BruceVC

Yes and each state should vote on that outcome and the Federal government should stay out of it because I believe its such a sensitive issue you will get criticism either way the Federal government influences things But I do believe overturning R vs W was also a massive mistake because this is seen by many US citizens as taking away an established and decades long women's right. So I understand the anger and pushback

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ohio-votes-to-codify-abortion-rights-into-state-constitution_n_65411b43e4b0ae2dc0b56c1a?yptr=yahoo There have been some interesting election outcomes in the US but not surprising with abortion rights being supported in Ohio and the legalization of cannabis Overturning R vs W I maintain was the worst GOP supported and Conservative decision the SC could have ever made around overall public sentiment, I understand this is an emotional and sensitive topic but the SC decision is seen by most women as taking away a fundamental right that women should have The real question now is "will the anger about R vs W be greater than other issues in the US in the 2024 election " ?

What in your opinion is the pro-Palestinian position on peace or a solution to the conflict? And who do you consider to be the political group that represents the Palestinians But Im interested more in what you think is the solution raised by whatever Palestinian group represents the Palestinians officially in finding a sustainable solution to this conflict?

Yes and without repeating myself that was because of compromise and effective leadership on both sides that realized peace is better than interminable war And he was assassinated by a Jewish right-wing extremist , very unusual and tragic for that to happen within Israel. But most people don't follow the stages of the conflict and its hard to believe how close the region came to an end of the conflict even though it was opposed by people on both sides

Except they came very close to peace during the era of Yitzhak Rabin but when he was assassinated in 1995 everything fell apart

Thanks, you recommend I play both? I have already started looking at mods for SW1 and I found the restored content for SW1 https://www.nexusmods.com/kotor/mods/54

I am considering playing SW Knights of the Old Republic, I haven't played any SW games and I have this and SW2 on Steam What are peoples views on SW1&2? @Gorth arent you a fan of these games?

Yes I agree the reality of this decades long conflict has not been handled well from both sides and Netanyahu's right wing government has made things worse over the last 10 years. But groups like Hama must also take blame, for example they dont recognize Israel has a right to exist so how do you negotiate with someone who doesn't even recognize you have a right to exist? I still think the 2 state solution is the best overall solution to sustainable peace for both sides. But that requires compromise and political will from leadership on both sides and thats lacking in different ways. In SA we achieved a peaceful end to Apartheid and reached our first 1994 Democratic election because of compromise but if the ANC had said in the early 1990's "we dont believe white people have a right to exist " there would have been no peaceful end to the brutal and immoral Apartheid system and a civil war would have occurred with those white people and allies who didnt emigrate, we would have emigrated to the UK, staying behind and making a doomed but destructive last stand. Because there logic would be " you see the Communist ANC wants to destroy us anyway so lets fight to the end " or something similar The ANC would have eventually won but at what cost? A war ravaged country with a massive loss of most institutional experience at how to run the economy and country because Apartheid had denied that to most black people for the previous 45 years So what I saying is the reason the Israeli vs Palestinian conflict is still ongoing is because of a failure of leadership on both sides And then I realize its a complicated question which is "what would be a proportional response to destroy Hamas " but its very relevant because that is main Israeli objective. So we need to think about that and what should Israel be doing after the 7 October attack

Yes but the "surprise " hasnt changed the reality of the selective global outrage around war crimes in any conflict. The same countries that have not condemned Russia still dont condemn Russia 20 months later. Im not worried about if Western politicians are baffled by the lack of condemnation from Russia's allies. Its an expected response so thats what I mean by " that ship has sailed a long time ago " if there is another conflict And I dont think its okay that Palestinian civilians are being killed, as I have said from the beginning the Israeli response is going to be heavy handed But what would be a proportional response to destroy Hamas that embeds itself in Gaza civilians and uses hospitals, schools and mosques as military operating bases. What should the Israeli strategy be? I think they should have used limited bombing and then used a massive ground offensive with infantry to clear the tunnels and annihilate Hamas. More Israeli would die but less civilians would also die But most military decisions from countries in this type of conflict won't sacrifice there infantry when they can use bombs and rockets to weaken enemy positions. It doesn't make it fine what Israel is doing but thats the reality of most urban warfare like this. Remember how the Russians bombed Aleppo to the ground, same bad strategy

No I dont know that, Western politicians are not surprised by the lack of concern from certain countries or people not falling behind them because we have seen this with the Ukraine conflict and how certain countries won't condemn Russia Selective outrage around war crimes is here to stay

Oh we not worried about " Can't wait for all the baffled looks from western politicians next time they burble on about someone they don't like committing war crimes and wonder why the rest of the world won't fall into line behind them " We know from the Ukraine conflict that supporters of Russia will deny any obvious war crimes, killing of civilians and targeting of civilian infrastructure. That ship has sailed a looooooong time ago

The Companion AI is frustrating and problematic in FO1, its much better in FO2 because you can trade with them and decide there combat strategy I use to laugh in FO1 when my companions use to go off script in combat and attack illogically, none of them survived by the end Oh and in FO2 raise the Outdoor skill because the random encounters become very annoying and slow down your travels

So do you consider Quest for Glory an RPG , its labelled an adventure game on Steam but you have stats and everything else you mentioned?

