Gromnir

anything is gonna be fantasy. an obsidian crpg is gonna allow a player to control a character (or characters) for whom the impossible is gonna be routine. whatever setting obsidian chooses for their games is gonna be a fantasy, 'cause even if is set in 1980s LA or 1920s chicago, the extraordinary will become commonplace. any such game is gonna be fantasy. the genre labels were invented by publishers of pulp magazines during the early 20th century. sci-fi on the periodical cover were a simple way to let folks know stories within would include stuff such as ray guns and aliens, while fantasy meant there would be dragons and wizards. 'course even the earliest genre writers ignored the silly labels and went ahead and wrote kewl stories. a princess of mars? is arguable all fiction is fantasy, but regardless am thinking it should be obvious all obsidian crpgs will be fantasy. gonna limit self to choices we consider to be economic viable for a developer such as obsidian. nothing too wacky. a john carpenter thing crpg, which could be fun with expanded faction battles in antarctica, is unlikely to ever be developed. however, two settings we think of as genuine plausible is: 1) american civil war and/or early post civil war weird west with coexisting steampunk and magic. and 2) gaiman's graveyard book. doesn't need actual be graveyard book, but am thinking a game predominant set in famous and beautiful graveyards 'round the world would be nifty and unique. sure, the catacombs and environments beneath the crpg graveyards would be extensive and largely imaginary, but there is many graveyards 'round the world which would be ideal locales for a kinda quasi-horror crpg. oh, and gaiman's man-jacks are a fabulous villainous faction. in any event, is a déjà vécu thread, eh? HA! Good Fun!

as an aside, whenever Gromnir attends a potluck where we is known to the attendees, we is expected to make macaroni & cheese and/or baked beans. is kinda disappointing. as much as we kinda wanna do new stuff for people, am knowing if we do not bring our macaroni & cheese or baked beans, we will need face, at best, mild disappointment and thin veiled rebuke. *shrug* give folks what they want. HA! Good Fun! ps am reasonable sure the only reason we is invited to 1/3 o' potlucks is 'cause o' our mac & cheese and/or baked beans.

veggie platters is ok, as long as you place a nice big piece o' meat in the center o' the platter. HA! Good Fun!

y'know, it is this kinda utopian euro-socialist nonsense which makes it possible for a dinosaur like khan noonien singh to wreak so much havoc every time he shows up in the star trek universe. ain't khan's advanced intellect or physical advantages but is his ability to see every interaction in terms o' conflict which allows him to achieve tactical and strategic advantage before his namby-pamby federation foes even realize a war has started. though they never met (lucky for the federation) a guy like picard would be trying to find a way to achieve compromise even when confronted by a guy like khan. picard may be our favorite star trek captain, but kirk and sisko is the captains we need... or maybe quark. HA! Good Fun!

it's too early to worry but too late to do anything 'bout. poe is a relative decent class-based system, but it is still class-based. the player o' a crpg with classes need be more concerned with the roles fulfilled by each member o' a prospective party. reduce the number o' party slots, and it becomes much harder to fulfill the roles a player may feel to be necessary. a classless system, so long as there is a high degree o' customization, is less likely to suffer such a problem as roles is far less fixed. need a little more party tankiness or dps and is simple a matter o' altering skill or feats (nomenclature is not important) or whatever for individual or multiple characters within the party. 'course poe2 is gonna have multi-classing. as such, class roles will be far more fluid in poe2 than were the case in poe. worry 'bout party size is all kinda silly as the necessity and desirability o' roles is, more than anything, a function o' encounter design. tanky-dps-support is not subject to some kinda universal or golden ratio. use poe1 as a guide for poe2 is understandable, but suspect. for example, d&d 3e and pathfinder pnp were designed and playtested 'round a 4-man party to generate cr and such. obsidian developer encounter design is gonna determine what roles and ratios work. won't know 'til the beta if the party-size reduction is a serious hurdle. will be too late to change once we are at the beta stage. as such, it's too early to worry but too late to do anything 'bout. solution won't be to alter party size but to make minor changes to encounter design. pointless topic from our pov. HA! Good Fun!

always puts us in a frame o' mind to do mischief. never got to see 'em when they were touring together. HA! Good Fun! ps am recalling a bonnie raitt interview during which she were asked what finally convinced her to become clean and sober. she realized srv were better when sober.

