Gromnir

yeah, we do. am betting agiel does too. weapon, armour and ammo loadouts for a 100 ton mech can be reduced to half tonne increments. and yeah, if missile or ppc has an effective range in metres as 'posed to good or great, that information would likely be vital to us. a small laser is gonna generate heat and given the number o' heat sinks available to us and how much heat we has current generated, am gonna be wanting to know, with certainty, if we can squeeze of one more shot w/o blowing our self to kingdom come. such a situation can be illustrated with much greater clarity if we have numbers as 'posed to describe with adjectives. in sims where fuel consumption is vital, knowing exact amount is likely something we wanna know as am gonna be trying to manage down to mathematical identifiable quantities... rather than trying to guess just how far we can get on yucky fuel reserves. am also uncertain why you keep reimagining cain disapproval o' numbers into the possible (but highly impractical) replacement o' numbers with an equal detailed spectrum o' adjectives. is nevertheless difficult to imagine a better way to describe distances and weights and volumes than with numbers. use adjectives to replace the numbers strikes us as awkward, clumsy and wasteful. am actual having a difficult time seeing how one would adequate describe the meaning o' adjectives for distances, weights and volumes w/o using numbers to illustrate. in any event, a space navy combat simulation might perform much like a real world naval combat simulation, save for all "ships" being able to move in 3d and the lack o' parabolic trajectories for projectile weapons. all those considerations o' range and speed and armour whatever else the developers can fit into the game is gonna be no less expected in the space sim than the rw version. HA! Good Fun!

some folks will argue beyond all endurance. particular in light o' the reaction to ydwin, am thinking it is obvious that if the xoti akimbo scythes description were used in conjunction with blotter's elric+scythes artwork, we woulda' seen an eruption o' critical board commentary 'bout anime parallels. feigned surprise at "akimbo scythes" not drawing more board "ire" is difficult to take serious, especial given xoti's actual included artwork. HA! Good Fun!

what is with evoking strawman on these boards. "When I was referring to impractical weapons, I meant impractical in general, not impractical specifically within the context of anime." again, is Gromnir who noted how the degree o' implausibility made your weapon concerns non analogous. is not simple a spectrum o' implausibility. the degree o' implausibility o' sickles and horseman flails is o' a different character than battleship destroying swords and dual-wielding enormous scythes. is a fundamental difference between the "implausible" but admitted viable weapon such as a sickle or rapier which would prove less efficacious than other weapons, and weapons which cannot be used on a battlefield anywhere 'cause they are breaking the very laws o' physics. is not simple a matter o' degree. sickles and flails and hatchets is not fitting w/i any meaningful spectrum o' implausibility which would raise anime parallel concerns. were a non-issue from the start. and the dual wielding scythe thing has been addressed many times now, so pretend as if it weren't addressed is patent fraudulent or obtuse. a hand scythe and a sickle is descriptors for the same weapon/implement. given the character art for xoti showing her wielding a sickle, folks Reasonably did not jump to the conclusion we would be seeing the following seriously. the board population did not indulge in such absurdism, and yet you use as foundation for argument. you finally is correct though. am agreeing to being at impasse. HA! Good Fun!

