Gromnir

ours were making an extreme high-pitched noise last night, just at the sorta top end o' what we could audible hear. it were quite distracting and it went on for more then an hour. 'course, like so many problems in life, we made pretend that it weren't a real problem and hoped it would go away. this morning the fridge were making no noise, or our hearing has gotten worse... which at our age is actual possible. am gonna continue to pretend that there isn't an actual problem until rotting food juice starts puddling on the floor, or until we grow-up a bit. is not hard to guess which is more likely. is strange 'cause if we had a tenant with the same issue, we would be mighty displeased if they didn't bother to inform the property manager until the problem were critical. nevertheless, we is doing the same darn thing... and is not like we can't afford to have a repairman check it out. we live kinda remote, and we know the repair guys charge us the cost o' a smallish flat-screen tv just to drive out to our place. so, we is gonna be irresponsible and wait... and get mad-as-hell the next time one o' our tenants does the same. life ain't fair. HA! Good Fun!

am actual a bit conflicted. is our desire to make no use o' the adventurer's hall to create additional joinable npcs. we would prefer to play through the game with a single player character and 5 joinable npcs so that we might maximize our exploration o' dialogues and interactions with those companions obsidian has worked so hard to create. however, am 'sposing that we is relieved that the adventurer's hall exists. we look at the companions, and with the pc we intend to play, we realize that we could very easily be short o' what we deem as necessary skills. should we go ahead and make one extra joinable npc, one that we is certain can be stealthy and capable at overcoming mechanics challenges? should we simple play the game and use available companions regardless o' whether our party balance is what we would normally be comfortable? we don't want to use the adventurer's hall, but... *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

complete aside, but it has always bothered us how people change the names and pronunciations of foreign locales. oh, sure, we get that there is historical reasons that go back centuries, but is not all that hard to change names on maps... happens all the time anyways given wars and similar such stuff. and yes, am getting that in some languages, it is simple not possible/practical to pronounce a particular foreign word. fine, but try and pronounce as close as possible rather than coming up with a complete different word. end o' complete side-issue rant. HA! Good Fun!

for chrissakes, you are the one who used other nations as a comparison, not Gromnir. you came up with a flat value (HA!) for sanctions based on your math and then compared the value o' sanctions alone, to the depreciation other nations had suffered. now, when you realize how ridiculous you were, you complain? again, you are trying to compare to other nations with no sanctions and complete dissimilar oil issues. you is trying to compare your value o' sanctions alone to all other factors those nations faced. sure, the max is 100, but so what? currencies have become absolute worthless in the past, and it will happen again. so, instead o' your original estimates about the near totality o' the depreciation o' the ruble (which ain't near the totality o' the russian economic crisis, btw) being attributable to drop in crude oil, you at least is realizing that extreme conservative russian estimates suggest that between 25% and 40% o' the devaluation were the result o' sanctions. so, what woulda' been your estimate on depreciation without oil drop? the ruble were already falling before oil and before sanctions. is not 25%-40% sanctions and 60%-75% oil for a grand total. again, your math is proving the opposite o' what you hoped, 'cause is showing how much impact Non-oil factors were having. so how much % you wanna give to recession and war and growing foreign workforce? *chuckle* oh, and the bloomberg graph You linked were for the same period and proved the exact opposite o' what you hoped it would, just as your bad math now proves exact opposite o' what you hoped. leaving out context o' kurdin's quote? same as a misquote. *shrug* your hypocrisy knows no limits. not to mention how obtuse you is being. HA! Good Fun!

I'd agree with you there. Anti-semitism quite clearly exists in the US, it just tends to take a backseat to many of the other popular forms of intolerance and hatred at this time. and yet, that is far different than the earlier claim by longknife: "The days of racism against Jews in Germany are absolutely dead. Sure, of course you could find a loon if you wanted to, but the percent of the population that would support such opinions is so tiny it's not worth mentioning." the populations that would support is worth mentioning. numerous news outlets mentioned. the government created "a new government commission on anti-Semitism" 'cause it were mentioned and were worthy o' mention... even though they screwed that up in a major way. there is continuing anti-semitism in the US and europe and germany specific. pretend that isn't the case is denial of the worst sort. and blame on muslims alone is as ignorant and myopic as Americans believing that here in the US, intolerance o' jews is limited to nazis and white supremacists. pretend that the days of racism against jews in Germany is dead is wrong on so many levels and for so many reasons.

