Plano Skywalker

I look at it this way: KOTOR 1 -- you weren't even Jedi-classed for several hours of play. KOTOR 2 -- you started off as a Jedi (sorta) but had to relearn stuff and find parts to build a lightsaber (an OK story bit as long as it doesn't get repeated every time). KOTOR 3 -- you start off as someone who is about 20 years old and who has been a Youngling in training most of your life. you have access to lightsabers from the beginning of the game but creating one yourself is an important rite of passage and you cannot graduate without it. oh, and if you want your apprentice to have a lightsaber, you gotta find the parts and make one using your own feat to do so.

I don't know. I like the idea of a SW RPG where you can be anything you like (bounty hunter, merc, etc) but KOTOR is about force-sensitives and they will always go with a lightsaber as their weapon of choice. Sure, you can use a pistol if you want but you will still get storyline bits about the lightsaber...that's just unavoidable.....partly because any Big Baddie will be able to resist anything you might throw at him save for lightsaber and/or force attacks. I do think we need to see better ranged weapons on the high-end (missile launchers and the like) but not for the PC, only for Soldier-classed NPCs.

Christmas music streamed without interruption via my cable service.

I think that part of the answer might lie in borrowing something from the 1st person shooter world: SQUAD COMMANDS that you activate with a list of buttons. commands like: Ranged Attack (i.e. everyone who has a ranged attack, use it now) Fall Back (to the checkpoint) Rush the Leader Shield Wall (fighters form a barrier for everyone else) etc. that really shouldn't be that hard to do computationally and it would certainly add a lot of gameplay enjoyment. it may not be all that is needed but would be something on the cheap side that would add a lot I think.

basically, I like the idea that you have a training lightsaber for much of your beginning and intermediate training (and this would include helping on actual missions) and then, before you graduate, you have to trek across rugged terrain without one and talk to the master who will effectively give you the feat to create your own. you have to find all the parts you need and then construct it and then return to the masters with a functioning one. the idea that you start as a Jedi (who had been a Youngling, etc) with a more straight-up backstory (though you can customize somewhat via dialogue) and you are only without your lightsaber when it becomes a necessary part of your training.

I agree. I think that, instead of finding your sabre or making it, you have to find the master who will teach you how to make it. Then, when the teacher is finished with you, you have the Create/Upgrade Lightsaber feat or something to that effect. That's right, make it a part of the actual rule system. And, if you really want to add those powerful crystals, well, you can't do that unless you have advanced up that feat tree...the level 1 feat only gets you a working device and the ability to change out the color crystal. and, speaking of color crystals, I don't think you should just find the exotic crystals on the floor as part of random loot....there should only be one exotic of each color and a fully fleshed-out side quest for each.

as far as the subject is concerned dealing specifically with KOTOR, I do think the crossover penalty for using a power that is not consistent with the character's alignment should be more severe than it is. that is consistent with the movies, I think. Lsers should not depend on Drain Life and Dsers should not be using Heal, for instance. that is just how I see it. (we could stand to use more and better Universal Powers, like Force Throw, I think). also, having joinable factions would help, I think, better establish the good guys from bad....do enough stuff that is against the philosophy of your faction and you get kicked out. probably the biggest hole in the KOTOR alignment system is the lack of chaotic options (for both LS and DS). The Lser is a paladin and the Dser is a bully. It would be fine if the game did nothing when the character did something chaotic but the game punishes and rewards chaotic decisions as evil. That needs to change. and finally, I do think there should be a discernable Neutral path (with factions) but that the Neutral character cannot take a Prestige Class since that requires so much dedication and focus. Neutral force sensitives is somewhat outside the SW paradigm so should be limited in some ways, otherwise, everybody would do that and that would not be a SW experience. the Neutral path should be the hardest one to do...something for an advance player.

just watched Cinderella Man ....very good film...you don't have to be a boxing fan to enjoy this.

can't really argue with that.

better side quests. K1 had good side quests except that bounty hunting wasn't really bounty hunting...it was contract killing. real bounty hunting (complete with restraining devices) would be an excellent side quest and way to make extra cash. also, I think that the exotic lightsaber color crystals are too abundant. I think crystal gathering should be the result of out-of-the-way sidequests and there should only be one of each exotic color (including violet) in the entire game. and, yes, I like the idea that you start off with a lightsaber, even if it is just a "training lightsaber" that cannot be upgraded.

the PC could be Revan's cousin and has a Force Bond (I know, I know (w00t) )

I think you are right, Calax....not enough tactical situations and, when their is violence, it is gratuitous and directly related to the soap opera side. Don't get me wrong, I still think it is one of the best shows out there but it needs some tweaking. They need to have episodes that don't have anything to do with the main characters sometimes and antagonists other than Cylons, IMO.

