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Josh's comment:

Will see what I can do. Scythe is a good idea. Here are some new icons for the Paladin's passives (look at the bottom):

Someone call a priest.

Have to fill out some creepy motivational survey at work, puzzled why they frame "I do this for the money" as a bad thing in the results.

Back from Sicily, did some rework on the existing icons (no additional ones yet except a few of the PL-0 abilites). I rearranged them all and sorted them by class:

I'm going to be the first and only person to post about thanking whoever fixed the auto log-in feature.

Every boob is different. This forum is proof of that.

Chifting Croma concept (Hellstone prism icon as reference) "The colors within the helstone shift, applying random defensive bonus at the beginning of combat."

I can't see how crowdfunding with Microsoft as owner is any different from crowdfunding with Obsidian as owner.

Because if you do it for the money, you can't be fooled into a false "we're a family" culture where you'll do things like stay late for no extra pay because you "care".

I'm working from home this week to keep an eye on Bela. This morning I was sitting on the back porch enjoying the cool morning and hot coffee and got to see Bela & Sunny playing a little bit. They were chasing each other through the tall grass (that I REALLY need to mow) by the treeline. I must of had something in my eyes watching that. She seemed happy. Sunny, well, she is always happy.

I get a chuckle from the mental image of GRRM staring at a blank screen with the heading "Winds of Winter Chapter One" for eight years saying "Oh my God, oh my God" over and over again... 8 year writers block!

Here's my final thoughts on this episode: If there isn't more, they built up a villain to be Thanos but then he turned out to be Snoke. If this doesn't have a different payoff later, this show literally sucks retroactively. Because this was the greater myth arc. It was about how the Iron Throne doesn't matter. We can't go back to giving a hoot about a pointy chair.

I agree about shooting CRPGs, I enjoy the medieval and colonial settings much better - there is just something satisfying about CRPG combat with magic and magic weapons that make it so much more fun - I tried playing Wasteland 2 but couldn't get into it ... POE3 is a must - and if Microsoft wants to win they need solid RPG games exclusive to their console right!? In the grander scheme of classic RPGs series - not everyone needs to be the best game ever - so it seems silly for Obsidian to abandon POE3 just yet, especially with all the positive reviews it got ...

So I guess

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Finished the game today and had an ace time. Just wanted to share this moment from a few hours earlier as I was cleaning up the Deadfire at level 20. I hated Fampyrs. This fight with a whole bunch of them had me reloading more than once and I nearly reloaded this one. But I figured I'd let it play out: Despite being turned into a pig, having quaffed all his potions and having been knocked out once already the big lad pulled through. It's moments like this that make the knock-out / encounter recovery system really shine.

I am still waiting for a cup of coffee, so go easy if I miss the obvious... my question to the community: "What calculations do you wish were on your character screen (inventory or character)?" I wish we had: Chance-to-Crit (I feel like I have all sorts of stacking +% chance to crit, but I never really know how effective this is, unless I take the time to literally breakout a spreadsheet and hope Thelee or MaxQuest gave me the right math in an old thread. I would really like one place that shows +% chance to crit on melee and spells... I know it won't cover everything perfectly, but it would be helpful) Chance-to-Parry (Again, it would be great to know how hard a character is to hit, even if it is a fair estimate) Chance-to-Resist Melee (maybe we don't need these...) Chance-to-ReflectSpell (we could combine Reflect/Resist into one category, but it would be helpful) Chance-to-Resist Spell (see above) Chance-to-Resist All (like Uncanny Luck skill... I can't recall if anything else is like this in game- maybe the least important) Resistance to (Fire, Ice, Poison, etc. - e.g, Paladins are immune to Poison with Righteous Soul skill, is that an automatic 100% resistance to Poison?) Category Resistance Ratings: (e,g,, Dexterity Afflictions = Weakness, Resolve Afflictions = Normal, etc.) Category Resistance Bonuses: (e.g., Paladins receive +20 Defenses to Resolve, Might, and Dex afflictions) By the time I reach mid-game, between stacking items and skills, I find it hard to tell what is impactful or what has lame diminishing returns. Ok, so if this information is sitting somewhere on my character sheet already, I apologize and blame it on a lack of caffeine. However, I swear I find myself asking these questions every time I play. Cheers!

