Leaderboard

Did the Gray Garrison and started the Crusade. Wendaug continues to be better than Lann. She may be a demon worshipping cannibal, but she's actually funny. While I'm more positive now on PoE than you, I can relate. Going in I was very excited, but after several hours I wasn't having nearly a much fun as expected. Several hours later and I was exhausted. Combat was a repetitive war of attrition with grazes, the writing was like eating mounds of dry bread, and he characters just didn't draw me in. I finished out of a desire to see the damn thing done, similar to what our friend @majestic does with certain tv shows, and did not look at it again until Deadfire was announced. I came back to it and found it better, but still nowhere near the expectations I had and not something I feel very much temptation to play. Why don't I enjoy it? I mean it checks all the boxes and it is unquestionably more competently made than the IE games or the Owlcat Pathfinder games....so why doesn't it do it for me? I think the answer is a combination of several factors, both small and huge, but at the end of the day PoE feels like something that just doesn't come together to achieve greatness.

When I played Pillars of Eternity 1, the first 10 hours was pretty much, "Am I enjoying this? I should be enjoying this. There's no reason for me not to be enjoying this. They've fixed a number of the core gameplay issues that plagued the BG games, are making use of the couple of good Planescape gameplay ideas that the BG series lacked while presumably lifting some more from other modern CRPGs, and I still enjoy the Infinity Engine games not named Icewind Dale, so I should enjoy this. Maybe I just need to play more before I start enjoying this." The next 10 hours after that was, "Yeah, so...like, I'm pretty sure I'm still not enjoying this, and I'm starting to feel like I'm not ever going to enjoy this." The final hour that I played was more like "p̷͖̈l̴̨̐e̶̥̽ă̷̭s̴̞͐ë̸̬ ̸̗̆g̵̀͜o̸̼͗d̶̨̿ ̸̱̐m̸͍͆ă̶̟k̶̻̓e̵̤͊ ̷̘̏ī̴̮ť̸̳ ̶̡̋s̸̡̔t̷͔̀ȯ̴̜p̵̬̈́". God must've heard my plea, because I stopped playing and uninstalled the game. I came back to try again sometime later because I thought maybe I just needed some time, but I only made it a few hours, and that was the end of it. I have ideas on a few of the particulars of why I didn't enjoy Pillars of Eternity, but I really think it's the culmination of many different things, both little and large, that are difficult to succinctly explain which eventually ended in me wanting to move my keyboard out of the way so that I could gently faceplant into an eternal coma onto my desk so that I wouldn't have to keep playing this game. Thankfully, since then, I have grown wiser: I don't force myself to play a game for nearly so long that such feelings arise if it's clearly not working for me, .

The Midnight Club by Mike Flanagan, creator of beloved series Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House. I got about fifteen minutes in before it became pretty clear that he made it for a completely different audience and I was not part of that audience. Right, that's crossed off. Wednesday, episode 1. It has that kind of tone where it's kind of a "fake" serious because it's actually very silly. It's thank-god-fully not nearly as teen drama-centric as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was, which is what killed that show for me. Wednesday is the main character and her point of view is basically a no nonsense "I want to run away and/or murder everyone" sort, and that's a pretty simple and relatable approach, especially after having been just sent to boarding school. Though she definitely has at least a little bit of a soft spot somewhere in there too, maybe one that will expand as the show goes on, I'm not sure. That or she'll just kill everyone like she wants to do right now, that's okay with me too. That's obviously not going to happen, though.

No.