Classic BSG had a major flaw: they kept looking for Earth even though they found other worlds with a suitable atmosphere, gravity, etc. Of course, to Larson, the idea of reuniting with the 13th tribe was important to him as a Mormon. But there was no military reason to not inhabit these other worlds. In the Reimagined BSG, worlds with Nitrogen/Oxygen atmospheres are extremely rare and permanent settlements are always on the table. But the flaw of classic BSG (looking for EARTH, not earths) was also a convenient storytelling device: they could waltz into town, take down the local protection racket and be on their merry. Cowboys in space. RBSG cannot do that as easily because any world that can sustain human life is earth. So, there is the alien thing. Yes, maybe BSG can do aliens right: no English, no universal translators and aliens don't breathe what we breathe. I also liked the Eastern Alliance thing that classic BSG had going....basically, they find their human cousins but there is a bitter war going on. How do you sit down and talk about settlements, etc when there are 2 bitterly-divided camps? Anyway, the shows needs more than the Cylons to keep going, I believe.

one thing that I think a lot of people are wondering about is whether the Reimagined BSG will ever have aliens. Classic BSG was able to find stories that did not always involve the Cylons or the cramped conditions of the fleet, etc because it had aliens and human settlements scattered far and wide (that were still considered Colonial, just very remote). Olmos has apparently said that if aliens appear on the show, he is leaving. While the show would be losing a lot to lose him, I think the show could take it at this point. Bringing aliens into it would also charge up the hard core sci fi fans who have always been somewhat ambivalent about the show (and the Firefly show, which has no aliens). the whole "what is a soul" thing is very good but the series needs more I believe.

sorry, I menat Kavar, not Katar. point is, in K2 you looked for 3 people.......that was the main plot or least what advanced the story. Revan isn't the plot itself but could resemble your search for the 3 masters in K2. I like the idea that Revan has been captured and has intel that you need. Springing Revan starts the endgame because then you have all the pieces of the puzzle.

the Force is a metaphor for religion. it is not religion itself. if it was, I suspect it would most resemble what Wiccans believe which is, essentially, pantheism. in Christianity, God is detached from creation. God establishes absolutes. in a pantheistic religion, one would suspect that there aren't as many absolutes, more shades of grey. the problem arises when someone takes the Force literally. if it is pantheism, why doesn't it act like pantheism? because it is not...it is a metaphor based (I suspect) on Lucas's Christian upbringing.

right, democracy is three wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner. The Founding Fathers knew that and did not want that. Hence, they gave us a Republic that weighs geography and the diversity of the populace against simple majority rule. of course, they punted on the issue of Slavery which is something that another generation had to deal with.

I read your K3 story sketch, Architect. Wow, that is alot to take in but I think you've got some good ideas. I like the idea of the True Sith having a fleet of cloaked ships (and, ultimately, being behind the Stealth Assassins in K2). I also like the bit about Bastila being your teacher. However, I think the game should have joinable factions. If you don't join a faction, then Bastila remains your teacher. If you join a faction, then she is only your teacher for a short time...someone from your faction teaches you if you join a faction. Anyway, my tupence.

I saw CR and liked it. As many of you may already know, this is the first James Bond novel and should have been the first movie but the rights to that one had already been sold by the time Broccoli bought the film rights. Anyway, it is a much different Bond and yet they didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm hoping they will treat it like Batman Begins and essentially start the frachise over.

a) yes, except the PC is Revan's cousin and a Force prodigy as well. also, remember where we are in the story...there aren't a lot of Jedi left. you could even have it so where Exile is afraid to go as he might fall to the Darkside...all kinds of ways to explain it. b) well, did you like looking for Katar? I suspect you didn't have strong feelings either way...the game has to be about something. looking for the guy who started a Sith order to save the Republic....WOW, that is pretty interesting. alot more interesting than Katar.

good points, Pop. "Cult classics" are often just really bad movies that were unintentionally funny or ended up being the starting point for a well-known actor or had really good (improvised) effects, etc. In fact, I believe some of them were actually intended to loose money so as to be a tax write-off. In some cases, they actually made money. anyway, Donnie Darko is not such a film. it is a really good film...strong writing and good acting. I did like the Butterfly Effect but if I had to choose, I'd have to go with DD. it seems that you can't have a movie like this without some sort of time travel (or, at least, I don't think it has been done yet). I'd like to see someone try.

way I see it, neither one can be PCs but Exile could be controllable in the endgame. Revan would be best utilized as the Holy Grail that you seek...find him, and the endgame begins. He could die or play some role in the endgame but should not be controllable....he should be scripted with full VO. Exile could play a role similar to that of Kyle Katarn in Jedi Academy....a teacher and point of contact. He is too busy putting out other brushfires so he sends you to find Revan.

the BE had potential but fell short. the bottom line is that we need more movies about the domino effect in life. there don't seem to be that many.

don't know about the action figures or whether it has a cult fan base but there is a bunny rabbit in the movie. it is actually a very good (albeit, very creepy) movie.