I'm not very far in yet, but BG3 is the closest to D&D 5E tabletop that we're going to get. It monkeys with established Forgotten Realms lore a little, but BG1-2 did that as well. Not to the degree WotC did with 4th edition (aka PnP for the MMO generation). Thank goodness, grayer beards prevailed.

The story reminds me more of Demon Stone [External Link] than any other Realms game, really. (A very good action game, oddly not an RPG. If you liked LotR: The Two Towers on the PS2/Xbox. Patrick Stewart voiced Blackstaff [External Link] in that game. Michael Clark Duncan voiced Y'Gorl [External Link]. Khelben sounded pretty good for ~900-1100!)

A few things I'm not happy about are the level cap not going to at least 16-18, as that's when you gain access to some of the most fun (read overpowered) abilities. Maybe we'll get another Throne of Bhaal?

No patron deity for Paladins? Drow pigeonholed into Lolth-worshipers and Seladrine syncophants? Svirfneblin without half their abilities? And that's just what I've noticed so far!

Spoiler, click me

Elminster's only here as a magical construct?:cry: What the Avernus! Obviously ruined forever! :tongue:

I mean BG2:ToB let us break 20 and even implemented Wish if I remember correctly (I've never played a wizard PC in BG1-2.).

But it is easily the best CRPG released in the last couple of years. It's easily on par with DA:O, if not quite BG2, in my mind.

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Finally, a (miniscule 10%) discount on BG3! Meaning, I can feel no shame making this my slightly-belated birthday gift to myself! Once more into Faerûn I go, it seems! As one might surmise by my avatar, I'm a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms in general. I used to spend hours reading the Candlekeep [External Link] forums.

I also picked up another copy of Mass Effect Legendary Edition for $5.99. (I already own the originals on console.) That is a fantastic deal, if you can put up with Origin/EA launcher shenanigans (*cough* which you can get around *cough*).

I also picked up Crystal Project, which had been languishing in my wishlist for years. There's only so many JRPGs one can play at once, after all.

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Quoting: GroganFarming Simulator lol

I've got a funny story about that. We've got a Walmart Superstore here in town. The surrounding area is rural, with a lot of farms. Some bright minded exec sent shelves and shelves of Farming Simulator boxed games, yet no latest Call of Duty titles and stuff that people actually wanted.

You just described my own rather small town here in Kentucky.

Our biggest claim to fame was a textile factory that closed down (and the jobs went with it, nearly killed the economy) years before finally burning down.

Walmart and Kroger's are literally the only places people can shop for certain things, and run any other prospective stores out of town. I hate it!

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Quoting: Phlebiac

Quoting: redneckdrownever dated... virtue of having the full use of only one arm

There must be at least one inappropriate joke there...

:grin: Walked right in to that one, didn't I?

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Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: redneckdrowNot to mention that ephemeral crap such as skin pricing is beyond predatory. I've never bought any "skins" for any game, and never will, and $25 is a good reason why! They aren't "micro" transactions at all at this point!

Criminently, they must think my mama named me Nutsy!

By the way, Blizzard Hospitii delendum est!

You may not be willing to buy a skin for $25, but obviously enough other people are for Blizzard to consider it to their advantage to keep it at that price.

It's like this: would you rather sell a $5 cosmetic item to 100 people, or a $25 cosmetic item to 25 people?

Obviously, that's just good business sense. It's the people that buy the stuff that make playing any popular game a chore for anyone over the age of majority with two brain cells to rub together.

Let me be clear, I wouldn't buy either purely cosmetic or pay-to-win stuff at any price. I never bought the horse-armor in Oblivion! Darn it, Jim, I have principles!

Giving in just feeds the problem.

Also, the fact that most of the stuff is aimed at age groups typically without an understanding of the words "financial restraint" or "budget" galls me.

But really, that's a societal problem, huh? I'm scared to how bad it will be by the time I have kids. (Yes, I'm the 30-ssomething who's never dated. :tongue: Mainly by virtue of having the full use of only one arm and being unable to drive, and the fact I haven't met the right girl yet. But I'll figure all that out in due time.)

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Not to mention that ephemeral crap such as skin pricing is beyond predatory. I've never bought any "skins" for any game, and never will, and $25 is a good reason why! They aren't "micro" transactions at all at this point!

Criminently, they must think my mama named me Nutsy!

By the way, Blizzard Hospitii delendum est!

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Quoting: Mountain ManAs the saying goes, capitalism is a terrible economic system; it just happens to be better than every other economic system that's been tried.

Precisely what I was getting at. When unbridled, Capitalism is just as bad as any other. But then, it's not really Capitalism at that point, its Rand's vision of individualism.

