nightcleaver

I liked the fish man on taris holding a sith lightsaber.

I wonder why people just can't imagine anyone looking at things in a different angle from them. Just like I said before - "PC version is coming at the same time as originally announced." And think about it - they were trying to say the PC and XBOX versions were coming out in February, on the same date. Why not just say simultaneous release? It's the same thing - but it's not in the sense that you wanted it to be. Words have different conoctations depending not only on where they're used, but who they're used by - unless the person knows the conoctation, and theres no way for you to prove LA did. Accept it. Words can lie.

You're telling me... Maybe it's the house or something, I would be replacing hard-disks and cd drives pretty frequently. Really frequently. And then there would be a new problem arising every now and then for one or another dysfunctional part (later on, my computer would crash variably between 10 minutes and a full 3 hours of work.) On top of that was the crappy video card which wasn't working so well and I needed to upgrade, unbeknowest to me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's odd, really odd. I've had my current PC specs for about a year now, and I'm still able to play literally EVERYTHING even if it's not on full resolution (I can play Doom III on High but not Ultra). First, what HDD brand are you buying? There's been known problems with several of the major brands lately, Maxtor, Western Digital, and some other one I don't remember being among them. I've had really good luck with my dual Seagate drives. Also, the cheapest video card, even if it's the same 'model' may not be the same quality as the manufacturer's will take the same GPU and amount of RAM (read technology/model) and totally remake it with software changes, and cooling tech. If you're buying ATI, I'd stick to house ATI cards, or Sapphire, with the occasional Infotek depending on the reviews. Nvidia, house, Chainsaw, MSI, and VIA seem to be best. I've also found that a well maintained, build your own computer will last a helluva lot longer than one of those crappy in house Dell/HP/Compaq/Sony/Whatever, with the exception of maybe Monarch, Falcon, Alienware, or Voodoo. But even then, those will cost you a heap more money than if you build it yourself, and you don't have quite the amount of knowledge that will be handy for tweaking it down the line when it's on it's last legs before it's upgrade. If you build your own, tweak it out a little, and take good cre of it, it will actually be cheaper than a console in the long run because they absolutely RAPE you with console game prices; so long as you're not the kind of person who pre-orders everything. Hope this helps. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, it doesn't. I'm still saying it could be my house, because it's not the first computer that's had problems. The computer before this last one that I had did last quite a while, admittedly, but not nearly the decad-age to be cheaper than buying all the up to date consoles in that time would be. And still, that computer didn't exactly run without a hitch, and I was probably about two generations behind in terms of the games I could play on it before I upgraded. And when I say, "didn't exactly run without a hitch," I mean it crashed... A LOT. After going through two computers with the same obscure problem, well... And yes, the room temp was perfectly fine. Motherboard sensors all detected that the CPU got a little warm, but it was perfectly reasonably warm and not near enough for the CPU to shut off because of the heat. Then again, my Dell keeps giving me this nonsense about .dll files not being a proper picture file. Doesn't seem to affect anything, save for being a minor annoyance on startup. I used ASUS drives. My brother, who's quite computer savvy, recommended them, and I did a little research myself. This was a few years ago, also, so "recently" probably doesn't mean much about back then. I'll remember seagate for the future, but computer hardware tends to be strangely finicky nonetheless.

Ok, this is really disgusting... But it still can't be blamed on Bush. I sure as heck don't believe in him, I think he deserves to be washed out, and I can't imagine he's going to get any smarter with time. But I really do think, and see, that a lot of democrats have carried this business too far. It's strange how weak the president has proven in all this compaigning. He can't stand up to a little noise? What the **** is he doing leading our country? And he says *KERRY* is weak. Maybe he doesn't call up to daddy or even Rumsfeld and his VP, but in this case he seems to have called up to his secret service. No - maybe such "conspiracy theories" will make a handful of people turn even more for bush than they were, but no self-respecting and intelligent, or at least not republican, (not to draw a connection there) human being would decide to vote for Bush after this tasty tidbit. Are you trying to say Kent state never happened? Perhaps man never *actually* has landed on the moon? Ah, right... perhaps the earth is flat. Well, hats off to you, Mr. Skeptic, because obviously nothing bad ever happens in the good ol' U S of A. Nope. Clean conscious - nothing. Morality shouldn't be touched upon in discussion, because it's apparently unlawful to do so. Need I remind you that morality - the idea of it, the concept of the "golden rule" - is very much a product of the human animal, just as much you are a product of your mother's womb or Coca-Cola is a product of the human mind and human "needs". "Denying" yourself the "human want" of the items you chose is as natural and a part of human nature, though perhaps foreign to yourself, as "giving in" so allegedly is.