Wouldn't this be a product of being more a simulation of something that exists in the real world rather than an abstraction designed for a non-simulation style fantasy game? I don't disagree that a simulation would have to provide information in the way the real-word thing being simulated would (ie a flight simulator or aerial combat simulator or tank simulator or racing simulator is going to need to provide the same kind of numerical data that the vehicle would provide during real-world operations). am thinking you focus on the wrong detail. make it a large-scale space combat sim or giant robot battle game. take numbers out of the upcoming battletech game, eh? giant, bipedal weapon platforms don't exist (and never will exist 'cause they is stoopid,) but battletech is gonna have tonnages and ranges and weapons with capabilities expressed in clear numbers as 'posed to yucky and exceptional. in the space warfare sim, would agiel and those like him be satisfied with carriers which had mediocre range, good armour and the capacity to deploy a fair number of fighters? don't know the specific capabilities o' your anti-fighter defensive weapons as expressed inn ranges n' such, but you know they is swell? really? is not the real-world aspect which makes the numbers important. yeah, if you got real-world then there will be understandable desire to have the numbers be accurate and representative o' actual rw capabilities, but am thinking you are coming at this from the wrong direction. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/factcheck/fact-check-trump%e2%80%99s-account-of-his-first-100-days-in-office/ar-BBAzgf5?ocid=spartandhp so, trump's characterization o' his first 100 days were an enormous alternative fact. ... as a conservative/libertarian, the polls would suggest a likelihood o' Gromnir support for trump. baffling. yeah, we sympathize with folks disenchanted by ineffectual washington insiders who spout traditional political non-speak. for decades the average working class american felt complete left-out o' the democratic process, and middle-class americans see their best years dwindling fast in the rearview mirror. folks want change. the republican voice o' change during the election were trump. in the absence o' a viable alternative, is understandable why folks gravitated to trump, but am baffled by trump supporters who continue to support in spite o' his lack o' any meaningful progress and his willingness to distort facts and make unsubstantiated accusations. is this sunk cost fallacy at work? perhaps folks still see trump as the best o' nothing but bad alternatives. sure, trump approval is low, but he nevertheless has maintained core support. why? don't the excess o' alternative facts and failure to make noticeable progress on campaign promises discourage even trump diehards? on paper, one would assume Gromnir would be a trump supporter, but am admitted left with cold chills when we think o' him as president. during the election we predicted trump would fail to achieve domestic change as he is not a consensus builder. we noted how trump didn't seem to understand the limited role o' the President in domestic affairs. we worried trump would turn towards international affairs in light o' predictable domestic impotence. where we is now is exact where we predicted we would be. am just a bit surprised more conservatives haven't lost faith in trump. if not alternative facts and impotence, what will it take to make trump supporters lose faith? oh well. HA! Good Fun!

you have identified a fundamental difference 'tween fighting games and crpgs. the effectiveness o' a crpg character is based on the character's stats and numbers and math as 'posed to the player's skill at hitting the correct button combination at the correct time. is precise 'cause the player's manual dexterity is not what determines the efficacy o' the crpg character which is making awareness o' the numbers important. similar, am imagining how agiel would react if the numbers were removed from his military simulation games. don't need specific ranges for fighter avionics when can simple use a range o' yucky to exceptional. flight ceiling and air speeds being discussed numerical no doubt confuses agiel and others who play such games. would be better to remove the numbers in military sims and strategy games and replace with more psychological satisfying adjectives, no? the most obvious and clear manner to express the capabilities o' military hardware is via numbers, particular in a computer game. in crpgs wherein the player's character efficacy is largely defined by computer math (whether you see the numbers or not) it is difficult to imagine an approach using adjectives which would make the game mechanics more clear than numbers. HA! Good Fun!

still ain't making sense. farm implements such as sickles and flails has been used as weapons in the real world. sickles and flails can be used effective as weapons. a sickle ain't a particular effective battlefield weapon 'gainst folks in plate armour, but then neither is the rapier or katana save for under specific conditions. conflating crucifix shoulder cannons and enormous swords the budweiser clydesdales would need be used to move with arguable implausible rapier, katana and sickle is making your protests less valid rather than more. the community reaction, hardly a measure o' sanity on best of days, were nevertheless more reasonable than yours. see hand scythe wielded by xoti did not raise any concerns or anime comparisons, nor did it evoke other anime tropes such as yandere and tsundere. achilles identifies how the xoti artwork contained no "anime dog whistles," and he wore correct. the chalk-white, death-fixated, goth girl in frilly skirt and glasses were evoking predictable and reasonable anime comparisons which xoti art did not. oh, and am glad you brought up your improbable dual-wield scythes nonsense. am thinking if you were even the least honest, you would admit that if the artwork had shown xoti as a pink-haired woman in a sailor uniform wielding dual-scythes as 'posed to a hand scythe and a lantern, people woulda' been complaining. but if you wanna keep arguing how you see no qualitative or meaningful difference 'tween and then am at an impasse. converse, tsundere and yandere were predictable as once the anime trope link were created by means o' both the written description and artwork o' ydwin, the additional (and unlikely) baggage were likely to follow. HA! Good Fun! ps is an argument for the impracticality o' the typical military/horseman's flail as well. shows up in fantastical medieval artwork and the museum pieces we got today were perhaps produced in real life not as battlefield weapons but as props and such. converse, the larger farm-implement sort of flail, were a more practical weapon. if flails were used by actual soldiers on the battlefield, am suspecting they looked more like this: debate historical practicality o' the flail is not clear-cut, but to suggest the anime version is simple a matter o' degree removed is a laughable position to be taking and serious undercuts whatever argument you were attempting to make.

