SWTOR: Companions and the Other

Now to take things to somewhere less serious: a video game. I have long been aware of how the presence of other people impacts how I behave. If someone else is in the room, I won't typically pass gas, laugh obnoxiously, and so forth. If I am talking to someone and a stranger is there, I state things differently in case of offending some bystander's sensibilities. What I didn't expect is how this would carry over in a video game with digital characters. In the new MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), each player is giving a set of companions that can help them out on their journeys. As players make choices--perform certain actions or state certain things--they can impact their companion's "affection" for them. Usually, the impact is negligible, but sometimes the impact is tremendous. I am not sure what this change in affection spells out to in the game; I have not read about it or progressed far enough into the game to know. I expect perhaps one of them could betray/leave you depending on how much they like you, or maybe they will get a stats boost? It is hard to know, but the "points" also adds a dimension to the relationship.

Regardless, as I had a companion with me, I noted that I wouldn't make certain choices that I typically would if they weren't around. I didn't want to "offend" her or hurt our relationship. For actions that I wanted to make despite their feelings, I found that I would send them away on a mission, so that they didn't have to be there for me to make that decision in their presence. I was surprised to find myself caring about the feelings, responses, and reactions of make believe digital characters. This had happen in the past in certain games, such as when I did not want to betray Tali's trust in Bioware's Mass Effect 2, but it has never occurred to the extent that it has an SWTOR. It has brought the impact of "the other" on me far more than I expected, and I applaud the game for adding this level of depth to the game. It is also nice that all of the companions really have different views--you cannot make them all happy with any decision that you make; just as it is with real people.