Jojobobo

It's still rocking a 90 on metacritic, which as far as I'm aware is the bench people use for a very good game (hell for FO:NV Bethesda only wanted 85 to provide Obsidian Royalties, so even if it dips below it's now a bad thing).

I do think in some ways more information could have been provided on the attributes, I rerolled my first Ranger as I didn't realise Might would affect damage.

Thanks, apparently re-downloading it isn't necessary so long as you kept the old install. However I'm unsure what that means in regards to saves.

Wasn't sure whether this was best in Technical Issues or here, so I did both (a mod can delete one as appropriate). When I try to install the mac patch from GOG I get the message "This patch will not work with your version!" and then the install fails, any ideas? Here's my specs: Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB Software OS X 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion)

When I try to install the mac patch from GOG I get the message "This patch will not work with your version!" and then the install fails, any ideas? Here's my specs: Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB Software OS X 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion)

I'm stuck on the same bit, all at level 5 and on hard. I just decided to come back later. Likewise the bounties, I can't do any of them yet so I'll treat them the same. I only wanted to use storied companions initially so I could probably have an easier time of it if I recruited more - but who cares.

I think Paladins, at least Wayfarers, are pretty decent - you can hit hard and tank whilst healing Endurance (making my attribute picks for them high Might, highish resolve, medium Int and Con). Give them Hold the Line, and they're pretty similar to a Fighter (arguably nicer in that they don't have to use a defensive mode which lowers their attack speed as their offenses are already sky high) - but with added healing (even without being a Wayfarer you can cleric with Lay on Hands) and reasonable modal party buffs. Plus, Bleak Walkers are cool I just think they're a bit outclassed in all their uses by classes dedicated to each respective function (for tanking Fighters are better, for high DPS Barbarians and Ciphers are better, for healing Priests and possibly Chanters are better, and for modal buffs again Chanters are better) - however their versatility and the fact they can cover a lot of these niches in one package is pretty good. Are they the best at any one niche? No. Are they good at a great deal of them? Yes. The Ranger from personal experience I've found to be pretty much garbage - you don't need to be a Ranger to use ranged weapons effectively so what's the point? Plus the animal companion is a complete waste - I took the bear thinking it would be tanky but even with Resilient Companion it still went down remarkably easily, producing holes in my line that let people get to my squishies which was not good at all. I guess you'd be best going for a high damage animal and using it to flank all the time, but better yet don't pick a Ranger. Having said that - maybe a party with 5 Rangers and a Fighter would be fun, you'd have so many critters running around and so much ranged damage that you'd imagine stuff would go down pretty easy. I'm finding the Barbarian to be great, I'm playing on hard and started with a Con of 3 (so that I could maximise Might, Dex and Int and have decent Res as I also dropped Per to 3) and they're still surprisingly tanky - not as tanky as a Fighter but they also vastly out damage a Fighter so there you go. Carnage really is a great ability, the AoE with high Int is impressive and it dramatically helps with clearing a room (allowing you to focus on whatever heavy hitter they've got going on and kill the weaker annoyances at the same time). Overall I'd definitely encourage people to go for a Barbarian on their party for high DPS.

Doing it in fast mode can take around 15 minutes, I've found - especially as you know where you're going and what you're doing at this point.

You still don't get that from other skills, the point stands. Don't tell me how other things which offer XP (available to all characters), tell me how it balances with the XP gain of other skills - which it does not.

That's pretty silly. Task XP at least takes more effort than a simple click - all the other stuff mentioned takes even more effort. It terms of balance, you're really looking at one skill that is very advantageous as opposed to a lot that offer little use. Besides some of the loot is pretty good, I'm sure it proffers unique weapons in some locations. I never said it was "ruining the game" for me, but as of a slight preference I would prefer no XP offered - or at least the other skill XP to be brought into line with that.

I wouldn't say it's the best one. You have to have one Mechanic in your party. It's also nice to have Lore for your main character for dialogs or for fighters so they use scrolls. But other than that all skills seem useful to me. The problem with Mechanics is it gives EXP and items so you just have to have it. True, but there's no bonafide mechanic early on - really putting the emphasis on that being the player character. You're much more rewarded for having mechanic skills than other skill in the offing. Durance or a custom adventurer? What is Durance - like a 2 to begin with? Even then, you have to know to go to Magran's Fork (admittedly, not such a hard decision, but no where you'd make a beeline for) - plus you miss out on the valuable Disappointer, which is greta to hit the ground running. And personally I don't like faceless customs, at least at this stage. I'd rather go for the storied characters on these early playthroughs and then concoct weird harebrained parties when I start to get bored. Currently I've only accepted storied companions and not hired help.

They probably should have kept it as such, the phat lewt really is reward enough already (people don't need both the physical reward and extra experience base upon a fairly arbitrary skill choice).

So I was pretty pleased with how the Endless Paths were implemented - I had zero interest in the paths during the backing phase but Obsidian thought of a clever way to incorporate it. The fact that they're underneath your very stronghold almost incentivises you to get to bottom of the whole mess and drive the evil from your house. This instantly ramped up my interest, and now I can't help but explore. Did anyone else think this was a nice way to implement it? Beyond that, use that as a way to discuss the Paths in general (I'm only just touching the surface).