"Passive bonus to weapon type" was a thing in Pillars? Priests do have the 'favored weapon' thing, which is the closest it gets, but I've read that the bonus is pretty small, almost inconsequential. inconsequential? underappreciated? perhaps. inconsequential? hardly. puts the priest on equal accuracy footing with fighters with 1-2 weapons. HA! Good Fun!

didn't say anything 'bout blackmail, but yeah, to include the identity o' a newsworthy personage in a story is neither unethical or illegal. feel free to repeat as we posted. the gif were, thanks to the President, a national/international story. the creator o' the gif became a newsworthy personage. "Another popular claim is that CNN threatened to “doxx” the man. That, too, is false. Doxxing involves publication of information such as a mailing address, phone number or email address that is designed to facilitate acts of intimidation. Simply publishing a person's name in a news report, if CNN were to do so, would not qualify as doxxing." try and label as dox as if doing so transforms standard reporting practices into illegal or unethical is ridiculous. "cnn, or any other outlet choosing to publish his identity, would be well within legal and ethical rights to do so." put it in your signature if you wish. might be the only useful info in a sharp post, so go ahead and get use out of it with our blessing. HA! Good Fun!

the kid is some middle-aged internet troll who might have a job and co-workers and friends and family. is not easy being outed as an overt racist in 2017 America, eh? is not the video which would get the middle-aged gif creator into trouble, but his rather considerable posting history. like it or not, the President made the "kid" newsworthy, and cnn, or any other outlet choosing to publish his identity, would be well within legal and ethical rights to do so. gif guy wakes up tomorrow and need face the scorn and ridicule o' those closest to him? am having little difficulty imagining why middle-aged troll wants to retain his anonymity, though we would have at least some measure o' respect for him if he sacked-up and outed himself rather than withering under the implied cnn threat. ... well, no. in retrospect, whether trollman showed courage or not, we would still think o' him as a d-bag. also, am doubting the guy woulda' been offered any money by anybody to share his story. the useful part o' his story were already out there for free. the pro-trump/alt-right 'news' sites already got a perceived image problem and lionizing such a guy would bite 'em in the arse. is best for the alt-right to focus on cnn's sin and try and pretend hand______ solo doesn't exist. guy is a middle-aged basement troll or somesuch? another joshua goldberg? (thanks again to wod for making mr. goldberg relevant) the only way somebody pays for middle-aged trollman's fifteen minutes is if he makes the alt-right look good by doing so. keeping this guy anonymous is likely the best possible outcome for trump supporters. HA! Good Fun!

one of these years, before we get too old, we wanna visit zion during the winter. have fun and stay safe. HA! Good Fun!

am not looking forward to discovery in the immediate sense. the thing is, we hope the show lasts at least three or four years, 'cause even the 'bad' star trek series o' the past offered a few fantastic episodes. show could be utter forgettable, but history would suggest we will, five years from now, be able to sit back and enjoy a twelve-hour discovery marathon on some kinda streaming service which will put to shame most other sci-fi (or any genre tv) aired over the same span o' time. almost paradoxical. am not needing discovery to be great or even good. we simple need it to last long enough to be fantastic. HA! Good Fun!

the story is kinda "meh." http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/analysis-how-cnn-managed-to-anger-everyone-by-finding-then-shielding-the-creator-of-that-trump-wrestling-meme/ar-BBDOabG?li=AA5a8k&ocid=spartanntp no doxing. no fifteen year-old. nothing obvious illegal. cnn did look kinda foolish for seeming going all "better hope there are no "tapes"" on some kinda middle-aged reddit troll. the seeming implied threat were childish. HA! Good Fun!

the oversized sword in question annoyed us to the point we complained 'bout it on the paizo boards way back when the iconic barbarian were first revealed. unfortunate, our typical complaint 'bout aesthetic disconnect were falling on deaf ears. complain 'bout a cartoony looking hammer or breastplate in WoW is silly given how the overall aesthetic o' WoW is clear meant to be cartoony with comic book-style color palatte and near universal ridiculous proportions. converse, a WoW character wielding a historic accurate warhammer would be o' concern to us as such would be similar out-of-place as is the pathfinder barbarian iconic's sword. at paizo there were considerable nerd rage regarding the barbarian's sword. arguments were all too familiar as were people fighting for many pages o' thread 'bout whether such a weapon were plausible. afterwards we foreswore the paizo boards. only other time posting were in regards to the inquisitor class. HA! Good Fun!

