Quoting: 14

Quoting: redneckdrowSorry about that, I'm something of a Forgotten Realms nerd. I own most of the 1st-3rd and 5th edition sourcebooks (there is no 4th as far as I'm concerned), and around two-thirds of the novels.:tongue::grin:

I have read five of the Drizzt books. I really enjoyed the first three in my 20's. I will admit that reading the 3rd and 4th books in my 30's -- after experiencing other series and authors -- made me think I might be done with them for quite a while.

But, I have a lasting impression of Drizzt that will always be with me I think. He will always be cool. Maybe it helped that I made a long-term rebellious choice in my early 20's and left some things I grew up with, which I believed was for the better. Drizzt's departure from the Underdark lines up as a parallel, and I never thought of that until right now.

Yeah, Starless Night is one of the low points. But there are other FR books besides Drizzt & Co., by around two-dozen authors.

For example, the Elminster Series, written by the Realms' creator Ed Greenwood. The first three are classics!

Elaine Cunningham's Starlight and Shadows novels tie-in with R.A.'s slightly, but are much more optimistic.

The original mascot of the series, Alias, was involved in a pivotal series of events [External Link] also covered in Curse of the Azure Bonds.

There's a novel in the Realms for every fantasy fan! There are, after all ~273 Novels plus compilations of short stories.

Quite a few are out of print, and many of the ones released WotC took over don't have (official) ebooks but they can be found fairly cheap.

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Quoting: Leahi84

Quoting: LoudTechie

Quoting: ArehandoroThis is the only thing that comes to mind each time I read Sovereign:

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It's EU politico speak.
I think it's best translated to American with "America first!"
If European governments try to rid themselves of dependencies of goods and services from parties, whose reliability and stability they're too polite to question they call it a push for sovereignty.
France pleads for an EU army for this reason.
Germany maintains a pretty big military industry for it.
The EU is importing lots extra expensive gass from the USA for this reason.
Its why the EU sometimes tries to get an internal mining industry(until they discover that the reason they don't have one is, because they care about human rights, environmental protections, etc)

Most of the time it means moving away from USA provided goods and services, but not always.

Can't say I blame them. I'd be trying to move away from dependency on the US too, especially with that POS Trump assuming office next month. He's extremely hostile towards Europe, so If I were them I'd cut ties as quickly as possible.

Hey, don't look at me; I didn't vote for him! But 66% of my state did, for some God forsaken reason.

Also, be careful using the phrase "America First" around a US history buff. It was the name of Lindbergh's isolationist party just prior to WW2. His few modern fans like to forget his ties to Nazi Germany.

America First had nothing to do with actually expanding domestic reliability, and would have destroyed the New Deal and the Lend-Lease Act. Thereby preventing our rise out of the Great Depression.

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Quoting: 14

Quoting: redneckdrowThanks for the warning, it's very much appreciated. Companies are only going to get worse about this sort of thing (Getting tax breaks all the while.:angry:), given that the vast majority of gamers don't seem to understand why they should care.

There remains hope. Look at Larian Studios with Baldur's Gate 3 and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, to highlight a couple of games where the whole package was great.

True enough, I can't speak for WH40k: SM2, but BG3 is great!:grin:

Warning: pedantic, nitpicky, 30-something nerd rant below!:wink:

Spoiler, click me

Even if BG3 decided to use the stupid "Murder in Baldur's Gate" storyline. BG3 tramples on established lore, but its worth as a truly great CRPG by decent developers cannot be understated. It's worth noting that it has the same gith-focused Macguffin/avoid or embrace assimilation by evil questline as Neverwinter Nights 2 and its Mask of the Betrayer expansion.

Sorry about that, I'm something of a Forgotten Realms nerd. I own most of the 1st-3rd and 5th edition sourcebooks (there is no 4th as far as I'm concerned), and around two-thirds of the novels.:tongue::grin:

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: CaldathrasOver Blizzard's lifetime, I have watched Blizzard devolve into the greedy, anti-consumer corporation it's is now. I had hoped that Microsoft buying them might signal a change in direction to Blizzard's attitude

Bwahahahahaha!!! I needed a good laugh this morning.

Yeah:whistle:, that's a bit like scheduling an AA meeting at a distillery, and expecting it to work out well for sobriety. :tongue:

Edit: fixed my double post, sorry.

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Thanks for the warning, it's very much appreciated. Companies are only going to get worse about this sort of thing (Getting tax breaks all the while.:angry:), given that the vast majority of gamers don't seem to understand why they should care.

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Confidential issue #12092

What? I switched to AMD specifically to use drivers that offer a first-class FOSS experience, and to avoid this kind of vague chicanery.

Part of the point of FOSS is, you know, being open about issues! I get paranoid about this crap ever since I first started reading the likes of Brian Krebs and Bruce Schneier years ago.

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I just got to thinking: am I the only one who thinks that this doesn't improve the preservation problem? :huh:

As long as you only receive a license, things won't improve one bit! DRM-free or not, you still lack the ability to preserve it as an individual!:angry:

Proprietary physical media is really no better, ever read the back of a CD/DVD case/game manual? Draconian EULA's need to go the way of the dodo for ownership of media (and therefore, ability to legally preserve it) to really happen; and they won't. :cry:

Sorry if I sound grumpy. The last few weeks have been rough.

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Oh no, no no no no no.:shock::cry:

I'm getting flashbacks to herbs in ADOM! [External Link]

For the record: NO!:tongue:

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Quoting: ElectricPrism

Quoting: TheRiddick

Quoting: sourpuzI demand we be able to print out the source code and preserve it in book form!

Books erode, we should really write it on stone in a cave somewhere, for future generations that will 100% be living in caves. lol

Laser Engraved Data Crystals will do just fine ;P

But what happens when they reach minimum entropy around the degenerate era? As I understand it, They'd have to stretch out to be at least a kiloparsec wide to be readable!

We need to figure out some way to write on the surfaces of electrons; protons might decay, after all!:grin:

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Seeing as I've always found the name of the project to be fightin' words (using "gimp" or "cripple" to describe me, or another physically disabled person, when I'm in earshot is a great way to get me to spew fire-and-brimstone), I've always been of two minds whenever I've used it.

It really helped me out with school projects years ago (circa 2.4), I think it's a great project, and I am happy to see it still plugging along.

But naming it after a one-note gag character in Pulp Fiction, who's also part of a reference to the worst scene in Deliverance (I live in Kentucky, take one guess as to why I hate that movie...), is so way past stupid, it's pathetic.

Before anyone mentions the discontinued Glimpse, I don't agree with forking a project just to change the name. That only fuels the fire that is fragmentation. After a while, I just switched to Krita.

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I just wish the arch-security guys would fix the tracker. It hasn't been updated in a while, and the log's been giving a 500 error, along with a random rude message, for months now.

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