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I'm currently reading Trevor Noah's biography and I'm guessing SA isn't as perfect as some people portray it here. Granted it is probably fine if you meet certain pigment criteria.

Wasn't even that bad compared to games that keep getting passes, like anything and everything Bethesda Game Studios puts out. Imho the main issue was that they released it on previous gen consoles, once that became clear the meme-train just left station and kept on choo-choo-ing. For radiation, a combination of the correct artifacts combined with good gear is how I remember dealing with that. The last few areas were really rough I recall, with enemies with rocket launchers and snipers galore. Comparatively the NPP wasn't that bad, heh. All in all SoC (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in general, really) was pretty (euro)yank. For one, it was kinda unfinished, most annoying example was that your gear would wear out, but there was no way to repair it...meaning you'd have to save up the best gear for the hardest locations, and often lug around multiple sets of things so you could toss the broken ones (only to find out the AI is actually smart enough to recognize that your almost-broken armour was better than their stuff so they started wearing it, making your life more difficult ) The second issue was the difficulty slider. The game actually gets easier on harder difficulties as it increases damage to both the player as well as the enemy pretty much equally, so clearing out locations stealthily becomes a lot more viable all of a sudden as you can now one-hit enemies much earlier in the game (but conversely, if you get caught out, yer toast)... And then there was the little issue that you only get access to the real fun toys once past the point of no return. But that's, iirc, an issue all three games suffer to an extent. Aaaand, now I want to start another SoC playthrough, with a repair mod Last time I tried I used an addon that should have fixed some of the major issues (like repair), but retaining the original game's balance, while upgrading the graphics, but it also stealthily nerfed early parts of the game (which I explicitly did not want, eg. the first group of bandits didn't have shotguns any more, making that mission so much easier than it used to be it wasn't even fun)

It's almost as if the US is not our friend. Or as much our friend as China, India and Russia. Europe has been stuck between Scylla and Charybdis for near a century.

I remember playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl when it came out (although it was about 20 years after the disaster, it was somehow still "fresh in the memory") Loved the game. Was a bit on the hard side I remember. Used a cheat mod to beat the game eventually (immune to radiation and enemy bullets), getting a bit frustrated and impatient towards the end. Just wanted to see at least one of the endings

and so a harebrained shadowrun style (not shadowrun rules 'course) game but in an indiana jones setting as inspired by the incredibles aesthetic? am cautious optimistic. HA! Good Fun!

The next big DLC for Solasta has been announced, including level increase to 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2100431/Solasta_Crown_of_the_Magister__Palace_of_Ice/

am also gonna note poison blow darts is more o' a south america and se asia thing. the notorious curare poison is plant-based (moonseed?) but the "poison dart" frogs which is likely what inspired the earlier quip, is south american indigenous. in any event, if poison dartings is the concern, then am thinking brazil or philippines health care should be the target for research. ... just doing our part to cliff clavin a dose o' reality into the otherwise asinine. HA! Good Fun!

...we needs a 25th Anniversary Planescape: Torment remake next year...get on it, peoples... ...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

Cyberpunk is great and apparently has continued to sell well. It was just buggy when it came out.

Really excited, and really anxious about this one at the same time...

Starfield got release date: September 6th, 2023 On June 11th there will be "Starfield Direct" showcasing the game in detail, so we will learn what it is, and if there is anything worth looking forward to.

I made some special burgers yesterday. I wasn't sure if they'd be good but i still gave it a go. I used the standard recipe for the most part but i added ground zucchini and carrot, then i filled them with cheese and grilled them. Turned out pretty good