You make good points But DIO is English so it makes sense for him to use Hepburn ? One of these days I really have to get around to watching the Violet Evergarden movie. I think this is the thing that gets me, all things considered I should love the PoEs. I don't. I just don't. Frankly I'm frustrated because I should love it but it just doesn't feel right, despite meeting a checklist I'd have for an ideal game. Pathcat Owlfinder games are a ****ing mess. They're unbalanced as hell, buggy as ****, and have some truly cringeworthy writing. But somehow, they have that X factor that keeps me coming back. In ten, twenty years from now, when I am working to death in the freedom camps after calling God-Emperor Peter Thiel the First a useless clown, will I remember much about PoE? Probably not. But will I talk about Daeran's va chewing the scenery like magnificent bastard or the absurdity of Playful Darkness? Probably not, because the Neuralink Slave Controller will shock me when I say more than five words a minute. But somewhere deep down, I will remember such things and have a laugh at them, remembering the fun times I had playing such a ridiculous game that somehow was so much fun. Assuming I didn't die following the resurrected John Brown in a righteous but failed revolt. EDIT: Actually I take that back. I will be eternally butthurt that Deadfire did not have sea monsters. What the actual ****? Who the **** makes an ocean based fantasy game, one where the ****ing cover has the party fighting a pirate and some tentacles, and doesn't have sea monsters. That is probably the biggest missed opportunity imaginable. And instead we get what, sidekicks???? You cut the damn krakens and weird squidmen for some cardboard cutouts and an unfulfilled waifubait? Maybe we would be talking about Deadfire here if we got to shoot some mutated sharks or whatever with the blunderbuss of something or another. I think the problem with trying to tie any one thing to sales is that most people who buy the game don't really play it that much. With Divinity: Original Sin 2, a game that sold wildly enough to convince those coastal wizards to let Larian make BG3: Day of the Tentacle, you only had about half the players make it off the starting island. The same thing applies to both PoEs, most people just quit the game after Act 1 or hitting the major city.

A multiclass Monk can also stack very high defense bonuses against disengagment attacks (Fast Runner + Tumbling and then items) so Nomad's Brigandine isn't strictly mandatory to make this work - however, it gives you 100% reliability while sparing several ability points and item slots. And it also gives good bonus deflection against melee attacks and has high AR - so the best armor for yuch an approach I would say. Btw: as a SC Monk it's also cool in combination with Imagined Pain. Gaining wounds from disengaging AND an Offensive Parry (which works with Swift Flurry and Heartbeat Drumming by the way) ist pretty neat.

Except when the damage is done by a hazard spell (that's Wall spells for a Wizard) - but those don't profit from Assassinate.

Yes, a SC bloodmage can wreak havoc if you steal Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure (with Major Grimoire Imprint and the grimoire switching trick so you can cast it whenever you need it) and cast from stealth. Interestingly debuff spells don't break invisibility, only damage spells, so you can cast ABD, buff up and debuff your enemies, and then launch your nukes. An assassin spell blade can do this too, although they'll need a 7th level spell to do this. Spellblades are also great with the lance, as you can apply nasty rogue attacks to a group that way.

I draw from RTwP experience, but personally I would suggest SC Bloodmage because the PL8 & 9 spells are out of this world in terms of nuking, being both super fun and powerful. If you want to specialize in Meteor Shower, the ultimate arcane orbital strike, you can stack absurd amounts of Power Level (PL) and make those things really hurt. And you can think about devious ways to make your frontline either super resistant (Burn AR is so easy to stack), or straight-up regenerating from Meteor Shower (e.g. Bloodfire from Scorching Cloak and/or High-RES Forbidden Fist regenerating from the DoT hostile effect) if you're worried about friendly fire. But friendly fire shouldn't be a problem at all. Missile Salvo is also super good, it is basically a magical A10 Warthog autocannon hovering over you and letting loose where you want it too. At PL8 the Wall of Many Colors can single handedly end fights with a good placement, and that is hilarious; the Freezing Rake is brutal if well targeted and you can stack Illusion PL on both of those too if you wish for more free power. Finally, as long as you're not playing Upscaled PotD, a few casts of Wilting Wind will instantly end almost every non-Boss encouters. With the Grimoire of Vaporous Wizardy, You get 3 casts of PL8, and 2 casts of PL9 (and 3x Combusting Wounds for jaw-dropping synergy....) before you start playing with Blood Sacrifice. And that is barely scratching the absurd potential of endgame SC Wizard in Deadfire. Second choice I would go Arcane Assassin because of your mod. If you want to search his name on the forum, @Haplok has played a truckload of BM/Assassin turn-based and wrote very insightful posts here and there. My personal caution having soloed a few BM/Assassin is that it can get repetitive. BM/Helwalker is very strong too, of course there's nothing wrong with it and as @crdvis16 commented, it is very versatile, nuking included. You do the basic wizard nuking, but better because Helwalker, and you can potentially go in melee to spam Stunning Surge with the Spirit Lance - if there is no immediate danger of getting whacked. But why limit yourself to (very strong) PL1-PL7 spells when you can embrace the goodness of PL8&9?

