Ivan the Terrible

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Yeah, I know, the latter comment directed mostly at Drakron.

Yes, these are all just ideas taken from D20 which don't entirely fit, so tweaking would be neccesary. But let's not throw out the baby of the 'Lure of the Dark Side' with the bathwater of potential imbalancing.

True, but remember how Sith like Vader compensated? Armor, equipment, etc. that boost their physical stats. Even if he was withered husk, inside his armor he was powerful. Just provide Dark Side-only equipment....masks, robes, etc.....that enhance physical properties to make up for the decline. Especially if that equipment makes them look even more inhuman; that's a nice touch. Besides, I'm not talking about plunging into all 3s for the physical stats. Just a point lost here and there to show that the Dark Side is taking it's toll in exchange for the faster advancement. If anything, Consulars will suffer the worst from the decline in physical stats. It's bad enough having a Constitution of 8, but if that plunges two or three points because of my body withering.... Really, I think your main argument is not against my suggestion but against the imbalance of force powers in KOTOR, with Dark Side Guardians getting no physical boosts while Dark Side consulars get all the good offensive powers. The support comes from mood rather than gameplay. To become Dark is much easier than to hold true to Light.....and once the Dark Side has you, it's difficult to break free from it.

Some ideas: - Like Darque said, a 'call on Dark Side' power or equivalent available to your character. Use it, and it boosts your force powers considerably for a brief time (or, alternatively, just a single stat or force power you really need at the time)....and in return gives you a Dark Side point. The farther you fall to the Dark Side, however, the weaker it becomes until it disappears altogether....the Dark Side has claimed you. - Withering of physical stats. When one reaches Dark Side 'mastery', the three physical attributes should be significantly reduced as the Dark Side eats away at your body. - In compensation for this, lower experience points needed to advance in level for Dark Side characters.....at least at first. 'Quicker' and 'Easier', remember? - MANY more Light Side points needed to emerge from the Dark than Dark side points needed to sink from the Light. The D20 system of 'Dark' characters doesn't work without stripping the character of free will, but it should always be much easier to go Dark than to go Light. If I can ever find that FREAKING SITH SOURCEBOOK, I'll offer some other ideas.

I wouldn't go that far; after all, if you make it so the Dark Side eventually becomes weaker than the Light, Dark Siders will bitch up a storm. However, if I remember correctly from D20, some of your physical stats (strength, dexterity, constitution) start to wither if you go deep enough into the Dark Side. KOTOR just showed this graphically; it might be interesting if this 'withering' had an effect in-game beyond appearances in the sequel.

One thing that was noticeably different between KOTOR and the D20 game is the nature of Dark Side vs. Light Side. In KOTOR, the two are measured evenly; one becomes 'Light Side' by performing lots of good actions and one becomes 'Dark Side' by performing lots of evil actions. If you want to give up being 'Dark Side', you just have to act like a goody-good for some time, and vice versa. By contrast, in the D20 game, the Dark Side doesn't just sit around waiting for you to perform evil actions. It entices you into them. You can call on the Dark Side to empower you when you're hard-pressed in combat, or to enhance one of your force powers, in exchange for a Dark Side point; the baby steps that eventually lead you over the cliff, essentially. The Dark Side is 'easier'; it allows for more power in the short-term, and in the long term starts collecting it's due by withering away your body and enslaving you more and more. Once you fall completely to the Dark Side, it takes a monumental action of redemption to bring you back. Would the game benefit from showing this better? For example, being able to call on the Dark Side for more power in a particularly tough situation in exchange for another Dark Side point? Withering your physical attributes as you fall deeper into the abyss (beyond just turning all pale and veiny)? Should it be more difficult to return to the Light Side once you've gone 'evil' enough? After all, walking the path of the Light is difficult, while giving in to the Dark is oh so easy....

Bite your tongue. NOTHING tops Anomen for being a misguided romance; how anyone at Bioware thought people would find that tight-ass attractive is beyond me.

