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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
Its really interesting reading this post because Im exactly the same but you have explained it better I want choices even if its not about any significant gameplay change and that tadpole example is an excellent example even though I haven't played BG3 yet I always try to RP like Conan. He is at heart an honorable man, he will always save a damsel in distress but he also wants wealth so he often goes on quests and missions for the money. But he wont abandon his principles and integrity
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Ukraine Conflict - war continues on
They attacked and damaged an Iranian ship and killed 1 sailor Ukraine has said it was unintentional They might have sunk it but as usual with this type of news its uncertain Definitely a WW3 triggering event
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Ukraine Conflict - war continues on
WW3 because Ukraine attacked an Iranian ship, seriously bro ? Firstly Iran has been supplying military resources to Russia for years that have been used to perpetuate this war and kill Ukrainians Secondly Iran has no military capability to go to war with Ukraine, they cant even stop the US from bombing them any time they want. There only strategy has been asymmetrical warfare where they launch drones and missiles against defenseless ships and Gulf States. They wont even target the US Navy because they know that will justify escalation from the US So no, there wont be WW3 or nuclear holocaust because of this. You can quote me on that
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
I remember reading up on this adventure game and it looked very interesting and I see they have other similar games. I like playing adventure games as a break from my favorite genre, RPG. Im currently playing Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers Escape From Mystwood Mansion on SteamIn this first-person puzzle escape room game, you are trapped in the mysterious Mystwood mansion. Explore the mansion and find hidden compartments while solving puzzles and deciphering codes to find a
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
Lots of people will say the narrative doesn't matter or the RP choices are basically irrelevant because you still end up finishing any RPG in a similar way and you only see your outcomes around choices at the end where you see a 1 page summary screen of each serious decision or what happens to various NPC or party members And they believe combat is much more relevant than party interaction or narrative choices. And its a perfectly reasonable difference in opinions because we all different people and our definition of an RPG will always be relevant to our own sense of fun and fulfillment But for me I fall firmly into the camp of narrative choices, party interaction and side-quests. Because my favorite outcome of RPG is the RP choices that get presented even if they dont change anything significant. Its the option of deciding and then thinking " what will happen if I choose this path " even if the game doesn't go into detail. I use my imagination for this Combat mechanics definitely matter, its a huge part of the experience but most games deliver on both more or less So ToEE provides exceptional combat but a very simple narrative where its really a linear dungeon crawl. Still highly recommended for what the game delivers on
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Cinema and Movie Thread: coming 2 a theater near u
https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/the-odyssey-box-office-nolan-shattering-expectations-1236821760/ After 2 weekends Odyssey has shattered box office expectations and reached its breaking point of $650 million But that's just after 10 days !!! Its now predicted to comfortably reach that $1 billion sales figure Nolan took a risk with this movie, it was the most expensive movie he has ever made. Total costs with marketing were about $400 million. But it paid off nicely. Good to see "With a sensational second weekend at the box office, it’s clear “The Odyssey” will have a long — and epic — journey in theaters. Christopher Nolan‘s take on Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem, starring Matt Damon as the Greek king Odysseus, has generated a remarkable $652 million worldwide, including $289 million domestically and $362 million internationally after just 10 days of release. It’s already the sixth-highest grossing Hollywood movie of the year at the global box office — no small feat for a sword-and-sandal epic that’s rated R and clocks in at nearly three hours. With euphoric word-of-mouth and staggering demand for premium large formats like Imax, “The Odyssey” is expected to shatter all kinds of records throughout the rest of summer and into the fall. It could overtake 2009’s “The Dark Knight” ($1.008 billion) and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” ($1.08 billion) as Nolan’s highest-grossing film."
