marelooke

So, Destiny 2 is: going (partially?) F2P, iiuc year 1 content will be F2P, which if I'm not mistaken means the base game. coming to Steam (and Google Stadia), alas not Gog doing away with lootboxes doing away with PS4 exclusives adding cross-play between all their platforms (this needn't be a positive, for Warframe it's mostly been a negative when they tried it as the certification process for consoles makes it impossible to respond to issues quickly, which was a huge issue during the first, and very badly received, iteration of their "Nightwave" battle-pass-thing) having a new expansion (which still costs money, hence the partially f2p) Laymen video: Nice touch to end a Destiny 2 video with Warframe's Fortuna song

Isn't that the module Larian mention in the article as their BG3 being a direct continuation of?

From the article: I thought BG2 was easy to learn, albeit hard to master. It having been my first RPG I had no trouble finishing the game without external help (which was good since I had no internet), something I cannot say from D:OS where I already got a headache at character creation (in a manner of speaking) Also from the article: Coming from the creators of D:OS1&2 I find that statement worrying. The type of challenge offered by those games was entirely different from what I experienced in BG2 (much more frustration in D:OS) and I rather have it stays in D:OS. Big focus on multi-player might suggest TB, which would really suck (for a BG game) So how does it compare to AD&D in BG2 (which I thought to be nice and simple) or what we got in NWN1/2 (where I found character creation to be an overcomplicated mess)

Swen already made it very clear what the thinks of exclusives, and unlike a bunch of others I expect him to stick to his principles. (as far as I know they've always delivered on their Kickstarter promises, despite sometimes rather major bumps (*cough* Linux *cough*), unlike many many others who just canned promises when things got rough)

Welp, hard to get hyped about this after all this time. The Saga was complete, after all, so I can't help but feel that this is just cashing in on the cult following this series has garnered over the years (not necessarily by Larian though...) Doesn't mean it can't turn out to be a great game, but tying it to the Baldur's Gate name sets extremely high expectations as far as I am concerned (BG2 is still the standard I measure all my cRPGs to and none have since matched it, in my eyes) But we'll see, we know nothing about the game right now (except that something called Baldur's Gate 3 is being made by Larian) but I find it hard to get excited ("dread" is a more apt description) and have a very hard time wrapping my head around the amount of hype the trailer is receiving. Companies have been trying to match BG2 for years (including people actually involved with the original), and none so far have succeeded to recreate the magic, the best "modern take" on a "BG3" is still DA:O, in my book, and that might be saying something (it's also been a while...) Anyway, I would have preferred Divinity 3 (not Original Sin 3), but we get what we get...

Installed some mods to avoid going crazy from some of the building limitations, so figured I might as well go over my (short) mod list and explain what they do: Pippi : mod to manage servers, allows setting up teleports etc. Only reason I have it is because it allows you to edit your character without starting over, picked this one because it's popular enough that it won't go away anytime soon. SP_Boss_HP: knocks boss HP down to sane levels for single player, only touches boss hp, so they'll still hurt like before Pythagoras Support Beams: ran into a whole lot of issues with stability that could have been solved by the vanilla support beams if the devs hadn't removed their stability transfer. This mod has the ability to be game breaking though as it transfers 100% of the stability. So I try to avoid it unless there really are no other options, well, besides starting over from scratch (the beams also aren't particularly pretty, so there's that too) Less Building Placement Restrictions - No NPC Camps (I switch between the normal and the Overlaps Edition): fixes a whole slew of issues with the building system, where the game wouldn't let you put stuff for no reason (eg. if you do it in a different order it does work). Doesn't fix everything, but god is this thing a QoL improvement. The overlaps edition also allows you to put stuff on top of each other, this is a godsend if you want to replace things (say you have a floor under a carefully positioned Wheel of Pain you'd like to be a foundation instead. The game will let you remove the floor just fine without destroying the Wheel, but it won't let you place the foundation (or, for that matter, re-place the floor) without removing and re-placing the Wheel, this mod allows you to do just that. And it allows for stuff like this for which there otherwise is no solution: While waiting for materials to be done I went exploring and found this fancy room: Wonder if this room's empty... My tower is nearing completion (at least the outside), if The Architect sounds like a Matrix reference there might be spoiler in the following screenshots. Put on the final roofing and took screenshot from the direction of the Aqueduct (but not from the Aqueduct because draw distance meant none of the lights were visible) Other angles, going around clockwise:

Just pointing out that bits do actually jiggle/dangle by default, though the defaults for the fairer sex are rather subtle, as far as games are concerned anyway (no breasts flopping about from a stiff breeze). Though "the trunk" doesn't "move", afaik.

