LadyCrimson

Thread pruned a bit. Let's try to keep it friendly and on point.

If he actually finishes all the books before passing, I might try reading them again (I read the 1st when it very first came out in paperback, and own the 2nd and 3rd but haven't read them, since I'd have to read the 1st all over again by now). But at this point I'm not going to try until I know there's actually an ending.

TOOOOO CUUUUTTTE

Aye, wasn't trying to imply you were. I'm always very slow the 1st time through any game. Whatever the "average" time is said to be to complete a game, inside my head I double or triple it, because I know that's how I am. Not sure exactly why. I'm not trying to go super slow. Just a combo of all things I mentioned above. I guess I just spend a ton of time in menus/inventory and sort of just "messing around" than actually playing in terms of progressing, if that makes sense. On repeated playthrus, if I do any, it's always much much faster of course.

I'd imagine people who stealthed everywhere and weren't using double-speed take a bit longer. At least, my time has sped up a lot when I started double-speeding it constantly. At any rate...some people (me) can take a long time making choices in convos, too. I sometimes sit and stare at the options for a long time, spacing out or just wondering which one I want to go with.

I don't know how the save files calculate "time" (eg, does it count when it's paused) but one thing I do know ... I spend an awful lot of time looking at/fiddling with my inventory, in shop windows, staring at the level-up windows trying to decide what darn thingie to choose, and of course the ever popular "walk away from the computer for semi-long periods while leaving the game loaded and still running with chrs. crouched in a corner somewhere."

^ I know! Uma Thurman. Reminds me of her. Also...I luvs ya Eder, and you're all right, Luke, but seriously. Mr Wood Beetle got the kill? Rly? No, no, I understand your beards were on fire and how distracting that can be but ... what? I should have bought you that magic gear back in Twin Elms or even Defiance Bay? Ok that's a point but you know how much that Kana eats, all that singing he does seems to make him hungry 24/7 and it's expensive keeping him fed and ... fine, fine, we'll go shopping then. But no more excuses then, you hear?

Mine aren't.

More of those guys need to be shirtless. Or wearing actual shorts instead of those boring half-pants. Just saying. Also..the woman's face reminds me slightly of someone. Probably an actress. Can't think of it offhand and it's going to drive me crazy until I go to bed...

While it doesn't bother me much, I don't really understand why the hired Inn-companions are 1 lvl behind. A balancing thing? I've had a hired Fighter since clvl 4 (so he was 3) and now I'm lvl 10 and he STILL hasn't "caught up." But he does fine even so, thus even if it's a tad annoying it's not that big a deal.

I feel much the same. The only time I've used choke points is when I told my team to "go over there" and they move to one side of the front two then jittering in place, making me realize I was in a collision choke point (despite it looking plenty wide enough for three to march through), which would make me rage a little because I'm not a very ranged-attack focused party and my Monk is useless with a bow. ...that said, if trying it solo or with just two or something, I could see it becoming much more important. But since the game was more designed around party play, I don't think it's something that needs to be changed just to accommodate people who like the challenge of solo. <---edit: did I say something made no sense? I think I need sleep.

Considering a lot of the "better" items worth buying in the stores (imo) cost 5000-10000 apiece, I don't mind at all. If you don't buy from stores much, the cash you end up with may feel excessive, but some might like to buy lots of stuff, if only to just check it out. And even then I'd find it doubtful you could buy "everything" from every single store, so... ...if you don't like it, don't pick it up.

Where's the "I haven't finished the game yet" option? ...I think my last save, on the chr. that's farthest along, said something like 51 hours. They're in early Act3 currently working on the Paths and a certain big sidequest. Haven't actually played in a couple days tho (keep intending to, then not). Based on what I've read, I'd guess if I can motivate to finish, maybe 70-80 hours.

Sure they can. You just leave the rest crouching in some dark corner, select only the Rogue and move him around by himself.