It's not a question of understanding the opinion, but simply of knowing at least something of the context that gave rise to the opinion. As for them being opinions, of course they are, I don't think anyone was ever going to dispute that. Anyway, your elaboration of why you felt the way you felt was much more relatable, so thanks for that. I disagree almost completely, but I'm sure there's nothing wrong with that for either of us. I thought PoE started extremely well, in fact the beginning of the game was the most captivating one I've even experienced (with the exception of Ultima IV, but that was so long ago and I was so much younger when that game came out). I thought the biawac at the start was lovely, as was the "waking up" sequence of becoming a watcher, and then entering that dismal-looking village with corpses hanging from a tree. It was very dark and well-written. Now, it didn't hold up all that well, but the beginning surely was good. I played BG2 before I got into BG1, and I thought BG1 was rubbish almost all the way -- much too simplistic in terms of writing, but what tired me the most was walking around all those mostly empty outdoor maps. I suppose my experience might have been different if I had played the games in the right order, but really, BG1 was not that good after having already experienced its successor.

Ok. Then we are back at the usual: as anyone can have any opinion about anything, simply stating that opinion without explaining how they came to have it is just a waste of time.

FYI- the Assassinate buff only works with certain spells. Something like minoletta's missiles would only benefit on the first missile. Some spells that you'd think would benefit either don't or sometimes do (which is weird). For instance, Fireball works if you target the AoE very close to you but if you cast it far the buff often won't be included. From what I remember, Torrent of Flame and Precise Burst consistently worked. Edit: though there is the route of using Arkemyr's Departure and then casting lots of debuffs from stealth for the Assassinate accuracy buff (no benefit from the penetration of course). Brilliant Departure's stealth only breaks from causing damage.

Super Egg Salad Eggs, mayo, green onions, bacon, pepper, and paprika. No salt needed, the bacon supplies that in spades.

The Midnight Club is probably the biggest disappointment for me in 2022. While I've seen worse, Midnight Mass raised my expectations.

No it isn't. You are choosing to interpret as you want. Biden's comments included saying any talks must begin with the Russians being willing to withdraw from all occupied territory. And the Russians immediately rejected that, after which the White House also "clarrified" that talking with Putin made no sense at this time. Macron, in his statements, was also very clear that any negotiated deal must include the Russians being held completely accountable for all their "crimes" in Ukraine. And then the EU FM recently also made a specch in which she stated that Russia must be held accountable for all the damage and destruction it has caused in Ukraine, and that frozen Russian financial assets, including those of private Russians such as the oligarchs, should be used to create a fund to pay for Ukraine's rebuilding. None of this sounds anything like a "softening" to me.

Finished goal Nr. 24. \o/ My thumbs are still in pain, but last time, when I was so happy and satisfied with myself, that I finished some nice challenge was, when I defeated Ancient Dragon in Dark Souls 2 Yesterday at 10PM I have finally unlocked all trophies in Final Fantasy XV – Episode Gladiolus DLC on my PS4. The last two challenges were painfully hard for me, but also a lot of fun and a little bit of rage. Especially the Final Trial against Cor . Both challenges were all about tactics, a lot of patience and good reflexes. Of course, the last one is something, which I lack 😄 , so I spent on each challenge approximately 2 hours to learn how to execute them good enough to fulfill all the prerequisites for the trophies.