Hello! Chanter/Soulblade (the big red button) The chanter can summon multiple skeletons (first with Ancient Brittle Bones and later with Many Lives Pass By) The Soulblade gains +10 max focus and concentration from killing an enemy (or ally, doesn't matter) Usually Ciphers don't generate focus from hitting friedly characters Wahai Poraga acts like a "confused" AoE weapon If you accidentially hit your Skeletons with it s AoE you will generate focus (all Ciphers except Psion)! If you kill your Skeletons with its AoE you will gain +10 max focus and concentration (Soulblade passive)! Echoing Horrors will get triggered every time you kill a Skeleton ( Frighten a bystanding enemy on kill - it's a passive...) If you use Soul Annihilation with it it will apply the full raw damage to the initial target (and some more to the additional ones). So against tough singular foes that usually make generating focus difficult you can harvest focus and also max focus and concentration from your skeletons while hitting the enemy You can collect a huge amount of focus that way and then dump it all into one Soul Annihilation that destroys the tough enemy Skalds can get phrases from crits against skeletons - I used a Troubadour though (faster Many-Lives-skellies) Chanter/Priest (the undying) cast Triumph of the Crusaders use Ancient Brittle Bones and/or Many Lives Pass By attack with Wahai Poraga and gain lots of health every time a skeleton goes down combine with health-on-kill pets for additional healing Chanter/Barbarian (the obvious choice) no need to be a confused Berserker use skellies every AoE-hit of Wahai Poraga triggers Carnage (foe only) accidentially killed Skeletons trigger Bloodlust and Blood Thirst (hack away without much recovery) Blood Storm (additional Frenzy duration on kill) makes it easy to uphold Frenzy endlessly Barbaric Smash: AoE-kills when using Barbaric Smash will not refund the Rage cost. The initial target has to die (booh!) Chanter/Sister of the Reaping Moon (the well of wouds) killing a skeleton grants 3 wounds Chanter/Fighter (clever cleaver) killing a skeleton triggers Cleaving Stance (attacking the enemy again because Cleaving Stance chooses the next enemy as initial target, not a skeleton) What doesn't work: Paladin's Inspiring Triumph and Virtuous Triumph won't trigger (too bad). That's all I found out so far.

Hogwarts Legacy, I got as far as the character creator and the very first cutscene. What the heck is wrong with all the hair options, and why do the faces all look so glossy and gross? I just can't ever seem to into 3D graphics these days. I ended up settling on a black lady because she had the least lizard-like skin out of anything I could come up with, and then the first cutscene had her open her mouth and immediately look like a complete doofus with cartoonishly bad face expressions. Ah, I miss ye olde days of the silent protagonist. Well, I suppose I didn't really want to spend a hundred-plus hours on an endless collectathon anyways...

Somehow I think blow darts wouldn't be that big a deal compared to gunshots in the entire continent of Africa (as elsewhere except Antarctica..well maybe in Aus it's bogans). Just hide in a gated community, it'll be fine.

Atelier Sophie 2 Afterparty Crusader's Kings 3 Friends and Foes Pathfinder Wrath: Commander Pack Dead Cells Queen and the Sea

I dunno man. I saw on the news that Africa has the highest percentage of blow dart violence of any continent in the world! Does the SA UHC provide free access to tree frog antivenom?

Hehe, even Lavrov has stated, that the Ukrainian lead to Nordstream sabotage is bull**** https://t.me/bbbreaking/150102 Puting the tinfoil hat up, this resembles typical Russian psyop, to blame the western media as incompetent liars, in the case that someone finds out, that the sabotage was really the work of Russia

Immigration / asylum = potato / potahto. Cant get in legit? Then suddenly claim oppression. Its genius! I myself have felt oppressed for over half a century and I would be open to greener pastures. Can anyone recommend a country with the following criteria: UHC, UBI, an average temperature ~80F, I dont have to learn the language, and ridiculously affordable housing? So far I can only come up with Cancun, and to a less affordable extent, Cabo. I dont think they have UBI either but I could probably let that slide due to the significantly lower cost of living.

The UNHCR disagrees, naturally the UK will heed their words as they observe the rule based international order. You have to apply for asylum in the UK physically rather than at an embassy, no ?

I cant believe I watched that whole Soulja Boy video...it was hypnotic.

Imo, all countries should allow unrestricted immigration.

Looks like that story is quickly falling apart now. Stuff doesn't add up, it's also suspicious that the boat was returned, not cleaned, and they apparently found explosive residue on a table inside. How convenient. Oh, and apparently that big sailing(?) boat was docked in a harbor with only like 1m of water depth.

Kept watching s3 of Stargate SG-1. I completely forgot that every other planet is covered in canadian forest.

