Mr. Magniloquent

I wish I had *more* time to game. Generally I'm either tending to my career, family, or frankly out living life and doing things. That's not a complaint per say, it's just that there are games out there I would really like to have more time to play. Even with ignoring everything console, almost everything AAA, and much of the indie shovel-ware, 2012 was the dawn of a gaming renaissance that I just don't have the hours for. It's a good problem to have.

I find them to be fairly irrelevant. For most stats, 1 point difference is roughly 3%. The racial abilities provide greater distinction, but are not really mechanically significant so far as I have noticed. That being said, I prefer the bonuses of Hearth Orlans over just about everything else.

You need to watch this video.

Large quantities of painted portraits are/were going to be very difficult in PoE, as many of their demihuman races are very phenotypically distinctive. This is just something we'll have to overlook in the meantime. As for Baldur's Gate portaits, I use the Paint BG mod. It has a wide variety of excellent characterizations, and even provides portraits for NPCs--including some mod NPCs. Here's an overview of what it offers.

While I fully understand this reasoning, and do appreciate the consideration, I would rather Obsidian attract as many players as possible using whatever price suits that goal. I look at kickstarter as a modern form of patronage. Patrons know that art is fickle, but support those with reasonable ability to deliver with money they won't miss. Kickstarter is this on a grand scale. I'd rather everyone play the game and let there be market discovery with this style of game than have nose thumbed at it due to price.

I imagine when playing as a Skaenite that the player may run into some conflict of interest once they move into their bourgeois castle.

I use some mods too Even on a modern machine it takes several hours to install, but by every god and its mother, is it worth it. There is some feature overlap, but many of them now recognize this and help the uninitiated through the process. Some of the NPC mods which allow you to kit them out or change their class might not be advisable for someone not intimately familiar with the game though. Baring that, this game was already a marvel, but with over a decade of dedicated polish and expansion, it is unrivaled.

I still cannot fathom why Obsidian did not choose an ECL system. It takes much of the nightmare out of encounter balancing an entire game. It also then becomes practical to incentive different approaches without a cold-sweat keeping developers up over night gripped with the terror of "degenerate gameplay". It feels like a truly rookie bit of oversight to me.

It really comes down to the change in how character no longer miss on a large percentages of attacks. When everything hits, you need a very sophisticated way to mitigate damage without resorting to the banalities of HP bloat that plagues every Japanese game, boss fight, and MMO. Damage Threshold is an intuitive way to screen out frequent grazing, and Damage Resistance is the logical conclusion beyond this for having armor mitigate damage rather than evasion. I personally have no problems at all with any of this though. Things can get out of hand very quickly, but that gives combat more visceral and threatening appeal that I appreciate. With their knockout system behind it, I don't feel that the wide range of weapon damage is terrible as those attacks are not resource based. I feel this system would be much easier to handle if weapons had a single damage value rather than range. The ultimate damage would still be determined by the wielder due to the accuracy resolution and armor design. Doing this would eliminate the worst of the "swinginess" offenses that people dislike.

The writing is cheesy? You wake up in a laboratory where you and your childhood friend are being tortured. Stumbling through this wizards laboratory of horrors a biological test subject begs for death, a companion finds her husband eviscerated, and an insane clone of your captor's long-lost love goes berserk on you, all the while trying to survive and navigate the magical minions, denizens, and hazards of this dungeon. That's just the opening. Aerie is supposed to be adolescent and naive, Jaheria is supposed to be domineering, and...where else was Minsc going to hide his beloved animal companion? He had to improvise! Too many quests? Oh, no! Too much gameplay! Too many potential adventures! You are aware that you're not actually forced to seek out all of them right? If done correctly, you can have every coin you need before even leaving the Promenade. You didn't even do the carnival tent correctly. Most of the monsters can be very easily vanquished with simple spells or a single theif ability. Aerie actually warns you about their nature and gives you a major hint how. She even has several spells and an an ability to solve the entire dungeon. A couple of the monsters are immune to magical weapons, but all of them can be avoided or ignored, they can be turned, killed with magic directly, or killed by one of the several magical weapons already come to your possession by the time you've left Chateau de Irenicus. Holy-hand-holding Batman! The Lilarcor thing was great! The sewer had some decent battles, traps to keep you on your toes, a riddle quest, a powerful and iconic weapon, and even a back entrance to another quest! How great is that? All of this in just a tiny foot note that could easily be missed. In the words of said Lilarcor, I've got some choice words of advice from you about playing Baldur's Gate: "Choke up, dolt, your grip is all wrong!"

