Gromnir

warnock winning is a victory for sanity, but recognizing how improbable terrible were walker as a candidate, the race were far closer than it shoulda' been. am suspecting any republican candidate woulda' garnered at least walker vote totals. the current entrenched political and social divisiveness strikes us as unhealthy but am not seeing any short term solutions. HA! Good Fun!

this is why it would be so great if crt were actual being taught everywhere like republicans, fox news and bruce would have you believe. crt removes the questions o' moral turpitude and blame in the analysis o' discriminatory laws and practices. as causal observes it is ez to believe cultures o' bigotry is being diminished by natural forces o' social evolution-- things is better than they were 50 or 100 years ago, yes? improvements is dramatic for many minority groups and for women. mistake. would be nice to believe our generation is somehow better and more enlightened than the previous one(s). *shrug* crt don't have the conclusions and ez answers most people want, but it does require analysis o' actual change and when studied critical, it becomes apparent change is resisted by those in power who current benefit from banking practices, laws and customs. "me and mine." does such an observation shock anybody? motivated self interest is hardly a shocking concept. if you wanna see meaningful cultural changes, is best to look to economic factors, and unfortunate, since before the great recession, the economy has not been improving for a large % o' working class americans. white and working class americans has a considerable amount o' political power. wanna look for an explanation as to why bigotry appears to have become worse in the last decade or two, then is best to look to economic factors. crt is not just 'bout race. applies equal to women and lgbt or any other group which has had to overcome systemic obstacles to economic parity. "me and mine." particular when those folks become fearful, they resist change even if it would benefit the economy as a whole to do so. serious though, we do wish crt were being taught everywhere. would be refreshing to have discussions o' systemic racism and bigotry w/o all the baggage. also Manhattan Jury Convicts the Trump Organization of All Charges Alleging More Than Decade-Long Tax Fraud Scheme A spokesperson for the Trump Organization tried to pass the blame to Weisselberg in a statement, citing his trial testimony. “Mr. Weisselberg testified under oath that he ‘betrayed’ the trust the company had placed in him and that he, at all times, acted ‘solely’ for his ‘own personal gain’ and out of his ‘own personal greed,'” the spokesperson said. “The notion that a company could be held responsible for an employee’s actions, to benefit themselves, on their own personal tax returns is simply preposterous.” ... In addition to criminal liability, the Trump Organization also faces an active civil lawsuit filed by James this past September. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron put the Trump Organization under court monitoring until the case is resolved at trial next year. HA! Good Fun! ps the conviction makes almost unfathomable any kinda continued existence for the trump organization. period. is not a situation where he could rename and move to Delaware. as such, this news is much more significant than some may understand in the moment seeing as how trump were not a named defendant... and the legal situation for trump personal only gets more dire.

the cinematic graveyard is filled with bad robin hood and musketeers movies. almost makes you wonder why producers and directors keep trying. sure, there has been exceptions which were good, but they is few and far between. am also 'gonna note how the clip is maybe not the tone we get from dumas' works. musketeers is light-hearted and playful with a handful o' moments o' deadly seriousness. have mentioned previous how dumas were paid by the word and he milked that rate for every livre possible. audiences were in on the joke and so dumas (team dumas) crafted works which were fun, swashbuckling affairs filled with daring-do and sinister villains improbable punctuated by genuine moving moments. am not having a problem with a deadly serious musketeers, but is so not dumas musketeers. HA! Good Fun!

for pre-enforcement challenges, the litigant must exhibit, "an intention to engage in a course of conduct arguably affected with a constitutional interest, but proscribed by a statute, and there exists a credible threat of prosecution thereunder." standing is one o' the most arcane aspects o' law. something more than 80% o' civil cases is decided based on the application o' the rules o' civil procedure. criminal matters tend to be more cut and dry, but is not always so. regardless, we no longer demand that to bring a case before the Court, a person must first violate a law. if a state created new abortion criminal statues, we would not demand the doctors perform an actual abortion and possible expose self to significant criminal liability as a pre requisite for challenging the validity o' the abortion law. perhaps ask the doctor to sit in prison for lord knows how long while the courts answer relevant questions o' law and fact? both the state and the litigants want the question o' constitutionality answered regarding Colorado's Anti Discrimination Act. in these sorta cases, pre-enforcement challenges is if not de rigueur, then hardly exceptional. Alito jokes about Black kids in KKK outfits during Supreme Court argument is what we call a ted cruz moment from J. alito. ted cruz, whatever you may think o' him, is a smart guy, and if there is five persons in Congress more intelligent than ted cruz we would be shocked. nevertheless, how many times has ted said or done something so tone deaf or stupid as to be baffling? more than a few times. many more occurences o' buffoonery than just a few. am not sure if is reassuring or disappointing when smart people behave stoopid. 'course alito's comments is arguable worse than simple tone deafness, but unlike senator cruz, a Justice holds office for life. HA! Good Fun!

