Gromnir

people like to throw "role-play" into these debates but am suspecting everybody gots a different notion o' what is role-play and what features would cheapen it. for example, we believe that more important than a slavish devotion to Teh Rulez is role-play. a player o' poe who gots a character concept in mind when they start the game should have the chance to role-play that character. a single respec would, to our way o' thinking, promotes role-play in that it offers a chance to correct mistakes arising from the unavoidable obtuseness o' poe game mechanics and it would further allow a fix for the similarly ubiquitous developer errors that will inevitably ruin the role-play choices o' more than a few players. example: we got a role-play concept for a hearth orlan (friendly gremlin) priest o' eothas who dual-wields flails. is not a fantastic spell caster, but the priestly spell repertoire is definite useful as a secondary buffer/healer. we want our priest to be quick in melee combat and able to interrupt frequent enough to make up for his lack pure dps. is not a powergame build by any stretch o' the imagination. *sigh* sadly, this concept is currently borked. we made such a character contemporaneous with the release o' 435, but unfortunately, the 16 points of dexterity we invested is working opposite o' how we intended, opposite o' how we intended to role-play the character. a high dexterity Decreases melee weapon attack speed in 435. so, if this were actual game release instead of last beta build, perhaps we play this character for a week or so, avoiding the boards so as not to be spoiled. we play long enough that we increasingly become aware that there is something wrong with our attack speed. we get 10, 20 or even 30 hours into the game before we become convinced that our character concept is not matching character reality? option is to wait for patch or restart? flush 30 hours o' game down the drain or possibly wait a month or more for a patch? but hey, at least we can take heart in the knowledge that our conundrum is a validation o' the role-play integrity o' the game, yes? to our way o' thinking, the technical snaffu that resulted in weapon attack speeds being generated incorrect, or any o' literally hundreds o' other current errors, is what cheapens the role-play nature o' the game. find out perhaps that lore skill is not being applied correct, or that the weapon focus talent you chose boosts the accuracy o' every weapon listed in the talent description save for the one you want your character to use? is such stuff that cheapens the Role-Play choices we made far more than the knowledge that some player we never met might be using a single respec opportunity to possibly game the game... a single-player game. there will be technical errors in the final release. numerous errors will invalidate otherwise valid role-play choices. many folks who did not follow these boards daily for the past few years will also discover that the attributes, spells, talents, weapons and other features o' the game do not have actual in-game effects that they expected after reading the brief in-game descriptions; their role-play choices will be perverted by the obscurity o' a complex, mathematics based crpg rules mechanics. given the nature o' poe as a deep crpg, many role-play choices made by players will be cheapened, contravened and crushed; it is inevitable. respec allows for a correction o' what is otherwise a perversion o' the manifest importance o' the player's role-play choices. see? invoke role-play may not be get you quite as much juice per squeeze as you wish. HA! Good Fun!

that works out perfect, 'cause we didn't want him to continue being spider-man. garfield managed to be less likable than tobey maguire, which is actual taking some effort given what a douche mr. maguire is. perhaps just as bad, andrew's on-screen chemistry with emma stone were terrible. we has never been a fan o' kirsten dunst and yet she and the aforementioned douche were a better on-screen couple than were garfield and stone, who actual happened to be a couple in real life. last couple spider-man movies were a mess in large part because o' garfield... can't blame it all on the electro character. we actual liked many characters not named spider-man in the recent movies. HA! Good Fun!

Perhaps. But my posting yielded a more positive discussion, so I have no qualms. we were making a generalization; is our opinion that use troll label is typical unhelpful and ironic. however, unless andriel clarifies, we suspect your descriptor is appropriate. at this point, andriel's post is the equivalent o' a guy driving by the obsidian offices, honking his horn and offering an obscene finger gesture to anybody who happens to be looking in his general direction. please note that we ain't particular bothered by posts that is nothing more than a general expression o' displeasure. after all, where else does he/she have to go to be offering such observations? be that as it may, without more from andriel, he/she can't expect more from obsidian or the people who seem to disagree with his/her grunt o' frustration. troll label is typical not helpful, but andriel ain't helping either by refusing to explain concerns. HA! Good Fun!

