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Yeah, and apparently there was supposed to be more Monarch. I don’t think the game has foundations strong enough to support large amounts of gameplay and it is better of when it sticks closer to early-BioWare type RPG.

Well, it's D&D 5e. Tbf, 2e (BG1+2) wasn't particularly complex either. A lot of level ups boiled down to pushing a button, seeing your THAC0 come down and getting more hitpoints. That said, combat itself in BG3 is on the easier side. In parts because Larian have fiddled with D&D action economy. They've also removed the limit how many magic items a character can attune -- and those are plentiful and have The Power™. Still, in particular early on, combat is oft but one possible way of many. Depending on your character, various hostile NPCs may be neutral just by your pick in character race, etc. And even a low INT barbarian gets the opportunity to just intimidate foes out of engaging in combat every once in a while.

My only fear for BG3, apart from the Larian aroma, is that the spreadsheets look a tad too basic. Tbf I have yet to play the game myself. For Owlcat games I fully agree they should cut them down by 1/3 and focus on encounters being more engaging. That being said, for such long games, if nothing else you always had the next level to look forward to and to keep you going.

That's all true, but even if Harpies were reused several times I still think that fight would stand out favorably. It provides an alternative (optional) objective of protecting the tiefling kid, makes good use of terrain to show what a danger flying enemies can be, and even provides a powerful use of the Silence spell if you've got it prepped. It's honest to god one of the best low-level encounters I've seen in a RPG. Oh no doubt that any straight comparison of BG3 and WotR is flawed, as it had 50x the budget and 2-3x the development time to bake. But all the same I can't help but think that for a game that is incredibly combat focused as WotR is that it just doesn't do it particularly well, I can't really think of too many battles I found challenging tactically in either Owlfinder so much as I found myself managing a spreadsheet of buffs. I agree with the idea that WotR would be significantly better with cutting down combat by half, but I don't know if Owlcat can really deliver on consistently interesting encounters to even make the remaining half worthwhile. I wouldn't be surprised if it is, as you said there's a sort of stigma to shorter/smaller games and an unearned prestige to larger games. Certainly being able to put out a beeg epic game and then 3 or so pieces of DLC every 2-3 years seems to be going well for Owlcat. Uhhh, man I spent 5 minutes googling and it's been almost a decade since the last Dragon Age. No idea what the **** is going on over there, but I have very little confidence in it being good.

Hi, I peeped every creature except the red baby ant in my first playthrough. I then had to go into NG+ to get it, so went through and peeped it but the achievement did not unlock. My assumption is that this is due to peeping my missing card in NG+ and it's not taking into account the cards from my first playthrough. I just wanted to check if this was a bug or intended? I can't attach a screenshot of my creature cards or my save (due to size) but I have every card (8/8, 48/48 & 15/15). I am logged into Xbox and am not in a custom game. I peeped the red baby any about a week ago and have played daily. Thanks DxDiag.txt

This just in: For anybody hoping that Owlcat would slow down and reverse their "quantity over quality" stance -- well, bad luck. Owlcat may have released three epics (plus DLC) within barely half a decade. Each of those making any BG game look like a dinner snack. But clearly that was not enough. Seems like they aim for the Guinness World records next. 😄 company comprises about 500 individuals. they are currently developing 4 games with 4 separate teams. development of two of these games started just recently. games are being created using Unity and Unreal Engine. company's primary focus lies in creating RPGs with rich narratives and complex mechanics. one game being an original IP. next games likely will feature full VO and better cutscenes

An assassination on our pro-russian Prime minister has been performed. People are talking about Karma biting him back, as he was during the last 4 year doing his best to divide the people here and demonized journalists, liberals, LGBT communities, progresives, immigrants, intelectuals, etc... It is said, he was shot 4 times in chest and stomach. He is currently being hospitalized in one of the hospitals, which has been "robbed" out of Euro funds by his party people and friends. The shooter was 71-year old man. A primary target audience of his party.

Now that the information speculations have settled down a little bit and more details have been revealed, The most interesting thing in this Grand Reshuffle is the “Sacking” of above mentioned Patrushev. He was once considered as a successor to Putin, and now, he has been appointed as Putin’s aide. Shoigu, unlike his lapdogs (two more of them has been reportedly arrested), has been moved to similarily powerful position, but Patrushev’s new position is considered as a big demotion. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-appoints-patrushev-dyumin-kremlin-aides-2024-05-14/

Looks like we start to have first partially good news from Kharkiv front. Russian milbloggers are starting to complain about badly trained units on this front, who lack even basic knowledge of proper formations to have a chance to avoid drone strikes. So it looks like, all the experienced and battle-hardened units are at different fronts, or already dead 🤷‍♂️ https://t.me/philologist_zov/965

Interesting piece on Shoigu's replacement. Tweet of note from it: Looks like attrition war for years to come.

11 new archetypes.

