Plano Skywalker

another thing to keep in mind is that the KOTOR comic will also be able to smooth over rough storyline areas in the games.

right....some have speculated that, in addition to Droid World and Malachor cut content, there was supposed to be alot more to the Telos space battle and that Mandalore and co were going to take a shot at a real Republic ship. for why, indeed, would the Republic care if Mandalorians blew up a decommissioned ship that was now attacking the Republic? That is perhaps the weakest cutscreen dialogue in the game. who knows? this kind of stuff might actually be part of the negotiations between LA and Obsidian even now....Obsidian has a reputation to uphold and they will want to fill in all the dangling threads....and there are MANY such threads. you have touched on two of the main ones.

IMO, the biggest problem with open-ended RPGs is the lack of opportunity costs....and that can ultimately affect game balance. The solution is quite simple: AGING...and forced retirement. I personally think Pirates! is the greatest sandbox game of all time and it had aging and forced retirement (though it was not technically an RPG). Fable also has that. Fable has its faults but it has the answer to the open-ended problem.....opportunity costs. It also has things like being able to get married, buy propery, etc that help open-ended games out alot.

I really didn't mind having Canderous in the game. I think the main significance to it (storywise) is when Kreia reveals (on Dxun near the endgame) that she knows that Revan "betrayed" Canderous. Revan's name is not mentioned but it is a clear allusion to Revan because the pronouns change depending on what gender you gave Revan. This is incredibly significant because it would have had to have happened after Revan's Redemption. It is an undeniable hook into K3....(it is also proof that Revan has way too much backstory to be the primary controllable character in any future SW game).

PNJ is for 3 platforms?

the bottom line: this game is going to ROCK!

people, please...with IGN "leaking" info about K3 in development (yes, it is technically a rumor) and then seeing the job posting about a title in WHICH THE FREAKIN PUBLISHER WILL PAY FOR 2 PORT JOBS from an obscure developer.... yeah, peeps, it's going to be a Darksun game....jeez put away the knives already and get a clue. "

correct, they would need an AUDIO PROGRAMMER for that

really good stuff there Dyan. I especially like the bit about choosing one's mentor....a REAL mentor who has alot in common with my character not a STORYTELLING DEVICE that pretends to be my mentor. Force Bonds....I agree, I don't want to see another Force Bond unless they turn it into a force power that I can actually use (like they did with Battle Meditation). I do not want 4 padawans but I like the idea that there are 4 people that have the *potential* to be my padawan depending on alignment, influence, and how I feel about it. and for non-padawans: dual-classing, dual-classing, dual-classing oh yeah, there should never be a complete dead-end on convos....even if the person doesn't particularly like you, you should be able to get *something* out them (i.e. fav food, political gossip, etc). And more cutscreens where they ask the PC stuff, even trivial stuff....the PC should not have to initiate all the small talk. and not just hoods and robes but undertunic and overtunic...I want a dark red undertunic and a bright red overtunic.

I like some of those ideas astr0creep...allow me to respond to a few: >>More species and customization for character creation.<< if you are talking about non-human PCs, then yeah I agree, although, depending on where they want to go with the story, I can see why it might not be feasible with K3...but SW RPGs in general: ABSOLUTELY!!! >>Revan and Exile return as NPCs only.<< I agree. "The Revan Saga" does need to be wrapped up IMO. KOTOR cannot be a continuous "Revan Soap". Revan needs real resolution. But, IMO, this is best accomplished with him not being the PC. Exile is really just a sidekick of Revan. Exile should be a prominent, scripted character like Bastila. And Bastila returning (with a very prominent role) is just a must, IMO....no way around it. >>Completely new and original party members with no depressed pilots please. I'd like a Gamorrean berserker and a Jawa tradesman as buddies<< the "non-human" shipmates in K1 and K2 were either SW cliches (Big Z) or races that are very humanlike in temperment (i.e. Iridonians and Twileks)....we need some of the more exotic aliens as potential shipmates, I agree. >>Less party members to limit the useless characters but more customizable party members. << I could go with less shipmates, especially if that meant a pool of potential party members that is larger than the number of slots on the ship. I also like slots for non-sentient droids and passengers who are only there for one or two worlds. >>Influence system was fantastic. Bring it back with more rewards for conversations.<< it was very good, despite some rough areas. if there is one thing it could use that would be more chaotic dialogue options...also, influence should unlock training and sidequests more than just dialogue....if you are riding on my ship, you will tell me what I want to know...(and that, of course, dovetails into party management). >>Modifiable Ebon Hawk, including internal layout/features. << absolutely...the ability to sink large sums of money into major upgrades to the ship would be really sweet. >>Galaxy wide Pazaak tournaments. Galaxy wide customizable swoop bike races. << absolutely....there should be galaxy-wide, ongoing tournaments for both of these games....and, IMO, Pazaak tournaments should not allow you to provide your own sideboard.....you are dealt a certain number of cards....from that, you form your deck AND your sideboard.

