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Sure, if it's a binary choice between either design, I'll go for the skill threshold too. But I'd instead prefer a system that lets the player deal with the consequences of actions that carry a degree of uncertainty. So instead of psychically turning the entire village permanently hostile ‑locking you out of content‑ on a failed pickpocket roll, a system that expands on the way DOS2 does it where the guards are called and then they try to arrest you, would be preferable. A failed pickpocket roll becomes content rather than a not-so-subtle encouragement to quick load. At the end of the day it's a question of resources, and personally I'd much rather have said resources allocated to developing interesting systems and mechanics than all the bells and whistles that are more easily marketable but don't add much play to a game.

We still haven't bothered with the last 2 or 3 episodes and re-cancelled our sub a few weeks back. Still have access for another month because of them giving it away but not sure if we'll even bother after reading what happens.

Take care of yourself Azdeus!

A bit tired of complex games at the moment so I decided to revisit the 90s and see if I could beat my teenage self. (All the scores are recent - from playing a 10-15 hours within the past few days, but old me topped out at around 21m) Turns out knowing the rules instead of just playing randomly helps...

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/410 Basically whenever you increase a disposition, an opposing disposition will now decrease. (No more Stoic 4 / Passionate 4 scenarios 😁) <--->  <--->  <--->  <--->  <---> 

Here's hoping she recovers.

Bit of language in both.

Only the finest and most disciplined and upstanding soldiers are in my squad: I mean, she's not wrong. 🤔

glad to hear there'll be a good RLM episode out of it

It works exactly like I said. "$type": "Game.GameData.GenericAbilityGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald", "ID": "28839804-73ba-40b6-9a12-68f11b43afc8", "Components": [ { "$type": "Game.GameData.GenericAbilityComponent, Assembly-CSharp", "StatusEffectsIDs": [ "5abb65f8-24c0-4c4f-af5a-143e31280398" ], "$type": "Game.GameData.StatusEffectGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald_SE_Display", "ID": "5abb65f8-24c0-4c4f-af5a-143e31280398", "Components": [ { "$type": "Game.GameData.StatusEffectComponent, Assembly-CSharp", "StatusEffectsValueIDs": [ "014a1369-a685-46f1-b632-873207445b7f", "e01f33d4-a091-4c30-9d05-7466eded02eb", "c125d9b9-6526-48d2-b961-3b01b8e158d1" ], "$type": "Game.GameData.AfflictionGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald_SE_Smart", "ID": "014a1369-a685-46f1-b632-873207445b7f", "$type": "Game.GameData.AfflictionGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald_SE_Acute", "ID": "e01f33d4-a091-4c30-9d05-7466eded02eb", "$type": "Game.GameData.AfflictionGameData, Assembly-CSharp", "DebugName": "Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald_SE_Brilliant", "ID": "c125d9b9-6526-48d2-b961-3b01b8e158d1", Each of these three Wit_Of_Deaths_Herald_SE_* Inspirations have mutually exclusive conditions, so only one will be applied to the Player. Smart will only be applied if Sassy_LVL1 == 1 Sassy_LVL2 == 0 Sassy_LVL3 == 0 Acute will only be applied of Sassy_LVL1 == 1 Sassy_LVL2 == 1 Sassy_LVL3 == 0 Brilliant will only be applied if Sassy_LVL1 == 1 Sassy_LVL2 == 1 Sassy_LVL3 == 1 You can see the example of Smart here:

I guess Trump didn't lie when he said 'Mexico will pay for the wall'.

Moar PoE I have arrived into The Abbey of the Fallen Moon, and entered Halls of Silence. Exploring the surroundings, I have decided to click on a lever which I noticed on the wall, and The speed how fast that happened took me completely by surprise 😄

So... does that make you Morte?

If I made a game I'd combat it in the sense of not including design that makes people feel forced to use it or overly rely on it. I remember more than one game where I had to save-scum conversations to figure out the labyrinthine logic of how dialogue nodes were connected, and again, I'm fine if in a PnP game I fail a roll because things don't end there, but in a CRPG if I invest in persuasion then I expect it to actually do it's job, especially because failing a roll in an inherently more rigid situation/medium is a much more explicit failure state. Also I'd argue watching the loading screen instead of playing the game isn't what you payed money for, that's what is really beyond pointless. Meanwhile, figuring out how to make your game work well is literally what your job is as a developer, the exact opposite of time wasting.

In Australia, we're a few weeks behind Europe and the U.S. but our trajectory is probably on the same curve as France. One reason why we're so behind is because it was Summer here and many were aussies travel overseas at the time. We're seeing a lot of people come back over the last few weeks and continue to see travellers come back. It was a misconception that the Southern hemisphere was doing better because of the warmer climate, but in reality the virus just didn't get here until later.

