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I'm not going to get into what "feels" more "realistic". To me, both feel equally contrived. And if melees don't need much micro, then that means their gameplay potential is wasted because you're just pointing them in a general direction and letting them autoattack. Which to me, "feels" "boring".

I don't know about that. It is a D&D game, and that system is designed to work in turns. The adaption of AD&D in BG/2 with its RTwP system had problems that wouldn't have existed if it had been a turn-based game. Things like "weapon speed" allowing you to move in, stab and get out before the fool with the halberd could hit back were never intended to happen in p&p. Haste shenanigans. Fake attack animations. LoS causing spell failure. Etc. So while "doing things this way because they have previously been done thus" may not a very compelling argument, doing them that way because that's how they were originally designed to work is both objective and concrete.

I haven't played Deadfire, so I'll take your word for it. If so, it's another reason why it's a pity that the game didn't outsell its predecessor. I'm talking about my experience with RTwP and TB games, but you are right, this is just anecdote aggregation and doesn't prove a necessary consequence of RTwP as a system, per se. Padding of one kind of another is present in most genres, after all.

I find it strange that people say that TB breaks immersion, is artificial or whatever, but RT with pause is fine. I mean, it's essentially the same contrivance, except that you mostly leave it on autopilot until the NPC script ****s up. Then you pause, correct and re-engage auto-pilot. Either that or you furiously micromanage your 4- or 6-man party, issuing new instructions every time a character finishes their current action, turning the game into a micro turn spacebar-mashing fiesta. Now, if people were arguing for pauseless real-time as in MOBAs, I could see the point. For me, the biggest draw of TB is the promise of a reduced amount of mindless filler combat vis-à-vis RTwP. But apparently some people will deny even this, dragging the discussion into "alternative facts" territory. Pointless.

Something to look forward to in the Definitive Enhanced Complete Edition. Are there PrCs in 5e?

Hmm. The figure I was referencing is the case fatality ratio I read in The Lancet. WHO has a number in the ballpark of that too. CDC, however, claims that "It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States." which matches the 10% you mentioned. This seems to be unsourced, however. Digging a bit, apparently the 2-3% cfr I was working with is an old number from before revised estimates put the total death toll at 50-100 million worldwide.

I suppose it may have been added with the Enhanced Edition, as that's the only version I played. But unlike, for example, Ifan's story which happens more side by side to the main plot, the thing with the dwarves is a thread of the main plot. Beast's own quest ties to that.

DOS2 had a dwarven sub-plot. It wasn't more humorous than any other part of the game. One of the (N)PCs was a dwarf sea captain.

Seasonal, yes. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic seems to have had a comparable ~3% mortality rate. Additionally, unlike coronavirus, most fatalities were young adults because it gave healthy people a funny immune reaction. The 8-18% death rate in Iran is from BBC "original" reporting. While It may be healthy (pun not intended) to take official figures with a grain of salt, I wouldn't trust the Beeb farther than I can throw Jonathan Ross. More likely that the lower estimate, around 8%, reflects infection cases being underreported by the Iranian authorities, than assume that the lethality of the disease has somehow increased only inside of Iran while remaining within stable margins everywhere else. As for masks, I've been thinking of getting a Soviet-era gas mask replica to put on while commuting. For funsies. ... In other news, KABOOM! Astronomers detect biggest explosion in the history of the universe

Afghanistan's Taliban, US sign agreement aimed at ending war So in a little over a year, international forces will have to leave Afghanistan for good. That huge ass MIC ain't just for show, so I wonder who the next victim will be come 2021.

Barrels being present in an encounter or not is not a very big deal in DOS2 because a) you can carry as many barrels with you as you want and b) if present, enemies will often have some sort of immunity and/or use them against you -- hence Zoraptor's comment. More to the point, I think Larian basically gave up on any aspirations of encounters being remotely "balanced". This may go against conventional CRPG design wisdom, but it is refreshing, if nothing else. You can try simply grinding down enemies ‑tough out an honest win- but that's basically what every other game out there expects the player to do. I had a much better time with the game once I understood this and started trying to stack le fromage as much as possible. No shot is too cheap in DOS2, and this also holds true for the AI. I understand that this approach is obviously not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but then what is? In any case, I doubt BG3 will go that far, using D&D rules and all.

Yep. Barrelmancy is stupid, but setting traps and obstacles is something that I've had a lot of fun doing. If nothing else, the potential of perpetually forgotten -in CRPGs- D&D non-combat focused skills and spells being put to use in combination with Larian's focus on environmental hazards is interesting.

Continued here.

Continued from misrepresenting our lack o' cynicism. am personal much concerned 'bout a number o' issues and trends. however, when gd beats drum and howls that it don't matter who is chosen from either o' the two major parties in national elections, then we balk. HA! Good Fun!

Yeah. Different kinds of games. War in the East in real time? Get outta here. On the other hand, Hearts of Iron is real time, even if the pace can be so slow as to make the distinction merely technical. Spellforce is a tactics game in real time and BATTLETECH is a tactics game that is turn-based -- but I failed far more often in the latter. I also reached my highest APM playing a dps in SWTOR, not in strategy games. And improving my max APM it didn't make me better at Wargame: AirLand Battle, sadly. ****ing ATGMs, man.

...is it? Honest question, I had heard the game's sales were not so hot. I get that people are upset that Larian are using the name in what is regarded as nothing but an obvious attempt to cash in on the nostalgia, but is it known that the game will have nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn or Bhaal? Not that it would be a good idea, mind...

I'd like to think that NATO will honor Article 5 when Turkey honors Article 2. Wishful thinking of course.

Not YouTube. The uploader seems to have marked the video as embed restricted. Motivation is anyone's guess, seeing as how it's a small channel and it's not original content.

Anomen was grating, sure. But I actually liked his story. He goes from being a snotty, high-strung brat to, well... a grown man in the course of a rather dark arc. Or, you could push him into failing at life and turn into a raging drunk, because why not. Mechanically he could be a great meatshield with heals, too. Jan is by far the most entertaining vegetable peddler / high-quality illegal flasher craftsman I've ever come across in any game, no doubt.

He'll be really happy for you, and he's gonna let you finish, but his executive order to rename the country United States of Swag will be the best instance of presidential overreach of all time. OF ALL TIME!

I'd love to see Obs' take on the Alien universe. However, I doubt they will work with anything that isn't original IP or Microsoft-owned... such as Shadowrun. The paragraph quoted above is a journalist's synthesis, btw. Not what Disney said. They did say they were happy with EA, and that was even before the success of Fallen Order.

Gotta love how with each President, the bar keeps getting lower.

Baldur's Gate in name only! Er, I mean... this looks nothing like the previous games in the saga. Which is to be expected because those were made twenty years ago, by a completely different group of people and, more importantly, attempts to revive the genre or make spiritual successors have been met with mixed results, at best. It's entirely possible that this game will be bad on its own merits. But complaining because it's not an upgraded IE game strikes me as unreasonable. Unlike Oblivion With Guns, no "proper" sequel to ToB has ever been in the works that was cancelled to make way for it. The series was dead before Larian took it over. Here's hoping it won't suck, and also that Minsc will remain petrified.

Howard T. Ackerman is the greatest President the US never had.

I really liked C&C 3. It was more of the same, but if the formula works... Never got around to playing 4, however. I didn't like what I saw. (no Tricia Helfer or Natasha Henstridge either, so I also didn't like what I didn't see...)