Eumaios

Grrrrr Minecraft. I was trying to build a huge island and I was going to name it with lava filled glass columns for my niece (Which is bloody time consuming). So I build a diamond mine at the bottom of a mountain and created a loooooooo ooooo oooong tunnel with a gentle slope up to sea level. All straight from the mine to the sea and then I made an underwater tunnel that went out into the ocean and then up into an island, all while trying not to drown. I get the glass tunnel built, all underwater, and create the island and start building up. Dark oak steps up the side of the rail I'm using, stone slabs, diorite, granite, thematic places, even glass for a valley area that dips to about sea level between mountains so people can see the monsters running around aimlessly. I need to get a few more mats to finish up everything and I decided to create a third netherportal to take me out far from my home base on the surface. I thought I was careful enough, but accidently mined nethercrack from under myself and fell about 50 stories. It was quite a while before my guy went splat and died. Ho hum. Start again.

I think we should just state our biases up front. I don't like the monk and paladin just 'cause I don't like monks and paladins in my games. On the other hand, I always play a mage if I can, so Ezren will always get the nod. So, with that said.... I also don't like the tier system, so I'll just rank the characters. On legendary without switching anyone in later scenarios: Amiri has a great ability to move people, but even starting on legendary without getting good loot on people first, legendary move restrictions are not all that and a bag of chips. They shouldn't be. Anything that makes a character a must have means the design is bad, either from paizo or Obsidian. Still, she can pack a punch, and that's good. Ezren he has his good days and his bad days, but he packs a hell of a punch, keeps the spells cycling, and is key to clearing certain locations really quickly. Harsk is basically the guy who makes everyone shine all the time. Yeah, in tougher scenarios, that means he comes to his own turn devoid or low on cards, but that's because he's meant three or more combat rolls went my way. He is simply the best support character in the game at deck 1-1. Kyra is over-rated on her heals, has low combat utility in melee, and unless she's the only healer in the group, she steals good wisdom divine wisdom combat spells from people who shine better overall. If it weren't for the subtext of her homo-erotic relationship with Meri, she would have no utility in a great game with the sole exception of her undead ability to kill off that undead banshee bitch in deck 2. Lem is an egotistical runt, but he gets to his healing spells and then can keep them on hand readily. Yeah, he's not a great combat closer, but he's vital in some scenarios where card attrition is the name of the game. I love the little guy, even if I don't particularly like his singing. Lini is the best overall check value character in the game. Her animal companions give her increasingly huge boosts for most thing. She falls way short as a reliable source of damage output, but her ability to scry or augury cards to the top or bottom of the deck make that less of an issue. Meri is a good character made great by one thing: evade. Other than that, she's not that great at offense. At least, I get proximate combat scores with other characters with less development and card attrition. I still love the homicidal wench, probably because she reminds me of my first wife. Also, with her dexterity and bumps to close locations later, I do like having her around in most parties. The three dread S's now. Sajan is a monk. The only thematic character I hate is the monk class, so I won't even pretend to give him a fair shake. Haven't played enough to evaluate in any meaningful way. Seelah is a great character. I think her location cycling is over-rated, but I've played with her enough to appreciate ability when I see it. Still think she' mediocre on support, heals, and clutch combat roles, but I can understand why some folks swear by the wench. Seoni... I don't hate her concept. Having played Ezren and Seoni, I think of her as my backup arcane caster, but if I have a 'backup' arcane caster, I'd rather it be Lem. The little runt can cast arcane spells pretty well, can take arcane non-combat checks fairly well, heal, and that ho-hum ability to help character at his location that isn't all that in the early decks is sweet in some tough legendary spots later. Finally, Val. I love Val. I didn't use to love the big lug, but here goes: He's got great character in cut scenes. his interplay with Lem is fun. By recharging/reshuffling, he doesn't have to keep a bunch of extra weapons on hand, he's got at least some minimal charisma support, and his combat bonus to characters at his location comes in handy at some of the harder scenarios. Having played both in 4 and 6 character parties, there's no doubt I would take Val over the other melee heavy hitter, Amiri. She can move people, but in the really tough scenarios Val can help his buddies put the hammer on bad guys. I don't think I missed anyone, but I beg pardon if I did.

You're thinking of the Comeback. It was actually a wild card game, where Buffalo was *down* 32 points against the Titans (probably still called the Oilers at this time)...and ended up coming back to win it in overtime. That's it! My life partner hates football and so I've seen four or maybe five games over the past couple of decades. I sometimes come to sites like this that allow me to follow the sport vicariously through people like you. Oh well, incredible game anyway.