we is a reasonable guy. we read your post. we read indira's post responding to you. you liked indira's response. indira has not been shy about opposition to respec. *shrug* based on a four-corners reading o' the post, and your liking inidra's response, we took you serious. perhaps that were a mistake, though am suspecting based on your most recent post that you were being somewhat sardonic about the notion that your previous post were meant sarcastic. you does in fact show opposition to respec save as a mod o' some kind. HA! Good Fun!

for obvious reasons, Gromnir believes the troll label is not particularly useful. label somebody a troll w/o actual addressing their concerns is, perhaps ironic, very trollish. the thing is, we can't actual identify the specific concerns being voiced by andriel. we could take a stab at deciphering the complaint, but it makes far more sense for the poster to clarify than for Gromnir to try and craft an argument from implication before we address it. HA! Good Fun!

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/01/31/dnt-part-dachshund-part-pit-bull.walb HA! Good Fun!

am attempting to see how adding a respec option into poe would prevent you from being able to restart & do-over. respec possibly would prevent you from wanting to restart, which kinda undercuts your suggest that restarting is the best part o' the game. if, when given an option that would diminish the investment o' time and effort o' replaying 1/4, 1/3 or even 1/2 o' the game to correct some perceived error in your character build, you chose to take such an option, that would seem to be, as the kids say, on you. you weigh and measure consequences o' replay and respec and find tedious replay wanting? ... you do realize you is NOT making an argument in favor o' replay, yes? regardless, even with respec, we suspect there will be many reasons for a chronic restarter to restart. you chose wrong skills or attributes for a substantial portion o' the game? you realize after only many hours that your low perception and low resolve character missed dozens o' potential dialogue options and attribute checks? and woe is wanderon 'cause he did not have enough lore skill. option to respec won't fix perception o' the chronic restarter that he borked the first dozen or more hours o' gameplay. all respec does is give the player the Option to prevent future suffering from potentially unavoidable and unknowable character creation errors. and as we already noted, many character creation errors will be technical or balance issues. each patch has the possibility o' invalidating some vital aspect o' your carefully planned character concept. a built-in respec option gives the player a user-friendly option for mitigating developer blunders. crpgs is about making meaningful choices, yes? well, if is developer error that subverts the meaning of player choices, we feels that respec is a harmless and painless way to mitigate the damage o' developer error. regardless, we do not see how availability o' respec can be used to prevent you from restart. at worst, respec would diminish your desire to want to restart. am hopeful you recognize the problem you is creating for yourself by admitting that respec diminishes the want-to o' restarts. HA! Good Fun!

Are you implying that Obsidian is exhibiting unprofessional conduct or that they are amateur game developers? You know what im implying am gonna admit that we don't know what you are implying. we got some guesses, but am not certain. some o' our guesses strain credulity, so we would choose to give you the benefit o' the doubt before we made claim that you is wrong. perhaps it would be better to say rather than imply. am not being snarky with that advice. implication leaves considerable more room for misunderstanding than does clear statement. HA! Good Fun!

in a rpg or crpg, when failure to take a feat or spell or race becomes a handicap, you have a balance problem. if is immediate apparent that your fighter should be race A and your chanter should be race B, you have a balance problem. if choosing race C for your paladin is a functional self gimping and the only reason to do so is "hardcore role-play," then you likely got a balance problem. the developers o' poe specifically observed that they were hoping for better balance from poe compared to d&d crpgs. have one race or class or weapon or whatever that is clear superior is not what the developers were trying to create in poe. have all races be equal powerful and/or useful? am not seeing that as a problem, but is difficult to do so. fun is also a consideration, but is much more difficult to guess fun w/o knowing the player personally. a crpg developer don't have the luxury o' being able to tailor the game to a specific player. HA! Good Fun! ps am thinking some folks get too focused with the power aspects o' balance and forget utility.

thanks. your response is reassuring and disappointing. am glad that what you think is bestest ie artwork is in line with what Gromnir believes were the best ie art. taste is subjective, but we applaud your taste eve so. conversely, am saddened to hear that in some ways, the excellence o' the ie environments is difficult to replicate for technical reasons. ah well. good luck... though am suspecting you is likely working on the expansion or some other project at this time. HA! Good Fun! ps add more snow and ice. http://thewayofbeauty.org/files/2010/06/turner-snowstorm.jpg