it is possible to play a necromancer cleric who chooses angel, and angel may be lawful neutral. wotr lawful neutral is easily achieved by choosing lawful options a majority o' the time in dialogs, and as often as not the lawful dialog choices is kinda on the cruel and bloodless end o' the spectrum. an angel necromancer cleric will maintain an untarnished halo while raising the dead and casting necromancy spells such as slay living and bone shatter. your angel sees mercy and kindness as cancers which need be cut out to save the crusade, with you acting as the God's chosen surgeon? is ok in wotr. converse, is nothing wrong with playing the goody two shoes angel and embracing necromancy simultaneous... 'cause that is how wotr rolls. is maybe one (or two) good necromancy spells available to arcane casters not available to clerics, and loremaster fixes that problem as you are able to select spells from spell books otherwise off limits to your chosen class. unfortunate, if you go combined spell book angel, then chances are you will find yourself casting angel spells during every difficult encounter, making your necromancy largely pointless. also, is no question lich has access to the best necromancy spells, and is not even a close call, but is nevertheless other ways to achieve a viable necromancer build including an angel cleric. HA! Good Fun!

maybe not as likely to enrage the nation as dobbs overturning roe, but am thinking this one could be equal problematic as it releases the pandora's box o' horrible the Court narrow avoided with the bigoted colorado cake maker. commercial speech has always been treated different, but the current Court has weaponized First Amendment religious freedom and speech protections to effective defend historical entrenched values circa the 1860s and 1780s often at the expense o' common sense and even the health and welfare o' the multitude. who were being routine discriminated in 1787 and 1868? everybody but white men. how could such an overt biased standard not make a reasonable person shudder? the lawyers for the plaintiff suggest there is limits as to whom a person engaged in a business transaction may refuse service, but they proposed no specific limits and am not sure how The Court could possible craft a general rule which would clarify as 'posed to confuse. same-sex marriage is enough o' an affront to religious freedom such that the business owner may refuse service, but denying services to disabled or minorities is a bridge too far? why exact? what is the legal argument for distinguishing? we thought the legal reasoning in obergefell were suspect even if am personal in favour o' same-sex marriage. however, obergefell is law and am not sure how this Court pretends it ain't relevant. based on responses during oral arguments, Justices for the majority is considering the religious and artistic freedoms o' the business owner, but am not sure how such invalidates the protections we assume is relevant in other business settings when a person belonging to a suspect class is denied equal consideration. of course you can't fire a person from their job 'cause o' their race, religious beliefs or disabilities, but is possible to deny those same persons business services? and maybe is not ok to deny business to racial minorities and disabled persons but those engaged in a same-sex union is fair game, but if such is the case, what is the reason for the exception? am most concerned this will be another situation where the Court works backwards from a desired conclusion (i.e. allowing businesses to refuse service to teh gayz) and cobbles together a flawed historical analysis to legitimize the illegitimate. with each such new case, the Court undermines american faith in the rule of law. HA! Good Fun!

The combat statistics for all the aircraft currently in use am having no idea how accurate the data is from the link. am only sharing the first entry so individuals may know how the data were shared. [Name of aircraft] Air-to-air kills – Air-to-air losses – Losses to ground fire [Name of conflict aircraft was used in] [Nation that used aircraft in said conflict] Air-to-air kills – Air-to-air losses – Losses to ground fire F-16 Falcon 76-1-5 Gulf War (USA) 0-0-3 No-Fly Zones (USA) 2-0-0 Bosnia (USA) 4-0-1 Kosovo (USA) 1-0-1 Kosovo (Netherlands) 1-0-0 Kosovo (Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Turkey) 0-0-0 Afghanistan (USA, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway) 0-0-0 Iraq (USA) 0-0-0 Syrian border clashes 1979-1986 (Israel) 6-0-0 Operation Opera (Israel) 0-0-0 Lebanon War (1982) (Israel) 44-0-0 Lebanon War (2006) (Israel) 3-0-0 Intifada (2000-present) (Israel) 0-0-0 Soviet-Afghan War (Pakistan) 10-0-0 Border clashes (Pakistan) 1-0-0 Kargil War (Pakistan) 0-0-0 Northwest border wars (Pakistan) 0-0-0 Aegean Sea clashes (Turkey) 1-1-0 Venezuelan Coup 1992 (Venezuela) 3-0-0 HA! Good Fun!

