BruceVC

What do you mean by " not sure how I feel about it "? What didnt you like about it, can you provide details?

I completed Arcanum after about 45 hours, its definitely worth playing as a CRPG Overall its gets a solid 70/100 on the globally followed " BruceVC game rating system " Things I enjoyed and loved about it lots of interesting side quests good map system of how you need to find things around quest locations really humorous and quirky Easter Egg developments like the Stillwater Giant and Virgils story complex customization around different builds different ways to complete quests, the main narrative is clearly not linear and you can be good or evil. I followed the good path Worthwhile main narrative with several twists and turns around who is really the bad guy The combat is not a highlight, I ended up just attacking with my main character in almost all battles. I only used spells a few times and that was just to disarm tough opponents like the Cursed Paladin and some healing. So overall combat doesnt require much strategy or thinking But still the combat shortfalls dont detract much from the overall fun experience of the game

This EO could have some beneficial outcomes, I read this link and there are several points that make sense " It is the policy of my Administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history. " Outside of the rhetoric of this statement I think its a good idea to end this selective and revisionist view that the US is a country founded on injustice, slavery and oppression. And there are people who believe this and ignore the history of the US in its entirety and yet this history is well documented and easily accessible. For example most of the first immigrants to the US were fleeing European oppression, poverty or they were indentured slaves They came to the US to create a new life and in the beginning that new life was very hard But this EO also has elements of culture wars garbage, so its a mixed bag EO

DOGE is very questionable and specifically the methodology Musk has been adopting Many Americans have been saying for years they believe the Federal government is bloated and ineffective but the way Musk is carrying on is not the right way to make legitimate changes

Trumps losing degrees of support from certain MAGA circles because of perceived failures to deliver on certain policies, the Musk relationship and Israel support Many of the disillusioned MAGA supporters expect certain results immediately, which is unrealistic for any new presidency , and then there is the real annoyance how he ostensibly is more concerned with MIGA (make Israel great again ) and not MAGA. His targeting of Thomas Massie has also alienated some of his supporters So it could be any of these reasons but there is real pushback compared to when he won, its very evident on Codex

Time for some humour, I hope no one minds this mockery of Trump

But is that true? Part of the justification for DEI is because of that historical perspective Its similar to South Africa and the justification for BEE but it really doesnt make sense in our case because white people make up 7 % and we have a black government Im not convinced that is a necessary reason for DEI because what happens when DEI programs themselves become racist and discriminate against white men? You not fixing fixing any historical injustice or making things better when you repeat the same thing you claim you opposed to Lots of countries use merit based policies and I think thats the best overall system

The main legitimate criticism towards DEI and similar programs is why cant everyone be hired on merit? It doesnt matter what race or gender you are if you the best candidate for the job then you should get the job And then there are real examples of the abuse of DEI and white men end up being discriminated against which is also not what DEI is suppose to be about I have posted this story before in the UK, its just one example and you can see how well-meaning DEI policies can get horribly abused https://www.standingforfreedom.com/2023/07/u-k-s-royal-air-force-admits-it-discriminated-against-white-males-to-meet-diversity-quotas/ The inquiry report found that the Royal Air Force had discriminated against white males. The RAF was trying to hit diversity standards by advancing women and minority candidates and kept some white men from joining. The inquiry report found that the RAF’s diversity standards were not scientific or realistic.

My advice is dont get emotional about these things, avoid the whole cultural wars garbage that influences people on both sides around what makes a good game End of the day sales numbers will define if a game is successful and sustainable It doesnt really matter what you and I think because it has no outcome on sales Veilguard ended up being a sales disaster and Bioware missed there target badly and faced mass retrenchments and sadly Bioware may never release another game again What difference does it make if give you my opinion on this sales failure? If I say its because Veilguard ended up a woke disaster we dont know thats true because we dont know why it failed to sell, there are lots of opinions around this I only want to focus on games that are successful and have a future

