Gromnir

march 31. *sigh* it may be silly, but am gonna put down a deposit on a tesla model 3. is not a car that is gonna wow folks, but for home-to-town driving, an electric car makes sense. oh sure, will likely be near two years before we get the delivered vehicle, and we still need our bmw 'cause o' the dogs... as ludicrous as that sounds. ... is what amounts to a 35k impulse buy. need to have our head examined. HA! Good Fun!

your personal conspiracy theory were unsupportable and uninteresting, which is why participants in the thread ignored your raison d'etre for creating the thread. gonna take your ball and play somewheres else? is one option, we s'pose. ... even so, we would expect more from a would-be general zod. HA! Good Fun!

am finding that swtor appeals to us most after we take an extended leave of absence. has 'been 'bout a month since we played... and am likely to wait a couple more months before resuming. am not part o' a raiding guild, so lengthy absence don't hurt us much. we did the black talon/esseles grind on a bunch o' characters so we got multiple maxed affection companions-- at least one per every craft and gather option. we got a couple old characters with 90-100 valor on both empire and pub side, so we got the pvp companions w/o having to do any additional pvp. *shrug* am gonna wait for a bit more new content... and then am gonna wait a bit more for stability to take hold after all the predictable bugginess is exterminated/lessened. am knowing shady ain't a fan o' poe, but Gromnir is just now finishing white march 1 & 2. we will likely play through poe one more time... which will take considerable time. we also finally purchased da:i in december 2015 for $19. got all the dlc as part o' the goty edition. am figuring that will take us a month or so to finish. we also bought an xbox console over the christmas holiday, and fo4 were included as part o' our bundle. am not too enthusiastic 'bout starting fo4, but it's sitting there in the shrinkwrap, staring at us. oh, and we genuine intended to try the wasteland 2 director's cut, but we didn't get too far into the game before distractions interveined. will likely give wl2 one more try. the newest incarnations o' shadowrun and xcom2 is also on our list o' games we intend to play, once they have time to fully mature and stabilize. ... heck, it could be july before we get back to swtor, and we wouldn't feel bad 'bout that. HA! Good Fun!

misapprehension. hurl does not realize that wot is the obsidian equivalent o' the phantom zone. HA! Good Fun!

am tending to believe that brim is disingenuous. HA! Good Fun!

am also gonna wait. the thing is, the game appears to be selling well-- am expecting an expansion. we wait more than six months and then an expansion is released... which means we likely wait another couple months for the expansion to become stable. *groan* am predicting that for Gromnir this is gonna end up being one o' those pre-christmas crazy eddie kinda deals from steam. HA! Good Fun!

bgee were still a bit buggy even six months after release. as Gromnir almost always (kickstarters and console bundles being the only exceptions) waits six months or more to purchase a new title, am doubtful that sod will get a shorter wait. even so, am almost certain that we will buy sod... eventually. what we saw in some teasers makes sod look more like an iwd expansion than a bg expansion. good. am honest having difficulty recalling the added narrative content from bgee. more o' the stuff mc like, killing things in tunnels, is what we hope for from the expansion, and from what we have seen, that is what is being offered. still, inevitability o' our purchase doesn't mean we gotta be stoopid 'bout it. wait. wait means we get cheaper and more stable. so why not wait? HA! Good Fun!

