kanisatha

Like me you seem to have a love for these kinds of city-management games, so let me ask you a question. I've tried out quite a few of these games: Dawn of Man, Patron, Settlers, Surviving Mars, and of course Civilization (and on my wishlist: Old World, Kingdoms Reborn, Terraformers). The problem for me with these games always is that I love how they start out, and love the early turns in the game. But eventually, at some point in the development of my settlement, the job of managing the city becomes a painful, repetitive chore and I lose my interest in further developing my city. For all the many times I've played these games, I've never once finished a single game. So, is there some secret to getting around this problem? Are there any city management games that have successfully overcome this problem?

It's on my wishlist, but I won't consider buying it until it exits EA so any feedback on it would be appreciated.

Based off of what I read on our military preparedness, including both academic/think-tank and journalistic sources. There are plenty of analyses out there on such things as widespread obesity in the ranks, inability of the military to find enough recruits and so standards being lowered/ignored (off the record) so that quotas may be filled, merit being practically nonexistent and politics driving command promotions, and soldier surveys showing that service is not among the main reasons young people nowadays join the military.

Yes it does also apply to China. But in China's case such things as poor training, poor logistics, and general incompetence of soldiers are already factored into US analyses of Chinese capabilities. But our spin on our own soldiers is that they are "awesome," and I'm quite certain many in the Pentagon have bought into their own spin and propaganda. So it's a matter of expectations v. reality. Our expectations of performance for the average Chinese soldier will be low, and this will be matched by reality. Our expectations of performance for the average US soldier will be high, but this will NOT be matched by reality, hence this will be a rude shock.

Good article. Their point about being able to "cheat" yourself during peacetime but then paying the price for it when in war strikes me as being just as relevant to the US as Russia. I believe the average American soldier today is incapable of standing and fighting in any competent form. In peacetime the generals and politicians are able to spin and cover up this reality. But soon war with China is going to happen, and then we the American people are going to be devastatingly shocked to learn of the extent to which our military prowess has been allowed to deteriorate and wither.

^This part I agree with, though none of this has anything to do with Russia or Ukraine. These are all things resulting from bad domestic policy choices and actions.

Aha! Thanks! It's about my CA reference! As someone who has a very minimal online presence and a literally zero SM presence, I often don't get memes and other similar references.

Ok I'm confused by this, or missing something. Did I say something that is equivalent to what this guy is saying?

Russia facing personnel shortage in the east as they desperately try to reinforce the south facing Ukrainian counteroffensive: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-pushes-attack-south-russia-troop-shortage-east/31963314.html

When it comes to the IE games I guess I'm an outlier here. For me it is: BG1 > BG2 > IwD2 > IwD1 > PsT I know, I know. I'm a herectic. BG1 beats BG2 for me because: (a) It's the very first RPG I ever played, so strong nostalgia; (b) I much prefer low level to high level D&D; (c) I like exploring open areas; and (d) I very strongly prefer melee combat and don't care at all for D&D spellcasting and spell-battles. On the other end of my comparison, I have always had a hard time understanding the attraction of PsT. Firstly, there is the whole bastardized 2e rules and mechanics which I hate. Combat, and especially melee combat, is gawd-awful. And Chris Avellone is the most highly overrated RPG writer of all-time, and I find his writing and his characters to be pedantic, superficial, and boring (including in PoE1). [Please don't flame me ]

My expectation, from following all news sources pretty closely, is that Avowed will release in second half of 2023, and TOW2 in second half of 2024. Obsidian has said they want to release at least one new game each year, starting with Pentiment (and full release of Grounded) this year.

Which is what makes him an ok tank, but not so much a damage dealer. And that's why I cut him whenever I play a tank myself. But my typical PC is a fighter/rogue or a fighter/wizard. I've played BG1 in particular sooooo many times but have yet to play it even once with the canonical party. Now you've got me hankering to give it another go with the canonical party.