okie dokie. your logic is so tangled as to defy response. there is indeed more tropes than anime-style weapons which is gonna invite valid criticism. nobody denied. the constant attempt to inject tsundere and yandere into these threads should have made your observation unnecessary, no? am certain you think you made some kinda point by adding more potential reasons for seeing ridicule-worthy anime parallels, but am at a loss. and no, the anime weapon trope is hardly a simple matter o' degree. a weapon which is more useful as a farm or camping implement is a different kind of stretch than is a "weapon" which defies physics itself. using a hatchet to attack a man in full plate? ridiculous, but a much different kinda ridiculous than again, you are being more than a little disingenuous. HA! Good Fun!

Err...am I supposed to be looking at the one pic that isn't anime or is the link broken? EDIT: In case it wasn't clear, I'm mostly busting your chops here, but since this is all in good fun, re-run that search and don't stack the deck by adding the words "Western RPG" to the beginning. Tell me what you get virtual none o' those images is actual from western rpgs regardless. look at 'em. pick out the ladies who actual have skirts (not knee-length armour) and is wielding rapiers. virtual all is anime/jrpg. that was precisely our point. you is taking much outta context. simple 'cause a crpg weapon is impractical, it do not inspire anime comparison and ridicule. western crpg warhammers, for example, owe more to thor comics and to the practicalities o' crpg engines. a genuine war hammer in a game such as bg1, given the size o' sprites, woulda' been almost indistinguishable from maces and morningstars. bg1 warhammers is impractical, but their flaws is clear o' a different character than to paint all impractical with the same brush is dishonest. so sickles and hatchets, is more or less practical a martial weapon than a club? is hardly same as anime extremis, eh? once again, xoti did not raise ire 'cause regardless o' the presumed misprint o' scythes, we had images o' her which clear do not inspire anime comparison. is no mystery. HA! Good Fun! ps a sickle is also frequent identified as a hand scythe.

xoti actual wields sickles based 'pon art seen so far... and a lantern shield, but not a real lantern shield. the sickle, much like the flail, is traditional farming implements which has often been turned into weapons. on the other hand, "impractical" anime weapons is a much different category, no? your dual-wield scythes and swords the size o' a f-150 truck bumper and crucifix shoulder cannons is not the same kinda improbable as is sickles, eh? oh, and multiple threads attest to the fact that ydwin has in fact inspired frequent anime comparisons. xoti? not. HA! Good Fun!

and our point is you is still missing the point. if is "just as intuitive" then is hardly the example o' some kinda mistake. cain were suggesting superiority o' adjectives. if you gotta explicit define a detailed adjective-based spectrum so it is making feedback as useful, elegant, and specific as a numerical system, then what psychological benefit could you possible have achieved? you concede the integral nature o' math in the crpg. so the question is why would one work bass ackwards to replace the necessary numbers with adjectives which is unlikely to be able to fully express what is actual happening in the rules anyways? check the math for poe and try and express with adjectives. reduce the math in a game to a psychological satisfying and necessarily limited adjective spectrum and we can say for certain Gromnir and many others will be disatisfied. count the days post release before many is unlocking the real math so folks can actual understand. 'course you ain't actual arguing what cain were saying. cain were claiming psychology should trump math. yeah, in ad&d, the numbers didn't make sense w/o considerable explanation, and such is bad, but cain specific were noting that some/many see numbers and reject. "we don't work numerically. we work very visually." use a triangle to show proportional values o' attributes so as to avoid using numbers. first targeting o' a stationary foe should hit 'cause o' psychology, regardless o' the math o' the system. easily digestible adjectives is superior 'cause the words is inherent having qualities impossible to achieve with numbers. etc. tim is wrong 'bout psychology o' numbers in games. absence o' numbers is as likely (more likely) to cause consternation. go ahead and try and take numbers outta baseball and see how fans react. so, arguing cain or amentep, am not seeing value in the adjectives approach. either you need try supplant numbers with adjectives as amentep suggests, which is pointless work and less clear anyways, or we accept cain's notion o' inherent psychological inferiority o' numbers, which is just silly. you are both wrong in our estimation. HA! Good Fun!

