Mor

that isn't a problem. it may be stupid, but it isn't a problem. don't buy the ebook if it is ridiculous to do so. buy the paper book. if you and many other similar folks begin buying the arguably superior paper book, then those who make ebooks will, quite naturally, come up with a solution. Exactly, if physical books are so much more bang for your buck, why buy something that isn't. @Oerwinde, also since when book lend-ability has become one of top criteria, i rarely lend my books, nor would the FBI\Interpol\whatever be concerned with people who only lend couple of ebooks. (unless the whole lending is a mask for free sharing, even then they rarely go after individuals) As for your publishers vs retailers comment, tell me in the good ol' days what would happened if I set up a shop infront of retailer and buy\sell his used books? because its similar to what the internet offers, only the books ain't so used (and in many case you don't have to pay). Which is why we see all the new licences\DRM crap..

Uh Gromnir... you had your last word, now lets agree to disagree and get back on topic of Animancy.

I might be wrong, but the PoE backers doesn't seem like the target audience for another MMORPG, most of us backed this game because its single player cRPG, and large portion of the backers seem to venomously denounce anything MMORPG(or aRPG) related, and have a kneejerk reaction whenever anything(mechanic or style) is even vaguely associated with it.

It's essentially like buying a real book and then giving it to your friends to read it, Honestly, how many centuries old is the custom of lending a book/lawnmower/whatever to your friend without it being a crime? Do we have to start now? Obviously it is not that simple no one would argue against you lending your physical book, re-selling or donating to the local library. I read a statistic once that an average person would mean about 15k people in his life time, so even if you are hyper active how many people you would share that book over your life time? Of course with a digital copy you can share it with ten fold the people in matter of hours.. Even if you implement a sort of only on copy is usable at the same time DRM(so it wouldn't be a blunt piracy) in the internet it would be easy to put up a "free" library which would allow most people never buy the book, just reuse the same copies. Which is why this is generally regard as cutting into profits and or reduce the value of the product. Also speaking of piracy and established real-world practices, there is the "good" ol' pricing system for every physical product (e.g. cloth\entertainment\hardware\gadgets) which starts with overpriced release and ends with xx% off sales long down the line. However, in the internet age we got the entitled bread, that believe that just because they don't like something about the product they are entitled to pirate it... i.e. I don't like the publisher, I don't think its worth the price, but I wouldn't wait for it drop because I WANT it NOW..

Obviously*. Still there were many similar organizations that operated in secrecy but only few became notrious for their actions in light of the time period they operated e.g. one might argue that the whole feudal structure was about maintaining power, through all kind of repression, which is why I started by asking if we have anything to suggest that Dunryd Row is being on the inquisition corner of this scale.. * Although I have never seen the Frumentarii referred as "secret service" per se, certaily not in my old non-English books and I doubt that i would ever stop associate "secret service" with more modern period, at least on subconscious level. Exactly what I have been saying! In the setting we have ample of practical reason for the existence of such force, we have nothing to suggest that they are anything but the "Scotland Yard" verity, and the trope of totalitarian\authoritarian regime that went on political\religious repression/purge has been filled already...

Since its gaming forume, i'd cover games. IMO the above is part of the problem, getting stuff free stealing is so easy on the internet, that to some people the idea if paying seem odd, and subsequently spend time justifying why they should be able allowed to continue do as they do. Fact is that there is little that can be done about it, so as far as I am concerned there are two types of people, those who do it quietly (many who kids who hopefully one day get a job and start putting money back) and douchebags who brag about it and try to convince others that they are anything but douchebags.

I don't believe that animancers has anything robust enough to be used in the field, but some theorized that it would be possible to sever part of souls e.g. curing mental illness that way, so its possible that they would find a way to sever a soul memories or compel it todo something. btw, a little nitpick, Animancers are researches and inventors, but presumably everyone can use their inventions.

Just in case it wasn't posted somewhere before: Pillars of Eternity Brings New Area and Demo to E3 2014 The development team at Obsidian announces that it is getting ready to show off a new scene taken from their upcoming Pillars of Eternity during the upcoming E3 2014 trade show, offering fans of the title a look at the core mechanics of the game and some of the lore created for it.

pretty much that simple. Also looking back at that update I noticed the caption for the Cipher detective concept - "attempts to perceive a 'housed' soul within a piece of evidence" (showing sword). It would mean that "housed" souls can be manifested in mundane objects like swords, and if the detective think its can help him in some way they must be able to perceive (or communicate?) with world around them. (which might lend into the living adra theory I had) Those skill can be very useful, me think. Some thing like the sniffer in the wheel of time?

