Guard Dog

Personally I thought PoE was just outstanding. It did something no other game since ever did; for a moment recaptured that sense of magic I once found in a RPG. Heck Skyrim never did that and I loved Skyrim. The story and characters just pulled me in. It was a game I could play for hours withoit realizing it had been hours. BG 1&2, FO2, IWD & Torment were all like that for me.

What did you think of PoE then?

Well, Baldur's Gate got me though my biggest crisis. I lost my business and my marriage back around when BG2 came out and to say the very least, I was not dealing with it well. I discovered BG 1 & 2 and for six months or so it provided me with the kind of distraction I needed to get through all that. And it was a lot cheaper than a psychiatrist. Jahiera & Khalid, Minsc & Dynaheir, Imonen and all the others were better friends that the actual humans I was dealing with back then! Of course considering that sorry lot of a------s that isn't a high bar to leap.

99.9% of elections in the US are done with little waiting and no problems. What problems there are are often blown out of proportion or made up completely to cast doubt on the process, usually by the losing party.

WoD if it looks like Hillary is going to win this thing coupled with the high degree of certainty that Senate will change hands (the fact the GOP is defending more blue state seats than the Democrats red state makes for unfavorable math) Merrick Garland may be the best candidate we can hope for. He's a bit in the mold of Stephen Breyer. A reliable left wing vote to be sure but not a liberty hating fanatic like Kagan, Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens or a few others of recent memory. If Hillary wins and has the Senate Garland will not be the nominee. It will be someone in the Ginsburg mold (Ginsburg was HER idea from the get-go). Most Supreme Court Decisions don't have far reaching implications because the cases that they hear are usually based on a contention on one narrow point of law. Landmark cases like Kelo v. New London or DC v. Heller are the exception, not the rule.

You ALMOST did it. You almost got through an entire post about libertarian ideas without snark. But in the end you just couldn't help it. Oh well...

I don't know how y'all do it. The story doesn't exactly change noticeably if you make different choices. I can never actually get through new play throughs because no matter what type of different character I make, it results in pretty much the same path to the end. Oh the game itself does not lend itself to a lot of replay. The story is the story. It's not like it has multiple endings the way many games have now. But I have done it is some different ways that keeps the combat aspect fresh for me at least. Different tactics and party make up. I ran through once with all ranged fighters. I did it one with only thieves and I even tried it solo once. That guy was a bad MF but couldn't get past the last fight with big brother. BG2 is a little better because changing party members changes the game a little. But it's definitely still dated. Even the EE version. But I can't explain it. There is just something about it that brings me back. I've seen every episode of Cheers & Seinfeld and hundred times each and I can still laugh at them even now. It's like that.

Rand Paul was my first choice but as Namutree alluded to he sabotaged himself. He is not a traditional Republican and that was his appeal. When he tried to re-invent himself as one he became just another fish in the dirty water. Mitt Romney was a bad idea in 2012, he would be a worse one in 2016. The Republican base may hold their nose and vote for Trump, but they were NOT going to suffer Democrat-Lite. And that is exactly what MR is. I think it might be a good idea for the Senate to reconsider Merrick Garland. I don't like him but he may be the least bad of the alternatives. Seeing the SCOTUS becoming a bastion of leftist thought really terrifies me. More-so than the Executive or Legislature. We'll get an opportunity to throw them out every so often. But Supreme Court justices are in a position to do real and permanent harm to our country. And those who favor the left never come down on the side of the individual when the power or influence of the government is at issue. For the most part the law is the law and there isn't much wiggle room in the interpretation. But is some cases, Kelo vs. New London for example the leftists have shown they are willing to bend it into a pretzel to make the outcome suit their preferences.

I think she would be very beatable had the GOP managed to produce one serious, legitimate candidate that 1) had a brain 2) knew how to use it 3) had convictions and stood by them and 4) had not already pissed everyone in the country off. Unfortunately they had no one like that so they nominated Trump. I seriously cannot remember a choice between two more despicable human beings. I Warren Harding were resurrected and ran for a second term I'd rather vote for him.

As great as the show is, and episode 7 notwithstanding, it is great it can't touch the books. There is so much more story in the books. None of this has made it into the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH6E6jyUSBc

What does it tell you about the state of gaming when we always end up back at Baldur's Gate every few years? It's like that old girlfriend you just can't get out of your system and every so often you find yourself back at her place.

Condolences Tale.

Speaking of missing characters, we haven't seen YOU around much!

Exciting? The next president will be a big government authoritarian who respects neither the limits of their office nor the rights and individual liberties of the citizens. I don't give a flying f--k on a rolling doughnut the race, religion, or ethnicity of the person elected to lead this country. I do very much give a f--k about what they see the proper role of the government both here and abroad. And with a choice between Clinton or Trump is a choice of on kind of bad, one kind of oppression or another. No sir. This is not exciting. Far from it.