I loved TotSC ... or more specifically, I loved Durlag's Tower. Size isn't everything. ...that said, if they don't improve combat, even a Durlag's Tower might disappoint me a little, since it was the trap-filled, crazy combat that made that so fun back then, to me (a non min-max player).

^ Oh stuff like that can definitely be a chuckle. I just find it wrong to design like that. Reminds me of some RTS games where the enemy AI basically can spawn new units forever endlessly even with no resources left.

Apparently in PoE, enemies get unlimited spellcasting. Which is not noticeable when you have a full party and are using them to pick your teeth with, but go solo and you may run into amusing situations of being Halted forever. Funny, sure, but yet so wrong. Totally agree.

Ate a sandwich while trying to watch "Heaven is For Real" on Encore. I got about half way through before turning it off. I'm not religious but I can/do like "religious" (whether specific or just more of a thematic) films/mini-series as good stories - Jesus of Nazareth mini-series, Masada mini-series, some films, etc - but Heaven Is For Real is simply slow and boring. I might have liked it more if they hadn't kept doing the weird "recreations" of what the kid saw. Better if they'd kept it to him describing it, vs. showing. Greg Kinnear is always awesome as an everyman (or whatever you might want to call what he does) and Thomas Hayden Church brings a chuckle or two, but neither could keep me watching through to the end.

Spent the last hour with a cat's face resting/drooling on my chin, enduring a bit o' pain as he claw-hugged the sides of my face the whole time. In another life, he was an Alien face-hugger.

I like the one where he's riding a Ritz cracker. Don't ask me why, I don't know why, I just do.

Causes more fatigue. This failure of a post is bought to you by a cell phone browser. Yes, but unless all your parties have 0 Athletics, not enough to really matter a whole lot if you're just trying to move the clock forward 4-6 hours ... I have 3 Athletics and I seem to be able to go multiple days without Fatigue setting in. When I camp/rest, it's not because of Fatigue issues.

Level caps/reaching max level doesn't bother me in any game. Needing constant level progression is not my personal motivation to keep exploring/questing etc. I'll keep doing such because I want to see what's around the corner and "what happens", regardless. Assuming the game as a whole engages me, of course.

So I've read your Codex post on this issue and I'm coming to agree with it, to a degree at least, particularly the "No Immunities, Hard Counters or Counterspelling" section. I actually do love the game for non-combat aspect reasons, but as I get closer to the endgame of my main playthru I find myself more and more unmotivated because I'm tired of the combat. It's giving me a "sigh, another fight, get it over with" attitude. I don't really care about immunities or being able to pre-buff, per se (I'm fine with trying other/new ways instead, if they work well) but in PoE combat over the long haul - at least for a full or close to full party - starts to feel rote and tedious. It's all very same-y and wearying, outside of those few special encounters/enemies. All these different spells/talents related to protection/suppression etc. and I use none of them, either because an encounter doesn't last long enough to bother, or because there's not much need to - you'll still win. To quote from your post: Yup. It's a shame really. Combat is never my personal main criteria for enjoying/replaying a game such as this and usually I can overlook - or may not really even notice - that it's not ideal. But something just feels off in PoE. It's not engaging/complex enough to be long-term fun, for me, nor quite "mindless" enough (eg, Diablo-like with less to little micromanagment) for me to not mind that it's not complex, if that makes sense.

Outside of cheat/console commands and camping/resting at an Inn more than once, there doesn't appear to be. The only method would be to travel from a map to another and back again to waste time. Pick one that's 4-8 hours travel time, for example.

Will the expansion let your port your chr. into it? If so, the cap makes sense in that regard, because otherwise the expansion would either have to remove extra levels or you'd be overleveled starting the expansion, and people would talk about how EZ the expansion is ... Anyway, the easiest way (I'd guess) for a modder would be some kind of small blanket quest XP reduction, or a large reduction of XP gained from the bounties.