@Gromnir, I understand your point based on the single term "secret police" you are convinced that they will be a tool of political repression outside of the usual for that time period, inline with inquisition and what not.. However, I think that based on all that we know lore wise, it isn't a prudent conclusion. The role of the totalitarian\authoritarian regime already filled by Readceras, and we seen nothing at all that would suggest anything of that sort in Dyrwood, where independence is valued. So if you are going to cry HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed! based on that don't stop there, go on with whole power structure of that time. Additionally everything we know about the setting offer us ample reason for why a special force with innate mental abilities, expert at soul manipulation would be needed (i.e. when Animancers dubbing murky ground, in some cases criminal acts; when everyone has access to innate soul powers; and through Animancers research cipher abilities which terrorized Dyrwoodans during the last two wars become widespread) yes I think that such police force is not only plausible, but have practical, realistic beneficial reasons. Also since Ciphres are new bread and has particular reputation, it makes sense to use it as deterrence and keep their activity secret, unless you prefer the good ol' police deterrence of that time Also maybe its just me but 'Secret police' rolls on my tongue better then secret service for that time(the later I tend to associate with much more modern period), and cipher detective doesn't sound like some kind commissar or inquisitor that you seem to envision... Overall I think that there enough reason to be open to other ideas, but if you want to stick your ground, we will have to part ways with this wikipidea entry: Also cops and doctors example was good considering that you brought up the American in you, you guys have a wired love/hate relationship with the pOlice, especially on forum such as these and you can't know with 40+ years old with internet persona.. anyway the point was that even in worst case scenario they are still necessary evil..

Scientists Say They Have Found A Way To Fight SARS And MERS An international team of scientists say they have identified a compound that can fight coronaviruses, responsible for the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which currently have no cure. Coronaviruses affected the upper and lower respiratory tracts in humans. They are the reason for up to a third of common colds. [...]

ahh sure.. they must also be dabbling in zombie occult, remind me to call my character William Blazkowicz.. although then your inquisition example would make sense, since no one would expect that based on the info we have. Just because they are secret service, doesn't mean we should leap to conclusion that you have, especially since we already have one colony go the totalitarian\authoritarian regime way (Readceras). I specifically noted the Cowled Wizards, who were secretive organization, which I doubt that many of us disliked to us they were impotent and corrupt, still they were necessary evil due to rogue spellcasters. Here is a world where everyone has access to innate soul power, not just wizards who be limited by acknowledge sharing; Animancer dabble in wild research financed by the powerful with little oversight(we know that one district of the city succumbed to wave of undead), several wars with in recent decades fighting zealots from the north and similar mind warriors from the east, and overall I assume lawlessness as the people don't seem to care for authority and applaud vigilantism/feuding... I don't know why would anyone want want to build a police force that can deal with those threats and use its reputation/secrecy to its advantage.

You seem to confuse your 21 century sensibilities with those of medieval times.. I already noted what everything that we know about the organization and if you are going to scream HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed! don't stop there, every institution of that time should fit your definition... that is if you can't find the benefit in them in light of the circumstance\time.

That just silly name association with political repression.. all we know about them is that they are an intelligence service (not sure if its internal or external fbi/cia for you) and according to JS Dyrwood isn't a totalitarian state (unlike Readceras). Which makes them the equivalent of being special force of "psychics" (think Cowled Wizards role in bg2, even though to most of us they came off as annoying, impotent and corrupt organization, I'd still have to go with necessary evil) Also as I noted its important to understand that those are medieval-ish times, and look back at our own time to understand how the power structure back then was formed and think where would people with soul-power fit in such circumstances..

Russia behind a large portion of the events since the Ukrainian Crisis unfolded (directly or indirectly), trying to advance its goal at the expanse of Ukraine, but I didn't see anything about supposed use of Russian AA in that case is the proof of that. In a recent article Is Russia orchestrating east Ukraine violence? where you can read about some of that recent Russian involvement. Says that the obvious about this incident: "Kiev said the militants had used a portable air defence missile to down the helicopter - not evidence of Russian involvement in itself, however, as the Ukrainian army possesses similar weapons and rebels have seized weapons from the army before."

Not a song but a theme(I think) from a game that a friend tried to sign me on a while back. It wasn't really my style(JRPGs), but the damn theme stuck in my head.

