Ivan the Terrible

It isn't just her chubby cheeks. It's the personality.

Actually, they prove absolutely nothing, at least in regards to whether those people liked Halo (which has been out for some time) better than the sequel (which is a new release.) Just because more people are playing, say, Half-Life II than Half-Life right doesn't mean the sequel would win in a vote as to which is the superior game. Nor does the higher gross of The Phantom Menace mean more Star Wars fans prefer it over the original movie.

And neither I nor Tyrell know everyone who has bought KOTOR II, so if that's your objection, his whole point is rendered meaningless.

Huh? Most people I've heard are saying what a disappointment Halo 2 is. Probably not a very good example.

Nein.

Planescape: Torment is a great game, in fact probably my favorite game of all time....but as demonstrated in this thread and elsewhere, it's an acquired taste. For me, though, it's the beginning of what games could be: a form of media every bit as legitimate as books or movies. If you want to get the most out of it, let me give you a recommendation: focus on your mental stats above the physical. If you don't have a pretty high Wisdom or Intelligence, you don't get as many dialogue options....and in this game, your character not knowing what's going on will make for a much less enjoyable gaming experience.

KOTOR II's story was better than KOTOR I's story in theory. KOTOR I's story was better than KOTOR II's story in practice, owing to the development team having insufficient time to make everything fit together and thus leaving loose ends dangling everywhere.

Yep. Three, as mentioned, some of which can be very difficult if you're a Consular, as you'll find yourself fighting with no armor, weapons, or force powers on more than one occasion. Just straight hand-to-hand.

Bah! Face to face, Palpy would have mopped the floor with Vader. He just foolishly lost his senses in the heat of the moment and turned his back on his apprentice at the worst possible time. <_< And for the record, what was said earlier about the Star Wars universe and continuity is correct. This is not serious Science Fiction, folks. If you try and view the whole thing critically, it'll unravel before your eyes because it wasn't meant to hold up under criticism. Star Wars is about fast-paced action and adventure mixed in with the most basic moral ideas imaginable, and any attempt to fit those things into a larger universe is a secondary matter, at best. It's cheese; 100% pure Velveeta. But cheese can be damned tasty sometimes.

And you prefer the KOTOR period because of that? A period where the Dark Lord of the Sith randomly burns planets to ashes for virtually no reason whatsoever, and every soldier and sailor in the Sith armada is a jerk for no other reason than because he's on the 'bad side'?

20 hits and only Catalyst and I voted? Jesus, you people are lazy.

Short as hell, too. In answer to the question, I'd say Ultima Online. I was a naive fanboy for it before it's release, believed every word the Developers said. The result is the bitter, cynical black-hearted SOB who is currently writing this message.

I was looking through the back room of my parent's house earlier today, and stumbled across a sourcebook for the old West End games Star Wars RPG. This particular sourcebook was released in 1994, a time when the Expanded Universe was in it's infancy. For old time's sake, I decided to sit down and flip through it for awhile. I've gotta admit, it made me nostalgic for when Star Wars wasn't so fleshed out by a bazillion different writers. Whatever other's tastes, I can't help but feel like every other time period since the original trilogy has been but a pale imitation. The Galactic Civil War period is just so much more dramatic a set-up: the good guys are indisputably the underdogs, waging a war against an overwhelming enemy which is effectively the legal government of the entire Galaxy. The Jedi are either dead or in hiding, making the few who remain much more interesting and important, while the implied widespread disbelief in the Force makes it much more intriguing. The enemies make sense: I can understand why millions of soldiers and sailors would fight for the Empire, given that they have an appearance of legitimacy stemming from it's growing from the corpse of the Old Republic. Moreover, I don't think any Sith Lord, whether Exar Kun or Revan or anyone in-between, has ever matched the coolness of Darth Vader and the Emperor. By contrast, in most every other period the bad guys are either the underdog (the name 'Imperial Remnant' kinda speaks for itself, while the ancient Sith Empire, Exar Kun's forces, and the Seperatists all seem to be much smaller enemies taking on a massive Republic), make little sense (while KOTOR II works to address the issue of how Revan and Malak recruited their army, any explanation of millions of soldier turning against their lawful government for no good reason on behalf of unquestionably evil people feels contrived), or just plain don't fit the Star Wars feel at all (Yuuzhong Vong, anyone?). The Jedi and the Force are an existing fact rather than a legend and a myth to aspire towards, and therefore not particularly interesting. Perhaps most importantly, by benefit of coming after the OT period, every other period feels like it's just attempting to be what the original period is. I enjoy other periods somewhat, but for me the Galactic Civil War period will always be the 'real' Star Wars. Anyone else share this opinion?

