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"I don't want a government person telling me about religion. I don't want a religious person telling me about government. And I don't want a draft dodger telling me about patriotism" - Jessie Ventura Now THAT is a great quote!

Very good video with a lot of arguments and a timeline of the Hong Kong protests by a guy, whom livelihood depends on Overwatch, and what is happening there, including slaughters. Watch it and think more about it. Same thing was happening in central and eastern europe during the late 80s, when I was in my early teenage years. In some of the countries, there were also lot of people slaughtered. West gave us helping hand during that time, and I think West should do the same now as well. If you allow few shareholders to censor your freedom now, and do not speak up, you will end up in the situation in which my country was between 1948 and 1989. My Granddad was imprisoned because he also tried to express his freedom of speech during that time, because he openly critisized Communist Party. Shortly after being released from prison, he died with not so clear circumstances few months after my Dad was born. Afterwards my whole family was forcefully relocated to another part of the country, they got stripped of all of their possesions, with no monetary reimbursement, and the comming years some of father’s siblings were denied education and job applicatuons. Free speech matters now more, that anytime before. That’s why boycotting Activision Blizzard should matter for all of us as well... Our entertainment should not have bigger value than other poeple lives...

Ck3 details https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/10/19/crusader-kings-3-is-happening-heres-ten-things-we-know-so-far/

China has changed quite a bit in the last couple decades as they've become a major player in the world economy, so it's not like they aren't susceptible to pressure from the West. The fact they haven't driven tanks over Hong Kong protesters already is a pretty clear sign that it isn't the same country as it was during Tiananmen Square. So yeah, it'd be nice to see the NBA and Blizzard stop kowtowing to them and recognize that the money may not be worth the damage their brand may be taking.

No, Mordhiem is how we'll recognize him.

I guess its more about not feeding China government with money, maybe some morals - if you expect any from corporations...

Yeah. Be refreshing to see a goddamn sexual tyrannosaurus running rather than the bunch of slack-jawed fa**** around there.

Run Jesse Run!

The fact that KTchong and I are on the same side of this Tulsi Gabbard thing has me concerned. Maybe I am wrong about her after all.

try and convince us endless foreign wars is bad for america is pointless as Gromnir is only one potential voter, and not even a democrat. lord knows we ain't suggesting gabbard is a russian stooge, but neither did the times in spite o' gabbard claiming she were victimized by that paper. *shrug* sam nunn style democrats is plentiful particular in the 2019 south, so mention american isolationism as a selling point ignores how is simultaneous a negative for more than a few democrats. am not denying gabbard has appeal. all we is saying is she gots some negatives which go a long way in explaining why she doesn't have broader appeal particular 'mongst democrats and we need not conjure up conspiracy theories or media crusades to get to where we is. heck, tell us eight months ago gabbard would be w/i one point o' senators booker and klobuchar and former hud secretary castro and we would tell you to lay off the psychedelics. fact she is even in the conversation is something o' a minor miracle, particular given the ill will she built up with obama loyalists. whatever clinton animosity exists towards gabbard is a mouse fart in the wind compared to the hurricane o' anger she brought 'pon herself with multiple attacks o' obama on freaking fox news. but if we are talking Gromnir, we already noted the assad stuff is for us a genuine "red line." is not just the refusal to condemn assad, but the way she went after obama which bothers us, and as you know, we didn't particular like obama as a President, so ain't as if am being knee-jerk emotional. fact gabbard lambasted obama over the refusal to use "radical islam" label while simultaneous willful ignoring assad behaviours is displaying a fundamental lack o' character which requires some kinda explanation, an explanation she refuses to provide 'cause she invariably deflects when her assad position is addressed. red line. HA! Good Fun!

Update:

They are however confining more than a million Uighurs in 're-edurcation' camps, stealing their children, destroying their culture and harvesting organs for sale off those that cannot be re-educated. China has not fundamentally changed at the top/ leadership wise (population definitely has, but they're also being suppressed more effectively too via 'Social Credit Scores' etc) and they'd happily drive tanks over protesters in any of the big cities westerners haven't heard of, or Beijing which can be sealed off effectively. HK is a special case though, since most of its value to China comes from a western legacy that would be massively reduced in a Tiananmen scenario. Only other city that might get away with similar is Shanghai because it too is a sea port and financial centre with a lot of ingrained foreign presence (Macau which was Portugese is probably just too small and unimportant). One thing is for sure though, gaming boycotts are generally the most embarrassing and ineffective of 'protests', only beaten out by #Kony2012 style twitter slacktivism.