I prefer the Paladin in PoE. I rarely need to heal, and when I do it is generally one character that has either somehow become stranded or recently suffered a critical hit. The per encounter aspect of the Paladin's Lay on Hands ability suits me very well in that regard. I rarely need it, but it's always there every fight. The same applies to Liberating Exhortation. It's a per encounter ability that suppresses all negative effects. Their passive aura is always on providing buffs, which is nice because PoE spell durations are painfully short.

To anyone still playing the BG saga and is interested in using a shapeshifter, download the Ultimate Shapeshifting and Rebalancing Fix. Overpowered for BG 1 of course, since you're a proper lycanthrope, but appropriate in BG2 and ToB.

I haven't gotten around to playing with multiple Chanters, though I've been meaning to. Do chants stack at all with the chants of another Chanter, or is the benefit purely that you can keep more than one active simultaneously?

It's not a conspiracy theory if it's proven true; it's just conspiracy. My reasons seem strange because I actually base my views on what government do, rather than what false rhetoric they employ. It is correct that you don't generally respond to anything I post, though I sincerely doubt that you could--either on a factual or rhetorical basis. I imagine that you must go through an entire pantry of blue pills just to make it through the week. I find your lack of awareness genuinely terrifying. I have an incredible wealth of resources to share with you, should you ever be so brave to ask.

Don't give me that worn-out limited asset apology. It's a red herring. Existing volume of spells by class: Cipher: 30 Druid: 45 Priest: 45 Wizard: 67 Total: 187 Baldur's Gate 1 (pre-ToSC) total across all spellcasters: 96 This is on top of all of the copious abilities for these and other classes. We asked for a wheel and Josh Sawyer tried to reinvent it. All they had to do was create spells and give them a name that doesn't bait copy-write suits. Furthermore, magic in PoE is not differentiated between Arcane and Divine. They could have created one unparralled spell list using the entire IE compendium as a template, then organized it from there out. Chanters and Ciphers would exist exactly as they do now, but draw from a greater spell list when choosing invocations and powers. Priests, Paladins, and Druids would draw from the same pool, but be limited to those belonging to their domains. Wizards would also draw from the same spell list. They all would still be further differentiated not merely by their resource mechanic, but by their class features and abilities. That would have been significantly less work and produce a marvelous spell list. Instead, Josh Sawyer was more keen on pigeon-holing classes into MMO roles and gutting what makes magic magical. The failure of the wizard class in PoE, and it's magic by large is a failure of concept--nothing else.

Here's some keywords: - Kickstarter Budget - Expansion/Sequel - Mods - Future Here's a good link.

Roleplaying is not why I typically prefer spells without cooldowns. Cooldowns typically ensure that a spell will be bland, flaccid, and without impact since it can be used again. It's one reason why I argue for "true" vancian casting. If you only get to cast a spell but once, it needs to matter. That's when magic gets to be magically, rather than MMO ranged DPS garbage. True. It'd be silly to claim that mages were exiting to play from 1st-4th level in the IE games. The mere implementation of rods and scepters *alone* already insures that you'll get more meaningful gameplay out of your newborn mage in PoE than you got out of him in BG1 and IWD1. Even levels are a bit nebulous in AD&D. Even still, a level 4 mage can blind, summon, charm, stun, sleep, turn invisible, detect invisibly, identify, scry, dispel, knockdown, and much more in addition to what a PoE wizard can do. I will take the AD&D wizard over PoE's fractured joke any day.

