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Never mind the (cute, sorta amusing) meme "song" - it's what happens at 1:46 that made me snort water out of my nose.

Trump being a threat to Democracy should not be a particularly controversial statement, unless you're particularly dedicated to the gimmick of enlightened centrism. He repeatedly refused to accept the result of an election, up to and including inciting a terrorist attack on the Capitol, he tried to convince his VP not to certify the election, he said that maybe his VP deserved to be murdered for not overthrowing the election, he said he'd be a dictator, (but only on day one!) he's repeatedly cosied up to and expressed admiration for dictators, including suggesting that maybe America should have a President for life like China has, he told people that after they voted him in they'd never have to vote again. I know for some reason you are relentlessly dedicated to giving Trump the benefit of the doubt that maybe his seemingly infinite bounty of statements that reveal what a corrupt, horrible person he is actually mean something else, but just once, why not listen to what he actually says, over and over and over again?

Paradoxically, while I think Trump being dead (or just, removed from the public consciousness and discourse and with his tiny sex offending hands kept well away from the nether regions of women everywhere) would immediately make the world an immeasurably better place, I don't think politically motivated assassinations are a good precedent to set. I also don't think we need to avoid criticising fascists for being fascists just because the fascist gun loving country they've helped create might use any excuse to shoot someone. Also, while we're on the subject of gun violence, there have been 527 mass shooting deaths in the USA so far this year, and if you picked any of those 527 victims at random, I would cheerfully and without hesitation swap them for any one of the predominantly Republican law makers who consistently refuse to pass legislation restricting the sale of firearms, because maybe if the violence was happening to them they'd feel it was worth taking action.

yes every side fanatically support gun violence gun access and refuse to offer treatment for mental illness does the pretence of enlightened centrism ever get tiring

ALAN WAKE II About 5 hours in - got to play a bit with our titular protagonist. Man, I love this game so much so far. I thought Remedy found it's footing with Control, but this so far has been firing on all cylinders. I love the narrative and how they are using FMV's so far. I also love their callbacks and nods to wider "Remedy Universe". Gameplay is... servicable (very much Resident Evil2 Remake inspired, but much, much more shallow) but unlike, lets say Control, here combat and puzzles play 2nd fiddle to the narrative stuff. And with Remedy doing the narrative I can get behind it. For a game that takes soo long before you get to do "gameplay" (aka. Shoot) it's been really well paced. I heard Alan Wake II went all survival horror this time around, but outside the tense opening, I thought the game is quite similar to Alan Wake1 - armospheric but not very scary. And I am someone who quit RE2Remake, as I just didn't enjoy the tension and gore.

I don't really know. I see the value in stripping Concentration or making really really sure you interrupt.

I wouldn't argue against this. That said, it is not like you have to choose once and for all. You can keep Spearcaster most of the time and swap Scourge for the couple of fights when it could be relevant (which is probably limited to Ooze Megaboss, and maybe Belranga and her habit to stack Concentration points on her head (there might be better way, such the Tongue chant). I also like multihits weapon to guarantee hitting those obeslisks with Tranquilizing Shot, that you haven't picked, even if it does no damages). All what it costs is like 1 proficiency point anyway. By the way, does multiple Interrupt stacks ? In my understanding, only if you're close to the end of a single big recovery.

Yeah that can be true. I put a disclaimer on top of all builds so that it's clear that I mean it as an inspiration - and I left a lot of abilities without recommendation (which aren't necessary for the basic "gist" of the build) so that readers can adapt it to their liking. I hope nobody feels they have to stick to everything I did beause that's not what I want or suggest. I personally love Force of Anguish in this case - but I can see that other players might like stuff such as Torment's Reach more. I mean it is very good if you can generate lots of wounds like with this guy. And if you want to take this to a slightly different role where you engage mobs more than singular enemies (which was what I did) it could be the better ability in the first place. I also tried to spend some more wounds with Instruments of Pain (could for example skip Interrupting Blows and Rooting Pain easily for it) and then do Body Blows and Swift Flurries etc. from afar - but I didn't really use it then because it takes some time to cast+recover and that felt less fun to me in this case. Usually you'd also spend wounds for Thunderous Blows - but that's redundant bc. of Berserker Frenzy. Dichotomous Soul is never a waste - but again in this case it also didn't feel right to me. What felt right was going in hot, seeing out single casters and healers and then using FoA all the time (also playing with the direction where to push the enemies) and finishing with Hulk Barbaric Smash (often for free - amazing finisher imo). And I really, really do like my interrupts, so...