You're telling me... Maybe it's the house or something, I would be replacing hard-disks and cd drives pretty frequently. Really frequently. And then there would be a new problem arising every now and then for one or another dysfunctional part (later on, my computer would crash variably between 10 minutes and a full 3 hours of work.) On top of that was the crappy video card which wasn't working so well and I needed to upgrade, unbeknowest to me.

This is going to be a bunch of semi-scattered thoughts. I hope you can make out more or less what I'm trying to say. The funny thing is, whenever an inconsistency is pointed out, "Their (alien's) motives are unclear" is almost always said, and then the person continues saying what they were saying, pushing off all their conspiracy business and talking about greys and cornfields, that happen to really like hicks or people that just seem really gullible. Never has anyone (that I know of) been like, "Well, maybe it's just a hoax... or mostly a hoax." And as to the deliberate muddling of the waters, well... look at it this way. People like sensation. Why are we talking about this right now? It's fascinating. It's an easy way to get people's attention, even if they don't know who you are, so of course people are going to do it for the heck of it. If aliens existed, though, and the aliens were "hyper-smart" as so many allege, wouldn't they use that hype as cover? Heck, maybe it's humans in tens of thousands of years who've screwed with time travel. In any case, to supply any race I know of with food, there would have to be a LOT more UFO sightings than they have been, and they wouldn't be in such selectively out-of-the-way or suspicious places. In my opinion, just about all of the UFO stuff is total crap. I won't say the rest of it has anything to do with aliens, but nor wil I say it doesn't. Also, if the government (any and all government) could hide evidence of UFO's on the motivation that it would frighten people, wouldn't they also hide information that would SEEM like UFO's and still frighten people? The most plausible explanation is always technology being tested. Maybe jamming equipment was being tested on the mexicans? The Mexican's don't have any reason to demand reconciliation for possible spying/recon/military equipment being tested on them, and they're just south of the border - well within range of maybe equipment or transportation thereof, maybe even by very high altitude plane or somesuch... But even that sounds really science fiction-y. All stuff that's been said so far of possible alien ship sightings was sketchy at best, without specifics or even phony pictures. And seriously, what are the consequences for screwing with Mexico like that? If it really was done by the US government, well.. we're seeing the consequences right now. Absolutely nothing. Absolutely perfect. It really amazes me the depths of creativity on this topic people haven't plumbed. So these 11 UFO's were invisible. But civilians confirm the "sighting"? How does this happen? (taken off of one of your first links, actually) I'm really surprised no one has thought of the possibility that the UFO's don't want to be found. Why would they be? I mean, seriously... what could possibly be more brilliant than to only abduct obscure, uneducated (mostly), gullible people? As to the theory that governments just don't want the public to panic... Are we panicking? In theory, yes, but not in reality. How much of a threat are they if they haven't done anything to us? No, it's like ghost stories, whether aliens are real and among us or not. Are they doing anything to us? Apparently not on a large enough scale to be noticed. Maybe they give us the Flu. Hey - we've had a shortage of flu vaccinations this year. Maybe aliens have an agreement with governments to hold off if the governments don't mention their activity. Eh? Maybe there is something a little disturbing about the aliens, or just something they don't want known, and the aliens have agreed to lay off the big weapons in exchange for silence. Maybe the aliens are giving us a boost to prepare us for something, or studying us to eventually do the same. Ever read Childhood's end? Creepy book, very interesting, and the only "UFO" story that really felt eerily real to me. Of course, the whole phenomena is still interesting, however made up it may or may not be. And then maybe they've always lived on this planet. Maybe they're future human time travellers. Who knows.