I predict this is going to be a great game. And Wormie you know the " BruceVC game prediction radar" is never wrong, they have done extensive analysis on the Internet and its been unequivocally confirmed its always accurate But remember its best to wait 6-8 months before playing Starfield, just to get the initial updates and fixes out and for the first mods to be released

Eh, all games have a small portion of people with big issues ... maybe Hogwart's is 7% instead of 3% (the usual figures pulled from my arse) so you see more 'net complaints. Don't think it's all that bad overall vs. how many bought the game. Most of the time I get lucky and am on the doesn't-have-issues side of games - this time I wasn't. I remember initial release of FO:NV was really bad for me w/crashes too, lol. But I played for a couple hours, no CTD, felt smooth, no .ini tweaks etc. so maybe this time w/patch+the last driver reinstall etc it's finally good? Got a couple more Steam Achievements and have only 1 more side quest to get 100% in the 4 challenge categories and I assume hit max level. Of course, it's the only side-quest left and it's the final broom upgrade one. Failed it three times. Bah. I wish they had left a little more leeway re: max level/challenge completion, so there could be a few quests you could skip if you didn't like them, and still reach it. Forcing a player to do every single itty bitty thing isn't my fave method. Although ofc one doesn't have to do all that just to complete the main story. There *is* however a chr. lvl requirement to see the final short cutscene before credit rolling, which some could reach without being that level.

Said it before, will say it again, I'd 100% buy a Yeston card if they were available here. It'd be like a little ray of sunshine peeking out of my case.

That describes about 90% of games journalism opinion pieces about as succinctly as it's possible to do. I don't think I've ever seen a sub profession as consistently unable to articulate their thoughts well- or alternatively, not having any meaningful thoughts to impart. In this case it's... pretty well written. His central premise though as expressed in the article title is certainly not supported by the evidence as presented, and is outright sensationalist in nature. (OTOH, discussion successfully generated and views successfully got, and ultimately that makes for a successful article) Andromeda at least had a heap of organisational issues due to poor oversight and leadership of a new studio trying to make a massive game on an engine that wasn't designed for what they were doing*. And whatever people say of C2077 it was a massive financial success, just not as massive as a bubble market- literally literally valuing CDPR more than Ubisoft on ludicrous projected sales of one game ffs- expected. Plus as was mentioned in the article it was saddled with some really dumb management decisions too, like support for previous gen consoles. *either ordered to or strongly suggested that they use it by EA management, too.

For my part, once I started using the Linux specific CTD fix it's been smooth sailing. In the 40+ hours since I started using that fix I've had exactly 2 crashes (not counting the CTD I just recently had where I purposely DIDN'T use the fix, for science) and they were freezes where I had to Alt+Tab out and manually force a shutdown of the game, which is unlike the CTDs I had when fast traveling before I started using the fix. 2 crashes in 40+ hours is acceptable in my book. That said, waiting is a good idea if you have the patience. You get a more stable product and you may get it at a discount to boot.

Thank you for sharing the article. I strongly detest TW3 and agree that cut-scenes and VA are a resource sink, but it does not mean that the cut-scene-heavy RPGs and action-adventures with light RPG elements (such an inventory system) are going anywhere. I just would prefer to stop calling TW3 and, for example, Assassin's Creed, RPGs. They are not, otherwise Half-Life is and we are role-playing Gordon Freeman. Also, Larian's D&D game has a lot of cut-scenes, and the MC auto-comments OOC and without the player's input, so it is quite "cinematic". Fortunately, as far as I can tell, there is enough freedom to roleplay and develop the player's character.

I don't quite see what point he is trying to make - it seems more like a wishful thinking. Witcher3 was a massive success. If another cinematic RPG comes a long of the similar quality, wouldn't it be a massive success as well? Andromeda and Cyberpunk mistake, from what I understand, was that instead of being a "bioware-style" RPG they dreamed much bigger and didn't manage to reach that. He also mentions Baldur's Gate3 ignoring the fact it is a cinematic BioWare-style RPG. We will see how it will turn out, as it tries to marry Larian's systemic sandbox with a crap ton of cutscenes - might very well fall into Andromeda/Cyberpunk trap of trying to do too many things at the same time.

It is quite frankly difficult to find much use vs late game vessels because it rolls vs fortitude, and lots of late game vessels have really high fortitude (fampyrs, steelclad, etc.). The damage is good, but not amazing compared to barbarian shout spam (probably the closest comparison as a spell-like ability on a martial class). The healing is definitely strong, though. Low penetration would not necessarily be a very serious issue given that Paladin would have 3 different damage types to choose from, and the self immolation abilities have very high penetration. Even with 1 or 2 underpenetration the damage would still be respectable.

serious? first group is almost all neo-nazi and white supremacist. second group is also not particular controversial with beltway sniper, fort hood and omar mateen representing easily recognizable examples. if the feds hadn't split so, Gromnir would ask why they were being so obtuse to avoid the obvious characterizations. HA! Good Fun!