Fixed some bugs, thanks @Kvellen for reporting! 2022-01-03 TopicComponent now properly uses the CompanionTopics StringTable Fixed some properties not being initialized when adding a new Component: TalkingItemComponent.ItemGuidString CompanionComponent.CompanionGuidString

Yeah, so I think I'm going to call up Joe and let him know that he can turn off the internet now. I just don't think it's good for us as a species at this point. You guys need anything you need passed along?

Spot on.

Wednesday, episode 2. Maybe it's the lack of sleep doing me in and making me somehow quite enjoy a stupid Tim Burton show, but this show actually seems like it's...pretty good, and so far I really like the cast. Especially the star of the show, which is of course Thing (who I have been told is not CGI but is actually a guy running around in a green screen suit with a glove doing everything for real, which I guess makes sense, because I usually have a strong dislike for little CGI creatures interacting with the world weightlessly...not at all the case for Thing who's constantly moving and knocking stuff over). It's kind of like...an off-brand American goth Harry Potter, and that's not a bad thing at all.

I made an exception and clicked that Daily Mail link. I shouldn't have. In the second paragraph, the tabloid writes, "The 70-year-old Russian leader, whose health has visibly deteriorated since he launched his war in Ukraine..." Has it? That's not clear at all, I think. Anyway, writing stuff like that is extremely bad form, in my view, and thus strengthens my opinion that you should never read the Daily Mail.

I did. I gave it a chance, but it only got worse. I'd not watch the second season even if I got paid for it.

am pretty sure the "stupid stuff" were intentional and such ham-fisted additions were a result o' fans not getting the first movie. raiders of the lost ark was s'posed to be b movie fare, but with aaa production values... plus enough overt classic movie homage to have even the most hardcore movie fan chuckle a bit. unfortunately what @Amentep, lucas, spielberg and kasdan saw as the point o' the indy films is not necessarily what audiences liked 'bout raiders, so particular in temple of doom, and crystal skull, the makers o' the film were a smidge less subtle(<-- sarcastic hyperbole) and went all-in on what inspired them to make the movies in the first place. everybody in raiders is playing it serious as they deal with over-the-top nazis and improbable events-- stupid stuff. 'course the raiders audiences were treated to a john williams score, incredible sets as well as great performances and fantastic camera work, so audiences understandable took the film more serious than were intended. is just a guess, but am thinking temple o' doom were an effort o' the film makers to course correct, so audiences would be able to enjoy the indiana jones films the way lucas and spielberg enjoyed flash gordon and similar fare. unfortunately, temple of doom kinda underwhelmed or confused audiences, so there were a return to formula with last crusade. keyrock is clear a fan o' the temple of doom kinda material, which is hardly a shock. the thing is, am thinking lucas, spielberg and kasdan, 'mong others, were wrong to try to accentuate and rehabilitate the stupid stuff. the old flash gordon, buck rodgers, and spy smasher serials weren't intended to be stupid at the time they were made. we look at such films today and smile approvingly at the b fare, but is not as if the makers o' spy smasher saw themselves as purveyors o' ridiculous. am gonna suggest temple of doom and crystal skull unnecessarily wanted audiences to realize the indiana jones films is b movie fare by pushing the "stupid stuff" a bit too hard. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna observe just how difficult it is to hit the right balance o' serious v. "stupid stuff." those familiar with the fallout franchise o' crpgs will recognize just how contentious has been fan response following every fallout title release subsequent to the original. is a not insignificant % o' fans who are extreme serious 'bout fallout. personal we saw fallout as overt camp, but Gromnir pov is so not how the game were viewed at nma.

