Gromnir

saturday were the first day o' our retirement. no excuses, but our dogs didn't get the memo. for weeks we have stressed to the four pooches how saturday were gonna be retirement day, and we were intending to fully indulge our sloth for at least a weekend. no such luck. turkeys (literal, not metaphorical or figurative) got in the backyard on saturday and the dogs went ape$&%#... at 5:30 am. so we fed 'em 30 minutes earlier than normal and then took 'em for a walk. fixed irrigation lines and then began addressing some dry rot in anticipation o' the house getting a new paint job within the next couple weeks. took the older dogs for their second walk o' the day (15 and 16... the vet says multiple shorter walks is best for their arthritis) and by then it were time to pull our fully cooked pulled pork for dinner. after dinner we caught up on a couple correspondence we have been avoiding. before we knew it, were 11:30pm. sunday has gone similar to saturday, save for the absence o' turkey, so we were able to sleep in 'til 6:00am. retirement weekends, so far, doesn't feel much different than any other weekend. HA! Good Fun!

is akin to clinton "sexual relations" lies, but this is the out for Barr: "Reports have emerged recently, general, that members of the Special Counsel's team are frustrated at some level with the limited information included in your March 24th letter. Do you know what they are referencing with that?" Barr spoke with mueller after mueller sent letters. however, Barr wasn't asked 'bout mueller in the question quoted. "members" (plural) o' the team were "frustrated at some level." okie dokie. Barr is gonna say he don't genuine know what is frustrating members o' the team as he never had a chance to speak to 'em and the question is vague and broad enough that "they" could mean just 'bout anybody on mueller's team. he cannot genuine speak for those indefinite members o' the team the question fails to specify. sure, is a lie for any normal thinking person who isn't an attorney... which may be a kinda oxymoron. is still a lie given Barr no doubt knew what the questioner were attempting to divine and he chose to provide an answer which he would know or should know would mislead a reasonable listener. nevertheless, there is wiggle room, and the ag is gonna get benefit o' the doubt particular as any investigation would be handled by the justice department. is a flaw in the system btw, and is the great misunderstanding many have with Barr's seeming presumption o' trump innocence. gotte keep in mind that the AG only exists at the whim o' the chief executive. unlike Congress and the Courts, the entirety o' the executive branch power and authority as described in the Constitution is invested in one person: The President of the United States of America. how does potus obstruct justice if he/she is the entirety o' the justice department? carried to ultimate conclusions, such absolutist thinking results in complete impractical resolutions which the Courts has thankful balked at embracing. in other words, may not be able to pin liar label on Barr particular snug, but is no question he were misleading... which should be just as bad... which is the real tragedy o' the polarization which has sent each party to their fox holes at the lunatic fringe. mueller were never gonna find collusion 'cause collusion ain't a crime. nevertheless, mueller found a whole bunch o' russian entanglements by the trump campaign, not to mention lies by President and others regarding such entanglements. mueller found numerous instances which revealed that the President interfered and attempted to interfere with the russia investigation. is literal dozens o' lies by the President catalogued by mueller and keep in mind mueller only tallied lies which were material to his investigation. ... keep in mind we expressed same frustration with clinton emails. republicans were working so hard to get a crime to pin on clinton when what they shoulda' been doing is exposing how brobdingnagian were her negligence and or stoopidity. comey actual tried to express how singular unique were clinton's mishandling o' the emails, but all republicans wanted to hear were that clinton should be charged. comey threw clinton under the metaphorical bus, but somehow such got complete lost after he observed how no prosecutor would seek to charge clinton given the evidence. having read the muller report entrie at this point, am unable to look at Barr's four-pager and subsequent presser as anything but misleading. questions before Congress also were evasive to the point o' arguable deceit. perjury should be almost immaterial as we are talking 'bout a political appointee. brave new world, eh? HA! Good Fun!

