then back then.  I wanted to show you what you might look like when you first start a character.

As you go through the game you'll pick up better armor.  Some of it will look good.  Some of it you'll look at it and think, "OMG I can't wear that."  Trust me you won't have to stay in ugly armor forever. You will get stuff from drops that will not only look good but will protect you better.

Whether stylish or not the better the armor the better protected you will be.  This means you won't be saying, "Oh crap I'm dead again" a whole lot.  It usually takes a very powerful boss to get my smuggler down.  Even though she might look like a cheerleader she has on some pretty kick ass armor.  

Stay tuned for more on the fashion aspect of SWTOR.  Next post will contain tips for getting you looking your best.

I have a closet full of armor and nothing to wear.

A little bit about what you wear in SWTOR.  Everyone starts with basic armor.  I must say as a fashionista myself the basic armor is bland and boring.  However, it's supposed to get you started.  As you complete various missions you have a chance to get better armor.

There are four types of armor, light, medium, heavy and adaptive.  The first three are pretty self explanatory, though the last one not so much.  Adaptive armor is clothes you can put things into to make your armor stronger.  Items are called modifications and consist of enhancements, armor plating and mods.  You can go to a vendor on the Republic Fleet and buy your mods for some credits.  Higher mods obviously will be more credits.

So you get to the vendor and right click on him/her and a window pops up with all this stuff.  That's when you might be thinking, "OMG what the hell do I choose."  In the words of Rapunzel, "Don't freak out."  This is where I'm going to plug a website, http://www.dulfy.net.  This site is really good at helping you find which mods you need for your class of character.  Some characters need more Mastery, some need more endurance and some might need more Accuracy.  This site has been really helpful to both me, extreme novice, and also my partner who is an experienced player.

Once you get everything you need.  You have to stick it into your various pieces of armor.  This can be time consuming if you've upgraded your mods and have to take the old ones out before putting the new ones in.  Also the good thing is you can sell back your mods to the vendor.  That way you'll get some credits towards your new mods. Make sure you take the old mods out and not just put the new ones in.  If you do this will destroy your old mods so you won't be able to sell them back.   It's like having a rebate.  Getting credits is always a good thing.

That's the basics when it comes to armor.  You should be set to go out and kick some Wampa butt.  I personally prefer to wear adaptive armor.  Next post will be about the fashion of armor.  Yes you can be in SWTOR and still look fabulous.

Romancing the Jedi.

Romance?  In Star Wars?  Really you say.  Yes there is romance in the game and it involves your companions.  There is one and sometimes two companions that are listed as romanceable.  This does not mean you have to start a romantic relationship with them.  It just means you can move in that direction if you want to in your story line.

There are options, such as, giving your companion a courting gift.  This will increase their affection towards you.  Also you may have the option when talking with them to flirt.  Flirting will also move you in the direction of romance.  I have played the story line as a romance with my smuggler, Lio'eg and her companion Corso.  I think at one point he proposed marriage.  I know he has professed his undying love for my character.

There is a more adult aspect to the game.  You can actually get intimate with a NPC character.  This is only with NPCs.  You can't go to SWTOR pick up another player and go off for a roll in the hay.  Before anyone gets all freaked out about a game showing things that it shouldn't be showing, it's not graphic and to be honest you might not even be aware of what just happened.

I'm on some planet and flirting with an NPC.  It shows us both leaving and then my screen goes black.  I'm now thinking something has gone horribly wrong with the program or my computer. I'm talking to my friend asking what the hell is going on.  He starts laughing while my screen comes back.  It was maybe black for a minute, possibly two.  He goes, "Bow chicka wow wow."  I'm still so confused when he tells me that I just got laid.  What?  Really?  He assured me that is what happened.  I start laughing.  My story line continues as I leave the base never to see this poor NPC again.  He wanted me to take him with me.  I couldn't do that.  Damn I'm good.