I prefer to lock up Khalid in one of those houses in Nashkel while keeping Jaheira in my party. I do the same thing to split up Minsc and his witch. Never liked the idea of killing off any of the BG1/2 companions even when I disliked them.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! Jaheira is the BEST! She's the only BG1 companion (besides lil' sis) who I have always had in my party every time I've ever played either game (which is quite a few times). 😭

If your concern about these games is coming from a money/budget standpoint, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If there's anything clear about how MS is managing their game studios it is that they are giving them whatever resources they need to make their games. Not one of MS's studios has complained, or even had rumors coming out, that they are being shortchanged on resources.

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-himars-destroy-high-value-russian-targets-1727253

That is just so horrible that he would abandon family like this, especially as the older brother.

Here's an excellent article on current issues in the Ukraine war (and also some coverage of the Iran-Russia connection and lessons for China v. Taiwan. But most importantly, a great assessment of Putin's current mindset about the war (very troubling): https://www.voanews.com/a/us-warns-putin-falling-for-his-own-rhetoric/6667777.html

We all knew this from the beginning, didn't we? How does anyone continue to believe anything any Russian official says on any issue? https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/20/world/ukraine-russia-war#russia-ukraine-territory-expansion-lavrov https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62231936

Russia's war crime (and possible genocide) in abducting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians: https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/russias-mass-abduction-of-ukrainians-explained/ https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/13/world/russia-ukraine-war-news

I recently made this point to a news interview I did on this issue. The benefit to Iran of having nuclear weapons would be exactly the benefit Russia now has with its nukes with respect to their war in Ukraine. Look at what Russia is doing. It blatantly invaded a neighboring state with no provocation or justification, and has done truly outrageous things to that country. And yet Russia's position is that neither Ukraine nor any Ukrainian ally can retaliate for what Russia is doing to Ukraine by striking any targets in Russia. So, Russia can attack Ukraine. But Ukraine cannot retaliate by attacking Russia. Why? Why does this clearly obvious double-standard work? It is entirely because Russia has nukes, and can (and does) threaten nuclear escalation if their territory is attacked (known as "escalation dominance" in international security literature). This is the true, practical benefit of a state like Iran having nukes. Escalation dominance is awesome for a state to have. But it is in practical terms very difficult and very costly to achieve. Possessing nukes is a quick and dirty way to try and gain escalation dominance (though you would need to have a reasonably large arsenal of nukes AND a very reliable and survivable delivery option for your nukes). It may allow Iran to believe it can do whatever it wants to and in states all over the Middle East while threatening nuclear escalation if anyone dares to retaliate against Iranian territory. Iranian air defences have in recent years been considerably strengthened, ironically because of sanctions-relief following the JCPOA in 2015 and as predicted by critics of the JCPOA. But that doesn't matter. If the Israelis see Iran possessing nukes as an existential threat, they will strike no matter the cost to them (and yes, the cost to them will be tremendous, including post-strike Iranian retaliation and fallout with other states in the world). Also, Trump was no true friend of Israel. Like everyone else, Israel too was useful to him so long as he gained some personal political benefit from presenting himself as a champion of Israel. It is known that on at least one occasion as president he personally blocked a covert Israeli op against Iran. He is also known to have told Netanyahu he would not support an Israeli airstrike on Iran.

Iran now has all the technology and components it needs to put together a bomb. So it is only a matter of the political decision to do so followed by the mad rush to get the first bombs assembled and operational. It is my professional view, which aligns with many other nuclear proliferation experts, that the timeline for this would be about two months, give or take. The Israeli strike on Iran is coming once Israel has a stable new government in place (or sooner if circumstances require it). In its most recent test run of the strike, Israeli F-35s were refueled in-flight by US tankers. There cannot be a bigger green light from the US Administration than that. The only way this does not happen is if Iran agrees to a return to the JCPOA without getting any of their unreasonable extraneous demands being met by the US side. I don't see Biden caving on those Iranian demands. And I don't see the Iranians giving up on those demands. I also wouldn't count out a desperate Biden 'rally around the flag' attempt in October to save his party from a rout in November.

One of my favs.

I'm here. I usually read the forum at least once a day. But yeah, despite it being my summer break (or pehaps because of it) I've been swamped with things I have to take care of.

Health issues being the problem here are of course something I'm not aware of. And if that's the case that would truly suck. I can't imagine not being able to drink a beer ever again. 😧