The Outer Worlds. Game was decent until ca. the Groundbreaker. Now at Monarch, it's taking a dive. Hopefully it picks up thereafter, but the area is focusing on everything the game isn't particularly great at: - combat (enemy variety, difficulty or lack thereof, the ever present bullet sponge replacing better AI on increased difficulties) - exploration (too many reused assets for budgetary reasons -- the environment on Monarch is rather bland in general, which is a bit subjective) - looting (extra paragraph and rant added below) I guess I could just sneak around all those copypaste enemy mob grinds, but that'd just take longer. To be fair, Emerald Vale already is in parts Monarch, just compressed and (thankfully) smaller: Settlements connected by wilds filled with enemy mobs -- and a faction quest you eventually need to fiddle with to advance. That's what somebody told me before: After the first planet you'd seen everything, and then the game was on repeat. Then I went to the independent Groundbreaker station first, and was surprised that wasn't the case. Fav location so far. I'm actually not at all a fan of Bethesda games (wide as the ocean, deep as a toilet). But Skyrim you want to explore some (without that, there's not much of a game, as systems are shallow and combat basic). Don't get that on Monarch, as every corner looks (assets) and acts (loot, enemy mobs) the same, so focusing on these areas does more harm than any good. Additionally, Monarch does away with the one thing unique to the game, which is toying with the idea of how corporations governing people may treat them. --- Speaking about the loot, this isn't unique to The Outer Worlds -- general rant incoming. But I wish games would stop with randomly allocating loot and/or conveniently placing a box behind every rock. Firstly, it harms the game's fiction to have money lying around literally on the streets, the same goes for weapons (unless the game portrays a universe of total anarchy perhaps). Secondly, it turns the process of looting into something rather braindead where you routinely scan every corner as you could find something (and you WILL). Even oldschool Ultima games did that better. Or Thief, for that matter: Breaking into a castle, you were guaranteed to not find jewels in the servant quarters (unless it was stolen, which a document or dialogue would hint at). So you could think and plan ahead. Actually engaging with the game world, basically, rather than randomly checking every corner, toilet and bucket for brain goodies like a zombie. Outer Worlds is a mix: In a bar, you'll mostly find stuff to drink. But then there's randomly sitting a box containing money right on a table, and on a chair near to the bar there's lying a hacking device. Meanwhile, on a toilet, there's a gun. Reason? Unknown. It's as if there's an RNG at work tweaked to trigger pack rat instincts in players rather than a world designer working alongside to the narrative guys. It feels lazy and cheap and only put in to further stretch playing time -- e.g. wasting yours in the hopes you won't notice the "quantity over quality" approach to things.

Probably preaching to the choir here but below is a link to my New Players Guide for Deadfire. Seems like Avowed will have some tie-in's with that game so I think there will be a lot of people experiencing it for the first time. If you have corrections or feel something should've been explained better please leave a comment on the video and I'll add it to the pinned thread. Thank you! Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (New Player Guide)

While they are cutting off results of ****ty decisions, they should get rid of the focus on NFT nonsense as well 🤷‍♂️

Hm, is it just my browser or do most of my amusing links of late suddenly stop working about 2-3 days after I post them?

Also, just FYI this is on PC (Steam)

I also used to have many of the old tabletop boardgame wargames and strategy games back in the '80s and '90s, but now have just four left: Gulf Strike; NATO: The Next War in Europe; Civilization (the old AH boardgame); and, Axis & Allies. Apparently, "Gulf Strike" is the game SGS is going to be making as a video game next, after they're done with updates for "NATO's Nightmare", which is their most recent release. Used to play these games with a hardcore group of wargamers I was friends with in college. We also did a lot of TT miniatures wargaming. I used to have the rulebooks and a TON of miniatures for the Challenger 2000 system for modern land warfare. I had entire armored/mechanized/motor rifle battalions for Cold War US and Soviet armies. Nowadays I don't get to play TT anything anymore as I don't have anyone nearby with those interests. For video games I only have "The Operational Art of War IV," but unfortunately its developer, Matrix Games, has not been good at all in providing any updates or new scenarios since its initial release, leaving it up to modders to do that work. The problem for me with most existing "TOAW 4" scenarios, as with many other video game wargames, is that some 90% are WW2, and especially Eastern Front games. And the scope of those games, where you're running literally thousands of units, just feel way too overwhelming for me. I like my wargames at the operational level (so, regiments/brigades and higher), but with only a small number of units per side. But apparently, that's exactly the opposite of what most other gamers like to play, it would seem.

Sorry Obs, but I am not really interested in first person games so until we get another TTRPG from you no money from me

Well, I would not say it was much different from other Beth games. Same engine, same bugs, just in space 🤷‍♂️ They should have put it into Starship Troopers universe, at least the bugs would fit into the lore 🤷‍♂️

Which is rather unfortunate, as: RPG Codex Interview: Eric Fenstermaker on Pillars of Eternity :: rpg codex > doesn't scale to your level Almost every C/RPG outside of BG3 is on a budget in some way or another. And with RPGs in general, I feel its the worst: Also due to historical reasons, a game said to be on the shorter side risks being flagged as "sales candidate" immediately. A game shorter than ~20 hours is a complete no-go for most, no matter the quality. Whereas supposedly epics are being applauded for offering "value for money". As if being able to spend days of your life on a game was inherently value itself -- even classic 16bit JRPGs were notorious for stretching their playing time with random encounters (right up to the Final Fantasys). Gotta love the Codex review of WOTR, btw. The reviewer acknowledges all of that filler. Actually, it argues the game even doubles down on it compared to Kingmaker. But rather than burning the devs at least some for it, the review ends on this note regardless: "Hey, this game has a lot of filler routinely wasting your time. But still, if ya like that kind of thing..." 😄 The original Fallout would have a real hard time were it to release nowadays. For ALL the wrong reasons. 🤮

Razmirin Darkness confirmed. When I think about the encounters that really stick out for me it's how silly some of the bosses are kitted out and how I defeated them with spreadsheets and cheese rather than tactical challenges. After that it's getting killed by a mob whose archers gun down the back line and make me reload or red, and finally it's the small number of encounters that made me think and play tactically... which seems to go away when the party gets more spreadsheet stuff and cheesey strats. I think BG3 really knocked WotR on it's ass for me, because the Harpy fight alone is more interesting than the vast majority of non-random fights in WotR and too boot does a substantially better job at non-combat gameplay.