metadigital

Sorry, but it's money that talks, not quality. Besides, Kotor II was head and shoulders above its predecessor in many of the departments you listed. I wonder if you kids just can't get over the "wow" of the Revan spoiler or something. KOTOR was a poptart: sweet, but not too bright. KOTOR II was steak, it just wasn't cooked long enough, and like steak, some people are just fine with that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> But I like my rib fillet blue, and I thought KotOR 2 sucked.

Not much in English back then. The first major English works are: Beowolf (not in English but Anglo Saxon) The Cantebury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer (last decade of the fourteenth century) There wasn't a lot of reading because there weren't a lot fo books! Johann Gutenberg only developed his movable type printing press in the mid fifteenth century, and the first book to really take off in England was the King James Bible (transliterated into English from Hebrew mainly (estimated 80%) by the poetic genius of William Tyndale (who was of course burned at the stake for this heresy by King Henry the VIII about half a centurry before this English Bible was published in the first years of the seventeenth century). Shakespeare's plays and stuff Tom Jones (regarded as the first English "novel"), written by Henry Fielding. It's definitley worth reading; the sentence structure is beautiful (and quite reminiscent of high German), although it is possible to have too much of a good thing: I was getting a little bored by the 1200th page ... Then you've got a lot of good stuff, like Charles Dickens.

Maybe he's a rabbit ...

That would lead to a an empty forum. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We could have a set of locks (as in prevent from deletion, not as in prevent from posting). A diplomacy-style mechanism, whereby a thread can only be locked (no deleting) by anyone other than the author. This would also provide a useful new mechanism for a better forum level, based on other people's "voting" for one's threads (and might even be extended to individual posts).

No business cares about the narrative integrity of a fantasy story, regardless of how important you think it is. A sequel will only be made if there is a perceived return on investment. As the second game reached "Best RPG on 2005" (was there any competition? ), there is likely to be some momentum towards a sequel as a "quick win"; however, judging by the animosity in the fora to K2, it is likely that LA have used up any goodwill from the first game in the incomplete release of the second. So it really doesn't matter how much anyone individually wants a sequel, or to see Revan or the Exile again, or even to swing a lightsabre; it only matters whether there is a paycheque at the end of the exercise; a meal of fresh bread for all those doing the henny-penny breadmaking.

I remember hearing about it, but I thought it was a mod ... or was it a glitch in the Xbox version? Hmmm ....

But it doesn't make any sense that people will stick with you regardless of whether you are Mother Theresa or Mira Hendley. Okay, we can argue the ontological aspect of true freedom of will, and whether, in this instance of the game universe, these companions just happen to be the same alignment that I choose to become ... but that leaves the question of if I change alignment mid-game, and also there should be some occassions when some of the companions do not follow me, otherwise it loses all suspension of disbelief.

... And then drown them in orc blood.

Ah, but religious ties were a paramount importance to the machinations of pre-WW1 ...

Well done! I would hesitate to make deep character analyses of any of those in the LotR; imo Tolkein has sketched them far too one-dimensionally (all good, like the fellowship, all bad like Sauron and Saruman). The only character that fought with his conscience, apart from the Disassociative Disordered Smeagol, was Boromir. I guess Frodo does change from na

Try a Roman Catholic marriage ceremony. If that doesn't put you to sleep, then you are worthy of a buddy trip with Dell Griffth.

I was being facetious, after all what is the point of a multi-user experience if everyone is doing it solo. :D Then again, there is some variation on the instance theme, with instances of end-bosses and so forth for the hoi poloi to kill in a queue.

At least they had pretty coloured skins ...

It would depend on the working arrangements, I would think. You may offer a person $1 million to take the death penalty for you, for example, but that isn't the same as offering them $1 million no-questions-asked! Maybe there are reasons why a compnay might not be super-enthusiastic to work with LA ... although I can't think why ... "

Or they could have an instance of each universe for each player ... "

I will be buying psychonaughts.

Fictional? Well it is a very common theme, from Luke Skywalker to Neo in the Matrix (remember his crucifixion in the denouement of the third film?). Recently there has been a change in literature where the "ordinary guy" saves the day, like Bruce Willis's John MacLane in Die Hard and even the tendency to find the heroic in the everyday, like "Perfect Storm" (I haven't seen this film owing to my pre-assessment that it would suck).

The biggest issue I have with this BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4097258.stm) is the premise that quantum physics is a tool that can be used to explain the macro universe. This is like trying to explain why quarks and gluons bind together to make protons and neutrons using gravity (instead of weak and strong nuclear forces). I have no problem with bringing such concepts to the masses, but I dispair at the dumbing down of science because of some fear that our society is really profanum vulgus.

True, and also the point he was making is that -- even though people don't eat JUST McDonalds, they do tend to eat fast food to the exclusion of all other healthy options: KFC, McD, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell (only in the US), etc etc. The average person is not eating lentils and cr

No, it means in only one of the infinite universes, the possibility of a backward time traveller has manifested. Thanks, I'll look Democritus up (he's from Thrace, the ancient land that bore Byzantium and Spartacus!). Vernor VingeVernor Vinge wrote a couple of interesting novels on a plausible time travel device. (Only forwards: the Peace War and Marooned in Real Time.) Very interesting readng, I highly recommend it.

Ah, the mysterious tachyons show their magical effects to us unworthy ephemerals, trapped in the confines of our space-time continuum.

There already is a Paragon City super-heroes MMORPG "City of Heroes", to be followed later this year by "City of Villains". I think Marvel were suing them for breech of copyright, because (everyone creates their own super heroes, looks, powers etc) it was too easy to copy Marvel IP. I think Marvel are bringing their own MMORPG out too. I'm not sure the mechanism, I guess the levelling up fucntionality will provide lower characters with less super powers, so another superman can come and tan your arse ...

The female's sexual peak is around 38, wheras the male's is aorund 17. This just means that secual appetites at these ages is greatest; obviously more experience and wisdom makes you a better partner. I would council you against a headlong rush into hormone-charged sexcapades. If I could, I would go back and be a virgin (or close to it) at my wedding. Like anyhting, you can cheapen the act of congress to the point that it is compeltely detached from emotion. What does that prove? The greatest "pleasure" (such a clumsy word to use) derives from being with someone you truly love. Unfortunately, most people in this world will never experience true love. I believe in shooting for the highest, though. Go for gold. This is mirrored in the shallow romance plots of KotOR. (Did you see what I did there? Do you like the way I brought my speil back on topic?) The dialogue is very shallow. And it is eminently possible to provide characters with whom a connection is possible, even though they are badly rendered low resolution pixels on an RPG. I have fond memories of a character from one of the NwN community mods, for example. That relationship grew over three mods, and matured over another four after that. But the important thing was the depth and credibility of the dialogue. :cool: