From the US: I’m over 30 and this is the first time I’ve heard surrogacy referred to as human trafficking. And now I need to sit and think.

It’s always felt a little bit creepy to me, but I’ve also never wanted kids and the idea of pregnancy for any reason would be traumatic. So I’m starting out heavily biased. I think if you take the money out, it no longer counts…?

But the idea would be so out of left field that it would mostly be dismissed out of hand, probably even by most women.

That would pretty clearly be the “I picked up a pencil 15 years ago and never put it down.” And it hurts me inside, that anyone would see that and jump to “obviously filtered to hell.” It is exactly this interaction:

Reduced the size of save files by removing summons that don’t exist in the game anymore.

Well, that seems like something that should have been done a long time ago, lmao. Good thing I went with druid first over ranger, it seems.

Fixed Thieves’ Tools in the camp chest or inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp not being accessible when lockpicking.

Ok, taking items from camp, I could see. Talk about useful, and I believe they recently did the same thing with quest items? Which I very much appreciate. Being able to leave that behind should clear up my inventory considerably when I get back to playing.

But…taking things from a non-present companion feels weird in my head. I’m sure I wouldn’t notice it; I give everything to the resident lockpick anyway, so it would just be clearing up stuff I misplaced in the impossible event that they ever run out.

But picturing it does break immersion a little bit. It’s fine, it wouldn’t have any real effect in the moment, it’s just…what an odd choice.

Poor Gale - we know your pain, sometimes it’s easy to read something into a situation that wasn’t there. We’ve sat him down and explained that if someone doesn’t offer him a shoe to eat every time, that doesn’t mean they never will. You’ll find him more likely to stick around now.
. . . .
Gale will no longer permanently leave the party if you don’t offer him any magic items while talking to him – unless you’re abundantly clear that you don’t plan on ever doing so.

Ok, this one I honestly do dislike. I’ve been mildly bothered by every change they’ve made to Gale’s personality, even though I know the one he started out with on release was literally bugged and was never intended to be like that. Because it was also unexpectedly convincing. There weren’t other characters I could think of that were genuinely likable people while also simultaneously being socially inept, grandiose little incels.

I didn’t even notice it until it was talked about online, because how Gale acted in his glitched romance was just how guys always act towards me irl. For the first time, every male gamer had to put up with everything *I* had to put up with, and they hated it, and I loved it. It felt believable. It was hilarious. I felt seen. And then they toned him down because he was bothering the playerbase.

This now, with the items and increasing his hesitation to leave in response to a situation you’re not taking as seriously as he needs it to be taken, this feels like more dumbing down.

This feels an awful lot like avoiding any player unhappiness by making sure it is impossible for anyone to experience a consequence unless they’re dedicated enough to manually and knowingly force it to happen. And that’s not what they initially wanted the game to be.

It still has hundreds upon hundreds of permutations, right down to differences in the inflection of a sentence, and the sheer dedication is boggling. But then they did things like remove any actual drawback to the tadpoles, of all things, because of the idea of unpleasant consequences that players would bitch about.

It is ok to have a character that’s rash and presumptuous because his natural ability has given him an ego that far eclipses his social experience. It’s ok to have a character under such duress that they will make questionable, desperate decisions without consulting anyone, based on their presumptions about the player, whether or not those assumptions are correct.

That is an extremely realistic personality. And one that doesn’t tend to exist, because what if something happens that the player doesn’t like. Real people make choices. Let him have the ability to make stupid ones.

I just assumed because she randomly breaks into dance anyway. Keeping still would definitely be low grade torture and it’s a wonder she didn’t jerk the whole thing out and slap some duct tape over it.

It’s really a mix of both. More heavily the way the site has been for years because people love drama more than anything else. If you want the sweet serotonin of karma, you’ve gotta be simultaneously the funniest, meanest, and most jaded person in the room, and everyone is jockeying for that position.

It just breeds assholes by design. I’ve noticed my own behavior has changed, too, since leaving that place, although partially that’s because I just didn’t want to be like that anymore.

But it really has been noticeably affected since the protests. I was originally trying to stay for one single sub I was in, because they were the kindest, calmest community I’d met since back when forums were a thing.

Just the best group, for reasons none of us really understood and some of us kept trying to find psychological commonalities to explain. Truly 98% of them were people I’d chill with irl and I still know a few on discord. And also here. If you’re reading this, hello!

But the migration away was enough to completely alter the atmosphere imo. A lot of the more conscientious users left for other pastures, leaving behind those that were more neutral or even openly hostile about the protests.