Some Trump supporters thought NPR tweeted ‘propaganda.’ It was the Declaration of Independence. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/05/some-trump-supporters-thought-npr-tweeted-propaganda-it-was-the-declaration-of-independence/?utm_term=.66ed220a392d *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

many folks face functional hurdles to upward economic mobility, hurdles which is gonna seem insurmountable. assume you is a child in a large, poor, single-parent family. at least one of your siblings has health problems. ... well f*** me. such a situation ain't specific to any race, but is far more common to a few backgrounds, and such a beginning is almost a dead end before one can even get started in life. your mom is already working herself to death at multiple jobs to support her family, and your sister has a treatable, but costly, medical condition. you study at school, but you likely gave up on the notion o' college/university before you even had a chance to think 'bout it. you are gonna need get a job asap to help support the family when you ain't helping take care o' your brothers and sisters. etc. large, single-parent families and health care concerns is not rare and has doomed more than one young person. even if you avoid pitfalls o' alcohol, drugs and fathering/mothering a child while still in your teens, your chances o' bettering your situation is poor. most economic intelligent thing for the youth in the situation we describe above is rid self of family. they is a weight 'bout your throat, constant dragging you down and behind your less encumbered peers. so quit your family and join the military. take advantage o' the gi bill and get an education. wait to raise your own family 'til your financial situation improves and never look back. smart route is also kinda heartless, eh? chances are our youth takes same path as did his/her parents, working himself to death supporting his family through medical and economic hardships. likely marries too young and repeats the cycle for another generation. *shrug* Gromnir is not blind to realities. even so, is ways to better your situation. as gd mentions, is actual many opportunities available to young Americans, but they require individual motivation and effort. is not easy, but claims o' impossibility o' improvement for an entire class is a lie many is far to willing to accept. HA! Good Fun!

three of the SCOTUS Justices were born into humble means, far short of middle-class. at least a dozen o' the top fifty billionaires in the world is self-made americans, including jeff bezos, carl icahn and sergey brin. michael bloomberg put himself through university w/o help o' his middle/lower-middle-class family. whatever investment capital he acquired to begin his financial services/media empire were through personal rather than family connections. +$50 BILLION. our own beginnings were void o' economic advantage http://www.aaronhuey.com/pine-ridge-national-geographic-magazine/Press_NG_cover/ spent one particular hard january/february subsisting on ketchup "soup" and jiffy pop... 'til the jiffy pop were gone. we current own real property in three different states including an apartment complex and a christmas tree farm. (technical we own property in 4 states, but am not including the beachfront home in hawaii the deed for which has Gromnir and two business associates as joint tenants.) 'ccording to the irs we is rich, but truth-to-tell, we got little more income than expenses. however, once we decide to quit making money, we will sell our excess properties and be able to live comfortably while also providing substantial philanthropic gifts to various organizations we feel strong 'bout aiding. it is indeed tougher these days to move from lower to middle class, though is arguable easier to go from lower to upper-middle than were the case 100 years removed. regardless, income inequality is problematic and is becoming a greater problem daily. however, the suggestion one cannot change their stars in 21stt century America through hard work (and a bit o' luck) is ludicrous. the suggestion a middle-class or wealthy person's pov is inherent handicapped by privilege is even more silly. our biggest problems nowadays is not with white privilege or wealth privilege but American privilege. try and convince an immigrant from nigeria or other sub-saharan african nations 'bout how impossible it is to succeed in the US and most will stare at you with a mixture o' disbelief and pity. am having no patience for those who wanna legitimize personal mediocrity or individual failure with tales o' societal inequity. am sympathizing with class struggle, but we got no remorse for those persons who has willed themselves to their fate w/o genuine trying to improve their situation. end sermon. HA! Good Fun!

warning: a little sweary kinda had to HA! Good Fun!

