Daniel Erickson Shares More Insight on The Sith

In a thoughtful forum post, BioWare's Lead Writer, Daniel Erickson, expanded on a subject he touched on in our interview and again with Ars Technica: the misconceptions people may have about the Sith as the "bad" side of the galactic struggle of dominance.

An interesting thread. I always like to see what responses the philosophical discussions provoke. Hopefully people noticed that there were no quotes from me saying the Sith were good -- even the interviewer ended on it being an excuse to unleash ones hate. It was a clever title masking a more complex truth, which is that morality is shaped by culture and people. Genocide, slavery, human sacrifice and more horrific wars against people who have different beliefs than can be easily counted have all been part of the human experience and to my knowledge not one culture has ever stood up and said "We're doing this because were terrible people."

More after the jump.
If you were raised in a culture that believed that an all-knowing god chose one man to rule over all others and passed that right through their bloodline, it would not seem odd, evil or tyrannical to you that there was, in fact, a king who fulfilled that role. Similarly if you were raised to think an entire group of people were marked as superior by their abilities (the Force in the case of the Empire) as to be above the law in the same way it would seem as natural as the aristocracy did for thousands of years of human history. If you were one of those privileged people and were taught to embrace your most base emotions, to take whatever you could grab by strength of arms or scheme and wit, that it was your ambition and lack of restraint that brought you freedom and purity

You see where I'm going with this. Its important to realize that while no amount of a dark side embracing Sith justifying himself to us (if for some reason you could get one to deign to do so) would convince us that he was a good person (he is after all pro-hate and pro-murder along with being anti-restraint), he does not see himself through our filter or he could not be who he is. Nor does the Empire as a whole see itself as the Republic sees it. If it did any stories told from that side would lack depth or compelling drama. "So, Darth Evil, it seems like were in the wrong here..." "Yes, Admiral. We are. Were very bad people. My mother is extremely disappointed in me."

Storytelling is about conflict and the conflict between ideologies and cultural perspective gives us some of the richest material to work from.

Comments

  • Nagualo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #22 Nagualo Posted 3/24/2010 12:48:14 AM
    The fact is that we're dealing with polarities. There are people everywhere who use power. Some use it as a gift to others, and others use it as a gift unto themselves. All run the risk of allowing the ego to contaminate the gift that we are all given.

    Nuaua Ahetepau...Jedi Consular
  • Jerak's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 15
    #20 Jerak Posted 3/23/2010 9:22:40 PM
    I'm glad this man is the lead writer since he seems to know what he's doing. Always love the interviews with Daniel.
  • darthuser567's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 133
    #17 darthuser567 Posted 3/23/2010 8:00:04 PM
    TL:DNC Onto mechanics soon... story is already handled since the beginning of their website. Sith vs Republic... not going to get anymore complicated people.
  • RogueJedi86's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 3,411
    #21 RogueJedi86 Posted 3/23/2010 10:12:41 PM
    Mechanics were covered in the GDC Hands-On With Trooper:
    http://darthhater.com/2010/03/15/gdc-trooper-hands-on-tor-game-play-impressions/
  • darthuser567's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 133
    #23 darthuser567 Posted 3/24/2010 5:15:57 AM
    Believe me.. I talk to the gang a lot and learned details through their personal experience but the GDC event didn't demonstrate the pvp system and player vs player combat. It is more of the pve, open-world, quest-oriented demo than what I am refering to. Sure it brought a glimpse of it, but it does not explain numbers behind it. Mechanics = number, formulas, etc. Demo showed how it "feels" like, not the true numbers to it.
  • ArcherAvatar's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 554
    #16 ArcherAvatar Posted 3/23/2010 6:14:57 PM
    Any concepts of "Good" or "Evil" that are taken out of a purely philosophical discussion are the products of immature and lazy minds seekiing to brand the "other."

    This has been proven repeatedly throughout history and is simply a fact.

    Reality is a subjective perspective that is instantly and irrevocably tainted by the experiences and views of the observer...

    Having said that... whichever side I happen to be on at the time I still maintain that; "You evil bastards are gonna git wat's comin' to ya!"
  • Trindacut's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #9 Trindacut Posted 3/23/2010 2:05:04 PM
    Incredible. I've been on the fence when it comes to my chosen class come release, mainly because I can't choose between Empire and Republic. This has almost decided it for me. It's nice to see such an in-depth understanding of Evil. :)
  • GoHann's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 295
    #8 GoHann Posted 3/23/2010 1:35:22 PM
    Bioware can take there sweet little time on this game, because I know it's going to be Epic! And I really want a well polished game once I get it in my hands. hehe :) This again just goes to show that they really are putting everything they can into it.
  • Evel's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 284
    #7 Evel Posted 3/23/2010 12:59:57 PM
    Excellent read. Gives me much more faith in the story aspect to have an intelligent individual behind the wheel.
  • Savich's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 85
    #6 Savich Posted 3/23/2010 10:41:28 AM
    Very good read.
  • mikeamendola's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 103
    #4 mikeamendola Posted 3/23/2010 6:13:32 AM
    I'm glad that Daniel Erickson can clear that up. The Sith aren't that bad once you get to know them LOL.
  • Infamous's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 82
    #3 Infamous Posted 3/23/2010 5:35:13 AM
    The pancakes! They are so delicious!
  • JediJoeK's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 75
    #2 JediJoeK Posted 3/23/2010 4:59:02 AM
    Very cool... Still going Republic though :)
  • JediCosmin's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 287
    #5 JediCosmin Posted 3/23/2010 6:22:41 AM
    Same here. Now we just have to worry about killing "good" sith :P

    In any event, if we take a look at the story from Daniel's perspective, then we can expect a lot of emotional conflicts within the game, which will make things very interesting.
  • Zoid's avatar
    Dark Councilor
    • Posts: 656
    #10 Zoid Posted 3/23/2010 2:11:46 PM
    I feel bad for you two, my general feeling is "We're very bad people. My mother is extremely disappointed in me." I'll gladly kill you without even asking what faction you are, let alone alignment.
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