That's right. Got caught up in the moment because now that you've said that the offense never even had to do a damned thing for that TD. What about Edelman's catch? I turned to my buddies and said, "the Falcon's are going to burn a time-out contesting that call."

Aside from the lefts suicide pact in their vendetta against Trump, the game itself was fascinating. It reminds me of the AFC championship game where Buffalo was up by something like 30 points and ended up losing. That was during the dark years for the AFC, so it didn't matter who won, the NFC was going to get the trophy. Still, to be up by 25 points in a Super Bowl and end up losing? To give up 19 points in the fourth quarter? I mean, I know Brady likes to start slow in the Super Bowl, but That's just insane. ...And there wasn't some definitive 'call' that the Falcons can pin on the refs. The ones I saw made sense. Where all the calls perfect? I don't know, but none of them were crazy. Great plays on both sides, of course. Ryan brought the goods. Sure he was shut out of the first and fourth quarter, but the offense got four touchdowns and, if they'd just won the coin toss, the Falcons could have been soaring right now instead of looking like winged goats. Love or hate him, Brady is quite probably the best quarterback in NFL history and certainly bears up under pressure. Considering his inclination to go scoreless for so long in these championship games, maybe he needs it to perform.

It's over. Best super bowl evar!

Good Lord, the humanity!

Not everyone. but it is popular here. on a different night, I would have said, 1. PST 2. New Vegas 3. MotB In fact, on most nights, I would put New Vegas above anything other than PS:T.

I think it's perfectly legitimate that the PC doesn't have a deeply 'personal' attachment to all the NPCs. There should be an assortment of motives and desires (romantic, sexual, practical, vengeful, etc.) that lead the NPCs and the PC to join paths. On the other hand, I think joining the party because you've got a vendetta against PC unbeknownst to him counts as 'deeply personal.' I also think that keeping company with someone you detest just because he can get you to the gold is also personal in its own way.

Aw, pound sand, Flounder, ya bastard! Tell your bosses to get to crackin' on the next boxed set. It wouldn't be an Obsidian game if it weren't a brilliant game plagued by bugs anyway. I seriously hope that we get more content from you guys soon. I'm a real sucker, so I'll be alongside Chris buying the steam version, but I would really much rather drop my coin on Skulls and Shackles.

I'll blame this on the time and my mental state and other factors, but I'll actually answer this one. Plus, I always want to feed the beast, even if I generally don't. I'll even be a nice guy and not include non computer RPGs, since you didn't specify. 1. Planescape: Torment 2. for simple fun factor, I would include the gold box SSI games, and since Pool of Radiance was the first one as I recall, I'll name that one 3. To keep it fresh, I'm going counter-intuitive and name one that folks might argue is *not* an RPG, but I think the RPG aspects of Sunless Sea actually put it in that category. In reality? Too many RPGs I've played and loved over the years to come up with a definitive list. Since I've played it, PS:T would always be number one, but I also enjoyed so many of the RPGs over the years. From Temple of Apshai in the distant past to Wasteland 2 more recently. I also pledge for the Torment game but I don't want play it until the official release date and I've gotten to be quite confused with the whole Steam thing. Anyhow, enough late ngiht rambling on my part.

After my dreadful experience in the nether trying to make a fully functional piston elevator only to fall to my inglorious demise (really should have tried it when it wasn't so far up and such a long way doooooooooooown), I'm going a different route. Literally the train to nowhere. Complete with an underwater tunnel to my own man made island. Diamond mine to isle o' mine with an extremely gentle uphill slope and a lot of power rails.

With his d8 and dex bonus, he's not a slouch when it come to damage output, but he's not stellar either. What Harsk is for me is the ultimate support character. He doesn't shine on his own nearly as much as part of a group. However, depending on the mix, the advantage he conveys can be mitigated or even nullified. This is especially true on some of the legendary scenarios where the party must essentially stay in one group to progress each location in order. Also, sadly, the last scenario robs him of his close support artillery ability. So, in some cases, he really could be part of a worst group ever. I think, Sir Real, you should differentiate between worst party for basic and worst for legendary. The damage to overcome bad guys isn't nearly as great on basic and so a character can more often knock off a boss without Harsk supporting as sniper. In legendary, some of the henchman and boss fights require a kitchen sink approach to make certain defeat turns into plausible and plausible into a good chance or even certain victory. Things like that staff of hungry shadows, a fully charged sniper shot, a maxed out val ability, etc. really make a difference in those situations. But, yeah, I agree that I bring my prejudices and they're not always based on the mechanics. I don't like monks my RPGs, so I *know* I haven't given the monk a fair shot. Although, to be fair to myself, I don't like his mechanics either, which means I haven't been drawn to experiment with them.