My friend and I think it's quite amusing.  However, I will tell you my one beef with this and a recent update.  It seems several options for romance have decreased for female players more so then male players.  From what I have read the creators have changed the game so there isn't so many romance options out there.  I looked at the list of characters that was once able to be romanced versus now.  It seems that a lot of the male companions are no longer romanceable.  Specifically, Doc, who is a Jedi Knight companion.  This makes me sad.  I do realize that the majority of the players are male and maybe the thought of romance in an action adventure game might turn them away.  As I said, this is an option and you're not forced to be romantic with any character.  Why not keep it just as it was.

I also noticed that the romanceable companions are usually human or have more humanoid features.  My dream is for Zenith, my Twi'lek companion, on my Jedi Sages to be one you can romance.  However, I doubt that will ever come to be because he's alien.  Oh well, my rant is now over.

It doesn't matter whether you choose to be romantic or not.  The important part is you're having fun.  Even though I have some gripes I'm still having fun in the game.  Stay tuned for a post or two  or many on armor.

Do you want a companion?

Who are Companions?  What do you do with them?  Why are they needed?  I'm going to answer these questions to the best of my ability.  In the game your character will get what they call companions.  These are NPC characters that will help you out in battle.  This is a good thing for people like me who are not really great when it comes to those epic battles you get in SWTOR.

Each class has their own starting companions.  My Smuggler's companions are different from the companions I have with my Sage or my Trooper. Right now my top companion is on my Smuggler and his name is Corso Riggs.  He is almost at level 24 of 50.  He fights pretty good for me.

Now to get your companion to fight the best, you will need to raise their influence level.  How do you get your companion's influence up?  It used to be that you raised it through your actions.  If you did something your companion approved of you got points.  However, if you did something your companion disapproved of, you got points taken away.  The creators have changed this since people were playing their characters just one way and making choices based on if they will get points with a companion.  I know when I started there were times I wanted badly to make one choice and did the other because I knew my companion would approve of instead of disapprove.  Deep down inside I really wanted to do the other action, just didn't want to risk losing points.  I was playing my character not as I would like but as my companion would like.  See the problem with this.

The way it is done now is you give your companion gifts.  You can get gifts on drops from killing evil NPCs, you can send your crew members out to do missions for the gifts, or get them from a companion gifts vendor.  There is one of these vendors on the Fleet and some of the other planets.

Here is where it gets a little complex but trust me it's not too bad.  Different companions like different gifts.  You're thinking do I have to memorize what everyone likes or loves or doesn't like at all.  No you don't.  Thank goodness.  If you run your cursor over the gift in your inventory while your companion is out it will tell you if your companion likes it and how much they like it.  I look for large influence gains because that's what is going to give the most points.  Corso, mentioned above, really loves weapons and these gifts will cause a large influence gain.  There have been times I have had to go through a few companions before I found the one that liked a particular gift.  Remember what is a small influence gain on one companion will be a large on another.

This all changes when you get to level 65.  You lose your starting companions and you get others.  Everyone gets the same companions.  So you'll see multiple upper level players from different classes, all running around with the same companion.  I was distraught that I lost my original characters since they had grown on me.  I was unsure I was going to get my favorites back.  I did get two of my companions back with the story line.  Now the creators have put in a terminal where you can get your characters back without having to follow the story line where you "may" get them back.  So I have my original crew back.  All good now and I'm a happy person.

There is one more aspect to companions, however, I'll be saving that for the next blog post.  You'll have to read on to learn more.

The tale of two Jedi...Oops I mean three.

It all started on Alderaan just before it exploded... wait that's not the right story.  Let me start over.  It all started when I decided I wanted to become a Jedi.  I had been watching my partner wield his light sabers and I'm thinking I can do that too.  Also I wanted the chance to romance one of the companions, a smart ass doctor.  But I digress as they say.

When you want to be a Jedi you have a choice between Knight or Counselor.  I'm going to be an knight.  Plenty of women are Jedi Knights.  I can do this.  That's when Raechel was born.  She is a human who happens to look gothy.  Who says you can't be a vampire in Star Wars?