*chuckle* so complaining in spite o' not actual knowing? hardly shocking. *sigh* so what? is not that obsidian ignored your complaint, eh? your hyperbolic statements 'bout xp and why the degenerative aspects o' xp farming were sought to be limited is more evidence o' ridiculous. players most certain did not hit cap midway through the game, but admitted 'cause o' the blunder with bounties, the cap were reachable before twin elms. Gromnir has pointed out dozens of times how the obsidians blundered with their xp rewards as they were so sure they had a scheme which would have completionists and critical path players reach endgame separated not by a gulf but o' a trickle. again, so what? you diehard ie game romantics never explained why the per kill xp made the game better. the fact obsidian failed in their implementation and ended up with results more akin to bg1 is hardly some kind proof the ie games did better or that obsidian's goal were wrong. if you were reasonable and rational you would see how the complaints 'bout reaching the level cap early in poe actual supports what obsidian were trying to do. duh. bg2 did have a solution: bioware simply made it possible to level ad nauseum 'cause the only benefit were the hit point grant. no, you don't think to criticize them in spite o' the obvious hypocrisy. no, and is missed 'cause o' inane reply/quote, they did something complete different from what you describe and not at all related to your complaint. you didn't like endurance/stamina? fair. many didn't. the developers worked on endurance/stamina over the course o' two games and whether you believe it ended up better or good is an individual choice, they clear weren't implementing simply to be unnecessarily complicated or 'cause they hated the ie games. doesn't matter if all your complaints were either objective wrong or based on no more than feels, 'cause. just 'cause. you recall josh not responding and we show links. you recall xp divorced from reality? just roll with it. you recall endurance/stamina in a curious obtuse manner and we show link which reveals continued developer input attempting to find a better way to implement the feature. groundhog day. HA! you recalled incorrect obsidian level and frequency o' feedback for poe as well as the goals and behavior re: endurance/stamina. why would anybody trust your recollects? regardless, if were so meaningful and memorable then make those arguments. we can wait. tell us the detailed and well explained reasons for per kill xp, insta kills, pre buffing, resistance to endurance/stamina, etc. is definite bringing back memories o' poe... the indefatigable. HA! Good Fun! ps apologies for the late edit. seems we accidental cut off a couple sentences in our last reply/quote exercise in silly.

necromancy is not the strongest school, but as long as you play core or lower difficulty, you should be ok. most conjuration spells ignore sr, which early in the game is a big deal for a caster. if you are playing on a higher difficulty, then the best spells and dc boosting gear is likely pushing you towards enchantment or illusion. but again, necromancy is more than viable on core or lower difficulties and our first ember build were necromancy and evocation focused and she were highly effective. dirge bard is a kinda fun necromancer as you may spontaneous raise dead, are able to cast numerous necromancy spells, and the powerful enchantment spells on your spell list will work v. corporeal undead... including hideous laughter. the drawback for bards is after the change to guarded hearth, bard song competence bonuses do not stack with guarded hearth, which means your signature ability is gonna be useless during most boss fights. is a whole bunch o' azata abilities and spells which is gonna make your mind affecting spells particular powerful. a single level o' sorcerer, or all sorcerer, means you may take the undead bloodline which works similar as dirge bard secrets of the grave resulting in your mind affecting spells working on many undead, so is possible to play cleric or other class and effective get the necromancy flavour. an ecclesitheurge cleric with one level o' crossblood sorc and at least the charm domain is gonna be a serious powerful necromancer, able to cast many o' the best enchantment and necromancy spells. witch or wizard spell casters pair well with lich, though there is melee builds which also work well with lich. is possible to have over 1000 hp as a lich, so a few obscure melee builds become viable. lich and angel is kinda noteworthy 'cause if you choose the combined spellbook caster route, then it is tough to build wrong as lich and angel spells is ridiculous op. the writing for lich is a bit over-the-top, but if you want to be mythic powerful, roll stomping your way through encounters as you indulge in teh evhul, then lich is a win choice... we s'pose. there is a couple companions who do not like a lich commander. perhaps counter-intuitive, it is possible to keep all companions if you go the demon path. am personal not looking forward to doing another lich, but it is possible to choose gold dragon after lich, which is something we wanna try in part 'cause am not certain how such is implemented and is few aspects o' the game we ain't tried. haven't spoiled self. even so, is a long haul to get through lich to gold dragon. maybe requires patience we do not possess. is a whole lotta less than obvious pitfall choices with wotr class/ability/spell selection, so don't hesitate to ask for feedback when you arrive at a preliminary choice for your next commander. HA! Good Fun! ps am knowing we linked already, but ember's good end with nocticula is the current pathfinder canon. it is in a subsequent adventure path, return of the runelords, which has nocticula achieve her apotheosis, and obviously ember ain't the trigger, but by embracing her innermost warm and fuzzies the first succubus becomes a chaotic neutral goddess o' midnight, artists and outcasts. nocticula's redemption hinges 'pon time travel btw, so canon is no more improbable than the ember route.

