Yst

The yellow pages shall not be closed! Rise up, my brethren! Wait...what am I protesting?

Just because it was derived from a weasel-like creature doesn't mean that's the whole connotation it carries... 'bitch' is technically just a female dog, too. ;s <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Indeed, the most profane or insulting of all words, in many languages, turn out to be words referring to certain depricated animals.

Lucasarts boards are far, far more hateful towards Lucasarts than this forum. On the LA forums, the main pages of the KotOR II PC boards have been largely dominated by threads trashing Lucasarts since release. If they hate this board, they must LOATH their own boards. Also, these boards are more positive about the game in general at present than any other boards I've seen, the Lucasarts boards, as I say, being the most negative overall out there, it seems to me. These boards tend to deal with the issues more directly than most, as most people here are more familiar with the circumstances of the game and its development, but input is usually more constructive. There's less background noise. Get rid of these boards, and you get rid of the most positive and constructive KotOR II fan community I know of. Lucasforums (NOT LA Forums) is pretty positive too, but when dealing with critical/contentious issues, I think the current vibe here is about as optimistic and helpful as you could hope for.

I have to think the logic is something closer to there being no perceived necessity for a purge of unused content, and that the mere fact of leaving stray files in the install posing no problems is a greater influence than those files serving a potential benefit (i.e., to modders). They're neat little easter eggs, if nothing else, so why get rid of them? As for it "biting them in the butt," angry reprisals regarding the ending have been just as common among people who had not heard of alternative ending content as among those who had, so I don't think it's made things worse. The only major effects of alternative ending content being found that I can see is 1) angry protest regarding the ending has been slightly modified, to angry requests for revised ending content and 2) there has been a redirection of spite towards Lucasarts away from Obsidian, based on the supposition that content was omitted in order to meet a too-soon Lucasarts release date.

I really must agree with 213374U regarding the probable reasons for the retention of unused content in RPG releases. I absolutely refuse to believe that it's mere accident. While the data structures of KotOR and TSL are not transparent to me, I have to assume they are fully transparent to the dev team, and that only intentionally could unused data have made it into the release. It just wouldn't make sense that they somehow didn't notice it. To take the example of a game whose data structure is indeed transparent to me (and a thousand other Infinity Engine modders and tinkerers) through use of the appropriate utilities, Planescape: Torment has similarly large quantities of unimplemented data retained in its release, and the presence of unused image and quest content within the game's data files is so incredibly self-evident that it never even occurred to me it could have been unintentional, at least in that case. Fans later implemented unused content (and even an entire unimplemented quest) in the game using that data. I have to assume that the same that was true of PS:T is true of KotOR II. Incidentally, my avatar is an unimplemented file, CA_lop.bif, found in, but not used in, the release version of Planescape: Torment.

As for my favourite system in my gaming setup from the perspective of its game library quality, that would clearly be my computer. And by "computer," I of course mean my TI 99/4A Home Computer, currently situated at the centre of my gaming setup: No, but seriously, I'm a fan of the oldies. Among consoles, I'm pretty sure each, individually, of my TI99 (esp. Tombstone City and TI Invaders), my Nintendo (esp. Zelda II) and my Super Nintendo (esp. FFVI and Chrono Trigger) has consumed more of my gaming time than all subsequent console systems combined, over the last year.

Well, I have a PC with S-Video Out hooked up to my TV, and an Xbox and Gamecube hooked up to the same TV. I also have a 19" LCD and 21" CRT hooked up to the PC and a 25' USB cord that can run PC gamepad, mouse and keyboard to my couch if desired. Playing KotOR (I don't have KotOR II for Xbox, only PC so far), I could play the game (using the highest persistently smooth resolutions/settings on my comp, here) 1) On Xbox at Xbox resolution via TV, sitting on my couch. 2) On PC at 1024x1280 w/ 2X FSAA and High texture detail, via TV, sitting on my couch. 3) On PC at 1024x1280 w/ 2X FSAA and High texture detail, via 21" CRT. 4) On PC at 1024x1280 w/ 2X FSAA and High texture detail, via 19" LCD. Generally, I play on the 19" LCD. My computer chair is really more comfortable than my couch, and I have my second computer and monitor next to me, should I wish to look something up, if I'm playing on it.

Anyway, LA Forums = Lucasforums = Can't speak for Kotorfanfic.com, as I have no experience with it.

The only reason? Right, well, one supposes all the developers who've added content to their PC releases post-release (e.g., Trials of the Luremaster) in patches are just our imagination. Never existed. Only make believe. Have it your way. So we have one release which it is technically possible to patch, and one release which it is not technically possible to patch. By your logic, patching the one which it is possible to patch (the PC release) and not the one it is impossible to patch (the non-Live-enabled Xbox release) is preferential treatment? Are all decisions in favour of the possible over the impossible preferential treatment? If so, then indeed, I too favour the possible over the impossible. The reasons a content patch by Obsidian would be infinitely more viable than a fan content patch should be immediately obvious to you. If they are not, I don't see that anyone should need to explain them to you.

Is Darth Tater horribly, grotesquely scarred underneath the mask? If so, baked, grilled or fried?

