Leaderboard

This forum is akin to an "Epub" for me. I like to come in a chit chat and see the perspectives of other posters, especially those outside of NA. Theres also 3-4 posters Im thankful that I will never get stuck in a foxhole with. Always with the "heres 10 new problems for every solution", oof. Sad so sad.

Picked a hell of a time to go into nursing. Started at the hospital right before things got hot and heavy here in the US. I've had to reuse PPE gowns and don't even ask about the masks. I question the county government mandating everyone wear a cloth petri dish over their noses and mouths, but I suppose they figure people will wear them properly *enough* that the benefits will outweigh the risks. I don't trust that, but then again I see healthcare workers wearing masks wrong all the time. My favorite was seeing two CNAs wheeling an iso patient down the hall. One wore the mask properly. One had a mask cover most of his mouth, more or less, but not his nose. The patient didn't have on a mask at all. Yep. That's all kinds of wrong. Even an N95 mask, which are under lock and key at this point, isn't really more effective than nothing unless its worn properly. Anyhow, it's not too bad where I live. Not a huge number of Covid-19 cases. Maybe famous last words, but I've been living on borrowed time for years, so... :shrug: I am worried about my wife, though. I want to thank you also, Keyrock. Keep moving those goods around the country. We'd all be screwed otherwise. Hell, I appreciate the folks at the local restaurants where I can pick up food. My wife has been doing the cooking for the first time in our marriage, and the learning curve has been steep for her.

Your real life friends are watching you write this. We understand. Let them think your real name isn't Gfted1.

Had my last day as a yard jockey/traffic officer/route planner/yard tractor manager/gate guard/surveillance tech, on tuesday I'm starting the lorry driver training on full-time, while working. My replacement (Whom I trained to be a yard jockey less than a year ago) felt it hit home and actually started to get real nervous when I gave her my private number so she can reach me if she needs any help, she's now the senior at that place. And I just now realized that all the current jockeys are kids I actually taught. That's... a very weird though immensly satisfying feeling. At the same time I'm really quite sad, I kind of realize how much I'll miss 'em, same with the one really excellent boss I have. My new bosses are going to be the ones I've written lengthy letters to complaining about all the **** they do wrong/don't do at all - that'll be fun. As an added thing, we've got three birthdays this weekend in that group, so I bought some ice cream cake that we ate, and even with the birthdays, me and one other older jockey that is leaving at the same time, drops the average age by quite a bit. Atleast we were over 30 before, now we've got two people barely over 40, and the rest are 27 and down.

Been stargazing whenever the whether isn't too cold and cloudy. Looking at downtown without the haze has been great as well. If only there was a way to keep things like this when the lockdown is lifted.

My garden is fully sprouted. In fact the strawberries are ahead of schedule. My pear trees are in full bloom and covered in little white flowers. The magnolia trees down by the creek are in full bloom. Today I'll collect some of their leaves. I use a press to extract sap from them and mix with paraffin to make scented candles. The sun is shining, the air is clean and cool. All I hear are birds and squirrels, and the sound of the river in the trees. It's easy to forget that out there, past my now useless newspaper box the world is in terrible shape and people are hurting. Apparently I'm getting a $1200 check this week because it's based on income not assets. I'm donating the entire amount to River of Life in Munford. They are running three food banks in Munford, Covington, and rural Tipton County.

One of the things that I love about this board is that it's like a time machine. I hope people take this as I mean it rather than how it may sound. Nothing really changes that much here. It's like a pocket dimension. The people in these parts are kind of like family, both good and bad. Sure, I feel kind of like the black sheep, but I don't mind. I leave and do other stuff, but I always wonder what's going on here. Eventually, I come back and poke my head in. Apparently, my pedestrian style is *just* distinctive enough to recognize. This is truly one of the tightest knit online communities I've ever seen, and I've been involved with a few. Anyhow, I've always been kind of a loner. Not the cool Fonzie leather jacket wearing kind. More the one who can laugh and joke but is always looking for the exit. This place is perfect. I can come, play in the sandbox for a while, and then go. When I come back, the band of brothers are still here, like Valhalla where all the warriors on every side feast each other with drink and song. Nothing can pull this place apart. Clearly, Covid-19 can't.