All in all, the advantages outweight the disadvantages. Your average gamer is not into comics and your average comic buff in not an avid gamer. SW fanatics will want was much depth as possible on any EU character, including KOTOR characters.

my take on combat: * I agree, real time is not the way to go (I wouldn't mind it for boss battles only but that is asking for alot). * feats and powers should be "treed up" a little better (i.e. very few level one feats and powers, forking off into more 2nd level and then 3rd level). this would tidy it up a bit and introduce some opportunity costs for taking one fork over another. * the ability to advance in a specific combat form. * more feats for the defensive-oriented PC. * better ranged weapons on the high end (while still marginalizing them on the low end). * more and better AI options. * squad commands that temporarily override individual AI.

I have heard that Indigo Prophecy (the modern day icon of the Adventure Game) has multiple endings. I don't know from first hand experience but a guy at the local game shop swears it is true. If an ultra-linear adventure game can have different endings, then an RPG sure can. But Balder's Gate is the example I would point to: compelling story (yes, it uses the PC's own backstory to help it along but I think that is pretty much a given for the KOTOR games), lots of side quests, and party management options. Not to mention the ability to dual class (of all the things!). True, Balder's Gate used a voice-over narrator to help tell the story while the KOTOR games tell the story through NPC convos (which is better, I admit). So, the argument goes, with this kind of storytelling, you can't have party management. I would argue that you can. Basically, you would have an inner circle and an outer circle. The inner circle NPCs cannot be replaced (nor can they be killed off). The outer circle NPCs can be replaced (and can actually die on the missions). There is also something to be said for "passengers" who need to go from one world to another. As they are about to leave the ship, they tell their bit of the tale....there is also ship-to-ship transmissions, ghost visitations and many other ways to tell the story in a more immersive way....shipmate convos are but one way to do that.

I thought Nar Shadda and Iziz were both decent urban centers. But probably my favorite world was Telos...I like the whole bit about a ruined world rebuilding....we could have spent half the game there.

you know, I think it would be a really nice touch if we had to use some other vessel besides the Ebon Hawk for a certain amount of time...it wouldn't have to be a capital ship...something like GOT0's Yacht would be fine. it would also allow the devs to let us go to a world that we can't get to from the Ebon Hawk (i.e. not in the Hawk's astro charts)...it would allow for a "one-time-only" kind of world.

think of Dxun part II, (multithreaded adventure). I want that to be the norm. That way, we have to use all of our shipmates not just the same ones every time. oh, yes, and some adventures need to be away from the starport...so far that we have to swoop bike to them....I don't care if it is real time or just cutscreens but we need to use the swoop bikes in game once in a while. rideable mounts wouldn't be bad either (world-specific) and some sort of ice world is an absolute must, IMO.

I agree that alignment (even a dynamic alignment) should have consequences...ideally, such consequences could include: convo options change, factions (that you can join) change, certain spells and/or spell-like powers become easier or harder to do, etc. But alignment also has a cousin called "reputation" which, I think, should be used whenever a dynamic alignment is used. Basically, factions are the key...if the game has joinable factions, then reputation almost has to be seperate from alignment. Alignment is who you are and, for the most part, this is not something that can be determined on the surface. Reputation is who people think you are and definitely affects how others react to you.

my take (in terms of raw Force power): * Exile (until the anomoly is destroyed) * Exar Kun (in all cases except as mentioned above) Revan is a leader of men and a grand strategist. That is where his true power lies.

I agree. If you play KOTOR I and listen carefully to what the masters say (and, of course, the now infamous Canderous quote) you get the sense that a number of holes were left in the story on purpose to be filled in later. I don't think this was planned as a proper trilogy but they left enough holes in the plot to make it look like a proper trilogy should the business decision be made to go in that direction. KOTOR 2 filled in those holes nicely. True, BioWare would have probably filled them in differently but they didn't make KOTOR 2.

true, Malachor V is a "character" just as much as is the Exile, Darth Nihilius, Sion, etc....kill Malachor and you kill the anomoly....at least in theory. thing is, just because there was an anomoly does not mean that it would do what Kreia thought it would do.....basically, she was working on an inside straight and, as to be expected, she failed.

* good AI * rideable mounts (should have been a staple years ago) * "tighter" main story * full VO all of this makes for a much better game....I really wish they were going to have hirelings but I doubt they will.

REVAN MUST DIE!!!

I think that is right....I think one of the reasons LA has been dragging their feet with K3 is because of the storyline and how the games are made (ehhh, if we use a pregen everytime, then the KOTOR universe is going to have an Exar Kun every 3 game years...not good). the stories that BioWare and Obsidian came up with were not bad but LA (or, more accurately, LFL) decided they needed to take more proactive control of the storyline so that it does not become too cluttered, etc. so they, presumably, approached Dark Horse about a new comic series...the comic carves out the main path and the video games fall in sync with the comic. sounds like a winner to me.

I agree with those who think that one of the biggest obstacles to this game is finding the time to paint those darn miniatures! fortunately, there is eBay, where one can often find a squad or three that is already painted. but I will probably start playing Axis and Allies Miniatures soon....the minis are already painted!