"You, as a backer, give money and receive the game as reward" That's incorrect. What you describe is a pre-order. As a backer, you offer money for the project, which the party organizing the crowdfunding has presented to you. Sure, ideally, you want to see the pitched project become reality and receive the final product - most common motivation for backers is to get their hands on said product. However, being a backer doesn't guarantee that you will get that product, or that it will be in the form that was originally pitched. Depending on the project you might get your money back, you might get some kind of product, you might forget that the project exists, until someone reminds you of it (cough, Mandate, cough). Does Microsoft need money to be able to fund PoE3? No. If Microsoft doesn't care to produce PoE3, even though they can afford it, do I trust them that they will care, if consumers pour their money into the game even before the project was created? No. Do I trust Microsoft to keep creative integrity of the project, and put player experience first, before making business decisions, like adding undesirable features, limiting platform on which game will be released, or taking resources away from the niche title if it suits them? No. Microsoft is Obsidian's owner and publisher. Their job is to fund and advertise games and profit from their sales. They bought Obsidian, most likely have a power to dictate (or choose not dictate) what Obsidian, can/will do, decide what platforms they will release on, and how their business model will look like, and the OP suggests that consumers should take the responsibility of funding a game for them? Now, I do hope that the Obsidian's aquisition happened with mutual understanding and that games Obsidian wants to make are games Microsoft wants them to make. I do wish for PoE3 to have place someplace in that understanding. But Obsidian's position has changed, because it is not Obsidian who is calling shots anymore - or in the best case scenario, has a boss which allows them to do as they please, but still has power to change their course if they wish to do so. Trusting folks at Obsidian is just a part of potential crowdfunding - you have to trust Microsoft as well. Would you crowdfund Disney to produce a movie you like? Or EA? By crowdfunding you don't get rights to the title, nor have real influence on its direction. All you can do is hope that the party you gave your money to will held up its end of the bargain, and that they will be interested in listening to your feedback. And it will be a sad day, indeed, if publishers will start extorting money from consumers, even before the production of the game started. Didn't that happen with Shenmue III already? "Give us money so Sony will be kind to allow me to work on a game for them?" We will see how this one will turn out.

If someone told me that film/trailer sat in a vault unreleased for 12 years and was dusted off because one of its producers fell in hard times or whatever, I wouldn't be surprised. Between Jim Carrey's shtick, "Gangsta's Paradise", an approach to the source material that recalls the baffling made-by-an-out-of-touch-comittee feeling of films like Dragon Ball Evolution and The Last Airbender, the woeful CGI and, well, even the choice of source material, this literally feels like a contemporary to these in all the worst ways. But I guess I'm happy Jim Carrey still gets some work nowadays.

I wasn't around for the early days so bear with me, but wasn't the motivation for crowdfunding the idea that Obsidian didn't have the capital to create PoE on their own? Microsoft has the capital. That's the difference.

Thanks, guys. But this is just a concept. And i assume you approve it. Good start.

A bit more I missed, Bolton also claims that the same Maduro aides knew about the revolt. While sympathisers or even insiders are possible, it seems like it'd be a massive leak if some Maduro aides got wind of it, so, I'm calling BS on that because those aides would have to be doing it secretly and just mentioning that there are aides who got wind of it could possibly blow their cover. tl;dr: If there are insiders, it'd make zero sense for Bolton to blow their cover.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/441237-sanders-suggests-disney-should-use-avengers-profits-to-pay-all-of-its-workers Dear Bernie, Look we love you but that s--t ain't happening! We became a multi billion dollar company by charging top dollar for stuff made on the cheap. for You need to go after the "evil" corporations that don't donate millions to Democrats. Yours Truly, Bob Iger LOL, you have to hand it to Bernie. The guy has no clue about economics but at least he is buying his own screed.

I think, i can do it.

Maybe because they can't believe you do what you do for what they are paying you!

The series is completed. It'll be three weeks until the last episode is out and if you manage to binge every season before then congratulations.

