KOTOR III

[Jedi Master D Murda]

We started working on KOTOR2 a little before the release of KOTOR1, but not by a lot.

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Hm that's interesting I was under the impression that sequels were generally only made after the first one has proved to sell very well? Why is it that work was started on the second one before the first one was done, did they just know they had a hit on their hands?

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I would assume that a lot of games are made with the idea of a sequel in mind.

[Radwar]

I'm all in favor of KotOR sequels, provided they live up to the quality of the original. 

 

Obsidian really has their work cut out for them if they hope to provide an experience as good as the original KotOR, and I'm kind  of worried.  I am especially worried that Obsidian will try to "mainstream" the game and that they will "dumb it down" to appeal to a broader audience.  I also hope they don't listen much to most player suggestions.

 

It's a shame that the KotOR III team got canned, but then again, in-house development of KotOR III might not be such a great idea.  If they do make a KotOR III, I think the development should either go back to BioWare, or it should go to Obsidian (depending, of course, on how well Obsidian does with KotOR II)

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The folks at Obsidian are the same people responsible for some of the best RPGs in recent memory. Bioware did a great job with KOTOR, but I have every confidence that Obsidian's version will outshine the original in every way. If you haven't already done so, pick up a copy of Planescape: Torment on E-bay. It should set you back all of $5 - $10. Play it, and you will understand.

 

MadMalachi

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I think your shortchanging Bioware here, you're probably forgetting the BG series maybe. I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

Only the origianl OC from Neverwinter Nights wasn't great from BW but that wasn't the main reason I bought the game, and I understand that they had to develop a new game system at the same time. But people wanted bioware to concentrate more on the OC's for the add-ons and in my opinion they're great, Hordes is awesome.

My stance is, I feel pretty much blessed to have not one but two great companies working on RPG's for the PC. I was sad then I heard what happened to Black Isle and am quite happy they've returned. I'm pretty much hyped by both companies future projects, Kotor II, NWN 2, Dragon Age, Jade Empire (will have to get an XBOX for this, sigh), ect.

[jaguars4ever]

I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

 

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What other Obsidian games have you played then? Tell me, I'd love to know. ^_^

[Child of Flame]

I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

 

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What other Obsidian games have you played then? Tell me, I'd love to know. ^_^

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Obsidian=Black Isle Studios reincarnated. BIS games included Planescape Torment, the Fallout series, the Icewind Dale series, etc. All in all, some of what are said to be the greatest RPG games of all time.

[Kdy-worker 1138]

One could hope that IF a Kotor III is made that they will make the game using the Star Wars D20 rules (far better than the core d20 rules in my opinion),insted of this Basterdized version Bioware came up with in Kotor I.

[jaguars4ever]

I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

 

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What other Obsidian games have you played then? Tell me, I'd love to know. ^_^

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Obsidian=Black Isle Studios reincarnated. BIS games included Planescape Torment, the Fallout series, the Icewind Dale series, etc. All in all, some of what are said to be the greatest RPG games of all time.

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Indeed. I am the proud owner of all those games with the exception of the IWD "dugeon crawlers" .

 

Just wanted to point out that it's not actually BIS 'cause some of them did go to Troika as well. :ph34r:

[Topaz Quasar]

Nur Ab Sal, are you completely insane?!

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He might be......... :ph34r:

[Nur Ab Sal]

This depends from point of view...

[Sweeper]

aren't we all?

[Feargus Urquhart]

Not to get into the who is BIS and who is not BIS, but the Troika guys left Black Isle in early 1998 and the rest of us didn't leave until early-mid 2003. Plus, very few if any people from Troika worked on Torment.

[Radwar]

I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

 

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What other Obsidian games have you played then? Tell me, I'd love to know. ^_^

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Obsidian=Black Isle Studios reincarnated. BIS games included Planescape Torment, the Fallout series, the Icewind Dale series, etc. All in all, some of what are said to be the greatest RPG games of all time.

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Agreed.

About the IWD series, I know it's considered an RPG lite compared to Torment, Fallout, the BG series, ect... But I liked it anyway.

Maybe it's because I played IWD after completing BG2: SOA, and I though it was a nice little break after the insane amount of side quests BG2 brings you all at once, lol. Also I thought the story was great, though not as complex as some others, but I expect that in an RPG lite. I've come to expect great stories from those 2 companies and I know that they can come up with a rare jewel once in a while. But I don't expect like some few gamers I saw here and there on messageboards to release the mother of all RPG's (storywise) every single time they release a game. That's plaine ridiculous and reastically an impossible feat.

That said, all in all I prefer more complex RPG's, I did find IWD alot of fun to play and would gladly play a third installement if one ever comes out.

[Naso]

Eh, I think Bioware's weakest point is story really, (and bugs/support :angry:). KotOR's really NWN OC 2.0. The problem with these imo is that they try to give a sense of freedom by a sort of hub and spoke system but it really doesn't work. You don't feel any more free going to dungeon 2 before 3 before 1 instead of 1 2 3, and it makes things seem more generic and lessens the possibility for a story. I think that sort of thing worked better in BG2 because things like the troll castle were treated more like side-quests and so had some personality. I'd thought seeing the linear, though dull, SoU they'd started to realize it, but then the Underdark was just the same. Morrowind had real freedom, which really hinges on the completely freeform world. For KotOR 2, and especially tile/area based things like NWN a somewhat more linear bit with less arbitary travel choices works much better and makes for a much more immersive story.

