Gorth

I suspect a few people here are very skeptical, if not outright afraid of academics, as they tend to be left leaning politically. Better to close the universities and open up more workshops

Is it just me or does Camellia come across as a bit untrustworthy? She's useful alright, but there is just something fishy about her...

Thanks Gromnir. I'll ask away if I either get stuck or suspect I'm going to head into deep trouble soon. Yes, my barbarian is mostly focused on dishing out damage (at low levels at least). I put some points in dex too, as I wasn't really convinced dressing up in the heaviest platemail possible was really "the barbarian" way to go. Figured I would use light(er) armour and compensate with higher dex. (hidden by pop up window, it's 15). As for the uneven numbers, I seem to remember you get an ability point every few levels to add and it made more sense in the beginning not to use all points in the diminishing return sink. Sure, it may come back to bit me But for now, it's just fun. Learning to use charge and rage (I took the defensive rage feat or whatever it's called, that doesn't leave me completely exposed to incoming attacks when raging as well as dodge) Edit: As mentioned previously, not going to fret if I can't complete my first run. I could have picked easy mode, but prefer to meet a bit of resistance and get an idea what you have to prepare for. I'm wondering what "Mystic Path" is

Let's see how far it goes. Gorth the Barbarian is now level 3 and made it to the tavern. I feel a bit like I just finished Irenicus' dungeon again Nothing difficult so far... except that "mini boss" at the garrison. I had a suspicion the game was rigged when I used the Inspect function and saw she had 32HD

I hope that was a joke? Send wave after wave after wave of young men through no-mans land, mowing those down who didn't get taken out by barbed wire and artillery fire, with machine guns in entrenched positions. The only thing Ypres, Somme and Verdun accomplished, tactically and strategically was... nothing. Sure, it killed and maimed hundreds of thousands, but that just made it a war of attrition. Which side would first run out of a generation to sacrifice in battles like that. So, take my 500.000 man, tell them to take objective. Enemy player takes his 500.000 man and digs in on objective. After both sides have lost 250.000 man each and six months have passed, lets call it a draw. WWI in a nutshell. No, I don't really find the land battles particularly interesting, because nothing was shown when it comes to things like strategic brilliance or tactical nous. Even the introduction of radical new forms of warfare, like airplanes, chemical warfare and tanks had little to no effect, because the generals were trying to outdo each other in cluelessness on how to break the stalemate. it's as bad as the old "battle line" doctrine for naval warfare, where captains and admirals were prohibited on the pain of being court marshalled from showing any initiative and breaking with conventions and existing doctrines. The latter lasted until Nelson decided to break all the rules and got away with it, because a) he won and b) he died before he made any slip ups. The same can not be said for land warfare until Guderian decided that WWI sucked and all out tank warfare with airplane support was a better idea than killing off another generation in the trenches. I know, he didn't invent it, but he made "Blitzkrieg" famous.

The naval battles of wwi were way more interesting than the land battles imnsho What was the Serbian contribution to wwi? A single bullet to the head of an Austrian? Got to hand it to him though, he got a lot of consequences out of that assassination (I don’t remember the details anymore, a long time since I read up on the events in Sarajevo, could’ve been more than one bullet)

Congestion... finding parking spots in urban areas just gets harder and harder

Considering how dirt cheap Russian tanks are to manufacture, I wouldn't be surprised if the handful of expensive high tech missiles (they had a few, emphasis on few) fired at the beginning of the war makes up most of the war expenditure. The Russian state also offers economic incentive to people to have more babies, so you never know, they may be in it for the long war... (only serious about the first part in case there was any doubt)