They were very subtle. One of them is even questionable as a romance, though there's an obvious undercurrent of attraction. Since the Lady in question is a Succubus, however, it remains unspoken throughout the game. The other isn't quite as subtle; it mostly manifests as Annah getting pissed off every time you flatter another woman or (God forbid) try and hire a prostitute. It isn't until later in the game that it comes to anything, and even then it isn't much. I think what he likes is that both of these romances are mostly absent of traditional cliches. You never find yourself wincing at anything your character says or their characters say.

With precisely 100 votes, this is how it breaks down: 77% are FOR Romance in KOTORII, to one extent or another 12% Don't care 11% are AGAINST romance, to one extent or another Moreover, nearly half of all voters think Romances in KOTORII are VERY important to the game. I think it's fair to say 'the ayes have it.'

Three more votes and we'll be able to put an easy percentage on things....not that it matters. Almost 3/4th of the forum has shown themselves in favor of romances....most of them STRONGLY in favor. OBSIDIAN DESIGNERS! If you're out there, I think the people have spoken. Appease them and the world shall be thy oyster. Spurn them and thy company shall BURN.

That was what I liked about it. Way more subtle than the blatant "Nice dress, lets have sex" attittude in Kotor1. FFG never openly said anything, but left you second guessing whether she even cared about you or not (the hard to get, mystary woman thing). Ok, so I prefer sophisticated women, shoot me Thats the type of npc relations I ws hoping for in Kotor2 Yeah, it was pretty subtle. I'd hesitate before calling it a 'romance', though. She obviously ends up showing that she cares for you at the Fortress of Regrets (both by willingly dying for you and by saying she'll track you down no matter how long it takes)....but then that could just be really, really strong friendship.

You wind up kissing her, if you ask her about what Ravel said in the maze. What makes you think Fall-From-Grace was the romance option? I never got any romance dialogues with her.

they did a lil more then kiss ill bet :ph34r: If they did, you never hear about it in game. I would've preferred a Fall-From-Grace romance. I never once suspected she was a man. Plus she was much better looking.

So far as I can remember, the only NPC travelling companion 'love interest' in a Black Isle game was Annah (do I include the characters you marry in Fallout 2 and then usher into a variety of horrific fates? No. No I don't.) To say that was an unsatisfactory romance was putting it mildly. Even if she doesn't possess male genitalia. One kiss and you never hear a word about it again. I think they can do better, but the track record isn't so hot so far.

No, no, no, my friend. If Vader were more powerful than the Emperor....well, the Emperor would've been dead a lot sooner. That's the way the Sith work. Palpatine was incredibly powerful. He just rarely needed to use that power, seeing as how he was Emperor of the Galaxy. He let his Apprentice do the dirty work for him.

My vote now goes to Palpatine. Where all the others failed, he succeeded; he forged an Empire that ruled the Galaxy. Alas, his troops were overwhelmed by carebears; he REALLY should have trained his soldiers better.

I was Turkish Delight. I didn't post much.

I remember reading an interview with the writers of the novelization of Planescape: Torment. When asked if they had played the game, one of them said something to the effect of 'We don't have time to play video games!' Needless to say, or so I've heard, the novelization had nothing to do with the game and was a complete atrocity. Translation: I'm very glad to see the designers of KOTOR II have played KOTOR at least once. Danke.

Seconded.

According to Oxford: gore n. blood shed and clotted [Old English, = dirt] Not sure if that was any help, but thats what the dictionary says And, for the record, gore would be rather out-of-place in a Star Wars game....even a 'darker' one. As much as I would love to see blood spray like soda from a shaken can every time my lightsaber hits a Sith soldier, I think we can leave that sort of thing for Kill Bill.

Could he pop in with various witty anecdotes in the middle of combat, and have an amusing personality quirk to make the player giggle like a schoolgirl!? I'm all for it, baby.

Now that the cat's out of the bag and we can all openly acknowledge KOTOR II, I'd be curious to see. I'd very heavily wager that anyone involved in the design has played the original at least once in order to get a feel for the characters and the storyline....though probably nowhere near as often as some of the more fanatical fans.

Exactly. Darth Vader didn't have to kick puppies to show he was The Man. Honestly, they even said it in game, on Korriban: "I don't know why so many people seem to think 'Dark Side' and 'Hooligan' are the same thing."