random n00b

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.

The point of this thread eludes me.

The IE combat scripting that governed the AI was abused badly by gameplay programmers in some instances of BGII/ToB, especially in the latter parts. It was common for AI casters to repeatedly activate contingencies/chain contingencies/spell triggers that contained illegal amounts of illegal spells. Often they would trigger even when timestopped! Not to mention the spell/innate ability machineguns that some NPCs were (read: Draconis). Abuse, cheese, engine/ruleset shortcomings and overall imbalance made the final battles a mess... But the worst design decision ever was probably when LA decided to strip the superb iMuse music system from TIE Fighter Collector's ED in favor of static digital audio tracks. Yep, that made me cry.

Too much fighting, very little (as in zero) character interaction in those screenies. I wanna see some hot ghoul babes up close. Preferably the glowing kind. And no examples of melee combat, either. I'd like to see how they'll handle taking on a deathclaw mommy and her cubs with only your palm strike and piercing kick skills to rely on. Because absurd combat is Fallout too, right folks?

They are a big plus for me, as far as immersion is concerned. And in RPGs immersion is everything... The lack of deep relationships in K2 is a bit of a letdown in the midst of the game's otherwise excellent writing. No way. When I arrived on these boards just after Kotor 2 was released, they were a hotbed of Bao-Dur/Exile romance fever. Personally I really enjoy romances in games, and the thought of a soppy love story motivates me to replay certain games more than others. I must have been through Baldur's Gate 2 half a dozen times purely in order to explore the romances - both Bioware's and the work of various modders. I still haven't completed the Aerie romance - one day I will. Funny. Aerie is the one romance I haven't completed either, and I have played this game to death. I think it's her whiny attitude (coupled w/ her less-than-optimal build and stats) that throws me off...