Yeah, I noticed the very familiar system of picking a class (any class you qualify for) level when leveling up. I did get a second barbarian level though for level 2. Later I might go Rogue for a bit, just for the role playing fun (I need to practice my Austrian accent). That being said, I consider this character "expendable" and it's more of a testing the waters run, to see what to expect later. I.e. how badly is min/maxing needed etc. and how much wiggle room is there for at least some limited experimentation. Once I get the hang of it, I might try what looks like more challenging classes (more "stars"). Maybe even something just for the sake of later gaining those classes you can't get at character creation (like Assassin). But, for now, just left the Mongrel "village" and exploring a maze. Edit: Playing "Normal" difficulty. While I'm a noob at this game, I don't consider myself completely clueless to the mechanics. Also, categorically using turn based combat (I could probably have roflstomped all opposition so far in RTWP, but I think I learn stuff better by taking it one turn at a time and consider what my characters are doing)

So... I put Tyranny on hold for a bit (The Scarlett Chorus can wait a few weeks). Started up a game of Pathfinder. I didn't want one of the pre-created characters, so looked long and hard at the classes to select from. In the end, I figured simplicity might be good for a start. I can always go back and start a new game with a different character after all. Went for "Gorth the Barbarian" with a bit of stealth and other potentially useful thievery skills. Very much based on Conan the Barbarian as he's portrayed in the 80's movie (sans the great music). Nothing like sneaking up on your enemies and backstab them with your greatsword!!! Did the intro town and getting towards what I think is the end of the first underground map (the tunnels). Met the tieflings, read all the basic game tutorials etc. Swearing and cursing at the Options screen because it completely ignores my choice of keys for rotating camera left and right (I wanted to swap Q and E, because the default reversing of the X axis is just too confusing to me). But, despite swapping the the keys in the keybinding options, Q is still right and E left Other than that, lots of fun so far (which is like less than 30 minutes in). Edit: The movie version of Conan was sort of a Barbarian/Thief multiclass, but that might be an option in this game (I don't know yet)

Ok... hopefully it will either have been patched or some Goty edition released before I get to that. I also remember the warning about difficulty/complexity, but being an old veteran of the old Infinity Engine games (BG&IWD) as well as the two Neverwinter Nights and Temple of Elemental Evil, I hope it won't seem all alien to me

Tyranny. Siding with The Scarlet Chorus (I think, I might change my mind later). My second most favourite Obsidian game after Fallout New Vegas

https://www.gog.com/en/game/pathfinder_wrath_of_the_righteous 50% off at the moment

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous was on a 45% sale on GOG. Got that and some Ashes DLC (which was on a less impressive sale, but nevermind). Now I just need to find the time to play it (since I got myself into a game of Tyranny the other day) Edit: Core game was 50% off, DLC was 20something% off, somehow the total was calculated as 45% as some kind of average

JuiceMedia normally deal with Australian politics with a rare guest appearance of US politics. This time... it's their take on UK politics. Just for you @BruceVC

I wouldn't call it a wave... but most of my friends and colleagues have caught covid the last 6 months. Since nobody dies from it anymore, nobody makes a fuss about it. I still have great respect for Long Covid though. I can think of a lot of interesting and hilarious ways to die, several of them worthy of jokes, anecdotes and song. Your brain withering away, coughing up your longs doesn't fit the bill. So far, I've stayed clear of Covid through a combination of vaccine and good practices. I would like to keep it that way for a while yet.

That reminds me I should get myself booked for am appointment for a booster shot... it's already been 5 months since the last booster shot

Which is exactly why it wouldn't surprise if it was Putin's way of expressing "dissatisfaction" with the advice he had been give.

I don't think the guy was speaking against Putin... on the contrary. Many consider him the brain behind Putin and the invasion of Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28229785 (This article is/was from 2014) "Alexander Dugin is the founder of Russia's Eurasian movement. His views are believed to be popular among the hawkish Russian elite. Until recently, he was also a professor at Moscow State University, but he says his current status with the university is unclear. His views have not changed, he says, but attitudes towards his views among those in power may be shifting. The centrepiece of his geopolitical theory is that Russia's mission is to challenge US domination of the world, with the help of Iran, as well as Eurosceptic parties, which are currently on the rise in Europe. He has been labelled the brains behind President Putin's wildly popular annexation of Crimea." The whole Ukraine thing may be his brainchild. The bomb may have been intended as revenge from Ukraine sympathizers in Russia Edit: It could of course also be a message from Putin, that he is unhappy with the results of listening to Dugin and considering how well Russian assassinations have worked the last 15 years, it would be par for the course (i.e. botched)

*sniff*... Darwin would've been so proud! Edit: Actions like not removing critical intelligence info from photos... I can hear Ricky Gervais listing the nominees for this years Darwin award.