... http://christdesert.org/MONKS_OF_THE_DESERT_CD/index.html http://christdesert.org/Abbey_Beverage_Company/ the whole martial monk thing strikes us as weird. oh, sure, there is a few orders o' combat trained monks. heck, even the catholic church had some such, but for the most part when we think o' monks, we pictures a handful o' guys living in a monastery (duh) where they can be quietly contemplative... and perhaps make beer or cheese or some such. video is a scene o' a couple franciscan friars interacting with benedictine monks. am having a hard time picturing old jorge or the assistant librarian (berengar? he were the monk startled by the rodent) being much help fighting elder lions in poe. btw, is a fantastic book. rpg game monks is too much shaolin mythology and not enough good beer making for us. HA! Good Fun!

there is something wrong with Gromnir and plants. we have a black thumb. dry Gromnir's corpse and turn us into a fine powder. make some kinda aerosolized solution from the powder and am certain you end up with a better defoliant than agent orange. is moderate embarrassing just how bad we is with plants. HA! Good Fun!

"In the U.S., police need a warrant or reasonable suspicion you've been involved in a crime to legally pat you down." this is wrong. reasonable suspicion that you have been "involved in a crime" is not enough for police to pat you down. when val talks law, just ignore. am not kidding. HA! Good Fun!

if poe doesn't look better than bg, we will be mighty disappointed. on the other hand, we thought that the artwork in iwd were fantastic. from the beta, we can't claim to know much 'bout the art of poe as a whole. take a random wilderness map from bg and compare to dyrwood crossing. given the 15 years between the release o' the games, one would expect poe to have many advantages over its more aged predecessor. sure enough, from a technical pov, poe wilderness looks better, but not monumental better. so far we has seen kinda generic maps from poe... is nothing spectacular. am not gonna spoil, but in the beta there is one dungeon crawl map w/o an ogre that we is finding kinda impressive as far as the aesthetic is concerned, even if there are too many spiders. that being said, we is hoping for more iwd level o' art. severed hand and black wolf temple and portions o' dorn's deep and wyrm's tooth were visually striking and memorable. we ain't had a poe "wow" moment yet. the thing is, as others have mentioned, art is so darned subjective. am not a huge fan o' klimt either, although 1/2 o' the girls we knew in University had a print o' "the kiss" on their dorm room wall. am more o' an impressionists or post impressionist fan, but tastes is subjective. HA! Good Fun!

And we're back to sticking it to the man. No or not necessarily in regards to anything you're saying above. As I've said a few times now, what to do, why to do it, and any given scenario is entirely situational. Sometimes they're simple scenarios, but often they are not. I'm not taking this conversation further with you as you keep imagining things that were never stated and are not true, such as equating questioning authority to 'sticking it to the man'. They are certainly not one and the same, and this has now been repeatedly mentioned. If you truly think that, then my sentiments toward you are as they are towards anyone who thinks 2+2=5. That's fine, as I mentioned before I didn't think that there was to be a productive dialgue, but I do appreciate your attempts to explain your position even if, ultimately, I cannot fathom it. However, regarding "Question Authority", I will admit that the phrase sticks in my craw; perhaps I'm projecting an incorrect analysis on your words, but my experience with people who use that phrase is that they are the kind of people who are anti-government conspiracy theorists, the kind who believe that the police are an fascist army ready to take their personal liberties away who must be defied at all turns lest any freedom (real or perceived) be lost. EDIT: This perhaps makes it hard for me to be neutral and understanding in the discussion. am a personal advocate o' civil disobedience. heck, given our occupation, we is always fighting the State. that being said, civil disobedience has become a twisted and ugly thing compared to how Thoreau, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and others used the term. 'course even the more aggressive but ultimately vindicated advocates o' civil disobedience had a purpose when risking their lives and freedom. am admitting confusion when we read val posts. am not certain how civil disobedience became an end rather than a means. Question Authority is a good thing, but challenge authority carries risks. one should first educate themselves regarding those risks. once educated, one must make a choice regarding whether or not challenging authority is a proper course o' action. conscience is what makes "proper," but one necessarily is taking risks when challenging authority. Gahndi and Martin Luther king Jr.specifically directed folks to avoid insults and physical confrontations with authority. we believes that those in this thread who suggest that those who do not "Question Authority" is being "slaves," is insulting to the memory o' such men. folks can question authority and fight injustice without eating a face full of glass or getting shot by police. w/o context, slavish devotion to an ultimately meaningless phrase is stoopid and wrong. HA! Good Fun!

