Gromnir

zor is helping us, so we don't deserve all the credit. show us how norway, a nation similarly dependent on petroleum exports as russia, is Not suffering a cataclysmic collapse o' currency. why the difference? well, gosh, they is having a slight more diversified service based economy and they is not being hit with western sanctions and reason defying self-imposed food sanctions. maybe that might explain the difference? HA! Good Fun!

"At current rate of spending- your words, not mine; your fault, not mine- reserves will last far, far longer because the current burn rate is around 10 billion a month and they have 376 billion in reserves. I'd be perfectly happy with the general consensus of 18 months to 2 years, but you had to go all in on hyperbole- even when given the opportunity to clarify you doubled down, cutting it to the least optimistic six months." well, no, the 6 month prognostication is not Gromnir's words but am rather referencing those yellow journalists who quote harvard professors, as well as imf and world bank experts, silly rabbit. during a 4 month period last year, russia burned through just under $150 billion, so your $10 billion per month fantasy is... quaint. situation is currently worse now than in 2008 when russia burned $200 billion in five months. "laughable economic ignorance about the exchange rate's effects, utterly laughable. That it is apparently mirrored by 'experts' is no real excuse" yes, more o' the conspiracies and delusions and yellow journalism nonsense. is not tough math. best case scenario for russians is that food costs in general goes up "8-10%" because of sanctions (see above npr comments) and given that russians spend 30-35% of income on food... 60% increase for chicken? and again, "oh, and maybe you read a few Alexei Kudrin prognostications and comments? as a russian, he need obviously be careful with being too critical o' putin, but he blames 40% o' the devaluation o' the ruble on western sanctions. he also admits that russia is in crisis. http://www.ft.com/in...144feabdc0.html http://www.reuters.c...N0KX0F920150124 http://www.sptimes.ru/story/41515 "sad and surreal." *shrug* is genuine surreal. honest. am knowing you not wanna go back and read you posts, and Gromnir can only lead you to water so often, but this situation were predictable to many. you and others did the ostrich routine, but am not understanding how you can continue to do so in light o' the current situation. HA! Good Fun!

that is kinda our point. interrupt is gonna be emasculated by josh, so why make concentration even a greater obstacle for interrupt? HA! Good Fun!

am admitting that we kinda like most o' luckman suggestions for attributes. we don't believe might needs a boost to interrupt as it is already one o' the more useful attributes in 435. also, we would be hesitant to give +6 concentration for resolve AND +3% for a point o' constitution. based on josh posts, interrupt is already gonna be weakened in the final release and we see no reason to further add concentration opportunities which would/could diminish interrupt. even so, we kinda like luckman suggestions as it would, at first blush, make resolve and perception relevant while reducing the essential quality o' intelligence for most any caster... and a few other builds. our concerns with luckman suggestions is mostly quibbles. HA! Good Fun!

the anecdote about Justice Ginsberg at the home o' the chief justice o' the supreme court o' india were our favorite part. “As we entered his house, all the women were ushered into a separate room, and all the men” remained, Scalia recalled, chuckling. “Ruth did not for a minute head for that room. It was wonderful to watch.” am hopeful that video o' the entire lecture/conversation eventual becomes available. HA! Good Fun!

am assuming, as others have noted, that only priests choose a patron deity in poe, and the list from which priests choose is not encompassing the complete pantheon. aside: near the top o' our list o' things we would like added to future poe content, other than cassowary companions for rangers, is an expansion o' the deities priest characters can choose as their patron. HA! Good Fun!

reminds us o' early-to-mid 80s videos. sure, the production values were paltry back in the early days o' music video, but folks were less afraid that they might look silly. am in another one o' our blues moods and a surprising good cover. HA! Good Fun!

