The Snark Side

Let me just warn you right now that I’m going to talk about the current state of companion romancing at level 50 specific to a female Jedi Consular, but probably in general about every romance option in the game at this level. So if you are still avoiding those types of spoilers, please feel free to wander off and entertain yourself elsewhere.

Having never played a Bioware game before (and being a silly girl) I have really enjoyed the whole concept of romancing a companion. I had my little one night stand with Tharan shortly after he joined my crew, but I could tell right away he’d never be my main man. While he is nerdy enough to be appealing, he’s a little high maintenance for my taste. Also, he can’t quite let go of his holo-whore. So as soon as Lt. Iresso (Felix) became available, I began pursuing him.

As anyone who’s playing the game knows by now, you start a potential relationship by just increasing your companions affection for you. In the beginning, this can be accomplished by presenting your companion with some of their preferred companion gifts and winning affection points through conversation choices. I’m not going to get into explaining all of this, because by now everyone should have a good grasp on it. Let’s just move on to the point of my complaint. See, I worked hard at seducing Felix and managed to initiate quite a few BSOCKS until finally I had him so hooked he proposed to me. Of course, I accepted. Then as part of a quest, he went missing and I had to rescue him. It was an emotional reunion since we’re so in love. Over the next several days I received 3 love letters from Felix in my mailbox. And then I hit level 50. And then nothing.

Turns out, now that I’ve completed my storyline (as much as there is available until an expansion) ALL THE STORIES COME TO A GRINDING HALT! For the most part that makes sense and I understand it. I mean, I’ve completed all that’s been released for my character so far. But what baffles me is how suddenly Felix is just right back to being another companion. When I click on him or summon him I just get the same generic dialogue from him that I got long before we began flirting. He’s supposed to be my fiance! Couldn’t they have scripted in a few “I’m right here, baby” or “God I’ve missed you” lines so that there’s some sort of indication that we’re in a relationship? Obviously it doesn’t affect my gameplay at all and I’m not losing any affection with him or anything. It’s just that one of the things I have loved most about SWTOR so far is how completely immersed into the world you become as you’re leveling your character and then you hit 50 and it all just completely vanishes. I expected it on a basic level because I knew repeatable dailies and flashpoints and operations were going to be the majority of my world; but I didn’t expect absolutely every aspect of the game to stall out. It just seems like somehow they could have figured out a way to keep the romantic interactions going to help you stay interested.

However, this is just a minor QQ and it certainly hasn’t spoiled the game or the experience for me. I’m still a happy little Jedi who’s enjoying raiding and everything else I’m doing. All this means is that I really do need to get started on leveling up the alts I’ve created so I can immerse myself into their storylines and work on romancing other men from around the galaxy. In fact, I’ll probably work on Aric Jorgen next, but only once I finally get him out of his mismatched clothes because seriously, he looks like an orphan currently.