we always make our own salsa and tomato sauces. 'course, we also make our own mayonnaise, so is possible that we ain't typical. however, we will note that we always have a jar o' these in our refrigerator: mrs. renfero's jar jalapenos is our favorite brand. HA! Good Fun!

w/o a warrant, you can be searched incident to an arrest. otherwise, cops need reasonable suspicion that you is possibly armed to pat you down (there is some very limited exceptions). regardless, is always good to state that you is not volunteering. HA! Good Fun! ps the reason we made the point about specifically saying you ain't volunteering is because Conset Searches can transform a bad search into one that is Constitutional valid. if cops don't have a warrant and don't have right to arrest and don't have reasonable suspicion, but you consent when cops ask if is ok to search your person or car or briefcase or home, then you has just given up rights against unreasonable searches. don't volunteer, and make sure the cops know you is not volunteering.

val didn't bother to watch the second video. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68564-black-celebrity-claims-police-herassement-for-kissing-white-man-in-public/?p=1510179 "furthermore, and we know people has a hard time distinguishing, but real world cops always ask for id- is a way they gauge suspicion. like it or not, but cops asking for id is hardly compelling you to provide such even if you feel the weight o' authority 'pon you. however, if you don't provide id and refuse to answer simple questions, then cops who already had some level o' suspicion may become convinced that you really is guilty o' something. if you go bat-crap crazy while refusing to provide id and answer questions, they can claim that you were appearing drugged or intoxicated. illegal arrest is possible an outcome, but you is extreme unlikely to win any kind o' judgement 'gainst cops if they already has cause for suspicion, and in the meantime they can bring you down to the station and put you through a full intake process. ""If you are carrying one, you don't have to show it or identify yourself unless you've been arrested for a crime, or in some cases ticketed for a violation people get very confused." "law says you don't need provide info, but real world has you getting arrested needlessly for such defiance is jackarse stoopid. in All case you should show id if you are ticketed 'cause you can be detained for failing to do so. this ain't a "some cases" scenario. you get ticketed? show id. people get defiant with cops for various reasons and it rarely benefits the angry citizen. when cops show up and question you someplace other than your home, ask if you can leave. if they answer "yes," well, problem solved-- leave. if they answer "no," then you ask, "why" and they gotta explain. if cops wanna search you (or your home) ask for a warrant. if they don't have a warrant, make sure they know you is not agreeing to the search. IF you are stopped for questioning pursuant to a crime, give the cops your gosh darn name and ID, duh. that don't mean you gotta get chatty with the cops. if you don' wanna talk to cops, tell cops you don't wanna talk After providing id. if you are arrested, make sure the cops tell you why you is being arrested. do not resist a patdown pursuant to an arrest, and for the love o' gawd, do not run... particularly from a k-9 unit. those dogs do not f around. make sure cops know you is not volunteering, but don't resist or run. "car situations is similar, but in all cases in which you are stopped while driving, you are required to provide id, so there is no ambiguity. refuse to sign a ticket doesn't do you any good, so find some other way to vent spleen. again, make sure you clear state that you is not volunteering to submit your vehicle or person to a search. "regardless, not providing id is always a stoopid move. am knowing some folks gets angry 'bout what they see is their Right to be defiant, and you do have such a right, but it is, from a practical perspective, stoopid to exercise such a right without having a particular compelling reason to do so. you is likely to get yourself arrested, and you ain't gonna win some kinda multi-million dollar case 'gainst police department. "oh, and while it sounds silly, particular if you is a minority, keep your car free of interior clutter. "plain view" rules is such that if cops are able to see possible evidence in plain view, they can seize that evidence. once the cops justifiably (or arguable justified) get you outta your car and they get into your car... *shrug* having a messy car interior is arguably providing cops with reason enough to search." the professor is telling you not to get chatty with police, which Gromnir already observed is your right... see bolded above. professor is not telling you to be an arse to the cops. professor doesn't tell you to resist arrest. professor doesn't say to resist patdown or to run from the cops. for chrissakes, how often does we need to have val give bad legal advice before people stop listening to him? repeating self but do the following. be polite. show id. ask if you can leave? if answer is "yes," do so. follow instructions. if being arrested, ask cops to tell you why you is being arrested. if cops wanna search you, your car or your house, ask for warrant. if no warrant tell them you ain't volunteering, but don't resist. morons. HA! Good Fun!

