Between the Lines- Kalikori Village from Star Wars: The Old Republic

So you should know, I am officially addicted to BioWare's MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. I am not just a video game fan, I am also a Star Wars nerd, though I admit not enough of a nerd to bother with the Expanded Universe, as I simply don't have access to the novels, or comic books, etc. But still, I am a fan. Today, however, I want to explore a particular element in the game, a very, very specific setting. This is a look at Kalikori Village.

Kalikori Village is a tiny village located on the planet Tython, the beginner world for the Jedi classes that most players leave behind by the time they are levels 9 to 11. In gameplay terms, the village serves as a mission hub for players levels five to nine. This is the place where you can spend Planetary Commendations, a special type of currency that can only be obtained by passing missions or killing specific enemies, on special, top notch armor that serve you well until you reach about level 13. You can also buy regular weapons and armors, some medicines, and the village serves as a central hub for the planet, as it's a crossroad between the Jedi Temple, the Flesh Raider Territory (a place with weak enemies but lots of missions) and the Ruins of Kaleth (the second to last territory on Tython, and the home of the sole mission that requires more than one person to beat in the planet). 

But what concerns us is the Lore. Kalikori Village is a village of Twi'leks, a race of aliens from the planet Ryloth. The village was founded by several Twi'leks who fled Ryloth because of religious persecution, The Twi'leks petitioned the Galactic Republic to allow them to settle into the planet Tython, a beautiful world of lush greenery, tall mountains, and clean water. But the Republic refused to grant them this permission, because the planet itself was only just recently re-discovered. Tython, you see, was the birthplace of the Force Users, the people who used the Force. The planet was being used by the Jedi Order as their new Headquarters at the time, mostly because, unlike the Twi'leks, they could claim ancestry to the planet (the Jedi Order could trace its beginnings to the planet, after all). Regardless, the Twi'leks still landed on the planet and made their settlement, without the permission or the protection of the Republic.

A Twi'lek male. You can tell it's a male because female Twi'leks don't have ears, they have mounds on the side of their heads where ears would be. Males have ears, though. Image from Wookiepedia, originally uploaded by user Ruthles Xero.

My Thoughts on Jonathan McIntosh, his ilk, and Charlie Hebdo

Two days ago, I wrote a blog on Jonathan McIntosh's stance on the need for games that are "not fun". McIntosh, for those lucky enough to be unaware, is one of the writers for Feminist Frequency, an online video series that offers feminist critique of pop culture. The series has gotten some well deserved infamy for its poor research practices, it's misinformation (Krysta was not going to be the sole protagonist of Dinosaur Planet in spite of what the show claims, in Hitman the player is penalized for killing strippers, not rewarded, etc) it's plagiarism (it's been proven that the show has stolen Let's Play footage and artwork for its Tropes vs Women in Gaming series) among other claims. And I, of course, wrote about his right to say such idiocies. I may not agree with it, but he has the right to say it.

Yesterday, tragedy struck France. A group of Islamist fanatics attacked a newspaper's office, killing eleven people and injuring eleven more. Why? Because the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, continuously runs (yes, I am using present tense) cartoons that can be seen as offensive to religious sensibilities. I have seen some of these cartoons, and in all honesty I can say I can see how anyone, be they Muslim or Christian, can be offended. I will not be pasting any images from Charlie Hebdo, because I try my best to keep this blog Safe for Work. That said, I do not approve of a cover with a cartoon of Muhammed (PBUH) saying "Either you die of laughter or you get 100 whip lashes!" Yes, I know it's in jest, but considering the realities of anti Muslim attitudes in not just France but all of Europe, I question whether the intention was to laugh at Muslims or to push buttons for the sake of pushing buttons. For those not in the know, Charlie Hebdo is a satirical French weekly newspaper,

You may be asking yourself, "what does this have to do with video games?" Well, it has a lot to do with the current cultural debate regarding video games. You have two camps: gamers who wish to play games and allow developers to develop what they want, and authoritarians that wish to limit what developers can do, all in the name of "progressiveness". You have people who complain about misogyny in gaming: they hate how female characters (allegedly) all have one of three roles (Damsel, fucktoy, background character), how they are designed with the male gaze in mind, how there's a shortage of female characters in gaming that are strong and independent, etc. These people call gaming "hostile towards women", and for that they come up with several campaigns to try and make it less so, among them being #1ReasonWhy, a Twitter campaign where several people in game developing gave the number 1 reason why there weren't many women developing games (ignoring the fact that there ARE plenty of women who not only develop games, but they are the heads of their own game companies, proving that there are no real obstacles to women getting into gaming.)

Just for Fun- Games that are Not Fun! Also A Special Message

So recently, our buddy Jonathan "Full" McIntosh, or Josh as we like to call him, called for games that were less fun. See, Josh sees "fun" as feeling powerful, and to him, feeling powerful is a big no no. So just for him, I made a little list of video game ideas that are by no stretch of the imagination "fun", but are instead highly artistic. The following are a collection of art games that I am 100% certain will have the Full McIntosh Seal of Approval!