Everything can go pear-shaped no matter what government is in power.

Quoting: Arehandoro

Quoting: redneckdrowSigh, the older I get, the more I understand that unscrupulous tactics are the main pitfall of Capitalist/Free-Market economy. Yet, though it may be scummy, I'd take a scummy free-market over any other form of market.

And that is based on personal experience with other form of market or simply from what you've heard on TV?

More like a lifetime's worth of books on the subjects of both economics and government. From Machiavelli's The Prince to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations to Marx's Communist Manifesto to Rand's The Fountainhead (Did I mention that I detest that one? Ayn Rand claimed to support individualism, but really just used philosophy as an excuse to be self-important.).

If I had used TV as a source, I'd have immediately flunked the class. No television program or periodical is truthful about its creators' views on either economics or politics. Even pundits own opinions change with the weather. You can't even trust written material by a pundit to be the truth as they see it.

However, by reading various authors differing (and oft verbose) opinions, I can inform my own, and maybe gain an understanding with others.

It's the same reason I've read other holy books besides The Bible. I like knowing about other peoples and cultures. Having already been a fan of Journey to the West, I actually enjoyed reading Ramayana.

Just because I can't afford College/University doesn't mean I don't seek to better myself.

Quoting: ArehandoroEeehhh nope.

I'm no expert, and I've never claimed to be. I'd be happy to have a civil debate with you or anyone else on an appropriate forum. Mostly because I know my own tendency to be long-winded, I'm not going to turn a comment section into an off-topic, pages long, debate.

We're here because we have a shared love of gaming on our favorite kernel, and I'd rather never comment again as make even one person angry. I apologize if I have.

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Quoting: Grogan

Quoting: EhvisAnd nothing of value was lost.

Yeah, it's not a CEO that does the work... only implements policies to make investors/shareholders money. This is not necessarily aligned with making good products.

I mean, Ayn Rand was less self-absorbed than your average CEO these days. Sigh, the older I get, the more I understand that unscrupulous tactics are the main pitfall of Capitalist/Free-Market economy. Yet, though it may be scummy, I'd take a scummy free-market over any other form of market.

Extremes in any form of market are terrible, no matter who that market is controlled by.

I had to write a paper on Free vs Closed vs Single vs "Post-Free" markets as a teenager, and my A.P. Government and Politics teacher gave me an extension after I showed her the first six (Unspaced! :dizzy: ) pages. It was double that before I was done. I have never had that much to say on a topic since. I went way beyond the assignment, because I went "down the rabbit hole" as it were; I've been burned out on writing for nearly a decade-and-a-half since.

Spoiler, click me

Apropos of nothing, and without revealing too much else, I also happened to pass three A.P. exams that year. I still haven't gone to College (University to you folks across the pond), but if-and-when I do, I'll have quite a few classes that I won't have to take. I never want to touch College Algebra again; it was all I could do to get a B- in that class! I still dream about polynomials and imaginary numbers! :cry:

Capitalist, Communist, Republican, Monarchist, Oligarchic, Theocratic, Fascist, and Anarchist economies all have things that make economics equally nightmarish. Not to mention that any of those governments can any/multiples of those economies, irrespective of their politics.

Doesn't mean I have to tolerate scummy CEOs! My grandfather was a member of Local 89 his whole life! He even paid his dues every year after he retired! I'll be a union man 'til the day I die and stand judged. Power to the people!

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No way, I am not playing any game that could decide to delete my single-player save from its servers.

Or just the fact that I need a web connection at all to play single-player!

In my day, we had to walk 15 miles through the snow to plug our modems in for dial-up at 99 cents a minute! Even a few years later, it still took an hour to download Macromedia Shockwave updates! :tongue: :old man at 3X grumbles in a corner:

Seriously, in my area, a stable connection is still not always a sure thing. My ISP used to go down once a day, until recently. There's a reason I haven't used a 4k screen yet! (That, and I can't really see much difference from 1080p.)

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Quoting: Marlock

Quoting: redneckdrowHey, it's made with love2d [External Link]! I'm a'gonna see if I can get it to run natively.

Edit: Yup running

 
love moonring.exe

seems to Just Work™:woot::woot::woot::woot::woot:!

Time to nag the dev to support linux officially, then!
The work is done, just need to be made official, LOL!

I did just that, by creating a discussion [External Link] on the forum, now that you thought of bugging them! :grin:

Also thanks for all the likes guys! My initial post might be the most likes I've gotten on any site!:cry::heart::wub:

We might not know each other irl, but we're all one big penguin-shaped family! Bless y'all.

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