you are confusing poe2 with poe1, so, "yeah, no." am not sure how many times josh would respond ad nauseum to sensuki or others, in a single thread, trying to explain why water is wet or asking for more than feels arguments. am not sure the point regarding metagaming. obsidan were not trying to avoid making best classes or best abilities. how many times this point needed be made is baffling. what they did were make sure all the classes were viable and useful. the nonsense 'bout metagaming is just strawman silliness as that were never a thing... evar. heck, obvious poe and poe2 were designed with reload in mind. a few encounters were first time difficult even for Gromnir who had played the beta improbable hours. for poe, the radiant spore, raedric 1/2, anything with an ogre druid, the dragons (mowrghek ien were taking us more than one try or three,) concelhaut, etc... all those were quite obvious designed with reload in mind. as far as trash mobs, poe has far fewer than any ie game and as there is no xp reward for confronting them anyways there shoulda' been motivation to avoid when possible, but too many gamers, trained by innumerable previous crpgs, killed everything, 'cause. 'cause they would get more money even if they didn't get xp? 'cause you never know when a rando mob might have something kewl? dunno. on the wilderness maps, most o' what you could possible describe as trash mobs may be ignored. yeah, the endless paths were a mess and obsidian admitted such were a mistake 'cause they never planned on so many levels, so they kinda threw more than a few sections together w/o much design other than an attempt to minimal fulfill a stretch goal. edit: am gonna admit galvino's workshop felt like an unnecessary inflated and punishing slog. endless paths were bad and 'ccording to developers (who apologized) were the result o' rushed implementation, but the galvino's location offered almost no solutions save for punishing and repetitive combat and it were done intentional. that said, if you embrace the "spiritual successor" stoopid, then galvino's were a serious nostalgia moment for those who recall dragon's eye from iwd or any o' a dozen other simillar locations from the ie games. as for your feels about the difficulty o' a few trash mobs... *snort* so, what ie game got it right insofar as trash mobs? please tell. how is the feedback with owlcat going insofar as trash mobs, eh? see, statements like this show you is trolling. clear the effort weren't to be convoluted. maybe you think health/stamina were too convoluted, but obvious such weren't the goal and am gonna note the system were changed for poe2. heck, health/stamina were changed w/i poe as a response to the beta concerns. the folks who didn't get the bg2.5 or bg3 they wanted complained endless that obsidian were unresponsive when fact were obsidian were highly reactive and involved, but the developers didn't always agree with the leave it as it is pov and the feels arguments were providing zero help. you are remembering the way you want to, ignoring reality. not a new problem. HA! Good Fun!

not complete wrong. speaking o' time travel, set the wayback machine for 2016 HA! Good Fun!

got a few quibbles with the vid, but am gonna agree time travel is rare a satisfactory explanation unless is done for laughs, with the notable admission we enjoyed edge of tomorrow. even so, if the time travel plot device is a significant aspect o' the new indiana jones movie, am gonna be taking a pass until multiple reliable sources convince us an exception to our general rule o' applicability is warranted. HA! Fun! Goo

one o' the advantages o' having posted on these boards for so very long is a useful kinda perspective. top three complaints o' bg1 via community feedback: 1/2) too hard/too ez 3) the tedious empty wilderness maps punctuated by a gnoll or bandit encounter were not fun. inappropriate difficulty were always the most frequent complaint regarding the ie games, but the next most common complaint were regarding the horrible implementation o' "exploration" in bg. particular following totsc, the fan base were overwhelming demanding more durlag's tower kinda content and less o' the gameplay hour inflating rando wilderness maps and their micro-encounters. ... top three complaints for bg2 via community feedback: 1/2) too hard/too ez 3) not enough exploration. ... is a no win for developers. also, unrelated to your post, but... Balance in Single-Player CRPGs and Why POE II became unplayable for me seriously, there is rare a new topic on these boards. the exploration stuff we has seen do the pendulum thing in so many games? the suggestion that balance is pointless or that poe "failed," 'cause the obsidian developers hated the ie games? looking on the bright side, the #4 overall fan complaint for bg1 were likely regarding the underdeveloped bg1 companions, so clear the biowarians were able to glean something useful from boardie feedback and make changes which improved a subsequent title. is not all just a groundhog day situation with the end result being inevitable. HA! Good Fun!

