Plano Skywalker

If you are talking about a *trilogy* in the pre-Palps era, then the antagonist will probably have to be "the Sith" in one fashion or other. However, if the game is not part of a trilogy, then you could be going after all kinds of brushfires such as organized crime, insurrections on certain planets, etc. Some might say this is too much like Jedi Knight. I say it could easily be done as a true RPG. Just need to get an RPG developer like Obsidian to do it.

one of the great things about living in this country is you don't have to buy software you don't want. that being said, LA would have to be nuts to turn away from this goldmine and Obsidian would be nuts to turn away from an opportunity to flesh out their storyline ideas (that are currently unresolved).

and what about its spiritual predecessor, System Shock 2?

holstered lightsabers and a selection of Force-draw animations would be a nice touch. a Force Pull power (to disarm your opponent) would be nice as well.

clarification: the KOTOR name? the Revan saga? any LA cRPG?

true, from a storyteller's perspective, killing off Revan is what you want to do. If you don't, you have Revan's Angels instead of Knights of the Old Republic. now, obviously, there is a significant block of Revan fans out there that want to keep following this character. I would simply point out that a video game is pretty low on the continuity list and the EU Revan does not have to be a mirror image of the video game Revan. but the games need to be consistent. right now, the only consistent thread that can tie this together is . And it is consistent, remember what Canderous said (in KOTOR I) about the Mandalorians being approached by "the Sith".

right...since OE is the last developer with this franchise AND since K2 ended in a cliffhanger, the assumption is that OE would be the developer for K3. the fact that they have only avoided the issue (as opposed to BioWare's flat denial) only adds fuel to the speculation that it will be OE. @Bastilla: BioWare is large enough and well-known enough that they don't want to keep doing licensed products. That is why they are having OE develop NWNs2...that is a WOTC/Atari licensed product. BioWare is hoping that their own IPs (Jade Empire and Dragon Age) will one day eclipse their efforts with licensed projects...we shall see.

the bottom line is that LA is new to this genre and they are learning. even with all the imperfections that KOTOR 2 had, they still made a killing off of it. the cRPG world does not have alot of to offer right now, especially if you take away the high fantasy titles. KOTOR (and its derivatives K2 and JE) offers a new hope (no pun intended). By now, LA should know what gamers want and what they don't want in a SW cRPG. Whether we see K3 next or not, I think we will continue to see SW cRPGs published by LA for the forseeable future. The problem, though, is that there really are not alot of development houses that specialize in dialogue-heavy, turn-based (or quasi-turn-based) cRPGs. LA needs to set up their own cRPG shop and try to steal away some of the creative talent that is already out there.

actually, I like that idea but they have to cater to the munchkins out there who make up a big part of the market.

I agree. True, these games have a story to tell and they tell it through the NPCs but how many of us really talk to GOT0? How many LSers really talk to HK or Mandalore? You really only need 1 or 2 "non-replaceable" shipmates to tell an immersive story through dialogue. And dialogue alone should not be the only way to get this information....hologram messages, holocrons (the training kind), radio transmissions, ghost visitations--these are triggers we need to see more of. Basically, I would say go back to the way K1 did it in the sense that only 2 or 3 NPCs had information that was relavant to the main story...the others were just there by hapenstance...that's how you do it....you don't need 10 characters who are already woven into the main story....I can understand why they wanted to try that but I hope they see that it failed. Perhaps it is related to the protagonist, though. (no more superheros !!!) I definitely do not want K3 to have 10 "essential" shipmates. I want most of my mates to have sidequests, training, and totally superfluous (yet interesting) backstory. Mission Vao is an excellent example of this...she was fun to talk to but her backstory was totally detached from the main story.

Tattooine should be on your astro charts but not essential to the main story...Tatooine and the Yavin Space Station both in that role.