am suspecting it is gonna require months o' post release feedback and developer effort before the game is polished. am also certain that many issues will never be resolved to the satisfaction of everybody. HA! Good Fun!

am thinking you are a bit optimistic. we have access to a small portion o' the game. we don't know as much as some folks believe we know. at release, there will be many quest and dialogue bugs. many. period. at release there will be more than a few mechanical bugs. those o' us who played the beta saw a fraction o' the total critters in the game. fix player-side mechanics issues does not address all enemy mechanic problems. more than a few technical issues will be location specific. we have explored very few locations in the game. most testing by players has been ' characters between levels 5-8. there will be more than a few level specific oddities related to mechanics. there will be talents and spells and weapons that only is broken when used together, and we has had fewer opportunities to test all such combinations as we soon will. am thinking it is a mistake to believe that based on dedicated feedback, poe will be "highly polished" on release. that would be a nice result, but it would be a nice surprise. HA! Good Fun! ps we is saying such not to be a jerk. quite the opposite. Gromnir is anticipating the game with high hopes. however, if folks genuine approach march 26 with expectations that poe will be highly polished, we cannot help but believe that many folks will be unreasonably disappointed. we do not see justified cause for a belief that poe will be particularly polished. am not even certain the poe will be more polished than past obsidian releases. therefore, we won't rage and howl when poe is released and it is predictably buggy.

obviously Gromnir is a proponent o' free speech "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the process of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." J. Brandeis from, Whitney v. California, 274 US 357 seems axiomatic to us, but such thinking don't get embraced elsewhere to the same degree. as we has said elsewhere, the speech that is needing protection is the speech that offends. let folks spew a little angry rhetoric. the alternative is angry splinter groups feel that they is marginalized and unjustly denied basic rights, leading those increasingly angry groups to eventual find more unsavory outlets for their rage. let the nutters shout their silly nonsense so we might all laugh at them. unfortunately, if you prevent the nutters from speaking, then you provide common cause between groups o' angry dirt bags that would not naturally have aligned. turn a small problem into a big one. HA! Good Fun!

obvious answer: don't fight. you don't get xp for kills, so avoid as many combats as possible. is almost always non-combat solutions. HA! Good Fun!

Read the articles again and check the comment section. You'll find plenty of people in the comment section calling it absurd aswell, or saying the only anti-Semites in Germany are not the Germans themselves. The only people who'd voice such racism are Muslim immigrants; not saying that to try and throw those guys under the bus or something, it's just the honest truth. The only time I ever get news about anti-semitism or Nazis is when the Nazi political party visits a town to do a demonstration or whatever and it ends the same every time: they bring 30 people, they get faced with a counter-protest of 30,000 or something ridiculous. My experience here differs so drastically from those articles that yes, I would be so bold as to question the legitimacy of their claims. we got no difficulty recognizing germans might be imagining and hoping that no anti-jewish behavior exists in their country. as hurl points out, there is an extreme small number o' jews in germany, so is even easier for germans today to pretend that jewish persecution isn't happening than were the case in the 1930s and 1940s. we has had similar experiences to true neutral, but it were admitted over a decade ago. am not sure if most germans honestly don't notice such stuff going on in their own population, or they has some kinda reflex need to deny. also, we found a reuters article that seems to support the fox article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/10/us-germany-jews-idUSKBN0LE1ZE20150210 am suspecting that hurl is correct that there is little practical anti-jewish activity simply because they is no longer a viable target of opportunity for hate in germany. most german jews were slaughtered, and of the few remaining, many o' those left the country. is a rather disturbing way to end anti-jewish activity. on the quasi-positive side, we don't believe anti-jewish sub-culture and incidents is as bad in germany as elsewhere in europe... for whatever that is worth.

we find white folks to be fascinating creatures. their diversity makes generalizations and labels of extreme limited efficacy. while their pasty complexions is frequent less than becoming, we will observe many is quite handsome. the female o' the species gives birth to live young and gestation lasts approximately 9 months. white children are almost completely helpless for the first few years of their life. the species is mildly dimorphic; white males tend to be larger and more hirsute than the females. HA! Good Fun!

the author o' the nytimes article is german. he might just have some kinda motive for blaming a fringe element. it is a historic german tactic after all. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/22/german-panel-on-anti-semitism-ripped-for-not-including-jews/ yes, fox news is teh evil. we general ignore anything from fox, but keep in mind the accusations 'gainst fox is that they is comical conservatives and hawks, yes? am not sure how much stock we put in the story, but if true it does reveal a continuing misunderstanding within germany regarding marginalization o' jews, even after all these decades. HA! Good Fun!