I motion to rename Artificial Intelligence to Automated Hindsight

I'm just doing my job, you're right there on the front lines dealing with the ill. I'm the one who should be thanking you, and I am. Thank you. Everyone in the "essential jobs" fields right now is getting put at greater risk, healthcare field especially, but we also have job security, so it's a blessing and a curse.

Hello everyone! I'm Uburian, a long time Pillars (and Obsidian) fan and Lego enthusiast from the basque Country. I'm currently working on my doctorate thesis on art and technology, but because of certain global affecting events which I'm sure you are aware off, i have found myself unable to continue my work properly until the situation improves. Now i have plenty of extra time to burn and nowhere to go, so i have decided to start a Pillars of Eternity (I & II) Lego recreation that focuses on my most significant play-trough of the games, and to share it with those who i know will appreciate it I will also utilize this opportunity to hone my storytelling skills. The main tool i will use for this endeavor is the amazing Lego Digital Studio 2, which not only allows you to create digital Lego sets with a very extensive catalogue of pieces, but that can also render said sets in photo-realistic quality. Now, to start the series, i present to you my recreation of the Caravan Encampment set around the ruins of Cilant Lîs: https://imgur.com/a/2ybg5hO ------------------------------------------------------------------- All stories have a beginning, and yours starts around a tranquil bonfire among the imposing ruins of Cilant Lîs. Drops of sweat fall trough your face while you hold your belly in pain, you shiver. The smell of roasted meat, usually a comforting presence, makes you shrink in your knees. "Touch of the rumbling Rot, could be", Odema says. After listening to the caravan master's counsel, you head into the wilderness alongside Calisca in search of spring berries, in hopes that a tea made from them will be enough to help you survive another day. ------------------------------------------------------------------- PS: Good luck to those who are going trough confinement and social distancing right now. Here in the Basque Country (northern Spain) we have been like this for almost a month now. I hope my stories help you go trough this all. Stay safe, and stay strong

Here you go. In other news, some ****bag put a used paper tissue in my mailbox the other day. Wish I knew who they are, so we could have an enriching and completely civilized exchange of opinions, up close. That's the real Spain you won't see in YT.

Oh no, I've tried but go she thinks this whole concept is really weird. Talking to a bunch of people you don't really know and sharing things with them. She's does, however, spend a lot of time on Instagram. That said, she knows, and when she gets down on herself for not being a good cook it, oddly enough, cheers her up.

am gonna go out on a limb and guess she don't read this board's posts. today we went to costco for neighbors, which reminded us how tomorrow we were gonna be starting our trip to sw desert locations-- week one with a companion and two additional weeks solo. *sigh* signage at costco let us know there were no windex, disinfectant wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. however, there were children's diapers and bottled water. we also noticed the shelves were stocked with plenty o' adult diapers, no doubt an unexpected boon for the hoarders who has been having so much difficulty holding their water. plenty o' rice at reasonable prices. no flour save almond flour. almond flour? have been seeing all kinda compliments on news channels for CA success in flattening their curve, but social distancing behavior were a bit disappointing in costo. positive side were, unlike last week, our 5:45 pm trip did not result in needing deal with an enormous line to gain entry to the store. more positive, davis ranch has plenty o' fresh asparagus, and they got the best asparagus we has found anywhere, evar. davis corn, tomatoes (roma and heirloom) and melons is also some o' the best anywhere, but such stuff is not available so early in the season. davis ranch also has fresh garlic and ginger, so am breathing a sigh o' relief. HA! Good Fun!

https://i.imgur.com/ZIJKeE3.gifv

I've always assume ktchong types this stuff up on an old Microsoft Word document and then blasts it across the internet as a service to mankind or something.

Thank you sir!