Oh, that's alright then. The fact that they officially announced this on fig sets my mind at ease. :') They won't be 'cause tsundere and whatever are not personality traits. the sidekicks could very easily have an established tsundere relationship with another npc in the game. lack o' companion status won't preclude bg1 level development, and bg1 level development wouldn't preclude tsundere. takes very little developer effort to make ydwin actual tsundere 'cause many players is gonna be seeing such whether is there or not. is an advantage o' using clichés and archetypes in such games as the audience inevitably fills in gaps with what they expect to find. the reason why ydwin won't be tsundere is 'cause the writers is unlikely to choose to make her so. sure, the sidekick ydwin evokes anime tropes when one sees the art and reads the brief description, but am doubting the poe2 writers wanna be mocked for going full anime pastiche. am confident a companion ydwin would not be the joke character she seems to be at first glance. perhaps ironic, we believe a sidekick ydwin is actual more likely to be perceived as tsundere than would a companion ydwin as folks is gonna read such nonsense into the character given even the smallest possibility. a companion ydwin will be developed fully and with care to avoid the appearance o' cliché. sidekick ydwin is gonna be part o' a recruit quest, a portrait, a brief character description and a collection o' minimal banter, which will have folks reading all kinda nonsense into the character. HA! Good Fun!

Because I can remember how to calculate it off the top of my head without having to spend time researching the formulas used for a crpg so as to provide a numerical comparison that would come from a native computer game. Isn't this more an issue of feedback to the user rather than the superiority of the use of numbers? If good STR character w/ good sword is given feedback when contemplating an attack on the troll and the feedback is yucky or -10 (or if not turn-based, other contextual evidence that the fight isn't pursuable) wouldn't the end result provide the information necessary for the player to know the character isn't ready to fight the troll? you realize how silly you is being, no? gonna continue using your example o' hitting foes as it is quite illustrative. to give feedback as specific and useful as numbers, you need an equal number o' adjectives as numbers... at which point you has reduced this discussion to pointlessness. two equal arbitrary systems. also while you may not think yucky is less illuminating than -10 such is only 'cause you gave yucky a specific numerical value. difference 'tween -10 and -9 very well could be illustrative and useful. got an adjective for -9? if you honest is creating a specific adjective for every potential number, then what has you achieved by using the adjectives? our new player switches from seeming ineffective weapons and instead o' yucky he gets terrible miss feedback. am not certain what yucky v. terrible means at the start o' the game (damn you example o' the cain learning curve mistake) but when we used a strength boosting spell and we sudden hit we would necessarily be left wondering what were the reason for sudden success. maybe we hit 'cause o' randomness. did strenght boost help?explain via psychological satisfying adjectives the full range o' math feedback possible. perhaps close miss, bad miss and yuck miss is the feedbacks? honest, doesn't this feel silly to you? is so much more clear and simple to use numbers. also, and this should be obvious, as is Computer games we are talking 'bout, there is gonna be math involved. sure, a living dm or gm can rely on gut and whimsy and adjectives to decide if a brutal strong fighter with excellent training and the magic sword invashan will succesful beat a swarm o' malevolent fire sprites. no dice. no math. a human gm could simple paint a vivid image for players and resolve. a computer is gonna use math. math is fair and impartial. math has potential for infinite small and infinite large. perhaps best o' all, math won't ever leave us with horrific possibility o seeing feedback o' a "yucky" miss in a game. HA! Good Fun!

he ain't actual right. the Court has not actual addressed and the appellate struck down the prohibition as a blanket prohibition, with exceptions for hunters and police, 'gainst weapon carry beyond "hearth and home." decision doesn't mean what you believe it does. HA! Good Fun!

keep using ad&d? ad&d is not a crpg system. obsidian and other developers understandable avoid the mistakes o' ad&d and yet is your example. why? in any event, we gave reason why numbers is useful when deciding if you hit or not. got a good strength character with a swell sword. we keep missing when fighting the burly rock trolls. would be better to have a character with excellent agility and a fine rapier attack the troll while the good strength character switches to goblins in crude armour? only gonna figure out through trial and error, and if tim gets his way and we include genuine randomness, we might be learning wrong anyways. numbers make more sense and is far more clear than is adjectives. HA! Good Fun!

