Kotor 3: Ideas and Suggestions

[Eddo36]

Here's an idea, make the newcomer character in KOTOR 3 to be (although playable in the game as male or female) "officially" female so the girls here don't feel left out and keep complaining. No offense, I do see it as a good solution to curb some forum tension, especially if you have "her" kick enough ass in the game.

 

See? I'm not sexist.

[Plano Skywalker]

Here's an idea, make the newcomer character in KOTOR 3 to be (although playable in the game as male or female) "officially" female.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

not a bad idea except that LA and the devs have learned their lesson about giving you a predefined name.....and only a character with a predefined name is going to make it into the EU anyway....

[ncr]

I would say "no" to an official gender. Females got slighted on the love interest department, but the male romances in Sith Lords really weren't as deep as they could have been either.

[Master Gallen]

Just stick to human race to keep this game series good and detailed, in my opinion. Otherwise if you add different races, the tradeoff for more flexibility comes at a cost of the story/gameplay-elements being more vague and less detailed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Eddo36 has made a good point.

 

If I have to chose between a more compelling story line, or more choices at my character's creation, hands down I'd prefer a more engaging story. I love the KOTOR series because of the story lines. They are rich and involving, and I would not want to see them diminished in any form or fashion.

 

(obmission)

I actually felt bad for people when I played it on the darkside. I feel that for a game to have that strong of an impact on it's players, is a true mark of a masterpiece, and that fact reflects on the creative geniuses who made it.

 

Keep the story rich indeed, and sell copies you will.

[metadigital]

Why does it have to be an either-or proposition reagarding character creation and engaging plot?

 

I just don't see it.

 

The plot flaws in K2 were there not because of complex PC creation (the three classes and six different heads don't matter, just the two alignments and genders) but because not enough time was spent on the writing and editing before the actual game development began.

 

It's a pretty tragic situation when we have to trade off alignment and gender differences with acceptable plots; it is an RPG, after all.

[Master Gallen]

It's a pretty tragic situation when we have to trade off alignment and gender differences with acceptable plots; it is an RPG, after all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree Meta, may I call you that? I too would hope it would not have to become one or the other. Though usually in a game's creation, trade-offs do sometimes occur. All I meant is that I would gladly trade some freedom for a more indepth storyline.

 

I hope the next KOTOR is not rushed, which would allow Obsidian time, to give us both. Wide ranges of choices and an epic story. Bliss (w00t)

[metadigital]

Yes I concur (and call me anything except "Hey you!", well, maybe not "Mavis" ... ), although I would also say I don't want the other extreme, either: choice for the sake of it.

 

It is all really dependent on the plot; the narrative is the crucial linchpin for all the other ingredients to work and any flaws with the story will be magnified out to the peripheries, like NPC interaction and plot progression.

[EnderAndrew]

I think Influence was a great system. I had one complaint about influence. How was I supposed to know which PC should be in my party at any given moment?

 

You didn't need a whole lot of influence with Atton to train him in the Jedi/Sith arts, but I missed every single opportunity for influence with Atton despite having him in the party quite a bit.

 

Games like Jade Empire seem a bit odd in that I can talk to each follower about events they weren't present for because I left them behind, but I think I prefer that over missing valuable interactions with party members because I had the wrong ones in my party when I hit a trigger.

[metadigital]

Yes, the devs (Bio and OE) both kept the "universal XP" idea for KotOR, so I see no discontinuity between that and the ability to converse with each and every party member about every quest completed (or attemped: why can't there be non-fatal failures on smaller subquests?)

[ncr]

If they're going to use the influence system again, then make more opportunities to gain it.

[EnderAndrew]

Looking at Gamefaqs.com, I am now seeing there were plenty of opportunities, but I missed most of them by not having the right party member at the right moment. If I could discuss my actions of each planet with each party member afterwards, that would be fine.

[Mc Bane]

Another gameplay idea just hit me. Languages.

 

You choose your PC race, you get his/her language and basic. You also choose 1 more language for each point if itelligence modifer. Certain NPCs in your party can speak different languages, and not all characters in the game speak basic.

 

It would work especially well with homeworlds and that depending on race.

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

I think Influence was a great system.  I had one complaint about influence.  How was I supposed to know which PC should be in my party at any given moment?

 

You didn't need a whole lot of influence with Atton to train him in the Jedi/Sith arts, but I missed every single opportunity for influence with Atton despite having him in the party quite a bit.

 

Games like Jade Empire seem a bit odd in that I can talk to each follower about events they weren't present for because I left them behind, but I think I prefer that over missing valuable interactions with party members because I had the wrong ones in my party when I hit a trigger.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There are lots of influence gains. Usually manage to find a new one every time I read a thread about it. Knowing where they all are is one of the things that you could call a flaw in the influence system it's quite simple to pack everything into a short space of time but played normally it works rather well, so then you have to wonder is the flaw with the system or the players.

 

Not sure how you could do that as some of Attons influences are unmissable.

 

Jade Empire is like being a baby bird. You sit there and the characters feed you information without any effort.

 

They even have flashing icons so you dont miss anything

[CoM_Solaufein]

If there are romances in K3 make sure they are well developed like some of the former games some of the developers worked on like Baldur Gate2. I wouldn't even call what they offered in K2 a romance. Even in K1 you got a "kiss" by Bastila.

