Raithe

Yeah, I'm lurking in the background watching the stream as well...

You have to admit, it was always one of the classic elements of D&D. When you hit certain levels, it was pretty much expected that you'd start some form of stronghold and attract followers. It's that shift in gears from being a common sellsword to being a figure of power and influence... It would be less about wandering into the nearest cave system to thwack some kobolds around the head, and more about stepping into a wider arena of actions and effects. You need to do something with all the golds, loot and zappy items you've picked up, and investing it in organizations, trading networks, network of "friends" and improving a base of operations is a relatively coherent approach and isn't quite as arbitrary as some methods of dealing with it all can be.

What we basically have is a fairly magic team, being hindered only by their own desires, debates, brain storming and some whining from the fans.... I think we can safely say there's a lot to look forward to in seeing how it all develops, and there's nothing that screams "Epic Fail" at the moment. We can't really say "Trust in the Force" , but I think we can pretty much just trust in their desire to do a serious roleplaying game without obscure pressure from external management types. It's time to celebrate for today, and then watch how it starts to shake loose over the next year...

Another aspect that probably has been overshadowed now, was that back when he was first charged and the US wanted to extradite him, there had been a spate of UK based hackers hitting various US servers. In each of those other cases, the UK tried them and gave minimal sentences. So the US were going all out to make a severe example out of McKinnon and really didn't want another "soft trial and sentence" simply because it was some computer crime rather then violent behaviour. Of course, its now a decade on and most of thats forgotten, now its all about the "principle" of the matter..

Part of it was political as well. The US pushed through a treaty after 9/11 that let them demand extradition from the UK, but gave them the easy right to refuse extradition of people the UK wanted to charge from the US. One point I always found dubious about McKinnons defense was that his mother didn't want him stuck in an american jail because she thought he had Aspergers and wouldn't be able to visit him if he was jailed in the US. He was only diagnosed with it after the arrest and potential extradition cropped up. On the flip side, in the UK he'd be charged with the computer crimes, but not in the potential terrorist/national security issues. Mostly because when you get down to it, he's a bit of a weird guy who really wanted to find evidence of UFO's on the pentagon servers... While if he does end up in a US court, he gets slapped with the whole national security aspect and a jury of americans who will see some annoying Brit... (can we say fair trial here..). So depending on exactly where he gets tried and the language used , he could go from facing a few years jail time and a big slap on the wrist, to potentially a couple of decades if the US pulls out all the stops.

My first thought is that we should be careful of the word "Stronghold". To a lot of folks it automatically creates the idea of some Castle type base.. and while that can be fun and suitable in a lot of situations, it would be interesting if there's more of a variety in just what type of Stronghold you do acquire / construct. If you're playing a Rogue type, or a Cipher, or a Wizard does it make as much sense that they get hold of some honking great military fortification? So the stronghold should represent the character in some manner. Sure, some Wizards might go for a big castle, but otheres might prefer that fortified tower / wizard academy type of thing.. The rogue might prefer establishing some Mansion with a hidden Batcave.. Either way, it needs to establish different aesthetics. Potential for the players to choose (or outright customise) a variety of styles for it, and to expand and refine what is there. Pulling in some form of minions to provide care, comfort and not have it feel as if you're sole occupant in some rather large establishment. Strongholds and the related areas make a great money sink as well. Adventurers of all sorts can end up with ridiculous amounts of cash and loot - and it bugs the crap out of me when game worlds don't recognise that. Think about it, you kill a dragon and get its hoard, you are going to destabilise the local economy if you start dropping that cash around willy-nilly. The stronghold should let you put that money to work in a good way, also, it should let you effect the world around and provide faction influence (positive or negative) depending on just how you go about things. Is having a stronghold going to provide extra resources you can use in the game or is it more just an ego-stroke-monument to your personal glory? Having to go out and try to recruit various npc's to staff your stronghold, and different choices you make having an assortment of consequences later. Or just in different options you can follow through on in expanding the stronghold. Will you have to make a choice between establishing an alchemy lab or a blacksmith? Will you have access to both? Will hiring that mage from x culture clash with the priest from y culture? Will your seneschal of choice deal well with the local villagers or be better with the city merchants? There needs to be some reaction to you establishing that sort of base of operations, and if you do have military might and tenant farmers you are becoming a power in that corner of the world. So political shennannigans should ensue. So quests of setting up the stronghold, quests to refine the stronghold, quests to deal with people working for you / living there, quests to deal with surrounding factions and just how they react to how you're going about your business... Of course, the flip side of this is just how it can potentially influence the main storyline as well. I'm assuming that since this was a stretch goal, it would be considered a needed part of the main storyline to deal with. But just how will it effect the storyline? Will it make sense if it has absolutely no relation to whatever happens? Will it be totally stand alone and have no effect on the people you meet and deal with post strong-hold creation? Will various quests relating to the stronghold only become available at different points of progression? If you have some massive fortress and a personal army will the various factions treat you differently? Regardless, it really cannot be some static thing that only looks shiny. Well, unless it, really quite seriously uber-shiny.

Depending on just how big the world map is going to be (that we can actually explore/travel around), I think it makes sense to have two cities that will cover different countries / culture / race.. I'm guessing the standard city will be the pseudo middle-ages, humanocentric one (ala Baldur's Gate / Neverwinter etc), and the other one will potentially be something with a different visual theme. Heh, although having been reading some Arabian Nights recently, I'm pondering just what a "mystical Bagdhad" would look like with the soul-magic and related aspects in this world...

Just add even more choices/relationships/consequences between the various factions, npcs, and related quests then already planned.. Really ramp up the basis for how different things fall out as the player acts in different ways.... Of course, that just adds silly levels of difficulty to how expansion packs and potentially follow-on games react to choices made. Thus, serious stretch goal for that.