denial is Not refuting, and label any source you dislike as yellow journalism is... pathetic. obtuse, at the very least. last year Gromnir and others pointed out that what is currently happening to the russian economy, which is pretty dire according to pretty much any economist outside o' russia, and even a few in russia, could happen. you chose to delude self then. delude self about the current level o' seriousness too? okie dokie, but you ain't fooling anybody but those conspiracy nutters such as yourself. oh, and maybe you read a few Alexei Kudrin prognostications and comments? as a russian, he need obviously be careful with being too critical o' putin, but he blames 40% o' the devaluation o' the ruble on western sanctions. he also admits that russia is in crisis. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d8bf5266-89cb-11e4-9dbf-00144feabdc0.html http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/24/us-russia-crisis-davos-kudrin-idUSKBN0KX0F920150124 http://www.sptimes.ru/story/41515 sad and surreal. HA! Good Fun!

this topic has become surreal. last summer you got Gromnir and others saying that western sanctions imposed on russia for perceived predation in the ukraine would hurt. we noted at that time that the russian economy were already headed toward recession and that an economy such as russia's, one reliant in large part on oil exports, were not only fragile but particular vulnerable to sanctions. with all the debt russian business owed to western banks, sanctions would be particular painful in a time o' recession. Gromnir and others worry that given how fragile the russian economy is, the west will suffer if russia takes too great a hit from sanctions. bester, zor, drowsy and others respond: nope russia then self-imposes food sanctions, which Gromnir and others observe is kinda crazy. after all, the aforementioned western sanctions would already be hurting russia and russians import 40% o' their food. not only that, russians, on average, spend 30%-35% o' their income on food. we compared to a flat tax on essential goods here in the west, but observed that russia were taxing self w/o actual collecting money. to self-impose food sanctions on top o' western sanctions were bordering on ludicrous. we wonder if russia's economy can handle increased self-sanctions when they is already vulnerable to western sanctions. we worry that russian suffering will result in at least some western hardship. bester, zor, drowsy and other respond: west will be hurt more by food sanctions. move calendar forward forward 8-10 months. oil prices has indeed dropped, exposing russian over-reliance on oil. russia has already had to use a considerable percentage o' their reserves and in spite o' the fact that russians ridiculous raised interest rates, russians is not buying russian goods such as cars, the sales of which is down already 24% since december. oil prices is not expected to be anywhere near +$80 a barrel during the next 12 months. in 2008, russia blew through over $200 billion in reserves in five months, and situation were seeming less dire at that time. and again, the dropping oil price issue is something russia has had to face before, but they still haven't modernized and diversified their economy. this time they gotta deal with sanctions and unhlepful western banks and self-imposed sanctions. the terrible part o' the situation is that russian stupidity is gonna be felt in western economies. sure, wont be near as bad as russians have it, but there is more than a few major western companies doing business in russia. http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/10/03/how-russias-debt-and-currency-markets-could-spiral-into-crisis/ http://www.nasdaq.com/article/putins-year-of-defiance-and-miscalculation-20141217-01129 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fault-for-the-rubles-collapse-lies-with-mr-putin/2014/12/16/3f9a8a1a-8548-11e4-a702-fa31ff4ae98e_story.html?tid=gravity_1.0_strip_2 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/15/russias-economy-is-doomed-its-that-simple/ zor and others: everything is fine. nothing to see here. the problems in russia have nothing to do with western sanctions but is a momentary blip caused by drop in oil. yellow journalism. conspiracies. etc. surreal. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/the-scaliaginsburg-reality-show-a-not-100-percent-sober-friendship/2015/02/13/b8336930-b368-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html it might be a subscription article... http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/13/politics/ginsburg-scalia-parasailing-sotu-wine/index.html cnn is a bit... less. oh well. HA! Good Fun!