providing the player with at least a single respec strikes us as a good thing. this is a new game with a new rule system, and in spite of all the beta testing, Gromnir is certain that there will be some pretty significant post-release mechanics blunders that will require equal significant patches. how many patches will be released before game actual takes a stable form? 3? 6? at this moment, increase dexterity slows down weapon speed. spells work properly (at least as far as we can see) but your dex investment for a weapon using character is providing results opposite o' what you would expect. interrupt is being complete retooled, so while high perception is more useful at the moment, it will be less so soon. is literal dozens o' similar issues and while we hope the final game won't have such problems, believing that to be the case is naive in the extreme. it will be months after initial release before major mechanics bugs is eliminated from the game and developers is done balancing. you could get dozens o' hours invested in the game before it becomes clear to you, other players and the developers, that your character, which looks good on paper, is actual gimped. converse, perhaps you made your character after mechanics problems known or unexpected balance issues became apparent (sadly, some o' the worst mistakes is when a feature works properly, but not as developers expected) but after major patch #2, your character became ineffectual because obsidian decided on a way to "fix" the problem. folks like to argue merits of respec from some weird philosophical pov. we see the argument characterized as a nutty Old Skool Goodness v. Myopic Console Twitch debate and that is simple wrong. poe has a complex New rule system and when it is first released, it is gonna be broken. a considerable number o' minor and major features o' poe is gonna be broken for many months following the initial release o' the game. some kinda limited respec should be considered as a way to reduce the negative impact o' the inevitable brokeness o' the game. is a good idea from a developer pov as well as fans will howl and moan less about the broken game if they can at least adjust their character to react to the reality o' the current condition o' the game while the developers work to fix it. HA! Good Fun!

the way weapon strength were figuring into the equation were problematic before josh's proposed changes. also, the equation for concentration were resulting in some oddities. crits were far too significant. if 25% is the goal for equal resolve v. perception, we don't have much of a complaint regarding the changes. however, having seen how interrupts actual work in the game, even when the interrupts chances were tuned higher than josh's proposed changes, the only characters we is current concerned with boosting resolve is front-line combatants with slow activation abilities or weapons. keep in mind, there is a 1st level mage spell with a duration o' a base 60 seconds (an eternity in poe battles) that adds 30 to concentration. this spell alone likely allows mages to tank their resolve with impunity. for all intents and purposes, the spell is worth 10 points o' resolve... and as we noted already, most caster not need much concentration based on the current ai behaviors we has seen and typical duration o' battles. no doubt there is other oddities that will need be looked at more closely. HA! Good Fun!

our advice is specifically tailored to prevent personal injury. http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68564-black-celebrity-claims-police-herassement-for-kissing-white-man-in-public/?p=1510179 observe bester's video which followed... is an example o' what val and bester and vol suggest is proper. the homophobe who were forced to eat glass woulda' won his case... he did win his case, but by not following instructions, he suffered. why? what did he gain? is there situations wherein a mouthful o' glass or even a bullet in the head is a risk worth taking? sure. amentep offered one. and perhaps you has a situation wherein you is protecting an innocent person from imminent physical harm, or maybe you actual is standing in front o' a metaphorical tank in tienanmen. but be a **** with cops 'cause it is your perceived right to do so? is nothing noble about refusing cops for no other reason than to make a point that you should be able to be defiant to cops. is dumb. you wanna make cops suffer? take 'em to court. bester's example is ideal, 'cause it shows that the law protects even the worst o' us. unfortunately for some o' you idiots, you gotta be alive to personal take advantage o' the system. manage to get yourself shot 'cause o' clownish notions o' right to be defiant when confronting an agitated and armed police officer who might actual be racists or mentally unstable is, perhaps, an example o' darwinism at work. you genuine think a cop is racist or has a screw loose? that is all the more reason to be polite until you can be safely removed from his/her influence. why give the a-hole cop an excuse? freaking use some common sense. HA! Good Fun!