Keyrock are you ok? So, Keyrock are you ok? Are you ok, Keyrock ? Keyrock , are you ok? So, Keyrock are you ok? Are you ok, Keyrock ? Keyrock , are you ok? So, Keyrock are you ok? Are you ok, Keyrock ? You've been hit by You've been hit by A Code Vein screenshot

I am busy trying to finish Chaos Gate finally. I do have to play some Mordheim though...

Biggest news today is that the decade-old stickies in this forum are have been unpinned. I have a strange empty feeling in my heart.

Speaking of, They've rejected Johnsons deal (I think) and voted for an extension. Meanwhile, he has until 11PM London time to send a letter asking for an extension while at the same time being defiant and saying he won't. So, expect more drama yet to come.

is understandable. is why the david duke support makes so many democrats pause. just as ktchong advocating probable ain't enough to discourage gd for reals, his support does add a greasy sheen to gabbard's luster. no doubt will be considered a smear, but the jacobin did an article on gabbard which were comprehensive and scathing. jacobin is kinda lefties version o' the national review in that you got competent writers and the articles is researched, but is serious spin even so. as such is not polar opposite o' breitbart, but is transparent hard left in any event. Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Your Friend do research. in particular check for selves and see what legislation gabbard introduced in Congress as such stuff is easy to track down and says much 'bout who she is political. before rushing to defense o' such legislation, consider how you reacted when it were trump advocating for same stuff. HA! Good Fun!

Is Howard Stern going to be Ventura's running mate?

Melky or Teddy Bear, of course. That way we will recognize you. 👍

PicMan, Polaroid, Zoomer, F12 (F-12?), #Shared, Scope, The Steve.

Absolutely doable. Always remember that official companions are +1 lvl above hirelings which gives them an advantage in the early game. And once you gained some levels it doesn't make that much of a difference anymore that their stats and classes aren't minmaxed. Pallegina can also be a Herald. I mention it because it is considered to be one of the best tank/offtank class combos if you don't like to micro all of your party members all the time. You can stack Exalted Endurance and Ancient Memory. This makes for a great passive healing aura for the whole party. She will have less engagement slots than a Crusader though. Tekehu can't be played as a summoner. His subclass "Stormspeaker" loses all summoning invocations. However... he gains Avenging Storm at PL 8. If you are open for unusual suggestions: try him it with Hand Mortar (Blinding Smoke) + Fire in the Hole (Chain Shot) and Sure-Handed Ila (maybe combines with Mith Fyr if you can manage to neatly overlap both with lots of INT). It's absolutely devastating. Mostly because Blinding Smoke - although not doing damage by itself - triggers Avenging Storm. And you will proc a lot of Blinding Smoke rolls. Especially if you use Killers Froze Stiff (crit conversion) and Ben Fidel's Neck (-10 to all defenses). Guns + spells is a great combo anyway since you can always skip reload and cast a spell immediately. Deltro's Cage will improve his shocking invocations just fine (including Avenging Storm). Of course this nice combo comes late so you have to make sure to find some fun while getting there. But since he has some great offensive invocations that shouldn't be hard. Corpse Eater is a bit underbalanced because of that +1 Rage cost (which doubles the cost for his go-to ability Frenzy and also the PL9-shouts which otherwise would be extremely cost-effective). But in encounters with kith and wilders it's good. I think even with 2 Rage Driving Roar is still plenty good if you combine it with Blood Surge and Blood Thirst and of course the +2 Power Level from forbidden flesh pie and such. Afaik the Corpse-Eater-only bonus to Power Level stacks with universal Power-Level buffs. You could also play a Monk/Corpse Eater by the way. For example Forbidden Fist/Corpse Eater. That way you can attack with wound-driven abilities but use the Rage for Frenzy and then the nice passives of the Corpse Eater. You can use a Morning Star (apologies - I suggest that a lot) - it works very well with Barbarians (Brute Force) and also Monk. Monk has Force of Anguish which targets Fortitude. Morning Stars lowers Fortitude by 25 points. Monks can also weaken with Envervating BLows - Forbidden Fist can enfeeble with his base ability. Lowers fortitude by another 10 points. And finally the Barb can use Spirit Frenzy to stagger opponents on hit, lowering Fortitude by another 10. Your opponents will have -45 fortitude and then you can use Force of Anguish to target that. Combine with Swift Flurry (and later Heartbeat Drumming) to generate a lot of additional attack rolls. Once you get Brute Force you can do that with all attack abilites. The Willbreaker is an awesome weapon in general. Also Force of Anguish + Carnage have that werid synergy where the target gets hit by FoA first and then again by Carnage (because the victim gets pushed into the Carnage AoE). This actually raises the dps of Force of Anguish quite a bit.

On my first play through of PoE1 I jumped down the pit... that was a mistake and nearly killed my progress. The xirups there were so hard compared to my party at the time I almost gave up and started again.

