Namutree

I don't feel ISIS has been all that successful; their goals will not be realized, and they never even came close. One need only remember the war between Hannibal & Rome to understand what I mean. There was never any hope for ISIS; all they've accomplished is to draw our enemies out of their rabbit holes and into the open where we can kill them at our leisure. There's a reason al-Qaeda didn't want to get mixed up with them. Idiots in the media thought it was because ISIS were such brutes, but the real reason is that the leadership understood that ISIS had no future. I suspect the group will disperse to preserve the organization after they are routed, but not until after taking massive casualties.

I simply love pizza. I don't care about the crust. Pizza's awesome!

If they introduce discovery-xp I'll be pretty satisfied.

The second question is 50,000 times more important than the first. Josh, if you're reading this here's my question: Is discovery-xp or any non-quest related xp being considered?

Neither BG2 nor any other IE-engine game (except for maybe BG1) had you "grind" xp to finish the game. It made it easier, I agree, but you hadn't had to do it. Then again, switching from normal to easy made the game easier as well, so I don't see why it should be a bad thing if some people would have it easier when they invest a load of their own time into grinding. Not even BG1. Sarevok can be beaten even with a level 1 party. So no grinding required. If your running a party of 3 or less party members it isn't even encouraged since you can easily reach the level cap with just standard play. The grind xp argument has not even a hint of truth to it.

The design goals are questionable, but that isn't my point. Had they replaced combat-xp with something it would be much more acceptable, but so far Obsidian hasn't. They merely cut the combat-xp and were finished. That is not innovative.

I don't even miss combat xp; I just thought it was crazy that some one would suggest that cutting features is innovative. I do feel that the lack of any non-quest xp is gonna make the game a lot less fun, but that could be remedied if Obsidian just introduced some kind of replacement. Discovery xp has been suggested more than a few times, and we'll see if Obsidian has the sense to implement it.

Yes, it is. But I'm not a backer so my opinion hardly matters. Although at times it seems I appreciate PoE more than some of the backers which in turn makes me wonder why people give their money to projects they don't like or to people whose point of view they don't share. If removing features is an evolution why don't they just remove the whole game? By your logic a blank screen would be the pinnacle of the RPG genre. Dialog? Who needs it? Poe should be innovative; so cut it from the game. Movement? Poe should evolve; remove it. Backgrounds? If Obsidian wants to be innovative they should cut them.

None of these are relevant. I read them all. Not one suggest that removing features is an evolution.

Yes, it is. But I'm not a backer so my opinion hardly matters. Although at times it seems I appreciate PoE more than some of the backers which in turn makes me wonder why people give their money to projects they don't like or to people whose point of view they don't share. That's a can of worms best left unopened...

It isn't all that user friendly honestly.

They're gone too. Don't you adam? Obsidian is evolving the system by taking things out. Less = More evolved

There is suppression of certain basic human rights, like the right to protest, in Russia so I can completely understand why gay activists would jump on the bandwagon to raise visibility to there cause during a anti-war protest. You must be aware how heavy handed the Russian police have been in the past when there were dedicated protests raising visibility around homophobia If I was a gay Russian I would also use an anti-war protest to champion my cause because you are shielded by all the other protesters in certain respects Gay rights activists may be shooting themselves in the foot by being associated with this protest,

I love all the free time I have during the summer.

I'm all for gay rights, but I don't see what homosexuality has to do with Ukraine. Is this protest about more than just the Ukraine issue? I think protests are more effective when they are about a single issue. There is a connection between gay rights and the nationalist interests of Russia in Ukraine. And that connection is Putin, we know that Putin has started legislating homophobia in Russia. So any march that is opposed to Russian interference in Ukraine will also bring about gay people in Russia joining the protest who being discriminated against It all boils down top the same objective, raising awareness to the authoritarian policies of Putin Putin may be behind both the those situation, but they are still separate issues. If they had staged a protest about gay rights exclusively; I suspect the results would be better than getting the issue mixed up with other policies.

Again you are confusing capitalism with feudalism. In capitalism aristocracy don't mean crap. It doesn't matter who you are or where were you born you could be Kings son and end up in a dumpster and you could start in a dumpster and end up as a King. Capitalism promotes smarts and talent, it awards the best people, socialism awards laziness, dumbness and ineptness. Anders Breivik - good parents, good public education, great social status - killed 69 peopleChris Garder - bad parents, second rate education, badly social status - was homeless but managed to rise a kid and become successful - never resorted to crime. Yes, I really think that people choose who they are and how they live their life unless they are in extreme situations like war etc. So either you are for "everybody is responsible for himself" capitalist or you are "we need to help everybody to live their life" socialist. Make up your mind. Am I going crazy? Because I don't recall writing any of these posts.

I'm all for gay rights, but I don't see what homosexuality has to do with Ukraine. Is this protest about more than just the Ukraine issue? I think protests are more effective when they are about a single issue.

I know, but as long as the US is involved in NATO and other alliances the war hawks will always has a lot of ammunition to fool the apathetic public to going along with stupid wars.

Yeah, and all CRPGs should be carbon copies of each other. I have many doubts about various PoE mechanics but I applaud Obsidian and Josh in particular for actually making those tough choices and bravely trying new concepts. Some things most probably won't work as expected but it's OK. If you never try anything new the genre will never evolve. New ideas are fine, but nothing new has been introduced to the xp system. Combat xp was removed... and that's all. If taking out features is evolution; then you must think amputees are the next step in human evolution. Not to mention poe was supposed to be nostalgic; not innovative.

No. There is still balancing to do.

I see this repeated a lot, but its not true. I never touched the multiplayer and had way more than the required EMS score for the "good" ending. The only DLC I had was From Ashes, which as far as I know didn't have any extra War Assets. Before being patched, you had to have played some multiplayer to boost something to get the best ending. It was quickly patched out though, from what I understand. It was called galactic readiness and had to have it at 100% in order to get the special blue ending where Shepard survives.

During this whole Ukraine situation more than a few people have invoked NATO as a justification for intervention. I am aware. They are all examples of how our ability to call on allies for aid helps give us a pro-war bias. When debates go on in the US about our self-harming foreign policy; here are a few things one can expect to hear from the war hawks: A) We need troops in Germany because of NATO. B) We need to keep Russia in check because of NATO. C) NATO will help us in our military operations with *insert country here* so don't worry about the costs!

Rangers make terrible tanks and aren't great at DPS. With four Rangers you would have a small army, but it would be very weak. I don't know if you've been playing them, but they are clearly too weak.

It would be at least.

Funny how that is. "We love Islam! Die you stupid Muslims!"