Cantousent

The battles weren't particularly tough in either one, but KotOR/KotOR 2 had easier battles. To be honest, I was perfectly happy with easier battles since the fighting wasn't my favorite part of the game. Also, I don't see why it's so far fetched to believe Bioware tried to recapture some of PS:T when they made KotOR. It makes perfect sense that Obsidian did the same. If I can recall, Bioware put out some surveys a little while after NWN2 hit the shelves. There was just the tiniest bit of mayhem and ire in some quarters and, to Bioware's credit, the company wanted to address some of the issues that caused complaint. One of the options explicitly stated on more than one of the surveys (or maybe more than once on one survey, I can't recall) cited Planescape: Torment. Think about that. Not only did they have PS:T in mind, but at least one of the questions revolved around the nature of NPCs. Was it some mistake that Bioware was thinking about PS:T before they developed KotOR? Maybe the guy creating the survey had to come up with a quick question and pulled PS:T out of thin air. I prefer PS:T also, Tigranes, but not only are the two games similar, but the folks at Bioware had it in their heads to make the games similar on purpose and well before they got hot and heavy into the development.

Good idea. There's a free trial out there somewhere.

Actually, I'm a big City of Heroes/Villainns fan. I've thought about WoW, but I haven't been excited by it. Still, it gets rave reviews from so many areas I'm sorely tempted.

I'm thinking about picking up Duneons and Dragons online.

Don't join if you're interested in becoming part of a safe gay and lesbian guild.

I

Gromnir, quit playing your own advocate. :Eldar's grinning at Gromnir icon: There were many things I admired about KotOR 2. I've always stated I enjoyed the game. I'd suggest it to anyone looking for a good Star Wars game. There's more to the writing than the dialogue. For instance, the entire intro was sparse on actual text, but whoever developed that whole scene created the best intro I've played for any game. The character interaction for most NPCs was well done. At times, it was even brilliant. So, what's my biggest beef? Kreia was comparable to Ravel, only she fell far short. I don't have time to elaborate, but I do have a question: do you think Kreia compared well with Ravel? Edit: Ah Gromnir, I see you cited Ravel. That's my biggest beef. ...But I happen to know you also enjoyed the story teller. One of my favorites as well. There was more to PST than the diatribes on Philosophy.

Natural blueheads are so hard to find these days. Personally, I think most of them are bottle blueheads.

Worst game? Too many to tell, really. The worst I finished? Timelines, I think. My wife got it for me for Christmas. She was quite excited about it and so I played it. You know, I hated the game, but my wife was so happy I almost finished it a second time. hahaha Truly horrible, though.

Well, I voted. Brown haired lasses are winning so far. Of course, it's not like I don't find blond, redhaired, or even blue haired women attractive.

kinda funny that fergie is more concerned with rpg codex opinions than your or Gromnir's, eh? HA! Good Fun! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, just frightening. I always pegged Feargus as a reasonable sort of fellow. That he values RPGCodex more than Obsidian's own message boards strikes me as odd. Oh well, as long as he doesn't go all "Codex" and combine snobbery with a healthy dose of stupidity, I'll be happy. It's the games that are important.

Don't make me pull out my poison pen!

It's a strange game, but I'm going to play more of it when I get back to my home. Right now, I've been forced to spend the past couple of weeks in Las Vegas. I've been staying with my sister and brother in law. My sister saw the intro and watched me play about 20 minutes of the game and now she wants me to make a copy of it and leave it with her. It's not really what I suggested. In my idea, the player character is the guardian and the child is an npc. In Princess Maker 2, the child is effectively the player character for whom you make decisions at the beginning of each month. You never actually see or access the information for the guardian. However, it's similar in that you build up the child into adulthood and that child is the "Chosen One." I'll finish up a game of it and let you know what I think.

Try it out. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Okay, I will.

I'm for it.

Here's an example. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Of course there had to be a JRPG style game with the same idea... only twisted. Ugh.

So a raising sim. Yeah, it's been done before. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My whole idea simplified and restated in four words. I hate you! :Eldar's glaring icon:

Tough crowd. You guys work at... 2am your time? ugh.

As if there's anything original left anyhow. :Eldar's ****-eating grin icon:

hahahaha You'd better get to working fast then. Seriously, though, I've never considered a career in game design, so you're pretty safe.

I'll never tell.

How about this: You're charged with the wellbeing of a child. This child was given into your care at a young age and you are responsible for his rearing and education. As the game progresses, in truly epic fashion, your decisions reflect the characteristics, abilities, and, at least to some extent, the attributes of the child. As he approaches adulthood, you discover that the young man has some truly remarkable characteristics. You are thrown into [insert main plot and backstory here] and you fight like hell to keep the kid alive. ...Or perhaps you sell him out and get a hefty reward. Whatever the case, the kid is the "chosen one" if there is a chosen one at all. Perhaps he's just one of those special people. At any rate, the primary ending results in a period of calm. Then you can make a sequel in which you are the kid as an adult. Your former player character is now an NPC. That way you can exploit the franchise for what it's worth. I dunno. I'm sure someone's done it before, but it's an idea at least.

I fondly view you as a yutz. ...AND I also think your hijinx threads are quite clever.

I virtually always take folks at face value online. For all I know, DL is a 60 year old truck driver from Des Moines. It doesn't matter to me. Inasmuchas she presents herself as a young lady, I treat her as such. ...And I'll believe her. Same goes for everyone else here. The times I second guess other members is rare indeed.

Heaven help us from German philosophers. However, I agree that gods should not be the prime movers in stories. Even in something as god-ridden as the best forgotten realms, there is ample room to show the effects of belief without relying on personifying the gods. Let the believers battle it out on earth. Show the motivations and qualities in the believers that move them to worship one god or another. It shouldn't be so easy as saying some fellow worships Bane. The design team should give an account of why the character worships Bane. What was the impetus that drove him to swear allegiance to Bane in the first place? How has he developed his beliefs and how strongy rooted is his belief? Bane himself need not have a voice for the character to express the core tenets of the faith. That's the problem I have with a lot of fantasy. It's too easy for the characters. It's too easy, when you're faced with the burning bush, to believe in God. The rest of us have to work at it. The rest of us are faced with folks who ridicule us for our specific beliefs or for believing at all. Why do designers give the player character the easy path by giving them the truth as ordained by divinity. Make the characters work for it. Don't give them more experience for playing the good guy. make the easiest, most profitable path the middle of the road. You want to be the golden haired savior? It won't be easy. It won't always yield the most reward. In fact, the biggest reward should be that you have followed the path paved by your conscience. I don't want it so cut and dried as God popping out of the ether telling me that I'm destined for greatness. Create a world where gods exist. That's fine. ...But don't give us the easy answers. Make us decide which answer is best and force us to fight like hell to keep to our ideals. That's what I want in a game. I don't want to be chosen. I want to choose.