random n00b

And that apparently small amount of changes (despite their significance from a narrative standpoint) is what I was referring to when I said some people will be disappointed, perhaps expecting major reworks and/or large content additions where (save for the HK factory) that's not really the focus of the project. Perhaps this guy would have something to say about it. They have it easy. They sell SW games. Not much more to be said...

The autobalance system in the game seems to be one of the things that suffered from the deadline constraint syndrome. This is especially glaring with enemy saving throws reaching absurd values once you break the 20th level barrier. I'm guessing this is due to a lack of time to polish details and fine-tune the system, combined with the devs' awareness of the amount of uber-cheese combinations possible in the game. The game doesn't care about your individual stats, it only takes into consideration your level, and buffs mobs in proportion, in a very blunt and generic way. Funny, because even without the cheese, you can still cut a swath through anything the game throws at you without much trouble... I just edit the 2da and tone saves down to reasonable levels, myself, rather than bothering with raising my WIS and CHA scores to ludicrous values.

You running for the White House or what?

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I think some people are going to be disappointed regarding TG's work. Not because of the quality of the work itself (which I am not going to comment on until I get to try it) but because the insane amount of hype the project has generated. Read the beta testers' impressions threads. It's not a huge rework of the game, it just makes it more faithful (hopefully) to what OE had originally intended. More consistent, seamless, less of the "WTF?" feeling. For me it's K2 all the way, TSLRP or not.

Those look quite nice. But Beth's strong points *are* graphics and atmosphere, so nothing new there. Maybe they aren't releasing anything on NPC interaction on purpose? Besides, there's only muties in those pics. Needs moar raiders plz No, not really.

"Enhanced interrogation", heh. Whenever I read one of those phrases, I'm always reminded of "wardrobe malfunction", for some sick reason. Anyway, you some kind of History buff? You seem to know your stuff pretty good.

I think a spy would like to keep a little lower profile than competing in the UFC. But it would be neat if there was an underground fight club in the game. And a meat grinder like Wanderlei Silva would probably mop the floor with poor little Jason Bourne... in a MMA-style fight. Which aren't the ones a covert operative would pick to begin with. I assume a realistic approach to weapon concealment is a given? That was one of the aspects I liked the most of the Hitman series... and it would be goofy otherwise.

As I said, it's been a while. I don't doubt that you're correct on MR and Insect Plague. But I was talking about one-high-level-enemy-mage battles (who seldom had significant MR), not dragon or golem battles. I never really had the patience to go through the combat log and remember which anti-magic spells countered which defenses-- I just Plagued 'em and hammered 'em into the dirt. One of my attacks (like, say, the various elemental bonuses from the Flail of Ages) usually got through. Save for, obviously, mobs that are immune to spellcasting interruptions. Lovely. I'll have to try that one on Kangaxx. That could be circumvented by applying a blanket era-effectiveness flag. Modern Age units should be able to stomp Stone Age units, period. And as far as the importance of research goes... it's not the modern military that will kick your opponent's rears. It's the huge boost in production that modern city improvements bring. As it should, I think. Definitely, Civ isn't one game to be looking up to as far as balancing goes. Or perhaps I just suck.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Obi-wan Good job. I think the Prima Guides do have some canon value, albeit very low. So unless there's another source that conflicts with it, that's his age. 38 is also consistent with his attitude through the game, and it gives him some room for Dustil, too. And what do you mean "nerdy"? I ain't even wearing my Jedi robes at the moment! Please note that those were simply educated guesses. I was in no way trying to impose anything on people's vision of Revan. There are many examples of contradicting facts in the EU, that are never addressed or even acknowledged. So Revan could indeed be made to be in the middle 20's or even younger, at the whim of some LFL editor, an in-universe explanation being readily concocted to explain it. But yeah, Bastila's age is probably right. Either that, or she's simply immature and annoying as hell. She is just a padawan after all. The exile is probably intended to be younger than Revan, since she was knighted during the Mandalorian wars, as opposed to already being a knight by the time of joining Revan's crusade. Mira's comments probably aren't intended to be taken literally.

Er, yes. That's assuming the Xbox version has the audio files readily available, which most likely, it doesn't.

It's impossible to tell for sure, but a late twenties estimate may be a bit too young. Revan has been stated to be a prominent and renowned Jedi Knight by the time the Mandalorian Wars began. And from the start of that war to the end of the Jedi Civil War, nine years pass. Obi-Wan for instance, was 25 by the time he was knighted, and only because he defeated Maul. Anakin was ~22, and he skipped the standard trial business, too. Revan might have been teh shiznit and all, but not much younger than that. On the other hand, the only data we have on Carth is that he is a somewhat competent Republic flyman by the start of the Mandalorian Wars, and that he has a son that's old enough to be a Sith apprentice, nine years later. That could make Carth as young as 36 by the time of KotOR, younger possibly. But given the inconsistent mess that is the EU and the all too frequent retcons it suffers, Revan and Carth might be any age - logic is irrelevant and facts can be, and often are, retroactively reinvented.

go hijacking

"Relatively complex" compared to what? The 300? Kill Bill? STTNG? SAW? ESB?

My vote is for Hillary.

I like dark hair. Games are meant to make money. And while I'm sure devs would love to make the critically acclaimed CRPG of the century, few would be happy to repeat the debacle of say, Vampire Bloodlines. It's nothing new really. The same happens with books, for instance. Just look for the sales of Thus Spake Zarathustra and compare them to the same numbers for the latest Harry Potter release. It's a sad state of affairs, but once more, the masses rule. You can find comfort in thinking yourself an exception. Or not. I can't agree with this. OE have shown in the past their ability to produce above-average writing and levels of plot complexity that are not quite the norm. Even in such a silly setting as Star Wars, they managed to produce a dark and mature story. I think they at least deserve the benefit of doubt. But perhaps you are seeking to be engaged intellectually in all the wrong places? Gaming isn't exactly the most challenging of activities for the mind, anyway, and I don't think it's ever been intented to be. So it *is* an april Fool's then? It's good material for debate anyway.

Well, it's obviously a matter of preference. I feel more comfortable playing with characters with a clearly defined role, but I can disregard that if they have an interesting backstory and/or personality. If they lack both, they are a no-no for me. I was kinda disappointed with how Jaheira's romance proceeds. She starts from an overly self-protective attitude and then evolves to a revenge-driven attitude. But despite all that <charname> and her have been through together, she never stops watching you and comparing you to Khalid (what's so great about that guy, anyway. He could barely speak). There's a feeling of lingering mistrust for the duration of the game. Carth's attitude is somewhat reminiscent of hers... I don't know what's the deal with romanceable NPCs always having issues, anyway. It's almost a cliche by now. I so wanted a Shar-Teel romance. -Shar-Teel: I spit on your manhood!

You need a high (9-10) luck and agile character, and the more and better criticals and perks. Slayer is a bonus. Pump up your Unarmed skill like crazy and get to about level 15 where you get the best melee attacks. I'm not sure but I think critical side effects (insta death) are also dependant on your level. But yeah, you can go around killing pretty much anything in one hit, even power-armored Enclave troopers. Floaters and Centaurs seem more resistant to that for some reason, though. And they appear in large numbers, so it's not healthy to try.

You forgot to finish the sentence: "...imaginary, though the fact that morality is imagined does not mean we should discard it." Saying there is no good and evil in the world at all and we are all pond scum is just as unproductive and dangerous as saying the US is the guardian of the world and will always be a force of righteous good, sort of like Superman Gundam. There's no need to discard morality. Since it's something completely made up, it's so plastic that it can be twisted to support any line of action. Thinking ourselves better than our forebears is just another clever trick to establish the alleged superiority of the currently prevalent morality. People just do whatever it takes to get through the day - or die, making the point moot. And now I'm going to steer clear of this discussion, since I'm derailing the thread and, as you said yourself, this line of debate is unproductive. Albeit funny as mental gymnastics.

The problem I see with Aerie is that she can work both as a mage and as a cleric, but can excel in neither role. Edwin is an excellent mage (cheat-quality good, in fact). Viconia can cover all your healing/buff needs. Aerie's problem is the same as Jaheira's, with the added disadvantage that she can't work as a second-line tank (which is the best Jaheira can aspire to, given her scarce HPs), meaning she can't take the heat off you squishies if need be. To fill that extra slot I'd much rather take another tank (Keldorn or if I'm playing a paladin myself, Korgan) or a custom-made bard, even. But it all comes down to personal preference, I guess. Her personality is the biggest problem for me.

It was relevant in that the moral distinction between the US and its enemies has always been imaginary. Both sides do what they think they should... and then make up various moral workarounds to justify it.

Terrorism is "evil" now, because we're the ones writing the newsflashes. If they actually "won", they'd be the ones writing history and they'd make sure they won't be remembered as murderous fanatics. There have been instances of this, in fact. Good and evil are behavioral constructs, inventions implanted into you before you can rationalize them. Thinking that stuff that just reading about makes your skin crawl shouldn't be done to anyone is not entirely rational because for starters, you wouldn't be caught in a terrorist training camp in the depths of Afghanistan.

Good and evil exist only in your mind.

You can use Fred Tetra's KotOR Tool to open the dialog.tlk, but it's a bit... raw. I think you're better off getting the PC version and using that tool to browse through the modules and view the conversation trees that are of particular interest to you. Besides, you'll be able to play TSLRP when it comes out!

Sounds bad but it's not quite so. Those are in fact rather mild "torture" methods, when compared to stuff they do elsewhere. That kind of torture is just an accessory to the feeling of powerlessness and being at the mercy of people that can do anything with you to get what they want that breaks a person's will. And unfortunately asking politely just won't do the trick.