Commissar

They don't necessarily have to die (though I am fond of the idea), but we also don't have to see them in the next game. Am I the only one who remembers Kreia mentioning, at the end of II, something about how Revan will need more, Jedi and Sith, to follow? Whether you were a good guy or a bad guy at the end of II, you set up a system to train new peeps. If you were a good guy, your party members form the core of a new Jedi council, and if you were a baddie, you take over that Sith training academy on Malachor before venturing off into unknown space. Now, I know people are in love with Revan, but it just strikes me as the same as desperately wanting to play...crap, forgot his name. But the dark elf guy from the D&D books, you know? Same sort of thinking. Plenty of folk would hop right on that bandwagon, going, "Cool beans." But some of us would inevitably go, "What the hell? This isn't my character, why the hell do I have to play him?" I suspect the former category will get their wish, though, or something like it. My money's on KotOR III beginning with, "So, you've got amnesia, which is about as common as a cold in the Old Republic. Your true identity is Darth Ultimato, the baddest, freaknastiest Sith Lord ever to lose his memory and be forced to choose between the light side and dark side of the Force all over again. The, um, Palookas have acquired the plans for a Star Death Forge Star, so you better figure something out."

Wholly original? I guess that depends on how you define that. It was based on GURPS. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Is that code for, "We couldn't get permission to use GURPS"? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yep, but JE didn't work on FO, so no "we" (unless he was a tester or something that I wasn't aware of, but I'm pretty sure no) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Informative.

Wholly original? I guess that depends on how you define that. It was based on GURPS. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Is that code for, "We couldn't get permission to use GURPS"?

Agreed.

I've always thought it quite odd that you should want to translate PnP rules to a computer. PnP rules are the way they are because of the limitations of people sitting around a table. A computer dosnt have those, yet we still feel the need to inflict the same limitations on it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, I'd imagine that's mostly due to the popularity of the actual game systems rather than developer laziness. People like Dungeons and Dragons; make a CRPG Dungeons and Dragons, and people can play it whenever they can't get a group together, or however it is people tabletop game. Fallout's SPECIAL system was wholly original, was it not?

What rules are valid for consideration of the CRPG label in your mind? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Can't most tabletop rules systems be pretty faithfully transferred to the computer roleplaying game?

Yep.

No. I've just never seen it used outside of Sherlock Holmes novels, and maybe a book I read as a kid, whose name I have long forgotten, but was about three kids who hunted monsters.

Tarna wins the thread just for that reference.

Damn, I'm jealous ) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It wouldn't recognize faces in any of the pictures I uploaded.

There's no real "knowledge" to respond to in II, I don't think. You certainly get to decide your current motivations: are you hunting down the Jedi in hiding to take revenge for their cutting you off from the Force (which didn't actually happen, of course), are you hunting them down to unite them against the Sith, are you hunting them down just for the answers, etc. Well, I obviously disagree above, but operating on this premise, that's my main problem with I. Bioware gave you their character and said, "Here, take Darth Revan for a spin for a couple of hours." Obsidian gave you the Exile and said, "Figure him out. Who is he?" And I still argue that the revelation can't be trusted. The Jedi Council in that scene is motivated by fear and uncertainty; if you don't believe me, run through it again. Kreia's interpretation is different than theirs; she shows up and tells them as much. If you question them as you're tracking them down, you discover that the Exile was exceptionally good at winning friends and influencing people prior to leaving the order. He could easily form Force bonds. Until an Obsidian developer steps in and says, "Look, here's the official position on the 'wound in the Force' issue," I'm not buying it so easily. Well, you do have a discussion with Visas, and she thinks the idea that you're leeching life off of them is crap. I chose to believe her. Even if you didn't, I don't see the percentage in informing the rest of the Ebon Hawk about that little tidbit. If it were me, I sure as hell wouldn't tell them, just to avoid a scene that'd look more appropriate as part of UPN's fresh teen drama line-up.

Yup.

Seven is sort of an odd number. You'd think ten would be the most natural.

Well, the mobile phone thing came into use, I believe, mostly because it's difficult to get cellular cervice above a certain altitude, and also because airlines wanted to encourage the use of their skyphones. As far as other electronics go...it's pure overcautiousness or another motive that I have yet to deduce. There's no way your Walkman's going to interfere with the instruments. If it did, why aren't you more worried about getting onto a plane in the first place? I could be wrong, but I believe they also have air marshals who don't actually board planes - just sit around undercover in the terminals, in other words. I know they have them in Russia, since one took away the drunk elderly lady who was harassing waiting passengers near me last time I was in Moscow. Guy in a Canadian tuxedo turned around, slapped cuffs on her, and dug out a radio. Could've been those guys. Either way, I agree with the sentiment that the risk of cabin depressurization isn't as important as the risk of somebody successfully pulling off whatever they're attempting, so I'm fine with guns on planes.

There's a potential problem right there. How big an axe are we talking here? Tasers are probably out - if mobile phones interfere with the plane's controls, what would a taser do? How about tranquiliser darts? Could one be made that was fast-acting enough that the terrorist couldn't detonate the bomb by remote control? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Mobile phones don't interfere with avionics, as far as I know. And keep in mind, this happened outside of the plane, so using firearms is sort of irrelevant, since they were in the jetway, if memory serves.

Could've been a suicide by cop situation, I suppose.

