xzar_monty

Okay, finished the game now. Azata. Did a jump at the very end, I don't know if anything else was realistically possible. Heck, might as well jump, as they sing... Good game, but it does get a bit tedious towards the end, although the final conversations are good. A return visit to a certain lab sometime before that was surprising, and also good. The thing with the big demons was that they were very impressive and scary the first couple of times, but towards the end there's an overabundance of them and I sort of went ho-hum, this isn't all that great to be honest. The story can probably pan out a number of ways given your alignment, mythic path and other choices, but there's no way I'm even going to check any of that. In fact, I already uninstalled the game. Not a classic, but worth it. BG2 and PoE/Deadfire still remain the top games for me, in this genre.

I wonder to what degree PTSD and other ailments caused by war are recognized and/or treated in Russia. I really have no idea. As far as I know, there is no country that handles this particularly well (do correct me here if needed), and it's also true that modern warfare can damage the CNS to an incurable extent, but I still wonder about Russia's stance on the question.

Ha! Actually, I appreciate that. Cruel in the extreme, but funny precisely because of that. The tic-tac-toe puzzles are easy if you've played the game as a child, but the ones where you have to pair the symbols are just annoying. I mean, there's essentially nothing there to solve, you just have to remember or take notes and then join the pairs. It's not a challenge, it just takes some time. Not very good design, in my view. Also, couldn't agree more on the amount of combat in the game. Heck, here's some elementary math: do away with half of all the combat, and the game will be twice as good. Seriously.

@BruceVC: As a side note, do you actually read Milton, or did you just pick the quote from somewhere? Either way is fine, of course. Not a lot of people read Milton these days.[*] Milton also had Lucifer say "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven", which strikes me as the sort of thing that Putin might say the earthly equivalent of, i.e. with the religious references removed. [*] If memory serves, Milton is among the last English-speaking people to use the verb "fugate". It means, "to cause someone to flee", so it could be used in a sentence such as "Singing powerful religious hymns fugates the devil". This Latin-based word has almost completely disappeared from the English language, the only remnant still left is the well-known word "fugitive", someone on the run, someone who flees. All others forms are gone. Also, more unpleasant stuff from Russia:

I resorted to a guide very quickly, although not a video one. I actually wonder which percentage of players that have completed Enigma have completed it on their own. I suppose it would not be difficult, as such, but it would be extremely time-consuming and frustrating. I also turned down the difficulty. Can't see much point in all the excessive fighting anymore: I'm millions of XP points above level cap and I hardly even check the loot anymore. Heck, the fights are pure grind at this point, and I don't enjoy it. This is a good game, but obviously I'm not going to buy Owlcat products in the future (for other reasons). However, I'm still curious about the reception Enigma got and Owlcat's future response to the reception (if any).

So, I have now arrived at the Enigma. I have done exactly one puzzle so far. At this point, I'm quite prepared to bet that this is not a popular part of the game. Bygod, this looks like a long haul that is not going to have an equivalent reward at the end.

Nothing surprising about this, but it is interesting, in my view. For Russia, the war in Ukraine is not a provocation, an aggression or a war, it's just an operation, and any negative reactions to it are provocations. Reminds me of what has been said here in northern Europe: it is impossible not to provoke Russia. Whenever they want to be provoked, they will find or create something (like attack their own in order to justify an attack outside).

Just read about that, too. What exactly changed? Nothing I've read has pinpointed this.

Sauli Niinistö, the president of Finland, visited Ukraine today. He is known for being very considered in his statements, probably because of his background as a lawyer. The huge change in the Finnish stance towards Russia can be seen in this comment, coming from a man who has just visited Bucha: "We have seen the cruelty of the attackers, and the suffering of the civilians. This, however, taught me nothing new about Russia."

Politologists, not -logues. Interestingly, this word is rarely used in English.

Some footage intended as comic relief. Surely the thread can withstand it? My rarified and sophisticated impression was, like, WTF.