Nope. The quest was cut along with the droid planet it was presumably set on. Aggravating, huh?

Precisely. Even if WotC turns the whole license into kid's stuff, big whoop. Stop buying their sourcebooks (at least for anything other than new rules and such) and make up your own stuff. It's what people should be doing anyway.

Baldur's Gate saw you guiding your Bhaalspawn character through two games and two expansion packs. The original game with expansion pack was designed for your character to reach about level 9 or so before waiting for the sequel. By the time I reached TOB, as a result, I felt like I was in a truly epic story. However unsatisfying Mellisan was for a lot of people, my heart was racing through the entire end-game for the simple realization that it was the end of the series which had absorbed so much of my time for so long. KOTOR, by contrast, had Revan at a near-godlike Level 20 by the end of the game, which was not only cheesy from a realism perspective (nothing like having Mission Vao, a 14 year old girl, being tough enough to tear Han Solo a new ***hole) but also removed Revan forever as a potential future PC. After all, who wants to start a new game at Level 20? Honestly? I think the whole series would have been immensely improved if they had planned for you to play Revan through the whole thing, and scaled level advancement to fit that idea. The Exile felt forced, and any future PC character will feel even more forced. Anyone agree? Disagree?

Even outside of the issue of Influence, this is an important point, and one of Planescape: Torment's major flaws as well. Everyone who plays a game, regardless of stats or companions, should walk away feeling like they received a good, comprehensible gaming experience. You can add little details in character dialogues that add to the story (and, in fact, you should for the fans), but for god's sakes, don't make one 'correct' way to play the game which renders every other play-style boring and empty.

Why do you think the Jedi, 'forbidden to love', held their last council there? Think Castle Anthrax.

Yep. On the flip side, you will never have HK-47 until you complete Nar Shadaa.

Same as the Light Side ending; you walk away with a tremendous feeling of emptiness, with your desire to play the game again ebbing rapidly.

Yep. Every time I read one of these things, I get depressed about what might have been if someone at Lucasarts or Obsidian or wherever hadn't gotten greedy and decided to throw the game out the door as-is.....

Haha hahaha ROFL!! ok it's not that funny, but I'll do anything to make you feel bad about it <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Even Deadeye gets a lucky critical on a 6 HP character every now and then. <_< Besides, since I went on to defeat Bendak Starkiller, I must have given the guy a massive self-esteem boost. At least until he died gruesomely in Malak's bombardment.

I once lost to Deadeye Duncan when I had a Scoundrel with all physical attributes at 8 and was at level 2. Embarassing, admittedly, but it was worth it to see the reaction of the commentator and Duncan's gloating after the fight. (Which, btw, is one thing I severely miss in KOTOR2; when you accomplished something in the fighting pit or in a Swoop race in the original, most everyone involved would have something to say about it.)

I thought he said he wasn't a geezer, which was why he resented being given Quartermaster duty? I'm pretty sure that his lack of fighting ability is as a result of incompetence rather than age. It was embarassing when my Consular got his ass kicked by him. "So it's true, a Jedi cannot match a Mandalorian without his Force and his Lightsaber. But still....you lost to Kex!?!"

If someone other than Chris Avellone makes the next game, I don't envy them the task of trying to make sense of this 'True Sith' stuff. In fact, I don't envy Chris Avellone that, either. Explaining why Revan and the Exile couldn't bring 'anyone they love', or even explain where they were going to them, in order to fight an Empire which by the word of the EU has been dead for a long time isn't a simple task. I imagine virtually anything they come up with will be disappointing when brought into the light.