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Being part of the main plot wasn't a concern for me, it was the fact that the KOTOR characters were baggage. Sure, Carth and Bastila were central to the storyline, but Canderous helps you steal the Ebon Hawk, HK works as a translator, and after that they never, ever leave. Take that over to KOTOR2 and you get GOTO, who says "I'm coming with you." even though you've got no fathomable reason to keep him along, seeing how he sucks as both a character and a plot device. You can't say no, you can't ditch him, and he can't die. You could just not use him, but hey, he's always around. At least in BG if you needed a CNPC to do something you could dump them afterwards, or they could die outright. There was never that possibility in KOTOR. Just imagine what NWN would be like if you had no way of avoiding constant interaction with Deekin.

Wait, Ys as in the game? The soundtrack's supposed to be amazing.

So I've been finishing up many BG and Fallout games lately during my wait for NWN2. Is Gothic 3 the kind of game that can entertain me until then? Is it a Bioware-style RPG? I'm kind of new to this game

I'd venture to guess that C&D bugs are like the bug in KOTOR2 (hell, in Bloodlines as well) that made death animations during cutscenes screw up. Gas pours into the dormitories, and it shows people choking to death, falling down and then getting back up for some reason. Things like that, that don't directly affect gameplay. Clipping issues, etc. When a dwarf's beard disappears when he talks

I'd agree with Volourn that the BG and PST party dynamics were better. Carrying every possible CNPC around with you and switching them out at a moment's notice was pretty stupid. Then again, moving between places was much more simple in those isometric games.

I think the project is in good hands NWN2 will not suffer for Mr. Sawyer's patronage. What I think Gromnir was trying to say (that if there are problems they'll be unfairly heaped on Sawyer?) is valid, but it's nothing to worry about right now. I'd also like to thank Mr. Sawyer for being around and interacting with the native fauna. Without him I'd be ****in' nowhere in my Fallout game :D I'll be interested to see how this new project he's working on is, and how it turns out. But that's awhile off I guess.

I dunno. He was pretty excellent in Narc. *edit - Ray Liotta, that is. I thought Glover was well-used in The Royal Tenenbaums

I was totally right about that Venetian Snares / Fallout 2 connection. I PWNZ U. Big three here. David Bowie - Space Oddity Iggy Pop - Fall in Love With Me Lou Reed - Dirty Boulevard

Meh, he'll thank us with a rockin' cRPG :D

Hmmm. I assume there's a portal feature that brings you back to your Stronghold :\ Makes sense.

I would have been much happier with FEAR had they included more than 4 kinds of enemy. 2 of those I fought enough times to count on one hand. 1 of those I never fought at all (the white & red dudes) and who probably wouldn't have been much different from the standard troopers anyway.

So when you encounter a potential party member, are they always available from that point on, ala KOTOR or NWN, where tracking them down and switching them out is rather simple, or do you have to go to them, ala BG?

I'd be behind that. I don't think I've seen that done before, though. Even games like Fallout, in which you can be pretty morally ambiguous, forced you to fight the end dude. You could become a mutie, sure, but it'd just end the game I guess Deus Ex might count as a game that let's you bat for the other team (lollerskates hugz!), but I'd be interested in a game in which the game actually arcs differently and creates a different experience for the bulk of the game, as opposed to making an ultimate choice at the end.

No, that was me. I always get those seismic sensors a buzzin' <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You won't think it's so funny when we invade you And on that nuclear powers list, you forgot Israel.

Come on! = I love the Tick = I love Minsc. This is indisputable :ph34r: . And having played st00pid computer games before playing any actual PnP D&D, I can't help but love me munchkins I prefer my characters to have utility without fancy schmancy equipment, thankyouverymuch. *edit - That's not always the case, mind yous. I had a friend who played BG2 for the first time, and his first stat roll was 16-16-18-10-13-16. I thought that was pretty excessive

**** that guy I really liked Aerie and Viconia, too. It's odd, because I know a lot of people who really hate Aerie (or rather, the fact that she's always so doe-eyed and innocent) The only people I didn't like in BG2 were Edwin and that Bloodaxe dwarf guy. As far as BG1 went, they were all just sets of stats to me Khalid was never, ever in my party. 15 strength on a fighter? That's even more stupid than a mid-level intelligence on a mage (ie Aerie)

According to CNN, the nuke didn't quite work. It was purported to be a 4 kiloton payload. The evidence since the test seems to indicate around a half kiloton of ordinance. Hell, a lot of the early Manhattan Project tests fizzled, and we were better off than these guys /:|

Yes, we all know the Iraqi experiment is working splendidy. Despite what you people say, the US (or at least this administration) has a clearly vested interest in Iraq. We'll leave once we're assured that the Iraqi people won't democratically elect a regime that doesn't support us. After Hamas got democratically elected in Palestine, we realized that we can't afford to leave until the place has been westernized and "made safe for democracy". That was the aim of the war from the very beginning. We care about the well-being of these people only as far as they can run their country in a way we can live with, and with Iran right there, looking to set up its own client kingdom, that's a long goal. What if we leave a "trained security force" and the country still splits into sects? Are we going to "help the people over there" then? This entire war will have been a waste. So we're there until that assuredly won't happen. And I've yet to hear a ****ing word about how we're going to make sure things are going to be stable when we leave. Except if we remove Iran's influence, and hmm, I wonder how we're going to pull that off. And don't blow so much smoke about security. Paul Bremer ****ing disbanded the Iraqi army when he came to power in Iraq with the fear that the Baathists spread amongst them would cause unrest. Bungle #1 with a bullet in the mismanagement of the post-war state. When unrest hit without the army baathists, there was no army to keep the peace. Thus we had to train a new army, and it's not clear if that's even going to be adequate. This is our mess, and we're going to clean it up, because that's how the hubris of assuming people halfway across the world are our responsibility pans out.

That's true. But does the toolset only allow for making magic weapons, or is it a cosmetic NWN thing?

If there are other modders out there with the same problems, somebody is going to make new weapons, somehow.

If only I had $12 of disposable income.

That goes without saying. Held off a bit on that one with BG, though. Aside from the rather passe gibbing.

The "presale" thing I got says T. Usually that restricts a game, but this is D&D. Explicit cursing and ****ing are not usually part of the "normal" gameworld. It's a clean world, and as bad as you get is BG2, in which it might as well have been a major revelation that sex will get one pregnant. Incidentally, BG's deviation from the prudish nature of the world was to its merit.

Uh, there's no NPC interaction in BG1, at least in comparison to BG2. They'll have little voiced interactions that don't stop the game. One character telling the other that they shouldn't be so evil, etc. Having also played BG2 first, it makes the game seem bare And there are plenty NPCs from the first game that never made it into the second one in a playable capacity, unfortunately. You accidentally murder Ajantis in the Windspear Hills, and Xan/Montaron are obviously killed by the Harpers. Quayle becomes Aerie's adopted father ("uncle", whatever) and settles down, Tiax is imprisoned in Spellhold, one of the bards (never used him) is killed by a werewolf in one of the forest maps around Suldanesslar, another of the bards I believe is mentioned by somebody to have written a song about you. Dynaheir and Khalid are murdered by Irenicus. Viconia and Edwin are still playable, as are Jaheira and Minsc, obviously. I guess the "canon" BG1 party consisted of the PC, Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Jaheira and Khalid. Pretty similar to what I used, actually, except I replaced Khalid right off the bat. There are probably a few I'm missing I've been trying to install the banter mod for BG1tutu, but it's not working