David Hingtgen

It's scary over at the SWTOR forums. Everyone there seems to be "truly hard-core Galaxies fans". And they want a sequel to it, a long-term, hard-core MMO where only the guy with 3,000 hours invested can be a Jedi and a purple saber crystal would be the rarest thing possible... Sigh, I really want to post a "Dear Bioware, please don't listen to anyone at this forum especially if they're a bitter ex-Galaxies player, make the game how you want" thread there, but I figure it'd get a pretty negative reaction.

Yeah, but that makes little sense (and sucks)---white transfers for a white Gundam, yet the zillion little red warning labels (which are awfully Zoid-esque) are stickers? That's practically a make-or-break factor for me. A Gundam that bland *needs* a bunch of warning markings---but having them all STICKERS? That just sucks, it'd ruin the look having them plastered all over--and no way they'd fit as-is, it'd be a 1000-slice session with the xacto to trim them all.

Except that half of them never get Full Armor.

It's up at the SWTOR.com FAQ. Basically it follows what KOTOR 2 said: Revan left to find/prepare for the real threat, the "true" Sith Empire from beyond the outer rim. Well, it's been 300 years, and Revan never returned, but the Sith Empire did. Quote: "How does Star Wars: The Old Republic relate to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic? Star Wars: The Old Republic takes place approximately three hundred years after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). At the conclusion of the Jedi Civil War in KOTOR, Revan disappeared into unknown space in search of a great threat to the Republic, an expanding Sith Empire led by a mysterious Emperor who planned vengeance for his ancient Jedi enemies. Revan never returned from unknown space, but the Sith Empire did, kicking off a war with the Republic that lasted for decades. Now, despite the uneasy truce created by the Treaty of Coruscant, the tension among the divided star systems is threatening to once again tear the galaxy apart. Will I see any characters from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic? Given that it is approximately 300 years since the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, many of the characters have passed away. However, their legacy does live on as many of their descendants will be part of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Some droids can last a long time as well." PS--one of the avatars available looks a lot like HK-47. If not him, than certainly an HK series.

Quarter--no, don't really like the design. Frontier and Galaxy are much cooler. (and we don't even know how Galaxy looks in ship mode).

Yes, but it is a SW MMO, so there are some "expectations" based on what came before (even if I have none) and you never know how much power Lucasarts will exert over Bioware.

Yup---he was most interesting in the very first few eps, now he's back to that, more or less. Now, a general question about Mohinder----have we seen any other abilities that cause a notable "inhuman" physical change etc? So far I think (even in the graphic novels) all powers still are "purely powers" and everyone still looks completely human. But now we have a more X-Men-esque physical mutation. One-off due to being formula-induced, or part of the power itself, or what? We're one step away from blue skin characters. (the most common physical mutation I think in the X-verse at least)

That's a question I had---does MG Unicorn have stickers, decals, or transfers for the warning labels?

Seconded. I've never played an MMO, have no desire. But I must play "new Bioware RPG". Being KOTOR(ish) is just a bonus. I've already made an account at SWOTR.com (I'm a huge KOTOR fan, and really of all Bioware games) My only concern (based on a quick glance at the boards) is that it may be made to cater too much to the Galaxies players, and it seems that's what all the Galaxies players are expecting/wanting--"SWG 2"----they practically want to import their character, re-form the guilds and servers, and "pick up where they left off". But I expect(and hope) that it will be *KOTOR*, just played online, and that Bioware couldn't care less about what Galaxies was like.

For those that are using transparent paint: Are you painting the underside or top side of the nose sensors? I ask because there's a "visible from above" pin directly underneath the forward sensor, and that'd kind of mess up the normal "paint the underside" rule for clear parts. (painting the cockpit tonight)

I rarely play games "a little at a time". I'm the opposite of a DS user etc. I "plan ahead" to get all my evening errands done etc and will then spend the entire night playing, or the entire weekend. Then not play again for days. Heck, I haven't played anything in over a week, maybe 2. But when I was playing, I played every spare hour I had. So my systems tend to get intense use for a week or two, then nothing for a week or two. As for slavery---possible/likely, also possibly something like force hypnosis----"dominate mind" etc in KOTOR, and the "binding" in JE. I think someone at Bioware has a thing for mind control.

