Forum:CT:TOR and video game canon

With the game on shelves for a couple of weeks now, I think it's about time we have this discussion. How are we going to treat the player stories of Star Wars: The Old Republic? In the past it was easier. Whether Jedi Knight or Knights of the Old Republic, it was quite simple to identify the major plot points and operate on the thus-far universally true assumption that the light-side options are always the canonical choices and outcome of the game as a whole. TOR is a more complicated animal. Bioware has crafted a story-driven MMO where it appears that light side choices for Jedi/Republic as well as dark side choices for Sith/Empire are correct. Since this--particularly the Imperial side of the coin--is in direct contravention of how EU gaming canon has been treated in the past, how are we to proceed? Are all the Jedi/Republic plots and victories canon, while the Sith/Empire plots are relegated to the dustbin of BTS? Or should we be treating all character story plot points, both Republic and Empire, as correct canon? -- DigiFluid 19:17, January 5, 2012 (UTC)

Republic only
Only Jedi and Republic quests should be considered canon.

Both sides
Both Republic and Empire quests should be considered
 * 1) For a game with this many hours of gameplay and quests to be considered, I think it would be an absolute shame to throw out half the game based on a principle that was designed around a single-player game experience rather than a multiplay-centric one. Further to that, the only indication we've had so far about the resolution of the Cold War and the Republic/Empire divide is that the time period of the game is when the peace is broken. We have no indication so far as to how it will be resolved; if it's just a matter of the peace being broken and neither side 'winning', then we can't possibly justify one side's plot being more correct than the other. -- DigiFluid 19:17, January 5, 2012 (UTC)

Side quests
Something else I think we should open to discussion is the status of TOR side/non-main-story quests with regards to canon. While some are certainly frivolous and just exercises in...whatever Bioware felt like making us do at that particular time, there are others which add a great deal of depth and texture to the EU at large. But since these are considered side quests and not part of the main story, I think we should discuss how we're going to treat them. I would love to treat them as canon, but I also hesitate at the thought. Since they're player driven, and by their very nature can't be easily slotted into the main class quests, it'll be pretty much impossible to add these into class character pages without either a separate section (say, "other adventures") or sheer guesswork. There is enough to them, though, that it'd be a terrible loss to ignore their content outright. Definitely looking for thoughts and opinions on this one. -- DigiFluid 19:17, January 5, 2012 (UTC)