In AU, NZ, UK, Denmark and Germany, I've never seen a wall plug *without* a switch Edit: The hotels in Spain, Greece, France, Sweden, Singapore and Hong Kong were the same (can't speak for residences and work places in those countries)

Went shopping yesterday... my favourite gin (aka the only gin I can drink "as is") and an unknown rum, imported from Cuba. Got to break the blockade and support Cuban industry, right?

Ouch Cisco... https://www.hackread.com/cisco-confirms-breach-employee-google-account-hacked/ "The attackers obtained initial access to its VPN after successfully compromising the Google account. The credentials were synced through the Chrome browser, where the targeted employee had also stored their Cisco credentials. Consequently, attackers could synchronize their Google accounts using this information. On August 10th, the Yanluowang ransomware gang indirectly took responsibility for the breach by publishing files stolen in the data leak." Phishing strikes again... you would think people had learnt not to click links in emails by now???

You know you're in deep **** as a conservative politician when even Rupert Murdoch wants to skin you and hang your hide out to dry (Sky News is what Fox News is called outside the US) “But to secretly instruct the Governor General, to hand you the Resources portfolio to overrule a Minister who's done all his due diligence will be exactly what you can bet the current Prime Minister will pursue endlessly.” “We had one prime minister, secretly shadowing the powers of five senior ministers, and not telling the cabinet, the parliament or the public about it. “There was no transparency and therefore no accountability. “For those of us who warned throughout the pandemic about government overreach and a lack of democratic oversight and accountability, these revelations are astounding, they prove it was much, much worse than we even knew at the time.” The rest of the media and politicians across the spectrum calling for his resignation as a member of parliament... Rather late realizations... maybe somebody should tell the Liberal Party, that damage prevention is better than damage control? "Former Liberal minister Karen Andrews has called on Scott Morrison to resign from parliament over the secret cabinet scandal. It's been revealed the former PM was secretly sworn in for five portfolios." "There are now calls from within the Liberal party for Scott Morrison to resign from federal parliament and his seat of Cook."

Ahh, Scott Morrison, the gift that keeps costing Australia... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62544961 Scott Morrison: Australia's ex-PM 'secretly held ministry portfolios' ... Mr Morrison became joint minister for the health, finance and resources portfolios in the two years before he lost power in May, local media report. Which means being able to divert government funds (to friends, which he used to win the election before the latest one), grant mining and drilling rights (to his friends, the kickback of which is part of what funds The Liberal Party) and make a mess of the health care system during Covid (not benefiting anyone other than himself, as failures in the health services would be reported to... himself)... without leaving an audit trail from the minister of each portfolio to the PM (also him) No wonder Australia slipped so badly downhill on the corruption index the last 10 years. Edit: Note for Americans, 'Liberal party' doesn't mean the same in Australia, being similar to other countries conservative parties social and economic values (i.e. leaning heavily on the church, religion, mining and fossil fuel industry for support, wanting to ban same sex marriage, outlaw abortion, economic growth through increased military spending and cutting cost on education, projects for indigenous and homeless people etc.) Edit2: Ironically, it was another conservative, Malcolm Turnbull who, through legal loopholes, managed to twist the arm of the parliament and got same sex marriage passed into law (he tried multiple times through parliament and got shot down each time, then he skipped the parliament and did an "unofficial survey" sending out a questionnaire to all Australians, who voted for the change with 61.6% for. The stunt did cost him his political life though and Morrison was his replacement. Because the survey was not a government, but a private survey, parliament could not prevent it from happening and once the proverbial cat is out of the sack, even the most conservative parliament knows better than going against a 2/3 majority of the population when an election period is only 3 years... still, we got stuck with Morrison for way too long