kanisatha

Yeah military budgets/expenditures are what's most commonly used to assess the macro-level military capabilities of states, because they are the easiest to use and to understand and they naturally lend themselves to comparison. But many studies have shown expenditures are a very poor variable for assessing military power/capacity, not only because in some countries the numbers don't accurately reflect true expenditures but also because in other countries (typically Western democracies) they are highly inflated (bloated?) in value and padded with expenditures only tangentially/marginally associated with military capability. In the U.S., for example, there's a lot that goes into the defense budget that's not defense-related because the defense budget usually passes with overwhelming support and so it's a good vehicle through which to pass pork-barrel spending that individual members of Congress want for their states/districts. Plus, there's a ton of spending that's welfare for troops and their families that you won't find in most other national defense budgets. Not saying we shouldn't be spending on the welfare of our troops; just saying it should be counted under the general social welfare part of spending and not as defense spending. And yes, then you also have a LOT of waste and mismanagement, because you can more easily get away with that kind of waste and mismanagement when it's associated with something so serious as national defense, whereas the public would never accept that kind of waste and mismanagement in any other area of spending. A side-note: the U.S. intelligence and black programs budget is very small compared with the defense budget. I think the black programs are probably actually managed better than the regular defense programs.

I'm looking forward to Starfield mainly. Other big games I'm interested in are not likely to release in '22. There is that D&D game being made by Hidden Path Entertainment, which may release in '22.

As a huge ABBA-phyle this made my day.

Yup. This was a big part of what I researched and wrote on in my doctoral project. And every semester I have to explain this to my students in my intro to international relations class. Also, I use WotR articles a lot in my classes for current world affairs exposure for my students.

Slim pickings for me in the current Steam sale. Picked up Disco Elysium (55% off) and Patron, and DLCs for Solasta and Surviving Mars (no, not the horrible recent release). Most of the games on my Steam wishlist are still in EA, so can't get them. And the games I am truly looking forward to, like Avowed, Starfield, DA4, and inXile's new IP RPG, are a long ways off.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1287840/Disciples_Liberation/ Anyone here played this game? I'd be interested in your thoughts or feedback, especially related to its combat.

Just a side-note on D:OS, I have only tried the first game, and hated it so much that I am unwilling to try the second one. Re. BG3, and again to note, I am not playing the EA and only know the game from a LOT of time I've spent discussing it on various forums plus watching every video of it I can find. Anyway, here goes, in no particular rank order: Don't like TB combat at all as I find it too slow, aggravating, and immersion-breaking. But, on this issue, I have come to terms with the fact that this is not going to change in BG3, and as long as they give me easy/story difficulty modes that I can switch to any time within the game so I can breeze through disliked combat I should be okay. Relatdely, don't know if there will be a robust set of difficulty modes and toggles that can be changed even after you start the game. Party size of four. This could be a dealbreaker all by itself. Too many Larian home-brew mechanics I dislike, such as elemental surfaces, barrelmancy, shove, etc. All of them I find to be cheap, lame gimmicks. The way Larian does party movement (i.e. their chain-linked party movement). No true pause function during real-time exploration. Only a pseudo-pause function by force-triggering TB combat. Do not like their concept of origin characters, and especially that a custom PC has no connections to the game/world and is the most irrelevant and disconnected member of your party. In a party with origin character companions, they are the "stars" of the party; they are the ones central to the story. Your custom PC just doesn't matter in the game. Not a single likeable companion for me so far, and especially the question of whether I will be able to have a full party (of six with a mod?) of likeable and good-oriented companions. Relatedly, no Lathander as one of the included gods? That's bullcrap. Having one companion with some deep dark secret and who is not what they appear to be is fine, even interesting. Having this be ALL the companions is just plain ridiculous, and reflects unimaginative and weak writing ability. Party companions locked at the end of Act 1, and companions not in your active party are lost to you. Game visuals/art-style looks way too much like D:OS (or more specifically like Rivellon, a game setting I hated). A writing style that is all about being hip and edgy and cool and angst-ridden. Even their so-called humor is just not funny to me. And may be a few other things I can't quite remember right now.

What's priceless is that you can stick this on to any vessel so long as it has the power output to support it.

I've never heard of this game, and watching that trailer I had exactly this same reaction. Prolly not a game for me.

This is one of the very few (may be the only) things you and I disagree on, Bruce.

No TP camera was why they did not get an otherwise guaranteed sale from me for TOW. And if Avowed is supposed to be "Skyrim-like," then the one thing Skyrim did totally right was including a TP camera, no matter how imperfect it may have been. So, for me, and I imagine quite a number of others, no TP camera = no sale.

Thanks for pointing out the Steam page. We've known the release date as that was part of the reveal back in the summer. But now I can put it on my wishlist. From what I have been able to gather, the premise of the game appears to be that humanity has advanced far enough in spacefaring technology that we are at a point where we can go anywhere within the solar system pretty easily and routinely. And the game is about us taking the next big step, leaving our star system and traveling to another star system for the first time, something far more challenging and dangerous than what we've become accustomed to. For me, given my academic background and personal interests, that is a truly awesome premise for a game. Sooooo looking forward to it.

^This. So this. I think the amount of time the devs had to devote to tinkering with and balancing the mechanics may be is what took away from some other critical parts of the game. So lock down the mechanics; don't keep reopening that can of worms. Put the focus of game development into the story, world, characters, etc.

Heh, exactly my dilemma. I have several games on my Steam wishlist I expect will be on sale on the 22nd, and I'd rather buy everything in a single package. But I worry that these two games will be precisely the ones NOT in the winter sale, or at least not 50% off. What to do? What to do? Have until the 13th to decide.

I myself don't see anything wrong with repeating old successes, so long as they are not literal carbon-copies. The push to come up with something new or never done before is good in the abstract, but often results in things that are silly/ridiculous/asinine/over the top. This is so not only in video games but also in movies and TV shows these days, and I daresay sadly even in doctoral dissertations. In short, you cannot force a new idea.

Disco Elysium is 50% off on Steam this week (as is CP2077).

The game I am currently watching videos of is Wartales. It's in EA and I don't buy EA games generally as a rule, but it looks very interesting. If any of you are playing it, I'd appreciate your feedback.

This is essentially what I do as well, and also why I do it. Gameplay, mechanics, and also the setting if it an unfamiliar one for me, are things that can make or break my playing experience. These can be very well identified within just a few hours of a game's stream.

I don't bother with reviews at all, both casual and pro (the "pros" are often just as bad if not worse than the casuals in being subjective and asinine). I rely very heavily on watching playthrough videos to make my game buying decisions, often spending many hours watching those videos.

Honestly, this doesn't concern me at all. Don't think it will have any adverse impact on DA4. Guys who've been around for 23 years should move on.

Obviously we can never be completely sure with people we are exposed to only in the virtual world. But in Spencer's case, he does have a solid track record of numerous interviews over several years in which he's come across (to me) as both a stand-up guy and also a competent guy who knows what he's doing.

I'm thinking of giving Enderal: Forgotten Stories a try. Anyone here played it? If so, any advise or tips?

Not Atari, and especially not Beamdog. All rights to all the old D&D games (IE games plus the NwN games) have reverted to Hasbro.

I wish I could get NwN2 on Steam. Obsidian needs to get on that.

This is my take as well. And I believe there was an interview last year with the CEO of MS Games Division who said exactly this, that for Gamepass to work they need more than just the really big/epic games because subscribers are going to want both variety and something new to play constantly. So they need "filler" games (his word), and many of them.