"And feel free to add your 'nerdy' input -- we are waaay beyond that threshold here" made me laugh out loud. Hopefully some other folks join the discussion.

Let's say you shelled out more money for the card game and finished it. What's the incentive to continue then? Let's say you finished any other computer game or app you play. What's the incentive to keep going then? I've played *a lot* of this app. It's probably the game I've played most over the past several month, mostly because of the convenience of playing whenever I wanted without have to set up, schedule, or otherwise arrange a physical card game with friends. I can play it easily on the road, unlike the computer games I've played. I've also finished it. Yeah, I want more content. Specifically, I want them to do the other boxed sets. However, I got my money's worth and that's all I think anyone has a right to ask. people will ask for more, of course, but Obsidian delivered on the game. Complain about the uneven roll-out. Complain about the apparent the dearth of recent interaction, if you must. Complain about bugs. Fair enough, it's like a plague of locust unseen since the Lord unleased his vengeance on ancient Egypt. However, complaining that there's nothing to do but replay after you've finished the fine game that has a hell of a lot more content than the board game on release? bullocks! on the other hand, to be fair to the first guy posting, one can take his question at face value and I firmly believe we should be charitable in how we read these things. If you don't want to try new parties, higher difficulty, or novel or self-imposed approaches, the answer is asked and answered. You'll have to wait and hope for more offerings in the future.

I like your list and I was going to discuss each bullet point in depth, but that just seems too nerdy. My one golden rule is: all things being equal, basement always beats ceiling damage with the exception of: 1. -1 to each die roll, where the basement damage can be greatly lowered depending on the number of dice you're rolling. Having a good bunch of larger dice types helps get past the disadvantage. and 2. The scenario where all 1, 2, and 3 rolls are treated as zero. That really bites. I would also point out that some characters recharge rather than discard and Val can reshuffle which is even better. Discard values mean a lot more when you know you're going to recharge your weapon after battle. Reshuffle isn't as vital, but it is a way to make sure you don't end up with all of your weapons at the bottom of your deck. Some monsters need fire, which you've cited already. On the other hand, while it's not that big of a deal at first, the whole last deck is filled with henchmen who are immune to a couple big damage types. That great big shocking two handed sword isn't worth it for Val as far as I'm concerned. Has great upper threshold, which isn't as important as making sure you've got the minimum value anyway but, even worse, you can't use the discard ability against a ton of monsters. Force, brother, is the way to go. Poison, on weapons, is not. Too many undead throughout the game. However, even so, having one or two poison weapons isn't so bad as long as you've got other weapons. You'll still get the base damage. You just lose the opportunity to discard for greater output. For melee, there're at least a scythe and a falchion that have a ton of small die that turn 4s into... 6s? I can't remember exactly, but the upshot is that they're great weapons. Still, a lot of 4s is good because you're guaranteed a good basement, but you don't have a lot of room to play with the ceiling with a bunch of d4. You can't always make success certain and enough larger dice make technically uncertain rolls almost certain. I've virtually never missed where I calculated the chances of missing as so statistically implausible that it wasn't worth worrying about it. I say virtually because I can't remember one, but one may have occurred. I have, on occasion, missed rolls that I was reasonably assured a positive outcome. Nail biters where I just couldn't see using the resources to make the roll certain have often gone against me. I've played through with sinper Harsk with and without the weapon recharge ability and, in my opinion, recharge is simply the way to go. However, and this is also something you cited above, the extra die on discard is strength on a some ranged stuff, particularly bows, which means a lot less to our dwarvish friend. Anyhow, gone on for some time, hopefully at least somewhat cogent.

As one citizen of this ghost town to another, I would say that theoretically Lem and either Harsk or Meri. His ability can help someone at his location. Harsk can help someone at a different location and Meri is seriously diminished by someone at hers. Surprisingly, I find Val's special help ability is sweet. I don't put people together a lot, but plenty of times the game throws characters into the same location. Most notoriously the last scenario makes both Harsk and Meri less useful, although Harsk is so absolutely splendid in the vast majority of scenarios that he might very well be my favorite character. Val is great and has a hell of a lot more character than the barbarian. I know some people fawn over her move ability, and I would probably come to love it I played with her long enough to use it more often, but the legendary move restrictions are a not an insurmountable obstacle. In a couple of places they really bite when the player is forced to go through in a specific order. Even then, since people get bunched, Val's bonus is nifty. It's a significant difference in damage output even in high difficulty fights. So, I guess my worst party, theoretically, would be Harsk, Lem, Kyra, and Lini. That's because, if you end up going divine with Harsk, you've got four people fighting over great divine spells and a serious damage deficit compared to other parties. I did take a six character party up through the end of deck 3. It had Ezren, Amiri, Seelah, that chump of a monk, Lini, and Kyra in it. I know it's probably my play style that made it suck so bad, but it did suck a lot for me.

