majestic

Seems like it'll be two weeks or maybe three, here's inXile's current Bard's Tale IV patching roadmap:

You're not really supposed to recover from the covenant but it is possible under the right conditions. It's fun to see but it can end with an instant game over after the time runs out. As far as the computers go, yeah, they're supposed to define the ship's role. It works better with some than others. Now I don't really know what sort of fleet compositions the current patch favors but in the past the game essentially came down to spamming evasion capped torpedo corvettes at your enemies. If that's still the case then you can only pick from one type of computer anyway.

The actual game isn't bad. It's just that the program actively conspires against you playing it. The loading times that make Pillars pale in comparison, framerate drops, invisible icons in the inventory, skill points that appear placed but aren't, quest and item text that's barely readable due to terrible UI scaling, graphics and resolution settings that simply don't work, oh and the language setting that automatically resets every time you turn the game on. Yep. Those are bad. REALLY bad.

I think I'll be putting playing Bard's Tale 4 off until Friday when inXile's first promised patch with much needed improvements hits.

Played BT4 for a bit. It's a very inXile launch. Best bring some patience, this is going to be the usual patching rodeo.

That very much depends on the member state. Gambling laws are notoriously complex and each member state has their own. If lootboxes were to be classified as gambling (or a game of chance*) they would fall under each member state's regulation - in some states publishers might be able to get a gambling license and continue to sell lootboxes, to mature audience only though, in others not so much. *Outcome determined by luck, not skill. The distinction is also done on a member state level and adds another layer of complexity with very fluid lines. Black Jack is usually a game of chance, but Texas Hold 'Em often isn't (even tough there's arguably a layer of strategy for Black Jack).

Got a mail that my Nintendo reward points will go belly up soon in an attempt to sucker me into buying something shiny for my Switch. It worked, I grabbed Ghost 1.0 from the shop, which is something I wanted to play when it came out but then didn't get around to and forgot. Pretty awesome so far.

These are the things that keep me up at night. But... but... Invisigoth looks like this:

The game resets to morning when you visit the Adventurer's Guild (the building you started at). That's how you survive the early nights - by not bothering with them.

Don't bother save scumming for scrutinize, it has a reasonable success chance anyway and you can easily afford to restore your reputation at the tavern. Sure money looks tight at the beginning but it really isn't. Especially once Tressa learns her divine skill (minor spoiler: It gives you the damage it causes in cash).

While there are eight characters and eight path actions they come in similar but not equal pairs. Cyrus and Alfyn both use their path actions to acquire information - Alfyn's never fails but is level gated while Cyrus' can fail but can be used at any time. Tressa buys items from NPCs, Therion steals them. Primrose and Ophilia will get NPCs to follow (for quests or to be summoned in battle) and finally H'aanit and Olberic can fight NPCs. Essentially you've discovered the full extent of the NPC busy work already. Guide and allure are only used to bring NPCs to their destinations. There's actually very little grinding along the character stories and eventually your main party can pull lower level characters through their respective chapters. Out of the path action busy work you can generally skip barter/steal and challenge/provoke unless necessitated by quests up until you hit chapters 3 and 4, but you can find enough gear on your own through quests and shops that it doesn't really matter. Side stories also never give experience, only money and a couple of items. Inquire is essentially the only one that really has benefits good enough to warrant extensive use. Many side quests just require knowledge gathered from some other place and knowledge can improve your path skills and unlock new items at shops, give discounts, etc.

Figured as much. Meh. Thanks for the heads up.

Yeah, that would be really interesting. For all the translations I could find they seem to espouse the same sort of policies that the other parties of the ECR do just with a more xenophobic bent. From what I could gather from online sources they're all for sweeping tax cuts (including, but not limited to inheritance tax and taxes related to capital investment) that should be financed by cutting financial support for immigrants. If they want to keep the welfare state as it is but simply reduce the inarguably massive immigration to Sweden and manage to finance tax cuts with the savings then more power to them. Lucky Sweden. But it sure reads like every other conservative program on the surface. I've seen parties (well technically the same just in different iterations after internal schizms) with such promises rise to power twice here, and while that's not fully comparable the promised welfare cuts for immigrants just ended up being welfare cuts for everyone, merely in areas associated mostly with immigration, i.e. child support and needs based minimum income - both of which are still paid out by far and large to natives and EU member state citizens. But we'll see, I guess. Maybe Sweden can become a model state again.