"The days of racism against Jews in Germany are absolutely dead. Sure, of course you could find a loon if you wanted to, but the percent of the population that would support such opinions is so tiny it's not worth mentioning." http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/opinion/jochen-bittner-whats-behind-germanys-new-anti-semitism.html http://www.wsj.com/articles/anti-semitism-debate-roils-german-left-1416434267 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/04/antisemitism-germany_n_6794928.html is dated 2014 and 2015. racism is not only loading folks into cattle cars and then slaughtering 'em by the millions. yes, the worst thing the nazis did were their mass murders o' jews, gays, gypsies, etc. even so, their enduring legacy might be that the scale and overt nature o' their atrocities makes us instantly think o' nazis when we hear o' "racists." is easy to ignore comparatively trivial racism... and just about everything is gonna be trivial in comparison. edit: also note that is not only muslim germans accused o' being responsible in the rise o' anti-jewish hate.

am not sure who you is arguing with/against. lord knows Gromnir never suggested that the release date ranger will be exact the same as the numerous previous ranger incarnations we has seen. ultimately, we don't care if it took obsidian one try or a thousand, but we woulda' liked to see a ranger from the released product that were making us curious and desirous to play it. will the release date ranger be something that intrigues and beguiles? possibly, but all evidence points to the contrary. we expect that in the coming months, obsidian will manage to make the ranger... palatable. we already stated our expectations earlier, so this should be unnecessary repetition. "the problems with the ranger are rather large. if the obsidian developers find good balance for the ranger, we expect it to come a few months from now rather than by march 26. that is ok with us. have one class that is bad for a couple months is far better than the old ie games with multiple craptacular classes that needed dual or multi-classing to make playable. a couple months to get the 11th class genuine playable? we can wait." we never had any doubt changes would be made, but as a consumer, we ain't hoping for just effort. we already paid for this game, and as with a custom home, we would not be surprised if some minor details need fixing after we take possession. a horrible class? that is kinda major. we would like for obsidian to fix the problem and we is willing to wait a bit before getting truculent 'bout the issue. not a long bit. HA! Good Fun!

... That would prove nothing except how significant the oil price drop was on Russia's currency, it proves exact the opposite. other nations, Not wholly dependent on oil, suffered 12-15% devaluations. well, then, using your math, you could effectively double the devaluation those other nations suffered. takes such currencies from being relative success to the kinda numbers suffered by the bottom 10... not including russia and the ukraine o'course. yes, we know you inexplicably were trying to convince folks that devaluation o' the ruble were the fault o' oil, but other non-backwards arsed nations also suffered devaluations. russia, in the midst o' a conflict in the ukraine and facing recession Before sanctions and oil drop woulda' been overjoyed to see a year end currency devalue o' at least 15%. so you needs ADD sanctions impact to those other nations and Then compare. sheesh. you don't even realize that you are hurting your own argument by pointing out the devaluation other Non-petroleum exporters who Weren't suffering from sanctions suffered significant devaluations? ADD another 12.5-15%. "srsly guys, get a room." it is ridiculous. typically zor simple outlasts us with nonsense. *sigh* HA! Good Fun!

am hating to admit it, but 2015 free agency has provided more than a couple odd/intriguing stories. HA! Good Fun!

in bg, a fighter could get to level 7. that is a thac0 improvement o' +6 for the entire +80 hour game. an 18/91 str, which were kinda a target for most obsessive rollers. gave a +2 to thac0. +2 is damned signifficant, particularly if bg had been like tabletop where magic were rare... but it wasn't. between gaunlets o' weapon expertise and inevitable +2 weapon acquisition, and cost-nothing potions o' heroism... *shrug* magic stuff made the stat bonuses far less important than they coulda' been. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/70906-about-rolling-stats-like-the-old-ie-games/?p=1581587 am clearly not arguing against bg magic loot impact. however, a +2 change to thac0 and a +5 to damage were still significant as you could only reach level 7. HA! Good Fun! edit: most o' our post got destroyed by gremlins. weird.

