Elkor_Alish

I think the reactions to this sort of content will vary wildly depending upon maturity and life experiences. Having said that, objectification should always be objectionable in my humble opinion. The romances in this game were uniformly terrible, with the notable exception of that which develops between Eder and Xoti. It was nice watching her work at winning him over then seeing him slowly come around and grow a little in the process. It was sweet. Personally, however, while I only felt mild disappointment over the handling of relationships amongst party members. . .It was the advances made by drunken crew which I found specifically insulting. With no option to fire them, let alone keelhaul their sorry asses, and only to abandon them in port but still see their smug faces every time I opened the ship manifest screen. . .everything about those scenarios undermined the experience for me. Especially after the third such encounter. Also, while touching upon the topic, I think there should be a lot more sailors to choose from. And touching on that topic, I would like to add I thought it was swell that if one happens (quite accidentally on my part) to wind upon with an entirely female crew, the shanties they sing at sea actually change to reflect the predominate gender of the crew. Unfortunately, due to constraints on imagination or budget or both, there are only two such female dominate songs in the repertoire which was disappointing because I really appreciated that level of attention to detail and diligence. It was the sort of thing I did not know I wanted and was disappointed to find existed in such minute quantity.

I can't function on weed, I enjoy being lit entirely too much to ruin it with. . .anything other than chain smoking, drinking and conversation.

Finger's crossed for alternate Ydwin!

Same. However, I have to admit that even though the quest is rigged, that choice left to the player in the Skaen temple is a rough one once you know the outcome. I chose freewill the first time reflexively, but every time after that it was always with a lot of hesitation. How was it for you?

The point of alignment was to assist people unfamiliar with roleplaying in envisioning how to play their character. And it is still a pretty useful tool for novices, I mean, new people stumble into it all the time I imagine. I haven't touched table top gaming in years. I tried it a couple times in High School, then in the Navy I did a lot more being stuck at my training command without having many other options. . . and I always found roleplaying much more attractive in the abstract. I could not bring myself to conjure up complicated, angsty backstories or unique voices and mannerisms. Hell, I couldn't even speak in character, I would usually just deliver lines and actions like a third person narrative. I did however like the alignment system quite a bit because it quite accurately captured my play style. I don't recognize any higher authority than my own, I could care less about anyone's customs, traditions, laws, or practices. I was going to do what I though was right, in the way I saw fit, and to hell with anyone who disagreed. That is chaotic good. And its such a great description because that mentality is destabilizing, it is the sort of primitive and unrestrained iconoclastic impulse which undermines civility and culture and encourages anarchy. It's a simplistic system, but not without nuance. I think it is rather elegant really, though perhaps not for everyone.

How. . .Just. . .How. . .I ended the game with like a quarter of a million. Aside from the Paladin shield in the first town, I never paid for anything. The best loot and spells are plundered off dead enemies. . .What the devil did you find to spend your money on?

This is patently absurd. It is precisely this breed of arrogance which causes discerning people to view intersectionality as distasteful. Homosexuality is not the issue, it is force which is an issue. Art does not judge, it invites judgment. Not through force, but through enticement. Contrarily, it is the nature of force to create resistance. It is for this reason that propaganda, no matter how attractive or well intentioned, can never do more than aspire to artistic expression while utterly failing to realize the transformative power of art. One cannot be beaten into enlightenment. Freddy Mercury was queer, yet he was also masterful, to describe him only in terms of his sexual preferences is insulting. This is true of any individual. Sappho is not significant because of her proclivities but because of her verse. Leonardo da Vinci was arrested along with several other young men at 24 and charged with sodomy, it largely accepted he was in all probability homosexual, yet this neither detracts from nor lends enhancement to his accomplishments. It is utterly immaterial. Judging an individual upon their sexual appetites is as petty and ridiculous as if the criteria were culinary instead. Nor are these example isolated.. Richard the Lionheart, Michelangelo, Donatello, Alexander the Great, Tchaikovsky et cetera et al. And we know of these individuals, and their accomplishments, and their preferences, precisely because of the efforts undertaken by "mostly white, mostly male, mostly straight" individuals. The attraction in RPGs is exploring ideas and constructs. People play in different ways, embracing every extreme from complete pacifism to wholesale slaughter, but when any outcome results in forced resolution which negates their potential for individual agency they always react with hostility. Fallout 2 had gay relationships and gay marriage and suffered little, if at all, for the inclusion. Because it was just something else you could do. Because it was optional, and only fanatics fail to appreciate having options. And fanatics are never worth listening to.

Sketching a nude is difficult. The human body is comprised of terrific curvature and adaptive lines and when someone captures it perfectly, it can be breathtaking - largely dependent upon the medium and perspective but the point remains. Yet the most interesting aspect of the human body, artistically, are usually not which are revealed necessarily in the nude. I think it was Spielberg who once said that the most impressive landscape was the human face. But that is art. Nudity can be used brilliantly to comedic effect as well. Not because of what it shows, but because of what it suggests. Nudity can be many things, signifying solace and comfort, but also vulnerability and uncertainty. With taste and restraint nudity in and of itself can convey a great amount of information, even when the response sought is only a chuckle. . .Because. . .when all is said and done, nudity is always revelation. Nudity, after all, is only arousing in a clothed society. It is only amongst those whom place a premium upon modesty that nudity alone begins to carry purely sexual connotation, and to what degree is intensely personal. And this thing can be beautiful also. It adds meaning and mystery to what would otherwise be dross, dull, and utterly unremarkable. I don't mind the presence of nudity, but I dislike when it is used cheaply. When it is used for effect, rather than to affect. I think life reaches its highest forms in artistic expression, and to see things which could be an elevation of the human condition cynically exploited is always a disappointment. Video games, like literature and cinema, can be extremely artistic and extremely meaningful, and I am greatly appreciative when they are, but for many they are nothing more than idle entertainment. Not things to experience, but simply things to do, and it is that sort of variance which makes our species so successful. So, to each their own, but as with any other aspect of this game, all I hope is that they do it well.

When I am immersed, I tend to get so focused I lose track of things like music, otherwise its a mood thing. And the nice thing about jazz is that you can find some which will fit any ambiance. I don't know it works for me. And when it doesn't, there is always Pink Floyd :D

You know, the only two games I have ever played with soundtracks which blew me away were Silent Hill 3 and American McGee's Alice. I will be content so long as it isn't noticeably bad. Truth be told, I usually cut the internal music on video games off anyway and just have some Gilespie or Coltrane playing over the hi fi.

They could have made an entire game surrounding Bloodline and those clones, because the implications of Aztechnology succeeding with that program would have been pretty horrific. I liked the Black Lodge quest quite a bit as well

Yeah well I can almost guarantee I will end up playing these guys credit: Pirates of Penzance

Well, there is Berath's Blessing. That was what compelled me to tackle it all. https://www.fig.co/campaigns/deadfire/updates/256 edit: Reading it now though, I realize by 'previous playthrough' it refers to playthroughs of Deadire, not Pillars, but at the time I hadn't caught it

And it also made him incredibly sympathetic. It was at that point that I really bought the fact he truly believed what he had done was necessary because once he was confronted with the possibility of another course of action. . .it destroyed him. Great moment :D

Too much content? Too much content? This "Josh" guy sounds like a jackass. At the end of his life I hope he finds himself in a purgatory filled with FF7 fanboys for half of eternity.