This is insulting, and untrue. For one thing the development started in May of 2016, while New Vegas had an 18 month turn around. Secondly a great deal of effort was put into the game, just not precisely in the ways we're necessarily used to seeing from Obsidian since so much of it was directed at releasing a polished relatively bug free experience. There was also clearly a fair amount of effort put into a visceral and enjoyable combat loop. What you're calling rushed and minimal effort is neither. It was, however, made on a budget. The team reconciled the fact that the more content and reactivity they had the more difficult it would be to bug test/fix. The content was likely reduced in the fairly early stages of development, because Obsidian didn't want to release a buggy game and has in the past had a reputation for doing so. We are not privy to contract stipulations from Private Division, but it seems rather like this was a deliberate decision from Obsidian rather than anything forced on them. Have you heard "Fast, Right, Cheap. Pick 2." They chose right and cheap, and made it extremely clear from very early on that this was not a huge game with a AAA budget. Much of Obsidian was working on Deadfire and the DLC for that title for most of The Outer Worlds development. And as has been mentioned, there is confirmation that there will be DLC for The Outer Worlds. This, to me, seems to indicate that Obsidian is taking their time to expand the game with significant and likely well fleshed out content. It wouldn't surprise me if they released a DLC pack with a sizable colony and comparable amount of content to Monarch, though that's certainly just speculation on my part. There hasn't been so much as a teaser trailer and official announcement of the DLC, which is likely a good thing given the hectic nature of things lately. Dates you haven't announced can be delayed without push back from the fans. I didn't make it through a second run through The Outer Worlds, and I made 5 through Deadfire before the first DLC released. There wasn't really a lot I wanted to do differently, I found the third option for most major story beats and felt like I would just be rehashing the same content to the same ends more or less. I just am willing to say that there was clearly effort put into things that not everyone even sees as a plus. Things like not forcing you to execute wave after wave of robots to unlock the ship section by section on the Hope, which it sounds like you might have enjoyed and I'd have enjoyed hacking my way past all of that, so maybe I'd have had some mild amusement out of that as well. Point being, credit where credit is due. I mean, Obsidian owns the IP for a game with millions of fans, an interesting take on a dystopian atmosphere we haven't seen the like of in gaming as far as I know, a modular nature that will allow easy access to any DLC and adding to the lore without too many questions whose answers aren't "Corporate secrecy to avoid sabotage or espionage." I may not have enjoyed this title as much as I had hoped I would, but I'm looking forward to another jaunt in The Outer Worlds.

So I finally bought the game after all these years since it was the cheapest i've ever seen it on GOG recently. Only in the first room and I quite like the character model, i'd only heard bad things about it and when I saw screens of the game it looked a bit naff, but I like how there's some kind of momentum to start running and stopping. Unlike POE where they just stop and start instantly into a run animation. I like how close you can zoom it, I gues they did that since Planescape was a lot more zoomed in than BG and that. I'm not expecting much, I've actually skimmed a lot of the text already since it just throws so much at you straight away. Let's see how I get on with it. What about your thoughts? Nobody seems to mention it much on here.

I've always preferred xbox controllers. They're a little bigger, weight a bit more, the trigger and bumper buttons are wider spaced, and the analog sticks are place right next to one another. To me, they just feel much better. If I have to use a controller, I use my elite. Keyboard and mouse, though, is my favorite control input.

V:tM Coteries of New York is getting a sequel-spansion called Shadows of New York

Deep.

I know this is a bit old, but I’ve been wanting to make a Goldpact Knight/Shifter for my first play through. Any help with stat distribution would be phenomenal! I’m planning to play TB if that helps for context. i was thinking maybe 16/14/7/18/16/7? Again, first play through and this is my first game of the series so I’m pretty fresh to all this except what I’ve read on the forums.

Oh, it's just a silly inside joke, Skazz. ...And now I guess I have to admit that maybe things *do* change around here. You're new, and that's a change on the good side.

I also still need to play the original game but I've never been able to get past the first 15 minutes of the game without losing interest

I read it as Gfted!

He's a human being. Isn't that enough, you monster?

Did you forget to switch accounts? You're not Oby anymore

Yes, like purgatory. Or Hell.

I'm also in the 'liked it' group. The setting was very interesting and I liked the lore and the characters and the story even though I can agree the written material was often pedantic. Yes combat was rare, but for me as someone who hates TB combat that was a HUGE blessing. I LOVED that you can work around almost every single combat encounter, including even the final boss encounter, and feel that's how it ought to be in every cRPG. I think it suffered in people's minds for two main reasons: (1) people's constant nostalgia-goggles comparisons to Ps:T (and why I believe no developer should ever claim their game is a 'successor' of any kind to some beloved old game), and (2) a way-too-small development budget.