Bioware's "unknown PC title" was an IP, I thought. As in not a licensed game. Considering that they even mention it, it seems unlikely that they would hide the *other*, licensed PC game. I was sort of partial to the isometric RPG's, but it's gotten to the point (as evidenced by TOEE, I would think) where it's not all that practical to keep improving the graphics along those lines. I couldn't say why. I still think they could do locked-camera isometric, though. And I'll be surprised if anyone pulls off a proper BG3. Because, well... it always felt like the story sort of died (at SoA, for me - I didn't care for ToB plotline much at all - couldn't they think of an original story to put with the claiming heritage as a theme?). I would like it if it were made in the spirit of BG1 with lots of character interaction and such.

Well you know, some theorize that there are only a few stories that are told over and over again throughout all of literary history. Funny thing is, they can't seem to agree on WHAT stories are repeated over and over again, exactly. Also, I would've rather they did away with the more amateurish voices, or at least made them into caricatures (like they did in BG) instead of assaulting my ears with the inflectionless crap they did every now and then. I would've preferred lettered dialogue instead of badly acted dialogue.

Somtimes the "economy" isn't good for itself.

What if it made gaming easier, as I suggested, and cheaper, in the long run? It seems to be blurring the lines between console and PC, and with the crap video card manufacturers have been doing trying to oust eachother, I'm beginning to like that. You might not like it right now, but in the long run it could be better for you...

"That might be changing" meant that there were probably going to be enough games like KotOR on X-box to maintain it's worth for RPG's in comparison to the PC, not that all the good RPG's were going to be for X-box. (as well as PC, that is) And besides that, I can't think of any quality RPG's (by my standards) that have come out, ever since NWN anyway. And NWN was only quality in it's multiplayer options, which are pretty solely dependent on the players I'm with...

Even better, actually... it was said in an interview, although "Bao-Dur" wasn't actually attached to any character in particular. It sounds and looks about like a zabrak name should, though...

And besides that, they, "Hit a very important milestone" which confirmed they could confidently put out the game two months earlier than planned. To me, this says they've managed more than just the baseline. Also, a few features have far more improvement than they originally suggested - 40 new heads, for instance, and 7 (or thereabouts) stances whereas they were originally saying three. And like everyone else has been saying, the story can be developed in easily the time alloted them so far.

It would be interesting if for once *we* sacrificed ourselves... but then of course, we would return without having sacrificed ourselves in actuality. Not like that hasn't been done before, but...

Well, Chris A MADE us imagine that, so they had better deliver :angry: Seriously though, I think the simple fact that TSL will have a "darker story" makes it extremely unlikely that the ending will be purely celebratory or sachharine in any way. I'm thinking something along the lines of, "The Empire Strikes Back", though I'm not sure about exactly what way TSL will be like that one.

With how things are looking with how fast PC games are moving, well... I've always had pretty bad luck with computers, even after doing lots of intense research and using custom configurations. My old computer had me spending another 60 bucks every two months on it, in addition to whatever games I wanted to play, just to keep it running. That's something consoles don't have to deal with - reliability. My current pre-made system, a Dell, is extremely reliable, but I'll have to buy a new computer every couple of years if I stick with it, or shell out an extra thousand bucks to what I would have to if I bought the parts and stuck it together. I currently have a video card, PCI 5200 graphics card, that's good for slideshows, but not for playing games. NWN looks pretty, but everything else drags and has a grainy picture. Unless I buy a new computer before the Xbox 2 hybrid allegedly comes out, I'm going that route. The video card manufacturers have pushed it too far, I think. And computer makers such as Dell shouldn't be selling PC's that don't function with external graphics cards, no less alleging that those same bargain PC's are versatile enough to be gaming machines. I used to think it was scary how consoles/PC's were moving to become one thing, but with how the graphics card market is pushing things, it's looking pretty palatable. As much as I hate monopolies, if the monopoly treats it's customer's right I have no problem with it. People will still buy other computers, and gamers will have it that much easier. It's just games, after all - at a rate of about 1000 bucks a year, I don't really see how it's worth it. MonarchComputer.com looks like a good choice, especially with the easy motherboard-loading tray and small form factor PC's at a significantly better price. And then they allege that their customer ratings are far higher compared to Dell and Gateway, but does anyone have a personal experience with them? So the discussion begins. Change my mind, or agree with me, or even give me some advice.