this were the problem faced by the obsidian developers. fanbase wanted bg3, but those fans couldn't express what were essential for a bg3 'cept that anything not like the earlier games were wrong. josh would ask here or elsewhere why some aspect or ie staple were necessary and the fan bases would predictably split w/o providing any meaningful guidance. the little things added up? non specific combat issues and narrative changes were a gestalt bridge to far? not "spiritual successor" enough, even though obsidian never promised such. personal we had very specific problems with the poe narrative, but am not gonna suggest poe were lacking in the writing department compared to bg or any other ie game save perhaps ps:t, recognizing that both ps:t and poe kinda lost momentum at the end. fortress of regrets and breith eaman/sun in shadows were similarly tedious from a gameplay pov and the culmination o' the respective stories were almost anti-climactic and representative o' a common problem for near all bis/obsidian games with the conclusion being either rushed or just plain unsatisfactory. 'course we kinda beat the narrative issues o' poe and deadfire to death many times. one frequent overlooked negative o' poe writing we will address specific 'cause is so often ignored were the fact the poe companions were unnecessarily, but understandably, tasked with all kinda world building exposition. new setting for poe meant there were gonna be considerable info dumps o' world lore, and the joinable companions were an obvious vehicle for communicating such lore. were a mistake to use companions. 'cause o' the nature o' companion quests in a crpg being advanced primarily through dialogues, a player were functional compelled to endure every lore drop 'cause you never knew which new dialogue option were the one which would lead to furthering the companion quest. awkward. clumsy. yeah, the lore dumps were optional, but as a player you had no way o' knowing which dialogues were in fact optional, so the exhausting exercise o' world building exposition were carried out in large part by joinable companions which could make 'em feel dull. am gonna suggest it were a mistake to have companions do the world building exposition even if the companions were the obvious way to achieve world building and recognizing that the lore drops were in fact technical optional. however, am thinking poe achieved a major advancement with their companions... which they inexplicable abandoned in deadfire. crpg companion quests/romances is often tangential and largely insular from the main quest. doing so makes sense from a gameplay pov 'cause the developers don't know who is gonna be any individual's essential party member. by giving the player agency, the solution is to be making individual companions less integral to the story even if they is essential for some particular plot point. more than a couple kotor/kotor2 companions, for example, were integral to plot but they did less to bolster themes o' the respective games... kreia being a noteworthy exception. for poe, obsidian did different in spite o' fact what they did should be the obvious approach-- all poe companion quests/stories reinforced the core themes o' poe in spite o' fact they were largely tangential to to the main plot. all poe companions, regardless o' being functional insular, tangential and optional insofar as the core narrative were concerned, explored questions o' faith. duh. obvious. why doesn't all story-driven crpgs do as did poe? 'course you would have individual companion stories bolster the main narrative from a thematic perspective even if they is non essential to the main plot, yes? nevertheless, so few games do so. oh well, as the first title in a new ip, poe succeeded far more often than it failed... though it did fail at times. deadfire were an improvement on poe, save for writing aspects such as the narrative relegating the player to a kinda pointless observer insofar as the greater events involving the gods and eothas as well as once again including companions who contributed almost nothing useful to the core narrative. HA! Good Fun! ps so is clear, purchasers and prospective purchasers do not owe developers a detailed accounting o' why they is ok with game A but not game B. we can't explain why we prefer vanilla to chocolate ice cream, but remains true that as 'tween the two, am gonna choose good vanilla as 'posed to good chocolate. is up to obsidian to make games people buy. no doubt obsidian developers, believing they has crafted an excellent title, wonder at why their sales don't match a few other developers. would be helpful if the player feedback were a bit more constructive, but is obsidian's job to figure out the right formula success. even so, the poe feedback pre and post release were a nightmare from our pov and musta' been worse for obsidian. typical we saw a comical polarized torrent o' support or condemnation following each obsidian suggestion, and the feedback were ordinarily devoid o' reasons or rationale as 'posed to fan feels.

our first reaction were to sneer at another vulgar (and kinda ridiculous) christmas cash grab. then we reflected 'bout what is perhaps our favorite christmas album. not on same album, but is making our top 5 o' christmas tunes. so 'pon reflection is tough for us to chide lucas arts or disney or whomever were responsible for releasing your shared title. clear would be hypocritical to aim scorn at star wars if am ok with peanuts, eh? HA! Good Fun! ps added greensleeves 'cause fantasia on greensleeves is also among our top five christmas music tunes and am thinking the vince guaraldi bit is fantastic regardless o' how we feel 'bout jazz.

next wednesday, eh? admitted am not interested in being part o' the alpha, but am gonna be positive 'bout the milestone occurring earlier than we had anticipated. sure, we saw at twitter the alpha were gonna begin before end o' the year, but am nevertheless a smidge surprised. does owlcat enforce a hardcore nda for alpha testers? if not perhaps shady (if he does alpha) shares feedback. HA! Good Fun!