Still playing Octopath Traveler, I don't get around to do much playing at the moment. All my characters are in their chapter 4 now and I've unlocked all regular secondary jobs. Oh, and I walked into the Devourer of Men unprepared. That wasn't... pretty.

I'm not Amentep but I'm pretty sure that is Hazel Brooks.

Nah, because Baldur's Gate came out before Bioware took a turn for the worse and we're all edgelords here who would never admit to linking a BioWare game made after the first Mass Effect (if even that).

For what it's worth I felt the same way after Agents of SHIELD's first season 4 episode. It's certainly the low point of the season. Actually it might even be one of the worst episodes of the show, and that's saying something after the first half of season 1. It gets better though. Especially the last third of the season is pure joy.

Having a blast with this chemistry teacher and a few loonies who argue that water isn't actually made up of hydrogen and oxygen but is an element in its own right. Best comment I've read so far was that water can't be H2O because it puts out fires.

Yeah, that must be it.

Adopting a single policy that originated as a left wing idea but has long since moved to mainstream status idea doesn't invalidate the leaning of the entire platform. Not to mention one can easily right-wing benefits for having children in the same way our government is going to do: By replaying universal benefits with tax cuts that only fully affect rich families with children. I don't know if Poland had child benefits of a sort before the new program but it's basically something that (almost) every other party in Western and Central Europe that wasn't part of the soviet bloc adopted decades ago. Such benefits are a matter of fact policy for the entire political spectrum for us, it's not much of a surprise that no one would consider it a reason to claim any party is left-wing. Lol trust me, east Europe have more social state than most western countries, free schools, state health care, unemployment benefits, pensions, we got it all. But of course its left policy on political spectrum, thats so mind blowing that someone thinks it right wing. BTW left wing policies are populistic, who would not want free stuff? Not that i complain I am supporter of some of them myself That's not really what I was going at. Yes, state funded child support isn't a right wing policy - how could it be. But it also don't move a party - especially in Germany these days - todwards the left enough for them to stop being right wing. It's too little a factor due to its widespread acceptance. It's also dishonest*, but that's populists for you, regardless of where they sit on the spectrum. *Sometimes it is even borderline schizophrenic, the Freedom Party in Austra for instance is the self-styled social homeland party and openly demanded higher minimum wages and support for the working poor, while at the same time having their economic programm developed by the Hayek Institute. Now that they are in power they have done absolutely zilch for the working class or the poor. *shrug*

I don't know. I never really read YA novels but we watched some pretty disturbing anime as children because every channel manager seemed to believe that all animation is for children. Not talking about the lighthearted depiction of brutality of, say, Tom and Jerry cartoons here, but something soul crushing like Dog of Flanders. I watched Niklaas doing hard labor day in and day out just to get by, having all his hopes and dreams crushed every other episode and then, finally, when it seems like things just might improve both he and his dog freeze to death. I think YA novel readers will be fine if they get some bleak grimdark. Times are going to change, look at the stuff that's on TV for children these days. *shrug*

Adopting a single policy that originated as a left wing idea but has long since moved to mainstream status idea doesn't invalidate the leaning of the entire platform. Not to mention one can easily right-wing benefits for having children in the same way our government is going to do: By replaying universal benefits with tax cuts that only fully affect rich families with children. I don't know if Poland had child benefits of a sort before the new program but it's basically something that (almost) every other party in Western and Central Europe that wasn't part of the soviet bloc adopted decades ago. Such benefits are a matter of fact policy for the entire political spectrum for us, it's not much of a surprise that no one would consider it a reason to claim any party is left-wing.

He also starred in an X-Files episode that really fit him to a tee titled Terms of Endearment. I remember it well since it came after How The Ghosts Stole Christmas which is probably one of the best bottle-episodes ever made and I thought they might still turn the ship around... but eh, the ship had long sailed off into the sunset at that point. Some silly critics complained about the plot but what the hell, you don't invite Ash to guest star on your show and then play it straight.

I had an incredibly stressful and crappy day at work so on my way home Ipicked up six bottles of Stiegl Paracelsus Organic Zwickl beer. That was pretty good. Also somewhat drunk now. It's been a long time since I got drunk. A couple years ago I would have shrugged off six 0.5l bottles of beers with no real issue but I am certainly a good deal sh*tfaced right now. It's kinda hard to type. Damn.

Well to be fair I doubt any of the Plinkett reviews will ever capture the magic of the prequel reviews (or technically the Star Trek ones which came first). I do agree with a lot of Mike's points though. Not much of a surprise as I walked out of the theatre hating the film.