A&A The Official Daniel Wallace Discussion Thread

masterskywalker wrote:

I'm some what curious as to what approach will be give to dealing with the continuity of the two latest SW games. Both have clear lightside and darkside endings.

While I haven't played either game yet (KOTR sounds super-cool, though!) I imagine the "correct" endings will wind up being the light-side endings, which is the process that was followed for Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight.

Dan

 

Will Bastion be covered in Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds?

 

Not to ruin your gaming experience or anything, but if you want to know the endings (the games take quite a bit of time to beat). I'll post them them here.

WARNING SPOILERS FOR KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC AND JEDI ACADEMY







































The lightside ending for Knights of the Old Republic has you, the Jedi Revan (ex Sith Lord), once again the savior of the galaxy. You've been redeemed, you've killed Darth Malak and the Sith fleet has been destroyed. Happy times.

The darkside ending has you, the restored Darth Revan and master of the Sith, leading your titanic armada to crush the Old Republic once and for all.

The lightside ending for Knights of the Old Republic has Jaden stopping Tavion and her Sith cult from resurecting Marka Ragnos (yup the same dude from the Tales of the Jedi comic). Luke leads the Jedi in a big attack on the cultists on Korriban. Tavion gets posessed by Ragnos and Jaden defeats them. Tavion is killed by the shock of Ragnos leaving her body, your friend Rosh is saved (sans an arm) and you become a true Jedi and continue to serve the Jedi with Luke and Kyle.

The darkside ending is quite tragic. You murder your friend Rosh whom you feel betrayed you, and go on to Korriban. You kill all the Jedi and Cultists that get in your way, and defeat and kill Tavion. Then you fight and defeat Kyle, and get the ancient Sith staff (which has huge power in it). Jaden leaves and commenders a Star Destroyer in orbit. Kyle vows to go after Jaden and try to bring him back. Jaden has the staff and unimaginable power, but the young Jedi is now totally alone.































End spoilers.

 

KansasNavy wrote:
Will Bastion be covered in Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds?

I can't comment on the specific contents of the book until WOTC press-releases it, but hopefully they'll start releasing more detailed info as we get closer to the publication date. For my part, the planet I most enjoyed writing was a world that was mentioned in a Star Wars movie but which has never been seen before in any previous source.

masterskywalker, thanks for posting the KOTOR info! But, since I'm still planning to play the game (hopefully when it comes out on PC later this year), I skipped over your whole post while making a "nah nah nah, I'm not listening" noise. I've heard KOTOR has a great story twist! Hopefully I can avoid XBoxer contact until then and remain spoiler free.

Dan

 

I can't comment on the specific contents of the book until WOTC press-releases it, but hopefully they'll start releasing more detailed info as we get closer to the publication date. For my part, the planet I most enjoyed writing was a world that was mentioned in a Star Wars movie but which has never been seen before in any previous source.

Hmmmmm... mystery.

Taanab? (mentioned in ROTJ, barely covered except for maybe an Adventure Journal?)

Besides... it's the home of Wes Janson. Who *wouldn't* have fun writing that?

 

It's not Taanab.

Dan

 

Is Wes Janson from "Taanab" or "Tierfon"???

I always seem to associate Lando with his heroic exploits at Taanab against pirates (RotJ novel; SWAJ; Dan's SW INSIDER piece several years back - still one of my top 3 favorite Dan pieces!).

I always seem to associate Wes Janson with Tierfon - not only for Rebellion activities in the CLASSIC SW ERA, but also for clever squadron names in the NJO ERA (where did I get this, WEG's GG's? X-wing novels? ESS CHRON? SW INSIDER? I have no idea anymore!).

Hmmmmm.

Ana V

 

Ana -- from the CUSWE: "a native of Taanab, Wes Janson joined the Alliance at Tierfon, and quickly showed his abilities as a pilot and sharpshooter."

So... you remember both!

 

Cool. I'd think it was the planet Anni mentioned in TPM, the one with the angels. Also, I'd think it would be tough to chose which planets to go over, because it seems half of the planets are in the O Rim.

 

I really hope KOTOR becomes PC playable.

I'm thinking when games are initially only available for one console, like Starcraft Ghost for Xbox, maybe those companies paid extra for temporary exclusivity.

 

I really hope KOTOR becomes PC playable.

November 15

 

Excellent. The phase one proceeds.

 

Dan, how about Anoat?

"There's not much there."

 

I was thinking that, Genghis... but then I couldn't remember if Bespin was in the Anoat system, or if there wasn't much in the Anoat system and they travelled to Bespin from there...

 

I think we've seen Anoat in Dark Forces though...

 

Champions of the Force, p56

They hung at a hyperspace node on the far end of the Corellian Trade Spine, where all ships bound for Anoat or Bespin or other planets along the line would drop out of hyperspace to recalibrate and set a new course . . .