a bit confusing 'cause you disagree with us, then immediate agree with our main point. the deadfire mechanics were based on rtwp. change those mechanics after years o' development and months o' post release content additions were not the way anybody would choose to design a game to take advantage o' both rtwp and tb. "didn't translate well" is the problem we identify... and the source o' wormerine understatement. to wit, am also gonna suggest the results is worse than you suggest. sure, many folks has kinda taken a grin and bear it approach to the way in which tb broke any number o' mechanics and features, but isn't hard to find many instances o' deadfire fans, such as Gromnir, who have not played deadfire since january. game has been out a year and 1/4 o' that time, from the moment tb were added, we ain't bothered to do more with deadfire than check and see if specific mechanics were indeed still busted post patch. the boards may be misleading at times. is fan feedback. cannot immediate name another game which, faced with months o' unplayable, we would keep posting on the developer boards. am betting many o' the less dedicated fans o' deadfire who were similar annoyed by tb problems is long gone. fact you don't hear from them is hardly surprising. HA! Good Fun!

every game. every. have pointed this out every single time. no matter which way obsidian or bio or whichever developer goes with exploration, there will be some folks who says the developer went too far in the wrong direction. bg2 didn't have enough. storm o' zehir went too far. poe didn't have enough. whatever. every game. the feedback is misleading 'til you actual look at it, 'cause initial the overall feedback says, do more like the previous game. however, feedback even for storm o' zehir and baldur's gate and deadfire and any similar crpg putting an emphasis on exploration is gonna also reveal to any developer actual paying attention, the bulk o' the exploration encounters which made up strom o' zehir and bg and deadfire is the stuff folks claim is the least enjoyable parts o' those games. getting jumped by malarites in a storm o' zehir hunting cabin were utter random and offered little in the way o' unique gameplay-- were in fact the equivalent o' any random encounter, save it happened in a hunting cabin. eoten on a mountainside. hobgoblin ambush. gnolls guarding some random wilderness patch. xaurips... am not even gonna try and come up with a why for a few deadfire xaurip encounters or how such is presenting us with unique gameplay. is filler or padding or whatever. and yeah, is always some folks who says bg2 or poe didn't have enough exploration, the problem is when you look at these kinda threads and realize the exploration one-offs is the stuff folks(as a whole) always dislike most. 'cause o' finite resources, the two design aspects is inextricable linked and developers never appear to make the connection. instead, they simple swing like the pendulum, going back and forth on exploration-- too much and then too little. too little exploration is never actual the problem. utter misleading. sure, folks want more exploration, but only the most miniscule and insignificant % o' feedback is from people who like hobgoblin ambushes. am waiting for a developer epiphany which will never happen. HA! Good Fun!

the problem with tb in crpgs is that combat, particularly if is a party-based game, will become prohibitive tedious if you increase the number o' adversaries beyond a certain point... a point which is gonna vary slight from player-to-player. get a dozen intelligent designed enemies facing a party o' four or more heroes and even minor encounters may become, as feargus once observed, "soul numbing." the problem with poe2 tb were more simple. the rules were designed to perform like and then nine months later, the developers decided they need rules to also be so predictable we end up with who does that? after years o' development and months after release, then they decide to retool the engine so it works as a saw and a drill. the post-release hybridization went 'bout as smooth as one might expect, but apparent different than obsidian expected. is not gonna come anywhere close to displacing black isle's torn miscalculations with lithtech as the benchmark for bad design choices, but perhaps this were a desperation choice as 'posed to a calculated one. dunno. regardless am hardly surprised by the results, and am not seeing how anybody else could be mystified by problems which arose from trying to make a game designed to perform with rtwp mechanics also work well as tb, with the change occurring after considerable development and post-release time. predictable. HA! Good Fun!

least enjoyable: the multitude o' brief encounters scattered throughout the deadfire map to provide players with the raison d'être to explore. the rest were fine. were/is a fundamental mistake the obsidian developers insist on revisiting. a few developers at obsidian believe, regardless o' feedback or evidence to contrary, that players want a multitude o' one-off encounters in the metaphorical wilderness. a cabin filled with malarite druids bent on hunting those who violate their territory, or a bunch o' hobgoblin bandits ambushing you on the way to baldur's gate, or a handful o' eoten on a lonely mountain path looking to make a meal out o' your party-- doesn't matter the game, obsidian believes these is the kinda encounters players want to achieve the ephemeral sense o' exploration. furthermore, and more curious, is how a couple developers believe such stuff is essential for player agency. need more tangential, insular and discrete encounters so player may make more choices and alter order o' completion o' quests. somehow the gestalt o' all these little encounters is the making o' the player's story. am understanding the problem insofar as agency and exploration is concerned. is an elusive critical mass o' tangential and optional side questing which players must need discover through some kinda seeming mindless travel, to achieve exploration and promote agency. the problem being game developer resources is finite and is functional impossible to develop the tangential side stuff. so we get deadfire with the vast majority o' forgettably brief encounters scattered almost random 'cross the deadfire world map, which genuine satisfies almost nobody. the little one-offs don't do anything for enhancement o' player agency and story. the little one-offs do little to satisfy those who demand more exploration. am therefore disappointed to see we must needs revisit this issue with so many obsidian titles. HA! Good Fun!

