[13 levels is auspicious for the mega dungeon...]

Hey, such a dungeon would make a GREAT 'game in a game' for players who want concentrate on combat part of the game - like severs and modron maze in Planescape, which is otherwise very light on combat and heavy on dialogue.

This way, you can have a completely combat-free (stealth/speechcraft) path though the game... and a LOT of combat content for those who desire it.

[playing "evil"]

Well, I'd say that, unlike some other 'alignment' systems (like Star Wars, heh), the D&D one is quite flexible, and is capable of representing whole gamut of world views - with reasonable approximations.

Now, in KOTORII they really had to bend some rules... and completely deconstruct the setting in come cases.

[playing "evil"]

I pretty much never play through "evil" in any game. Just not appealing.

 

But it might be more interesting if the "evil" option were more than just, well, an option. The choices presented, if any, are always somewhere along the lines of "You get five options of varying good to neutral, and one where you kick a puppy." Which just isn't that neat even if I were interested. It would be a lot more interesting to see more varying ways to be something that's not necessarily a paragon of virtue, and might even be considered evil. Selfishness, vengeance, cruelty, etc. are all things that could, at some point, be options for the player.

 

Hardly any games get it right, mostly they punish you for failing to stick to their predetermined, "being good is optimal," critical path.

 

See above about Mask of the Betrayer - it is an example of an Evil path done RIGHT. The good path is there, and the good ending is quite satisfying, but the evil path is not just an occasional puppy-kicking. oh no.

[playing "evil"]

Oh, Obsidian CAN provide us with Evil paths that are intelligent, challenging, badass and are soul-chilling indeed.

See Mask of the Betrayer for instance. The evil ending (and evil stuff you can do while embracing your curse gift) is absolutely chilling and badass indeed.

While it is not my cup of tea at all (usually I play neutral good characters) - this one MUST be seen:

 

http://lparchive.org...f-the-Betrayer/

WARNING: Of course, it does not merely 'contain spoilers' - it leaves NOTHING uncovered. But if you already completed the game, or do not have enough time to actually play it - you MUST read the it 'to the end' - or at least least the Evil path spotlights (if you already completed the game as a good character, like I did):

http://lparchive.org...ayer/Update 43/

 

A recap (massive spoilers inbound):

 

 

a. You can trick mentally handicapped children and entire families into a camp of men-eating monkeys... for rewards of powerful abilities and items.

 

b. You can taunt (or more like - destroy all they hold dear), kill and devour ALL your companions - and use husk of their souls to craft the most powerful items in the game.

 

c. You can fully embrace the curse as a gift, master it and become an entity even Gods fear... and use it to exact horrific vengeance upon all those who slighted you in the past.

 

[Good or evil?]

Didn't vote because sure as hell Obsidian devs will do what they damn please and they will do it Good. And Evil. And cover a lot of gray areas in between.

[Identifying found items]

Well, not being able to use an item till you know that this is exactly +1 dagger of back-scratching is silly.

 

But finding a dagger that gives off some faint magic aura, using it for some time, and then taking it to some loremaster that describes it's rich history (we will have those, remember) and unlocks some extra, not obvious powers - this is different.

 

Or have someone sell you a brightly gloving, ornate sword... that turns to be an gloving gaudy trinket.

[Spell Cut scenes]

Strange, I loved those. Well, I agree that they wear off after a while, but casting 'Finger of death' or 'Meteor Bombardment' for the first time really gave me the the chills.

 

A few spells, really high-level, first time cast - at least as nod PS:T.

[What makes a villain you love to hate?]

Of course he was "helpful" - since he didn't play 'by the rules' and had enough cunning to avoid the consequences. End justifies the means and all that.

 

And about sociopaths - well, there is a reason they exist and usually manifest a tight-knit complex of behaviors... because this is highly adaptive. They would not be able to create and maintain a culture or a society, but they are highly effective parasites. Still, parasites they are, and I prefer to base my life on Kant's categorical imperative, which rules out such behavior.

