Plano Skywalker

you really think the JK guys would be upset? I think most would welcome it. the era is already NJO so I don't see that as a problem.

nothing wrong with starting as someone who wants to be a Jedi....but I think growing into that is half the fun. I really liked all the official training in KOTOR I (until I realized what was really going on). part of the problem is continuity....SW continuity states that the Jedi don't train adults. I think that is one reason we have had such detailed backstories to date. but there are solutions for that....if you choose Force Adept then your backstory deals with how your parents gave you over to the Order when you were younger and how you have already had some formal training. if you choose something else, then the Jedi take you in because, well, they don't even want to think about where the galaxy would be if you were in Sith hands. either way, there is something "special" about you and your connection to the Force...look, there is no way around that one, especially for PCs who start as something other than an Adept.

IMO, they should not make Jedi Knight 4 (Academy was JK3). Now, they could still call it Jedi Knight, but the 4th installment should be a 3rd person, KOTOR-style RPG set in the NJO era and building on the storylines from the Jedi Knight games. not as a replacement for KOTOR but as an upgrade to the JK subfranchise.

game balance is a big issue here. K3 SHOULD NOT be uber-munchkin gaming. IMO, the game should be conceptualized and built around a Soldier-classed PC who "goes Force Sensitive" at around 20th level. Yes, that is still straying from the PNP version of SW d20 but that's OK. He gets some sort of cutscreen epiphany and all the beginning Jedi feats and powers. He has to construct a lightsaber before he can learn anything else, etc. now, the problem comes in with the PC who starts as a Force Adept. He also knows he is on the Force god path. And his first "trial" is to build a lightsaber (also running around finding components). Enter: THE TRAINING LIGHTSABER....it is still much more effective than other melee weapons but it is not as strong as a knight's lightsaber...it could even have a shock/stun effect rather than a cutting effect. only someone with Knightly Focus (or whatever) can wield a "real" lightsaber. so even if little muchkin finds a dropped saber, he can't use it unless he has the feat....he has to keep using his non-upgradable training lightsaber until he has that feat. (BTW, only the Force Adept would have to deal with this nonsense...the other way of jedification would have you with the feat right away.)

All I'm stating is my take and that is that the designers should not feel constricted by this sort of thing. Part of that is based on pragmatism and part is based on the fact that the only continuity ending is the LS ending. I realize that not all may like that but that is the way it is. I have no problem with the LS player seeing Carth and the DS player getting the same content from a droid or something....same thing with party members....if you think about it, DSers (especially "Lawful Evil" types) should have to depend on droids more anyway. The higher quality characters aren't going to sit around and serve some sociopath and so they should be there for LS (or neutral) only. Now, if they end up with more chaotic options for DS, then that would be different. not only should the PC be able to release party members, but shipmates should be able to abandon you in port if things are too bad.

I like a lot of them but I usually go back to blue. Blue is the classic color for a lightsaber. Silver, veridian, orange, violet...those are good too. I just wish the exotic colors were much harder to obtain...would be great material for side quests. It would also be nice if NPCs commented on your lightsaber color if it was, in fact, rare.

KOTOR is a time period that spans thousands of years. KOTOR does not have to end in the next installment. "The Revan Saga" has to end in the next installment.

KOTOR 3 will have characters that could have died in other games. I don't think there is any question about that. (they had Carth and Bastila in K2) Scripted events that happen no matter what are different, WAY DIFFERENT and do need to be respected. But I hope they do the ghost thing with some of those.

I think that is right. PNJ, up to this point, has been about making a playable demo for the money men.

they need to break it up a little...K2 had more multithreaded elements than K1. they can take the multithreaded thing much further. not everyone needs to be in the "medal ceremony" at the end of the game to have played an important part....nothing wrong with having a (controllable) Jolee do one mission on some remote world and then you don't hear from him again for the rest of the game....nothing wrong with having a Bastila or Mandalore with their own ships but having one or two missions in which they are controllable...nothing wrong with having the main protagonist only going to 2 worlds the entire game. I'm not saying they should do everything mentioned above but I do hope they stray a little bit from what is starting to look like a gameplay (and game-pacing) formula.

unless that verbal agreement is with Atari who (one would think) is also interested in a number of official expansion packs for NWN2. golden handcuffs!

one of difficulties the devs/designers face is, in fact, what to do with Revan and the Exile....no way either one can be the PC....killing them off early would be cheap, having them involved could crowd out the PC, etc. that is one reason I like the idea of a "co-protagonist", a role that could be filled by Bastila, for instance. that way, when the continuity story is written in other SW media, they can tell it without referring to the video game PC. going forward, that is the way to handle it IMO because "all SW is continuity". and continuity loves things to be defined rather than undefined.

