Plano Skywalker

I know what you mean. I haven't played Oblivion and probably will not until I get a 360 but that is what I ran into with Fable...after having been spoiled rotten with excellent dialogue choices (and for your choices to actually mean something) in the KOTOR games and then have to sit through the ultra-flat dialogue of Fable, I mean, it just turned me off to the game. I may give it try later but once you've had KOTOR (and I assume FO)-style dialogue, it is really hard to go back.

one of the things that I think helps with our conceptualization of diety or no, creation or no, immortal soul or no, is to simply ask ourselves whether we believe in transcendent reality. The Ancient Greeks (or at least the philosophers of the school of Socrates) believed that reality was transcendent and eternal. And these were not religious people as we now understand the term. of course, most of us have heard of "Plato's cave", which is the idea that everything in this world is a mere reflection of the transcendent "real" world. the chair in your study is not really a chair but a cheap immitation of the ULTIMATE CHAIR, etc. where this really comes into play for us is on moral issues. why is it that human societies (almost) always reach the conclusion (independently) that murder is wrong, for instance? is it just pragmatism or could it be that all men believe in some sort of transcendent reality, all men believe in universal truths?

changing skylines and weather patterns....also, the option to "orbit" while in space....when you are orbiting, the ship comes alive with spontaneous dialogues and random encounters....crewmates walk around, retire to bunks, etc.

Some would disagree, arguing Tatooine is little more than a cliche now... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> it is a cliche, just like the Force and lightsabers...anyway, I think Tatooine should be on the astrocharts but never used again as one of the essential stops on your journey....a place to refuel (yes, we should have to refuel the ship), get training, buy stuff, etc but not as one of the "clue worlds"....not an essential destination.

You're talking crazy talk <{POST_SNAPBACK}> actually, the Forgotten Realms setting is "generic", and intentionally so. Dragonlance/Krynn, for instance, is "high romantic/high epic" fantasy. it would be hard to do a Dragonlance campaign that did not involve the pending apocalypse. in Forgotten Realms, just as with Greyhawk or Mystara, you can dress it up or dress it down. you can have an epic situation if you really want but the setting does not dictate such. some settings do....

I like the Guild Wars business model...they are selling you the "main story", not through expansions or subscriptions but by buying a new shrinkwrap every time you want more of the story. The main reason I quit playing is that people kept complaining that I was moving too slow (those few instances where you have some other player with you). I will probably continue playing once I get a suitable gaming rig.

agreed, because it is a 24-7 proposition...you need real-time admins, phone support, etc. I say companies like Obsidian should explore alternate means of multiplayer, using NWNs as the prime example and exploring premium content downloads (also something BioWare has done). What I like about the 360 is that you can get what amounts to a debit card for premium content...I don't like the idea of using an actual credit card for something like that.

Well, isn't one of Obsidian's projects a console (new IP) project with Sega? Anyway, that is the right way to do a new IP in today's climate...console and with a big name publisher. I don't want Obsidian to go the way of Troika with really good, buggy games and no marketing or tech support to speak of. Best to limit IPs to console and with the backing of one of the big boys. PC titles should be safe bets, IMO, at least until Obsidian can afford to have a disaster happen and still survive. I'd like to see one of the older D&D properties brought to life: Dark Sun, Dragonlance, etc. Anything with the letters D&D would sell well, especially with the kind of quality Obsidian would put into it. I agree that Obsidian probably would not touch post-apocalyptic anytime soon. So, I'm thinking a space RPG using the Mass Effect engine under license might be the way to go for a multi-platform title. :D

Onderon was nice but there is still sooooo much we haven't seen there yet.

actually, while I don't see it happening, a Dragonlance RPG would probably rock, especially if Obsidian wrote it. I agree, Dragonlance is very Tolkienesque, very epic, VERY CINEMATIC if you know what I mean. It would sell like hotcakes.

this is what I said: "I'm glad they are using the fixed surname concept. If you think about it, it is really the best way to allow the same protagonist to complete an entire trilogy of games." OK, then someone comes along with all kinds of lawyering and I'm still not sure what the point is. I stand by my original statement.

it would appear that the IWD games are less beholden to a specific story arc than the BG games and might be, perhaps, the best bet for a new Obsidian RPG. in fact, rumor has it that Obsidian owns the rights to IWD outright and, if that is true, might suggest a new title in that line. however, any "3-legged stool" that is D&D should be NWNs.....no need to fret so much about multiplayer in a new game. NWNs 2 will have that base covered.

as long as it is the first installment in a proper trilogy WITHOUT a Chosen One, pregenerated character who must be human, I'm fine with that.

alright, maybe someone can help me with what appears to be a major plot hole. I will spoiler tag this and would appreciate tagged responses.

Architect, I've read what you have already posted of your story and, I have to say, it looks really promising. I tend to agree that Coruscant and Ziost must be in K3. I noticed a "force bond" between the PC and another (weaker) character. Well, if I must share a Force bond with someone, it would be nice to share it with someone weaker than myself, I will admit that.

it will interesting to see what ol' Georgie will do on the small screen. will we see his Magnum Opus or more corny, self-indulgent storytelling? we shall see.

it's all about supply and demand and, the truth is, there really aren't a lot of good studios that make occidental RPGs....MS desparately needs those that do and is really in no position to strongarm the studios....plus, the PC is also a MS platform. what MS needs is to have their own in-house RPG studio and steal away some of the good talent out there. the 360 needs good RPG exclusives. MS cannot depend on 3rd-party vendors to kill the PC as a viable gaming platform...they will have to do that themselves.

for those of you who have not yet watched Season 2.5 (but have watched everything else), let me just say that both the "main story" and the character arcs (i.e. romances and such) go off in a surprisingly different direction than what you might have thought...and it all moves so fast. I suspect Season 3 will bring even more surprises but I'll have to wait for that.

Metallica -- Load (album)

I read your spoils for Season 2 and let me just say that the Pegasus is lean, mean, fighting machine. the Galactica will fight if it has to. the Pegasus is a predator looking for a fight.

global warming is just part of the cycle: ICE AGE ----> GLOBAL WARMING ----> ICE AGE. We are coming out of an ice age (we've been coming out of it for a loooong time) and, hence, global warming. Mankind may be speeding up the process but it is an inevitability. Their are different theories as to what exactly happens when the Earth gets too hot, but all theories point to the same ultimate conclusion: a new Ice Age, which is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the end of human existence on this planet.

the only thing I like about the high school RPG idea is that is "real world" as opposed to fantasy. but I think I'd rather the setting be Wall Street in the '80s....you are newly-minted LBO/Junk Bond king going to lavish parties and buying sports cars your first year on the job...but, as the story progresses, you realize that you got mixed up with a really dangerous cabal....but if you go to the authorities, you've implicated yourself...you have to rely on your own wits and contacts to defeat the bastards. now that would rock, IMO!

the difficulty with KOTOR 3, really, is that it will effectively go toe-to-toe with the Mass Effect trilogy. they are not going to just target the hard-core SW community the way they might with, say, Jedi Outcast. KOTOR always has been a crossover game with broad appeal. Having two space RPGs duking it out is probably not a good thing. still, I doubt KOTOR is finished and, if Obsidian and LA time it right, it could be a real winner. the trick would be to use the Mass Effect engine under license and at a time in between Mass Effect releases.