is hilarious that #s didn't read the study he linked. the 42% is not some kinda general observation o' police taken as a whole or anything even close. oh, and nice misrepresentation o' "suspects." Suspects were defined as wrongdoers, peace disturbers, or persons for whom a complaint was received. More specifically, individuals were considered suspects by observers if any of the following criteria were met: police identified the citizen as a suspect, interrogated, searched, issued threats or warning, used force to prevent or stop wrongdoing, arrested or cited the citizen, or if the citizen admitted wrongdoing. This presents a somewhat difficult problem in that part of the inclusion criteria for becoming a suspect involves the dependent measure (i.e., force), which is akin to partially sampling on the dependent variable. In the present case, however, this is unavoidable. The 298 JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME AND DELINQUENCYalternative would have been to exclude such cases, which clearly would present a much greater problem—the fact that there would be no way to analyze any of the force cases because there would be none. Furthermore, there were several cases in which the officer used force on citizens not labeled as suspects (e.g., victims requiring restraint after being told their partner was killed in an automobile accident). Observers were instructed not to regard the inclusion criteria in such strict terms so as to skew or alter the overall meaning of the word suspect. Overall, 3,544 police-suspect encounters involving 305 officers were observed. the OBSERVERS determined who were a suspect for the purposes o' the study and the observers included not only folks whom cops claimed were suspects, but others as well. oh, and #s missed Approximately 240 hours of observation were carried out for officers assigned to each neighborhood. Officer identities were protected throughout the observations periods, and the researchers were granted limited protection from legal process under federal statute. A policecitizen encounter was defined as a face-to-face communication between officers and citizens that was more than a passing greeting. In all, 6,500 citizen encounters were observed in Indianapolis and 5,500 in St. Petersburg. The length of police-citizen encounters ranged from less than a minute to several hours. Among the citizens included crime victims, witnesses, a variety of service recipients, and criminal suspects. The analysis presented here focuses on police-suspect encounters. so, outta twelve freaking thousand encounters that were more than simple greetings in two distressed urban areas (the "most distressed" areas were actual excluded from the study 'cause the number o' encounters woulda' been too small) the observers selected 3,544 Suspect encounters. in 42% o' those encounters, no force were used. Coded observations ranged along a fourpoint scale, from 1 (no force) to 2 (verbal force), 3 (restraint techniques), and 4 (impact methods) at the encounter level (mean = 1.81, SD = .81). so 42% is no force and 37% is simple verbal.... and we is only dealing with suspect encounters... so your original 58% nonsense looks rather silly, no? *shakes head sadly* HA! Good Fun!

there is plenty o' orlan portaits available friendly orlan sinister orlan problem solved. HA! Good Fun!

a ruggedly handsome human male rogue with a distinctly native american (our family insists that we is back to saying Indian in 2015) set o' features... think Russel Means meets Arnie Becker... but built like a rugby flanker. need one o' those. HA! Good Fun!

Yeah this is actually incredibly true because the first few skills levels are also the cheapest to buy. Even if a guy joins at level 3 or 4 it will be easy to pump up say mechanics if you focus only that on level 5/6/7. not to put a damper on things, but the beta can be misleading given how quick we level. according to the developers, the real game leveling will be much slower. the gap between levels 3-4 and 5-7 represents a considerable amount o' game time, and if you is without a useful rogue between levels 1 and 7... *shrug* if you want a poe companion character to fill the traditional thief role, you may needs have to commit rather early... or accept that 1/2 or more o' the game will see you doing the PMD nonsense. HA! Good Fun!