Light or Dark?

[Ferus]

I was wondering is it better to play light or dark?

[The Doctor]

It is "better" to do whatever you want.
I prefer LS, though

[Alkonium]

I prefer lightside, playing it that way is calming, while playing dark is very enraging.

[Achilles]

It seems that the devs had an easier time capturing the essence of Light Side play than they did of Dark Side play. That being the case, I tend to find LS more enjoyable, although I occationally play DS for a change of pace.

[StaffSaberist]

Though it is healthy to play DS once in a while (Don't wanna get TOO attached to the characters ) I don't know that you need to go all the way, i.e robbing old men on Taris, trying to kill innocent women, etc. You can reach DS Mastery much faster than LS Mastery, so no need to do those things.

[Klia]

Dark side made me upset and it was harder for me to figure out the subplots of my characters when I just killed off whatever it was that was bothering them.

Light Side was enjoyable for the fact that you learned what was going on in people's minds and they weren't so pissed off at you the whole time.

You could just be good the whole way through up until Bastilla. If you want to be evil, just kill her and there is the evil ending.

That actually pissed me off. I felt a little cheated that that was the deciding factor into all of it. I wish the ending was a little more affected.

[DarkRevan]

I didnt like the darkside that much, you say really mean things and I mean really mean. No one is that heartless. I dont mind joking around and teasing but some of the things you say is just well... evil.

I also think you tend to fight alot if you just want to go flat out evil, so unless you are really good at fighting and winning, you should stick to the light side or at lease universal, I dont mind universal.

[The Doctor]

^ Are you saying that good is weak? That's what I gather from your words:
"...unless you are really good at fighting and winning, you should stick to the light side..."

[DarkRevan]

Originally Posted by The Doctor

^ Are you saying that good is weak? That's what I gather from your words:
"...unless you are really good at fighting and winning, you should stick to the light side..."

Well I dont mean it like that. But I do notice that most of the converstaion that you choose if you are being evil leads to a fight.
But not all the time. I guess somtimes if your good you still have to fight. I'm not saying that good is week. I just notice that you tend to fight alot on the dark side, dependaing on what you say.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Lightside definitely, the story is much more dramatic that way.

[Aayla Secura]

I always preferred the light side. You get to know your campaigns more and it's easier for you to influence them.

[The Doctor]

Originally Posted by DarkRevan

Well I dont mean it like that. But I do notice that most of the converstaion that you choose if you are being evil leads to a fight.
But not all the time. I guess somtimes if your good you still have to fight. I'm not saying that good is week. I just notice that you tend to fight alot on the dark side, dependaing on what you say.

Relax, I was joking around. I know you're not that stupid. Good is far more powerful than evil, as everyone knows. Everyone who counts, anyway (j/k Devon).

[lord ignarn]

Dark side is much easier, since you just have to use the violent way to solve things. But in the Light side you must talk to the people and use the long way (like in the tusken quest in k1). They are different gameplays, the Light is more satisfacting, you feel better. The Sark is just brutal and ruthless.

But after all it´s just a game, and your choice.

[Emperor Devon]

The Dark Side, of course - the Light Side is weak.

[Aayla Secura]

Originally Posted by Emperor Devon

The Dark Side, of course - the Light Side is weak.

Light side is weak? Please! You just don't want to take the time to become a powerful Jedi. Being a Sith is way too easy. All you do is bark order at people and tell them to jump off cliffs.

[StaffSaberist]

To be fair, the DS does have the power to devastate multiple enemies at once. You can't do that if you are strictly LS. However, the Light Side does have powers that benefit you greatly - And the first time a DS user is in Stasis, they'll doubt the DS forever. We need a multiplayer, to end this permanantly.

As Kurgan says, to each his own!

[BattleDog]

The Light Side is far harder, if you take the quick and easy path you become a servant of evil.

[Aayla Secura]

Well, it does make the game long lasting if your light.

[MrVorlon]

Lightside. It feels better, and I can get Bastila to love me and say, "I love you." At least it's more likely that she really means it on Lightside.

Lightside also forces me to get over my inherent cheapness and spend money to save the wretched citizens of this harrowing and depressing galaxy that George Lucas created.