Incidentally, the example of Trials of the Luremaster as precedent free RPG expansions is also a very good one, though it was produced under very different technical circumstances, for a very different engine. On the other hand, IWD:HoW didn't have anything like KotOR II's sales to justify the expense. Trials of the Luremaster, however, was produced (by Black Isle) under Interplay, not under a Lucasarts franchise, with Lucasarts running the show. And so precedent under publishers that care about producing the best product possible might be better simply thrown out the window while we're talking about a game for which Lucasarts is making the judgment calls, no matter how dedicated the developer is to the product

It's clearly <Milhouse> the Rand Corporation, in conjuction with the saucer people ... FORCING Obsidian to go to bed early in a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner! </Milhouse>

It may even be grounds for legal action since you are not adding bonus material but rather material that should have been included in the first place You have a very odd notion of what constitutes grounds for litigation.

A "KotOR II: Gold Edition" somewhere down the line is the awesomest idea I have yet heard bandied about, among credible solutions which might see unimplemented content released. Good thinking. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Credible? How many do you think would pay for it a second time? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> How is the possibility of a future gold edition not credible? Practically every major hit PC release of the last 10 years has seen a "Gold Edition" or "Game of the Year Edition" or equivalent rerelease at some point, whether added content was trivial (patches to date) or non-trivial (patches, added content, extras). If you're contesting whether current owners of the game would buy it, that has absolutely nothing to do with my point, which was merely that a 'special edition' rerelease was the only credible story I'd heard so far of how unimplemented content might in fact be made available to consumers.

LA Forums? "Giving the LA Forums some class" by sending in the Obsidian fans would be like "Sprucing up the New York sewer system with a little Feng Shui." The endless stream of crap runs deeper than any small touch of civility may remedy, I fear.

I've had Bao-Dur saying "Yes, General" and absolutely nothing else for most of the game now, and virtually the entirety of the time I've had him with me. I've played Telos, Nar Shadaa, Dxun, Korriban and most of Onderon, and I'm wondering if this is how it's supposed to be as well. I got to have basically a single set of conversations with him made available after I picked him up, and nothing else. I've had him with me, in my party, for almost all of that time on my missions, too, so it's not like he's lacked opportunities to have his say. Incidentally, I've never *lost* influence with him, and have gained influence on a few occassions, as I'm a Light Side Master.

I like the influence system. I don't think that in an ideal RPG, your NPCs should respond to you with the same contributions, no matter what you do. It only makes sense that different behaviour evokes different reactions. I think it's a good change. Yeah, of course, different reactions based on your own actions means you don't see 100% of the game's content on every single run through. That's natural. That's the way it should be.

A "KotOR II: Gold Edition" somewhere down the line is the awesomest idea I have yet heard bandied about, among credible solutions which might see unimplemented content released. Good thinking.

Only the guys at Obsidian know how viable an Xbox patch for this particular game is. As far as having a poll on whether there should be one, I can't see how the question can even meaningfully be asked of the fanbase. If an Xbox version of the patch is technically and logistically viable, everyone will agree that there being one is a good thing, and the question is irrelevant. No one doesn't want the game to improve. If an Xbox version of the patch is not technically and logistically viable, there's nothing for it, and the question is also irrelevant. So what's the point?

Oh yes, im a geek if I DONT want to look at PIXILATED charecters wearing skimpy outfits. :D <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Pixilated characters wearing skimpy outfits .......... Porn anyone? (w00t) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, I'm perplexed by these people who seem to assert that polygonal characters cannot be attractive (despite all evidence to the contrary). I think that kind of reaction is usually just stimulated by someone's need to assert their sexual normality ("hey, look at me, I'm normal, I only like real women!") I might as well assert, while were at it, that women at VHS resolution can't be found attractive. Everyone who ever asserted that women in movies or in pornography recorded on a VHS tape aroused them was lying. Why? Because they were just watching a set of coloured lines on a fuzzy TV screen, and yet they found it to be sexually arousing as if it were a normal, flesh and blood woman! Heck, let's try another one: anyone who wears glasses and finds other human beings attractive while wearing them is clearly a sicko, as they're finding a distorted reflraction of a real human being attractive, not the real thing itself!

It seems to me the biggest name on either cast from a game voice-acting standpoint is Jennifer Hale, however, who does Bastila in both cases. With a huge game voice acting resume that includes such roles as, for example, Mazzy from BGII, Dynaheir from BGI, Fall-from-Grace and Deionarra from Planescape: Torment, Samus from Metroid Prime 2 and Prier from the English La Pucelle among others, she's one of a very few game voice actors I could actually call myself a fan of, the other major one being Rob Paulsen (though his cartoon voice acting history outshines his game voice acting resume, I think).

However, many forums do indeed consider open discussion of PMs and posting of PMed text without expressed mutual consent to be trolling and thus do not allow it.

It's so familiar to the RPG genre at this point, that is just kind of feels right. It would be strange, for it to be otherwise, I think.

Heh, normally I restrain my fanboyism, but I shan't, here. First of all, to restate my comment from another thread, KotOR II is in my opinion among the finest examples of RPG storytelling in history, standing far above the majority of RPGs, and setting almost unprecedented standards for quality of dialogue. And behind in were the guys behind my favourite RPG in history (see av and sig). How could I not be happy? Go Obsidian.

I think I like my exile better than any of the other characters: Picked him because I thought he was kinda cute in a mature way.