There are several mods you can load to change how Saves work in KCD if you dont like the default system I loaded one that made a change around the Schnapps usage or something similar

Well done Wormie, it sounds like you being the perfect gentleman with Theresa I was worried you were going to assume this was another sordid and lascivious Viconia type dating arc .....and I didnt want you to get disappointed

Wormie have you initiated the Romance arc with Theresa? Be a gentleman, take your time and say nice things

That inconsistency seems better now, Virgil focuses on the main character but also heals other companions. Its just important he has enough fatigue But I also use my healing potions and items to heal companions in battle Dont wait, it will never become too old because its a CRPG and it has lots of features and designs that are very worthwhile Just make sure you install the UAP (unofficial Arcanum patch). You can run it at high resolution with wide screen with this mod as well Use these install instructions for this patch https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2311393823

There is so much variation and customization that Arcanum provides around game style, its massive One of the things I came across a lot in my research is that the game is very buggy but so far my only constant bug has been around graphics, I cant ALT-TAB and sometimes I experience these "glitches " where the screen becomes blurred when I run but then when I bring up any menu it goes away Hopefully this maintains. I have no intention of skipping parts of the game through any kind of exploits. Lots to do and explore and lots of Easter egg quests that you find through randomly talking to people Its your quintessential CRPG type design and game

I decided to play Arcanum, its the last CRPG from that era I have never played Im loving it, there is something utterly compelling about these types of isometric games. I have only installed one mod which is UAP Its taken me time to learn the mechanics and skills advancement and whats effective but I'm comfortable with most of whats different about Arcanum Im only 7 hours in but great experience so far, lots of different quests and lore and very little map hand holding which I always prefer because I like to explore

You know what is interesting, I have seen a massive change in support for Trump on Codex because so many people believe Trump is completely controlled by Israel\Jews and the US is now " MIGA "(make Israel great again ) There are the normal anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists that always peddle Jew conspiracy theories which I ignore but then there are real stories and legitimate concerns like the political influence and funding that AIPAC has over Congress on both parties https://theintercept.com/2024/10/24/aipac-spending-congress-elections-israel/ Lobby groups exist and I dont have an issue with them when they open about what they do but I dont think its helpful for any lobby group to have this type of influence on Congress

Okay I see your point, I agree its not clear what the point would be around when does Israel\US attack Iran And it would be extensive airstrikes and not a land invasion but even then what would be the achievable military objectives The general concern is Iran is close enriching Uranium to 90%, its on 60% So the airstrikes would have to be on Iranian sites that are enriching Uranium to prevent this? https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-stock-near-bomb-grade-uranium-grows-sharply-iaea-report-shows-2025-02-26/ "The stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, close to the roughly 90% of bomb grade, has been a long-standing concern for Western powers, which say there is no civil justification for enriching uranium to such a high level. Iran says it seeks only peaceful nuclear energy. While U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has said it plans to pressure Iran over its nuclear programme, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said time is running out for diplomacy to impose new restrictions on Iran's activities. "The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon state to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a passage that, unusually, was included in both its quarterly reports on Iran. "

It was stupid for Trump to end the nuclear deal but then have no long-term objective and commitment around "what next " He did this because of pressure from Israel due to other things Iran was doing which wasnt inline with the spirit of the nuclear deal which was about a peaceful Iran going forward One of the factors in Trumps ill-conceived decision was Iran tested ballistic missiles after the nuclear deal was signed so for the protractors of Iran this was "evidence " that Iran was still a military threat for the region in different ways. And this was in contravention to another agreed on UNSC resolution https://www.armscontrol.org/blog/2017-02-01/irans-ballistic-missile-test-troubling-not-cause-provoking-confrontation "Without question, Iran’s decision to continue testing ballistic missiles is unhelpful and inconsistent with the spirit of a key 2015 UN Security Council resolution. But the Trump administration and the Congress should measure their response to Iran’s missile test and refrain from actions that will provoke escalation or unnecessarily endanger the nuclear deal. While Iran’s ballistic missile tests are clearly not a violation of the nuclear deal, these activities are inconsistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the agreement and lifted some UN sanctions, but kept in place restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile activities. Resolution 2231 “calls upon” Iran not to test any ballistic missiles that are “designed to be nuclear capable.” This language is less restrictive than the prior prohibition on missile testing contained in UN Security Council Resolution 1929 (2010), which said that Iran “shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” This restriction was replaced by 2231. " But the nuclear deal should have been preserved because its different to Iran having Ballistic missiles Because you now have this current situation, Iran is close to enriching Uranium levels for nukes and we face a possible Israel\US military campaign to exactly prevent Iran getting nukes which was already covered by JCPOA And then different US presidents have different appetites for a war with Iran, its unlikely Israel will find another Trump who will support them in this way and they definitely wont get that support from the Dems

