Plano Skywalker

"Grand Admiral" is not 2 titles but 1. Grand is just a qualifier for Admiral. "Lord Darth" would be like saying "Sir Knight".

another thing to keep in mind is that nobody goes around saying "I have a 530 meeting with the Darth Lord of the Sith". No, it would be: "I have a 530 meeting with Darth Sidious (or the Emperor, as it were)". Dark Lord of the Sith is a term for historians to use in their records. "Darth" is the abbreviated form but it also becomes a more generic title like "Lord". Vader is referred to as both "Darth" and "Lord" in the movies as though the terms are interchangeable.

the Dark Lord of the Sith is not the Pope. there is no formal ceremony were the great council sets a laurel wreath on your head and sprinkles water on you around a candlelit room or anything like that. have you ever seen Kull the Conquerer? basically the main character declares that all previous laws are invalid. he lifts up his giant battle axe and says "I am Kull and by this axe, I rule". that is more or less how Sith operate. if you are the alpha character, everybody just knows.

well, they used to make some SW comics with the "Infinities" label. basically, an Infinities story is just for fun, not recognized continuity. if they did a story with a DS ending, it would probably be an infinities story. I think a number of people are looking for shades of grey and not just a paladin-like hero every time. I wouldn't be surprised if the KOTOR comic gives us that. The era is ripe for all kinds of Jedi and factions. here is the thing: DS + the Force can only go one way....it ultimately leads to galactic domination...and someone is always going to challenge it.

I picked mine up yesterday at the same gaming shop where I play Warhammer and Axis and Allies Miniatures. Anyway, it wasn't half bad...(there is already at least one video game cameo as far as I can tell).

working on 3 Xbox titles right now: * Obi-Wan * Bard's Tale * Fable

[sLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD] >>I'd much rather see the main character of K3 go through the padawan-to-knight-to-master thing during the actual game.<< yes and no. what I mean by that is, yes, that would be preferred for future titles (this era is, after all, ripe for self-contained stories as the Jedi are basically the FBI of the Republic)....however, if K3 follows directly after K2 then there is the matter of rebuilding the Order (not alot of Force-users in the Galaxy right now). So a formal faction progression (while preferred for this era) may not be feasible in the next installment. It's not that the PC could not have been mentored in this fashion, it is just that there is no council to give you quests and bestow honors. >>And please, no "chosen one" gimmick in K3 - that position is already filled by both Revan and the Exile (!). So the new main character should just be someone who facilitates what Revan and Exile must do to fulfil their destinies.<< Can you imagine what any old game company would do with K3? It is hard to imagine. If anyone can make K3 with Revan (remember, Revan CANNOT rebuild the Order) and the Exile being heavily involved but still leaving plenty of room for a new PC, Obsidian can. And K3 MUST be the Return of the King of the present story arch. The fans will NOT forgive another filler story.

I agree that the Master/Padawan thing (especially as it relates to the PC and the PC's padawan) should be very integral to the story and focus on quality instead of quantity. It's great to have a number of different people who *could* be your Padawan but, once the commitment is made, that person is the only Force Sensitive you are going to be mentoring (in that fashion) and you will be mentoring ALOT. With regard to the PC's own teacher. Well, having a protagonist who is not already a god would be a start in cultivating a true mentorship there as well. So far, IMO, the PC's teachers have been little more than devices to advance the main story. They need to seperate the Force training from the main storytelling a bit, IMO.

IMO, the best lightsaber combat I have every experienced in a game is that found in the game Obi-Wan (Xbox exclusive, I believe). The game itself is OK--not great (you talk about lack of texturing, jeez!), but the lightsaber combat (and Force powers) are outstanding. The trick is that the lightsaber is handled not by how fast you can mash buttons but by gingerly moving the right analogue stick on the Xbox controller. The camera suffers because of this but not as much as you might think (there is also a way to gain control of the camera with the right stick). And it gives the lightsaber the respect it deserves--one hit is generally all it takes. I would love to see KOTOR incorporate this kind of combat (especially for the boss battles).

well, yes, it could be skill-based, feat-based or a combination. Persuade is a good skill (the Charisma attribute alone wasn't enough for this sort of thing). However, I like how Jade Empire does it (at least the mechanic of it). In Jade Empire, there are actually different types of persuasion and you can specify which one(s) you want to focus on. Maybe you want to focus on Charm or maybe Intimidate...chances are, you will not be good at both. The feat stuff would be really advanced (and I'm not holding my breath). Something like: [Diplomacy + Awareness] "Bao Dur, what kind of phase pulse converter was that anyway?" there, you are talking to someone about something that is: 1) totally non-essential to the main quest but that is 2) probably something that the other person really wants to talk about. By conversing with someone about something like that, you could (possibly) open up other convos including the ones relating to their backstory. This could be an alternative to alignment-based influence and "just agree with everything the NPC says" kind of influence. A successful diplomacy raid would result in say, a temporary increase in your Persuade skill. While the iron is still hot, you then might get: [Persuade + Awareness] "You had previously mentioned something about your sister...please, I am very much interested in hearing the rest of the story"

[sLIGHT SPOILERS] yeah, there were essentially 2 major problems with K2 influence: 1) even if you swayed them over to your side (alignment-wise), you still got their default cutscreen dialogues....so, if you managed to get Visas all the way over to LS, her cutscreen dialogues were all DS. same is true, of course, for LS characters who you swayed to DS. 2) influence that was not alignment-based was, essentially, just being a doormat and agreeing with everything they said. that wouldn't have been as much of a problem if we had some control over who stays on the ship (because we could pack the ship with like-minded people). but, IMO, part of the solution is to give the PC certain techniques (some feat-based and some based on the fact that he is the ship captain) in which he can actually try to change someone's view on a certain subject.