People have been asking for a conclusion to the original Divinity as well, which would be Divinity 3. I kinda liked D2: DKS so I wouldn't mind that at all (probably rather have D3 over BG3 to be honest)

Larian has never done a RTwP game before, right? So yeah, that's a worry right there. That and, well, BG3, after all this time it's just bound to disappoint, no matter who makes it. As bummed as I am about that cliffhanger Valve probably has the right idea with HL3.

Lara's first tomb For the glory of Set! That was one badly timed sandstorm, had to scramble to get the mask on without getting chomped to death... Still working on Murloc Castle... (that's also about the furthest I can go away before draw distance starts kicking in) Reducing their HP doesn't necessarily make bosses any less nasty, one mistake too many and, well, let's just say that's not an NPC corpse there...

Heh, I imagined you hit 60 a while ago I've now started revisiting some prior bosses, so far I've killed the cave croc and the huge croc world boss I spotted near a lake when I was "little" (had a chest near it that just told me I was too low level. Boo!). I also started exploring the Unnamed City (since it's right next door) where I killed a bunch of human (mini)bosses (assuming they are bosses since I couldn't turn them into Thralls) and a miniboss skeleton (has a skull on his hp bar, and since he's in my way on the way in and pretty easy to beat he does get beaten on regularly). I also ran into Mr Ghost and am now collecting Demon Blood, lots of it, as I imagine you are too... I also got curious about the starting area, so I took a good long hike through the desert, turns out there's a bunch of similar starting areas, not sure if the one you get in single player is fixed or if it can vary. I also only now figured out there was an obelisk there that provides an introduction to the player's predicament. After finding that one I found a bunch more, of course... After talking to Mr Ghost I also went back and explored the Arena further, managed to "sneak" to the center of it and...well, after barely making it there I noped the hell out of there... I should note I installed a mod that scales down the rather ridiculous boss HP (at least, it's ridiculous for single player), and HP only, damage, armour etc should be untouched, as either cheesing it with arrows or doing the dodge-stab-dance for an hour weren't particularly appealing to me.

Is it me or does the RTX version seem brighter than the original?

That's quite the impressive construction! Love the waterfall, need to get me my own waterfall now, dang it! I imagine structural integrity must have been a pain, especially for the lower part that hangs from the cliff. I can't really build that way since I have The Purge on, and when they can't get to your base normally they will just spawn inside, which I'd rather avoid... And I recognize the location now, one my of picked building spots was actually on those cliffs you built against, near that broken statue a tad to the west, it has some bridges over cliffs on the north side that seemed promising to build a castle against, with a great view from the side you built against. Kinda curious as to the view from your tower now

I've been doing a lot of building. I don't seem to have any screenshots from the really early start, but I basically started by choosing a good foundation spot and then mocking things up with sandstone until it "clicked" in my head. Initially I wanted to stick to building against the pillar, unfortunately a bunch of items (like the Wheel of Pain) are a tad large to fit in a hanging room (at least, without making it look horrible), so I ended up building a giant hall at the foot of the cliff with a bunch of watchtowers. I also built a staircase to the top, just to see if what I wanted to do was even possible and there was no hidden ceiling or some no-build area or some such. Here the front of the great hall with the gate and three watchtowers is done, I also replaced the initial structure I had built on the pillar with the final version (the building on the right), it's now the kitchen. This is a nice view of the finished roof of the great hall. I'm pretty dang proud of that roof, and it was quite the pain to get right. At one point 4 different roofs had to "merge", combined with integrity constraints it was...interesting and I had to make some compromises (which you can't really see from the outside, especially now that I added more stuff) View when you throw open the main doors: Bunch of newly broken thralls reporting for duty. Crafting stations are mostly just tossed in until they can go to their final locations. Quick city trip: Nope, nope, nope! Got attacked by another purge, was going fine until this bastard showed up and murdered all my fighter Thralls, wasn't planning on losing my base to this bs so I godmoded him, couldn't even kill him in time before he ran off. This guy was so ridiculously out of line with anything else that spawned before it wasn't even funny (it really wasn't). And this was probably "only" a T4 purge (which is the maximum, by default), I don't want to know what they throw at you on higher levels (20 of these guys?) So yeah, turned the maximum level of The Purge down to 2 after that little fiasco... Back to building, aka current status. From the 4 corners + top down with a bonus shot of kitchen:

So they would be charging "unrealistically low prices to drive out a competitor"? Hmm.

Game can look really pretty 't Is but a scratch! I've been exploring, looking for a new location to settle more north since the enemies near my initial location (barring bosses) have become a tad too easy. Ran into some nice looking locations on my hikes. Cave full of crystal, with a definitely not ominous looking room at the bottom Unnamed City, early morning (iirc) Think I found a good building spot, close to the center of the map, very close to massive amounts of iron and coal and not surrounded by really tough enemies (like the rhinos and tigers a little bit further north). Planning to build a fortress all along that pillar. Going to try using T3 mostly (due to it having to withstand the Purge) but the initial scaffolding and stuff is in sandstone for now. In case you're wondering about the bare feet/hands/head: a bunch of my gear broke on the trip. I also found a really nice spot (at least as far as the view is concerned) north of "the wall" up on a cliff (basically behind the huge statues in the northern tiger area) that I might end up building at once I'm strong enough to explore around there a bit more so I can figure out whether there's any crafting materials or whether it'll be a pain to actually live there. Oh, and I've found a bunch of journals, mostly written by random Exiles, but

Well, the first Purge in Conan Exiles finally triggered, wasn't quite so bad. But I might have over-prepared a tad...

Haha, my dancers still wear slightly more On the topic of clothing, it's funny how many of the Thralls you capture will suddenly have more, or different clothing, than you captured them with, and I don't recall handing out clothing. Love these ghosts that point you to certain caves: Also cleared out my first cave (not the one from the ghost, that was croc-cave, which I haven't messed with too much), this one had a whole slew of humans, many of which T2, T3 and a priest of Mitra (which I have no use for, so I just ripped out his heart) Annoyingly enemies already started respawning just when I got to the end, so getting out was a pain. I also finally unlocked the big gate building piece, which turned out to be a tad larger than I had anticiped, so I had to redesign my main gate. If you thought my base couldn't look any more megalomaniac, well... I captured a named figher as well, Ennika of Cimmeria, I have the slight impression this is a pretty high tier Thrall since breaking her has been going on for forever with barely any progress (I still use the first Wheel of Pain...). I also built a second Wheel of Pain so I don't have to pass up on any interesting Thralls when I'm on harvesting runs. Other than that I've mostly been Thrall hunting and fortification building, the Purge meter is getting real close to the marker now. Btw, for Keyrock on the naked foraging topic (mechanics spoilers inside):

Ahh, and here I was about to ask about The Purge, since the meter's almost at the first marker for me (my megalomaniac building tendencies might have something to do with that...) So yeah, now that I have some thralls, some decent armour and have sacrificed countless unbelievers (probably some believers as well, they should feel honoured) I felt powerful enough to do away with subtlety... I built a massive mess-hall/throne room next to my temple and added guard towers and a gate (I've since added stairs to the entryway): I like to think the view from the terrace isn't half bad: The area with the campfire at the bottom of the cliff is where I got killed the first time: View on my base from the humble cliffside housing I started off with: I've been exploring, mostly east, trying to find some good Thralls (archers to man my walls or craftsmen, mostly, especially looking for an armourer), but I ran into this sleeping...thing, and noped the hell outta there... I also ran into a boss croc (which promptly murdered the hell out of me) and a boss hyena (which I promptly ran away from) and I killed a boss turtle-thing by kiting it to my walls where my archers did their thing (need to figure out a way to keep mobs from getting right up to my walls, because that seems to confuse the AI) I also switched to medium armour for combat situations, still using the light for resource runs though. EDIT fwiw I play on normal and the only changes I made (so far) were halving crafting resource requirements and halving the time it takes to "break" Thralls. Interested to see what The Purge will bring...

