Nepenthe

That just doesn't make sense. If Beamdog wanted to do a kickstarter, then they should have done a kickstarter instead of a re-release of a game. If Beamdog would have done an actual kickstarter for BG3 and had members of the original team, I would probably have given more than $45. 'cept they can't use kickstarter due to the IPs involved, they have to gather capital for their pitch in other ways, namely the EEs. Makes perfect sense, really. From the new material in BGEE, I'd say there's definitely a place in the world for BG style games done by Overhaul, as well.

That UI looks strange, did you use a mod?No, he uses the EE. Huh. I'm considering getting it now. It certainly looks uncluttered. Is it the same for BG1? Basically, though this seems to be a slightly improved edition they are implementing with the next bgee patch. But, yes, it does roughly look like that, which is why I've been harping about the current and future UI work for some time. Edit: he's in the special ability menu, which threw me off. Iirc it looks just like that.

If the fact that a lot of you are agreeing with Volourn, here, doesn't make you question your views, I don't know what will.

That UI looks strange, did you use a mod? No, he uses the EE.

Before Atari forced BGEE's temporary removal from sale, they had exceeded all their expectations in sales. It did mess up their post-release schedule and DLC plans, so I have no idea what the situation is now. Their plan seems to be to provide long term support for the two games that are out now, and I, for one, am looking forward to their future work after what they did with bgee.

*deep sigh*

How do you distribute a print manual with a game that has been released only digitally?

And sometimes it's not even about that, sometimes you have, say, an overly complex skill/spell system riddled with "no-brainer" choices. Cutting off sub-optimal choices and leaving only the real deal left is streamlining, yet it has little to do with either of those. Or, it could be about quality vs. quantity.

Saints are becoming the German national soccer team of football - when the game's over, you notice the Saints won. Geaux Saints.

Head-to-head: Everything you need to know in the PS4 vs. Xbox One battle. TL;DR: XBone wins by a slim margin. I'm amazed, any category of worth is in my eyes clearly dominated by the ps4, and additionally it doesn't peep into my living room.

Eh, online reviewers are either trolling for hits or paid off by the Man. People on forums are those who would call Jesus out for not being able to swim when He walked on water.

Speaking from personal experience, the best way to deal with introversion is making a clean break between work, where you have to be social, and the "me time" in the man cave. Most people who know me from work consider me a real social butterfly, when it's actually just me draining the energy required by my work. Sure, I'm not the most introverted person in the world, but I've also learned to accept my introversion as a handicap that I try to push it into a smaller and smaller space of my life, which I seem to be slowly reaching. I'm currently at a phase in my life where, after an extra 5-7 years of chasing qualifications and dreams, I'm basically working a job I could've done on the day I graduated (albeit without the Mean Girls going through everything I write or say with a comb, like they do now) and with a ton of extra debt. Was it worth it? Certainly, because companies come and go, but some stuff they just can't take away from you. So. Will taking this job, perhaps just for a while, impact your other opportunities in a way that is permanent? What is the atmosphere like in your current work place (the situation you described might result in a lot of conflict that might be otherwise avoided? Would the marketing, client-facing, community managing aspect of the job be something that might help you further down? (I'd say "yes", unless you find the idea of a managerial/team lead position abhorrent - which might mean that you're the right guy for the job).

Not fast heart beat? I get that occasionally in extreme stress situations (ie. last year at the old office), but it's also coupled with an extremely fast heart beat...

Indeed, I should really have added a "yet" in my assessment of his ability.

Always think about this when doing anything. "Is there a likelihood of me getting shot by doing this?" Followed by: "would it be worth it?"

I'll just conclude the discussion on my part with a fact: most people who know me and the quality of my work assume I could get any job I want, while in fact I seem to be almost unemployable. Everything else is conjecture, whether it's the degree, coming from a "known" family etc.

Yeah, the us system is a bit of an anomaly globally, though. In most of europe a straight 3 year degree, ll.b., is enough to practice, after a little on-the-job training, perhaps. In finland and iirc sweden, you also need an ll.m., ie 3+2 years of law to practice on any level. Additionally, you can do a research doctorate 3+2+5 years on average, so it's the same system as in nearly all other fields apart from medicine.

Well, you've just given the "white" view as opposed to my "black", with the truth somewhere in the middle. I can obviously name just as many doctors who are administratively incompetent as I can (proportionally) name those with the same handicap and masters' degrees. OTOH, a doctorate, or more exactly the rather demanding research process and argumentative capability it tends to demand of one, does give you experience you can't easily gain otherwise. Additionally, especially when it comes to the law, it gives you more depth, and thus simply makes you a better lawyer as opposed to somebody who has JUST practical knowledge (again, someone with simply theoretical knowledge is just as handicapped, but in the opposite way). You don't have to read too many administrative decisions to know that the average civil servant has a grasp of legal argumentation (never mind the law itself) than can be described as rudimentary, at best. So, really, it boils down to which prejudice won. Historically, it was the one you describe. Which is why I, who in addition to a doctorate have fairly considerable work experience from the practical side, keep having to prove myself in ways that people without advanced degrees never have to. It just boils down to people fearing what they don't understand, and a doctorate still being something of on arcane achievement.

Yeah, the Finnish civil service used to be full of doctors (LL.D.s, mostly) in the early 20th century - in fact, a doctorate was viewed as an essential step in the civil service career. A majority of our presidents have held (research) doctorates. Then, when the civil service grew faster than the amount of LL.D.s, regular lawyers (and people with masters' from other fields) started getting more and more positions. Until they became the majority, when suddenly they stopped hiring doctors, because we are "too theoretical" (ie. have a clear qualification that sets us apart from the people doing the hiring). Now it's increasingly rare for people with an advanced academic degree to even attempt "real work", so it's even harder for the few of us with doctorates and no political affiliations that would allow us to be hired as government-paid experts by our cronies.

I've gotten that several times, to the point that it's now obvious to everybody that I'm batting in a league beneath my own, just because nobody else was willing to take the risk. 99 % of the time, I don't even get interviewed, these days. Often just hear precisely that from the back channels... Personally consider it to be an excuse for middle management, when they feel that you might rocket past them, if they hire you. I've gotten a lot of tall poppy syndrome at workplaces, too. Current place is probably the first one where it's not an issue, due to the flat organisation!

Yeah... Just talked to his wife, apparently he was found sitting peacefully at his favourite tv watching spot. So I guess than my first instinct was hopefully wrong, but still, he wasn't exactly "old" at under 50.

Heard a good friend of mine (a somewhat older lawyer who helped me a lot when I was starting out) has died. Going from the info, it was probably suicide. Now I should call his wife and offer my condolences.

Welcome to the real world, Neo. Meanwhile, I'm having one of those weeks with basically no court at all, so I should in theory be catching up with all the messy paperwork but instead I'm surfing the Lego website. I really need to get some kids pronto to have an excuse for this.

Person of Interest- the game. :D I saw a multiplayer demo from some event or other, and it seemed pretty dire. The SP part has looked stellar, but the MP was enough to scare me, even if I have no intention of playing it... Edit: I mean, even these videos are so michael bay cut that you don't get any idea of how the game actually plays.

I had to hit the sack at the end of the third, I was convinced the saints were going to lose. It's funny, it's looked like the Saints have been in the drivers seat of all their games this season, some of them have just been DUIs/careless driving. Niners managed to completely neutralise Jimmy Graham, though. And I agree re: Kaepernick. He got propelled into the role in last season's fad and is not in Smith's class. Too bad, really, there's always in a place in my heart for the niners from the days of Joe Montana etc. when I first got introduce to (American) football.