algroth

Double the enemies would probably be a better solution than tripling the health of the enemies, but I reckon that it also starts to make certain classes far more viable than others - basically any class with single-target damage and abilities gets shafted whilst AoE casters become essential. That's another aspect to take into consideration in all discussions which is how deeply you want to cut into the breadth of viable builds and playstyles: I know Josh has been vocal before about wanting to avoid unviable builds as much as possible, and yet PotD is a mode that is clearly designed to be as complicated as possible hence requiring some metagame knowledge and so on; obviously *some* builds will fall on the wayside as unviable for PotD if the mode becomes challenging enough, but to what extent does that begin to limit a player to specific classes and playstyles and make others which other players might enjoy more a veritable dead end? For me, the quick "blanket buff" propositions often made about balancing in these threads tend to create a very determined preference to one playstyle over others, hence only really contributing to making the game more one-dimensional or frustrating more so than actually challenging.

Re-posting some thoughts from a previous thread...

They keyword in this post is POPTIMISM (vid may be a tad NSFW)

I'm still not sure what the answer to that question is... (Rumours is also fine, but no way is it one of the best albums ever made.)

Anyhow, the trailer for my most anticipated film of 2018:

Certainly not. I think we're mostly responding to the notion that either of the two Hellboy films we've so far had are 'trash'. Also we've yet to see any actual footage for the newest Hellboy so it's not like there's a whole lot to comment about regarding the reboot.

I believe the same could be said of any number of games of this ilk including Skyrim and the usual Bethesdas, but the difference comes down to how they affect the overall perception to the same. Personally I enjoyed the touches here and there, but quite frankly I still found these to feel very formulaic and repetitive what with the structure to the same being incredibly rigid and telegraphed, what with each being some very barebones variation of "find letter" - "use witcher senses" - "get loot". And much as the actual stories are on occasions nice, the loot or the overall construction of the quest hardly play upon whatever theme or story the letters support, thus making the treasure hunts play largely like a guide to randomly generated treasure and not like anything remotely compelling or with relevant content. You mention the likes of the early Fallouts or Torment but whatever quests you can find in those games, they usually don't feel as telegraphed and by-the-numbers as the likes in The Witcher 3, and more importantly in the latter case at least help inform the themes and overall point of the game by often revealing a new facet about the current incarnation or the past incarnations and thus further expanding the picture for the multiplicity of individuals the Nameless One actually embodied. Colonialism isn't some real world ****? The influence of religion and creed over culture and society isn't a theme with real world applications? There's a *lot* in Deadfire that is very real and very relevant, and most of all observed with a pretty keen attention to detail. Not sure where you live, Zaris, but I come from a former colony and current third world country and there's a *lot* of aspects regarding the clash and fusion of cultures as well as the societal dynamics that emerge from it that speak *very* closely to the real world as I see it where I live. The whole business with the Wheel isn't just some wacky high fantasy contrivance but also deliberately functioning as a - rather heavy-handed I'll admit - reference to the ongoing theme of the moral hierarchies being challenged and reformulated in light of a cultural shift away from a theocentric society into a more secular or humanist one. Most of all I believe these are themes Deadfire very deliberately wants to tackle and isn't just using as some manner of shorthand or setting spice, which is definitely how I feel it comes across in The Witcher 3 - because whilst I can broadly recognize the elements you mention I can't in any honesty say the game approaches these topics with any particular insightfulness or sensitivity, and are rather painted in very broad strokes. But, as you say, this all falls down to how these topics resonate with us and maybe you got more out of it than I did. In all honesty I have a hard time recalling some of the stories you mention above. I do believe some of the quests in The Witcher 3 are rather good and have some interesting twists to them (I do recall that plague wraith one particularly fondly), but I don't think these are as representative of the whole as you say. Most quests in the game, based on my memory, relate to contracts, and despite the occasional change on the formula like that quest early on involving the werewolf and woman's disappearance, most of them frequently boil down to very formulaic "talk to guy" - "track beast with witcher senses" - "kill beast". Meanwhile I do not agree that the choices in Deadfire were simple at all... And yet I don't necessarily use that in its favour either, because I do believe that on occasion there's a great option that could appease all parties that isn't accounted for in the options given, and thus you have to conform with one of several less than optimal choices instead. So, I'll preface this by saying that I think we're veering well outside of what I responded to originally regarding The Witcher 3, because I talk talking about quest design and whilst mood can definitely engage an audience, I do think that's not really what we were talking about before. Anyhow... As someone that loves to delve a fair bit into the more obscure and esoteric side of things, I was pretty nonplussed with The Witcher 3's mood in general. I actually liked it more when it veered away from the folk metal cod-paganism of Velen into more tried and true generic medieval high fantasy with the Novigrad and Skellige areas for example, because I felt the game felt less blunt and overwrought about it all over there. I mean, this is the game that chooses a sub-Sally Oldfield folk-pop ditty to melt the ice around Geralt's heart, you kind of get the idea of what the devs think to be edgy, and jeez does this game *try* to sell its own self-perceived edginess to us, what with the nudity and drones and body horror and paganism and whatnot. The result can be interesting and neat at times but it's never ballsy enough to be more than that, and frequently just feels cheesy instead (moreover it all feels very superficial and never really supporting what themes and ideas are in the game). I loved the feel of the first Pillars on the other hand, because I feel like it went for a more deliberately muted, longing feel and pulled it off really well, especially what with playing into this creeping apocalypse with what with the Hollowborn plague and all. At its best the music felt very reminiscent of Olivier Messiaen or Michael Nyman, and that couldn't be higher praise far as I'm concerned. The darkness is all in the undercurrents and it felt very effortless and genuine to me, it's what immediately drew me in and what I still find the game holds over many other more generic fantasy RPGs. It also may have done too good a job so as to set some very specific expectations for a sequel, so Deadfire on the other hand has its host of issues and inconsistencies regarding tone to my mind - I feel like it doubles down on the high fantasy stuff and that often feels at odds with the remnants of the first Pillars' feel. I went a little more into detail on another thread. Regardless, when it works I do think it can be incredibly evocative, yet again managing to capture the right transcendent feel to lend its main quest the kind of otherworldly gravity it seeks. Generally speaking, keep in mind that I liked The Witcher 3 a lot - I think there are moments that I definitely like and would see the points you mention, just not in a comparison with the Pillars games which to me are on a whole other level. But as you say, it's all a matter of opinion and personal preference/experience.

