I don't know about you, but I had no desire to finish Knights of the Old Republic. I ate up Bioware and Black Isle's Aurora engine games, lost hundreds of hours of my life to the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape series, and yet KotR, while gorgeous, felt uninspired and bland to me.

I understand why KotR was such a huge hit with the masses: light sabers, western style (as opposed to JRPGs), and beautiful (yet lifeless) graphics and sound. As a hardcore CRPGer, I found the whole affair to be totally devoid of the charm and character that had me hooked to Bioware's 2d games.

Am I missing something the rest of you picked up on? I don't consider myself elitist, I love FFX, FFVI, and FFVII equally for unique reasons regardless of their generational differences. To me, the Final Fantasy series (although in an entire different class of RPG) seemed to be able to elaborate and build upon their legacy while jumping from generation to generation, whereas the D&D Bioware titles subtracted from the sum of their brilliance. The Elderscrolls and System Shock/Bioshock series also do this with panache.

Every detail, video, and interview pertaining to Mass Effect tingles my dingle (you know EXACTLY what I mean), but I can't help but fear that it will feel like another generic feeling RPG (if exceptionally technically accomplished and executed, RPG).

Is the addition of squad oriented FPS gameplay another example of Bioware's pandering to the masses? Will it, like KotR's leap to cinematic presentation from BG's humble beginnings, end up hurting the overall RPG experience? I'm I too fixed upon genre conventions and/or should I just realign my drinking schedule to more closely mirror the sheep fucking Ron Workman's?

Let me know.

P.S.
My first blog post!
P.P.S.
Created under the influence of Knob Creek small batch Kentucky Bourbon!
P.P.P.S
Also, Cocks!