[Aurora Merlow]

Always lightside. Just don't enjoy playing as an evil character

[Vladimir-Vlada]

Always lightside. The evil deeds are equal to war crimes at the fact how wrong they are. (i.e. Robbing a poor old man, Repeating the Romeo and Julliet act, Killing an innocent woman and so on)

[Robb Stark]

Whoever said that the developers captured the essence of being a LS Jedi much better is exactly right. Most of the DS acts are extreme and unnatural and require you to detach yourself from your character in order to play. In otherwords, it's pretty much impossible to truly role-play a DSer because the acts you have to do are so cruel and inhumane that few people actually would willingly make those decisions. What I think is missed in KOTOR1 that is done better in TSL is that there are many ways to be evil, and few of them require you to shake down some unlucky guy on the street for some extra credits and then kill them. Arrogance and threats, pushing people around not for the credits but to demonstrate your power over them, back-stabbing and engineering plots to cause havoc and desolation are more believable and natural acts for a powerful evil person. I mean, how stupid did you think it was when Darth Bandon shows up and force pushes some noname soldier into the equipment causing an explosion and killing him? You wouldn't see Darths Malak, Maul, Tyranus, Vader, Sidious, etc. doing that just for kicks. When you're evil and powerful, people that low on the totem pole are beneath your worth or notice unless they personally mess up.

The biggest unfortunate affect of playing DS is that you tend to favor the "Maybe I'll just kill you instead" option and miss a lot of the story, character development, and history. You should definitely play LS first, and then DS for a change of pace, to see what other options you have, and for amusement. Because if you can detach yourself from your DS character, the DS acts and responses from your party members and the other characters you mess with are quite humerous. For example: after you kill Jolee, Juhani, Mission, and Zaalbar and board the Ebon Hawk for the Star Forge, "Darth" Bastila receives the transmission from Admiral Dodonna and Master Vandar and Dodonna relates how they are being slaughtered by the Sith. Bastila turns to your character with an amused look and your character gives an evil smile and shake of the head that is pure hilarity.

Also DSers have the more powerful Force powers. I find that most of the LS powers are a waste for my style of play because their affects just don't last long enough to make them useful in pitched battles...the Aura and Valor lines in particular. Only the Heal powers really trump any DS powers substantially IMO. Insanity=Stasis Field, Force Storm=(almost)Destroy Droid (actually Force Storm seems to work better for me vs. droids). And the DS mastery bonuses of +1d8 damage for Guardian and Immunity:Poison for Sentinels are IMO better than the +3 STR (given that most people will use their DEX bonus for their Attack Roll) and +3 Con repectively for LS (LS Consular bonus is much better though). LS makes up for these deficits however by having the better items. Circlet of Saresh and the Star Forge Robes plus the Solari crystal are generally far better than the DS options.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Originally Posted by Robb Stark

how stupid did you think it was when Darth Bandon shows up and force pushes some noname soldier into the equipment causing an explosion and killing him?

Oh that moment made me laugh because it was just so silly. I really don't think its good policy to start throwing people into random control panels on the bridge of a starship.

[MrVorlon]

Originally Posted by Robb Stark

Arrogance and threats, pushing people around not for the credits but to demonstrate your power over them, back-stabbing and engineering plots to cause havoc and desolation are more believable and natural acts for a powerful evil person. I mean, how stupid did you think it was when Darth Bandon shows up and force pushes some noname soldier into the equipment causing an explosion and killing him? You wouldn't see Darths Malak, Maul, Tyranus, Vader, Sidious, etc. doing that just for kicks. When you're evil and powerful, people that low on the totem pole are beneath your worth or notice unless they personally mess up.

Not to mention he could have destroyed all the computers on the bridge and pushed back Malak's war plans by as much as a week.

DS = Dumb Side. Even Malak goes the route of total destruction. He destroyed Taris because it was taking too long to find Bastila. He even killed a ton of his own troops and equipment. He made winning the war just a bit more difficult. Thugs should never be in command of a war effort.

My favorite DS effort in K1 is not the mindless slaughter and mayhem. I like to push events towards an unhappy ending. Too few of those here. My favorite is having the Sandral/Matale feud end in blood. Then I lie about it to Master Vandar and blame it on rogue Mandalorians. I love pushing and prodding the Matales and Sandrals to kill each other. Just to get from "Father, Mr. Sandral, Nurik, Ahlan...." to them all dying is worth the effort. Bioware has got some wickedness in their programmers.

[90 SK]

Originally Posted by MrVorlon

DS = Dumb Side. Even Malak goes the route of total destruction. He destroyed Taris because it was taking too long to find Bastila. He even killed a ton of his own troops and equipment. He made winning the war just a bit more difficult. Thugs should never be in command of a war effort.

Malak had some really comical parts in KotOR. I always got a kick out of when he'd do that laugh, and clutch his stomach. He does it when he force pushes Carth, which is understandable, but at the end when he goes off on a tirade about how Revan will be "crushed by the true power of the Star Forge!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!" *side clutch* Naturally, during this sequence he's talking to himself. Ugh. And people complain about not being able to understand Nihilus.

[MrVorlon]

Originally Posted by Skye

Malak had some really comical parts in KotOR. I always got a kick out of when he'd do that laugh, and clutch his stomach. He does it when he force pushes Carth, which is understandable, but at the end when he goes off on a tirade about how Revan will be "crushed by the true power of the Star Forge!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!" *side clutch* Naturally, during this sequence he's talking to himself. Ugh. And people complain about not being able to understand Nihilus.