The Obsidian forums is the original Roguelike game.

US was never going to beat Netherlands. Australia beating Argentina would be something but that's not happening either, I think.

I saw this story too, from a different source. But didn't post it here because I figured some people would have that reaction of "it's just tabloid gossip." I personally can see this being very much true, esp. because the part that he is suffering from intestinal cancer seems solid with other previous stories.

Yeah, I've had the "locked thread ate my post" thing happen too. It's funny, irreversibly losing even just a couple of paragraphs of text makes it feel like a pretty herculean task to write up the rough equivalent again, and it always makes me wonder how I had the energy or inclination to do it in the first place, because I certainly don't anymore. If I do lose a post, I ain't redoing it, so I guess I better always remember to CTRL+A+C. The original thread could still possibly have a draft of your post saved, but the only way to see would be to unlock it.

Just never, ever, ever, ever make your playstyle based on Miracle Build, saves you a lot of new gray hairs 😄

Tangent: People complain about Dark Souls being too hard, but one thing that's great about it (specifically speaking of Dark Souls 1 here) is that there's a ton of variety in how you can play...at least on NG1. Shield, heavy armor, or rolling? Magic or melee? Do you use bows to snipe enemies before they aggro onto you? A lot of fast and light attacks or fewer but well-timed slow and heavy attacks? Are you an up close sloppy brawler that gets hit a lot but has lots of health and armor so you can always get back up, or are you someone that's always backpedalling trying to figure out what leaves your enemies vulnerable for safe attacks? There's a lot of variation to how one can decide to play, lots of personal flair and style, and the game is forgiving enough that most of them are pretty effective once you get your mechanics, timing, and strategy down somewhat consistently - plus the game gives you plenty of options to change up your approach if what you're doing just isn't working for a particular fight. So what is often frustrating to me with other games, particularly a lot of so-called soulslike games, is that they lack these kinds of options and variety - maybe they present you a few, but the one thing that really ends up working and actually being effective just isn't that fun, and what should be fun just isn't very effective, so it kind of herds players towards doing the same thing over and over for the entire game. Bleh.

Morocco winning Group F is a tad unexpected, but certainly well deserved.

It's really unpleasant that it's like this, but I am extremely happy that Serbia are out. I'm sure no one at all was surprised when it was the Serbian fans who engaged in racistic chants and it took FIFA ages to react to it. There will be no acknowledgment of the fan problem in Serbia, of course. It will be someone else's fault, of course. I suppose the same will hold in the Dusan Petkovic case: the former Serbia international, who got into the 2006 WC team thanks to blatant nepotism, was caught in the act of smuggling 115 kilograms of cocaine. Come on! That's for personal use only, one weekend with the boys. No way is he guilty of anything.

Spy x Family 22 Senpai notices Nightfall! But so does Yor. In order to prevent a new war, Nightfall and Twilight infiltrate an underground tennis tournament. Probably one of the most forced anime episodes I’ve ever seen, however still quite funny. Incredible Hulk level of doping, jet-powered rackets, Nightfall and Twilight being the best tennis players ever (despite having barely any experience) and they even call themselves “Phony” in their disguised identities, without anybody suspecting a thing.🤣 Anya appears for only 54s (yes, I actually counted) and as we learned in the previous episode, she needs 30s on average to have a shock reaction, so no surprise when she keeps up with that and is shocked twice (if you count the normal/not exaggerated reactions). Make it three times if you count the preview for the next episode. Twilight, who appeared for almost the entire episode, is also shocked twice. What an amateur!

Lies and slander. My lightning thrower build from DS1 is one of my favorites.

Reality is what you want to believe.

For f*cks sake, the ONE time I type up a semi-long reply and don't CTRL + A; CTRL + C it just to make sure you go and lock the old thread in between, and that post is gone, sacrificed to the forum gods. Such irony, the post talked about me making things harder on myself by accident, in both Sekiro and Dark Souls.