Well, Obsidian was determined to do an IP so they could have conceivably started working on a project with just a verbal agreement. Because, one way or the other, they were determined to do an IP. That's my take anyway. The project that is yet to be signed is probably PNJ.

>>>they'll be signing a new project for an entirely original property in just a few weeks.<<< I'm guessing that is PNJ. Surely they wouldn't have 2 IPs going at the same time...

you don't think they should do KOTOR 3?

I think it best to focus on which characters you want prominent, what kind of backstory you want for the protagonist, what worlds you want to go to, etc. putting actual story ideas in a public forum is probably a bad idea since the devs will want the story to have a certain amount of mystery to it.

well, you got my vote anyway.

Bao-Dur likes extreme kindness and non-violent solutions whenever possible. Also, let him work on the speeder at Nar-Shadda and agree with him on Dantooine when he mentions something fishy about the moisture vaporators. Those 2 scenarios are very important and usually do the trick.

At character creation time, I think you should be able to choose between: Soldier Scout Scoundrel Force Adept Force Adept would be the default and only a Force Adept can take a Jedi or Sith Prestige Class later on. All PCs would end up having a Force epiphany at some point and become "Jedi" but the Adept would get that sooner. That would be sweet.

oh, I like that. you start off with the Create Lightsaber feat and, indeed, your Master will not teach you anything until you build your first lightsaber. you may need to do some traveling just to get the components you need. thing is, though, the level 1 version of that feat only allows you to build a simple, non-upgradable lightsaber. the level 2 feat allows you to build an upgradable saber and the level 3 feat actually allows you to manufacture some of the components--including some of the advanced components.

I would like it if it was much harder to get the exotic colors (and I would include violet in that category). Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red should make up 95% of what we see/have access to, IMO. I also wouldn't mind seeing them do more with continuity red lightsaber lore. And a black lightsaber (extremely rare, yes) crystal would be nice and consistent with continuity. The main objection to black is "how would you see it in a cave, etc?". The answer is simple: in a dark place, it has a "smokey" appearance and shimmers and pulsates a bit. In daylight, it is solid black. Having the exotic crystals be hard to obtain would also make for some really convenient side quests.

I haven't played Battlefront II yet but it does look pretty awesome. It has "regular joe" fighting, Jedi fighting, and space combat that is supposed to be pretty good. I may wait to pick it up since they have already had one premium content upgrade for it (Xbox-only). I may wait for it to become a Platinum Hit (which will happen but could be a while). Empire At War is going to be awesome. It should satisfy my SW craving for a while. (It seems most gamers like Jedi Outcast better than Jedi Academy).

I don't know that I want "rapid aging" for this game....I think having more than one backstory to choose from might be better.

environmental deconstruction: playing the Obi-Wan game, I did Force Throw on a large campfire just to see what would happen....what happened is that flaming logs came flying out ...mind you, I could not even see the logs before I did that because the fire was too bright. there was also a battle in which I sliced open a water pipe and water came gushing out...I used that to my advantage in the battle. now that is immersion...more evironmental deconstruction would be sweet.

KOTOR's AI sucked. combat: they DID NOT do what they were told pathfinding: sucked just as much finding secret panels, etc: not unless it was scripted the PC had to do EVERYTHING...had to solve every puzzle, etc. even if they incorporate RT combat for the PC, the other squad members will still have "multilayered" combat that is based on a (presumably) customizable AI script. That AI script needs to be at least 10 times better, IMO. beyond that, however, the lack of good ranged weapons on the high end was bad...there is no reason why a 15th level Mandalore should not have access to a shoulder-mounted missle laucher if that is how you choose to play him. maybe my **PC** should not be able to wield such a thing but it should be available to Soldier-classed NPCs on my ship. I also like sentry guns that the engineer can set up and operate remotely...trap-setting...role-playing.... flame throwers for non-droids smoke grenades (while your squad is all wearing infrared goggles) flashbang grenades....then have your droids do a sweep. (more droid possibilities!) jet packs (need more of Z axis in this game) devices that have a continuous radius effect (such as the Spy grenade in Team Fortress) etc.