Western civilisations are primarily your Western countries that follow ideologies like democratic elections Hahahahaha! Every season the plebs are forced to choose between Statist A or Statist B. If you're in a parlimentary system, you might occasionally get Statist C. Nothing more satisfying than lending legitimacy to a false choice. Western civilisations are primarily your Western countries that follow ideologies like democratic elections, respect for human rights Hahahahaha! Every State reserves the right to rob you and either throw you in a cage or kill you should you refuse to comply. The US government even reserves itself the authority to murder anyone on the planet at any time for secret reasons based on secret interpretations of unspecified laws. The British routinely throw children in a cage for thought crimes on social media. Many examples of other violations abound. Just because women aren't forced to wear burkhas does not make "The West" respectful of human rights. Western civilisations are primarily your Western countries that follow ideologies like democratic elections, respect for human rights and Capitalism. Bwahahahahahaha! EVERYTHING in The West is regulated and taxed. If it's not, then it's illegal and they will kill you over it should they find the need to. Who can make what, where, how, and sometimes even how many is ruled over. Even the who, what, when where, how, and even why are regulated when it comes to sale. This applies to everything from bubble gum to mammogram machines. Western countries are superior to other countries because they offer their citizens the best quality of life and opportunities to achieve economic succcess We dont want it ever to collapse because of all terrible alternatives that exist like how Russia and some places in the Middle East are governed After a certain point, it's hard to even cynically laugh. Russia & the Middle East are just slight more progressed forms of Neofeudalism. Russia actually has significantly less regulation and taxes, but corruption is open. The Middle East even more so. The main difference is that in The West corruption is codified by law, and shake-downs are done "for the good of the people". Which would not be difficult to do. Why do you think Ghaddafi is dead or Saddam Hussein? Gold. Oil for gold. That would crush the entire petrodollar system. That's why Iran is where all warpaths of the USA lead to. Any triggers of the Credit Default Swap system would cause every bank in the entire world to become insolvent overnight as well. They have hundreds of trillions in derivative liabilities, which is banking code for gambling on insurance policies for worthless collateral that you are not party to. The USA government and many of its lackey states in Europe would see the world bathed in nuclear ashes before allowing that to happen though. That's what this whole business about Syria, Russia, and Iran is about.

I felt like Neverwinter Nights handled this well. I remember my rogue falling into melee with a patrolling guard in the prison. The characters shifted around one another, parried, dodged, blocked, etc. Having an extreme preference to magic users, it was probably one of the first experiences of my life where I had found melee combat in an RPG interesting. However, with how asynchronous combat is, I doubt this kind of animation would present well in PoE. As it stands, I find the combat animations adequate.

I would replace it with nothing compulsory. Ratings agencies exist. Insurance companies would have to survive on their own, rather than seek rent and favors of The State. Prices would plummet since practitioners would actually be able to enter the market and drugs would be able to be produced cheaply and broadly. You would be responsible for finding a doctor you trust--something people should already be doing. Believe me, AMA board certification means very little--I have worked with hundreds of physicians. Everything would sort itself out (for the better) very quickly.

A bit late, but that's quite easy simple. Abolish the AMA. Abolish the FDA. Abolish patent law. Abolish healthcare associated regulation. Every. Single. One. Abolish Medicare. Abolish Medicaid--in all of its forms. Abolish corporate person-hood. Number four is cheating somewhat as there are MANY laws regarding healthcare on the federal level alone. Abolishing the American Medical Association and their monopoly on the licensing of physicians is the most important. Abolishing the FDA is next in line for similar reasons but towards products. Number three goes hand in hand with abolishing the FDA. The rest are massive distortions in the market which disconnect buyers & sellers and destroy any real price discovery. I could get alot more specific about each of these, but that would be a very large novel you wouldn't care to read, and I wouldn't care to write.

Everything in USA healthcare is regulated. EVERYTHING. That's deliberate. It has been for most of the 20th century. The State gets more power over you and requires people to seek The State to access it. Corporations get anti-market practices that cartel service and prevent competition. I worked in healthcare for over 6 years--everything from clerical work, paramedic, nuclear diagnostics, and laboratory analytics. Even the BLANKET WARMERS have regulations about where they must be located. The stories I could share. State domination of healthcare is ultimately why I backed out of med school and became a welding engineer & inspector instead.