Might just be me, but whilst I enjoyed The Witcher III just fine I cannot agree with any of the above - I never felt invested in the story, never felt a reason to care, and frankly outside a quest or two none have really left an impression on me. No quests are like Pillars' barrage of fetch quests? Huh? What of all the utterly standard contracts and treasure hunts littered throughout the maps? The Witcher III felt like a step or two above Skyrim content-wise for certain but it still had that "randomly generated quest" feel to much of the content that populated much of the game's superfluously open world. Deadfire sure isn't perfect and there's a big problem at its heart which is that it heavily relies on a sense of urgency to engross the player whilst having it be directly at odds with all the open exploration that is encouraged elsewhere, but man, at least there's some interesting themes and ideas brought forth throughout; and in terms of quest design it's a beast. But the former can definitely be levied as a criticism against The Witcher III, whilst presenting none of the latter to engage in some other fashion instead.

Boeroer's just roleplaying a Nalpazca monk, just chill man.

No chance, it's one of the finest, most creative and *human* superhero films of all time. Great stuff.

#JustSonicThings

Marty Balin https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jefferson-airplane-guitarist-marty-balin-dead-76-730912/

I also recall many people comparing his transformation from The Machinist to Batman Begins at the time to De Niro's own from Taxi Driver to Raging Bull. Thing is, De Niro transformed himself for that role over the course of three years, Bale did so over the course of six months. Also he says he's basically done with these extreme transformations now, as it's becoming harder and harder for him to do such things without seriously endangering his health.

