213374U

Agreed. If they can pull an Afghanistan again, the attrition would be negligible. However, making profound changes in the next target country is a different story. I don't think it can be done without a well established US/NATO presence. And um, that's the whole point of a war against tyranny, ain't it?

Huh? Where did I state the opposite? However you have still to prove the advantages of a non-existant foreign policy. No. Crime and overpopulation aren't going to bring the US down. As for a deficient school system, it isn't a national-scale problem either, because a lot of qualified specialists from foreign countries immigrate to the US every year to fill in any gaps left by the schooling system. So, as much as you may dislike it, the system works. Perhaps not for everyone, but in general it does. Well, that might as well be unavoidable. I don't see how pulling out US troops out from everywhere would prevent that, though. No. Nowadays not even the US can consider itself self-sufficient. An aggressive military stance is an important part of the US foreign policy. It's been that way almost since the US formation. It sure looks like it's worked well so far. I don't see a reason to change.

How did the attention need to be diverted from Afghanistan? It wasn't the G.I. Joes dying there. The ground war was being waged between local factions, mostly. And the September 11 memory was still fresh, so there wasn't really that much opposition to the war. At the present rate of attrition being suffered by the US forces stationed on Iraq, I don't think another invasion is feasible, not even for the almighty US Army. People may not revolt against another war, but do you really think people is going to stand for drafting for a war 'against tyranny'?

Because both Yoda and Palpatine are 'officially' level 20 by the D20 ruleset. Adding 'epic' levels would not only not be consistent with the setting, but it would also mean that there could be individuals significantly more powerful than those two. So far, that doesn't seem to be the case.

If I Remember Correctly.

I don't deny that. However, if that had returned huge amounts of cash, more games would have been made that way. Ok. There are like 7000 users here, let's consider all of them hardcore. Do you think it pays to develop a game exclusively for 7000 people?

Not gonna happen. 'Hardcore' gamers are a minority, and it's not cost-effective to develop a game version for them. That added to the fact that, if left with no choice, most hardcore gamers will get the 'dumbed down' versions, wouldn't make that the smartest business decision ever. And um, I don't think the average Joe would feel so proud buying and beating the dumbed down version... "

No. The FR/D&D settings are fundamentally different from SW. The barrier between deity and mortality is faint at best in D&D, and there are a lot of creatures there that are between both worlds. There is nothing like that in SW, everyone is mortal and can be killed with a well aimed, lucky blaster shot. The SW D20 ruleset is designed to reflect that, hence there is no reason for 'epic' levels. The emperor and Yoda are both at the pinnacle of the power scale of the SW setting, and both are near physical collapse. Beginning to see a pattern there? That only points to a flaw in the design of K1/K2, that is, overly simplified combat. Applying a lame patch (ridiculously easy combat) to a game feature that was probably put there on purpose in the first place, is a double fault, or the result of a serious lack of vision on the devs' part. Another perfect example of bad balancing and leveling curve. If the player hadn't been level 999 by that time, there wouldn't have been a need to make monsters immune to Timestop (FFS!). No, I'm not really bothered about how many levels you get, either. What bothers me is that those 50 levels you can get are worth exactly the same as K1's levels. As somebody pointed out earlier, it's absurd to have characters with 500 HP. Anyone said munchkin? And no, it doesn't make sense that the Exile should be more powerful than Revan, but then again, from the ruleset standpoint, it doesn't make sense to go beyond level 20.

You just made my day. Well, not really, but it's cool though.

That's actually a good idea. However that would break the first rule of modern gaming: Thou shalt not piss the casual gamer. Apart from needing an 'exotic weapon proficiency: DBLS' feat, it works just like in KotOR. That is, no difference between wielding two sabers, and wielding a double bladed one. It's easier and cheaper to build two sabers though, IIRC. I don't like much how that is handled in the D20.

I agree, the squad control interface was rather clumsy. That's what happens when you try to adapt a single char, TB combat GUI for real-time squad combat. But that has nothing to do with SPECIAL not being compatible with real-time. I must have missed the stone in which that was written. That's exactly the same (and only, actually) reason for bashing FOT I've heard so far. Not good enough for me. And um, if that's how you think, perhaps you'll be disappointed by FO3. I don't think they're going to make it TB.

Beautiful, though irrelevant. The US isn't trying to save the world. The US is simply trying to preserve its hegemony, that's what empires do, you know. And when great empires crumble, dark ages follow, always. I'd rather not have one of those anytime soon. And pulling the troops out would fix that how? False. US troops can provide an element of stability which is needed in many places. Be it to help in natural disasters, prevent civil wars or help kickstart somewhat democratic political systems, US troops on foreign soil are an integral part of the foreign policy.

Well, you won't be learning 'spanish' in Mexico. I mean, the language spoken there is a variation of 'regular' spanish but with a lot of changes, phonetical and lexical mostly. It's not like the spanish spoken in Spain. But since the variant of 'spanish' spoken in each country is different, it doesn't really matter much which variant you learn. I really don't like south american accents, but since I'm from Spain, I guess I'm just helplessly biased. "

Yep. Dementation's a riot when used like that. And it gets even better in the PnP...

Both games were ridiculously easy once you discovered how to aim for the eyes. Groin hits were rather amusing too... "

How about telling us a bit about it? Nice avatar, btw. Is he Darth Sion?

No, it isn't. You have a point. The main issue with the XP curve in this game is how fast levels are gained. To have such a high level gain rate, they need to have a lot of levels for a game of this length. If the level gain rate was say, halved, there would be no need to raise the level cap past 20 in the first place. But then again, the 'casual gamer' would be pissed.

Um, I don't know. In my first playthrough I went Ventrue too, and I didn't develop my fighting skills too much. I must have had like 4 levels in firearms and I didn't even bother with the HtH abilities. And since Presence is rather worthless compared to your other disciplines, I had lots of points for social/mental. As long as you're well equipped, you shouldn't have much trouble, even less considering you seem to like the combat system.

Well apparently, running around shrinking people before proceeding to 'stamp' them whilst pole-dancing strippers show you their t*ts, still represents the pinnacle of gaming. Bah. You know nothing. It's all about Duke's corny lines. And the pigcops... :ph34r:

Well, they already said they don't want the US or any other foreign troops anywhere near their territory. "

Nothing happened during the Cold War and it was a far more serious situation that the one we're living now. Relax, the world ain't gonna end tomorrow. The day after tomorrow... who knows.

Glad you like it. Enjoy it while it lasts, because once you get to the last quarter of the game, it goes downhill fast. Lots of senseless combat, and next to no role playing in the final parts of the game. Overall though, it's a very good game.

Huh? Why would real time SPECIAL be garbage? FOT was exactly that and it was a great tactical action game IMO. The issues I have with that game were more with the interface than the implementation of SPECIAL in an action game. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I couldn't play FOT in real-time. I played it in turn based, and until you, everyone else I had talked to hated the real-time in FOT. Yep, I know everyone hates FOT's CTB mode. However I have yet to hear a convincing reason other than 'it's not supposed to be that way!'.