am knowing this is an unpopular pov, but is our contention the Court were the biggest single obstacle to the civil rights movement. school segregation increased following brown v. board, and so too did race violence. the rate o' voluntary state desegregation were increasing in the south before 1950. unfortunate, in many ways the south ain't never quite recovered from the civil war. a yankee Court in washington dc creating a largely anti-southern policy and and seeming overturning the democratic process? look up the history o' george wallace for some perspective. during wallace's first run for governor, he were endorsed by the naacp. the Court battles led to greater polarization o' southerners. former moderates were forced to pick sides. there were no moderates after 1954. am not saying the Court were the only cause o' polarization, and as noted 'bove, Congress were genuine most at fault for the underlying problems, but the Court added the most fuel to the fire. europeans is often misled and confused by the labels o' our political parties. when americans speak o' liberal and conservative, they mean something much different than is typical in european political arena. our liberals and conservatives has been for many decades extreme centrist. one reason why europeans were so enamored with obama before he were electected were 'cause he talked like a european socialist. the reality o' obama were a surprise to many. the US political battlefield has been almost comical centrist since the mid-late 1960s... well, at least until midway through obama's second term. conspiracy nonsense were almost as popular during the 50s and 60s as it is today. polarization and social unrest weren't cause o' alien intervention or shadow wars or fluoride in the water. civil right era polarization were the result o' economic and societal factors made worse by a well-intentioned Court and a handful o' political extremists. today is different. is not the Court but the POTUS (past and current) who is most obvious responsible for polarization. under obama and trump, americans has become increasing divided, and tweet storms and alternative facts ain't helping. 'course just as Congress were ultimate to blame for not passing the civil rights act(s) earlier, the real cause o' American polarization today is same as it were in the 1950s. Congress allowed the white middle class to become at least subjective disenfranchised, and while obama oversaw an economic recovery which ironic left african americans and other economic disadvantaged groups behind, Congress were ultimate to blame for doing nothing to correct the obvious problems resulting from increased income disparity. reasoned discourse and debate don't take place at the fringes. the extreme left and right is peopled by true-believers and they is immune to change. not look much further than this board to see how obtuse the folks at the the more extreme ends o' the political spectrum can be. HA! Good Fun!

is fish a possible addition? limited availability o' fresh seafood is one o' the major drawbacks to living where Gromnir lives. http://passmoreranch.com/ didn't even know 'bout this place 'til recent. less than 8 miles distant. chicken gets old kinda fast, particular if is a diet situation limiting you to only healthy chicken recipes. supplement with fish could help. HA! Good Fun!

... am suspecting you enjoyed too much rum before watching the movie. HA! Good Fun!

*eye roll* the problem with the civil rights act(s) is it took at least 99 years longer than it shoulda' for Congress to pass such legislation. in 1954, SCOTUS lost patience and hijacked legislative prerogative in an attempt to do the right thing. unfortunately, the Court simple didn't have the means to implement public school bus policies or desegregation plans. an additional decade o' chaos were resulting while Congress waited to act. what is most terrible 'bout the civil rights act(s) is not its flaws. the necessary compromises and practical considerations inherent in any such legislation is gonna elicit justified criticism. nope, the terrible truth is Congress were genuine representing the will o' the people in denying basic freedoms to many of her citizens. near a century o' delay were resulting 'cause America, as a whole, weren't ready or desirous o' national civil rights legislation. democracy is a wonderful thing until you realize just how much people suck. yeah, numerous states got their act together much earlier than the 1960s. in 1850, the State supreme court of massachusetts rejected a constitutional plea for school desegregation. in response, the State legislature of massachusetts desegregated schools... in 1855. almost 100 years before brown v. board, individual US states were doing the right thing. by 1954 almost half o' US states had implemented school desegregation. 'course such a recognition were meaning 'bout 1/2 o' US states were still having state-approved segregation. individual States making positive progress were the ideal method o' change, but nothing Constitutional would preclude the national legislative body from stepping up and doing right. took a civil war and near 100 years for Congress to step up. national embarrassment. HA! Good Fun!