making faith a viable thematic option, by necessity, requires that atheism would be reasonable. atheism with manifest gods is just... stoopid. even so, guessing at how one developer's personal notions o' faith impacted the game is bass ackwards reasoning. is nothing specific in the game that would lead one to see an atheists' agenda... with one possible exception. again, compared to the typical crpg with manifest interloper deities, poe is far more conscientious o' questions o' faith. ... am disliking to give brim actual ammunition, 'cause he/she is typical so bass ackwards as to preclude rational discussion, however, while his/her stated concerns and arguments is flawed, we will note that the iconic martyr o' poe is an atheist. the traditional heroic figure o' the martyr tale is the person who suffers for their Religious faith. christian religions, in particular, venerate their martyrs... which should come as no surprise given christianity's most enduring religious symbol is the crucifix. that being said, western values, not just christian values, results in an almost reflexive veneration o' those who suffer for their beliefs... and not just religious beliefs. so the heroic martyr o' poe is an atheist. am not seeing some kinda perpetuation o' an atheist agenda, but while brim observations is ridiculous, we will note that it is significant that in a game wherein various questions o' faith (religious and otherwise) is so fundamental, the iconic heroic martyr were an atheist. regardless, unlike the vast majority o' crpgs in which Religious faith is non existent, or a tertiary concern at best, poe manages to make faith relevant. coulda' made the heroic martyr a believer in one o' the old gods? sure. would that have changed the poe narrative in a significant way? perhaps... depending on how the developers addressed. lack o' detritus from old faiths appeals to Gromnir, but we could see going a different direction. in any event, poe made religious faith relevant in a game with manifest deities. is an impressive and clever feat that can't be done w/o the possibility o' atheism. is axiomatic. HA! Good Fun!

It also specifically says that even those gods very false......... Why would I remove faith as a thematic option, if an actual deity were offered in the game? Faith is the basis of all religions of the world specially the 3 dominant Abrahamic religeons .... you aren't making any sense. honest. the existence o' manifest gods precludes the need for faith, so the developers transformed the current poe gods into human constructs. multiple gods and faiths existed before the created gods were constructed. those religions, like real world religions, were dependant 'pon faith. once the secret o' the gods is revealed, will people lose faith in the constructs? we would guess that some folks will have their belief system tested. so what happens in game 2? will folks search for and create new avenues for their faith? we expect so. is an interesting and unique situation for a crpg. regardless, you have misapprehensions 'bout poe that we doubt is genuine. HA! Good Fun!

people are way too concerned 'bout poe attribute scores. while attribute scores have value, they are less determinative o' success than in a majority o' crpgs. with the exception o' barbarians who is so integral linked to carnage, we can find success and enjoyment in a wide range o' attribute distributions for characters o' any class. that being said, the poe joinable npcs actual had their attributes changed en masse once already. late in the beta, the perception accuracy bonuses (which were 'bout twice as significant as they current is) were removed. somebody didn't get the memo 'cause the poe joinables typical were more perception focused than they is in their current state. kinda quixotic, no? now we got folks wanting the joinables changed again? am not particular caring as a couple attribute point +/- ain't near as important as folks seem to believe. that being said, there is precedent for a change. would be kinda amusing to see obsidian return the companions to their original attribute spreads. HA! Good Fun!

the game specific notes that people believed in gods before the fake gods were created. nothing 'bout created gods sudden invalidated the potential for a higher power even if a particular dead culture were convinced that no genuine gods actual existed. and again, an "actual deity" is antithetical to questions o' faith. if an actual deity were offered in poe, you would once again remove faith as a thematic option. are you missing the point? HA! Good Fun!

am gonna disagree with you... again. poe handling o' gods is quite clever. is few thematic questions as powerful as faith, o' which religious faith is one aspect. manifest gods who grant boons and chastise the unworthy is destroying potential themes related to religious faith. don't need faith to believe in a god that provides tangible rewards and harsh punishments, eh? that being said, poe does not destroy the gods. the known gods is human constructs, but that doesn't preclude the existence o' genuine gods. poe adopts a clever way to reintroduce questions o' faith into a game that has traditional crpg spell granting gods. *shrug* you got it complete reversed. poe approach, unlike the majority o' crpgs with manifest gods, makes faith relevant. HA! Good Fun! ps we do think brim has... issues.

so, your first play o' poe (or at least raedric's keep) were trials of iron? that is a question. am making an assumption, but one would guess that if you had played poe before, you would know the actual way in which the password functioned. is more than a few cases in poe wherein the seeming easier path is not so easy. warning: seeming secret tunnels or side entrances may be filled with mobs o' undead and traps... and successful diplomacy choices may get you attacked. in any event, we applaud your chutzpah if not your common sense. trials o' iron on first run o' content you don't know? while the way in which your trial o' iron run ended were not the least bit surprising to us, we cannot help but appreciate your verve. HA! Good Fun!

