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For obvious reasons, this giveaway has to be announced by me: www.gog.com/?smclient=25625981-e635-4c7c-a1a8-d4da17bcf892#giveaway It is Mordheim.

/agree. It's pretty easy to get enough Deflection/Fortitude to avoid being Crit and to push him into constant underpenetration. Nice find! So, I did some more focused testing. I disabled all addons, just in case. As it turns out, Veteran's Maneuver is pretty terribly coded. It is disabled on friendly spell "hits". All you need to clear it is cast 2 buff spells. **Whomp Whomp Sound** However, if for some reason you have a character who will use no buff spells, it does provide immunity to helfire barrage (and I'm assuming helstorm as well). Pretty handy, if a little awkward to use in current implementation. I'll poke around and see if that's easy enough to fix. Maybe @Elric Galad has looked at similar situations with BPM. If we are able to fix it to only count hostile spell hits, it would be a great piece of Dorudugan tech (and likely exploitable in other fun ways). Edit: Update - I was able to fix it pretty easily. It will be added to the next update for BPM.

I've tested it, Writ of War can stop Dorudugan from using any ability, all the way down to 0hp. Also with 25 INT character it lasts ~15s on it, so keeping the effect on is very practical. I think this is somewhere between perma-paralyzing and normal kiting strategy. After debuffing Dorudugan only has 90+ will, so keeping all the debuffs on is much easier. Tanking auto-attacks is also as not difficult as dodging barrage/dealing with the pull.

The "Rules Based Order" is a bit of a myth, just like El Dorado. Enough repetition of the phrase and some people start thinking it exists. Let's be honest though, powerful countries do what they want, when it suits them and it benefits them. Nothing's changed since the fall of the western Roman Empire there. It's always an easier sell to your population if you can justify why a lot of the serfs have to die for their lord, but in the end, it's just a way of placating the masses. Sometimes the justifications are easier to come by, sometimes they have to be manufactured and sometimes, countries just go "ah screw it, too much work" and do what they please (both England and France used to live by the credo might is right in the past). It's still very much the case today, realpolitik and powerful interest groups acts our their objective grabbing through governments (which are usually appointed by whoever controls popular opinion, again, a commodity you can buy if you have the means)

For me Control was all about the story and lore, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The combat was forgettable. It wasn't bad, or anything, it was just... There. I wound up finding a Seafarer's Ring which gives me permanent water walking, so what better time to test whether I can go to and from the Morrowind mainland without fast travel? I set out from Andothren and walked right across the water to Ebonheart. I don't remember if I ever tested what happens if you try to walk or swim off the edge of the map in the vanilla game. I assume there's an invisible wall. Either way, there's no invisible wall with the mod to stop me getting to the mainland or back. I'll have to try it with Solstheim next time I'm in that neck of the woods. Anyway, since I was back in Vvardenfell and near Vivec, I took the opportunity to ingrate myself to the Morag Tong. I got my first assignment, a Dunmer hanging out at a club in the Hlaalu canton. Since I'm not really equipped to use a command spell to lure my target away to a secluded location, my move is typically to taunt them until they attack me first. Unfortunately, this fella wouldn't even talk to me. Then my memory came back of how I did this before, many years ago. Imagine you're hanging out at a club and this big Nord woman walks up to you and starts undressing. That will get your attention, it sure got his. Once I was able to talk to him I taunted him until he attacked me and then I "defended myself" and fulfilled the writ of execution. Picture yourself as one of the other patrons of that club watching a butt nekkid Nord woman hurling a string of obscenities at a guy. Typical Tirdas, amirite?

Because they follow the rules based order. In that the rules apply to thee, not me.

I am not concerned with Russian ultra-nationalists, I am interested in knowing what percentage of the population falls for this kind of propaganda. Not that it matters, and not that I'm ever going to know, but I am interested in any case. I would like to see an end to the war, even if it is in the distance, but at the moment I only see one way to bring the end closer: as many Russian soldiers as possible need to be killed as quickly and efficiently as possible. That's extremely harsh, but I don't see any other realistic way towards ending the war.

Yeah, a bed trumps a couch. As others said, the better the mattress, the better. Just don't go broke over one

just heard about it hope microsoft crush bethesada next and give obsidian another chance with fallout unlikely but would be nice outcome

Ok, will be included in the French version.

Control The facial animations of the NPCs are amusing. Somehow, the mirror and the janitor outfits look the best, but obtained too late, unfortunately. Late-game and optional bosses. Steam seems to compress the screenshots a bit too much. But the game is pretty and the MC is nice, especially the facial animations (just a neutral expression most of the time, like an actual human and not a Customer Service employee).