I actually envy people who can come up with great questions for things like that. I just never know what to ask. Partly because I'm happy to leave it up to the developers, but also partly because I'm thinking so much ahead to playing the game that I lose sight of the fact that they're still making it. Anyhow, thanks for sharing.

I might actually scrape up some cash to pledge in that case.

I've heard the same argument for any number of things in a game. To wit, why do you care if someone else gets this thing you don't want? The thing is, romances won't exist in a vacuum. Even if the developers are deft, the romances will be part of the fabric of the game. Moreso if the developers put any effort at all into it. I don't want someone other poor bastard to be denied his or her romances in a computer game. It's just that I don't want to deal with them myself. Different people want different things from their gaming experience. I'm just advocating for my own desires. That said, I don't demand realism, merely believability. I won't hate romances if they're not in my face all the time. In fact, under some circumstances, I would even 'love' romance in the game. Hell, I had no sexual desire for Dak'kon in PS:T. However, if the devs had put in the opportunity for the Nameless One to develop a romantic relationship with someone he already knew intimately on a personal level, I don't think I would have hated it. I was kind of goofing around about Anna before, but I did enjoy the purely sexual tension. It didn't need to be resolved by an actual sexual encounter. The hint heat, the arousal of physical interplay between the characters sufficed. I'm not goofing around at all when I say, have the character develop a romantic involvement with... whatever the she was in Pillars... the sentient chair that ran the keep. Sure, achieving sexual satisfaction for yourself might be hard, and damned near impossible for a talking chair, but it could provide possible levity on one arm and perhaps have tidbits of meaningful dialogue on the other. I was mostly serious about the Devil of Caroc. Have a romance with her. The situation need not be realistic, and even make it idealized to some extent, but do it with art. Do it with vision. It's not chopping down trees. It's hand carving furniture. Or have a more or less conventional romance with between to heterosexual adults. Just use a little finesse is all. Good better best, forget romance and have flirtation that has that the piquancy of a purely sexual relationship and have the possibility of it becoming a real loving relationship over time. It's not that I hate the idea of romance. I just think of the game as a fine dish and the romance, if there need be one, should be crafted with just as much skill. Don't serve a wonderful meal on your splendid china and then have the guests eat it with plastic sporks.

Some homie up above said that people didn't want a 'believable' romance. Instead, he claims, they want idealized romances. He could be right. I can't speak for what 'people' want. I guess I could if they all told me and I trusted they were telling the truth. I can only say what 'I' want. There's no TEAM in I, unless maybe you're schizophrenic. So, what I could stomach is a romance that is perhaps idealized, but believable to the degree that it isn't offensively silly. Some other homie up there talked about having one romance crafted into the story. I agree with that entirely, which I guess means at least two 'people' could live with a romance that wasn't some half-assed tacked on politically correct hodge-podge of crappy gifts, cartoon hearts over characters' heads, and teen fantasy fade to black moment. Put in a romance like the Nameless One had with Annah. He didn't get a lot of action, but they sure did generate a lot of heat. Kind of reminds me of my first marriage... on both counts. That or Deionarra. No action at all, but at least you know she's not cheating on you.

If we're naming after bands, I would suggest Pirate Queen. Maybe light opera? The Pirates of Penzance! Frederic's Bawdy Band! Combine them even? Frederic's Band of Bawdy Queens!

Ohh, this is for a forum badge. I got this mixed up with what the pirate band was going to be named. Makes my comments irrelevant. Assuming they were not already so.

I've been kind of following this from afar and as an outsider, I can only ask, do you want your band to sound like a sports team... that loses all the time? The Obsidian Pirates sounds like a AAA team for the Padres, something else I wouldn't name my pirate band. I haven't spent any money, so I don't get a vote, but I think names that describe your band would be preferable to things like 'the Obsidian [name of mascot here].' Except for the Obsidian Flag. For some reason, probably the novelty, that isn't as irksome. Huzzah! My choice is tied for lead... at one vote each for three different names.

One thing to keep in mind about Pillars, which is like a lot of old school games, including Baldur's Gate, is that the order in which you attempt different areas has a tremendous impact on the difficulty. The game itself isn't super hard. It has some tough fights, but I think most of them are reasonable. However, by judiciously deciding where to go and when, you can either make everything a lot easier for nice smooth run or create more challenge. I would go take a look at the white march when it opens for you, and you'll know, but I would give it a few levels before you make a determined foray. Then, if you finish the White March, some areas of the main path will also be a bit easier, and that will be true whether you go early or not. I should do another Pillars run.