The official announcement by Sean Dahlberg and the aforementioned news-bit by Now Gamer both highlight a very curious sidebar about the Imperial Agent. That interesting bit of info is that the Imperial Agent's basis does not lie in an immediately recognizable character from the Star Wars universe. The influences for the class are listed as Zam Wessel and Grand Moff Tarkin - two folks which, if you're not as deep into the Star Wars lore as some, you might not identify right away.
While you would think that the lack of comparison to a known "iconic" Star Wars character might hurt the appeal of the Imperial Agent, I think that it works in its favor. Reading up on Zam and Tarkin, the Agent appears to be a blend of cunning soldier and manipulative mastermind, a speculation readily supported by the timeline's entry about the Agents' role in the rebirth of the Mandalorians (entry 4, 14 BTC, "The Empire Changes Strategy"). The first screenshots for the class appear to display a career that will be able to play a variety of roles, from scout, to long-distance attacker, to stealthy spy.
Just as Imperial Agent subterfuge allowed the Mandalorians to become a power to challenge the Republic, so too do I think that the Agent class itself will subtly work its way into the hearts of many potential TOR players. While other classes are readily identified with a major character in the Star Wars universe, the lack of recognition for the Agent could mean that players will be able to play the career with a greater degree of flexibility, free of the pressures of Star Wars lore.
Either way, the Agent class probably won't be as heavily played as Jedi Knights and Sith Warrior,and those that do play this exciting class will probably do so without the same level of fanfare - but I don't think the Agents themselves would have it any other way.
As for the title, Imperial Agents are obviously going to be allowed to be both male and female, but I honestly couldn't resist the song reference. It's a good one, by the way - you ought to give it a listen
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Posted 11/10/2009 7:33:34 PMAlso, everyone seems to focus on the weapons for the comparison of the classes but I think a better predicter is how they play defense. I don't think there will be mirrors per se, but if there are, jedi and sith are obvious (lightsaber for defense/parries/deflections and able to wear all types of armor); then you have Troopers and BH's who both can wear heavy/medium/light armor and primarily fight from range; and now we have the imp agent and smugglers who appear to wear mostly light to maybe medium armor and we know one for sure uses cover.
The only soldier iconic to the bad guys in SW movies or lore are droids really. And I really don't see them making the 4th class for either side another heavy armor high defense type. You already have jedi/sith who clearly can soak up dmg whether it be thru saber defense or armor. And you have Troopers and BHs who the Devs have clearly stated wear heavy armor or less. Just from a balance standpoint I doubt they'd introduce a 4th sith class that wears heavy armor as well.
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Posted 11/9/2009 4:02:50 PMAnd you are right Bzrk, Imperial refers to the political establishment, while Sith refers to the anti-jedi organization that played the role of puppet-masters in the Empire. We just like to use Sith to refer to one side because calling them the Empire sometimes confuses us with Palpatine's Empire. Why couldn't they just call themselves the Galactic Liberation Army or something, because then we can go back to our Command and Conquer days and call them the GLA.
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Posted 11/9/2009 3:54:16 PMAs far as talent trees, it is always possible these are hints at the talents for these classes. I look forward to playing as an Agent, and I will likely go for the long-distance role. If it is any indication of other Bioware games in development, Dragon Age:Origins shows an interesting talent system that allows for many branches and hybrids. There are about three or four areas for each class, followed by two specializations that can be chosen out of four.
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Posted 11/9/2009 12:53:37 AM- View User Profile
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Posted 11/8/2009 9:59:27 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 11/8/2009 9:32:37 PM- View User Profile
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Posted 11/8/2009 9:27:33 PM