EnderAndrew

That's another thing that bothered me in KOTOR. Say you're on Tatooine dealing with some scumbag, and you use Dominate Mind to get a few extra credits out of said scumbag, Bastilla would chastise you. Look, you're taking money away from a scumbag to buy equipment that will help you take down Malak. It's not like Bastilla hasn't used questionable morals towards pursuing a higher goal (lying to you about being Revan). It seemed rather hypocritcal.

X-Wing Alliance's story wasn't all that great, and I prefered the starfighter dogfights over flying the freighter. However, Alliance's graphics were fairly nice, and the game was easily moddable. You can add new missions galore, and there are plenty of graphics upgrade packs available on the net.

It has been suggested that there is no genius without the touch of madness.

I suspect you're right. Vader, Maul, Sidious, Tyranus, Bane, etc. Revan and Malak just don't seem to fit in now that I think about it. Well, we know that Episode 3 will reveal Darth Vader's birth, and the unveiling of Darth Sidious, but people are quick to forget that the mystery of Darth Tyranus is also being revealed.

I'll take Henry V's or Much Ado's romance alongside Shrew's anyday. Romeo and Juliet is a great example of a commercial success (like KOTOR) with a bad love story. Romeo is 14/15 years old. He wants to die because his soulmate, Rosaline and he are no longer an item. Life isn't worth living. Then he sees some girl at a party that he knows nothing about. He woos her by swearing to the moon, which she doesn't care for. She points out that the moon is inconstant, and disappears in four weeks. Fiiting that this child swore by it, eh? They have sex, he is banished, and next thing you know, they are married before they've had more than one decent conversation. Then they kill themselves over each other. Who is to say Juliet wasn't another Rosaline? It scares me how wonderfully went written some of Shakespeare's romances are, and how bad the love story is in Romeo and Juliet.

I'm pretty sure that character and storyline were the first thing that Obsidian nailed down. Carth's fate, and his involvement or lack thereof in KOTOR:2 is something that I'm fairly sure has already been decided. Considering that you're travelling to Carth's homeworld, I'm sure at the very least we will learn Carth's fate.

Atari is sitting on the D&D license. And I suspect, after doing KOTOR:2, that with the creative talent at Obsidian, that they'd want to do an original intellectual property after that. Heck, after NWN and KOTOR, Bioware decided it was time for them to do the same.

The GC keeps disappointing me. There are very few good games, and the prices on games don't come down. With the PS2 and X-Box, there are so many good titles, that I can usually find a great game for $20 or less. Zelda, Metroid Prime, and Super Mario Sunshine I all want to try, but they're all still $40 or more. I rarely buy console games at launch. I save the big bucks for PC games.

Star Wars can have humor. The droids are a great example. I think the problem is that in KOTOR, the romantic dialouge was a little corny when trying to be serious. If a character was trying to be funny with humorous affectations, that's another story. I have no qualm with romance. I just want to see it done well.

Not everyone likes racing mini-games. Fair enough. However, racing is returning; the dev tream might as well improve it.

And in Ultima 7.

I buy a lot of my consoles, or games used. It keeps investment costs down. I maintain a fairly high-end system pretty cheap. My recent 2ghz system with a Radeon 9000 was dirt cheap. Old computers allow me to play old games, and by having multiple computers, I can lan party. Or, I can build one really expensive 3.2ghz System with a Radeon 9800 Pro, but I try to look at the "bang for the buck" factor, and it doesn't seem worth it. I think the next jump for me (in 3-6 months) will be a Pentium 4 2.8 with a Radeon 9600. The Sith as a "nation" comes largely from comics books, and the Episode 1 novelization which tells the story of Darth Bane. Before Hitler truly seized power in Germany, the Nazi's were nothing more than a small militia. Personally, I rather enjoyed Palpatine's subtle machinations in Episode 2.

Drakon, you claim that RPG's struggle to maintain class balance. That all depends on the RPG. White Wolf's World of Darkness RPGs are a great example. Certain clans have huge advantages in Vampire, such as the Tremere. In Changeling, one type of Fae is immensely more powerful than any other. Engel, a D20 game, also has one class of Angels, the Michaelites, who are purposefully more powerful than others. In D&D, the classes vary in power at the different levels. A level one Wizard is horribly under-powered, while a level 20 Wizard is more powerful than most level 20 characters. They had to release 3.5, because 3rd edition had many exploits to make one class far more powerful than another. (Examples, starting at rouge at 1st level to twink on skill points, or Rangers getting two-weapon combat off the bat) Better yet, look at the two iterations of the Star Wars RPG. Jedi are frankly more powerful than other characters both in D20 and D6. The world isn't fair, and RPGs don't have to be either.