two dachshunds? suggest the following: shut and up with two dachshunds (no doubt heavy on the hund) am suspecting you will be saying "shut up," at least in your head, with oppressive frequency. might as well get mileage outta the names, eh? HA! Good Fun!

One-Third of Exoplanets Could Be Water Worlds With Oceans Hundreds of Miles Deep so, ice pirates was wrong? HA! Good Fun!

so, kinda a happy birthday celebration... next wednesday? HA! Good Fun!

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Did President Trump obstruct justice? SPOILER... or not. answer were, "yes." HA! Good Fun! ps what were with the camera work?

have a root beer. HA! Good Fun! ps am pretty sure they sell the real sugar stuff in mega-bulk at costco.

... often overlooked is that the cat dies regardless in schrödinger's thought experiment. as such is perhaps not the best omen for poe3. HA! Good Fun!

have observed more than once how trump appears to have no notion as to what the President is able to do 'ccording to the Constitution. has no better idea regarding Congress or the Court, one might assume such ignorance would be an insurmountable handicap for one who intends to hold the office o' President. unfortunately, the vast number o' trump supporters don't know more than trump, and republican office holders and pundits, with a few exceptions, ain't pointing out or criticizing trump misconceptions. when trump overreach is rebuffed by the co equal branches o' government, he blames his failures on the deep state and fake media and democrats, but the vast majority o' folks supporting trump genuine don't know any better than to believe such nonsense. the problem for the Court is it only has power as long as people believe it should have power. the Justices may pretend to be above the washington political maelstrom, but history suggests otherwise--switch in time and J. Robert's obamacare decision is examples o' Court pragmatism, yes? am hopeful the Court would deliver an appropriate chastisement to trump. am believing Roberts would rebuke trump efforts to interfere with the Constitutional prerogative o' Congress. am not certain, and we should be certain, but we ain't.

if the future is "quite unclear," and the obsidians do not know whether or not they are doing a poe3, then we should be worried for obsidian. am gonna be positive and assume obsidian knows what is or is not happening with a poe3 development, but is no longer solely up to them to decide when to announce such. genuine uncertainty? that would be bad. HA! Good Fun!

good news for shady is there is another rian johnson movie on the way Knives Out am always a bit suspicious o' overt overstuffed casts, but maybe this gets shady to 2-2 on johnson... which sounds a bit gross and a little lewd 'pon momentary reflection. apologies. HA! Good Fun!

maybe not as funny as a few o' the recent comedians, but am thinking mr. chernow did a fine job. HA! Good Fun!

am suspecting there were more to taylor's drop than only health concerns. am knowing we mentioned earlier how we thought dk metcalf were way over-hyped-- his film did not warrant the top 10 pick kinda attention he were getting. am glad the league caught wise. were a few baffling high picks and some precipitous drops, as is usual. may need to wait and see if a few o' the drops were having reuben foster issues. will give our thoughts on the draft overall soonish, but for now, am linking the increasing important ufa list https://walterfootball.com/draft/UDFASigningsByTeam were a few big name players who didn't get drafted and such players is increasing likely to stick as teams skew towards youth. however, for mannock will address gb first round... whether he wants or not. greenbay got kinda screwed over by circumstances with their first round picks. needed a te, an edge guy and a safety. once bosa and allen and clellin ferrell (didn't expect that)were off the board, there were only a few other true edge guys deserving a first round selection, and montez sweat had his possible heart condition. hockerson went a bit earlier than gb hoped(?) and clear they weren't enamored enough with fant to take him early round 1... and by the time gb made their second pick, fant were gone. is arguable that none o' the safeties deserved round 1 consideration, but were no way the good ones were gonna be available when gb picked in the second round. rashan gary were top 10 talent, but he were never even the best edge guy at michigan. way underproduced for his kinda ability. even so, for a true edge guy, were gonna need choose gary, burns or sweat... or trade down. jonathan abram and darnell savage were the only two safeties getting even a sniff at the first round-both were round 1-2ish kinda prospects. rapp, adderley, thornhill and gardner-johnson all looked like 2-3 round guys. gb had to either choose a safety a bit early, or risk missing on any quality safeties... though gardner-johnson had one o' those inexplicable drops which suggest there were some public unknown problem. am thinking gb did fine, but circumstances put them in a tough position. HA! Good Fun!