For anyone who hasn't seen it before. The sync is great. I would like one as a pet. Best top comment (imo): As a hobby electrical engineer, I can say that this is the exact reason why most chips are usually soldered in.

Thanks a lot Kvellen, it worked great Una is back, and it's retroactive.

I put together a script that'll fixes the issue. My guess is the designers for that area were just being over cautious. Most other NPCs in that area only get disabled when the quest is started proper.

Emerald Vale is the starting area of The Outer Worlds, introducing the player to the systems and the setting. The planet belongs to the Spacer’s Choice corporation, whose colony is on the brink of collapse. After discovering the body of their expected companion and going through a basic tutorial (how to hide, talk, and shoot), the player is free to explore a large map, while the main quest gently guides the story. From the local enforcement officers to the talkative and surprisingly cooperative ship AI, to the town, and beyond. Below are some observations on combat. Obsidian games are known for their engaging writing, interactive and thought-provoking stories, and intricate and well-balanced gameplay systems (that are not based on the player’s reaction time). There are quite a few essays dedicated to these aspects. Overall, the foes always fight to the death, but retreat to their area and instantly regain health if the player moves too far. The ranged human foes take cover. The melee opponents, be it animals or humans, just charge head on. When I killed two armed and armoured guards at the town entrance, the Junior Inhumer, an unarmoured civilian working nearby, whose only weapon was his shovel, continued attacking. A tutorial note helpfully informed me that the locals would forget about me shortly unless the faction reputation was “Kill on Sight.” When a non-playable character (NPC) discovers a player-made corpse, it takes them less than a minute to stop pacing and looking for the perpetrator and return to their routine. As the saying goes, “must have been the wind.” On a positive note, if the player’s character is discovered by a hostile NPC (or if the player made an NPC hostile to them), it alerts only the NPCs in the immediate area around, who could hear or see the fighting, instead of everyone on the map. It is worth mentioning that the shortcomings can be explained by the history of video games (in particular, first person shooters (FPS), action and role-playing games) and the designers’ assumptions about the players’ convenience - if the enemies tried to get reinforcements or flee and the player was interested in the experience points and loot from their bodies, chasing them would have been inconvenient, while the NPCs begging the player to spare their lives might cause the latter to think about their in-character motivation, and limiting NPCs’ attention span makes it harder for the player to lock themselves into combat-only scenarios. While there are 2 combat-related abilities, Cower (causes the foe to cover in fear for a few seconds) and Terrify (causes the foes to run away for a few seconds), that provide some variety of behaviour, they do not show the hostile NPCs as sentient beings with the self-preservation instinct or any social ties. With the in-game lore, it could be said that the NPCs are just very loyal to their corporations or fear the repercussions of the disobedience more than the protagonist, while on the higher difficulties, the combat might provide a significant challenge. Additionally, the lack of self-preservation fits perfectly well for the robotic foes, though they do not react strongly to corpses either. The region offers some variety of non-human living opponents, though they are like actual animals visually and narratively, while, as mentioned, the behaviour strongly differs. An animal would try to avoid contact with an armed and armoured human if they could, or, otherwise, to intimidate into the human into leaving, due to the likelihood of suffering injuries and being unable to provide for themselves in the event of combat, with very few exceptions (mating season, being unable to run, seeing the human as a threat to their children). In particular, canids might not look like regular fluffy dogs, but, despite the colourful scales and fins, they do resemble them, including the small ones (the teacup canids seen in the late-game areas). Many people have issues with hurting dogs in games, so it is understandable why one would want to create a dog-like hostile NPC without the negative feelings attached. Then there are sprats - cute little reptile space rats with large eyes and large ear-like appendages. I saw them escape the quarantine house in Edgewater and the guard shot them. There also were some aggressive “rabid” sprats in a house outside the town’s walls. Finally, the primals look like gorillas with fangs, but they also throw rocks (because The Outer Worlds has quite a lot of ranged weaponry for the player, every second hostile NPC must be able to shoot as well) and can dig underground tunnels. There are several areas with groups of them, but no quests attached. There are also chickens, but they are completely non-hostile. Some other animals are mentioned, but not shown in Emerald Vale - mantiqueens (giant mantis-like insects) and saltune, which is related to the one instance where Spacer’s Choice is described positively (granted, I assume the writers had thought of it as negative) - the company collects the already dead fish instead of torturing and killing living fish. As mentioned by Animal Equality UK, “wild fish often live in complex social groups, they use tools, and exhibit signs of anxiety and pain. However, fish are treated like commodities by the fishing industry.” So, the fictional evil corp managed to be more sympathetic than many real ones. Then again, piles of dead sprats could be seen at the Edgewater Cannery. As for human enemies, there are marauders, who are the guilt-free source of diverse combat encounters fitting for any player’s character since the marauders attack on sight. The Peril on Gorgon DLC sheds light on their origins, though in Emerald Vale, their behaviour does not quite match the narrative. They seem to form social bonds and hierarchies between each other and are able to tame and take care of their canids, who stay close to their handlers and show aggression only towards the player. In a side quest, a former worker NPC attempts to join the marauders’ ranks and she is not harmed by the ones around her. The marauders also are capable of planning - they laid mines around their encampment and near the back entrance to the abandoned Community Centre. Though, when the combat started, they charged right on their own mines with predictable results, then retreated when I moved slightly farther away from their camp. In terms of locations, the foes around story-significant structures are usually distributed thoughtfully and account for the more stealthy and less murderous players’ characters, while also interacting with the environment (e.g. the marauders looking at desks or sitting on chairs). On the other hand, most of the other enemies look as intentionally placed as the randomly generated camps in Dragon Age: Inquisition. In conclusion, I believe that making the NPC combat-related behaviour more realistic and diverse, while also considering the location, would increase the players’ immersion and engagement. Let the animals flee and the civilians alert the guards or just run for cover or try to surrender. The next Obsidian game, Avowed, takes place in the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity duology and has the first-person camera view like The Outer Worlds. I have heard that combat there will be unavoidable, but I hope for more complex and intelligent NPC actions. But there is another crucial technical quality of The Outer Worlds, which I would love to see in Avowed - the edition with the higher system requirements, Spacer’s Choice Edition, was cleanly separated from the base one and I was able to keep the better performing and more accessible version of the game. I would not be able to notice the 4K textures and Global Illumination nor to run the game with them on, so saving the storage space, bandwidth, and power, while enjoying the game, was most welcome. It would be great if Avowed had the VA and the 4K textures in an optional free DLC, available for the players who want it and not forced upon those who cannot use it.