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth While it's not pushing any graphical boundaries, it is a good looking game. It runs like a champ too. Even without any upscaling tech, I can get a playable framerate at 4K at max settings, minus motion blur, but that's not for performance reasons, motion blur is the first thing I turn off in any game. This is my first time trying out FSR3 Frame Generation and it's quite impressive. At quality setting (the highest besides native) I've never seen the game dip below my TV's 120 MHz max. In fact, it's generally in the 140s according to the Steam FPS display. I don't have DLSS3 Frame Generation to compare to, but I'm super happy with the performance and image quality. I don't have a Steam Deck, but I assume this would run buttery smooth on a Steam Deck. Right now I'm still in the familiar confines of Isezaki Ijincho, I guess the real test will be when I get to Honolulu. What would a Yakuza... Err, Like a Dragon game be without the UFO Catcher? Aww yeah, I got me a black Oinklet. I stashed the Oinklet in my item box, I don't know if I will lose the possessions I have on me when I go to Honolulu. I'm also curious whether the item box will be shared between both parties, the one in Honolulu and the one in Japan. I'm guessing yes. Right now I'm still in the mostly on-rails tutorial/prologue. I don't know when I'm going to get transported to Honolulu so I'm taking my sweet ass time exploring everything that's not invisible walled off, looking for secrets and such. I guess the party in Japan will be able to come back here, but I'm not taking any chances.

Thank goodness for digitization: a single $200 14 TB hard drive can fit about 350 full blu-ray dumps (or about 1800 DVDs...and the numbers get even better if you don't have to keep the full disc dumps). Honestly, who has the time, space, or desire to manage all that except in a virtual environment? That path lies to madness.

Huh, I always simply killed them and when the guards came running, showed them the writ. "Officer, I am licensed to kill." And the guards would be all "Oh, sorry to bother you. Please be more discreet next time."

Did a bit of extra shopping the last couple of days. Looks like it’s going to get very windy and quite rainy for the next 3-4 days, so got things like bottled water, dry food, candles, batteries, lpg bottles for cooking etc.

That’s my thinking, too. I can more rigorously test it, but it happened a few times for a ranged character.

Just dropping here for science some things I learned in my recent Dorudugan fights. Dorudugan's Large Shield attack (off-hand shield bash) targets Fortitude. Saint's War Armor with the Veteran's Maneuver upgrade does not provide immunity from Helfire Barrage (not quite sure what's up with this one, but maybe I'm just missing something here)

A release date for Manor Lords? Yes! *last seconds of trailer* wait...Early Access? ... sigh. I should've known/realized. Oh well. I'm still hoping it'll be a cross between city-builder and something like Stronghold.

The ones you order online nowadays are pretty amazing. It might not be available outside of the US, but I ordered one through Nectar a few years ago and it was a good price and sleeps great. It cost about half of the one I bought from the store before that and it feels the same.

Not really useful here, but funny Feeblemind worked on Areelu The random enemies in Threshold were tougher than Derpskari Storm of justice did >1000 damage, good thing Owlcat boosted his HP I guess

I got a Puffy mattress and I love it. I usually go for firmer mattresses but this is like...

I have a memory foam mattress, medium firm, and I love it. There's no chance I ever go back to box spring. I don't know what the expected lifetime of a memory foam mattress is, but I've had it for over a decade and it's still great. Sleeping well is no small matter so don't compromise on a mattress. Get the one that feels best for you even if it hurts your bank account. That's better than hurting your body. There are few investments more important.

It may be worth looking into a mattress topper. They are basically a thin mattress you put on top of the existing one. They are a lot cheaper but can make a huge difference. Got those for the hotel when older guests needed it a bit more comfortable. ended up just leaving them on. Guests who tried both without and then with the topper said they are amazing. Mind you, I didn't get the cheap ones for 27 euros. More like 250. But if you put those on a 1500 mattress and turn it into the feeling of a 2500 mattress, then it is still a good alternative to a 4500 one. Of course nothing will make you feel like sleeping in dough other than that 4500 one or sleeping in actual dough.

Thank you for the information. I somehow doubt that Obsidian can do action combat better than, for example, Dragon's Dogma 2, which should be released this year, while first-person rarely works well with open melee combat. Still going to get the game, but the description is disappointing.

Finished Control. It was fine. As was mentioned, the optional larger bosses were more interesting than the main story ones, who consisted of the regular foes with names and larger health bars. The enemies spawning out of thin air were annoying and Saints Row was a jollier superhero simulator, but it was fine overall. There was one mission with a song by The Poets of the Fall playing in the background. Not sure if it fit, but the area certainly was memorable and, fortunately, linear - if the labyrinth was both changing and more labyrinthine, it would be worse. I also unlocked some new outfits, and the janitor one was unironically the best looking so far. Will finish some side quests and try to write a review.