How would nukes be used in an Israel\US war with Iran? Iran doesn't have nukes and the war would be about preventing Iran getting nukes But none of the Sunni Gulf states also want the Iran to get nukes and before the Iranian nuclear deal was agreed all permanent members of the UNSC agreed on sanctions against Iran to stop them getting nukes Thats changed now from a Russian perspective since the invasion of Ukraine and Russia becoming closer to Iran but I doubt even Russia really supports Iran getting nukes

Because of the imminent release of the new Styx game I decided to play Of Orcs and Men Its a simple game but fun. The combat mechanics grow on you, in the beginning I was like " WTF ....this is boring " But it really becomes entertaining, I did end up in most tough battles adopting an effective strategy where Arkail drew the aggro but he was defeated and then Styx run away and let the enemies chase him and then he resurrected Arkail and so the battle continued It looked silly but it worked, sometimes I had to resurrect Arkail 3-5 times

Iran is close to getting nukes And Israel and the US wont allow this. Its been explained many times and most people should be aware of this. A nuclear armed Iran would destabilize the entire ME But it wont be a WW3, that term keeps getting thrown around whenever there is regional war and it seems to be because of sensationalism, misinformation or fearmongering You can only have a WW if the worlds superpowers are fighting each other. A war between Russia and Ukraine or war between Iran and Israel\US is not a WW

Degrees of corruption occur in most countries and these ongoing Serbian protests are about the rampant corruption that Serbia is grappling with I wonder if there would be less corruption in Serbia if they were part of the EU?

@Sarex anything to say?

https://www.axios.com/2025/03/15/us-air-strikes-houthis-yemen The US has initiated a new bombing campaign on the Houthis Its long overdue considering the last 18 months of the Houthis terrorism around attacking ships in the Red Sea and International waters Hopefully the Houthis get the message

I have completed both DLC for W3 after 170 hours and that means sadly my journey into the Witcher world is close to ending, I have now replayed all 3 Witcher games over the last 2 months with mods and the overall experience exceeded my expectations Each game was excellent for different reasons but W3 is still my favourite As far as W3 DLC were concerned, Heart of Stone was fun. I enjoyed killing the Toad King and O'Dimm was one of best enemies I have ever met. I ended up saving Oligierd and beating O'Dimm in the test at the end and I received Iris which is an excellent blade But Blood and Wine was by far one of the best DLC I have ever played, the entire plot with Dettlaff was exciting and very thought provoking around narrative choices. I also like the whole feudal land of Toussaint, there were lots of new quests, monsters and activities I had an interesting set of final outcomes for this DLC which I was happy with considering the reality Dettlaff didnt end up killing Sylvia because of the ribbon Sylvia ended up reconciling with Anna, good fairy tale ending I ended up having to fight Dettlaff, I didnt want to but I had no choice. The hardest battle of any Wither game but Im glad Regis survived because he is one of Geralts real friends Ciri came to visit me and she is doing well as Witcher I highly recommend the entire Witcher series to anyone who likes a strong and enthralling narrative based RPG. The 3 games create this grand, connected story with lots of choices that influence the main narrative. The entire Witcher world with its lore is one of the best gaming franchises out there