FreddaH

One thing that I didn't cover in my last post is that IMO the story is not (and is not trying to be) finished. It is therefore entirely possible that another protagonist is needed in order to finish the overlaying story. This protagonist would have to be a major player, and thus, an apprentice or padawan is unlikely. I would rather hope for an approach like that in KotOR II where the character does not suffer from amnesia, but rather has a clouded past that is gradually revealed to the player. Only the creativity and immagination of the writers set the boundries. The Star Wars universe is huge, and has been expanded time and again during the years since the first movies. Why is it necessary for the character to be restricted in displacement and knowledge of only the worlds of the Outer Rim or Core territories? The protagonist in the third game could theorretically origin from any place in the galaxy, even from within or close to the Sith Empire itself. Finding out about the new Sith threat could be done in any number of other ways as well. Perhaps the attack comes, and our new hero is forced to respond, and in doing so, encounters Revan and the Exile? Again, only creativity and immagination limit the options. Personally I don't have a problem with this. I loved Planescape: Tornment, where you basically where forced into a set personality right from the start. What matters above all is the story. Where our oppinions differ is that I don't see Revan as the center point of the story. To me, this is a story of primal evil and the desperate struggle of good. Of course, Revan is a key figure, as is the Exile. I just feel that there is room for yet one more pivotal figure in the overall story, and that conclusion and closure comes first when their three destenies come together. When I previously spoke of balance, I was really more reffering to symmetry. KotOR I featuring Revann, KotOR II, the Exile and KotOR III, the third (still unnamed) pivotal figure. I feel that this is very fitting, but maybe I'm just a sucker for symmetry I like that kind of complexity. I also LOVE the fact that you don't really get to see what happens to the Exile after KotOR II. It leaves you to fill in the blanks for yourself, or at least speculate on it until the third installment comes out. This would be my biggest incentive for bying the third game, and leaves me really wanting more. A good marketing trick, as well as good storytelling, IMO. Actually playing Revan or the Exile in the third game, rather than meeting them or hearing about them, would, for me, take away some of the magic created by the previous games. I love the fact that I was part of those character's stories, and if they, in the third game, are major players in an epic plot, it would really feel as I had done something special when I played the first two games. As I said earlier, this was not was I was talking about, and I have no doubt the Devs could come up with a compelling approach to this, should they decide that this is the way to go. Again, it is all up to the immagination of the writers. Integration of a third character in a plot such as this is not too hard to do. I have already given examples of ways the character could be aware of the sith threat, and given that Revan's and the Exile's backgrounds are still sort of hazy (you don't actually get to see and hear everything that happened during the Mandalorian Wars or the Jedi Civil War), a new key character would not be hard to tie into the two already existing. I think KotOR II, in not spelling everything out for you, did an excellent job at hinting that there was more to the story than what we already knew. Another issue for the writers to deal with. If the new protagonist follows the examples I have given it would not be too hard to find a place in the story where both Revan's and the Exile's gender and alignment are discussed and determined. Very nice discussion this, but it will prove quite moot when (if) the third game is release /Fredrik

Thought I would add my two cents to this intriguing discussion. I love open endings, like the one in KotOR II, where you basically have to fill in the gaps using your own immagination. Drawing upon this, KotOR III could finish the story of both Revan and the Exile using a third PC character, intertwining him with the destinies of Revan and the Exile. The issue of being a Force-user can be easily solved in any number of ways. For example, it is never set in stone that the Exile IS the last Jedi in the galaxy. It is only stated that the Sith believes him to be the last. As I see it, the Star Wars saga has always been one of balance. Good cannot exist without evil, and vice versa. Therefore there are bound to be more Jedi out there, in hiding like the story of the Lost Jedi. KotOR III could be the story of accepting that the balance of Light and Darkness must exist. This story could (would) also tie in with Revan and the Exile as their actions (good or evil) threaten the balance. The third character's quest would thus be to restore this balance. Playing as Revan or the Exile would - as already stated - present extreme gameplay issues in the D20 system, as there wouldn't be any real challenges for these characters. There is also the continuity issue, where the two first games introduces new characters while the third one goes back to one of the previous two, uppsetting the balance, and tipping the story in favour of one of the two, making the other's story insignificant. Balance is once again the major issue. There are limitless ways to finish these stories, creating a great storyline for a third game. There is even the possibility of setting the third game at a much later time, where Revan's and the Exile's stories are more part of the lore and lost histories. I don't see the absolute need for a first hand conclusion of their stories, as the point of the games (again IMO) is to unravel a fascinating story during actual gameplay. I really hope for a third installment as I thouroughly enjoyed the first two games. Bioware's writers did an excellent job, as did Obsidian's (even though in the latter case the technical quality of the released product was sadly brought down by major bugs). These games are all story, and like interactive movies. This is the way computer games where ment to be made. /Fredrik

Having problems with Swoop-racing as well (so far on Telos, as I haven't gotten that far in the game yet - lots of bugs before I got it to work), but of a slightly different nature. Every time I start a Swoop-race. my swoop suddenly starts to hover HIGH above the track. I read about being able to "jump", but I didn't. This hovering makes all the boosters unusable (oh, and the mines won't hit me either), but the times are unbeatable in this state. One time I actually got the swoop to go along the ground, but I was so surprised by this that I emmediately crashed. Anyone else have these issues? Known problem? /Fredrik

Not exactly the same problem, but would nevertheless want to have it noted. I have read somewhere on this forum about a 1/4 load bug, and that seems to be what's happening to me, only it happens right as I press play after creating a character. Kind of frustrating not being able to load the level after finally getting the game to start (had problems installing and starting earlier - got through them with a lot of patience). As the game stucks, my system crashes and I get a forced restart. Very annoying, and it also seemed to reset certain values regarding my browser for some reason Anyway, would like to see a fix soon. Was actually very surprised to see that there wasn't a patch out yet. Surprised and not a little disappointed. Oh well, can't trust anyone nowadays. I am very worried about NWN2 right now. Perhaps BioWare should make an unexpected visit to Obsidian and check their code? /Fredrik