Ive posted this forum in the chat of the two pillars discord channels. you may want to post there to there are people there that dont usually come to these forums also. but like what you did with this Project Eternity discord - https://discord.gg/8h5cyj Obsidian official discord - https://discord.gg/obsidian

This is really cool. good work

Sort of implies stupidity is beating corona, but in fact it's aiding it...

it's missing the 3rd panel in which the man thinks "should i tell them about my master's degree in electrical engineering and how there were no jobs that were hiring so it was this on nothing?"

If you want to get all achievements in one PT you'll have to reload an older save before the lock-in. Some faction quests are available at any time and some are available after a certain part in the game. For instance in order to do the Huana one you'll need to have completed Hasongo and received a message from the Queen. You can actually complete the Crookspur quest before that one by going to Ori o Koīki first and get the quest there. You'll still need to talk to the queen to progress further though. The final lock in starts after He Waits in Fire and you have to choose a faction to join. Once you do so all other faction related quests will fail.

I quite liked it (3 playthroughs). Combat encounters were rare, but meaningful and diverse. While there were few option for visual customization of the avatar (only gender and equipment), there were many (9?) combinations of classes and skills. Dialogue option allowed a lot of RP and the alignment system was somehow better than the classic D&D (though, alignment systems in general don't work well in games, telling every NPC you meet your motivation is weird). The only negative aspect I can recall is skill checks in dialogues - if I have 10% to succeed, I will succeed.

Deadfire is an open world game, so is Skyrim: a game where you can go everywhere and won't get restricted in your travels. That means you could end up in a place where enemies are way too powerful for you - or too weak. That's why Skyrim has scaling and Deadfire has, too. Else a majority of the encounters could become unfun. But those problems with difficulty etc. are not my personal problems with open world games. They focus on exploration and that's a fine thing to have in general. But what I don't like is that it's nearly impossible to tell a coherent story/follow a plot in a somewhat cosistent way. I mean unless you stick to the default path through the game. But if you do that: why have an open world in the first place? So... as soon as you leave the trodden path it is inevitable that the main story/plot comes to a halt and you'll have some kind of sideshow. That also means that often players (me as well) get the feeling that the main story isn't really that important. Without the main plit in your head you might get the feeling that you are lost somehow. "Where to go next? Hm... no idea, doesn't really seem to matter that much, does it?" I believe it's incredibly hard for designern and writers to create an open world game experience without sacrificing consistency and urge of your plot. PoE didn't have that kind of open-world approach: you could visit all places only after you unlocked them. E.g. you can only go to Raedric's Castle if you first go to Easternwood - and so on. And on top of that you had three acts that were seperate from one another. Deadfire keeps this only in citites where you have to unlock the districts by traveling to the adjacent ones first. But the world map is free with the only exception that is Ukaizo which is the seperate endgame. This might also be related to the overall quality of the plotline, but Deafire's plot feels a lot less compelling than PoE's (and even that one didn't give you an overwhelming feeling of urge, but was fine with me). I think open world does play a part in this. Skyrim has the same problem, at least for me: what am I supposed to do again? Like: ultimately? I tend to forget... "Look, here I can become a member of the Brotherhood, cool. It's fun to get assignments to stab random people from behind and..." On the other hand pure dungeon crawlers like Eye of the Beholder drop the player into a place (a room or a forst or whatever) and there's only one (or two) way out. You fight your way out of the dungeon (or into it in pursuit of X) and usually there's puzzles and fights and all - but you can't go left and right that much. You are focused on the main goal. Funnily enough those games often have very little story and plot - maybe because they don't need them to create motivation and tension. The setting itself does already provide this. And of course such games are so much easier to balance. Usually fantasy RPGs are somewhat of an interactive story though. So plot, story, motivation - those are important. Else it's more like a combat simulator or a tactics game. See Battle Brothers: open world, focus on tactics/combat and no overarching plot/story, only some "random" goals to achieve and contracts to fulfill. And it works just fine - but it's not a game like Deadfire or Baldur's Gate or Plainscape: Torment or anything like that. So I would argue that the current "open world hype" is bad. An RPG has to be advertized with that or else player are gonna say "Wut? How 2000!" - even if it hurts the overall experience. A somewhat open world is okay - let's say open "stages" of the game world. Like open acts. Too much railroading like in Legend of Grimrock would hurt the replayability I guess - too much open world hurts the story and the feeling of progression. Something in between would be fine. It would be easier to write for, it would be easier to balance (no scaling of encounters needed) and it would be more exiting - especially in the first playthrough. Maybe one could even do a game where the first playthrough is not open world but you would unlock areas like Berath's Blessings and then would have a more open world in additional plythrougs..? Hm... getting interested while I write this...