I mean, not to put a fine a point on it, but all you're saying is that it doesn't matter to you, when several other players are saying it does. I can say that I like to min-max a lot, and even then it still "weighs on my mind" about good or bad choices, vis a vis my character concept. And from watching more "normal" people play games likes Fallout, a lot of people make these decisions as well (i'll bet the cannibalism F:NV perk is one of the least picked perk). Plus I think it's more philosophical a choice than a gameplay feature. Is it really a "good" choice if people are motivated by material rewards instead of the moral rightness of it? Whether or not good outcomes got rewards or not has the same gameplay pitfalls either way - either it doesn't matter for some people that being bad is bad, or it doesn't matter for some people that being good is good, they just want the extra goodies they get from choosing a dialogue option. It's always bugged me as a fan of role playing games (and role-playing-adjacent games) that "good" choices were frequently much better than "bad" choices, which basically upends the whole moral system entirely - people are bad because they are incentivized to be bad. One of my major disappointments in this in modern gaming is Bioshock, because if you did the math and you always saved the little sisters, the amount of ADAM you give up ended up being quite minor, and you got a lot of extra rewards in the process (in particular some unique plasmids/tonics unobtainable by evil people)--so much for the "moral choice" aspect of it; just be good because you end up richer, not because it's "good" for goodness' sake.

Yeah no, leave it like that I think. I hope there's no priest/paladin order that favors both of them. By the way, is it possible to go into negative disposition score? For example, Benevolent 3 // Cruel -3. That way, you can kick the occasional puppy without needing to build an orphanage right after, because you're a famed orphanage builder and your occasional puppy kicks are pre-emptively excused. Ok, got a bit carried away, but the point is hopefully not needing to "save up opportunities at benevolence" before you commit your cruel act, if you want to avoid the cruel disposition.

It's been long enough you can surf YT all day and find all kinds of Corona parodies. This guy is like the hilariously try-hard goofy dad you wish you had. His altered lyrics are on point tho.

Yeah, I'm not entirely happy about them either... I considered (and am still considering) simply leaving the two alone, but would that just confuse things? Exactly, I hated how picking a single wrong option could cripple your build permanently.

I reject your conclusion there. Sure Spock stated time and time again that Vulcans have no emotions, but even TOS had Amok Time and introduced Pon Farr as a concept that very clearly shows that Vuclans aren't completely free of emotion and that they really need an outlet every now and then. The Motion Picture also further implies that the final and complete emotional purge is a choice and that not every Vulcan can or need completely master (Kolinahr). And while it really is the red-headed step child of the classic movies, The Final Frontier has a Vulcan that chose to retain his emotions. TNG's Sarek was perhaps a soft retcon, but certainly not as egregious as pulling a long lost brother - or adoptive sister - of Spock out of the arse of a writer or two. (Klingons might be a better example, yes? ;)).

I think those games are easier to play then watch. Didn't play Dooms, but they look fun.

You can turn on or off the auto level companions. So if you turn it off you can level them yourself and pick all their stuff. Something you could try since you are new is to periodically switch out companions so you get a taste of all of them. I generally do this to at least complete all their companion quest. You will eventually find a companion that represents all the classes.

Not so much because he has no particular dmg bonuses which would help to overcome DR (the enemy of light weapons) and also already has Alacrity which makes it easier to reach 0 recovery without speed weapons. Summoned weapons are best for a wizard. Concelhaut's Staff early one (enormous base dmg and comes exceptional) and later Spirit Lance (same big base damage, superb and has speed - and the AoE effect). Freezing Rake is a pretty strong spell, too.

Um... this may be a hot take but: with the difficulty settings?

Bwahahahaaaa......I'm finally responsible! That is so me the past few years.

It's 10% every 3 secs and it stacks with itself. The recovery malus is not important if you attack from stealth because attacks from stealth have a 85% reduced recovery. So you can immediately act afterwards and vanish. Usually the Bleeding Cut will kill the enemy while you are hiding. Anotehr trick is to use a Battle Axe in the main hand and something else in the offhand and do a Full Attack. The recovery of the main hand will then get skipped by the Full Attack.

Lately, I think we're all starting to think a little more like Guard Dog regarding the federal government...

Trump is a buffoon. Is he still calling it the "Chinese virus?" I've read some articles re: racism starting here and there (San Francisco). People afraid and wanting to blame something and Asian's noticing an uptick in attitudes on that. It's sad.

Story I saw: https://www.vox.com/2020/3/25/21193803/trump-to-governors-coronavirus-help-ventilators-cuomo

I'm not sure about rational vs. clever, but the others make sense. This will make paladins much more enjoyable to play, not needing to avoid the bad dispositions like the plague.

Might be this. Not exactly saying that he'll withhold aid, but still a pretty petulant thing to say Mommy and Daddy definitely did not pay enough attention to him as a child 😛

I'm looking forward to see if they get worked up over completely different things. I often (but not always, Mike and Jay both liked Cowboys and Aliens and I have no idea how the hell that happened) find myself agreeing with their general points, but not their examples. Last episode of Re:View Rich said that everyone is acting out of character, and that is completely true, but neither of them mentioned how jarring it was to have Troi call Picard out on acting out of character. For me that was the low point of the show.

