RPer at Heart?

I have never considered myself a role player in games.  I don't hang out at the cantina, pretending to drink while chatting with other cantina patrons.  I don't usually make up a back story for my characters.  And I don't attempt to write my own version of "fan fiction" based around the adventures of my consular or agent.  Even in WoW, as a Druid who would never attack another Druid and viewed the Moonglade as more or less sacred, I was never an RPer.

That said, with the format employed by SWTOR, I'm finding myself with more of an RP spirit, even if I do not have all the conventional role play trappings.  I think it's because the connection between the player and the character in SWTOR is strengthened by the power of the player to make choices and affect outcomes in the story.  (That and probably the fact I only pick characters to play with whom I can form a connection . . . but that isn't new to SWTOR.)  I can tell myself logically that whatever happens is just pixels and doesn't matter, but when it comes down to it, I find that staying true to my character's values actually ends up being important to me.

Sometimes I will check out the outcomes of each response to a choice and ESC out of it before it completes, just to see the options and figure out which one would really be appropriate for my character.  The other day, I found one situation where each of the three responses brought such disparate results, I was stymied for several minutes before finally committing to one.

Yea, that one.  You can tell which answer I ended up choosing.

All roads might eventually lead to Rome, so to speak, but the scenery can be very different along the way.

I hadn't realized how much of an RP mentality I had developed until I attempted to start the bonus quest series on Alderaan to gain another level and change a class quest to yellow . . . 

Picture this:  I'm running around with Vector, with whom Hikarinoko is romantically involved, and who is trying his hardest to form an alliance between the Empire and the Killiks, and the entire quest chain is about . . . killing Killiks?

Now wait a minute, people.  You've got to be nuts if you think this is going to sit right with either Vector or me.

I started on the first few steps of the quest chain (the ones which didn't actually kill any Killiks), and it became obvious the entire thing was making me terribly uncomfortable.  There was no reason for it, really . . . just that the attachment Hikarinoko has with Vector and the attachment I have with Hikarinoko made me feel as if I was betraying someone's nearest and dearest desires.  Duty as an agent be hanged; I was far more concerned with the relationship between Hikarinoko and Vector.  (Illustration A why it is probably a good idea for an agent to not be involved with anyone.)

And so with a sigh, Hikarinoko told Vector they would just skip the Alderaan bonus series.  After a quick nostalgic look at the mountains of Vector's former homeland, they headed off toward Belsavis.

After all, they're a good enough team to handle orange-level quests.