Following this thread from @Okkes about the damage of Soul Annihilation There are some DoT from abilities with the same graduate damage calculation : Taste of the Hunt Wounding Shot Arterial Strike Gouging Strike Toxic Strike Strike & Ring the Bell Their damages are dynamically affected by : PL Might Weapon quality enchantment Sneak attack, Deathblow, Streetfighter passive, Backstab (unmodded) Soul Whip (and upgrades) Fighter weapon spe Great Sword modal Two-Handed passive universal damage bonuses (human spirit, Inspired Beacon, etc) like every DoT That mean, with Taste of the Hunt from a Druid-Rogue with WotEP, every enemies take a Damage over Time that scale when the striker active the modal and being invisible, for example. Afflicting them with 2 afflictions unlock Deathblow for the current effect also. With some numbers, for Arterial Strike (on a friendly target to see the damage directly) : 5.5 damages (when I striked) >> 6.7 (I active the Great Sword modal) >> 9.7 (stealth, Backstab) Switching to another weapon seems to remove the Quality enchantment bonus to the DoT, but this last go back when re-switching to the initial weapon. Toxic Strike's first DoT seems affected, but also by PEN. The Stag's Carnage (with CP and unmodded) also profit from these bonuses. Taste of the Hunt weapon attack profit from Spirit of Decay +1pen. In other hand, Soul Annihilation doesnt profit from Penetrating Vision (+1pen with cipher's spells) but only from Hammering Thoughts (+1pen with weapon).

I'm really curious how people are able to keep doing this "both sides" mental gymnastics day in and out. Like, if I imagine myself to write every day ridiculous stuff like that... it would probably drive me crazy. Not even sure if I could do it if someone pays me a lot of money for it.

Atsuko Tanaka, the Voice of Ghost in the Shell's Major, Has Died (gizmodo.com)