This is all true. Another couple of issues to remark here: Italy and Spain have been fighting the pandemic at a massive level longer than the US, around March 12 USA had roughly 1500 confirmed cases whilst Italy had 15000. Each active case is an ongoing battle for their health, and the longer one struggles, the likelier the chances of a negative outcome. Many cases in USA are likely newer than the ones in Italy leading to more early cases that could in a week's time result in a greater surge of deaths. USA's also slowly working its way to overwhelming the medical system which will lead both to a surge in coronavirus deaths for what is said above, but also many other casualties most likely as hospitals grow crowded, understaffed and run out of resources. Even if a pandemic has a 3% mortality rate, there will be many other deaths as a cause of the outbreak that aren't accounted for in this statistic. The other issue I don't often see brought up is that the period of recovery for coronavirus can be much, much longer and arduous than the flu for example. I read somewhere, can't recall where now, that the time people struck with the flu with need of a ventilator would stay on it for an average of 2-5 days whereas people with coronavirus might need to be connected for 2-3 *weeks*. If you're suddenly brought in 100 patients to take care of in a single day, that's 100 patients you have to take care of for weeks; and when that influx occurs daily, well...

Trump suggests we stop doing handshakes altogether: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trump-suggests-americans-shouldn-t-221802199.html I'm game I guess. But how can we ever be sure the other fellow isn't armed? Please tell me someone else gets that

Unfortunately you are wrong in this case. Critical damage bonus is an additive damage bonus like the ones from Two Handed Style, MIG over 10, fine/exceptional/super/legendary quality, overpenetration and so on. It has been like that since PoE even. In PoE it was 50% of weapon base damage, in Deadfire it's only 25% (but often gets stacked with overpenetration because crits do 1*5 times PEN for +55% damage then). The only multiplicative damage bonuses (aka "all damage times x%") are lashes of all kind and the 5% per Power Level for all damaging abilities. I could make some tests and screen them for you or post the code - but I think you can also see this when you look up the detailed dmg calculation in the combat log (use shift on the attack roll). If it doesn't contain any maluses (like from underpenetration - they mess up the calculation a bit) you can calculate the displayed dmg mods yourself and see that I'm right.

I would like to not have played XCOM yet and play it for the first time...

Coronavirus Poop Calculator.

I think it's quite tough to balance this game. My original party was so incredibly weak vs what I create now. Choosing the wrong skills and abilities and the wrong party comp can make some fights really difficult. Also the in-game descriptions are so poor (much like in POE1) that a fresh player will not understand what he is choosing. Gearing and balancing the game towards people that breeze through on PotD makes the game incredibly difficult for new players.

Double post, but worth it; Sauce; https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/smittskydd-beredskap/utbrott/aktuella-utbrott/covid-19/aktuellt-epidemiologiskt-lage/ "Confirmed cases from laboratory tests are an indicator to follow the development. The 13'th of March the testing strategies were changed for Covid-19. Initially samples were from people that had spent time in areas with confirmed contagion of COVID-19, but since the 13'th of March testing has been done on people with symptoms for COVID-19 infection that is in need of hospital care, hospital workers and people in elder care." That said, we've been told to stay at home if we get any symptoms resembling covid, and we don't need a doctors certificate to get sickpay up to 3 weeks after first reporting sick - so we've got no reason whatsoever to work if we feel ill, we get 80-90% of our wage if we stay home.

GM was a nice idea but doesn't work gameplay wise. There is a scene where you can ask her for help, if in your party, so she can do the Cypher stuff you may not be able to. Eder then comments how it is unreasonable of you to assume a random woman passing by would be a Cypher. Because the rest of the party are unaware of GM being part of the party. They don't notice her unless circumstances force them to notice her, and then they just see her as a random passer by. Which is very strange in dungeons (for example when you use her in the Skaern temple to clear the trigger from the young noblewoman's mind (what? In the middle of the temple a random villager appears, happens to be a Cypher and walks off again, getting lost in the crowd?)) or deep in the Endless Paths.

@melkathi ad 6. I care, and I enjoy it 😛 well with the exception of Durance. He is not as annoying to me, but from his whole spell pool I am using like 6 maybe 7 spells. Which is bad... Other spellcasters’ spell pools are little bit better balanced, but because it is not vancian type of casting, from in each spell level you Just pick the most powerful and cast them all the time. With Ciphers being the most extreme. As soon as I got access to level 6 spells, I am using 90% of the time one spell which spreads circle of water wave and knocks down all enemies in area. For me the most balanced spell pool is for the mage, followed close by druid spell pools. Unfortunatelly I was not able to find out a lot about chanter spells, so I will not comment on their spell pools. Being said all that, PoE is still one of the best wRPG games, I’ve played in last 10 years. Can’t wait to put my hands on PoE2...

Ok, cool. So... Megabosses next?