Haha, see, this is why I can't take you all that seriously. You're against the Codex for being a den of "racist *ssholes" when your entire schtick is based around being kind of an *sshole here. You just like hanging around in a place where you can dish it out but don't have to take it. Lazy. Great, but but that doesn't really change my point, does it? Josh talks about one kind of narrative but not the kind I wanted to know more about, so I interviewed Eric. I fail to see the problem here. your persecution complex is getting the better o' you. there were nothing in our comments that suggested a slight towards codex. you wanna discuss codexian failings too? fine. all you need do is indulge in those things you Claim we has been offended 'bout. and is that a Gromnir ' quote? link please. put stuff in quotes if we didn't say it? more bad form... though am not the least surprised at this point. and yeah, josh has spoken 'bout narrative, on multiple occasions. you not understand what is narrative? you have different specific narrative questions 'bout narrative? eric were also hesitant to answer your questions: "I hesitate to talk a whole lot in very specific terms about themes and deeper meaning because people will start to use it as definitive evidence of this or that, and it deadens discussion." perhaps josh were taciturn for same or complete different reasons? dunno. if you want josh to specific answer such questions, ask josh. as noted already, josh has shown willingness to answer narrative questions in the past. Did you expect a gaming magazine-level civilized interview here? This is the Codex, and therefore the interview was designed to attempt to answer the most common questions on that forum without appearing biased. And believe me when I say that the interviewer (Infinitron) is one of the most outspoken Obsidian supporters over there. is not 'bout "civilized." is 'bout stoopid. the goal is to get eric to provide more insights, not less, yes? "I'm not sure what the question is referring to regarding Adam and Josh." "I don't know about "my side of the story." " etc. if the goal is to be different than providing more or new, then congrats. we assumed the interview were aimed at getting eric to share more info rather than to offer interrogatories 'bout co-worker and former co-worker contributions. jesus, you can get the information the interviewer were aiming at w/o resorting to rusty chainsaw levels o' subtlety. am moderate surprised that the interviewer didn't specific ask eric to throw adam josh and chris under the bus. oh, wait, he kinda did. stoopid. HA! Good Fun!

Josh has remarked on broad strokes setting-related queries (not the same thing as "narrative"). I've read all of his Something Awful posts and he's had little to remark on the game's story, despite the story being heavily discussed there. It's very noticeable how he only chimes up when mechanics or setting stuff comes up. And no, it's not just about pointing fingers about Chris Avellone. Keep your assumptions about the Codex in check, please. we mentioned the failure o' the interviewer on multiple fronts. we did not attribute such failures to a website-- that would be ridiculous. lord knows we do not look at every failed vol or luckman post as a critique 'pon the obsidian message boards. oh, and attempting to divorce setting from narrative is idiotic. the setting is integral to the poe narrative. duh. keep your assumptions in check. HA! Good Fun!

My favorite Ridley Scott film. It really needed the longer Director's Cut treatment in order for the story to breath and the production design to shine. what impressed us most 'bout kingdom is how much we liked it in spite o' a mediocre performance from orlando bloom. HA! Good Fun!

not our favorite actor, but we like damon well enough. in our opinion, he were the best actor in the departed, which is saying quite a bit. am slight annoyed that he took credit for writing good will hunting. am understanding that the affleck and damon script for hunting had gun battles and multiple car chases. HA! Good Fun!

am gonna need save the link to this post. do you know how many times Gromnir has observed that player needs must be considered in light o' the fact that game development is zero sum? people rare consider what they needs must surrender to get their needs fulfilled? HA! Good Fun!