am pretty sure the "stupid stuff" were intentional and such ham-fisted additions were a result o' fans not getting the first movie. raiders of the lost ark was s'posed to be b movie fare, but with aaa production values... plus enough overt classic movie homage to have even the most hardcore movie fan chuckle a bit. unfortunately what @Amentep, lucas, spielberg and kasdan saw as the point o' the indy films is not necessarily what audiences liked 'bout raiders, so particular in temple of doom, and crystal skull, the makers o' the film were a smidge less subtle(<-- sarcastic hyperbole) and went all-in on what inspired them to make the movies in the first place. everybody in raiders is playing it serious as they deal with over-the-top nazis and improbable events-- stupid stuff. 'course the raiders audiences were treated to a john williams score, incredible sets as well as great performances and fantastic camera work, so audiences understandable took the film more serious than were intended. is just a guess, but am thinking temple o' doom were an effort o' the film makers to course correct, so audiences would be able to enjoy the indiana jones films the way lucas and spielberg enjoyed flash gordon and similar fare. unfortunately, temple of doom kinda underwhelmed or confused audiences, so there were a return to formula with last crusade. keyrock is clear a fan o' the temple of doom kinda material, which is hardly a shock. the thing is, am thinking lucas, spielberg and kasdan, 'mong others, were wrong to try to accentuate and rehabilitate the stupid stuff. the old flash gordon, buck rodgers, and spy smasher serials weren't intended to be stupid at the time they were made. we look at such films today and smile approvingly at the b fare, but is not as if the makers o' spy smasher saw themselves as purveyors o' ridiculous. am gonna suggest temple of doom and crystal skull unnecessarily wanted audiences to realize the indiana jones films is b movie fare by pushing the "stupid stuff" a bit too hard. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna observe just how difficult it is to hit the right balance o' serious v. "stupid stuff." those familiar with the fallout franchise o' crpgs will recognize just how contentious has been fan response following every fallout title release subsequent to the original. is a not insignificant % o' fans who are extreme serious 'bout fallout. personal we saw fallout as overt camp, but Gromnir pov is so not how the game were viewed at nma.

end result is same, but much sounds different. for example, we got a serious tax advantage for capital gains in the US, but it don't cover real property save for your personal residence and even then there is a limit. US capital gains is nevertheless a factor, but only in a tangential way and is likely not a root cause o' our current rental crisis. is also a mistake to generalize as a US issue given each state and city is gonna have laws, rules and ordinances which change the equation more than a little. most other western nations tends towards a bit more uniformity regarding such stuff as taxes. for example, prop 13 has a significant impact on your personal suffering as a california resident, 'cause compared to most states, property taxes is low, and is lower for people who has owned their property a long time. might come as a shock, but regular people tend to move every decade or so on average... 8 years is the number am recollecting. is more motivation for would-be robber barons to hold onto their income generating property than is for the case o' real people who likely need move at some point for jobs and the like. 'course as hurl is no doubt painful aware, the bay area is not the same as the rest o' the country or even much o' california. rental problems have been an issue for decades in the bay area and is magnified and different compared to parma, ohio or hillsborough, tennessee. however, regardless o' the state or city, depreciation and maintenance cost deductions as well as the ability to carry tax losses forward to subsequent tax years means that owners o' rental properties rare lose in the long run. am s'posing being the owner o' rental property is a bit like being the house in vegas. the biggest single cause o' our current US rental crisis were a result o' the great recession which predictable saw more property end up in fewer hands. covid made the issue worse and if we enter a full blown recession next year, then chances are the property ownership number is gonna shift even more in favor o' the haves and the have-nots will find it more difficult to rent... or buy for that matter. is no ez fixes though 'cause if you are a landlord and your costs sudden increase, then chances are you end up passing on the pain to your tenants, no? would be swell to blame IT ( "it" being whatever you believe the root cause to be) on the fat cats and wall street folks, but the problem is the people most likely immediate f'd by any meaningful solution is the poor and young. HA! Good Fun!

medicare covers all americans over the age o' 65 (and younger people with disabilities and... other.) medicare recipients get freebie shingles, influenza, pneumococcal and hepatitis b (maybe, am not certain on the hep) vaccines. if you are over 65 and keep your own health insurance, then chances are shingles is gonna be a part d thing. 'course the cdc recommends the shingles vaccine for everybody over 50, so... HA! Good Fun! ps added a link for part d which most folks is unlikely to read, but is so many exceptions and provisos that a brief summary would end up being more misleading than clarifying. honest, we cannot understand the logic behind much o' medicare coverage, if there is any logic, and part d tends to be a particular arcane aspect o' the plan(s).

we lived through the late 80s and 90s, so we saw real life day traders o' the time. gonna be tough to shock or frighten us with cgi cocaine madness from a single bear. HA! Good Fun!

as somebody who dislikes anime with extreme few exceptions, am almost surprised to admit we has enjoyed a few anime tunes... and am purposeful excluding cowboy bebop's tank 'cause it is the example every anime hater offers for the exception to a rule. yeah, not many likes for us, but the infrequent anime earworm is nevertheless more common than a show worth watching. doesn't need be chipmunk fodder one more... and is from a gonzo show no less. not quite chipmunk if inching closer. btw, we will cut anybody who let's it be known we said something positive 'bout anime. HA! Good Fun!