2nd amendment were an extreme limited protection for much o' the history o' the US. didn't apply to states even after the 14th amendment were first passed. in dicta, the Court has been pretty clear that the right to bear arms is not an unlimited grant. types o' weapons has always been subject to limitation. use history to show what founders or authors o' the 14th amendment had in mind insofar as what kinda weapons deserve protection is gonna be used similar if the Court ever decides open carry. yeah, the Court ain't a big fan o' any overbroad prohibition o' a fundamental right, but even if such a thing managed to be granted cert, the resulting opinion would be o' limited guidance as states and municipalities rare indulge in overbroad when attempting to put limits on fundamental rights. val is wrong. if is Constitution questions, best guide is to assume val is incorrect. he gots an improbable capacity to be wrong when discussing the Constitution... and history. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/69988-obama-to-propose-free-community-college/?p=1556763 is but one such example. honest, regarding the Constitution, if val says "yes," your guess should be "no." HA! Good Fun!

am disagreeing as to tim's point. "great-good-ok-yucky" is offering no more meaningful guidance than would 1-2-3-4. use percentile strength from ad&d as an example for why adjectives is better than numbers is logic flawed... and just plain silly. and again, in point o' fact, numbers is actual more intuitive for a game, 'cause even though crpgames ain't 'bout winning, people is having expectations o' keeping score or comparing stats. find a "nifty" sword in the game means what exactly? nifty is particular meaningless in a system devoid o' numbers. add a "nifty" attribute to our "swell" weapon and am having no idea if is more useful than our "meritorious" battleaxe. is actual far more elegant and simple to see the value o' +1 or +20% or something similar, no? sure, is lacking poetry, but is clear, and in a game, clarity should be paramount. in any event tim gots bass ackwards as we suspect that insofar as games is concerned, people find comfort and familiarity in the numbers. compare hank aaron and babe ruth w/o numbers is not psychological satisfying but is in point o' fact, frustrating. we suspect in the absence o' numbers from developer tim, folks would nevertheless create such. within weeks o' an imaginary tim cain numberless game being released, multiple folks would be creating game guides which ascribed actual numerical values to attributes, skills and feats so as to be making tim's psychological satisfying system more easy to understand, and more satisfying. tim cain is wrong 'bout numbers, and he sure as heck weren't limiting his perceived mistake to extreme absence o' clarity. a general rule which only applies to obvious extremes is pointless. HA! Good Fun!

hmmm. we would say instead, "american gods is perfectly fuller." fuller more than gaiman. am not complaining, but tone were set early. the book were never our favorite gaiman as it lacked necessary focus, but am s'posing such would actual be a non-problem for a tv show lasting multiple episodes and seasons. rather than try and capture some kinda non-existent singular american identity, gaiman explored the diversity o' america/americans, which meant he were kinda all over the map both literal and figurative. messy. however, for episodic tv, having access to a plethora o' unique and colorful characters is gonna be welcome and increase longevity as repetition will be easy to avoid. gaiman has even added characters for the tv show, yes? am curious to see how much the show diverges from gaiman and his book, and truth is we is hopeful for more fuller than gaiman as we want a few surprises. oh, and the show were pretty to look at, but am hopeful the show don't eventual become self indulgent with the lavish images and loaded symbolism. HA! Good Fun!

Baldurs Gate2 worked quite well, and as Josh pointed out many of those characters had limited interactions and no story archs. the observation by josh were a criticism o' the bg2 approach. rather than doing as bg2 wherein a handful o' companions got full treatement and a few received little more than bg1, all poe 2 companions will have quests and party dynamic dialogues and whatever else obsidian deems essential to core companions. no companion crapshoot for the new player such as existed with bg2. you perhaps liked mazzy and only realized after a few dozen hours o' gameplay she were gonna be developed less than jaheira, and less than even non-romance options such as keldorn? sucker. the poe2 sidekicks, on the other hand, will get less development than companions, and the player will be aware from the start that he/she is only gonna get bg1 level development when choosing a sidekick to be filling a party slot. HA! Good Fun!

speaking from painful experience, rice and legumes is a better choice than is dog food. dog food is salty and actual more expensive than is bulk rice and lentils. supplant with the infrequent egg or cottage cheese and you got our diet for a couple years after we quit football at University. swipe condiment packets from local restaurants for flavorings. still need the occasional fruit or vegetable to stave off scurvy or rickets. sadly such fare were an improvement compared to the Gromnir family menu during a couple pine ridge winters we recollect, but is perfect viable and a major cost saver... not that we believe you were being serious. HA! Good Fun!

