Chris Avellone Interview
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Q: When KOTOR 2 was announced, many people expected a game of the Planescape: Torment caliber, especially in the story, dialogue and NPCs departments. Sadly, it didn't happen. Can you tell us why?
CHRIS: Well, not a loaded question, but how did K2 fail compare to Torment in story, dialogue, and characters?
SERGE: There was no story (there was a backstory, but that's a different element), other than find 4 Jedi masters and either collect them all like pokemon or kill them all for a secret to be revealed.
Dialogues felt empty. Well written, but empty. Again, one of those hard to explain things.
As for the characters, there was no emotional attachment to or interest in the party members or characters. In PST Pharod, Ravel were giants loaded with personalities, depth, and flaws that made them so human and alive. It was different in K2. Not because I had higher expectations - I didn't, but ... something was missing.
In PST it was hard to decide on which party members to pick. It was even harder to sacrifice Morte or sell/kill one for The Grimoire of Pestilential Thought. I played the game 3 times over the years, but I could never do that simply because the characters were so alive. In K2 I could easily sell/kill most NPCs. Why? I don't know. That's how both games made me feel.
There were some similarities between TNO and the Exile, but in PST we were shown the consequences on a grand scale - of TNO's entire life and how his choices affected people. In K2, the Exile's past didn't play an important role. It didn't matter at all.
Again, needless to say, those are just opinions, so don't take it personally. I didn't mean to offend or anything like that. Sorry if I couldn't be more specific. I believe emotions can paint a better picture here than a dry analysis.
CHRIS: I take no offense to your honesty. But stay right where you are, a missile is arcing its way toward your home right now, and there is a lightsaber-wielding Jedi on top of it.
Okay, so character resonance - I do think Kreia was a deep character, personally, but I can see how you would feel that way with some other characters... people were strangely divided on Bao-Dur, for example, and G0-T0, while I enjoyed him and I thought his voice actor was awesome (Daran Norris from Team America), he never really clicked, and that's my fault. I also tried to add more personality to T3, but I'm not sure how well that turned out, either.
I thought the Jedi Masters would be cool, solely because instead of finding objects, you're finding people you interact with, which puts a new element of diplomacy and choice in there. Ultimately, we did want the same free-range exploration as the first game, so it all came down to how you present the motivation from planet to planet. I thought the fact they all knew something of personal value to you (the trial aftermath) would make the player more motivated to find them, but I don't think it worked with some people.
SERGE: What choice? To kill them or (collect) them? I don't think there was much diplomacy there either. Comparing to the incredibly complex conversation with Ravel, for example, the execution of a good-in-theory (interacting/learning something of personal value) idea was flawed.
Also, in K2 I suppose the only consequences you see are Malachor V, Disciple, Atris, and it certainly happens nowhere near the same frequency as it does in Planescape Torment.
In the end, I do wish there had been more time and I wished I had had more time to work on the end game, and that was my fault. We did get a lot accomplished in the time we had, and I probably should have cut another planet (the droid planet got the axe). I still think it's a good RPG, we probably should have just made it shorter.
You'll find more questions (and funny sketches) over in their forums, as well.