my aren't you obtuse. we keep saying that the russian economic crisis/collapse is terrible because it will indeed affect more than just russians. am wondering how many more posts you need read before that sinks in enough that you actual remember it. and we s'pose that any harvard, imf or world bank economist who is quoted in wsj or nyt or reuteurs is counting as yellow journalism. *chuckle* is funny and delusional, but knock yourself out with that. "Russia's $388 billion cash hoard fell by almost a quarter over 2014, although the free float of the rouble that saw it fall so spectacularly late last year has reduced the amounts drained in support of the currency. Strip out the money in the government's rainy day funds, gold and IMF drawing rights and the number is estimated by some to be well below $200 billion." that one is reuteurs, and they is the more optimistic folks. "According to data and research compiled by PISM, Russia’s decision to ban food imports from the EU in response to the sanctions will put a dent in the wallets of shoppers eyeing up a traditional roast pork supper. Moscow’s ban on EU pork imports will make a meat joint as much as 15 per cent more expensive, while another ban on Polish apple imports could push apple prices up by as much as 40 per cent as domestic stocks become scarce – a jump that could push headline inflation up as much as 0.8 per cent." "Russia imports about 40 percent of its food, so price increases hit hardest at the grocery store. "In addition, Russia banned most food imports from the United States and the European Union in retaliation for Western sanctions. That drove food prices even higher because it created shortages. "Some regions, such as Russia's Far East, are more dependent on imports, and prices for some items, such as chicken, shot up by as much as 60 percent when the ban was announced." is npr. and again, please note that russians backwards arse economy has individual russians spending more on food that westerners, so food sanctions is disproportionate hurting russians. and yeah, the predictable possibility o' a drop in oil made sanctions on food all the more o' a potential problem. duh. keep trying to separate oil from food and all the other russian blunders if you wish, but they is all interconnected... just as Gromnir and others were suggesting last june. http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2015/02/11/is-russias-economy-rebalancing-in-the-face-of-western-sanctions-not-really/ sadly, after food sanctions and because of the poverty o' the russian economy, the rate o' food production actual slowed in 2014 as 'posed to previous years. we can keep posting such, but is all yellow journalism, so what is the point, eh? russian stupidity created this crisis. the russian government were fully aware of its over-dependence on oil. Gromnir and others in this thread observed BEFORE the drop in oil prices that the current situation were possible given how fragile the russian economy and how dependent it is on oil exports... any measurable change in oil prices can be disastrous for the russians, and to compound that fragility with self-imposed food sanctions were bordering on insanity. check the dates on our linked post. well, sure enough, there were a drop in oil and sure enough the russian economy went into a free-fall and sure enough the price o' necessary foodstuffs increased and sure enough the russians made the problem worse by bolstering business friendly to putin and raising interest rates so that the crisis will last far beyond a resurrection o' oil prices. russia got a warning in 2008. they didn't heed the very clear and painful warning. is getting repetitive and silly reply/quote will again have you posting self into insensibility. and one more, 'cause you is too obtuse to notice the half dozen times it has been mentioned already, the impending russian fail is gonna hurt everybody. the only reason we care is 'cause russian fail will have far-reaching effects. go back and actual read the linked posts and the posts that follow. our fear were that given the fragile nature o' the russian economy, we were worried that sanctions would lead to a collapse o' the rsussian economy which would hurt... everybody. russians will be hurt more than polish and far more that US, but german auto makers and french (HA!) arms dealers and many other folks is gonna suffer. not as bad as russians is gonna hurt, but that is cold comfort. HA! Good Fun! ps we gotta add 'cause is so funny. when questioned about the seeming ineffectual russian response to the growing economic crisis, russian deputy prime minister, Igor Shuvalo, said that russians would eat less food and use less electricity. ... that's the plan.

And what would you call Ukrainian economic situation then? irrelevant? is a terrible reality that the dismal state of the ukranian economy has far fewer global ramifications than does the impending fail of russia. HA! Good Fun!

bruce jenner agrees. HA! Good Fun!

not the final version, he just submitted a new version that is richer and fuller sounding yesterday internally. needs some kettle drums to sound more like conan perhaps justin can add some kettle drums in expansion music. nothing says over-the-top, campy-grade, epic like kettle drums. makes falkon happy. heck, Gromnir wouldn't mind such, but we likely would giggle... not that we giggle. is more manly and epic to guffaw, yes? HA! Good Fun!

our criticism o' big heads is sawyer-specific. guy mentioned, more than once, that he didn't like joke stuff or pop culture references in serious crpgs. then he changed slight and said that he didn't like bad humor... whatever the heck that means. (example: frequent ps:t humor were ok, 'cause it were good.) big heads is good humor? *shrug* big heads is optional, but am thinking for sawyer to laud such stuff is peculiar. at least if poe big heads were silly/stoopid and original, but am given to understand that big heads is some kinda unlockable ha-ha feature that has been in other games, so is not even a particular creative obsidian addition to crpg humor. is all we gonna say on the subject. HA! Good Fun!