I'm going with the X-box version when it comes out. My comp couldn't handle the first game without being a slideshow, and I'd have to buy a new computer to upgrade the video card any more than it has been. I don't have an AGP slot, I don't have PCI-E. I'm running a vanilla 5200 FX on a PCI slot. Besides that, I fell in love with how the controller felt in the first game, and I love sitting down to play a game and not worrying about your messenger popping up, your antivirus warning you of it's update (that absolutely HAS To get to you just this second) or the spy-ware clogging up your system and making it drag. Nope; just you, the tv, and the controller. All convenience, no hassle. And when it really comes down to it, I'm not thinking about anisotropic filtering or full-range rendering or the amazing 1600x1200 graphics when I'm playing a game, I'm just thinking about playing it. It's all gameplay... With the luck I've had with computers, I REALLY agree that consoles are so much more worth it for playing games. Except that most of the quality RPG's I know of have come out on PC, of course, but it seems like that might be changing. And anyway, the PC hybrid would solve that little quandary.

Maybe I didn't see a more recent interview or some such, but last I heard (which was a LONG time ago) they were only AIMING for more than 10. It has been confirmed that who you meet and who joins you depends on a number of character-centric factors. Considering how well ahead of schedule they seem to have been running, though, more than ten is a good guess.

EDIT: Sorry, misread your post. The difficulty I have is that they're in marching formation behind the PC, on a deserted, wild planet. They could be following the PC temporarily, but why take a good shot of them like that? That doesn't mean that they're teammates for certain, though, certainly.

Taken from the trailer on the LA website for this game... That's who I'm talking about. Also, the guy in Sith (?) uniform in back, and the Mandalorian. It's pretty reasonable to assume those are party members, I think, considering where they are in the trailer, and how they're so close to eachother.

But there are still two (at least) un-named characters. Also, all languages I've seen "AO" in pronounced it, "OW", more or less. This is Star Wars, though, and they don't have to use terrestrial languages as a guideline...

Do you think this one is blonde? I think I'll use it at some point, unless there are better female faces.

Yeah. If the very amateurish and rather boring background didn't give that away in the first place.

Oi, now THAT was an exciting post.

Meh, it's a fun idea, but there's no way I could ever take it seriously. Star wars is star wars - it follows pretty traditional good/bad views on the universe, and this would be a break from that flavor, that broke the flavor instead of adding more to it. I would see it as a definite bad sign, saying that Obsidian is oblivious to what star wars is. Go ahead and put that in some other story, but not here, not now. While it's true that darksiders don't always wear black or anything simplistic as that, there is a general rule that bad characters will be tangibly bad - especially with Star Wars, though perhaps in not so many (and not so simplistic) words. Ben Kenobi was scary, and that surpassed expectations, especially when he turned out to be good. It was the same with Han Solo, more or less - were either of them dressed head-to-toe in black masks or robes, did either of them have nasty varicose veins sprouting over their naked skin? Were they almost always cast in dim lighting? Ultimately, I think it's a cunning idea for being cunning, but not for a Star-Wars style twist. I could certainly see her having evil in her, in other words, but I can't imagine that she wouldn't at least PRETEND - for some portion of the game - to be good. And it doesn't make a whole lot of sense - unless the game has lots of game-time flashbacks - to put this alleged "queen" in her former skin on the cover of the game. You wouldn't randomly put Darh Malak as a six year old, looking real kind and sweet, instead of the massive metal face on the front of the first KotOR box, would you? Or would that be simply breaking the norm? Atris is never even depicted in a "mean" way in all of her shots. What's with that interpretation anyway? Are people so rigid as to think the slightest agitation means darkside character? Mild agitation isn't really a determining factor, part of her personality though it might be, because anyone (even Luke, need I remind you) can show such agitation. Maybe she'll turn bad in the end, like Bastila did, but ultimately I think she'll be along the lines of a light-side poster girl like Bastila was. We don't really have any other candidates for depicting the eternal conflict, do we? Not on the cover anyway. Is TSL all about villains killing eachother? Wasn't one of the themes, "Bad things happen to good people?" This is star wars, and star wars isn't going to do that anytime soon.