Yes that is correct, I have mentioned this several times but the Russian economy's free fall is due to the falling oil price and sanctions You don't always need military intervention to get countries to change there actions and political decisions. Sanctions can and do work, they just work slower The USA used Saudi Arabia to do the exact same thing in mid/late 1980s. They jerked The House of Saud's chain to lower oil prices, which crashed the Soviet economy that was dependent on energy exports. The secondary target is Iran, a mutual adversary to the USA, Saudi Royalty, and Israel. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-10/why-oil-plunging-other-part-secret-deal-between-us-and-saudi-arabia http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/10/us-saudi-arabia-oil-prices-collusion-calculations-and-errors-3051586.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/11/19/are_the_united_states_and_saudi_arabia_conspiring_to_keep_oil_prices_down.html They will not be able to keep oil prices this way for more than 2 years though. The Gawhar reservoir in Saudi Arabia is drying up, and with demand stimulated as it is they will not be able to keep up with it--even with the aid of Qatar and Kuwait. It's also not in their long term interests to do so, because well--all of those actors (including the USA) are totally dependent on oil for their maintenance of influence and power. The oil price shock is a desperate move made because China, Russia, Brazil, India, Turkey, and many more countries are engaging in swap agreements that circumvent the US dollar. Russia & China are actually now testing their alternative to the SWIFT system--which is very bad news for the USA. ISIS is a creation of the USA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Britain, and Israel. America's Allies are Funding ISIS http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169117 Rebel Gas Attack Supplied by Saudis ISIS a Creation of USA & Israel Noam Chomsky: USA Created ISIS That's just a snippet from this year's news. There are so much more. Every time I read one of your comments, I'm dumbfounded by how deeply you are dominated by Western lies. You very desperately need to get rid of your television. Lybia was not about humanitarian aid! It was about two things Gold and Oil! Gaddafhi was refusing to accept US dollars for oil and was reintroducing the Gold Dinar as a standard form of physical currency in Africa. At the same time, Hugo Chavez was demanding delivery for all the physical gold that they held in foreign countries. If they hadn't delivered the gold, which they did in fact not have--it would have caused a MASSIVE worldwide financial crisis were every western currency would implode and devalue by 100% or more. This would have been a WWIII moment--instantly. Likewise, the USA cannot tolerate ANYONE challenging the Petro Dollar Standard. Ask Saddam. A few months after accepting only Euros and Gold for oil the USA brought "Democracy" to Iraq. Ever heard of the Color Revolutions? Lotus Revolution: Egypt Green Revolution: Iran Purple Revolultion: Iraq Velvet Revolution: Czechoslovakia Orange Revolution: Ukraine Rose Revolution: Georgia Tulip Revolution: Kyrgzstan All of those backed by the USA and their "Non-Government Organizations" like the George Soros Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, and USAID. Those are just the relatively peaceful sabotage of foreign governments. Russia has EVERY reason to be on guard.

As a point of interest, the only thing that makes a Cipher preferable to a Wizard for a gish build is that they can replenish their casting resource. The cipher class is all but totally devoid of defensive spells & abilities, which I find makes it risky to take into melee.

It's more about than just the principle. Do I have anything illegal to hide when I change clothes within my own home? No, but that doesn't mean I don't highly value my right to privacy in doing so for other reasons. This is a very good point but I could possibly counter it by asking you if you really consider someone observing your nudity in the space of your own home, which is an egregious invasion of a persons privacy IMO, to someone being able to read your emails? Are they really the same thing....for me the obvious difference is that one is a physical invasion of privacy and the other is more electronic invasion of your thoughts and communication ? How much money is in your bank account? Give me your medical records to browse through. Show me what you look like naked. Confess to me your deepest anxieties. Tell me the secrets you hold in greatest confidence. You do not own yourself. I am your Master. I am privy to everything you own, think, and are because you are my property. In knowing everything you own, are, communicate, and think, I have to tools to both control you and destroy you if need be. Now return to rejoicing your chains, Slave. Cordially, The US Government