a bit about the story: Midway hired one of the writers from the acclaimed "Playmakers" to pen the script for the game's story, a tale of a disgruntled owner who basically cleans house to start his team over (new GM, new coach, new roster) while at the same time striking a deal with the mayor in a plot to exploit fans and taxpayers alike for millions of dollars in a bond issue for a new stadium. Throughout your campaign, there are a series of movies updating the plot, but I expected more, not only in terms of the number of scenes, but in terms of interactivity in the story. Sure, you can decide whether or not to spend money on hookers for your opponents when the situation arises, but there should be scenarios like that between every game, and for the most part, you're expecting a new scene and all you get is forwarded on to the next matchup. This might be the building of something bigger, though, with next-gen. Imagine an interactive world where you can actually walk around with your players and go to the club, get in fights, flirt with cheerleaders on your own. That might be the future, but right now what you're stuck with are short cut scenes, and while some are humorous, I was really expecting more. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/659/659362p2.html

well, yeah, but it does have RPG elements.

since we are all over the map here, what about this RPG: http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1014/Blitz-The-League/p1/

one way to implement an all-encompassing timer is to have the system look for clues as to what you are doing....if it is obvious that you are advancing the main quest, then the timer slows way down. if you have spent 20 hours level grinding, then the timer is ticking along....time does not have to be a constant in a game in order to be an effective opportunity cost.

you know, they MIGHT just hit a home run with it. nobody thought BioWare could create a true SW CRPG but they did.

indeed, Shadowstrider is right on that point... quote from article: Star Trek: Legacy is being developed at the studios of Mad Doc Software, creators of the highly successful and critically acclaimed Star Trek Armada II. however, Bethesda leaves the door open with:

Star Trek games have largely been a disappointment to date. So, what's the fuss? It will either: 1) be mediocre like the rest of the games in the franchise. 2) be good I was just talking to a coworker the other day and we agreed that it would be nice to see a KOTOR-style RPG set a Star Trek setting. Oh well, I hope they get this one right, even though it is not an RPG. I'll wait for the reviews though. (I'm not waiting for reviews to get Empire At War....that game is going to be awesome).

yes, indeed. and I also like slots for non-sentient droids (purchasable) and I like single-world henchmen with names like "Mandalorian Mercenary" and "Telosian Scout". henchmen don't have much in the way of convos and there is nothing to unlock.

no, I do understand actually.....it is an ability that even Revan did not have. it is directly tied to the Protagonist of KOTOR 2 and the special (which is all the more reason we should not see it in future games). Influence = yes UBER Munchkin Alignment Influence = no

didn't they have feats for Master/Lord that helped influence the party in this way? I think they did (even though you arguably did not need the feats to accomplish this). IMO, you should have to burn slots to even think about changing their alignments....otherwise, it is just too munchkinish and unrealistic. (Basically, more Mira/Hanharr situations would largely accomplish what I am talking about) The right implementation of subtle push/pull politics in areas not related to alignment would, I think, more than compensate for the lack of alignment-based influence. Alignment-based influence is the easy way out. The more nuanced stuff makes for better immersion and actually is a bit harder to implement but well worth it.

I don't really like "converting" people to LS or DS in-game. For one, I just don't think it is that realistic given the short amount of time that the companions have gotten to know the protagonist (and, I think it really did have something to do with who this protagonist was...otherwise, it just wasn't realistic). Also, most adventuring types are going to be pretty set in their ways and if they have some sort of epiphany, then they are probably going to stop adventuring, at least for a while. I have long said that the way to handle shipmate alignment is the same way BG does....party management...having a larger NPC pool than the max shipmate slots. That is the best way to handle alignment and crew, IMO. It also increases the replayability of the game a whole lot. What I do like is being able to influence NPCs either by agreeing with them (we all know about that approach) or by *persuading* them. It is that persuading part (in areas not related to alignment) that was not very well fleshed out. And it should be more than just finding a certain sequence of statements...the PC should be able to burn feat slots for this and should have lots of subtle techniques at his disposal..."you sound like someone who wants to sleep in the Engine Room"...OK, maybe that wasn't so subtle but tangible things, basically minor league bribes and blackmails as well as flattery (the system asks you if you want to intentionally allow Mandalore to win in the pistol range just so you can work his ego, etc) and just more chaotic dialogue options (without getting DS points!) would be very welcome in this area.

the marketplace will ultimately decide which solution is better for the open-ended problem. if I am not mistaken, Fable (which has an all-encompassing timer) sold rather well.

funny thing is, Morrowind actually logs in-game time even though it incorporates no opportunity costs relating to time.

I don't think they actually have to log it....just randomize it. for instance, when you board the Ebon Hawk, there is always some chance that the pilot is not in the ****pit and is, instead, sleeping in his dorm. (you wouldn't even have to wake him, just have your astromech droid pilot the ship instead). same thing with day/night....when you land on a planet, the system randomizes whether it is going to be morning, mid-day, evening, or night....if night, it randomizes how many moons you see, etc. from there, every time you enter a new load screen, it randomizes whether to advance to the next segment of the day (i.e. morning goes into mid-day, mid-day goes into evening, etc). as far as space travel goes, if you think about it, we really don't have "travel time" (travelling across the stars is largely transparent to us)....that is why I think we need the ability to orbit planets and not just land on them....orbiting would allow us to see "regular life" (including sleep schedules) on the ship.