[***SPOILER ALERT***] the bottom line is that your party should "make sense". I think the devs should write the story with the LS path in mind but then make alternate party members for the DS path... for instance, Mandalore, Visas and Kreia are all "forced" on you on LS when they should only have been in DS parties (I realize Kreia was a special case). And Hanharr was simply no comparison to Mira. Disciple is actually an OK character, it is just that Handmaiden is more interesting to guys and Atton more interesting (I guess) to the ladies. The main problem here was in the implementation....I personally think we should have about 20 possible shipmates and only 10 slots and that DSers should have to use more droids than LSers (because of the trust factor). I also think that YOU should decide whether you want Mical the Disciple or Brianna the Handmaiden....it is OK for there to be a "default" choice but you should be able to override this, IMO.

that is a good point though. with Dragon Age, NWN2, and Oblivion coming out in the somewhat near future, that is alot of Tolkienesque high fantasy....don't know that a BG3 is needed any time soon. also, since Obsidian owns the rights to Icewind Dale, we might see IWD3 before BG3.

Excellent point. Who said that the ideas were stolen? Maybe some truths are just so universal and eternal in nature that they WILL BE DISCOVERED by man. Joseph Campbell writes about how there are many Messiah myths throughout history. Does this mean Christianity steals the concept? Or could it mean that the concept is so irrefutable and transcendant that it is inevitable that the concept would have been widely known even before its culmination in the Passion? All I am saying is that the idea that several cultures had the same idea does not in any way diminish the idea. And the burden of proof is on he who would make the assertion.

true...I have made this point before...I think the Malachor cut content was to make K2 more of a cliffhanger--IMO, it was NOT cut for the same reasons Droid World was cut (time constraints). IMO, the best bet (for a new PC anyway) is to have a new cast of companions with the Ebon Hawk and the droids as continuity but to use characters like Mira, Jolee and Bao-Dur as NPCs that will train you in the Force and having different ones at different stages in the game and different based on alignment. There may be a time in this franchise to have a padawan as PC but the K3 protagonist is not your run-of-the-mill Force adept and he should not be bound to just one teacher, IMO. This kind of thing would also help create the illusion of open-endedness.

It sure as heck will not happen in K3 as K1 and K2 were not paced for it. HOWEVER, there is no reason why we couldn't see future SW RPGs in which this is done....as long as they pace it right. 1st game: max out at level 7 2nd game: max out at level 15 3rd game: max out at level 40 the best thing about importing, really, is to keep some unique loot you found, keep prestige classes you may have earned, alignment you may have worked hard at, and, possibly, influence and romances you worked on in previous games. if you don't import, you start off with a clean slate...works either way. although the guy importing will probably shave off a few hours of content since a newbie will still start off at level 1.

Because the storyline is "complete" as you say, it would probably be best to use a subtitle instead of calling it BG3. For instance, the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games are their own story.

In a sense, I don't care whether they make KOTOR 3 or not as long as LA keeps publishing cRPGs from the likes of BioWare and Obsidian. I wouldn't mind seeing Knights of the New Republic or a Galactic Empire RPG before KOTOR 3. However, I think it is pretty foolish to think that LA is finished publishing cRPGs set in the SW universe...these games have been too profitable for that. And, since KOTOR 2 was such an unmistakable cliffhanger, it almost assures that their next SW RPG will, most likely, be KOTOR 3.

true....ESB was a true cliffhanger becasue of a surprise revelation, 2 different perspectives being advanced (Yoda's vs Vader's), and the realization that practically everyone who had a major part (including the antagonist) would be returning. The ending of KOTOR 2 did not have that, except for, perhaps, the "surprise revelation" which wasn't that much of a surprise. I think what it boils down to is that there are some things you can do in movies that you just can't do in games. In a movie, you have them for 2 hours...in a game, you have them for 40 hours....big difference. And if you are going to have trilogies, you need to pace the games for that. If I am not mistaken, the highest level you could obtain in BG1 was 7th level. And, of course, you can export your character from BG1 to BG2. I wouldn't mind seeing that in the KOTOR games but the games would have to be paced for that.

all in all, I would say Dantooine so far. however, I also liked Taris alot and Nar Shadda (have you noticed that the urban centers in both games were pretty well developed and with lots to do?) I see Onderon/Dxun as some serious untapped potenital, though...Iziz could be the next Nar Shadda if they needed a big, urban center. Don't tell me we've already seen Iziz...Iziz is a huge, walled city...there could be alot more there both in and out of the city.