*twitching* okay. am glad you enjoyed, but can we make three teensie recommendations for the future? ignore if you wish. 1) loaf pans is evuhl. in a pan, grease puddles 'round your meat w/o being able to escape. results in uneven cooking and potentially gag-worthy results as some portions o' loaf is saturated with liquid fat. form the loaf and place on either one o' those broiling pan contraptions nobody actually uses or a cookie cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet. the purpose o' cooking the loaf in the oven is to use dry heat radiating from all directions to cook food. have your meatloaf cook in a pool o' grease defeats the point o' cooking in the oven. side-benefit: sans the loaf pan, you may apply your ketchup-based topping to the sides as well as the top o' the meatloaf. 2) grated onion is superior to diced or chopped. particular if you wanna use leaner cuts o' meat, the grated onion will help keep your loaf moist. by taking outta the loaf pan, you is already gonna have a slight drier meatloaf, albeit a less greasy one. use grated onion to help keep your meatloaf nice and moist. 3) panko ... last bit o' advice, and is not directed keyrock specific, but is probable the second biggest meatloaf faux pas behind loaf pans: don't overmix ingredients. be sure to mix your meatloaf ingredients by hand, and do not succumb to ocd urge to be certain all ingredients is dispersed even in your loaf mixture. overmixing will cause your meat to become... gummy. gummy meatloaf is bad meatloaf. combine your ingredients, but when first you ask self if you should combine more, you likely has already combined too much. in any event, enjoy meatloaf in all its simple and wonderful glory. am personal a fan o' a beef/pork/veal equal combination o' meats, but is worth experimenting to find your favorite. HA! Good Fun! ps am not kidding 'bout the evil o' the loaf pan for meatloaf. a puppy dies every time a meatloaf is cooked in a pan. so if not for the meatloaf, then for the puppies, don't use a pan.

no good reason for ignoring our later comments. *shrug* your whole point were 'bout this kinda thing biting folks in the keister. is a smallish chance o' this kinda thing coming back to haunt the republicans anytime soon. to bite in the arse, need have opposition in control of the senate during a Presidential election year when a Justice dies or becomes incapacitated. should be obvious why mcconnell and other republicans weren't worried seeing as how they had nothing to lose. even then, five times in 100 years would still be extreme rare, no? with medical tech being what it is nowadays, the complete unexpected death o' a Justice is actual becoming less likely. kennedy and ginsburg is the folks most likely to retire or die soonish. am suspecting ginsburg will hold onto the bench with cold dead hands for as long as possible. any similar scenario involving antagonistic President and senate is at least three years remote. "it often comes back to bite you in the butt later on." nope. chances is possible but pretty darn slim for any current serving senator to need face a butt mangling. HA! Good Fun!

no it hasn't. again for this situation to be relevant one needs a Justice to die or become incapacitated during the final year o' a President's term, and one needs have the party opposing the President in control o' the senate. don't expect to see this again any time soon. is highly unlikely to bite any current senator in the arse, and why would they care if 100 years from now something similar happens? 100 years from now, even if there is a republican party, chances are it will be much different from the current republicans. HA! Good Fun!

Yeah...that's not a good solution. These dummies never realize the simple fact that once you set a precedent...for example, stealing a supreme court justice...it often comes back to bite you in the butt later on, maybe not a great example. the likelihood o' a Court Justice dying or becoming incapacitated during an election year is smallish. is possible such will not happen again in your lifetime. 'course Justice appointment were not actual particular political 'til relative recent in history. Justice is qualified? well then, you got a new Justice. am personal able to recall a time before bork were a verb. perhaps a better example were the democrats under obama killing the filibuster for all Presidential appointees save for SCOTUS. bad precedent. were no surprise when republicans removed filibuster for SCOTUS appointees, yes? is gonna be many Presidential appointees over the next few decades who we is gonna look back with benefit o' hindsight and wish it were a bit more difficult to manage a senate confirmation. steal a Justice? based 'pon history such were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. heck, would shock us to once again be witness to the unlikely confluence o' all relevant circumstances which made such an appointment delay possible. am actual giving mitch mcconnell credit for pulling off the political feat. nothing mcconnell did before, or will do in the future, is gonna have as much impact on the American political landscape than his delay o' the Court appointment. he bet a hard six, and won. congrats to the old buzzard. HA! Good Fun!