In the final days - well, hours - one shall go without lunch to further up that pledge to grand heights and slide into the dangerous embrace of the Obsidian Order.. Thus, the Lurking Caped One shall mingle with the crowd..

Hm, I never picked up any of the lethal powers. I focused on Blink, Possession, and Time Stop.. and I have to admit I tended to use blink more for maneuverability then stealth purposes. That and the occasional combo of blink directly behind to choke them out quickly... At some point I will go back and do a game of mass death and see what the lethal powers are like...

I finished Old World Blues off yesterday, and as long as you can embrace that zany pulpy sci-fi B-Movie attitude.. It's certainly an amusing blast. Also, a few nice added "layers" to the backstory of Elijah, Christine, and I'm guessing Ulysses, the other courier to be faced in the next dlc. One small thing to keep in mind, the ending sequence does hook up to things you've done in the main campaign. Notably with Roxie the Robo-dog. Because I hadn't actually gone to the Strip and picked up Rex and gotten him a new brain, it treated the future elements of their hookup as if I never will cure/fix the problem... Heh, although having the transporter to flip you back to the Sink whenever you want makes it a nice added "home" to base out of for the rest of the game..

hm, weird. I can't think of anything console related I used whilst playing through Dead Money. A bunch of crashes yes... And its giving me some achievements during a gaming session, but not others. Then there's the "in-game" challenges that roll over (kill x things with y type of weaponry, hack x computers) and they clock up, then next thing I notice is that they've just started counting again. Whilst others hit the magical number and grey out in the completed style. It's nada big, just kind of curious.

For something quirky (but not really important) I've noticed that while playing through, even though I'm online at the time, Steam isn't recognising all of the achievements. It's giving me some, but not all.. So while it's recognised the "Reached 20th level" it hasn't given "Reached 10th"; it gave me Master of the Mojave (discover 125 locations) but not Walker of the Mojave (50 locations); I got my "Assemble Your Crew" for Dead Money, but hasn't thrown in the "Having A Ball" for completing the Gala Event.... On the seperate, I have to say, I do enjoy how you get all the references back and forth between the dlc. Most notably at the moment, the various background info on Sincair and assorted tech that came from Big MT in Old World Blues..

Wrapped up a low-chaos mostly stealth run on Dishonored. I have to admit, most of the non-lethal methods of taking care of targets actually seems more nasty / viscious / kinda evil then outrightly killing them. Option A> Kill them. Option B> Knock them out, then hand them to an obsessive stalker type who really, really "loves" them, so they can be taken out of the country where the stalker plans on keeping them locked up and spend the rest of their life teaching them to "love" him.... Option A> Kill them. Option B> Set them up to have their heads shaved, their tongues cut out, then put into slavery working the mines half a mile underground... Now going for the slightly more humourus style of Fallout New Vegas and Old World Blues for the first time..

Spending large chunks of the weekend blinking around rooftops and not-killing people in Dishonored...

I ran through some Dishonoured with my late friday night.. And yeah, if you're doing that mix of extreme stealth and exploring as much as you can, it's going to take hours. It took me about 3-4 hours on the first "assassination" alone = although I did go for the non-lethal approach, because frankly, that actually seemed a wee bit more viscious then actually killing the bugger. Possibly it wouldn't be quite as meandery if I turned the HUD navigation and the "Show Objectives" back on. There's something just a touch more challenging without absolute directions in a game like this... The way it played out, I actually refused to complete one of the optional quests they had (even though it promised a rune/bone charm for reward) because it just didn't fit with the way I was playing it, even if it would have gotten me in good with Granny Rags. It'll be interesting to see what changes it makes finishing that particular one if you're going in a more bloody/uncaring play style...

He got headhunted some months back, and disappeared into "heavy workload" life over the last few months... Which is why he's been somewhat absent from the boards.

Well there were a whole bunch of rumours from the beginning that at some point as End-User game content you'd be able to unlock HK-47 (or at least, some version of him). I mean the Imperial encounter with him when doing that two-part flashpoint with Revan was quite entertaining. Actually, I find the combat with HK more difficult then with Revan at the end of it...

After about 10 months, I finally returned to my game of New Vegas with all the dlc on it. I'd just started Dead Money when I stopped playing - I can't remember what it was at the time.. hm, it might have been Deus Ex HR coming out, so maybe more then 10 months - but anyhow, worked my way through Dead Money and quite enjoyed that. Trapped Elijah alive at the end... It seemed somehow more fitting then actually killing him.

When I run into people I went to middle school with..and I see them with wives/husbands & assorted kids.. I really can't decide whether I feel as if I've never actually grown up.. Or as if I'm just too damn old..

Also Confirmed upcoming ME3 SP DLC. Exact content unknown, but can pretty much extrapolate if you've played the game and are remotely aware of the story in the comics. From mined data, appears to be on the large (shadow broker) side and include a hub. Also, considered to be part of the reason Aria still lurks around the Citadel once you get all the mercs together.. She's waiting for you to get the dlc and go get Omega back for her..

I think its the combination of "embellished" and they've given her a tighter tunic and no pants...

There's too many pledge driven games coming out right at the moment..

Now my mother is mobility impaired, but insists on going out and doing big shopping trips by herself. She tends to go around on a mobility buggy and all that, and she treats it as a good way to get out of the house and prove a certain level of independance.... However, she won't accept that buying stack loads of food to put in the freezer because its "on sale" or "cheap" is not actually saving money if it gets put away and we still have it 8 months later. Although its good practice of space/volume management trying to get it all in the freezer when she turns up with it. I haven't been able to de-frost the freezer in a couple of years. Every time we get within spitting distance of having it nearly empty enough to do so.. she suddenly goes on a frenzy to get it filled to capacity and beyond...