It's from an old story, maybe even a parable. Either way, this little boy lives in a village that for some reason is terrified of wolves. He's out playing one day and decides to shout that he's seen a wolf, so all the villagers show up with pitchforks and whatever to drive the wolf off...only there's no wolf. Kid gets a kick out of it, does the same thing next day, villagers show up again to kill the wolf...and no wolf. So the next day the kid's out, only this time he really does see a wolf. He shouts out that there's a wolf, the villagers have been through this before, and don't bother showing up, and the kid gets eaten.

Actually, if memory serves, you can't shutdown the turrets on Goto's yacht, only overload them, which results in their targeting friendlies and hostiles alike.

Risking that is a little bit better than allowing him to actually get his fingers on a trigger. Oh, and remember Pearl Harbor.

I've got some cash lying around and I'm tempted to put up a bid for Double Dragon.

What the hell are you guys talking about?

I believe we didn't play the same game, then. I didn't find out about the shadow generator from Bao-Dur, either, but I'm positive that I knew about it from somebody well before the end. I'm also going to assume you just sped your way through the dialogues with Atris the first time through Telos - they're your first real chance to define why your character disobeyed the Jedi Council and went to war against the Mandalorians. The cave on Korriban is another good place to piece some things together and decide, with the benefit of hindsight, if you made the right decision. Atris wasn't necessarily important to you; you were important to Atris. You fight her, quite simply, because that's where Kreia's gone off to. If you did indeed play through as a good guy, there's plenty of reason to care that she's gone to the dark side, as she's the single biggest holder of Jedi knowledge in the galaxy at that point. I got the impression very early on that the Exile had fought in the Mandalorian wars as a general under Revan, but that was about it. His reasons for doing so, and the decision as to whether or not it was the right choice, are entirely left up to the player. I would argue that's much more open than being informed the character is in fact a former Sith lord halfway through the game. Again, I'm not sure how you never came by this knowledge, but I know that Onderon specifically brings up the point that the planet is providing more for the Republic than the Republic is providing for the planet, and that if it leaves, the Republic is likely to continue to fall. There's similar information passed on in the cantina on Telos, if memory serves. Once again, I had horrible influence with Kreia throughout the game, and I still got all of the necessary information about her background from her, including the cut scene. I didn't get the impression that Kreia was out to destroy the Exile from the beginning. In fact, I didn't get that impression anywhere in the game. An unreliable mentor, certainly, but throughout the course of the plot there are several cutscenes where she goes to great length to ensure NPCs are going to protect you, not destroy you. The only decisions made for you about the character are the fact that he fought against the Mandalorians and activated the Mass Shadow Generator on Revan's orders. That's it. And, once again, the reasons for such actions are completely left up to the player. There were plenty of conversations that dealt with the nature of the Exile's relationship to the Force. I'm thinking of a certain showdown on Dantooine in particular, and a holorecording or two. And you're making the mistake that a lot of people who seem to dislike the game make; you're trusting unreliable narrators. There are enough contradictions to make me doubt what anybody, Jedi Masters included, tell you throughout the game, mostly because they don't seem to know for sure. Kreia has a theory that she's ready to act on. The Council has a different theory that they're ready to act on. Visas objects to the Council's theory at one point. All that's made clear is that no one really knows what the hell's going on with you. Me? I like Visas' version. As for nobody reacting to you, I'm not sure what you mean by that. You're not a hugely known name in the galaxy like Revan. Bao-Dur's the only one of your companions aside from Kreia and possibly Mandalore who knows anything at all about your origins, and he's in essentially the exact same boat as you. Your guy pushed a button and that's about it. Everyone knows Truman ordered the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, but I for one don't know the names of the crew of the Enola Gay. Same deal.

Is this a joke? If not would you care to elaborate please. It isn't an illegal thing and I think nobody here said it was. Iran has been buying weapons from Iran for a very long time, these missle thing is nothing new or sudden because Iran was planning to buy them since the early 90's when they tryed to buy the SA-12 missle systems and fortunatly for the US/Israel they didn't manage. This business deal is perfectley legal but it does come down as a boost to tensions in the region. Make note that they're buying defensive weaponary not something that would enchance their ofensive capabilities and any country in the world has a right to improve their defenses if they see neccessary so does Iran. I strongly disagree with this statment for reasons I already stated in my previous posts in this thread, especially on Tor M1, Iran has been buying weapons from Russia since the revolution and the US or Israel didn't object much to it. But with this deal, the US and Israel strongly condemned the purchase because these aren't just another 'Russian toy', it's the state of the art SAM system and that's the main reason why all the comotion around this thing started in the first place. The Iranians will most probably next seek to buy the latest Igla-S MANPADs from the Russians and the Tors and Iglas may be transferred in a matter of months unlike the powerful and expensive S-300PMU1/2.....furthermore the fulfillment of the Greek and Chinese contracts by Antey Concern and the Indian contract by Kolomna Machine-Building Design Bureau prove that Iran's purchase of powerful anti-ship missiles that would threaten the U.S. naval group in the Persian Gulf and seafaring in the Strait of Hormuz would be a strong military-technical response. And if you ask yourselves if Iran can afford such purchases do note that the Iranian defense budgit is $9.7 billion per year and for example Israel's is $8.97 billion (plus the yearly $2 billion financial/equipment aid for defense spending from the US). <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, then.

Mmm. Sort of like our sodomy laws, then.

Does Britain still seriously have blasphemy laws and all that other stuff? Man. You guys are just nuts. Come over to this side of the pond, where three or four of us liberal pinko commies have managed to subjugate millions of Christians to our will. Our latest coup? We made them think there's a nationwide campaign to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays."