IndiraLightfoot

Hurlshot: I feel your housing cost pain. We've lived for two decades in an area where getting a detached house was nigh impossible for us, economically. After lots of saving, a few uses of career stepping stones (It's funny how getting a new job usually gets you a higher salary - well, for me, that was ages ago - I have my own business) and finding the right bank, we managed to get ourselves a decent rural-ish property while the kids just had left kindergarten. Each year, it seemed, the housing prices rose faster than we could save up. I'd reject the concept of self-made as well. My childhood would be considered horrific, by most standards in privileged countries. Let's just say, as a pre-teen, all I did each day for almost a decade was surviving, since I was carted around by criminals in what nowadays is called trafficking. I had no books, and went to school sporadically, in different places, different countries. I was saved by a very brave teacher and the police and social workers. Without them, I'd been dead, like at least two of the far too many kids I encountered under those vicious circumstances. I managed to stay away from drugs and alcohol, and when I finally did go to school. I was 14, I reckon, it turned out that I had a knack for it. At 16, I could continue to higher education, and another teacher there, did something for me that was life-changing. She thought I was deserving of scholarships, so for a couple of months, she helped me apply, and that got me the funds (on top of the money I got from my work I had as a mailman at off-hours when I was studying), so that I could begin at uni. There, I had a blast, being one of the youngest ever to get a PhD at that university. In short, if it wasn't for all those kind people, in my case, teachers and social workers and a child psychologist, I would have been nada. Also, remember, me being a fast learner and having a neat memory and so forth in school, there's nothing self-made about it. It's mostly genetics. Obviously, good teachers make one hell of a difference, but I had nothing of the sort and was like 10 years behind everyone else, and simply had no obstacles in any subject. Compare it to how musicality works. So, luckily, for me, it wasn't too late, but I needed help from others, and that brings me to the other side of the coin: Obviously, my bizarre background has taken a toll. I'm very anti-social in a way. I simply love being alone - working alone - playing PC games alone - (my presence on forums, such as these, are telling, no? ). The only people that make me happy in IRL are my wife, my kids and my new family on her side. These are serious issues I bring up, but I can't help giggling in my head a bit, as I come think of this funny sketch, which I adore: Hey, hey, hey! Let's be careful out there!

Heh! I'm still reeling and have been recuperating after the sucky blow to the D&D CRPG toolset dreamscape that SCL meant. How could they? WotC was apparently working closely with the devs (What happened?), who seemed capable of creating quite a decent SP campaign, but not making a D&D system D&D, and then the toolset and D&D creativity... *Crickets* ...was made for 8-year-olds who hate reading, at the CEO's overt delight, at that. *Insert Captain Picard meme of your choice* And then I've been working and living and playing computer games and all that jazz!

This is my experience as well, speaking from my inside perspective of university and college departments over here, as well as of government bodies. If this is the definition of SJW, I've seen a clear increase in their numbers and detrimental effects over the last 15 years or so. I would also characterize myself as something of a leftist, although probably more of social liberal kind than KaineParker, if I'd hazard a guess, and I've found that this "me, myself and I"-avalanche from brash and loud and needy identity politics purveyors simply has steam-rolled over everything that really should matter: basic freedom and equality, material conditions of people's lives, safety issues, housing, education. I've experienced first hand how such issues succumb to Don Quixote-like windmill jousting. Stepping on toes is the name of the game, and there seem to be hundreds of toes per foot, and they're all gargantuan big toes, let me assure you. There are so many essential problems that we really need to take care of hands-on, and then these pseudo-abuse debates lock down entire work places for years. (Happily, I do not work in any of those any longer.) It's like comparing Facebook social interactivity with real life. The substance is simply not there. Instead, the whole thing is by proxy, and I mean that in a negative way, like Münchhausen by proxy, if you get the drift. It's high time that we get our hands dirty and get on with it! /end rant

Great feedback y'all! Overall, this un-fun aspect of the Stronghold needs to be less punishing for no other reason than giving us more room for adventuring and other fun parts about the new and improved stronghold.

Any historical CRPG sounds great...on paper! :/ Even fantasy historical CRPGs, like Age of Decadence, for instance, suffer from what I sometimes call boredom creep. Essentially, the setting gets very stale very fast. It doesn't matter if it's like super quality 3D with excellent animations via motion capture (I was part of that Kingdom Come KS, but I do doubt it will give me hours upon hours of unadulterated fun). In all likelihood, it will suck sooner than later; Say, 3-5 hours into the game. One exception could be if you managed to make a very RPG-heavy game, sort of Name of the Rose - The Computer Game, which takes a lot of time and writing skill, I'd wager.

Keyrock: That pretty much sums up my take on Borderlands as well. I tried playing it over at a friend's, and it was not for me. Gfted1: Oh, and the dynamite. It respawns after each session, so just exit to Main Menu, and then rinse and repeat. The Staunton Mine just west of the Arkovia Foothills rift gate, always contains two now, it seems. After the latest patch, dynamite is pretty easy to come by, even bar crafting.

Gfted1: mkreku is correct. Farm the Warden, for instance. Otherwise, salvage epic items or convert Ancient Hearts (or was it Blood of Chthon?) at the cursed Blacksmith at the Necropolis. I have the same experience as mkreku. My life-stealish Trickster got stuck in mid-Elite (it dies too often). But my Sorceress does not drop dead too frequently, and right before she was about to kill the end boss at Elite difficulty, she found a Legendary gun during that Retrieve the Cannons-quest in the Aether-infested area just north of Homestead. And gosh, does it kill or does it bloody murder? Toting it is a dream come true. I'm now near Act 2 in Ultimate, and it's going pretty well.

I play a lot of Grim Dawn now, but I have a hard time sticking with just one character, so I've ended up with two that I like the best so far: one lightning trickster and one fire/ice sorceress (both my own weird creations, no real peeking at build forums or anything), and both are in act 3 Elite, farming for each other, as it were. After this latest patch, though, my fast dual-wielding trickster, which had some lifesteal going on has suffered quite a bit of a setback, whereas my slow sorceress, always using a ranged twohanded gun, hasn't been affected at all. So far, I actually enjoy blasting things into smithereens. So much fun. Crate has done a really good job, me reckon. P.S. Btw, at level 44 she surpassed my lvl 56 super-fast melee trickster in DPS, so I've most likely screwed up that build, heh.

I like Obsidian, so I'll most likely give this game a whirl, but I have my doubts about it: -First, "the world is all evil now, indulge!" has never really been my cup of tea. I'd much rather be the one that kill all the Nazis, like in Wolfenstein. I fear that it won't be any RPGing I'd enjoy. -Second, Paradox games and me don't rub well. I have tried Universalis and Crusader Kings, and while fun in certain ways, most of it is overly complicated and so smack-full of micro management, tonnes of widgets and gadgets and sprockets that need to be moved, turned or manipulated in a humongous game system... -Third, will I even stomach all this evil world lore? I mean, Pillars had interesting, but rather familiar lore. This would be a bit bizarre as my bedside reading, as it were. Think, Torquemada and the Inquisition and ten fun ways to decorate dungeons with torture implements. -Fourth, if this CRPG ain't turn-based this time, I'm not sure. Turnless ARPGs I love, but isometric CRPGs, I have my doubts sometimes. At least make the pause function and the clarity of combat stellar, please. That's my two cents. Peace!

The way I read that is that we'll see a PoE sequel, but it'll take a while. More importantly, from what I can garner from various sources, is that Obsidian is preparing for a big CRPG project, I'm just wondering: Which kind? I know some peeps yearn for some kind of space opera. I don't. Others want some kind of Fallout-CRPG badly. Not me. I have high hopes for either a more classic Western-Medieval-ish CRPG (like Pathfinder), or some Asian-influenced RPG - an original Obsidian IP, like Bushido, but fantasy etc.

I'm deep into Act 3 now at Vet difficulty, and the game just keeps giving! Some stuff I learn along the way. For instance, I saw a neat amulet at a merchant stall. Well, I used a rift, earned some cash and went back, and then it was sold. It turns out that each time you use a rift, any vendor collection gets refreshed, as it were. Oops. I also love that you can take on enemies that are of much higher level than your own (at your own peril). For instance, I managed to clear out East Marsh and get the final Devotion Shrine there at lvl 25, while the baddies were at lvl 34-35. I died twice, but it was very challenging and I accumulated items for future levels that way. The faction system is also pretty interesting, and overall, the RPG-part of Grim Dawn is definitely better than D3's.

Pillars 2 would be awesome, and I'll pretty sure will hear about reasonably soon too! If I got my wish fulfilled, we'd see a huge and rich Pathfinder CRPG from Obsidian, perhaps with a turn-based system.

I couldn't agree more. Some of the most fun battles I've had in PoE are like this example. I don't see the tedium. Nor do I consider myself a CRPG masochist or anything. I just enjoy it when the game throws a spanner in the works for you in the right way, if you get my drift.

I have been putting all my free time into Grim Dawn over the past few months, and most recently with the latest patch and look forward to the final release, but as you said, it's really complete right now. I LOVE this game. The setting, the gameplay, soundtrack, multiplayer aspect, character building. Honestly, I hope these guys make good money on this. I've never seen such a huge product from such a small team that has honestly been so stable and balanced upon release, with this much content. There is a ton to this game! I also look forward to the first expansion, due to having already paid for it as part of the loyalty buy from 3 years ago. Anyone looking for a good ARPG can't go wrong with this game. Even if you're not a huge ARPG fan, give it a try. I've bought many copies for friends over the years and have heard all good things from them since then. So far, it's meeting all my expectations and then soaring! I have this Loyalist edition as well, which I have almost forgot, so I look forward to those little perks when the real release sets in.

Luckmann: Yes. This is very common now. Open areas don't help at all. My companions refuse to filter forward, along each other's backs, despite wide spaces to use. What I have to do - it takes a lot of microing - is to take each companion and click it out to a point, then sorta triangulating back to the desired point, losing precious time in the process.

Two sounds that I recall as far too loud: Paladin's Zealous Focus activating, and Chanter's White Worms smattering.

"This thread gets my cheers!"

Long time, no see all! *Waves* Grim Dawn. Finally, patch 31 is out, so the game is basically finished and content-complete and all that. I'm in Act II at Veteran difficulty, and I'm having a blast. I loved Titan Quest, and graphically this is like a super-good version of Path of Exile mixed with that classic ARPG's aesthetics. The setting is steeped in an eerie Untergang-mood, and the mechanics and build and crafting options are much more up my alley than D3's no choices, you'll rock regardless (if you find our specific legendary set). Well, D3 is still a bit of poison of mine, but I'm fed up with it. And then Pillars of Eternity White Marsh, of course. I really enjoy it so far, even if combat could be improved a bit.

I'd say that 3.0 combat works, at least if you have slow mode on and do micromanage your companions. A rough estimate of mine is that 20% of the time, they do pick a weird patch to reach someone or a place to which I have directed them. The system also seems to be targeting my main character, sometimes suicidally so (disengagement penalties are ignored, and high damage companions in my party are ignored). I'm not sure why this is. Still, from the beta to this, it's a huge improvement. Also, having played BG1 & 2 relatively recently, the pathfinding there isn't stellar by any standard, but combat is less centrifugal in character.

Yeah! I'd guess that's the crux of it, isn't it? The whole thing unfolds quickly, super early and with quite some urgency to it all. Obviously, the entire encounter would need to be made more difficult, but a move to Act 3 would make sense - then it would be a bit like NWN 2. The one thing that I do commend them for is the fact that it's available early, for those so inclined. And the pacing of it is off, since Stronghold time and turns are non-related entities, our dev Sking made a post about in the Stronghold Strategy thread recently (Gen Discuss, IIRC).

Hehe! Reloading is indeed a last resort, and I try to play along, as it were. And yup! Some sort of jerky kiting is working pretty well in PoE. There's usually one or two that give up and a few that don't, and still go after you. You just have to pray that you don't get engaged or get hit too hard by ranged attacks/spells that stun/freeze you.

Rheingold: I know, having the right saves can be a real life saver. In these kind of games, I save like a squirrel.

I agree 100%. I've finished this game at the Path of the Damned and even done a Triple Crown Solo, and it definitely is an aspect of strategy to it. Even now, when I try the game at the Normal difficulty, with a party consisting of tavern hirelings, it presents me with exciting tactical stuff. This happened to me the other night: At a difficult fight (no resting was allowed on that map - another tactical thing btw), I had one character in my party at 1 in Health and Endurance, but she could heal and buff (a Priest), and our opponents were dealing toxic AoE to the party, so I had to micro-manage her, behind a wall and a bunk bed, while she was helping the party, since one whiff of those poisonous tendrils would mean the true end of her (as in stone-cold dead). I loved it.

There more encounters we have in PoE that work this way, the better, IMHO, since it reminds me of BG and other classic RPGs, where overwhelming stuff may just happen to you, if you ignore a hint or simply over-extend or you act recklessly, or too over-confidently, or whatever.

Thank you, great Obsidz, for this quickly delivered patch! And yeah. Surely, it's a GOG thing, since on the Steam of end of things, any old saves etc. are working like a charm after it patched to 3.01977 (?).