[Darth_Schmarth]

Looking at Gamefaqs.com, I am now seeing there were plenty of opportunities, but I missed most of them by not having the right party member at the right moment.  If I could discuss my actions of each planet with each party member afterwards, that would be fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This is my main gripe with this system. Another problem is that if you bring e.g. both Atton and Handmaiden to a situation where you'd normally gain influence with them, you won't gain with any of them. What's that all about?

[Plano Skywalker]

This is my main gripe with this system. Another problem is that if you bring e.g. both Atton and Handmaiden to a situation where you'd normally gain influence with them, you won't gain with any of them. What's that all about?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

it's about a good idea that is still in its adolescence.

 

(BTW, I think they wanted to have NPC-specific side quests but there just wasn't enough time.)

 

I think most of us develop favorite party members and having to take the party member out to get influence kinda stinks (though somewhat realistic).

 

I would like for the padawan to also have a Persuade skill and the ability to gain influence with party members....your padawan would be like your First Mate on the ship. Having that coupled with more multithreaded adventures would allow you to get to know all your party members better (which involves seeing how they react during certain scenarios).

[metadigital]

I guess what seems to be the thread we are all sewing with is some sort of dynamic with two central PCs (Knight and Padawan); these two combine with other NPCs in their seperate excursions. I could even see the sub teams occassionally become individuals (like when only one player -- and not Revan -- could hide and release the others on Saul Karaths ship, after the Ebon Hawk was camptured); this is certainly a good idea -- as long as we get to chose which character (within reason). E.g. think of the Dxun Tomb run, and then the team members are split up by conflict or mutual decision to facilitate the next part of the plan.

 

I would expect the padawan adventures first, to act as a de facto introduction.

 

I don't see the need to have more different party members that do very little interaction; better to have fewer party members and more intra-party reactions. That said, ten members was really the minimum without making it "Half-Life and friend"; so the obvious improvement would be to have more participation from the members.

 

It would be a brave developer/producer that also permitted replays to start with the Knight, rather than the padawan, especially if the padawan had a long and interesting story arc to themselves. (But this is no different to starting Max Payne 2 at any level, for example, or HotU with a new PC without playing through the OC completely.) This would allow for returning players to skip the first introductory levels.

 

Think of designing your own pair of master-padawan / lord-apprentice (genders, races, attributes, skills -- including languages, appearances, etc).

 

Think also of two different plots; LS and DS. Choose at the beginning whether you are the padawan or kngiht or apprentice. Padawan is LS training, apprentice is DS training (both can then follow training or rebel); the skippable levels mean that if you chose Knight (LS) or Sith (DS) you are well on the way to that alignment (but still, can fall or be redeemed); this also gives opportunity for a battle with the partner PC when alignments clash.

[EnderAndrew]

I don't see the need to have more different party members that do very little interaction; better to have fewer party members and more intra-party reactions. That said, ten members was really the minimum without making it "Half-Life and friend"; so the obvious improvement would be to have more participation from the members.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I couldn't agree with this more.

[Eddo36]

I was kinda hoping to lead an army for a change, but that's just me. Be more of a big taco. You send the right troops to the right system and the outcome of the war is judged by your strategy based on intelligence you collected or something. If you send a lot of troops to one place and then you visit that place, most of the enemy there would have been defeated or so. Have a few close interaction with your top commanders, less with the lesser ranks. Assign different people for recruiting, intel, maybe training, special ops, fleet, whatever. Just thought it would be a nice change from the small party system where you are the hand that holds a bigger spear.

[EnderAndrew]

If you want an epic battle with large numbers of troops, that's fine. But I don't want 20 boring party members. I want 5 or 6 great ones.

[Plano Skywalker]

If you want an epic battle with large numbers of troops, that's fine.  But I don't want 20 boring party members.  I want 5 or 6 great ones.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I thought the assault on the

Iziz Sky Ramp

had it about right...you get some extra troops but they are AI-controlled...hirelings could work like that.

[Weiser_Cain]

I'd rather have a choice of ships with the ebon hawk being the default ship. And although I didn't enjoy the mini games since they were either too hard or too easy and not all that fun I'd actually like to fly the ship the next time around in a minigame and as the default way of getting around. You could even have the player switching back to crawling around the ship fixing things and or fighting off boarders/saboteurs. I'd also like there to be a piloting skill so you can let the characters do the driving and maybe to boost your twitch skils.

Whatever you do don't use the same engine again, I'd like a prettier game next time with more realistic characters.

[Plano Skywalker]

You could even have the player switching back to crawling around the ship fixing things and or fighting off boarders/saboteurs. I'd also like there to be a piloting skill so you can let the characters do the driving and maybe to boost your twitch skils.

 

Whatever you do don't use the same engine again, I'd like a prettier game next time with more realistic characters.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Atton: "Captain, we are being attacked by a pirate ship"

 

PC:

1) "Take evasive maneuvers and try to make the jump to lightspeed"

2) "You drive and I'll man the gun turret"

3) "Prepare to ram!"

 

something like that? I'm for that.

[Weiser_Cain]

That makes two.

[EnderAndrew]

Prepare to jump to Ludicrious speed!