Not as long as the story is told through the characters. There is simply too much work involved when you dont have character A at point A to do their thing. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OK. this goes back to "inner circle/outer circle"....those NPCs that have something to contribute to the main story cannot be rotated out until they have played their part (i.e. until you have had the key dialogue or seen the key cutscreen, whatever). Some (such as your pilot) cannot be rotated out at all. Also, when you do release them, it doesn't have to be "have a nice life"...it can be "I'll be in Anchorhead in case you need me" kind of thing. There is no reason someone cannot send you a hologram message or a radio transmission either...these other triggers need to be explored for a more immersive experience, IMO.

true...plus, when you go prestige class, your current teacher actually *recommends* that you go see Master Jones OR Master Smith as only they can teach you the higher mysteries of the Force for the class you just took.

[*****SPOILER ALERT!!!!*****] IMO, Kreia is the Dark Lord of the Sith. She did not "fall" and become Darth Traya late in the game...she was Darth Traya all along. Now, it is true that her motivations were "non-traditional" for a Sith Lord but she was so far gone to the darkside that she actually thought you could kill the Force (i.e. kill God, kill religion, whatever). I have no problem with Grey Jedi but give NPCs who are grey the same limitation that you give us if we go grey...for instance, no prestige class. Grey Jedi are best utilized at the lower levels. Incidentally, I think Jolee would make a great default Force teacher in K3...but only at the lower levels. I agree that the Kreia character was too powerful in your universe...she was the source of almost all your Force training and was also the source of (or at least involved in) almost all the main story triggers and clues. They definitely need to "break it up" the next time. And, IMO, having the ability to choose my own shipmates and rotate them out....that would be huge. Don't "stick me" with someone like that without me having any say whatsoever. If I don't want any Force mentor, then let me level-up slower than the player who has a mentor. And please, by God, give the LSers and DSers a different pool of teachers, ideally different based on class and technique and not just alignment. If you absolutely, positively want there to be an "overarching" teacher who is with you at all times and is with you regardless of alignment, then might I suggest a Force Ghost for this role. A Master Zhar force ghost (with many of the same lines as Kreia) would have been preferred to someone who you cannot get off your ship and who everyone in your party hates. Trust me, I think the lack of party management in these games is one of the main limitations and will have to be addressed sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

well, perhaps these particular changes would be best pioneered on a non-SW title. I guess it's just that K2, IMO, really was dialogue-heavy and introduced a pretty advanced Influence system. but the system is incomplete in so many ways (especially as it relates to alignment) and, hence, discussions like this. I think we are going to see a trend in cRPGs to follow the alignment barometer thing (i.e. Jade Empire's Open Palm/Closed Fist thing)....but, ideally, we will have other indicators as well to help compartmentalize what is going on (and, yes, this increases the workload by alot, I agree). I also like the idea of a "Reputation" indicator (as was used in Pirates!). But, anyway, first things first, as they say.

this was not intended to be a broadside or anything....however, I just think it would be good to have a more "granular" and sophisticated approach. This could involve giving the PC ways to tell his motivations to the system. for instance: "here, take this medpac" [appear concerned] "here, take this medpac" I think we can all agree that the first response, when let unqualified, is obviously LS and should get you LS points. The second answer is, IMO, neither LS nor DS but, rather, a "chaotic" answer....you are telling the system "look, I'm not doing this for altruistic reasons but I only want the system to know this". but I can even see a "good guy" do this (a Republic spy, for instance). that is why I say that your faction affiliation will help determine what law and chaos is for you...it might be different for someone else. For instance, someone who is just a regular guy (i.e. assumed to be pro-Republic and honest) and someone who is a Sith would be acting chaotically in that example (and would get a chaotic shift on the appropriate barometer). however, the Republic spy would be acting "Lawfully" in that case (i.e. consistent with his training, etc).