Some figures, with caveats, and other interesting details. @kanisatha: From what I have read, Scholz is one of those people who don't take advice and won't bow to external pressure. To what extent this is true, I don't know. (Gerhard Schröder appears to be another, and apparently a certain incapacity to self-reflection is also one of his defining characteristics. The extent of Russia's "hold" on him is an interesting question for future historians. And since @Lexx mentioned Russia and dirt, another extremely interesting historical question is that of Russia's dirt on Trump.)

To scholz, verb: "to vociferously maintain that an all-important thing must be done but simultaenously attempt to ensure it will not happen".

Interesting thread highlighting two different approaches to warfare as currently on display:

I don't know if this is a common experience, but it seems to me that the narrative kind of unravels in Act 5 -- after the Abyss, that is. Another possibility is that I haven't been paying enough attention to the lore, which, to be frank, hasn't felt all that interesting. It's rather poorly written, I would say.

Sorry, I forget: are we talking about the Czech Republic or Slovakia? I think it was one of these two. Apologies if I'm completely wrong.

Wow: the president of Serbia has asked Wagner to stop recruiting Serbians, as it's against Serbian law. Dozens of Serbs have already been convicted for fighting in Ukraine for the Russians -- but I wonder what the actual numbers are. Serbia's position is fairly complex. After all, it also wants to join the EU.

I honestly thought that after the backlash from those swarms early on in P:K, Owlcat would have decided to ditch swarms altogether. But no.

Interesting difficulty curves in the game, btw, possibly because I am certainly not a master of the mechanics. Very early on, on Core, things can be quite difficult. This is natural enough, as one Crit can easily kill, so there's not much room for error (or bad luck). But then, after a few levels, things settle down quite a bit and things get reasonably comfortable. However, once you get into the Abyss, things become quite difficult again, because many of the encounters have been designed in a rather cruel way. (Right before the Abyss, that one guy Playful Darkness is very difficult indeed and too much for me on Core.) But then, again, after the Abyss, things settle down and become easier once again, because of all the mythic powers and what have you. The main exception to this, for me, has been the big Devil guy that I couldn't deal with on Core -- with his forbidding AC and impressive saves, I thought he was one that justified turning down the difficult, again. There's way too much combat in the game, by the way. I would cut about 50% of it, perhaps even more. I understand Nenio's personal quest isn't pleasant, but I haven't got close to finishing it yet. I've got two or three masks and I've done a couple of puzzles (that are awful), but that's it.

Stuff like this in the Russian media is both hard to believe[*] and somewhat upsetting. Twitter link to a brief interview: Background on the person interviewed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Popkov [*] Conceivably, it isn't true.

Nothing, of course, as Zoraptor already said. But two asides: Temperamental differences are not irrelevant here. Christopher Hitchens, in a fairly uncommon moment of self-awareness, admitted that both arguing and winning arguments were so dear to his heart that he often continued to argue for a long time in a losing position while knowing he was irretrievably in a losing position. I also have a friend like this; it's wisest to just stop, because history has shown that the other person is not going to, no matter what. I submit it's safe to say that people like this are not unknown on internet forums, either. (Btw, Hitchens was great. But that's not all he was.) Second, when I asked about which forum members said what in the past, I certainly had no intention to start any unpleasantries between Gromnir and Zoraptor.

Ok, fair enough. I suppose I could dig some names up by going through the archived threads (if they still exist), but I am not that interested.

Who were these pundits? I'm very interested. Are they still here, perhaps taking part in the discussion?

Germany is once again creating an absolutely marvelous reputation and legacy for itself. (Which nicely highlights how all of this takes place in a historical continuum, on all sides. If only Germany could let go of some things, and if only Russia could let go of its pathological idea of exceptionalism, etc.)

Yes. I don't understand the meaning of it, either, but perhaps it's just a continuation of the game of musical chairs that Russia appears to be playing. @Gorth: That was extremely well put! Personal gain above everything else. The really painful irony here is that if the Russian army worked like a proper army, then Ukraine would have had no chance, simply given the numbers involved. So we can be thankful for the "armed medieval peasants" -- and not be, obviously. Have a look at this (the unfortunate translation of cóck is used, instead of the more unambiguous rooster): https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1613250290165157889?cxt=HHwWgsC48e2lteMsAAAA