A tube that did nothing but eat and poop is your oldest ancestor Sounds about right.

Yes, basically the same mechanics. If you are a Bleak Walker you can also get Spirit of Decay and get +1 PEN from Scion of Flame AND +1 PEN from Spirit of Decay for every FoD-execution. THey stack becauser FoD has fire and corrode keywords for Bleak Walkers. Don't know if it's worth the ability point just for FoD though because Druids have some "decay" spells but not really "corrode" spells. Also Ring of Focused Flames will still work when shifted and give your FoD attacks (and also Firebrand attacks should you use it and of course all fire-keyworded spells) +10 accuracy. That's a +10 ACC bonus for the FoD execution. Unfortunately it doesn't apply to auto-attacks or spells that merely get the burning lash from Eternal Devotion. I don't know if Wildstrike Burn is also affected nowadays..? Guess not. Usually a lash is not enough to make the Ring apply its bonus - attacks or weapons have to be keyworded with "fire". But I'm not sure. I saw a video of a Goldpact Knight/Bear Druid and the stacked AR (bear has +2 bonus, Paladin gets some great passives/auras and Gilded Enmity basiocalölöy for free once he has Sworn Rival) with 0 recovery is a great mix of sturdyness and offensive melee power. Totally smart question. Yes: they work when shifted. Corpse Eater/Shifter makes a lot of sense thematically. Blood Thirst + DoT spells like Plague of Insects and Insect Swarm (cast before shifting) is brutal. I would focus on the Corpse Eater's passives and Frenzy and maybe utilize Barbaric Smash as finisher with Bloody Slaughter. You will only regain 2 Rage (will cost 3) but that's better than no Full Attack ability I guess. Furyshaper/Shifter is a more potent choice. Terrifying ward is very powerful... Shifter/Streetfighter is nice, but you have to get flanked to make the most of Streetfighter. It can work but you have to watch out. I consider Trickster the better subclass for Shifter as long as you don't utilize blunderbusses/mortars as a Streetfighter (then it's outright overpowered). Of course Trickster/Shifter is thematically... special... Why do you think I'm still around?

Just checked -- it debuffs an enemy by -10 Resolve in order to grant the Steadfast inspiration, +5 Resolve. Base duration is only 20 seconds though, not long at all. Accuracy vs. Will. 3 second cast time, 3 second recovery. You probably could do a damage build using it but it'd be weird -- you'd have to build up a lot of focus first so you could cast PVS first then whatever else you wanted to cast next. I guess I busted on the recall of the details on Psychovampiric Still getting +5 Resolve isn't bad. At a 15 Intellect your 20 seconds will go to 25 or so which will probably last the fight. The debuff would get them -10 deflection and -30% spell damage which might be useful. Not sure if getting a multiplicative 15% damage boost is worth it, the 30% I thought it was seemed a more viable plan. I agree that you'll be quite limited in what powers you have due to competition for the ability point, for multi-classes it'll be even more competition. Not sure you get around that. Wizards get found Grimoires, Priests are getting their deity favored spells for free (which is needed) not sure about Druids but maybe shapeshifting compensates??? How you would get additional powers to a Cipher I'm not sure, maybe some sort of talisman that you can pick up from defeated Ciphers??? The plan for my melee dominant Cipher multis might be to just concentrate on a few good CC powers that are fast cast or really really good to justify spending six seconds. That and Soul Annihilation.