we give the obsidians a hard time 'bout ydwin 'cause the character concept and initial artwork for goth-girl is so... trite. *shrug* that being said, am not certain why an animancer is absent from the core poe2 companions. before the poe beta, the thing Gromnir were most vocal 'bout were animancy. need not rehash in this thread, but the kickstarter descriptions and developer interviews concerning animancy left us unsatisfied. clearly the game would need better explain animancy and how in a world with tangible and real evidence o' souls, people would be anything other than horrified and terrified o' animancers who apparently with some frequency were experimenting on soulless babies and creating hordes o' undead. poe were released and seeming our initial animacy concerns were understated. heck, the developers o' poe admit they did not do a good job o' integrating animancy into the game setting. so what is the thinking behind creating an animancer companion for poe2, but having her relegated to sidekick status pending the achievement o' an unlikely monetary funding goal? the goth-girl with glasses is a silly sidekick we can do w/o, but how is a poe2 animancer companion anything other than a certainty? lack o' an animancer companion is baffling to us. HA! Good Fun!

faith. the core theme o' poe were faith. we weren't satisfied with obsidian efforts to be exploring faith, but we must commend the writers/developers for the use o' companions and gods to develop poe faith. in crpgs, joinable companions typical have unique story arcs, but those companion stories rare is used to reinforce or develop core themes. companion quests and stories is understandable gonna be insular from the critical path story as the developer don't necessarily know if any particular companion will be in a given player's party for a significant portion o' the game. companion quest resolutions is also gonna have at least a bit o' variation as crpgs promise at least the illusion o' player choice. have the companion sidequests be integral to central plot is understandable problematic given the element o' player choice. however, poe writers utilized all companions to explore central theme. every companion had a kinda crisis o' faith. with all o' the tangential sidequesting available in a game such as poe, it is no doubt difficult to keeps a thematic focus, but the companions helped to keep theme grounded for the entire length o' a game lasting possible dozens o' hours. common theme for all companions has been inexplicable rare in crpgs, with poe as a rare and noteworthy exception and all future obsidian gamess should adopt similar thematic reinforcement and bolstering via joinable companions. the synthetic nature o' poe gods were also a clever solution to dealing with the faith problem which exists in almost any crpg with traditional rpg gods. in a setting wherein the gods manifest predictably, faith is not a viable theme. in a setting where priests pray and receive spells, questions o' religious faith is obliterated. in a world wherein gods regular interact with mortals, direct altering events and even landscapes, notions o' religious faith is comic. the synthetic nature o' poe gods allowed the developers to include a traditional crpg pantheon capable o' granting spells and divine powers to multiple fixed classes while also making religious faith thematic possible and intriguing. we got loads o' complaints and criticisms 'bout poe storytelling. poe setting, theme, character development and plot is all ripe for the typical bloody Gromnir harvest wherein we slash and burn our way through writer mistakes. *shrug* been there and done that. regardless, obsidian does deserve considerable credit for handling o' faith in poe. HA! Good Fun!

in answer to your question, twelve... or perhaps okra. HA! Good Fun!