y'know, we played a few hours o' bg3 and it is not a noteworthy terrible game, but it was indeed forgettable. is not that bg3 played terrible or looked terrible or sounded terrible. were not even so bad it were memorable, but we had/have no desire to play more. recognizing our limited play, we found the characters not at all interesting and the combat kinda dull, but it weren't more terrible than character generation, tutorial and early game content for a bunch o' other d&d games. nwn2 didn't exact have the best intro content either, but we weren't so utter indifferent after after a similar time investment. is just weird, 'cause we can't say what we saw o' bg3 were particularly bad... well, maybe the quasi-dhampir companion, or whatever he is s'posed to be, were kinda middling horrible, but even Gromnir almost forgot his name as we were writing this post. forgettable kinda nails our feelings and our motivation for giving the game another chance once it is released is = 0. even so, am having difficulty explaining why bg3 were so... meh. finished colphyr and picked up our inevitable darkness reward. no rift appeared after we dispatched the scorcher o' souls, but there were a spot on his tiny island we could interact with to uncover bones which were the container for the loot. guess that means we will star act v. rl will make our progress a bit slow, but am gonna try and finish before the new year. HA! Good Fun!

a multitude o' sports games also have role-play elements. am gonna suggest you are being a smidge disingenuous. which is exact why we had (bad) multi-player tacked onto near every crpg after the original diablo were released. again, am not seeing a mmorpg solution in your considerable response. sure, is possible to add what is effective a new game or mini-game onto a crpg to give it life beyond the level cap. mindless and repetitive farming o' mobs so the player could afford a personal house they may decorate in drezen is exact the kinda thing we would expect to see in a mmorpg. *groan* apologies, but am having difficulty imagining a mmorpg which eschews the loot grind after hitting max level, and such is exact the kinda thing a game such as wotr or poe cannot indulge for reasons already stated... 'cause y'know, balance. is not practical or realistic to create a new and alternative ending for completionists where after sooper grinding they join a raid to face the real boss. and am pretty sure many mmorpg players feel stuck in progression once they exhaust the grinds, which is no different than the level grind in a single-player crpg... save that it is even more mind-numbing and repetitively grindy. example: am knowing more than a few obsidian board posters who only play swtor when there is a new story expansion release. so thanks, but no thanks on the mmorpg schemes for fixing the level cap issue. pour gasoline on a fire why don't you? see, this is exact what drove the obsidian developer nuts. some vague and ill-formed, but very real, sense o' nostalgia were the ultimate obstacle to pillars success. were no way to overcome warm fuzzies which even fans couldn't express in a meaningful way. punishing your bg2 paladin if it weren't built as a two-handed weapon haver made the holy avenger and the game more memorable... 'cause. obsidian tried to be reasonable and rational-- first mistake. this is not a major issue for a well known sequel. whatever name recognition obsidian enjoyed for pillars were unlikely to spillover to the sequel. those folks unaware o' pillars but recognizing the obsidian name contributed to deadfire in any event? how many such backers? deadfire were not a new and unknown ip meant to appeal to people who liked the ie games. deadfire were purposeful sold to fans o' pillars. is kinda similar for owlcat and wotr as the russian developer is hardly an unknown quantity, for better or worse, following kingmaker. you are also preaching to the choir regarding numbers o' purchasers contributing to crowdfunding as we has made this exact point many times. the deadfire numbers is highly misleading but last we looked, in 2017, if you added all non investor contributions (buy game were curious separated from buy all the add-ons in their totals), the backer contribution for deadfire were $2.1 million, which were ever so slight ahead o' wotr kickstarter. the problem which shoulda' been obvious to obsidian were the number o' backers were far less than pillars and less than wotr. obsidian had developed a hardcore fanbase for pillars but that fanbase were smaller than those number o' persons initial interested in pillars. major warning sign which went unheeded. but again, smaller numbers o' deadfire backers were willing to spend considerable money to get the game made. less people, but more enthusiastic. what an incredible resource wasted 'cause obsidian were chasing fantasies o' d:os2. as to writing efforts, am not gonna try and convince you that somehow our opinions regarding bg2 writing efforts is more astute than yours, 'cause they ain't. for most players, irenicus were the cliché wizard gone mad with power and the fans were more than ok with such. we don't get the appeal o' the wotr romances either, so... HA! Good Fun! ps the silly buy a house and decorate it, while not our notion o' meaningful gameplay post level-cap, is the kinda harmless addition we actual do see as useful for dealing with the considerable money glut which is as much a result o' completionist gameplay as is early hitting o' the level cap. make better gear available via stores only makes balance problems worse, but the trivial aesthetic options, with a big in-game price tag, could makes players feel as if there is something to do with all their useless loot. quality o' life or token aesthetic improvements is exact the kinda thing which could alleviate the excess money issue.

