Ivan the Terrible

Yep. Don't expect any Developer responses until monday....unless one of 'em gets bored and stops by just for the heck of it.

*shrug* Then it wasn't BG3. It was just a new game slapping on the BG name to get extra sales.

BG3? Exactly what more needs to be said about the Bhaalspawn saga? It's OVER, dammit.

These words make me happy. Dark is good.

I'm a bit in two minds about that (the little voice in my head and me), as there are two things they can expand on. One is quantity, sure more is nice, but the other voice prefer better quality. Of course, if we could have both... They've got a good team assembled. I can't understand why they couldn't do both.

/me is hoping some Developer or another sets us straight as to the amount of content (preferably for the better.) It's too late right now, but that quote from Gamespot really worries me. If Fallout 2 had had the same amount of content as Fallout, after using the exact same engine, character models, even music, people would have been annoyed. Myself included. The same applies here.

Say it ain't so! Say it ain't so! If very little new is going to be added engine-wise, then I'd really hope for a massive boost content-wise.

Seconded. The engine is done, the combat system is in place, the graphics set; since none of those things will be improved upon, really, the focus should be on making big worlds full of lots of quests and interesting characters combined with an involving plot. Really, if a game can do that, it's got my money even if they can't give me pink lightsabers or whatever.

Heh. That's stretching things a bit. It's really, really good though. KOTORII will be Great. I never predict a game will be Legendary until I've actually played it; there are just too few actual gaming 'legends' out there.

Why ? "Philosophy is to the real world what masturbation is to sex."

I try not to be a grammar Nazi, but I draw the line when I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Here's an example of 'backstabbing taken to the point of stupidity': On Korriban, if you kill Uthar and then either kill or turn Yuthura, you're met outside by three Sith students. If you proclaim that you're Darth Revan or that you're taking over the school or whatever, one of the students (STUDENTS!) says something to the effect of 'even if it is Revan, we'll kill him and I'LL take over the school!' Ambition is a good thing to the Sith. Being so ambitious that you ignore practical reality crosses that thin line between ambition and stupidity. The same goes for slaughtering your own side in the middle of a battle with the Republic.

Eh. HK-47 was entertaining, but he was pretty much as one note as you can get. Make no mistake, it was a funny one note....but one note nonetheless. An interesting contrast with Torment's comic relief Morte, who really wasn't all that funny but who was much better developed. As for the 'extraneous' dialogue in PS:T, I don't agree; one of the most distinctive features of PS:T for me was the philisophical atmosphere, even if amateur. Obviously, we're not going to have Emmanuel Kant here, so yes, it was basic stuff....but really, it fits well with the mood of Planescape in general, and sets the game apart from 'here's the bad guys, KILL 'EM!', as is practiced in god only knows how many RPGS......KOTOR included. BTW, I also disagree with your assessment of everything after Sigil; Curst was lame, but I loved the Fortress of Regrets....or at least the confrontation with the fragments of yourself. For me, it was the defining moment of the game....especially since I finally got to see the ol' Practical incarnation get what was coming to him for so long.

Ok, lessons to be learned from Fallout 2 (as I see it): - Pop culture references can make for great comic relief. However, if you do 'em too often and they make no sense outside of the context of the game world, they're distracting and annoying. For the love of god please don't turn the final base of the last Sith boss into a parody of the Bush administration, however easy it might be. Thank you. - BUGS! Bugs are bad. Is that a little too obvious to have been stated? Well, I thought the car trunk appearing in locations without the car attached was a little too obvious to overlook. - Freedom of movement = good. I liked the fact that you could wander wherever you pleased, with only a minimum of order. I doubt KOTORII will be as free as all that, but at least try for something resembling it. - NPCs that everyone loves to hate can be as good as NPCs everyone loves to....errrm....love. If you throw in a Myron-like NPC, who has a personality or some trait that everyone loathes, and then give us a chance to eventually kill him.....That's a good thing. - Gamers are not just kids anymore. Many people, including myself, grew up surrounded by video and computer games. We appreciate having a game that isn't afraid to deal with 'mature material.' Again, this is Star Wars, so I'm not expecting prostitutes to line the streets and the Sith to make crude remarks about my grandmother and a well-endowed donkey, but an emphasis on a darker feeling ala Empire Strikes Back isn't likely to backfire on you. - Gamers like to feel like they've had an effect on the world. When KOTOR ended with no mention whatsoever as to what happend on the worlds you visited and changed, it annoyed a lot of people. Give us a Fallout-style scrolling ending describing your character's effect on the world at large, and people will be appreciative. Errrr....that's what comes to mind right now.

Disagree. What if my character was ultra-good but chose to go Dark because he was in love with Bastila? You should never force decisions down people's throats if you can help it.