Dan . . .

I know you weren't involved with the New Essential Guide to Vehicles or Vessels (NEGVV), but seeing as Haden Blackman or Ian Fullwood don't have their own threads here I thought maybe you might know if Haden had a answer to this small question.

On some Literature threads there's been a lot of discussion over why the Bothan Assault Cruiser was omitted as an entry. Seeing how only popular or most used stuff generally have entries, and how the ship was used often in the NJO, we wondered why it was left out.

Just curious!

 

Dan, got a question for you. you're no doubt aware of some of the discussion re Harlan, a character mentioned in the JASB as an example of a jedi character. Well over at the SW.com forums i saw this quote:

?Harlan is a player example given in the Jedi Academy Sourcebook. I don't believe she was intended to be an actual in-universe character.? by TastyTaste

Whats your take on this? It doesn't seem StarWarsish to me to just say it was a character example, surely if its in print and not infinities its canon? Harlan exists and is part of the Jedi Order...

I'm not asking you to contradict Tasty, but if you were approaching the character Harlan, what would be your approach?

 

Not that my opinion matters - but I have the same opinion as Tasty Taste regarding "Harlan." Within the context of the JEDI ACADEMY TRILOGY SOURCEBOOK, "Harlan" is an example of an rpg's "player character" and is used for illustrative purposes for rpgs.

I would hold a different view if "Harlan" were a "non-player character" that a GM can use within the rpg - but that isn't the case with "Harlan."

I've seen "Harlan" listed on several fans' "Jedi Lists" over the years . . . and I've seen the arguments and discussions of Harlan over the years as well . . . however, I do believe that Tasty Taste cuts straight to the chase and gives the most appropriate answer.

My two cents,

Ana V

 

Mr.Wallace, i was wondering if you know if there will be either an updated NJO Sourcebook or a second part that covers the books from Dark Journey until the series ended in The Unifying Force? i assume a man of your talent would be writing it.

Thanks,Mateo.

 

Hi everybody,

Business pressures have kept me away from TFN for the last three months, which incidentally is the longest I've ever gone without reading this site since the days it was hosted at Texas A&M!

Anyway I'm back now...thanks to Eyrezer and Mateo for their patience:

Eyrezer wrote:
?Harlan is a player example given in the Jedi Academy Sourcebook. I don't believe she was intended to be an actual in-universe character.? by TastyTaste

I tend to agree with Tasty if the character is intended solely as a player example. If that character is featured in vignettes then my opinion changes. It's a gray area and I can understand people coming down on the opposite side, but in general I skip over any overtly "how to" sections (either in RPG or video game guidebooks) when mining the EU for source material.

Mateo wrote:
Mr.Wallace, i was wondering if you know if there will be either an updated NJO Sourcebook or a second part that covers the books from Dark Journey until the series ended in The Unifying Force? i assume a man of your talent would be writing it.

I don't know anything about an updated NJO Sourcebook, unfortunately. The next two upcoming WOTC projects I'm involved with (I think both of these have been announced already so I shouldn't be stepping on anybody's toes) are Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds and The Clone Wars Sourcebook.

Thanks!
Dan

 

I tend to agree with Tasty if the character is intended solely as a player example. If that character is featured in vignettes then my opinion changes. It's a gray area and I can understand people coming down on the opposite side, but in general I skip over any overtly "how to" sections (either in RPG or video game guidebooks) when mining the EU for source material.

Well, there are 3 unknown empty slots for the original 12 (2 if you count the Anx). Making one of them Harlan does not affect anything as of yet unless another writes the definitive list. I would say that unless there is any reason to discount Harlan, why do so?

 

In case I hadn't mentioned it, which I don't think I did, ChronoRadio has done an interview with Daniel Wallace in recent months. You can find it here:

http://www.starwarsfanworks.com/chronoradio.html

 

Dan:

Can you give us any hints about which worlds are in Geonosis and the Outer Rim?

For example, is Mon Calamari in it?

(Wink twice and nod once if it is but you are not at liberty to say)

 

AdmiralNick wrote:

Can you give us any hints about which worlds are in Geonosis and the Outer Rim?

For example, is Mon Calamari in it?

Ah, wizards.com says the book'll be out in two months so I think it's OK to divulge some details. Yes, Mon Calamari is in it, and in fact it's one of the planets that I wrote. Look for some cool new locations (including this dive site that I think is particularly creepy) and an explanation for why the heck the planet is sometimes called "Dac."

Unfortunately the Cartoon Network series came together too late to include any info on the Mon Calamari Knights, etc., but what's in the book does tie in pretty well to the general themes explored in the cartoon series.

Dan

 

Dan, can you give us any details on the CWSB? Is there a cover or some other details?