He's a classic supervillain. Laughing at his own jokes. Talking to himself. Monologuing during a fight. Straight up right out of a comic book he is. I love him! If he had a face, he'd have a moustache he would twirl while torturing Bastila.

[90 SK]

I know! No wonder he had his jaw cut off.

In fact, that's one of the things I adored about TSL. The villains were so detached from the norm. Sion was the most generic out of all of them, and even that's a stretch. I mean, even the approach to the villains was different. Just look at

spoiler:

Traya. We know all about her. I mean, she teaches the exile everything! Not to mention she was a female Sith Lord. It was a refreshing change.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Originally Posted by Skye

He does it when he force pushes Carth, which is understandable

Heh, Carth made a real ass out of himself on that one. I mean he fights with Jedi all the time, and the first thing he does when he sees a Sith Lord is he tries to SHOOT him...

Almost as bad as that brave Admiral that tried to take on Revan during Bastila's attack on the bridge. What are these people thinking?

[StaffSaberist]

K1 people are idiots, sometimes usually most of the time.

You know what's retarded?

spoiler:

Bastila tries Stasis on HK-47 on the Star Forge

[MrVorlon]

Originally Posted by StaffSaberist

K1 people are idiots, sometimes usually most of the time.

You know what's retarded?

spoiler:

Bastila tries Stasis on HK-47 on the Star Forge

Uh-oh. I may have missed something when playing. When do Bastila and HK-47 fight?

[StaffSaberist]

They don't. HK was in my party. You know how she puts them in stasis before the fight? Well, HK was in my party at the time. There isn't an animation, so it kinda shows a Stasis field, and HK moves his head back and forth, unfrozen.

[mogga]

play both multiple times
cant go wrong there

[The Doctor]

^Almost everyone does that, I think (except die-hard allignmentists - I know it's not a word). But you're right, doing both gives you a better understanding of the game, and is more enjoyable.

[MrVorlon]

Originally Posted by StaffSaberist

They don't. HK was in my party. You know how she puts them in stasis before the fight? Well, HK was in my party at the time. There isn't an animation, so it kinda shows a Stasis field, and HK moves his head back and forth, unfrozen.

Right right. How silly of me.

HK sucked as a bodyguard. He should have rushed in their after Revan since he wasn't frozen. Guns blazing and all. R2D2 would do it for Luke. That was so funny though. I guess Bioware never thought anyone would use HK. Those clowns.

[Hallucination]

There is no better side. The game is all about the story, and you need to do both sides for the whole story.

[Aayla Secura]

Well, it really depends on how you want the game to go. If you want to go throught it fast and you don't care what people have to say; pick the Dark side. If you want to take your time and learn about everyone; pick the Light side. Or you can just say whatever you want to say and do whatever you want to do and end up where ever. So it depends on what you want.

[Cygnus Q'ol]

There are benefits and disappointments in both sides.

Lightside alignment requires more conversational interaction and moral stances. This path also limits your credit potential, thus limiting possession of certain items earlier in the game, thus changing how you proceed.

Dark alignment requires ferocity and emphasizes needless slaughter to gain wealth and power. However, this path is quick to the end and many opportunities for XP are eliminated.

I've enjoyed both alignments, for different reasons.

[The Source]

Originally Posted by Ferus

I was wondering is it better to play light or dark?

I do enjoy playing the Lightside... I had only one very rewarding experience, but not the only fun experience, which I was a Sith Lord: Consular. If you choose a high Wisdom and (Somthing else, which I can't think of at the moment.), you can unlock a lot of Episode IV,V, & VI dialogue, which matches the relationship between the Emporer (Kreia) and Vader (Exile). However, you have to choose your dialogue very carefully. If you go to the darkside with logical selections, and not just killl everything in site, you unlock a whole new game. Kreia actually praises your downfall, and Visas becomes a sort of 'Dark Apprentice'. You can pick on Atton, and Visas and Kreia watch over him like a hawk.

At the end, it is all about self preference.

[Mace MacLeod]

They both had their plusses and minuses, but I liked being dark side slightly more for one good reason: it finally gets rid of Carth. I would dearly loved to have been able to kill him--of all the party members in either KOTOR game, he was by far the most annoying/useless, IMHO. Honestly, his whining about trust issues got so aggravating that I just left him on the ship except for when I HAD to have him as a party member. I didn't even know he had his own sidequest until after I had beaten the game LS/DS several times, and went online for a walkthrough guide just for the sake of completeness.

[Vibro]

Originally Posted by Hallucination

There is no better side. The game is all about the story, and you need to do both sides for the whole story.

All though going LS does give you more time on the game.