[What makes a villain you love to hate?]

I liked him. He's smart, confident, charismatic, he'd done for you more than any other incarnation ever did, and I'd love to have him as a romance option an ally. Pity it had to be either me or him.

 

Well, he did not do it 'for you' he done it 'for himself'. Also, he is "smart, confident, charismatic" and with NO regard for suffering of others whatsoever. A perfect sociopath. Someone who will make the planes burn to further his goals. Who will manipulate a women who loves him to death and suffering BEYOND death as one of his contingency plans, for instance.

You can understand him. You cannot but use what he sowed to your advantage. But you cannot but hate him all the more for that.

 

MCA is genius. His writing in games goes far beyond mere 'entertainment' - this is real Art.

[What makes a villain you love to hate?]

We are at page 5 and NOBODY mentioned Practical Incarnation yet? The outrage.

Finding out things "he" done made me hate him with a true passion.

 

And Kreia... she is not a villain. She is beyond mere tropes. Of course she was obviously not a 'good guy' - but she was not just 'Sith in disguise' either.

What she was?

Well, there an article, that I completely agree with:

http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=4271

 

Perhaps she raves on about 'Finally a woman character that is not only about **** and sex!" too much, but her other points are quite adequate, and I can sympathize with her on that point - there IS a lack of deep women personalities in RPGs.

 

And besides, making a villain that you love to hate, hate to love... now, a villain that you love to LOVE, while him still technically being a villain and an "End boss" - that is something really unheard of.

 

Also, this:

http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/Update%2058/

(Major spoiler, of course, but I guess it is too late for such warnings now).

[Mature themes you'd like to see in the game]

Anyway, we can all safely agree that swearwords, gratuitous sex and violence and anything BUT mature themes. It may make the game unsuitable for 8-year olds, but any early teenager would instantly appreciate it...

 

Which leads me to define mature themes as "themes that take a certain level of maturity to really appreciate". For instance, Kreia was an epitome of a character that was mature, ambiguous, and, well, not very appreciated because she was she was talking about choices, consequences, chaos theory, moral relativity, and was an old lady with no nipples pushing though shapeless her robe (that she wore instead of armored bikini).

But some, including me, sees her as the best character in RPGs of all times, even outstripping PST companions... well, stands to reason her being one of Ravel incarnations really.

[Mature themes you'd like to see in the game]

"is healing magic inherently good and is necromancy inherently bad."

 

A healer that heals victims of torture so they will not die from the wounds... and be tortured indefinitely.

 

A necromancer lord that abolishes slavery, pays good wages to peasantry, and uses zombies for work that is too dirty/heavy/dangerous and as troops only to defend his borders - again, to prevent unnecessary deaths?

 

And by the way, abortion is by no means a modern "phenomenon". Medieval physicians used many methods of pregnancy termination, usually much riskier though. When it comes to dealing with prostitution, abortion is also a related subject... but it does not really have to be detailed.

It might be a mature and controversal theme, but I doubt that it merits mention... unless we are talking about, say, forcefully terminating a pregnancy for political or some other purpose.... but that is hardly controversial - this is violence, pure and simple.

 

Only problem with abortion is that by scientific studies, fetus that did not form a nervous system is not capable of suffering. Therefore, from a materialistic moral point of view (if done with mother's consent, of course) terminating such a pregnancy is no more "vile" then popping a zit. Of course, that deprives a world from a potential human being, but no more then using any sort of contraception does... see 'Every sperm is sacred" by Monthy Python for good reductio ad absurdum.

 

However, if every person has a soul of some kind (and setting dictates that they do) that is imparted on conception (now, that in interesting point - perhaps, since, unlike purely immaterial, or, should I say, nonexisting souls of our world, souls of the setting can be deteсted and moment of ensoulment established...) - that is a different subject... perhaps it could merit addition after all, with a few layers of complexity due to actual ensoulment added for good measure, that might actually be fun.