If they use an AR or an AK

I saved this meme a while ago, because I liked it so much.

citizen kane wasn't a box office smash in 1941 and is even more difficult for a 2023 audience to appreciate. bartimaeus didn't begin watching movies in the 1930s, and is unlikely his movie viewing were entire chronological based. your viewing history makes it difficult to appreciate how movies changed with citizen kane. the thing is, both from a storytelling and cinematography pov, citizen kane altered the manner in which films were crafted. (fixed)orson welles' flick were revolutionary but not in ways you might immediate recognize as a 2023 viewer and maybe not even in 1941. years o' marriage covered in a minute and a half o' screen time. kane weren't the first to do montage, but it fundamental changed how it were used, but for a 2023 viewer, is something you even notice? deep focus weren't pioneered in kane, but again, the filming changed the way stories were told. above is a scene where kane loses his empire and in the span o' a few seconds we see kane, who woulda' been literal larger than life on a movie screen, shrink. 'bove is only a couple examples. unlike Gromnir, the real film students may wax rhapsodic for hours 'bout kane. like it or not as entertainment, citizen kane is one o' those few genuine revolutionary films. how many films literal changed the way subsequent films were made? HA! Good Fun!

In the first 15 seconds of this video, Lavrov does a pretty good sit-down comedy routine, and the audience laughs appropriately.

Zupa ogórkowa: Lessons learned for next time: 1) Use more carrot to balance out the sourness of the pickles a bit more. I want the soup to be sour, but slightly less sour than it came out. 2) A slice of rye bread would go perfectly with this. Still, definitely a success. It's not quite as good as my dad's zupa ogórkowa, but that's a really high bar to clear. I'm a lot more proficient at cooking Polish soups than I am Asian soups. I mean, I grew up on this stuff.

I was playing around with Konstanten as Howler today in the BoW DLC and gave him Wahai Poraga. I was almost drowing in phrases. Was able to keep Soul Collectors perma-stunned with the help of the Helm of the White Void and "Its Crash Could Not Be Denied" which then has +25 ACC. Most enemies, even with high Will, cannot defend against that (except with immunities and resistaces of course - then Killers Froze Stiff is a nice alternative I guess, though shorter CC). Didn't try the charming invocation but that could be great, too, maybe I'll try that later. One or two swirls - stun! - another swirl - stun! and so on. It's pretty cool. The easy way to get phrases from the crits on skeletons makes phrase generation a breeze. It's more fun that I expected. Good option for Konstanten imo.

Belaranga is easy with SC monk, due to Whispers of the Wind. Definitely the easiest megaboss for SC monks in my experience. As for weapons, as you note, fists are great, as is Tuotilo's Palm when you need the extra defense. But for a somewhat cheesier build you can dual wield Keeper of the Flame and Scordeo's Edge, while wearing the Stalking Cloak, Saint's War Armor and Boots of the Stone along with the ooze pet. There was a thread about this a few years ago. Definitely worth trying. Also, monk fists scale well beyond PL 10. If you get creative you can get them sky high; @Constentin Lévinereported getting a death godlike SC monk up to PL 20!

Withdraw absorb every damages taken, included DoT : it is not possible to be hurt or to die under this effect. Take the Hit (Furrante's Breastplate or SC fighter) redirect 50% of the damages taken from allies to self, even under the Withdraw effect. The combat log mention " Withdraw absorb ... damages". The effect last until the beneficial effect on allies is over, and can be extended to match with the Withdraw duration. -50% damage taken for the party can be a big deal sometimes, so I share this little trick!

Ok, I know I'm late to this, but here's what worked (so far) for me: I simply edited the "NewsArchive.xml" file. In my case it is located at %userprofile%\appdata\locallow\Obsidian Entertainment\Pillars of Eternity II\ I removed the <News> and <Packages> statements, and to be safe, marked the file as a read-only.

This is a superb comment. Such a succinct and apt description of what it is. I wholeheartedly agree that the huge news screen displays a baffling lack of discretion and style. I mean, what were/are they thinking? We already have the game, we are already customers.

Honestly, i agreed with this guy (though i don't admire his manners) that News tab should be hidden by default. There's no news to show at this moment, and if Obsidian want to tell me something, no need to forcefully throwing it in my face. P.S. I recall that i wrote something about it a long time ago (in august 2018 i think).

They definitely removed the option to have it off by default. I don't really give a flying fig newton about their "news" function because I spend entirely too much time online and probably already know about all the stuff the feed is telling me about. I just want to play the game, I don't need a huge frelling ad telling me about the DLC I already bought/downloaded.