So... Since I began streaming on Twitch last year I've played through the following RPGs as per the following order: Tyranny, Transistor (if it qualifies), Planescape: Torment, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity, The Witcher 3, Baldur's Gate II, Deadfire, and currently Neverwinter Nights 2 (Mask of the Betrayer at the moment). Of all of these... Actually Pillars stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of my experience with combat, and Deadfire even in its release form is likely second. Thing is, though, I can't really tell if Deadfire is worse because of any changes implemented to the core mechanics, or if it's simply that the encounters were generally too easy and made combat fairly straight-forward as a consequence. I had the same issue with Tyranny too - mechanically it all by and large feels good and comfortable but at the same time there's nothing that was really challenging enough to push my standard approach to every fight, so it became more of an autopilot spamfest, but whether that's the issue of sheer mechanics or encounter design, I don't know but I'm honestly leaning more on the latter, primarily at least. I think Pillars was definitely better in this regard inasmuch as not only did combat feel good and fun (at least in the latest versions of the game), but were also challenging enough to really force one to consider their strategies and also enhance the story by essentially showing that whatever big bad you were facing at any given time were actually genuinely fearsome. I still recall the first time I faced the two Eyeless at Adaryc's camp, I died six times before I could scrape my way past the encounter, and to then be immediately met with a vision of *hundreds* of these, well... That's scary. There was no such enhancement to be had in Deadfire, sure I wiped a couple of times but with a few tweaks in my strategy that was that. But on the plus side there was nothing that grated the way the worst aspects of combat in the IE games, Tides of Numenera or, gods, Transistor or Neverwinter Nights 2 did, so it was all passable enough for me. The other thing is, I'm not the kind of player who enjoys combat in general all that much, at least not in RPGs. I don't mind it and I certainly like a good, challenging fight, but it's not gonna be an aspect that'll typically sway me one way or the other about a game too strongly. In this regard I far prefer dialogue encounters, puzzles, and other alternative forms of gameplay to straight-out combat. So when I'm given a game like Deadfire where I can actually stealth my way across entire dungeons and actually arrive to neat little encounters and details that recognize this sort of choice on my behalf, that's even better for me. Gameplay-wise I can only really wish the combat to be harder, regarding Deadfire, but that's just combat, i.e. one aspect of gameplay, and to be honest I think that as a whole, what with the stealth system and approach to scripted interactions and ship mechanics and sheer plethora of action choices and quest paths and so on, the game did a great job.

Ouch, sorry! I though I was being general enough to not really spoil anything. Hid the bulk of my post.

A couple of personal thoughts about the subject at hand based on my experience during my single playthrough so far... For me the fun of the Baldur's Gate games came more from how the game immersed me into its world and less about how it engaged me through its themes and directly made me a participant in whatever debate it was willing to have. The latter is the experience of a game like Pillars, or like Torment or Mask of the Betrayer for other examples, and I love that because I feel it's a distinctly "Obsidian" experience within the broader videogame scene today, as far as I've played at least. Deadfire doubles down on the former aspect and executes it brilliantly but I feel that in some way the latter isn't as present or as successful as it was with its predecessor(s) and in that I can't help feel a little disappointment.

Never liked this guy. He's like my high school literature teacher: bound and determined to read more into entertainment than there actually is. Or maybe he's just expressing what the games say to him in very eloquent fashion, based what is in them regardless of specific authorial intent (even though on several occasions throughout the video he goes into detail about the making of and actual statements made by the games' devs).

****ing YES

That's a problem? Also 'purple prose' is gradually becoming the pseudo-critical term par excellence to dethrone 'plot hole'.

Charles Aznavour... 94 and still touring, what a beast. RIP

Not sure how I feel about the colourization as a technique in general, but that could be interesting.

We've discussed this a bit in other threads, but as far as I'm concerned the lack of a relevant risk or penalty really makes the whole resting mechanic redundant. When you can virtually rest anywhere at any time there's no reason why you'd ever make sure you were using what spells and abilities you needed only, since in the end resting is merely a button away. I think that of the IE games and its spiritual successors, the only one which seems to have found a proper risk to resting is actually Mask of the Betrayer, whereby the spirit-eater mechanic presented a very convincing reason to why you would want to avoid resting as much as possible, and therefore made resource management relevant again. Beyond that, the only real incentive I've usually come across is more oriented to in-combat resource management - e.g. using all your AoE burst against a team with plenty of healing from the very get-go might be a bad idea if it's not enough to drop the healers and so on, and you might want to keep hold of them till after the opponents lose access to those resources and so on. In which case, per-encounter resources is really all that is needed. Generally speaking I find that the fans of vancian casting are usually either fans of the tabletop games or the more determined IE traditionalists... But in the latter case I've always viewed the application of vancian casting in those games to be akin to an appendage left from the haphazard translation of tabletop mechanics to a videogame medium, whereas with regards to the tabletop experience the act of resting was usually mediated by a party and a human DM and where time and many other menial parts of life aren't necessarily as abstract as with videogames, in my experience anyhow. If the application of resting and vancian casting is applied the way it was with the IE games and Pillars, I don't see why one can't merely automate it and how that wouldn't just be another quality-of-life enhancement the way getting rid of inventory management and the likes have as well.