It's a weakness, but it isn't so much of a weakness that the Sith Empire couldn't stand for 1000 years....as it did. If every other second there was some new Sith Lord blasting away at the reigning Sith Lord, the Sith Empire would've collapsed in upon itself far, far sooner. In short, I think it's a part of the nature of the Sith.....but it's overdone in KOTOR. Obviously, the Sith are working together to defeat the Republic, so they can't be betraying each other all the time.....and an army in the field which routinely fires on it's own troops as some underling gets it in his head that he can take out his commanding officer is an army that would be wiped out without breaking a sweat by the opposition. In a lot of ways, the Sith in KOTOR remind me of the characterization of the Drow in Bioware's Forgotten Realms games, except with one very important distinction: the Drow have specific rules about when and where they can attack each other (no sniping from one house against another, only full-blown attacks that leave no nobles alive), whereas the Sith don't have even that basic structure. Again, I agree that betrayal is the great enemy of the Sith; they turn on each other quite often. But it should be played down a bit, since they obviously aren't betraying each other every other day.

Yeah, you said it first, but he said it quicker.

Maybe they could simply do us a favor and scrap the whole characterization of the sith in the first place ?!? Star Wars doesn't always have to suck you know... Seconded. Enough with the 'Sith being so evil it borders on stupidity' idea; the Sith can be bad guys without backstabbing each other so often they become a joke.

Why bother? The Obsidian folks'll post 'em eventually.

I suspect it'll be like this: Light Side ending: Even with the Sith defeated at the Star Forge, the Jedi were still devastated by the war, with only a handful of survivors. The Star Forge may have fallen out of their hands, and the Sith have been put on the defensive, but the survivors are still a force to be reckoned with, still have plenty of ships and men, and continue their war against the Republic under new leadership (the titular 'Sith Lords', whoever they may be.) Revan, exhausted from the war and the constant fighting, goes into voluntary exile. Maybe something or other will allow the Sith to gain the upper hand again. Hopefully not another 'mega-battle station', but we'll have to see. Dark Side ending: With the Republic fleet nearly annihilated and the Star Forge in his hands, Revan begins to lead the massive Sith armada against the Republic....only to find he isn't the only one to have taken advantage of the chaos following Malek's death. Within the ranks of Dark Jedi, a coup is launched against him, and Revan is driven into exile while these 'Sith Lords' take power. Since the Obsidian folks probably need to get rid of the Star Forge, they could say that Sith ships loyal to these Dark Jedi destroyed the Star Forge, thinking they had plenty of ships and men as it was and hoping to catch Revan on it, but Revan escapes just in time. The Jedi, meanwhile, have been devastated by the war and Revan's defection to the Sith. The Republic is on the defensive, and is on the verge of collapse, but the fighting amongst the Sith lets them catch their breath. Meanwhile, in exile, Revan plots and schemes for his return.....

Heh. Well, wasn't really asking for forgiveness so much as making it clear I retracted what I said before. But, as for the moving on and enjoying life part, it's a deal.

Fallout 2 was good, in a lot of ways....but it was also a disappointment. I like to get involved in the storyline of an RPG, and yet over and over again they jerked you right out of the suspension of disbelief by making Monica Lewinski and Dan Quayle jokes, or by having you openly identify yourself as 'the hero of this game.' Funny? Yes, a lot of times. Distracting? Definetely. Fallout mostly confined it's pop-culture references to either things that made sense in-game or to 'special encounters' that were mostly there for fun. Fallout 2 had them from top to bottom, left to right, all over the place until by the end I was sick to death of them. And I already clarified that I was simply using the two most visible writers of those respective projects as their representatives (since both actively involve themselves in the community), and already pointed out that it was unfair of me. What else do you want me to say?

Then by all means, see if you can find a copy. It should be dirt cheap by now, and if ever there was a game worth a risk, this is it.

Yes, I know; the Master of Bones can kill you, too. Nonetheless, those moments are few and far between and none involve combat.

Ok, first I should warn you: when people like me praise Torment, we aren't praising it's combat system or whatever, 'cause Gromnir is right about that; it isn't very good. In fact, it sucks; since you're immortal (long story, but suffice it to say when you get killed you come right back to life just a short distance away), you can essentially kill a Demigod with a rusty fork if you're patient enough. We're mostly praising it's storyline, it's characters, it's setting, etc. Meaning, if you want great graphics, flashy combat, etc., you'll be disappointed. If you want a great story with excellent writing and many great characters, you'll probably like it. But if you've played Baldur's Gate or Baldur's Gate II, it uses the same engine. That's how it looks. Torment is not for everyone, but if you don't mind a lot of reading in-game, give it a shot.