😂 Sorry Bruce, not aimed at you. Some day we'll all miss the antics of the British Commons. I already posted a scene from "Yes Prime Minister" at some earlier point, not going to repeat it. Weird to think I left the UK because of the referendum result and now, 3 years later they are still arguing instead of just grabbing some handkerchiefs to slap each others faces with and duel it out.

The Xbox controller is so ubiquitous these days that the alternatives are basically cheaper knock-offs of it, or more expensive, sexed-up glowy RGB knock-offs of it. If you want to deviate from that, you could look into using a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, which works out of the box with Steam but a few hoops need jumping to use it more generally. There are also some reported issues with the contacts wearing out relatively fast on some Switch controllers, so you may want to look up the "drift" problem that's sometimes reported. 8bitdo retro controllers are popular and well-regarded but none really have the shape you're after.

Good thing those releases back then weren't exclusive 😛

I suspect it will get to GOG as it is a good fit and isn't MP/ steamworks etc, but yeah, minimum of a year even without any EGS exclusivity. IIRC the shortest time from general release to GOG release was Mafia 3, which took just over a year.

The vacation is now a staycation. That Tropical Storm is going to drag a lot of rain in behind it. Might go camp at my place upstate.

HA! Good Fun!

I have a theory that the culture change is because of the internet. There is no trusted arbiter of truth any more with the diminishing role of traditional media. So, clickbait and fake news, as in factually fake news designed for clicks and emotional appeal, wins out. You know, It's the echo chamber thing, and the fact that people have become used to being abrasive to each other because communication is impersonal. So, attacking the media works. All you have to do is 'win' doesn't matter if you are correct.

the problem is misidentifying trump problems. calls for reduced immigration were, for decades, a democrat talking point. push for a reduced fed government is as old as federalists and anti-federalists in US politics. stronger military and even climate change (or at least degree o' response required) is the kinda stuff 'pon which Presidents may differ. etc. so what? fact democrats were ardent anti-immigration for so long didn't make 'em corrupt or evil. the trump problem, beyond the narcissism which drives all his behaviours, is not what he wanted but how he chose to go 'bout achieving. want a border wall were stoopid, but were ultimate only a minor issue until trump declares a fraudulent national emergency to do an end-around on Congress. similar, to attempt an end o' US middle-east military involvement is not vile and many would be in favor o' such. however, trump's cowardly betrayal o' the kurds and his flailing to find solutions to obvious miscalculation regarding his withdrawal o' troops is beyond our expectations and enraged parties on both sides o' the aisle in addition to our allies abroad. etc. starting point for positing a potential overcorrection is the issue. misidentify policy positions as being starting point for overcorrection is myopic and ignorant. the US system o' government, for all its flaws, largely self-corrects, trump is an exception 'cause he ignores rule o' law and spits 'pon the Constitution. overcorrect such flaws is taking a bit o' imagination and reveals initial complaint as ridiculous. the danger is not overcorrection. real danger is that trump actions is new norm. for example, suppose a new President comes into office and believes they can end second amendment via an executive order. this is not an overcorrection o' a genuine problem. if the new President were to lobby Congress to make changes to gun laws and enacted rules for atf which didn't direct affect existing fed legislation, then gun control advocacy by a new administration would not be an actual problem, though would likely be ineffectual. takes a great deal o' effort and debate in committee to get new legislation on divisive issues passed by Congress. our (smallish) fear for the next administration, regardless o' who is in the wh, will be that we see a continuation o' the norms started or advanced by trump. pettiness. divisiveness. extra-legal. unconstitutional. the last two Presidents has changed the culture in washington, and not for the better. trump, and to a lesser degree obama, attacked media and undermined seperation o' powers. just as with trump, democrat senators under obama were willing to turn a blind eye to excesses and frequent enabled a chief executive who were unwilling to play fair. Shocked by Trump aggression against reporters and sources? The blueprint was drawn by Obama. Reid, Democrats trigger ‘nuclear’ option; eliminate most filibusters on nominees sure, the scale o' what trump has done is orders o' magnitude worse than were obama, but is arguable it were obama who flipped the lid on pandora's box. regardless, am thinking what is most important is electing a chief executive who dedicates self to changing the culture o' the chief executive. impeachment won't fix underlying problems. am marginal less cynical 'bout the democrat candidates than is gd, but not by much. HA! Good Fun!

These combos have many special interactions and are easy to roleplay - one is close to the nature (draws his power from it), one to the gods (draws his power from them) and one to the real world (draws his power from himself). They are also representative of some of the most important traits of the Deadfire Archipelago. For the third option I think Soul Blade/Blood Mage is a more interesting combo.