Honestly I've doubled the speed at which Thralls break (I was just twiddling my thumbs waiting for it at some point, looked up the numbers and was like..."Errr, really? 8 hours of real time for a T4 Thrall?!") and halved material costs. Felt fair to me since the game is balanced around multiplayer (and mining rocks got kinda RSI-inducing, not even kidding). I considered halving XP gain too, but it's not as if I've been zooming through the levels so left that alone for now. I managed to acquire a bunch of Thralls now: 2 warriors, an archer, a cook and I'm breaking a Tier 2 Blacksmith now. First warrior was just an experiment I did to figure out how the mechanic worked before I attempted the second one which was the warrior that caused my first death (Holding grudges? Me?! Pffff!), the Archer I figured would be useful to man the walls. After those three I started actively looking for profession thralls, (warriors now end up with their hearts sacrificed to Seth and their hides turned into armour, for now), so first one I came across was the cook, then I got jumped by a couple, the husband was a warrior and ended on the altar, the wife was a Tier 2 Blacksmith and is enjoying the Wheel of Pain now Personally I've been dying a lot lately, it seems that as soon as I start bleeding I may as well prepare for a corpse run, nothing I've found appears to stop the effect and since taking damage cancels heals I can't even spam food, so RIP. Fighting someone with daggers means I need to do it close enough so I can get back in time from the corpse run to rip out their heart, flay them and nab the loot.

I might have meta-gamed the deity choice a bit (I assumed it was a permanent choice, it doesn't appear to be so though). Given how my main source of hides has been humans (hehe) Yog might have been a reasonable pick as well I'm pretty much directly opposite of that cave (assuming it's the one with the ghost lady running into it, got ambushed by two crocs bit further down so I heroically ran away), at the other side of the river. Iron has indeed been a pretty big pain to acquire but moving next to all the spiders isn't really appealing either. Need to get me some better weapons so I can just swat them and move around that area more freely. Or try to build a bridge so I can do away with the swimming across bit. Ah yes, I ran into a huge spider while I was trekking through the mountains, I decided to nope the hell out as well. Found a mega-croc next to a lake more to the west as well (left that one alone too, I'm such a hero ;)). So far everyone I've encountered has been hostile, so kinda avoiding humans until I can get some Thralls set up and some better weapons crafted (still using the stone stuff) Managed to craft me some Khitan light armor though: Went with light because I've been pretty good at getting into fights that are too tough and being able to run has saved my hide quite a few times already

Built my first house under a rock overhang I started out camping under: Figured easier access to the water below would be neat, so started building stairs, ended up building a bunch of houses in the cliff wall The gods need a proper temple (actually underestimated how much space those shrines required so stuff ended a bit bigger than initially planned...) Temple and initial house seen from up top (the cliff wall is behind the house Not sure how the location is from a gameplay point of view (mostly spent my time building ;)) but irl it would have been a nice hidden location (if we disregard the temple, hehe) since the cliff housing is hidden except when you look straight at it and the same goes for the initial house.

Conan Exiles is on sale on Steam right now. I might have bought it. I blame Keyrock.

Well, Warframe doesn't have lootboxes, although they did nerf XP gain some years ago, likely so they could keep booster sales up. Still, they just make stuff go faster and only affect XP and resources (not blueprints or anything else "desirable") so they're still mostly a skip-the-grind type of deal. That said, they do have randomly generated "mods" (basically stat-cards that you put on your gear) that are tradeable (sounds akin to Diablo 3's auction house, which I had no first hand experience with). They're gated behind multiple levels of randomness so getting a desirable one generally means trading with other players, which means acquiring and spending premium currency (which at some point obviously needs to be bought with real money, even if you get it by trading with others). Many players opposed them and the game is perfectly fine without them (so far), I expect that, should that even change many veterans will pack up and leave. They also charge stupendous amounts for user-created skins (Tennogen), I mean, 5-6 euros for a skin really no longer is a micro-transaction in my book. Still, you can just ignore those exist.