gets credit as being lgbt but those elements is implied more than overt so could disappoint a few viewers who were expecting paradigm shifts from an admitted lesser known 80s bowie flick. we don't wanna ruin the experience by saying too much. am gonna highly recommend not reading wiki or on-line synopsis before viewing. to this day we do much approve o' the score and is why we share. regardless, we were reflecting on movies we consider important but relative unknown and this were among the first to come to mind. ... nevertheless, at the risk o' tainting the well, we will observe we enjoyed merry christmas mr. lawrence a bit more when we were younger. such reevaluation doesn't make the film less worthy o' consideration. HA! Good Fun! ps am gonna admit the initial reason we thought o' mr. lawrence is 'cause we saw one o' those a bit too early best christmas movies polls and 'course being Gromnir, our first thought were the lion in winter. others making the cut is edward scissorhands, stalag 17, kiss kiss bang bang, the hudsucker proxy, rocky, gawain and the green knight and the animated 1966(?) how the grinch stole christmas tv special.

am not seeing the mmorpg solutions. those games just keep adding new content and the only real goal o' mmorpgs is the levels and gear. for mmorpgs, there is no end, at least not if the business model is working correct. with the exception o' a very few mmorpgs, the quests and story is just an excuse to power-up-- decided not story-driven. those games also have quests/encounters which is designed to be failed by many, at least initially, and time and again developers o' single player rpgs says failure is not a viable design option. put an intentional unbeatable quest/opponent in a game and developers keep telling us that gamers are all too stoopid to take the hint-- gaider, sawyer and others has had surprising similar input on this aspect. ... you do realize that single player crpgs have a difficulty slider, yes, so... am trying to follow your train o' thought here re mmorpgs and am missing something(s). as to the following: many people agree. the thing is, many people disagree with you. is why the crowdfunding for poe2 were far better than we saw for kingmaker or even wotr. the fans o' pillars liked pillars a great deal, but pillars also clear annoyed many initial purchasers o' the title from obsidian. pillars were indeed sold to fans o' the ie games and many o' those folks were expecting bg3, or rather their idealized bg3. obsidian admitted (and intentional) did not deliver a bg3. all o' which is a curious bit o' aside 'cause you ain't actual suggesting that the reason pillars failed is 'cause o' crafting and their level cap issues? poe2 also didn't fail with fans o' pillars. the problem was, 'ccording to the poe2 post mortem from josh sawyer, obsidian spent considerable more money on poe2 than poe assuming they would succeed in the same way as the sequel which were d:os2. misguided. the poe2 developers made clear early in development that as much as pillars had diverged from ie game trappings, poe2 were gonna go even further in distancing the ip from bg2 and d&d legacy games. inexplicable, the obsidian brain trust didn't realize they were forceable shrinking their potential fanbase. were bg2 writing better than pillars? if bg2 worked for you, then it were indeed better. am a fan o' much o' bg2 writing... and not so much a fan o' other parts. bg2 is a big enough game we were able to overlook story and quest shortcomings. irenicus, btw, were a shortcoming, but he shouldn't have been so. is a whole lotta parallels with macbeth in bg2 which worked, but the writers (and voice actor) fumbled at the end which is why so few fans saw him as he were intended and instead just wallow in the ham. regardless, am gonna suggest there is a whole lotta rose-colored recollection regarding bg2 from folks which made pillars an instant fail. if you followed the pillars development, it were mind-boggling how the most polarizing threads on these boards were the result o' obsidian suggesting they were gonna do ________ different than bg2. fans o' bg2 couldn't necessarily articulate why they needed __________ to be in pillars other than the fact it were in bg2, but am thinking obsidian failed to recognize just how invested were 50% or more o' the fan base in having pillars be bg3. obsidian were trying to make a game which fixed many o' things which were busted in the ie games while keeping what the developers saw as the essential qualities making ie titles memorable. the developers missed. they failed to realize that what obsidian saw as busted mechanics and the trappings o' d&d pnp nonsense ported unnecessarily into a crpg were no less important to players than were minsc & boo or the dragon fights. aside, 'cause this is always missed, the one ie game curious absent from the pillars sales pitch from obsidian were... Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG's that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back… and that’s why we’re here - we need your help to make it a reality! Project Eternity will take the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment. no mention o' bg2, eh? in spite o' bg2 being the most popular ie game, obsidian specific avoided mentioning. why? obsidian were going for "nostalgia" and "homage" o' bg, iwd and ps:t. obsidian were not trying to replicate or recreate the ie games and they most assured weren't trying to make bg3, which is precise why they left bg2 out o' their sales pitch. bg2 were not the first title in a new ip. bg2 developers enjoyed being able to follow multiple ie game releases which succeeded and failed in various ways and bioware had a chance to correct, refine and add to their game. perhaps you has heard from reviewers or board pundits the bit 'bout how obsidian failed to deliver the "spiritual successor" to bg2 and the ie games they promised? doesn't matter "spiritual successor" o' bg2 (or any o' the ie games) is not what they promised but such don't change what fans wanted. am also having no idea what your +6 spear tangent is 'bout. am thinking you don't know what the issue were, so channeling here is leading to confusion o' those o' us who does know what were the complaint. honest. HA! Good Fun!