Generally, I prefer the PS2 as well. They have many PS2-specific titles that I enjoy. The difference in graphics between the two consoles isn't vast. I just wish the PS2 shipped with a HDD, four controller support, and networking capabilities instead of charging to add these things on. However, it is worth noting that KOTOR didn't come out on the PS2, it came out on the X-Box. Instead of being surpremist, or elitist, I invested in multiple consoles and play whatever game I want.

In the screenplay and novel for ANH, Vader is called the Dark Lord of the Sith, so yes, Lucas created the Sith. The "Tales of" comics greatly expanded on the mythos of the Sith, but their cannon is very questionable. George Lucas then came up with the Master/Apprentice Sith concept that made it's way into the Episode 1 Novel, story by George Lucas. The characters of Darth Vader, Darth Bane, Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Sidious, etc, were all created by George Lucas. To say that Lucas didn't invent the Sith is pretty ridiculous. Your elitist, arrogant comments are both uncalled for, and incorrect. You have repeatedly made it clear that your vast "knowledge" of Star Wars comes from forums. Perhaps you should pick up a "book". They're much better sources of information. And for the record, I've read over 100 Star Wars novels, various comics, played all the games, and roleplayed in the Star Wars universe for 12 years. So I know quite a bit about Star Wars cannon, and Star Wars EU. At the same time, I own an X-Box, and played KOTOR on the X-Box. I'm not anti-PC, and I plan to buy KOTOR:2 on the PC. I just found it used, and got it much cheaper on the X-Box. Playing a game on a console does not mean that a person lacks intelligence, or the right to an opinion. I could make an argument that many PC titles are making the shift to Diablo clones of click-and-kill, while many console titles like Xenosaga, Star Ocean, and Final Fantasy appeal to a more cerebral audience. The truth is, I don't really believe the console or PC market corners intelligent gaming. Both offer a choice of games, to a variety of audiences. Personally, the only think I find foolish, is dismissing a large number of games out of hand, because they are on a console. That's why I own six differnt consoles and multiple computing platforms. I'll give them all a try, and let the game speak for itself. Oh, and back on topic... The comments of basing off the Third Reich come from a Newsweek article shortly before Episode 2 came out. Lucas said he studied the way Empires rose and fell in history, and applied those lessons to Episode 2. Palpatine's siezing of the Senate is very much akin to Hitler's rise to "emergency" power.

I may have played every Star Wars game, including Yoda Stories and the ancient Star Wars arcade game. I can't think of one I've missed. Damn, now that I'm all nostalgic I want to find an arcade rom for Star Wars Trilogy. I'm a big fan of X-Wing Alliance. I also really loved the Super Star Wars series on the SNES.

Did I miss something? Are stances being added to the game? When was this feature listed?

KOTOR already had that to an extent. My girlfriend whipped through the game slowly, but had a weak character. I did every sidequest, and looked for every item in the game. Thusly, by playing slower, I had a more powerful character (as well as a more rewarding experience).

Ultima 7 was immersive due to many great factors, such as music, dialouge, NPC schedules, and interactivity of items. For instance, you could go into a farmer's house, kill him if you so desired, rip open a bag of flour, take a bucket to a well, get water, put water on the flour, knead the dough, and bake bread. If you left the dough on the oven too long, the bread would burn. You could mix honey, and make a sweet pie, or use meat for a meat pie if you so desired. Fans have clammored for flowing capes, hoods, customizable hilts, etc. These things don't greatly change gameplay, but they add a level of immersion.

Companions weren't the only NPCs in KOTOR. What other NPCs would you like to see make the leap?

Actually, you don't go in search of your lightsaber because it hasn't been lost - when you get exiled from the Jedi Order, they just don't let you keep your lightsaber. Sure, you could make a new one. But you're right, yours is special and worth reclaiming... if you choose to. I dig this approach. Thanks for the tid-bit.

Difficulty can depend upon perspective. My girlfriend is very new to video games in general, but she loved KOTOR. She played a Scoundrel type character, who had difficulty with combat until she became a fairly accomplished Jed. She didn't do every side quest, nor get every item. Her character paled in power compared to mine. Thusly, I rolled through the game and she didn't.

Many of the Final Fantasy series games have small bugs that allow for exploits like item duplication.

I heard that Bastilla was secretly a guy all along, and if you played LS Revan, the character ends up turning to the DS when he discovers his lover's ruse. I heard it from a real good source.