Magister Lajciak

I am looking forward to Dragon Age enormously and part of the reason is that it is generic fantasy with a bit of its own twist, since, gasp, I like generic fantasy for its familiar yet fantastic millieu, especially when spiced up with just a hint of something different, but not too much. I am pretty sure I am going to like the game and realistically see only two issues that could be problematic: 1) System Requirements: I am relatively certain that I will not meet the minimum system requirements, but I will upgrade my computer at some stage, hopefully soon, so I will get the game sooner or later. 2) Excessive DRM ala Spore: BioWare is now part of EA, which is notorious for its draconian DRM policies. Realistically, this is the only thing that could prevent me from buying the game.

The combat system was more or less the standard BioWare conversion of turn-based into semi-real-time.

I have also made some significant changes to Pathfinder for my games, though I mostly made up my own rather than using established mechanics from other sources. It is a work in progress, as I plan on introducing further changes to other areas of the game, but so far I am rather satisfied with what I have right now.

May have to do that, though again, I'm not very enthusiastic about the Aliens universe for a space rpg setting. I think back to the "star frontiers" days of my youth and how cool that was at the time. Flash Gordon, John Carter... there are several properties I'd have preferred, though everyone automatically thinks star wars, star treck, or aliens when it comes to space. Not sure how much rpg juice can be squeezed out the old, dead alien's husk... Well, I would prefer another KOTOR title to Aliens, but Aliens can be pretty good too.

I was never really terribly excited by Spore in the first place, though I might have bought it if it weren't for the draconian DRM. I refuse to rent games - I only buy them and then don't want to be watched by some big brother as to when, how and where I am allowed to play them. It is one of the reasons why I refuse to play MMOs too.

Well, in one of the precursor threads there was some clamoring for a true real-time/twitch-based combat system, so I thought it might carry over into this thread.

I was satisfied with KOTOR combat and see no need to change it, but others might disagree.

I am not interested in Spore given the Securom DRM and would have had only limited interest even without it, but it makes me worried about Dragon Age. If it is present there too, I will have to pass on buying one of the games I am really looking forward to.

Good point - I just noticed that this particular software is usable for 30 days.

Hmm, it can even be plugged into another program that checks for updates!

Hmm, that program looks pretty good indeed. Thanks!

What is the best browser in terms of power and ease of use for saving and archiving websites to one's hard disc? I do a lot of archiving manually by saving the websites one-by-one as HTML or MHT in Internet Explorer 7 and it works, but takes a lot of time - I would like at least something that could save all websites open in all tabs in one click or that has other ways of speeding this up. Thanks!

I do it all the time, and I know for a fact I'm not the only one. It's very easy to do on news sites, Wikipedia, a Google search, etc. I also use that many tabs regularly.

UAC is evil!

The same ruleset as in the previous two games would work well, but I am not sure that it will actually be implemented. One thing that will have to change for sure is the engine. Although I wouldn't mind the same graphics, too much time has passed now for them to be competitive in the general marketplace... Also, what about the perspective? Same as KOTOR or isometric, what would you prefer? I generally prefer isometric for my RPGs, but even more than that I like to have consistency within the same series, so over the shoulder perspective, as in the previous two KOTOR games, would work best for me.

Note: When I say 'new Penryn models', I mean for laptops, since I am planning on acquiring a new notebook, not a desktop.

That's a pity, but it also means that I need not wait for Nehalem to upgrade my laptop. I will probably just get a Penryn notebook sooner, as waiting for Westmere would probably take too long. Are there any new Penryn models planned?

Also, it it is ever made, I would like KOTOR 3 to have rule-based, rather than reflex/twitch based combat.

Should KOTOR 3 ever be made (I am increasingly sceptical ), I wonder what ruleset it would use. The options are the d20 Star Wars ruleset used in KOTOR and KOTOR 2, or the Star Wars Saga ruleset or a new ruleset developed especially for the game.

Mask of the Betrayer was Project Massachusetts Great! And what U.S. state is Storm of Zehir?

Well, they can be important characters without being player characters...

If there is a proper (single player) KOTOR 3, it should indeed bring an end to the Revan & Exile saga, but we ought to play it with a new character rather than either of those two.

Pretty cool trailer!

If they loved the setting, why did they refuse to do KotOR2 when asked to and instead suggested Obsidian do the sequel? I think they wanted to break into the MMO business where the big bucks of monthly subscription fees are, and with a Star Wars stamp on it, they would be sure to have at least some success with it. Because they couldn't care less about working on license games anymore? That's all reason they needed Yes, I know that Bioware said back then they wanted to work on their own IP, but if that was the reason, then why are they working on a Star Wars project now? Somehow that doesn't quite add up. Something has changed there. Perhaps the project simply promised to be too lucrative to pass up regardless of the licensing issues.

Yeah, well, I think the vocal majority want it not be a MMO too... vocal minority silent majority is ok with it We don't really know. Yes we do. It is always same thing. Your Average Fan (who is NOT part of message boards) just aren't as rabid as people here. It has been seen over and over again with other games and game franchises. Your average Kotor fan - as even in message boards there are a lot people who love the idea of MMORPG - just doesn't give a ****. He's propably thrilled by the news (if he has even heard about it) It is something which always happens at message boads. There'll be epic nerd rage and what not but large masses won't care that much Just a few comments: 1) We have heard the voice of the vocal minority that dislikes the idea of a KOTOR MMO, but we heard next to nothing from the silent majority, so we don't know how they will react, though I do agree that it is more likely that they won't care either way. 2) In this internet era, the ratio of the vocal minority to the silent majority might be greater than in the past 3) Hardcore fans act as facilitators and evangelists for games and can thus have an impact on sales that is disproportionate to their numbers {4) Yes, the KOTOR MMO will almost certainly be a financial success regardless of the above, but we can still express our negative feelings towards the idea, because it will 'take over the setting' and thus very likely kill any chance of a single player KOTOR 3}