am admitting that the first time we saw font ligature, we attempted to wipe it off our screen-- thought it were lint or a bit o' dog hair or some such. then we thought it were a mistake. then we thought, "isn't that odd?" is quirky, but if it adds some kinda increase o' atmosphere for folks, then we is okie dokie with it. is far better than ubiquitous "ye olde" or thees and thous being added to dialogue to make seem more... crusty? font thingie doesn't hurt our game experience and we doubt it took any real effort to add it to poe. HA! Good Fun!

xp itself is indeed pointless, and it has never been a way to "keep score" from our perspective. what an odd notion. in any event, developers realize that single-player role-play games don't have the social or story-building aspects that does pnp rpgs, but they still got leveling. players like to have their characters become... better. xp is a simple way for players to see how long they got til they level and have the next opportunity to improve their character and/or party. along with improving equipment, leveling is a key motivation for many players. there is also story, but unlike a pnp rpg wherein the story-building is collaborative, the player is only a witness to the developers crpg story, though the illusion o' player power is important even so. regardless, lack o' incremental and constant xp awards (which can be done with quests as easy as they can be done with mechanical and non reactive awards) seeming ruined the sense o' progress some folks needed as leveling were their goal, or at least a significant goal. players want to level, but they want to feel like they is earning it. is a sp crpg, so games is meant to be beatable by any yutz with a couple o' firing neurons, but even so, sense o' making progress as the result o' the player's work or cleverness is key. players want to believe that their efforts earned them their leveling reward. get a level automatic for every 3 hours played? is perhaps ironic that such a mindless mechanic would be unsatisfactory to the average player. has a complicated system o' xp awards that is designed to have players level approximately every 3 hours on average is embraced while the mechanical grant o' levels would be spurned. xp works because folks seeming need to feel like they is being rewarded for their efforts. other solutions has been attempted and has value, but xp is, at the very least, familiar. HA! Good Fun! ps we caught the sarcasm even w/o an emoticon, but sometimes is best to treat absurdest or sarcastic arguments as serious.

our favorite rifle were our first: a winchester model 69 bolt-action .22. we loved that weapon more than we loved our pony, which admitted ain't saying much 'cause our rifle didn't p00p nearly as much as did the equine. btw, nice to see you posting. HA! Good Fun!

zor doesn't seem to get that sugar is an example. is a good example 'cause it is something russians use every freaking day. he also don't recall the information we posted earlier in this thread about how much more russians spend on food than does westerners. russians spend 1/3 of income on food, on average. westerners, on average, spend 10% or less. want us to go through list of staples that has increased since russia imposed sanctions? is pretty much everything imported, 'cause ruble has been devalued. wheat? up to 30% increase. those tough russians can do without that too, yes? russians is so tough that they can eat shoe leather soup and smile about it. 'course, given the value o' the ruble, we expect that shoe leather has increased in price even more than sugar, chicken, wheat and everything else. and yeah, oil prices is the chief reason russia is hurting, but it ain't the chief cause. russian stoopidity is, 'cause this were all predictable and fixable, particularly given that a smaller version o' this crisis occurred in 2008. the economic geniuses posting in this thread (HA!) saw this coming a mile away, but russians didn't? of course they did, but they figured they could weather the storm as they did in 2008, but oil has dropped more this time and it is likely gonna stay lower than $80 per barrel for a considerable amount o' time... or at least that is what world bank guesses. the current scenario, albeit less bleak, is exactly what Gromnir and others predicted LAST year when we were all posting those lovely export/economy graphics that showed just how dependent Russia is on oil. it is an extreme fragile economy. you didn't pay attention then, and now you act as if the oil situation were unpredictable. oh, and a similar situation happened in 2008, but oil prices don't appear to be turning around as they did back then. as many journalists is predicting end o' this year as they is predicting year 18 months... is not exact science. "With so many moving parts, coming to a view as to how long reserves might last for is almost impossible," wrote Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. even so, "Last year, for example, the Central Bank of Russia said it had shelled out more than $80 billion to shore up the value of the ruble on currency markets. “If oil prices stay low, under $70 per barrel, they are going to run out of money sooner rather than later,” Mr. Rogoff (a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, not a journalist) said. wsj is guessing 6 months to a year if oil prices stay sub $70 per barrel, which seems likely at the moment. as many is guessing less time as opposed to more. russian Business owe $600 billion to western banks and because of sanctions they can't re-fi. the ruble is worth increasingly little, so beyond the russian government's other problems, they is soon gonna have to need to decide which russian business is needed to be saved. new heightened interest rates which were a myopic attempt to prop the rubble, will result in likely recession even After oil prices increase. oh, and russian reserves were over $550 billion in mid 2013. even before the drop in oil, russia were heading for a recessions... which were also something Gromnir and others pointed out in this thread. go back and look at thread and your most amusing responses. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66281-ongoing-discussion-of-ukraine/?p=1476761 silliness. russian fail is good for nobody, but it were predictable, and it is coming... "sooner rather than later." HA! Good Fun!