[Nur Ab Sal]

Right! The first hours of KOTOR were great (I mean Taris) but later storyline sucked. the free choice of planet was unnecessary (and proved to be illusion)and on every world storyline was reduced to make 2 or 3 tasks to obtain stupid starmap. even NWN was more interesting in it's also linear plot (searching for creatures in Neverwinter quarters) I was expecting something more inventive. And now we have TSL with storyline copied from Return of the Jedi (last jedi, sith rule bla,bla,bla) - at least the team is million times better than bioware so we may yet experience something ORIGINAL

[KOTORFanactic]

Copied from Return of thr Jedi? I see nothing wrong with that. I also found the originals story to be incredibly good all the way through. Admittedly, finding the starmaps can get a little tedious by the time u reach the last one, but all those sidequests easily made up for that.

[MadMalachi]

I'm not saying that Bioware is better here, but your talking like Obsidian is way better than Bioware storywise. Sorry but having played all of both companies RPG's, I consider them pretty much on par talentwise.

 

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What other Obsidian games have you played then? Tell me, I'd love to know. ^_^

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Obsidian=Black Isle Studios reincarnated. BIS games included Planescape Torment, the Fallout series, the Icewind Dale series, etc. All in all, some of what are said to be the greatest RPG games of all time.

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Agreed.

About the IWD series, I know it's considered an RPG lite compared to Torment, Fallout, the BG series, ect... But I liked it anyway.

Maybe it's because I played IWD after completing BG2: SOA, and I though it was a nice little break after the insane amount of side quests BG2 brings you all at once, lol. Also I thought the story was great, though not as complex as some others, but I expect that in an RPG lite. I've come to expect great stories from those 2 companies and I know that they can come up with a rare jewel once in a while. But I don't expect like some few gamers I saw here and there on messageboards to release the mother of all RPG's (storywise) every single time they release a game. That's plaine ridiculous and reastically an impossible feat.

That said, all in all I prefer more complex RPG's, I did find IWD alot of fun to play and would gladly play a third installement if one ever comes out.

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I'm sorry, I did not mean to imply any shortchanging of Bioware. If nothing else, then Bioware has provided the Infinity Engine, which has been the basis of so much of my enjoyment in CRPGs for the past --what, 7 years? 8 years? And they have done much more besides providing the Infinity Engine. Neverwinter Nights is a love-letter to the entire roleplaying community. Bioware is a great company, and they deserve our support.

 

The point I was trying to make was in response to the poster who was uncertain as to whether Obsidian were up to the task of following Bioware. I will repeat that I have no doubt they will do even better than Bioware. Why? Because they have the advantage of working with Bioware's technology, i.e. the engine from KOTOR 1. This should free up a great deal of Obsidian's time to work on what I consider to be their special strength, which is story. Fallout is brilliant. Planescape: Torment is in a class by itself, in terms of story and development.

 

Perhaps a better way of phrasing it is this: Obsidian will work wonders with KOTOR 2, but this is no slight to Bioware, because they did so many things right with KOTOR 1. Does that make sense to anyone else?

 

Of course, I could turn out to be wrong, and the game might suck.

 

But it's not going to suck.

 

MadMalachi

[Nur Ab Sal]

I think similar but what with pressure from Lucasarts? If Obsidian would have 2 years to develop this game instead of one, this game would be two times better.

[Senator PalpaTANG]

I think similar but what with pressure from Lucasarts?

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I think bad english you have?

[Senator PalpaTANG]

I think bad english you have?

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Oh snap!!1

[Nur Ab Sal]

Same to you pal.

[Child of Flame]

I think similar but what with pressure from Lucasarts?

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I think bad english you have?

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I think an @sshole you've been?

[Radwar]

I'm sorry, I did not mean to imply any shortchanging of Bioware. If nothing else, then Bioware has provided the Infinity Engine, which has been the basis of so much of my enjoyment in CRPGs for the past --what, 7 years? 8 years? And they have done much more besides providing the Infinity Engine. Neverwinter Nights is a love-letter to the entire roleplaying community. Bioware is a great company, and they deserve our support.

 

The point I was trying to make was in response to the poster who was uncertain as to whether Obsidian were up to the task of following Bioware. I will repeat that I have no doubt they will do even better than Bioware. Why? Because they have the advantage of working with Bioware's technology, i.e. the engine from KOTOR 1. This should free up a great deal of Obsidian's time to work on what I consider to be their special strength, which is story. Fallout is brilliant. Planescape: Torment is in a class by itself, in terms of story and development.

 

Perhaps a better way of phrasing it is this: Obsidian will work wonders with KOTOR 2, but this is no slight to Bioware, because they did so many things right with KOTOR 1. Does that make sense to anyone else?

 

Of course, I could turn out to be wrong, and the game might suck.

 

But it's not going to suck.

 

MadMalachi

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Now, that I fully agree with. Though it was not very clear to begin with. That said, yes I feel fully confident that Obsidian's NWN2 OC will highly surpass the original NWN OC, and they should.

All the mechanics (The base if you will) are in place, I'm talking about an RPG Maker engine that handles an editor, dungeon master, single and multi player, and everything that makes it hold together, plus over two years of improvements by Bioware (alot from ALL the feedback from gamers). Now that they're building a new game, Obsidian will be able to add alot more complicated and time consuming features that people have been asking about. What also helps about the feedback, is now they have over 2 years of gamers feedback over at the Bioware boards. Also like I said, the fact that Obsidian doesn't have to build a new RPG Maker with NWN2, only improve upon it, thus allocating alot more zots to the offical OC. And knowing Obsidian's track record, I'm not worried.

 

What's great about this is now that companies now have a new basis for these types of RPG's, we should see alot more of them coming out in the future (I hope).

We're already fortunate to have two of them being created at this moment, NWN 2 and Dragon Age.

I feel it's a great time to be an RPG fan indeed. Sadly it was not always the case.