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
Yes and this was one of the considerations I was going to raise with you It has no real narrative and how you can influence the outcomes even if its superficial and more about choice summaries at the end Its basically an incredibly exciting dungeon crawl where you dont need to think about any choices. I absolutely recommend this game for its combat mechanics but I dont think its the right game for you And thats also why I didn't give it a higher score, I feel an RPG has to have an overarching narrative with choices to be complete around the RP aspect In PoE you get to make these huge choices in the background of this cosmic narrative about the future of gods In Pathfinder you interact with powerful entities and you can influence who ascends to divinity Anyway I dont want to put you off ToEE but Im just trying to be objective about its strengths and what it isn't
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
I completed the Co8 quests after about 40 hours so Im sadly finished with my ToEE adventures but all good things have to come to an end Total game time was 135 hours I wont repeat in detail what is fantastic about this game. Its the best adaptation of D&D ruleset and combat mechanics of any party based D&D game I have ever played and that creates the most exciting and challenging combat I highly recommend both Co8 and Temple + mods. Its not just the increased level cap and extra quests. Its the stability and how you can make rule changes that matter, for example you can remove Fog of War which I did for one hard battle As far as bugs were concerned, nothing significant except where I suddenly lost 80% of my XP for 2 party members after a hard battle on level 2. But I used console commands to restore this XP which was really simple I had a very frustrating battle during the Hickory Branch quest where you face 50 enemies. The problem was every turn you get hit by explosive runes that do force damage to your entire party and I assumed the enemy archers were responsible. I spent about 6-7 hours until I finally won this battle and tried about 6 times. I nearly raged quit. Afterwards I read a guide that mentioned the explosive runes are buried in the ground and its advisable to attack all the enemies from the left and not the normal right side of the field. I wish I knew about this prudent strategy before I spent all that time trying to avoid the rune damage The only criticism I have of this game is it doesn't have a complex or thought provoking narrative like PoE or any companion interaction and side-quests which I always enjoy because it adds depth to my RPG experience. So you dont really need to make any serious choices. But that's not enough to detract from its strengths ToEE gets a solid 78/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system " and its highly recommended for anyone who wants to play a party based RPG where combat is its greatest strength
- randoM videO gamE neWs...
- randoM videO gamE neWs...
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The New All Things Political Topic
Enriching Uranium for energy purposes is not an issue, the NPT allows this And if Saudi Arabia wants to suddenly enrich Uranium to 90% they will receive the same negative attention that Iran is getting from the likes of the IAEA It becomes hard to tell any ME country " you cant enrich Uranium for energy purposes " because of the reality of Iran trying to get nukes So there is understandable concern now that Saudi Arabia wants to do it
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
Yes, do that when you ready. There are only the 2 mods you need to install and you can use this Steam guide which is incredibly helpful . But send me the PM anyway so we can discuss other things Steam Community :: Guide :: Modding Steam ToEEA guide for customizing your gameplay experience on the new Steam re-release of the Troika classic Temple of Elemental Evil....
- What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
Oh no need to worry, these hard quests Im on now come after the main quest and they all optional So you can get the benefits of Co8 and Temple+ including the level cap increase just in the main narrative. I think I was on level 11 by the time I got to the end of the normal game And not all the new quests are this hard, there probably about 6-8 news ones that get added and 2 are very hard so far. The Slavers and this one Im busy with. But the whole access to Verbobonc only comes once you finish the temple. And when I say hard, its all about the final battle. Not every part of the quest
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What are you Playing Now? Volume XX: It all Begins Again
For those people who want more from ToEE after completing the main quest I highly recommend the Co8 mod and its quests Firstly you can go up to level 20 and you need those higher levels for the most exciting and challenging battles in quests this mod creates There is this one battle with Slavers that makes the Zuggtmoy battle seem like a cake walk. Every time I think my strategy is solid I end up having to rethink and that type of risk in combat always enhances the experience But there one is quest called War of the Golden Skull: Defender where you have to defend Hommlet from waves of Hextorites. So you fight several really hard battles. The first time I tried it I finally won all the battles by resting but then I was told I failed the quest because I rested and the Hextorites have kidnapped all the villagers and you cant leave the map so your game ends at the point because you cant progress I am now trying it again without resting but this obviously makes it incredibly hard. The key objective now for me will be focusing on the enemy mages and clerics because they wreck the most damage with spells like fireball and flame strike and they start off at the back of the combat area so its hard to get to them quickly I basically relearnt spells to include almost all AOE and stocked up on every healing scroll and potion I could buy and I dropped Furnok to include another tank that is part of this quest Lets see if I am able to succeed but its going to be really tough