at current rate of spending, and given that the russian economy were tuned to 100 dollar per barrel oil prices, that $376 billion lasts anywhere from 6 months to a year. which complete ignores actual problems o' the crisis, but nice try. talk 'bout unclear on the concept, but this nonsense is from guy who were trying to convince us that russian food sanctions were gonna hurt west more than russia, so we ain't surprised. brazil and china is preventing that 40% increase in sugar prices? on amusing side, folks in the kremlin were public complaining that porridge in the cafeteria had increased from 20 rubles last year at this time to 53. *shrug* HA! Good Fun!

do you need a subscription to read those? apologies, we were unaware. we will look around, but am suspecting that type the following into google would suffice: russia financial crisis 2015. probable get an avalanche o' material with that search. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-cease-fire-hopes-exceed-expectations-1423777453 http://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-car-sales-skid-lower-amid-economic-gloom-1423488610 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/world/europe/russia-details-plans-to-bolster-its-economy-but-experts-scoff.html?_r=0 ceasefire, even if it holds, is likely too little and too late to slow the growing economic crisis in russia. if were only russians that would suffer from economic woes, we wouldn't mind. oh well. HA! Good Fun!

Why do you insist on shoehorning a quest into every possible source of xp, as if adding the quest contributes to the mechanic in any way? If it does; I would sure like to hear it. EDIT: Dang it! I was supposed to stop talking about this! Bad me! BAD! is because you have it reversed. make xp rewards mindless and mechanical robs developers and players o' potential depth. kill 30 trolls. get 1000 xp. is mechanical and... dull. make a quest to get rid o' various beasties allows far more flexibility o' potential resolutions and rewards. perhaps convince a band o' mercenaries to kill off ten o' the trolls by helping them with _______ or paying them or intimidating them. etc. you is looking at it reversed. is mechanical and reflexive xp rewards that robs us o' the potential options developers could inject into the game. HA! Good Fun!

hell no! though, by making some kinda crafting quest, am certain you could make it a more compelling idea. manage to create some particular craftable items and gather rare ingredients would eventual lead to awarding o' ___________. doesn't matter what is in the blank as it can be changed or have multiple options. perhaps you get minions to do crafting or you actual use other small quests with random world craftsman npcs to help you with your crafting quest? HA! Good Fun!

" it would be quest experience we already have that" yes? what is wrong with that? identify that we already got quest xp is not an indication that all those things you seem to want from exploration xp would be achieved better through a mechanical grant o' xp as opposed to a potentially more reactive quest. "by exploring the game world - finding new maps - opening doors to new areas - some are simple some are not - all require exploring the world presented to you whether it means entering a building you have never been in before or discovering a hidden passage deep in a cave." all such stuff can be made milestones as part o' a large quest, with the advantage that there would necessarily be far more flexibility in rewards and solutions via a quest than a mechanical xp grant, and you would still get incremental xp awards for completion o' milestones for those who need such stuff. sooooooo... is something about the word "quest" that annoys people? otherwise, am still failing to see a point. HA! Good Fun!