Hmmn. I'll see if I can add some internal rods during assembly, to prevent breaking. (easiest way honestly is to drill a hole, then snap the bit off inside) ::edit:: Another question---has anyone cut out the printed-on vernier in the stripes? I don't plan on using decals for any of the verniers, but that one's part of the stripe decal itself, and there's NO gap between it and the surrounding stripe---very difficult to cut a perfect circle with no margin of error.

Alto's needs a second seat too, with Ranka fig.

Meh, trying even more decal set etc only succeeded in eating the white ink out of the decal, and the sticker sucked, so I just painted it---and it came out better than any decal would IMHO: (weird fact--the smaller it is, the better I am at painting it---this is why I truly suck at things like one-color 1/18 cars, but do well with 1/144 Gundam eyes)

That's the one I'm talking about. My best (only) modelling skill is decaling, and as I said--I'm *very* picky about them as it's the one thing I can do well so I do it as best as I possibly can. Honestly I've done mine better than the pic you posted--but it's still not good enough for my standards.

I was thinking about inking in most of the "small red recesses" anyways. I'll try the decals first--can always ink later. (that's kind of my plan for the whole kit--decal everything, anything that doesn't last will get replaced with a sticker and/or painted on)

I noticed quite a few variations of his plane through the eps, most of which I attribute to the animators not paying attention.

I don't get why EVERYONE feels the need to do that side-quest so fervantly. It's long, boring, and pointless. With no real reward. (I did it once quickly using an FAQ just to see what happens--nothing. No big spoiler, plot, reward, backstory, or anything else). It's a time-waster, nothing more. Skip it. My suggestion: Talk to the guy to start the quest, then IF YOU SEE ONE NEARBY WHILE WALKING AROUND, scan it--easy money when you need it early in the game. But don't spend an hour hunting down the last two, etc. They're not worth much individually, but you'll find a dozen just walking around.

Actually, I found over a dozen Graces since then, but only at "members only" sites so I could only see 80x80 pixel thumbnails.

Nah, Hasbro's just stupid. Some of the parts are actually molded in the same G1-colored sparkly amber-orange as the cannon, but PAINTED flourescent orange at extra cost...

99% of the "magic" in polishing a canopy back to crystal-clarity is in the sanding, not the actual polish/paste used. Quadruple-digit-grit. Frankly, almost any polish works well on clear model plastic, I often use mag-wheel polish personally...

I have 4 decal "fluids", in order of strength: Micro-Set Micro-Sol Solvaset Champ Champ is "the atomic bomb of decal set". It is FAR stronger than Micro-Sol when it comes to melting/conforming. Solvaset and Champ are both "1-step" solutions, that do what Micro Set and Sol do, together. But I generally only use them "if needed" as they can literally melt weaker decals into puddles of goo. And both are stronger than anything Microscale makes. If anyone has a close-up pic, I'd like to see how well they did with theirs. (I can only find close-up pics of stickers) The problem is simply the shape--no decal wants to make a 90-degree bend around a curved raised triangle. It's basically your standard "black dot on an airplane nosecone done as a circle decal" situation, just flattened out a bit.

::gasp:: Didn't finish Mass Effect?!? Go do so now! It gets better and better towards the end. The last couple hours just rock.

Easier to just not apply the clear parts, then spray. Versus masking them. The whole thing's snap-fit, so it's not a problem attaching parts later or slightly out of order. PS--I just decaled the 'red triangle on the crotch plate'---anyone gotten this to fit perfectly? I'm up to my "atomic bomb of decal set" and it's still not matching up/conforming quite right at the corners. It actually doesn't seem to be quite the right shape/size in the first place--slightly oversized, and the "curved" upper section shouldn't be IMHO. I considered inking that marking on myself, but figured I'd give the decal a try. (I doubt the sticker would work well at all really--90 degree bends only 1mm thick?) PPS to anyone decaling---the decals do seem to be "typical Japanese" in that they respond very well to hot water, and not so well to decal set. However, they do respond to decal set better than "previous generation Hasegawa" decals--anything from 2002 or earlier or so.

No, Halloween will be around, just minus the trick-or-treat part. It'll be very much like Xmas, where you give candy and presents to kids. Only the decorations are black and orange and spooks, instead of green and red and elves. Noticed how Xmas-y Halloween already is? They now have gift tags and "stocking stuffers" and gingerbread houses----and more and more toys. Easter's going that way too---Easter baskets now have enough toys to supply an average kid at Xmas and Target usually has 2 entire aisles of just TOYS for Easter. Eventually, all holidays will be like Xmas, due to commercialism. Just one long year of buying toys for kids...