"It's less than 9/10 of the top traded countries had, without sanctions." ... you can't be this obtuse. you is comparing sanctions ALONE, to the devaluation suffered by other nations. to make a valid comparison, you need add the impact o' sanctions to all those other nations-- add the lowball "Putin's estimate (of) 12.5-15% devaluation" to all the other nations and ask if impact were severe or significant or painful. is not as if russia woulda' been better off than your other non-specific examples o' other nations. even before sanctions and oil drop the ruble were falling. at best russia could hope for similar devaluation as those 9/10 countries... without sanctions and a backwards arse economy particular vulnerable to oil drop. you is forgetting your math- you forgot how to add. and just for fun instead of 9/10 nonsense: and again, has shown multiple times that you is the hypocrite with the context stripping. gonna get censored for spam if we keep posting same links and quotes. however, you simple pretending such posts don't exist or retreating to "yellow journalism" or whatever is yet another example that, " your inane response, "complete ignores actual problems o' the crisis, but nice try." your attempt to distract with irrelevancies after you make ridiculous assertions is amusing but predictable and tediously repetitive. we wish there were a way to add the chastisement you selective lifted from your quote o' Gromnir and add it to all responses to zor. sadly, the board software doesn't allow such." HA! Good Fun! ps the somali shilling actual did better than the dollar, but apparent ain't considered noteworty enough for the chart... and the amount it eclipsed dollar by were .14% or somesuch.

ranger can't get grandmastery... and why wouldn't you put all proficiency slots in bows for khalid? archery were overpowered, which led to nerfing by bis and bioware in iwd and bg2 respective, and khalid's stats, such as they were, lent themselves to ranged weapons. am believing you is correct that with level cap, khalid could only get 4 stars, which still gave him bonuses superior to minsc, but only by leveling. is likely the one situation where post level 1 decisions could overcome the advantages and importance o' initial attribute spreads + gear. HA! Good Fun!

the save bonus for wisdom was indeed included in the manual for every single ie game except iwd2, but it weren't actual in the game. however, you are correct that most o' the other attributes could significantly improve the paladin. int and wis could be dump stats, but you couldn't actually dump wisdom regardless o' the fact that it were complete useless to the bg paladin. HA! Good Fun!

khalid, with 5 stars in Longbows, were a better damage dealer than minsc... just saying. but he were not better than minsc at the beginning. you somehow stumbled into the one scenario in which leveling beyond first level could be significant. silly bg grandmastery gave +3 thac0, +5 damage and 5 attacks every 2 rounds... which is why bioware and black isle nerfed grandmastery. HA! Good Fun!

the one attribute that woulda/shoulda affected saves, at least in a limited way, were wisdom. "maj. def. adj." there were no actual maj. def. adj. in the ie games. no save bonus for con, wisdom, dex as with d&d 3e. and bg paladins got no divine grace saving throw bonus modified by charisma but rather a flat +2 on all saves. HA! Good Fun!

ironically, it doesn't. it is startling how many people that played the old ie games considered use of a character editor to be cheating, but multi-hour re-rolls to be part of the game, and fun as well. Di were an old ie fan that were around all the boards until five or six years ago. she were intelligent and liked bio romances (she were actual a professional romance novelist) and we liked Di very much. however, we never could understand her re-roll fascination. we pointed out that a character editor would get same results much faster. the observation/suggestion bothered her as she were certain we were being patronizing. we had same discussion many times over many years and it were hardly limited to Di and Gromnir. many/most o' the re-roll folks from the old boards would re-roll even if an editor were available. we don't understand it, but that were the reality. HA! Good Fun!

the kinda guy that uses a label maker device to make a label for his label maker... says "label maker"? HA! Good Fun!

agree complete. in the ie games, gear quickly supplanted attributes as the prime determining factor in deciding relative powha at identical levels. 'course the abundance o' optional side quests meant that leveling itself were extreme important and hardly a constant. HA! Good Fun!