And who is it putting a gun to the head of the "business that only cares about dollars"? The government that only cares about dollars. It gets those dollars from those very businesses you want it to protect you from. I've said it a million times, I'll say it again. The largest corporation in the world could not take one penny from my checking account without my permission. The smallest government right here in Tipton County TN can take all of it along with my home, freedom, and my very life. Who should I really be afraid of here. By itself the government is a much bigger threat than any corporation. And if the corporation is using the government to do it's dirty work the government is still the threat.

It's EE with no mods. I've never gone start to finish with one PC. I'd like to do that and do it with no resurrection. If a party member dies, sorry about that. Also no dual classing, although I seldom dual class a character. I've played most of the other kits. I found the Monk to be the most frustrating because until level 13 they are utterly helpless. But I did get a QP kill on Firkraag which was very cool. The one I like the best was Archer. In any pack of enemies you can half of them cleaned out in the time it takes them to close the distance to you.

This sad mess encapsulates in a nutshell one of the reason why I believe the Libertarian philosophy is right. It is not because LP politicians would be better or more moral. To be sure they would not. It's because it acknowledges what we all know; most if not all politicians are villains. They are amoral, vain and venal people to whom no power should ever be entrusted. But grubby jobs begat grubby people and someone has to administrate the few things the government is supposed to do. But we are all safer when their power and consequently their ability to do harm is kept to a bare minimum.

They are almost making it sound like Bernie will go 3rd party. That would be crazy. Clinton clearly has the edge over Trump, but that would shake it up tremendously. It would definitely add to the circus element we've got going.

Apparently after one alcohol fueled incident too many all Navy personnel in Japan have been forbidden to drink booze or even leave their base. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article82055572.html The article specified Navy so I guess Marines were exempt. Sailors can't handle their liquor anyway. Probably just as well. Having been there myself I can tell you no booze and base restrictions and those 6 Marine Corps bases would be boiling pots of trouble in a month! The Shore Patrol will be busy as hell!

Well she couldn't do it honestly (pledged delegates) but she did do it (via superdelegates). Hillary has crossed the finish line. It would be amusing if Bernie wins California but it really won't matter. Actually it wouldn't have anyway. The fix was always in on this one.

It has been a hell of a long time since I did "D&D math". Originally I was just going to specialize my K in two handed swords because there are a few good ones. But although K's get great THAC0 bonuses they only get speed factor bonuses with specialization slots.So I got to looking. Katana's are out. Not enough good ones in the game. But short swords however...With the extra Speed Factor (best for any 1d6 weapon) plus the K's bonuses to THAC0 & damage and dual wielding it comes out like this: Level 15 2H Swords with max damage = 2(10 + 4 + 3) = 34 damage per round. Short Swords dual wielded is 3.5 (6 + 4 + 3) = 45.5 per round. But after 2 rounds the K will have attempted 4 hits with the 2H sword but 7 with the dual wield short swords. Dual wielding smaller weapons s definitely the way to go. And that is not even cheating.

Agreed. I would add how terrible Jon's regression as a character is. The former Lord Commander that defended the wall against the Wildlings with a far smaller force, infiltrator of the Wildlings, survivor of the ranging north of the wall isn't capable of making eye contact with a 10 year old and can't show any backbone against a Glover. sarcasm/ Ned Stark's "son", indeed. /sarcasm. Even more strange is he just had a convincing speech to gain the Wildling support to take back Winterfell. It's wishy washy at best, and terrible writing at worst. I'm leaning toward the worst case scenario. Arya gets stabbed 4 times and walks it off. Silly. What a waste of Ian McShane, and a horrid use of the Meribald character to boot. All around a dissatisfying episode. The best part was the Blackfish, IMHO. The are really trying to beat the Starks down this season. As if the past 5 seasons weren't enough. I guess it will continue until episode 9 or 10, and it will turn it around or the cliffhanger will give hope for a brighter tomorrow for the Starks. It's getting trying either way. Also, the preview for next week... Book Jaime > TV Jaime. He needs to get a spine when it comes to Cersei. I'm tired of his Cersei worship already. Edit: Jon name dropped Manderly a few times. That means he will likely show up. My fingers are crossed he retains his character in this. I hope he gets his speech with Davos. One of the best parts of the 5th book IMHO. I couldn't have said any of this better.

The Padres traded James Shields to the White Sox for a few prospects of middling value. I guess they have hung it up for the year. It was cool to see former Ray BJ Upton steal home. That guy was always quick. Too bad the bat cooled off.

The sad thing is most of the prime triggers of 1927 WERE fixed in 1932 & 1934. Then starting with Carter, Clinton, & Bush II they were all undone. I don't recall who came up with the quip "those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it" but he wasn't referring to being held back a grade in school.

Hillary gets another endorsement: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/145456082991/my-endorsement-for-president-of-the-united-states Not quite "damning with faint praise" but close!