am glad eric is more patient than Gromnir. typical questions from the interview is loaded or skewed or misleading, and how many questions ask eric to comment on josh, adam or chrisA comments? after the third such question, we would sent the list o' interrogatories back to the "interviewer." "Josh Sawyer has been the public face of Pillars of Eternity, on Internet forums, social media and in interviews. As such, in-depth public discussion has tended to focus on the game's system design and its setting - the things Josh was responsible for." terrible starting point. during development josh and other developers obvious weren't gonna answer specific story questions, and when they did, it typical caused more problems. limited attempts by developers pre-release to explain animancy in the poe world were comical bad, regardless if josh or other developers offered incites. after game release, most questions directed at josh has been mechanical, but he has also answered more than a few o' the broad stroke narrative queries. folks at sa ask josh what were durance and grieving mother s'posed to be and why were chrisA run outta town rather than letting him do gm and durance as intended? gosh. am wondering why questions like that didn't get answered, eh? on a side note, am wishing that developers would have the following epiphany much earlier: "The bigger thing we did to help develop an emotional core to the story, which I felt was more successful, was in working the themes into the designs of the companion arcs and quests. The degree of success varied from character to character, but when I did a full play-through of the game late in development, I found myself enjoying the game's story most when I was seeing the deeper layers of these characters exposed, and their worldviews challenged. Sagani's finale might be my favorite - I found that scene to be very moving." the protagonist o' a crpg is a terrible focus for a story. the more control you give the player over his own character, the more difficult you make it to tell the crpg protagonist story. try and write a compelling and evocative story in which the main character is male or female and race is unfixed. the protagonist o' the hypothetical story can be good or bad or serious or snarky and he/she has the capacity to change aspects o' character in different parts o' the story? who the heck is Gromnir writing 'bout? the protagonist is too vague to be the foundation o' a decent crpg story. the joinable companions should be the focus o' developing the story o' a crpg. the companions can grow, and player choices can change the ways in which they grow, but the motivations and personality o' the joinables is not so dynamic as to hinder quality writing. the essential qualities o' the companions (and major npcs such as the game's Ultimate Bad Guy) is known qualities that a writer can use as a foundation for story development. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/76919-least-liked-companions/?p=1705421 eventual the developers o' crpgs is gonna realize that the protagonist is ill-suited to driving crpg story. am also gonna note that we often disagree with what the interviewer considers "recurring criticisms" and "well-regarded" content o' poe. again, am pleased that eric were more patient than Gromnir. HA! Good Fun!

if you are lucky enough to get mebec's morningstar, you can have your hearth orlan priest o' eothas cast dire blessing 'fore battles lay down some serious pain. is any number o' builds that would benefit from a 2-h weapon that stuns on crits and gets 3 dr bypass... on top o' wilder slaying. but again, is requiring luck as it is an azzuro item... and given the increased number o' new potential stronghold encounters, the likelihood o' an azzuro encounter post wm2 has decreased. HA! Good Fun!

ack. how could we forget geena davis and jeff goldblum's the fly? is kinda the perfect title for remake. 1958 special effects makes the original less than scary to modern audiences. while 1986 effects look dated today, they were a huge leap forward compared to the original. we would love to see a remake of outland. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082869/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_32 were set in space, but it were for all intents and purposes a late 70s western with all the brutality and ambiguous morality that went along with such films. nevertheless, given how bad the special effects is by modern standards, it is difficult for audiences to appreciate and am thinking that the western-sci fi fusion would do better in 2016 than it did in 1981. HA! Good Fun! ps outland were not exact a remake o' high noon, but it clear were inspired by the gary cooper film.

they are, and they already did. is an upcoming version, and there were a 1925 and 1959 version... all based on a late 1800s novel. stephen boyd's death scene is one o' our favorite movie scenes... evar. HA! Good Fun!

which is saying very little... and also ignores that it ain't a remake o' a film. honest, one wonders if a sign o' impending apocalypse is ten years w/o hollywood attempting to do yet another three musketeers. converse, it is surprising just how many times cyrano de bergerac has been done well. the jose ferrer, gérard depardieu and steve martin vehicles were all great... and even the recent animated quasi-remake (megamind) was funny. HA! Good Fun!

$130 for the collector's edition o' an expansion to a 16-year-old game? we do always chuckle when we see the cloth map included in these things. such stuff were once a staple... but why? HA! Good Fun!

the departed is an excellent entry. but airplane were a parody o' a genre o' films. is kinda like not another teen movie. airplane weren't a remake o' a particular film. HA! Good Fun!