Sec. of State even coined a name for it, 'Operacion Libertad' The Guardian liveblog link if anybody wants it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2019/apr/30/venezuela-opposition-leader-juan-guaido-claims-coup-underway-live-news

You know what would have made this better? If they (the good guys) lost the battle and a handful of survivors were forced into a retreat down the neck with the dead in pursuit. As a last act before retreating Jon & Rhegal burn Winterfell and as many of the corpses as possible. It makes tactical sense to do that but also symbolic. By burning his past he closes the arc of Jon Snow and becomes Aegon Targaryen, sixth of his name. He leads the survivors down to the Trident and rally the remaining people of the south to the Ruby Ford and makes the "last stand" there. They win the battle where his father lost and the story and plot failing action proceeds from there. That would have made the iron throne irrelevant and the Night King a much bigger threat and paid off every loose end in the whole story. Oh well.

My new Stygian priestess: Starting work on a new house: It's going to take a while to build, but it will make for a pretty decent place to live and store all my stuff until I'm ready to start building my castle.

Constant and Rapid Recovery: good Confident Aim: small hand is trying to flatwise hit the arrows) The concept is good though Sneak Attack: am neutral on this. First thought was of a tailor adjusting someones unfinished dressing (this someone is out of icon). But on a second sight it's ok. Transcendent Suffering: fitting) Wounds and Lesser Wounds: had a good chuckle here) Do like them) Crucible of Suffering: took a long time to notice the face; otherwise it's fine Soul Mirror, Parting Sorrow, Empowered Strikes, Imagined Pain, Unrelenting/Unbreakable: are suggestive and good enough imo Will also note again that I love the new Persistent Distraction and Wall of Flashing Steel As for icons I like least.. there are not so many: Enervating Blows (kinda unsettling), Riposte (still a violin for me), Deathblows (something is off.. maybe the axe behind the executioner; maybe the executioner icon itself... how about some death scythe strike instead?).

The HP bloat indeed is a strong one here. It downright kills a solid segment of character builds / party compositions that can't sustain for that long. Meanwhile majority of non-megaboss fights can be ended in under 1 minute. So there is some sort of dissonance in what direction to optimize. Could be. Also here's some extra info on Dorudugan. Yes he has 16825 HP on PotD. But his base stats are: "BaseDeflection": 5, "BaseFortitude": -20, "BaseReflexes": -45, "BaseWill": -25, "MeleeAccuracyBonus": 35, "RangedAccuracyBonus": 25, "MaxHealth": 2000, "HealthPerLevel": 142 He just happens to be of lvl 30 with 34 CON Indeed. Immunities used wisely can be awesome. And by that I mean, that they can help with tactics variety. If a player would come up with a single very strong strategy and was applying it 1:1 in every single encounter... it would become repetitive and boring. But if there are 4 hard cc's (stun, paralyze, dominate, terrify), and one enemy type is immune to a subset of 2-3 of these, another enemy type to another, the player would have to adapt. Plus there is an additional layer of thinking involved: how much do I want to askew my party to have these disables in it's arsenal, or those ones. Meanwhile an enemy is immune to everything it's boring. If it's a boss, I'd rather see him being immune to no more than 75% of existing hard disables. And if designer is afraid that there is a possibility of hard-locking this boss, just design some sort of time windows when he is susceptible/not; or some abilities/obelisks/minions that would provide the boss with necessary inspirations.

According to Martin there isn't. He stated as much in an interview. So what we saw last night I think will differ extremely much from the books. If there ever will be any more books that is.

We have several thresholds in Deadfire. Maybe the meaning ofthe word "threshold" is not clear? Currently there are: Wounds (Monk) Penetration Focus Unharmed/Healthy/Bloodied/Near Death Injuries/Death and certainly more mechanics that use thresholds one way or the other. Gaining additional attacks with a dagger if your attack speed + recovery fall under a certain value (e.g. 2 seconds while one turn is supposed to simulate 4 seconds) is reasonable and would make a lot of sense in order to balance the weapons and armor setups with each other. If this isn't granular enough you can always allow more actions per round in general. If you can for example cast one 9-sec-spell in one turn you should be able to strike thrice with a 3-sec-weapon, shouldn't you? I wonder why they didn't use "action points" per turn to determine the number of actions a character can perform (ability use, moving etc.). Costs of actions could have been derived from action speed/recovery just nicely I think?