I have my partner who has started a Jedi Knight as well so we can go up the ranks together.  The problem we didn't see is that when you enter an area that is a designated as a class mission, only one person of that class can go in that instance at a time.  I know I just put out a lot of SWTOR babble there.  What it comes down to is I had the choice to do missions separately from my partner (that wasn't sounding like a whole lot of fun) or I could start a new character.  I chose to start a new character.

I still wanted to be a Jedi so I chose a Counselor, then I had to pick if I wanted her to be a DPS (Damage per Second) or a Healer.  Healer it is.  I figured that it would be good to do something else for a change, instead of all the fighting.  Now here's the fun part.  I'm at the computer when my young daughter asks me what I'm doing. I tell her making a character.  "I want to help," she says to me.  I agree.

First the name.  My daughter wanted Teresa.  I couldn't get that one because it was chosen already so I played around with the spelling and I got Teraessa.  Little Bit was not happy with the name.  Why couldn't she have the same name as another character.  People in the non-gaming aka Real World have the same name.  Some of them even have the same last name.  It took some time to explain that it doesn't work this way in the gaming world.  I appeased her by letting her choose my character's looks.  Viola!  I  have a Twi'lek Jedi Sage.

I have to say I've been enjoying playing the Jedi Sage.  I enjoyed it so much that I started another character that is also a Jedi Sage.  My partner and another friend and I were joking around about if you made another character what should you have and what would you name it.  So my partner suggests a Cathar (cat like race) and the name should be Puss in Boots.  I was positive that Puss in Boots was taken, but also positive that I could work it out with spelling.  Now in SWTOR you have the ability to skip levels and make an Upper Level Character.  I went straight to level 65 because sometimes my partner and I can use an upper level healer.  This is how Pooseinboots came to be.  The only thing is when you jump levels like that your character already has the abilities and you don't get to make certain choices.  However, my partner says there should be a way of changing your combat proficiencies, so we'll see hopefully tonight.   Here is my interesting looking Cathar.

Now you  have it all my characters and what they look like.  My next post will be on companions.  What are they?  Why do you need them?  What the hell is going on when my screen goes black?

Ready for Combat

The second character I made was Nav'ida and she's my human trooper.  She has a very large gun and knows how to use it.  She's probably at level 27.

Her story line is quite interesting.  She was selected as part of an elite task force called Havoc Squad.  The leader and all the squad went rogue, all the squad except for my character.  Now I'm traveling the planets and trying to track down the members.  I have one companion who is a Cathar and his name is Aric Jorgan. He's kind of grumpy and we get into it sometimes.  He's a definite soldier.  This character is more straight laced then Lio'eg.  There's not much of an opportunity to be a smart ass but I do get in remarks here and there.  I'm interested in seeing where this story is going to take me.

The Smart Ass Smuggler

Lio'eg is a Torgruta Scoundrel and my first character I ever developed in the game.  She started off as human.  However, when I was able to purchase the Torgruta species, I changed to this. 

Grant it I didn't look like this immediately.  I have changed things over the time since I've been playing.  Of course I've gotten different armor so she's dressing better.  I will have a post on armor in SWTOR.  Trust me that's too much for me to get into right now. 

When you play in SWTOR you have to interact with other characters in your story line.  This is one of the things that really attracted me to the game.  It was more than just killing stuff, there was this whole story.  It was almost like Role Playing.  When you come to a character you have to converse with there is a symbol over his/her head.  You click on the character and the scene starts.  Say you're asked a question.  You will be given three options to pick for your answer.  The trick here is what you read is not necessarily the words that will come out of your character's mouth.

At one point, I don't remember when, but it was early on, I had picked something and I gave the best smart ass remark.  It was better than anything I could have ever come up with.  After that it was my mission to pick the option that would give me the most sarcastic response.  That didn't happen every time.  There were options I picked that I swore would give me a good response and it didn't. Also sometimes I didn't get picked.  My friend's response was picked instead.  This happens when you're playing in a group.  The game might choose your partner instead of your character.