A popular Russian TV programme called Vesti Nedeli did a special piece on Finland last Sunday, claiming that 1) Finland is more russophobic than the US, 2) all Russian-language schools in Finland will be closed, 3) Russians living in Finland will be stripped of their citizenship, 4) Finland will try to take Karelia back by force and 5) Finland is also dreaming of a new Greater Finland that would stretch all the way beyond the Urals [!]. Several decades ago, one of our best poets, Paavo Haavikko, wrote that "parody has become impossible / they're doing it themselves". That observation fits perfectly with this example of Russian television. The pertinent question is, what percentage of viewers take the programme seriously and how many of them will recognize it's all rather hopeless and untrue. I have no idea, and I suppose no one does.

Just checked my Steam purchase history. Bought 8 games in 2023. 5 of those purchases were DLCs. Hah, in 2022 I also bought 8 games on Steam. 1 of those was a DLC. Generally I only buy games if I'm planning to play them right now. Never bought a game because "maybe I will play it some day" -- experience tells me that I'll never play it then.

For the lolz, here's the submission (pdf, relevant part from p6) from amongst others, Britain and (extra especial lol approaching roflcopter territory) Germany to the ICJ re the Rohingya genocide to see what their opinion on genocide and how International Law should be applied. Choice quotes: hmm heh Ah, OK. They left out the obvious point of what makes for a genocide according to them though: being brown, and the west's enemy.

I don't think if I were Israel I'd be hanging everything on the narrow definition of 'intent to destroy'. Legal loves a good definition, but they also love a good precedent to clarify those definitions. In this case, "in whole or in part". Anyone care to guess how many people it took for Karim Khan to cite II(e) of the Genocide Convention vs Putin? 'Hundreds' of children, out of a population of 40 million (theoretical). If that's the new threshold 17000 dead women and children out of 2.2 million will certainly pass muster. That's a factor of, hmm, 680, roughly, on the Palestinian side of the ledger. And let's be frank here, at least any children taken by Russia are, well, still alive... Now, of course that's ICC rather than ICJ, but ICC is still an instrument of International Law, and recognised as such by the UN same as the ICJ, even if not officially a UN court. Of course, I mostly just like the possibility of Karim's Khan and Britain's flagrant misuse of the ICC coming back to haunt them. Always nice to see someone corrupt hoist by their own Picard after all. Intent to destroy is pretty much the sole obstacle otherwise. Take II(c) for example, with its clarification from the ICC ('s predecessor for Rwanda): "subjecting a group of people to a subsistence diet, systematic expulsion from homes and the reduction of essential medical services below minimum requirement". Sounds rather like Israel has been using that as a guideline, eh?

The Obsidian button function now includes moderator posts, as well. It didn't before. I might also take this opportunity to ask about how the Obsidian button works. It still goes to the first official Obsidian post in the thread. You guys might not remember, but back when the forums were started the function pulled all the Obsidian posts in a thread, for ease of reading those posts. Any change of getting that back, now that we have new software?

I'm sure I've watched some stuff over the last month or two but most of it slips my mind. Here's the stuff I remembered. Dave Chapelle and Ricky Gervais stand-ups - These are probably the worst I've seen from either comedian. Iron Chef America - My son is addicted to this show but it's funny how Hulu doesn't show any Mario Batali episodes. I get that he's a sex pest but my wife likes Italian food and I'm looking for ideas. I'm a monster, I know... he typed while listening to the Thriller album. e: We watched part 3 of Lupin as well and might start Echo next

The deep-dive only made me more sad, because there was no mention of whether there would be a third-person option. So much of the interview was about gameplay. Surely the question would've been an obvious one to ask. But it was not asked, and the interviewees did not say anything about it, which makes me feel it must only be because it is confirmed the game will be exclusively first-person. And that in turn means I won't get to play the game. So very sad.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/25/microsoft-lays-off-1900-workers-nearly-9percent-of-gaming-division-after-activision-blizzard-acquisition.html https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/25/24050297/blizzard-survival-game-cancelled-layoffs 1900 cut. Cancelled their survival game as well and Ybarra is out the door

Netanyahu 's position isn't "we won't stop until the hostages are released" if his position also is "if the hostages are released we won't stop". I want a full permanent ceasefire (and obviously Netanyahu jailed in Azkaban). But you can't have a full ceasefire when one party says they are not willing to accept a full ceasefire. Hostages returned for a full ceasefire was on the table until now, constantly rejected by Israel. So stop trying to make it look as if the rest of us are against a ceasefire and look at the terrorists you so vehemently support with your crocodile tears.

Since the singer of Rednex, Anders Sandberg, died yesterday

not to derail the thread but while you owned "nothing" in the USSR, you didn't pay for it either. I don't think that's the model Ubi execs have in mind