I trialled a few things like Ranger and found the damage output pretty poor (I've not played Cipher but I've heard it's great). Now having a high Might and Dex Aumuau Barbarian I'll really dishing out the pain and so satisfied, it was definitely a good pick.

I'd say it's the dumpiest stat on people who naturally have high endurance and health anyway. On my current Barbarian I'm playing con 3 (4 with and item I've found, 8 with Frenzy, 10 with Greater Frenzy whenever I get round to taking that) and they still have more or less equal Endurance of Eder without Frenzy but with much greater health. Really Int is a much better way to go, as then your Con is boosted for longer under the effects of Frenzy anyway, ergo it's pretty pointless. That said, Con is very useful on people like Chanters who aren't damage focussed to begin (as they Obsidian recommend, Int/Con/Res really is a good way to go). I'd also go for it on Fighters just there to take the pain rather than dish it out (leaving that to the other guys).

I think hard mode is currently fine, and a good introduction for a first time player. I may amp it up to Path of the Damned next time, but it maintains a good level of difficulty currently without being a ball-ache.

I'd pay for a small voice and portrait DLC, the current set was adequate within their initial means but I would more set around the $5-7.50 mark.

Yeah I wish you didn't have to scout for these items, I wasn't even aware it was necessary to begin with making me miss the valuable Disappointer. Surely you should be able to spot these items without scouting - sneaking is not going to improve your ability to physically see things and so it makes very little sense. Maybe if mechanics was -1 or -2 outside of scouting then fine (showing that they're now looking "harder" when in the scout mode, not that they were never using their trained capabilities at all which is currently the situation), but to have this "on or off" thing is slightly irksome when that really shouldn't be the case. Hopefully it's something they might reconsider in future patches.

I'm intrigued as to build, class, etc. but this is likely just trolling.

I wouldn't say it's the best one. You have to have one Mechanic in your party. It's also nice to have Lore for your main character for dialogs or for fighters so they use scrolls. But other than that all skills seem useful to me. The problem with Mechanics is it gives EXP and items so you just have to have it. True, but there's no bonafide mechanic early on - really putting the emphasis on that being the player character. You're much more rewarded for having mechanic skills than any other skill in the offing.

So far I've really enjoyed it, notwithstanding Obsidian's rulings on censorship (and whilst that does annoy me, it's still by the by in terms of the game's obvious strong points). It has good combat (IMO), reasonable character development, culture and the rest. Not all classes and races are created equal, but they give a strong enough showing that I would never consider any class or race not worth a try. I like how there's no unequivocal dump stat - there's always going to be one attribute of use to a certain class - but it might be nicer if some of the attributes had been more explicit (i.e. the description of Might didn't convince me it would do extra ranged damage from the description - it is a bit too lose and confusing for people who are unfamiliar with this new IP).

I don't enjoy having to activate scout mode to spot traps and hidden items stashes - what about sneaking makes me be able to see things better? I didn't even realise initially that you had to be in scout mode to spot these things, meaning I missed out on the Disappointer and a truck load of money because of it. I also don't enjoy sneaking everywhere to find these kinds of things - I guess now I'm only activating scout mode when I think it's likely something is hidden, but that's really just my opinion so I'm sure I'm still missing out on a lot. But yeah, mechanics is clearly the best skill by a country mile - regardless of anyway you shake it.

Jokes do, but only if they are uttered with malevolence. The one in-game was more of a dirty limerick, hilarious but not malevolent in scope. The author is OK with it, and in this particular case we should be too. The principle is still wrong, however. No, as I mentioned, there's literally no evidence that jokes cause any kind of behaviour to start/continue. The issue should have not been taken seriously from the off. I'm not sure you can hold up a lack of research as proof that something isn't happening. Are there papers disproving that this happens? Or has the subject not been explored yet? Not trying to slam you, just genuinely interested in the topic. This feels a bit like insisting that violent video games cause violent behavior, and as we know that's been disproved pretty thoroughly. People have used the "sleeping with a man disguised as a woman" jokes when telling me face-to-face why transgender people are disgusting and why it's okay to be violent against them, though, so I guess it's a little difficult for me to disregard that (admittedly anecdotal) evidence. I think it is a lack of evidence kind of factor, which still means that people vehemently insisting that "x causes y" when in terms or prejudice when there's no documented research that that's the case is still potentially a load of crap - they should not be reporting their opinions as fact. The evidence is just not there that this is the case, and many many people - myself included - enjoy risqué jokes and yet lack any prejudices themselves. Obviously direct and personal (and ultimately humourless) persecution of yourself with "jokes" is not acceptable, and I'd be the first to damn that - but this was not a case of that.

No patch for macs or linux on GOG yet unfortunately.

Jokes do, but only if they are uttered with malevolence. The one in-game was more of a dirty limerick, hilarious but not malevolent in scope. The author is OK with it, and in this particular case we should be too. The principle is still wrong, however. No, as I mentioned, there's literally no evidence that jokes cause any kind of behaviour to start/continue. The issue should have not been taken seriously from the off.