Memnir wrote on Dec 27
th, 2011 at 6:14pm:
As much as I hate to pause the Get A Ship When debate - another question, if I may.
The character-building aspect of the game is what is grabbing my interest most. How far can this be pushed? Is there only a very limited number of ways to "customize" one's character and their persona? Say a Smuggler... is there only one or two ways to branch out dialog options per-quest? Are there out-of-quest ways to craft your character? Do these choices really impact how the game runs after they're made? How different can you make each character, even within the same class?
Also - Light Side and Dark Side points: how dramatically do they effect the game and characters? Is it possible for a Jedi to become corrupted enough to become a Sith - or a Sith to become good enough to be a Jedi?
Thanks again, everyone. Reading reviews is one thing - reading what people I know and trust have to say is something else completely. Even if those opinions aren't the same - it's all valuable to me.
First, as far as conversation options, there is usually at least 3, one "nice," one "mean," and one "neutral." There can be more, just like with many of Bioware's other RPGs, you can get the conversation wheel full of choices.
Next, regarding the character builds, you get your base class, and your advanced class. These currently can not be changed. After that, you get a talent point every level starting at 10, which you can use to modify your advanced class (they pretty much took this from WoW, so if you've seen how talents work there, you know how it will work here. Fairly intuitive). Each class has three trees. One is usually a damage tree, another a support tree (tanking or healing, depending on your class), and the third a sort of balanced tree, focusing on your base class abilities (again, this is how things usually seem to work, and some classes like to be different).
Finally, regarding visual customization, gear basically consists of two things: First, you have the item itself. Basically, it is nothing more than a container. Inside the item, you put the mods, which determine how good your gear is. You think that set of level 10 gear you get from the first group mission thingy is the best looking thing ever? Keep it, cannibalize all your new gear for the mods, and stuff them into your old item. This is probably the best thing about the game, I think.
As far as Light Side/Dark Side, a Jedi will never become a Sith in this game. Nor will a Sith become a Jedi. Your training doesn't magically change because you are too nice or nasty, so even if your sith sorcerer goes full light side, you'll continue to spit out lightning. Far as I could see from when I played, some gear has alignment restrictions, and that's about it. Most notably, crystals. Red crystals are evil, and blue/green are good. Luckily, if you already have a crystal loaded in your weapon, you don't lose it when you change alignment (My bounty hunter made a bee line for light side just to test this out). You probably get some kind of bonuses if you get high enough, but I didn't play with the alignment enough to notice anything (only got to about level 1 or 2).