didn't see this thread when posted as we were enjoying midwestern hospitality for a couple o' weeks. ... pains Gromnir to admit this, but cain is correct 'bout a couple things. in fact, the stuff people is raging 'bout at the hardcore gamer sites is some o' the cain points 'bout which we most agree. yeah, the learning curves should be flattened even in highly complex crpgs. there is no genuine advantage to be dumping the entirety o' a new rule system 'pon a game purchaser. if you got levels in your game, to be demanding a player make the mostest important and numerous character development choices at level 1 is bass ackwards. is axiomatic that the point o' the game where we will know the least 'bout game mechanics is at the beginning. life may be unfair, but gamess don't need be. developers should make more significant character generation choices occur later in the game rather than early. sure, there is gonna be fundamental choices made during the intro portion o' a title which will have major impact 'pon future gameplay. race o' your character is likely gonna be decided at the start o' the game, and such a choice will and should be meaningful. is gonna be multiple fundamental choices made early. fine. is all the more reason to avoid demanding more than necessary o' the starting player. am actual (kinda) liking tim's triangles as a starting point. we want many character development choices, but we do not need all, most, or many such choices at the beginning o' the game. is any number o' games Gromnir has played, games we liked, which had us restart after investing dozens o' hours into the title 'cause we discovered the character we believed we were building did not match expectations. only way to fix fundamental flaws were to start over from the beginning. the desire to restart and "get it right," is a common issue for us, and having read these boards for decades, we know we ain't alone. is no reason the player cannot be confronted with more character generation/development choices after they gots a better understanding o' the game mechanics. have us make choices after we get comprehension o' how the game actual works makes far more sense than demanding the uninitiated and ignorant beginner decide the most important character development and generation choices w/i the first 20 minutes o' game experience. on the other hand, we don't agree with tim's observation 'bout his numberless triangles. is nothing inherent better 'bout labeling an attribute with a value o' "good" as 'posed to "7." perhaps we can eventual reach "supecalifragilistic" or "10" ? the labels is not particular meaningful 'til Gromnir understands the mechanics o' the game. hell, many games use both numbers and basic adjectives, no? 7 is good. 10 is supercalifrgilistic. so what? change the label don't magically confer genuine understanding o' how the attribute (or whatever) works with in the game mechanic framework. maybe "good" is, in the mind o' the developers equivalent o' three on a ten point scale? what does "good" even mean w/o the numbers and mechanics? regardless, am agreeing with tim 'bout steep learning curves being a big mistake. not gonna fix with "good" v. "swell" triangle points, but confronting the player with complex character development choices later in the game makes sense. kinda amused. as much as tim is annoyed by folks misunderstanding random, Gromnir is irked by the fraudulent use o' non-linear. have fought this battle so many times but game developers frequent misunderstand non-linear. throw a bunch o' optional and tangential side-quests into a game provides the illusion o' non-linearity as 'posed to actual non-linear gameplay. offer multiple quest resolutions is also not making a game or story less linear in any genuine sense. tim wants to avoid horrible storytelling? good. like it or not, and much to the consternation o' folks such as josh sawyer, good storytelling ain't gonna occur w/o linearity. ps:t gets applauded for storytelling, and much such acclaim is deserved. ps:t critical path story is linear. start in morgue. need find pharod. will eventual meet ravel in maze and then go plane-hoping. etc. fact you can resolve major events with variation does not remove linearity. is an order. the essential events is linear. the ps:t companions folks so love is having character arcs which is linear. sure, even in a game such as ps:t the developer might allow for reordering o' a few plot points to increase the illusion o' player control, but is sleight o' hand rather than meaningful. the writer cannot write compelling, cannot avoid horrible, w/o linearity. wanna create a big sandbox game with no actual critical path story? good luck with such a game. 'course even with such a game, the individual quests which engage the player will necessarily be linear more than they is not... but having folks comprehend that their notions o' "non-linear" is as much a misconception as tim faced when explaining "random" is our sisyphean labor. not gonna herein review every one o' tim's seven big mistakes, but we agree with him regarding more than a couple o' those mistakes. color us surprised. HA! Good Fun!

first o' all, monks are, by definition, monastic. monks live in abbeys/monasteries and meditate, or chant, or make cheese or beer. the notion o' an adventuring monk is oxymoronic. even if you thinks o' the extreme limited notion o' the eastern tradition martial artist monk, they is nevertheless monastic. is some history o' western monks with martial training and they ain't gonna evoke largely mythical images shaolin butt-kickery, so any notion o' some kinda singular concept o' what a combat monk is will be elusive. regardless, the poe monk is ridiculous flexible. most o' our poe monks were actual designed as armoured tanks, but spend five minutes looking at monk builds in the poe section o' this board and you is gonna see implausible variety. poe monks could use fixes as a few builds is a bit over-the-top, but o' all the poe classes, the monk is the one which most pleasant surprised us. not necessarily our favorite class, but am willing to admit the monk is likely the best class created by the obsidian developers. the wounds mechanic is unique, intriguing and for the most part, balanced. as already observed, poe monks can be played in a multitude o' ways. as bare-fisted pain merchants? as heavily armoured tanks wielding weapons? smarty monk? fast monk? ranged monk? go ahead as all is possible. don't like wounds and would rather build a monk with fantastic defenses is not only possible but effective. poe monks is, as is typical in crpgs, poor named. in spite o' the fact the class is not actual monastic in any way, is a fantastic class. one o' the most pleasant surprises o' poe for Gromnir were the monk class. congrats again to obsidian regarding the monk. HA! Good Fun!