Awww you suck! I just snorted coffee up my nose and across my keyboard.

That's all well and good but I bet all that folded paper won't hold up too well in the rain.

Halo 2 was released for the original Xbox. Halo 3 was the first in the series released on the xbox 360.

First of all, Blizzard didn't trail-blaze anything. They took the EQ model and made it better. EQ took the UO model and made it better. (rinse, repeat.)

Secondly, the subscription model has had more influence than most people give it credit for. Virtually every gamer who has played their favorite game is a little sad when that experience ends once they [beat dragon/rescue princess/slay demon/save earth/play perfect song/etc.]. The DLC model in Fallout 3 for example is simply a revamped subscription model but the upside is that you don't have to pay a fee to play your original game. (subscription fees pay for servers, maintenance, etc., not the point) So you don't want to continue the adventure, don't purchase the DLC. But there are a TON of players who DO want to continue and will happily (or begrudgingly) pay to continue their adventure, just like they're used to doing in EQ/WOW/etc., and those players should recognize that DLC is actually a pretty efficient method of buying a game.

Doh! Too late.

The most well done sci-fi drama in recent years (arguably the best drama of last few decades) is Battlestar Galactica. BSG got it right becuase they focused on the character development, writing and realism (accuracy is probably a better term) rather than focusing on the amount of sci-fi content and adding the rest later on. Viewers who would cringe to watch anything science fiction related were quickly absorbed into the show in the same way non-sci-fi readers become absorbed in Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' series -- becuase both creations are GOOD, WELL WRITTEN, WELL EXECUTED DRAMA'S in a science fiction setting. You could forget about the cylons and the prophecies and all the rest because the drama was excellent and not dependant on any special effects or sci-fi knowledge.

If a Star Wars spinoff were to have Larson and Moore (BSG writers) and a few of the associate producers from BSG as well, I could see it doing very well. Of course, all the good writing/production in the world can't overcome bad acting and vice versa, and while many of the actors/actresses in BSG were limited in depth, they were so overshadowed by those like Olmos and McDonnel that it didn't matter much.

What I see happening instead is a show similar in feel to Stargate Universe, which is a decent show, but feels as if it's been edited for TV and toned down so network TV viewers can feel good watching it. Which would be very very sad.

Great review above and I also agree with the violence aspect. It is much more of a FPS with RPG aspects than a true RPG like the first two. I understand the reasons for this, as you can reach into both camps with this type of hybrid, but playing through a second time maxing the difficulty, it reminded me more of Halo on legendary than a RPG.