Let's see what we can do after the passives are finished. My problem is that I can/only want to do rel. simple B/W icons. Just because photoshopping with tons of gradients and stuff takes too much time. But those item abilities would be in the same bar as all the other actives and thus should have a similar style (in other words: not the one I currently use for the passives). Maybe just tinting or slightly modifying the current icons would be an option (that doesn't require a ton of drawing)? @Wildstrike: the icons themselves are fine, but now they look out of place because they work with colors, gradients and shadows while the other passives are all black and white silhouettes. I would prefer to give the Wildstrike abilities different backgrounds (green for corrode, yellow for fire and so on) but also stick to b/w icons for the claw symbol - with a bit of stylized flames, drips etc.

Besides the "basic" abilities that all had their own icons (which didn't fit the style of the other passives though) I also redid Unbreakable and Unrelenting since those also had their own "flashy" icon which looked out of place now. Will have to do the same with Wildstrike I guess? Any feedback on the icons above (e.g. the simpler B/W versions of Constant Recovery, Sneak Attack and so on)?

You're right, it's an extremely odd choice to not use one of the two designated Prince(ss) That Was Promised. That's going back to subverting our expectations in a bad way. On the other hand, the show never made much use of the prophecy outside of a few pieces of dialogue with Melisandre, Stannis and Jon. I also spent the first 45 minutes raging at the screen. I'm far from a tactical genius and otherwise pretty bad in strategy games but even I know that's not the way to deal with defending a castle.

Ironman is less than two weeks aways, and I'm stressing out about tapering. I was out of town this last weekend and didn't get in any long training sessions. I feel like my fitness level is pretty solid, but I'm still worried about the long ride and managing my nutrition. I'd done a bunch of 3-4 hour training sessions, but I'm worried that isn't enough. Most plans call for backing off at this point so the body is rested, but I'd really like to try and put in 5 hours on the bike this weekend. That way I can practice nutrition and get a feel for how being on the bike that long will be. Maybe it is a bad choice, I'm not sure. I also want to get in a two hour run this week, hopefully at race pace, and I need to try and eat during it as well. Basically I'm worried more about food than the exercise.

Meet Isabella, or just Bela for short. She came to live with me today. She belonged to one of the guys in the VFW. Sadly he passed away last week. His only family is a daughter in St. Louis who can't take her. Her options were few... they were going to put her in a shelter. I couldn't let that happen. I know Bela and she knows Sunny and me so I offered to let he live out her days with us. She is 12 years old. John had her from 8 weeks, literally her whole life. I'm trying to keep her engaged and trying to make her feel comfortable. She is stressed at the transition and I think sad because she doesn't know where John is. He adored her. So right now she is getting lot of love and attention and hopefully she will adapt smoothly.

Groans...

The updated site looks fine, but it's super irritating having to log in again every single ****ing time I visit the site again. Can this get fixed so that we can stay signed in for a while, or, better yet, permanently? Also, how do I edit my sig so that I can get rid of that GARGANTUAN line break?

Everyone talking about RPGs and action games 'n stuff, and I'm just here hyped to the brim for Planet Zoo. I feel like my gaming tastes have diverged from the forum population.

Depends: They are pretty handy for ranged casters who only want to use a ranged weapon occasionally but at the same time don't want to get toasted by ranged enemies and thus want more deflection. You'll get higher attack speed and recovery (also good to be able to react more quickly) and higher defelction and reflex. They count as melee weapons and thus unlock tha usage of some melee-only abilites like Clear Out, Hunter's Claw, Whirling Strikes and so on with ranged weapons in the main had. Example Clear Out + Hand Mortar or Blunderbuss + Hunter's Claw (+8 ACC per shot due to 4 pellets). This also works with any other melee weapon instead of a bashing shield, but since those abilites don't use the offhand anyway you can as well go for the added deflection & reflex. But generally I agree.