No I completed every side quest I could in FO1 and I used companions for battles. There aren't lots of side quests but at least 2-4 in most towns. I also used the Fixed Mod which may have added quests?

I completed Arx Fatalis last night after about 45 hours, it was good fun and an appreciated CRPG experience. Its gets a solid 72/100 on the globally followed " BruceVC game rating system " I particularly enjoyed the random exploring and finding things and I thought the magic system was unique and worthwhile. I did use some game guides like with the crypt wheel puzzle and the creation of the meteor sword. I found some of the accents and Goblin dialogue hilarious And I thought the final battle was unreasonably hard but I defeated Akbaa after about 2-3 hours by running away from him and using fireballs and my trusty bow

Yes but he also specifically mentions the current appeal of D&D and increased interest over the last 10 years, so he already gives that as a reason for BG3 sales success

I played it but I got bored and didnt finish it. I stopped playing when I go to part with people having a party in the tent

I haven't played any of the Wasteland games yet but I intend to but I did play FO1&2 recently and I loved them. I enjoy the old-school design of these CRPG where you need to explore and there is no map handholding I love the whole sandbox and open world design of older games like FO1&2

I dont think that was the message from the video, the bear sex scene is an optional 3 minute Romance outcome which he mentions but that was more about the marketing and global response it created This video for me summarized nicely why BG3 was a success and it includes the following Larian has an established history of making successful CRPG Early access feedback was a huge part of this game and how it was designed and changed CRPG are popular and we seeing a resurgence of interest Larian had the revenue and some private sector funding to adhere to the vision Larian as a company has the right leadership and management I only really disagreed with one thing, why does he keep referring to Disco Elysium as a CRPG? Its more an adventure game surly ?

Better, it always depends on the EAF ( energy availability factor ) which is measured by the reality of generators in power stations that are active and aren't falling over and then they require immediate repair So what has been happening the last 2-3 years, which has been the worst period for load shedding, we basically have the same power stations constantly not producing the electricity they supposed to because there generators keep breaking but Eskom has been working hard to fix the problems in these power stations And when these are working then the EAF is better, 60% or so, so we have vastly less load shedding. So this week I have only had 1x2 hour load shedding window per day in normal hours (6am-midnight )and then for the 2 weeks before that there was no load shedding So its getting better but load shedding will continue until we are less dependant on the Eskom grid and thats also happening with green energy and private sector investment but this will take 2-3 years before we see its benefit

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67284812 SA is hosting a very successful AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act ) summit This act is basically a very significant trade deal with the US and gives African countries reduced tariffs to US markets. Four African countries (CAR, Uganda, Niger and Gabon ) were suspended for military coups and human rights abuses AGOA is the type of trade deal that is lacking from BRICS and its also why I maintain BRICS is primarily a talkshop

Im still concerned about the lack of experience that TCR has with this type of massive and iconic development project. Its not like Larian because they had previous success with D:OS1&2 so I was always confident they would create the overall global success that BG3 has become I realize TCR has hired new people which is expected but if you look at the previous games they have released they not on the same scale or type as BL2 ....can anyone make me feel better about my doubts

Why do people say the the UNSC or the UN is useless or a talkshop because it cant stop wars like Ukraine or the current Israeli vs Palestinian conflict? The UN doesn't control any government and it cant stop a government from lying to the world and then invading another country, like Russia did with Ukraine I think its because most people dont realize all the good work and humanitarian work the UN and the UNSC does do. Here is a list of the UNSC resolutions adopted by the UNSC just in 2022 and this required 9 yes votes and no vetoes which tells us the UNSC agrees on more things than they disagree on https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/resolutions-adopted-security-council-2022 And then there are dozens of UN funded intuitions like the WHO and the World Food Program that literally are the lifeline for many third world and impoverished countries that grapple with famine and natural disasters Its not accurate to think of the significance of the UN as just about Vetoes in the UNSC. Its much more than that and much of the world would be immeasurably worse off without the UN and its various humanitarian institutions

Nice but no photos from the World Cosplay Competitions, who won and what costumes were on show?

Where all the photos and the cosplay girls, dont forget the cosplay girls