Even so there are those rare moments when you get an absolute doozy.  Case in point, I'm in a medical unit and the NPC says, "Are you going to stick around?"  He was asking me and my Jedi friend plus our companions.  I pick a response that's a little smart but not really all that bad, so I think.  What comes out of my mouth was epic.  My character told the NPC, "I'm sticking around as long as your troops have credits."  (Credits are money in the game)  The Jedi does a facepalm and he and my Wookie companion are saying, "We don't know her" as they back away from me.  

That's Lio in a nutshell.  When it came to fighting it took me a little how to learn to use her weapons and skills properly but I think I have the hang of it.  I do have other characters but I have to say she is my favorite.

In a galaxy far far away

What is this thing you speak of?  This SWTOR?  It stands for Star Wars the Old Republic and as I stated in my previous post it's a MMO.  It's based on the Star Wars Universe. It has characters in it and familiar planets for those that have seen some of the movies.  However, when you're playing the game your about 3000 years in the past.  Jedi were numerous, Alderaan was yet to be blown up by Darth Vader, hell Yoda wasn't even born yet.

When you first start the game you have to choose which side of the force you're on, your species, gender, and class.  Species and gender are self explanatory but what is this class thing.  Your class is kind of like your job.  There are different classes depending on if you're on the light side or the dark.

I found that the hardest part of all this is choosing a name.  You can't have a name like anyone else.  If you want a particular name you have to get creative.  For my first and second character I used the name generator and had it pick for me.  My second two I got creative with names.

 I play light side characters.  I will not go into all the classes and such but I'll let ya'll know what I'm playing.  Here are the characters that I'm playing.  I'm going to give a brief description now and go into more details in a future post.

Lio'eg - Torgruta Scoundrel (Smuggler Class), Level 70 (This is the highest you can go for now)

Raechel - Human Jedi Guardian, Level 18

Teraessa - Twi'lek Jedi Sage, Level 29

Nav'ida - Human Trooper, Level 27

Before I come to an end here I will say the game is free to play.  However, if you pay for a subscription you get perks, such as a monthly allowance of Cartel Coins to buy items in game.  I have a subscription, though started out as a free player because I wasn't sure I would like it.  It's totally worth it to me to pay for a subscription.  I think I'm addicted to the game. 

What's So Special About This Blog?

First a little about myself, I'm not a gamer.  Yes I have played video games in my youth and I still do but I'm not a gamer.  You start talking to me using all the gaming lingo and I'm tilting my head to the right and staring at you.  At this point you are talking to me in a foreign language.  O.k. so I'm not that bad I do understand some of what I'm doing and I'm learning more and more.

The first MMO (massively multiplayer online) game I got into was World of Warcraft, known to gamers as WOW.  WOW was good in teaching me things like how to get around, reading my map, character stats, etc.  It was a good basic game and I enjoyed playing it.  I actually played it up until my WOW buddy had to quit the game.  I tried playing on my own but I found it rather boring.  I gave up on MMOs until I saw a game based on Star Wars.

I am an avid Star Wars fan.  I saw A New Hope in the theaters when I was 8 years old.  My father took me to see it.  The action on the screen had me entranced.  This was the best movie ever in my 8 year old mine.  (Even in my 47 year old mind this is still one of the best movies ever)  So when I heard about the game I wanted to play it but I was afraid playing alone would get me bored and I'd just stop.  For the longest time, I just put the game out of my head.

So in 2015, I'm talking to someone, in another game I play, and we both have a love of Star Wars.  I mention the game and then I take a big leap.  I ask him if he would play the game with me.  Immediately, he tells me he'd love to play with me.  He hasn't been in game with someone in quite sometime and it's certainly more fun playing with someone then alone.  A sigh of relief comes from me and I now have a gaming buddy.

That's how I got started in SWTOR (Star Wars the Old Republic).  So why did I start a blog?  Partly because of my friend.  We're always laughing in the game.  Our biggest laugh is when I see a female character with an absolute great outfit on.  I always say, "Why can't I have that?"  I don't think I can make a blog that's all fashion though.  This one will cover, fashion, game tips for non-hardcore gamers, things we laugh at, and storylines.  That gives you a bit of a hint of what I'd like to accomplish here.  I hope you enjoy reading my blog.  If you do write me a comment or two, please.