Ivan the Terrible

I totally disagree. I couldn't even finish Torment where I've complete KoToR twice(started a lot more times). KoToR is the only game I've complete in a long time. Usually I get to a point where I'm bored and I know it is only a matter of sitting there long enough and I'll complete the game. That is about the time I quit and never touch the game again. It was KoToR's story that had me wanting to finish the game. For me if this game lives up to nothing else it has to live up to the story of KoToR. Heck KoToR has had a better story than the last two SW movies. While I find this teams work good they lack something that Bioware seems to have. I can't really say what it is, but it has been just missing in all their games. I bought Fallout 1&2(only completed 1), Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape. I got bored on all except Fallout and only completed because I was bored. They start great concepts, but they just can't follow through with the game/story. I have to say while KoToR2 sounds good(like the others did) I really have my doubts. They don't suck, they just don't live up to their potential. I think this is a case of 'to each his own.' You thought Torment was boring; I thought it was fantastic. Really, what else can be said?

Actually, I've never played IWD2, but I'd say Fallout 2 does a good job of showing Herr Avellone's mortal failings. The whole game is one gigantic freaking pop culture reference, which gets stale quick. In his defense, though, New Reno is the best area of the game. And like I said above, I should be more fair; I used Avellone and Gaider as the representatives of their projects because they're the most recognizable names and because Gromnir characterized Torment as Chris Avellone's baby, but that's a disservice to the rest of the writers for both games.

"ask 100 folks who the best character in ps:t was. will see morte and annah and tno and the transcendent one get mentioned... you will even see votes for fall from grace, and she is one of those unfinished and half-baked characters that we was mighty disappointed with. far down the list you may see ravel mentioned. even so, ravel is the one ps:t character we would stack up 'gainst jolee." And Jolee is the one KOTOR who could stack up against any one of the solid PS:T characters. I was impressed with Jolee, but his associates are 'Waahh! The Sith killed my family!' Carth and 'Waaah! The Jedi took me from my daddy!' Bastila. Put simply, if you put the whole set of Torment NPCs against the whole set of KOTOR NPCs, the Torment NPCs would win a decisive victory in regards to interesting backstory and....well, non-annoyance. "korriban were also better developed and better written than a number of areas in ps:t." If you put the strongest areas in KOTOR up against the weakest areas in PS:T, then sure, you're bound to find KOTOR winning. Nevertheless, if you put the strongest areas of PS:T up against the strongest areas of KOTOR, KOTOR loses hands down. "furthermore, as much as chris a was clearly the lead writer and soul of ps:t, he didn't write ps:t all by his lonesome. hell, many of the really good ideas for ps:t was characters, place and situations lifted from underused planescape supplements." Yes, I should be more fair and say 'The KOTOR writing team, as a whole, has nothin' on the Torment writing team.' Since you were characterizing Torment as Chris Avellone's baby, I was putting him in competition with the most recognizable writer of the Bioware team, as individuals representative of their respective projects. I don't mean to suggest that both of these writers dominated those projects.

Black Isle made some great games in their time, but like all games, they had their strengths and faults. For the CRPG Fanatics out there who have played most or all of Black Isles games, what lessons do you think they should take from each game to make KOTORII more enjoyable? I'll start with Fallout and post more tommorow; feel free to add your own for whatever Black Isle game Fallout - Balancing is a good thing, and no one likes to spend the last part of a game effortlessly killing everything in sight - It sucks when one has just done something to drastically change the game world and no NPCs acknowledge it - Time Limits = bad - Small game world = bad - Having intelligence change your dialogue options = good - Many people, including myself, LOVED the idea that the game could be completed without harming a single thing (errr....directly.) This is Star Wars, of course, so I'd wager that's not probable this time around....but being able to convince the 'Big Bad Guy' that his plan won't work and thereby avoiding the final fight is a PLUS, make no mistake about it. That's off the top of my head. Be back tommorow.

Agree, for the most part....but to be blunt, Dave Gaider is no Chris Avellone. The writing in Torment was much better than the writing in KOTOR, the characters much more three dimensional, and the general feel much more mature. It wasn't as good graphically, and it certainly wasn't as popular, but Torment outclasses KOTOR in every area that really counts. Again, this is why I say I'm actually more confident in KOTORII now that it's in Obsidian's hands. Bioware has made some great games, but if KOTORII is even half the game Torment was, it's going to blow the original out of the water.

It sounds like, rather than doing this or going the 'all endings happened' route, they're letting you choose at the beginning of the game how things played out. So, for example, you get to decide whether Revan was a man or a woman, and whether he/she became a Sith or stayed a Jedi.