if schultz had any kinda plan for reducing debt, we would consider his candidacy, but he is kinda like trump insofar as complete absence o' anything save rhetoric which resonates with a portion o' the voting public. have seen enough o' that. to get our vote, a candidate for prez needs display a willingness to reverse the foreign policy trends o' the last two administrations and must show an ability to work with Congress to achieve clear goals OR they must be the candidate running against trump who has a chance o' a win. am not gonna throw away a vote on a candidate if doing so makes a trump second term even a millionth times more likely. foreign policy is where a President may have greatest impact, but predicting how a candidate will deal with allies and adversaries on the world stage has been an overlooked aspect o' presidential races since fall of the wall. biden is gonna make things tough for democrats. the single biggest hurdle for any democrat candidate is getting democrats to actual vote. biden is the right kinda candidate in that he is a moderate who will appeal to many independents (and republicans) who is tired o' trump's jackson-pollock-but-with-poop approach to the Presidency. unfortunate, the growing segment o' socialist democrats is unlikely to vote at all unless they get a candidate with the right amount o' sex appeal... figurative or literal? biden is not gonna have young and angry democrats turning out in record numbers to vote, and if race is close, they may need such. HA! Good Fun!

in public has been less o' a limit on trump than any President we can name. Donald Trump Keeps Cursing. Here's Why It Might Help Him trump swears in part 'cause he knows it will draw criticism. the qq and squee crowd inexplicably like trump more if he is criticized for such stuff. all those soft, namby-pamby, snowflakes complain 'bout nonsense while trump talks like real people and is trying to get $#&* done... or some such nonsense. doesn't need make sense if you add a qq. HA! Good Fun!

is neither surprising or unreasonable for obsidian to expect more from you than the guy who bragged 'bout being able to get away with pu$$y grab due to his celebrity. use that guy as the decorum benchmark would be as misguided as use nicolas cage as a role model for fiscal responsibility. HA! Good Fun!

accomplished little, but we did make a donation to a local nonprofit C.A.T.S. http://catsabouttown.org/category/featured/ am not a cat person per se, but these folks do great work. 'bout two years ago a friend o' ours needed dental surgery for her cat, but the +$2000 estimate from the vet had her literal weeping and figurative heartbroken-- she were fixed income and couldn't afford such an extravagance. didn't wanna take our money 'cause we had already given her some loot for a roof problem. we did research on her behalf and discovered the CATS folks. they performed the surgery at a cost of $400. for those who ain't cat fans, the CATS people welcome dogs for surgeries if the dog is 30lbs or less... dogs up to 50lbs may be accomodated, but there will be additional fees. only downside is folks as far away as LA is using the CATS services and the wait is, we assume, significant. is worth a look see, particular for sacramento people. HA! Good Fun!

obsidian should take their time. obsidian should get the final(?) major patch right before releasing. obsidian shouldn't rush efforts in an attempt to speed the process. obsidian could, and should, pass along relevant deadfire info at the obsidian site. not mutual exclusive. if is time to do such announcements elsewhere, is surely time to do at their own site. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna do the seeming impossible and combine a recognition o' gifted's complete random moment and bring the thread back on-topic with a surprising timely use o' the way-back machine. not sure what happened with our first attempt at this... let's see what happens with a second cut at the same wood. HA! Good fun!

make it a 50 rep penalty plus allow for negative rep and Gromnir is so supporting this suggestion. minutes after implementation, we would edit each of our posts a dozen times... or more. -10k rep, here we come. HA! Good Fun!

Brain Implant Device Allows People With Speech Impairments to Communicate With Their Minds "Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) developed a two-stage method to turn brain signals into computer-synthesized speech. Their results, published this week in scientific journal Nature, provide a possible path toward more fluid communication for people who have lost the ability to speak." HA! Good Fun!