I like the use of the word 'petty' in one sentence, and then the example of the word in the next sentence. That was well constructed, poster.

I already said that ranged characters have an advantage when enemies stand seperate but melee do if enemies atand near together. Also with Rapid Shots you simply trade attack speed for accuracy. It's a modal that you can't just leave on if you wish to be effective since it depends on the enemy which is better (ACC or less recovery time). Thus it doesn't alter dps and therefore focus gain a lot on average. For example it's a pretty inefficient modal in the early game. Simply awful to use -15 ACC right from the beginning (dpends on the difficulty settongs though). You also need a ton of cash to buy the bow. If you compare dual fists (works right away with no money or resources) with Hunting Bow + modal (actual ingame values at 10 DEX): Hunting Bow: 0.9 sec attack speed + 4 sec recovery with modal: 0.9 sec attack speed, 2 sec recovery, -15 ACC (generally roughly estimated as -30% dmg loss on average) dps with modal: base dmg of 19 * 0.7 modal / 2.9 --> dps of 4.58. If we totally ignore the ACC then 6.55 dps without modal: 19 / 4.9 --> dps of 3.88 Fists: 0.5 sec attack speed, 1.9 sec recovery base dmg of 16.5 * 1.2 Turning Wheel / 1.9--> dps of 10.24 base dmg of 16.5 / 2.1 (no Two Weapon Style, no Turning Wheel - right from the beginning) --> dps of 7.85 If the melee guy wears the most heavy armor (+50% recovery penalty) with no pet you will end up at the same dps (roughly). Then factor in that you can't use a lot of melee abilites of the monk. And that -15 ACC is a bad thing for Stunning Surge (the only attack ability that you can use with a hunting bow), too. So clearly a melee Transcendant can potentially do more dps and gain focus faster than a hunting bow Transcendant. Essence Interrupter has great features, no doubt. Especially since you can get it as exceptional item with a lash so early in the game (if you have the cash). But while your setup def. works well and ranged monks in general can be great - it just doesn't justify to say "melee ciphers or transcendants don't work, go ranged" when somebody asks for a melee Transcendant. They totally work. And then the problem with the Essence Interrupter destroying loot - which I informed you about several times in the past.

Jesus ****, is every single goddamn thing SJW now? Having women in your game that are combat capable, SJW. A playstyle that involves killing slavers, SJW. A plot that is in any way challenges or subverts the current system, SJW. Just pull the political **** out of your mouth and play a ****ing game for gods sake.

This is causing some real internal dilemmas. While I am super excited to check all this stuff out, another part of me thinks that I already know too much about how the game is going to play. I think the character creation, stats and perks are something I would like to experience first hand once the game is out. I much prefer the "Ooh, I can get this perk now" on my first run, rather than "I need to buff these stats so that I can get this perk later on."

I love the concept of this skill, but it's not terribly useful in it's current form. For those who haven't used it, the Conjure Familiar skill summons one of eight creatures, each with a different passive, for ~90 seconds. (Ex. The tiny beetle gives a +1 bonus to AR, the baby wurm a +3 bonus to fire DR, etc. The tiny imp gives a +1 bonus to intellect and has an infinitely reusable skill that removes enemy empower, but it died before it ever hit the enemy, so I've no clue how effective it actually is.) My main concern is the randomness involved. +3 Fire DR sounds nice, but you only have a 12.5% chance of getting it (assuming an equal chance of receiving each familiar.) The spell requires a resource point to cast, which could be spent on a more reliable spell. The summons also compete with Chanter summons (and I assume Druid and other Wizard summons), rendering the poor familiars almost worthless. The little guys need some love. Ideally, I'd like the ability to choose a specific familiar in character creation, similar to choosing a Ranger's pet. The passives would probably need to be reworked, as a consistent +1 intellect bonus and a unique skill would likely overshadow the other options. Also, I don't know if the system would allow multiple groups of summons tied to one character, but it be a nice change to have Mr. Whiskerbottom and an army of undead at the same time. Even then, Mr. Whiskerbottom still might not compete with an extra Chill Fog or Slicken. If I might dream a little bigger, adding some extra utility to some would help justify the resources spent. Divinity: OS 2 also has Summon Familiar skill, which can swap places with it's caster à la Dimensional Shift. Another option would be to add a unique, once per encounter spell for each familiar. (Giving the baby wurm Fan of Flames, for example.) Not a small addition, but at the moment familiars are completely outclassed by the pet slot, which gives a party wide buff and is available to all player characters. TL;DR - Conjure Familiar is a flavorful skill, but an ineffective one thanks to RNG and resource cost. Love the kitty. Buff the kitty.

Jesse Ventura is going to be Vermin Supreme's running mate.

Meanwhile, in the UK....