Worry not, worry not. Obsidian is the successor company to Black Isle studios.....the Black Isle studios that made the Fallouts and Planescape: Torment, which are considered some of the finest RPGs ever made. And as to why it's not taking as long: 1) They've been working on it since before they announced it. I think I heard since KOTOR was released? 2) They're working with an engine, combat system, etc. that's already been created. In point of fact, I'd say I'm MORE confident that Obsidian will deliver a great product than if it'd been in Bioware's hands. Planescape: Torment is my favorite game of all time, Fallout and Fallout 2 amongst my top 25. There is very, very little to worry about, IMHO.

That way leads to the Dark Side. You will be able to go beyond Level 20 in KOTOR2: TSL. Has anyone ever told you you're a sexy beast? Well, now I'm telling you. Thank you for boosting the level cap.

Were you really hurting for more power at the end of KOTOR, when you were tossing around Sith like ragdolls? Geez.

My sentiments exactly. Jeremy Soule is overrated. He's made a few good pieces and lots of bland ones.

Imperial March = best Star Wars music ever. The Sith tune can't even compare. Hopefully, it'll show up at least in part in KOTORII.

It's not for sale. You have to download it. Go to the link posted by Meshugger above.

Kinda. I didn't post much, but I lurked.

really? i can think of at least two hollywood films in the past 15 years with the exact same twist. i won't give the titles in case you ain't seen them, but their initials are AH and FC. Don't forget Total Recall.

The main character turns out to be Master Vandar in a human costume.

If you don't mind spoilers.... You can name your character, but yes, he/she ends up being Revan. It's the same Revan who was supposedly 'killed' by Malak; the attack put him/her in a coma, the Jedi rescued him/her, then took the 'vegetable' Revan and implanted a new identity in him/her. You don't discover you're Revan (as in, the former Dark Lord of the Sith) until you're well into the game. It's the 'twist' storyline.

it's safe to assume that Bandon killed Trask. Ok, we're not actually told, but that's what we're meant to think. I know that leaves the possibility open, however Trask was really no more than a "training" character to familiarize the player with the controls. Plus, he shouts too much! hehe. I doubt people would want him to return. I hope he comes back so I can kill him personally.

Akari, can you tell us how important our decisions about how KOTOR1 ended will be? Will it just amount to some dialogue changing, or will it change the course of the game dramatically?

She seems to be the 'opposite' of the evil, nasty-looking Sith....so I would guess she is, indeed, 'as pure as the driven snow.' Whether she'll stay that way is an open question.

No, I think you're remembering right. That's why I wish I had the actual book in front of me.

Well, crap. I was looking for the D20 Dark Side Sourebook to back up what I was gonna say, but I can't find it. Ah well. Regardless, in the D20 game, if I remember correctly, when one becomes a Dark Side character or takes on a Sith prestige class, one is allowed to convert Light Side powers into Dark Side powers at a one-to-one ratio. This is to show the 'lure' of the Dark Side; after all, if you've been staunchly Light Side, what's so tempting about the idea of having all those Light Side powers you've accumulated become more expensive to use? I'm really hoping they do something similiar for TSL. One of my favorite games of KOTOR was when I played the whole game as a boyscout, 100% Light Side, fell in love with Bastila, and then turned to the Dark Side on the Temple from the fear of losing her. Alas, I spent the whole Star Forge having to Force Wave everything because my Light Side powers were much, much more expensive to use and I had no Dark Side powers (didn't see the use in buying any only to use them for the very last portion of the game.) The fall from grace would have been far more poignant if I hadn't felt like I just crippled myself rather than opened myself up to the POWER of the Dark Side and all that.

Complete agreement. Moreover, and others probably won't agree with this as much, I hope they have an ending that's a little less cut-and-dry. Bioware's endings have always been pretty simplistic; the protagonist wins, hands down, no strings attached, and goes on to either rule everything or be a famous hero renowned throughout the world/galaxy/whatever. Christ, TOB even allows you to become a GOD. The endings of Fallout and PS:T were a rather drastic departure from that vision of things, and I hope the successor company to Black Isle continues with that tradition of unconventional finishes to great stories.

I doubt they'll have anything more than surface differences. They'll probably find some way to funnel the LS and DS endings of KOTOR into one outcome, and simply have a few dialogue changes to reflect your decisions. If I'm wrong, though, I'll be very pleasently surprised.

You're no fun. Dead animals make me giggle like a schoolgirl. Ok, fine, I'll remove it. *grumble*

Not true indeed. Check the 'Ask Developers questions' thread.