Have the american in you noticed that most of your Tv-Shows are about doctors and cops i.e. help and protect? We all love to hate cops, but eventually we all understand that they are necessary evil. Which is especially true in medieval-ish setting, with magic and heavy populates city. ( where good hearted adventurer may not always be available to catch the equivalent of crazy soul powered jack the ripper) Also the idea that everyone can use the power of their souls has an interesting drawback on a medieval society structure, where good armor\weapon may not be as useful..

Oh, it gets better. Don't forget Crimea, where on top of Russian forces taking over the parliament and key installations. While at the same time mobile phone network and internet connections were severely hampered, as well as government websites with denial of service attacks and social networks in basically cyberwar or information war (or rather disinformation) so they can spew their propaganda uninterrupted.. on top of that we had the "spontaneous" crowds that managed to intimidate observers (and very likely voters, to manage the facadeof unified front for Russia, much like like now in the east vote separatist tried force people not to vote to try and delegitimize the vote as representative). However, still we have silly people who ignore the context, spout rubbish and make convenient dry number comparisons in their party line of Ukraine being the source of all evil trying to legitimize Russian aggression.

That is exactly the reason why they shouldn't.. if they duplicate the scripted interaction it will be huge missed opportunity. The scripted interaction style is on purpose vague and nondescript sketches to fit with any surrounding and let the written description of the event and choices to drive your imagination like in PnP sessions - its perfect. Loading screen on the other hand is your prelude into a new area, its a chance to bring the setting alive in as much vivid detail as possible. To add to the examples from the previous page here are some more: From close or afar: Something for wilderness area which always seem small and repetitive. From close or afar: I wouldn't be surprised if the Defiance Bay birds eye view of the city from the Razed panelthat we don't exactly suppose to have, would end up or was planed all along as its loading screen. Which would be great.

We know that: "Eír Glanfath was an ancient melting pot of races that built elaborate, often massive, structures out of a living shell-like substance called adra. Though the fate of the ancient Glanfathans is unknown, their dangerous and complex ruins show evidence they possessed extensive knowledge of how souls work." - Additionally we know that not only humans has souls and that there are Adra Beatles that probably have some kind of symbiosis with whatever Adra is. So my theory is that living Adara has something todo with souls and its consistency might reflect the soul potency e.g. unlike fractured souls, strong souls will leave clear glass like materials? Also in the Engwithan ruins it seems like the same material is used for illumination, so unless the standing stones was an early concept, what might explain the big discrepancy is lack of souls for long time?

Animancy already has mundane and beneficial applications i.e. Animancer study with the brishalgwin helped build what Ciphers are today and their ability to manipulate others souls has been put into a very practical function in the form of Defiance bay secret police... (which make a lot of sense) Also while Animancy can show the way to create monstrosities it can also better explain the workings of the universe. JS comment that some trees also have souls made me think of Orson Scott Card universe alien races different life cycle and existence. It might explain where the Engwithan disappearance...

I am little confused this suppose this is Adra, the shell like material we seen before in few concepts e.g. So what is the crystal like material that is featured in all the Egwithian ruins, with rooms built around them: That is also featured in Obsidian logo and in the background of the forum...

My thoughts exactly. We don't like to face with our mortality and they idea that awakened souls can recall past lives means that we can learn more on what comes next or possibly bridge the gap in between (i.e. immortality) is something that many wont be able to resist. This opens the door for helping murder victims or less altruistic motives to seek forgotten knowledge of old, of other divine realms and or how to ultimate manipulate the power of our souls (and gods?). Also on whacky side the idea that souls can "travel" through various divine realms and coexist in a single body might also mean deals with the "devil" and the idea of fractured souls can lead to some sort of soul eugenics cult. Animancer study might lead to that in the future (might be what obsidian is planing for next title) but atm I get the sense that animancers understanding of the soul is in its diapers and the equivalent of frog muscle stimulation. Interesting, machines that can harness\store the power of souls opens a lot of doors. On side note, I just hope that when those soul machines come out, they will be available in big and black verity

Exactly, i have no doubt that Kaz can make spectacular "bg1 variants" from above, as he already proved with scripted interactions screens we seen, but concept arts of the areas from different angle capturing their essence or give us a sense of the surrounding will add that much more. Along the lines of those concepts: other examples from quick google image search:

I'd like to think some of those concept (like the undead ones) were from the cyclopedia entries.