LogFAQs > #960856291

UltraIchi posted...

Gta

I actually try to go out of my way to avoid hitting pedestrians or otherwise limit collateral damage when I'm playing GTA or Saints Row.

Not so much that I'm overly careful all the time (especially during timed missions, I'm a lot more lax about who might get taken out in the crossfire), but I also don't just indiscriminately murder civilians for no reason, either.



Unbridled9 posted...

As such there is no 'right' choice to make and the 'only' solution is to be an apathetic, self-interested, jerk because any time you try to do anything else it will amount to nothing.

There technically is a right choice, though. What she's trying to explain to you is that what you should be doing is either encouraging people to solve their own problems, thus allowing them to become stronger, or to deliberately solve their problems to make them weak on purpose (and to strengthen yourself).

Basically, conflict breeds strength, so if you help everyone with their problems you're not really helping them, you're just making them weaker, and more likely to have problems again later. Arguably, you could look at it is as a similar philosophy to "Give a man a fish/Teach a man to fish". She's telling you that if you really want to help people, you should stop giving all these people fish and teach them to fish for themselves.

This actually comes into play later on Nar Shadaa - when the dude is talking about his wife who's missing (she's trapped in the Refugee section), you can actually encourage him to be "stronger" in a way that Kreia absolutely approves of, but which still results in the two of them getting back together.



Unbridled9 posted...

You don't even get some statistical advantage by being 'grey' as the best powers are behind the extremes. Meaning your best bet is to effectively tell her to shove it and act like a hero/jerk.

Nah, you're kind of missing the point of her philosophy.

Looking for a statistical advantage is literally relying on the Force. Because that's what the Light Side/Dark Side bonuses represent. And her entire philosophy is that people shouldn't rely on the Force. Because it's a callous, manipulative thing that controls everyone. To truly be free, you need to reject the Force entirely. It's why she's with you in the first place - you're the only one who's ever been able to reject the Force and survive. You're basically the only hope she sees for the future - a galaxy where the Force can die but life can continue without it, free to thrive without an invisible master pulling all the strings.

Essentially, if you develop your skills (something else she encourages you to do), you shouldn't need the stat bonus from being full Light Side or Dark Side. So actively rejecting the temptation is strength, but allowing the Force to shape your behavior so you can benefit from it is weakness.

It's also why Sion and Nihilus exist - they're examples. Sion is showing you what blind reliance on the Force leads to. Nihilus is what you could have become (and technically may still) due to rejecting the Force but still being unable to fully let it go. You need to learn from both, transcend both.

Arguably the real weakness of the game is that Kreia's philosophy isn't represented in game mechanics more effectively or more often, but we could say the same about lots of things (like how you can only really be a thug Sith, not a cunning or manipulative one, which is arguably better in every way).

It also doesn't really help that, canonically, you rebuild the Jedi Order by recovering the "Lost Jedi" and training them, which leads them to refound the order that eventually grows into the order as we see it in the movies, so they can't really tell the story of you learning Kreia's lessons, coming to agree with her philosophy, and trying to murder the Force. Because the future universe doesn't reflect that outcome.