There began to be fights and insults thrown where before this, any aggression had been unusual. The posts took a turn that reflected that feeling and I really stopped bothering with the place after a few months. I’m still a bit sad about it and there are things that I miss, but there just wasn’t enough to hold me anymore. It seemed to increasingly echo every other part of the site.

For the moment, this place is quieter but better. We still get dumb shit every now and then, but it’s not to the same degree and hopefully never will be. As above, I blame the demographic. We’ve grouped all the people with stubborn morals into a little room and it turns out they have things in common. I do miss a couple people I used to see everywhere all the time when kbin first ramped up, but we run in different circles and they’ve gotten lost in the crowd.

And yes, btw, I am also going to name you one of my favorite users to see around. You seem as kind as you are prolific.

I’ve never figured out quite how to get the spoiler tags working on kbin and, even if I had, there seems like there may be some jank between mine and other instances regarding that. An attempt was made, anyway, and at least that one seems like it would be easy-ish to forget until my long-awaited Durge run.

But I can’t even be mad about it because of your name. My liege.

Just making sure that you know you can buy different dyes from the merchants, and a few of them are different shades of pink. Because you really need that shirt and I haven’t come by one naturally, so you’ll probably have to make it.

Gortash and Ketheric need to switch shirts. His was definitely a betrayal and Gortash is definitely male wife material, on top of being the one who finally explained.

Oh, that’s brilliant. Why am I not doing that. I should probably start doing that. Really, I probably need to make myself a “souvenirs” pouch, too, for all the things that hold some sentimental importance.

I’ve just been picking carefully around everything every time I grab stuff to sell, and now I feel like a caveman whose friend has just demonstrated Hit Thing With Rock

I am intrigued that your idea of an icecream chart also includes “shade of butthole”

No gnomes. No Vlaakith. No steel watch. Not even the strange ox. Disappointing. Don’t make me do this myself.

Otherwise known as: “what if everyone’s abusive ex ran the government?”

For context, earlier this week Hasbro (owner of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering) announced that it would be laying off 1,100 employees as a way to “modernize our organization and get even leaner”. Not soon after, it was revealed that an avalanche of employees from both D&D and MTG had been laid off.

In an investor meeting in October this year, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks specifically mentions Baldur’s Gate 3 as a contributing factor for a 40% increase in digital gaming revenue, alongside Monopoly Go! and Magic: The Gathering.

Well yeah, obviously you gotta fire whoever was the cause of a 40% increase in revenue, otherwise that could even raise to 50%. Where would it end?

Always safer to go with what you know: letting the ravenous mob desperate to throw money at you know just as soon as possible that you’re taking steps to remove anything they liked about your product.

Do you think they can get lean enough to break even in their future?

I’m not even convinced it’s out of character for her to do that. What’s a strong, independent warrior that sneaks jello-legged around a simple tiny explosion

I’ll admit, there have been multiple times recently I’ve started to wonder if he’s somehow a pod person. And he’s…certainly one to speak, as a national representative.

But as much as it irks me, I’d rather admit to common ground than find myself sacrificing my own morals on the basis that I don’t like who said it.

Astarion standing loudly silent in the background while Gale awkwardly rambled about adrenaline and how big and sweaty my muscles were apropos of nothing felt utterly appropriate. It’s not my favorite screenshot, but it is secretly up there.

It can be a little stressful even for me. And yes, the inventory management is atrocious btw, it’s a common complaint.

Like someone else mentioned, you can always pay a little to respec if you find out a character doesn’t have the stats to do what you’re wanting/what they’re built to do. That does require gold, and it is something that needs to be read up on and ultimately taken for a test ride to see if it’s even fun for you. That many options can feel really daunting.

But I think with enough cleverness, the game can be won with almost anything. Just last night, I watched a playthrough of a guy who had challenged himself to beat the game without killing anyone or manipulating anyone else to kill them for him, and he did it.

Whole game. The only NPC he had no way around personally harming could still be knocked out and left alive. He tricked the end boss into murdering itself through careful use of explosive barrels and he himself never fired a shot — a super cheesy fighting tactic common enough that the term “barrelmancy” is a thing.

I’m not gonna say there won’t be reloads, but there are a multitude of ways to handle most if not all altercations. Some things can be talked out of, or allies sought to help.

If not, it could be a huge, horrible fight taken head-on for the awful fun of it, or you could sneak up and thunderwave them into a hole and be done with it. Covertly poison the lot. Command them to drop their own weapon and then take it, and giggle while they flail their fists at you. Cast light on the guy with a sun sensitivity and laugh harder at their own personal hell.

You could sneak around back and take the high ground, triggering the battle by firing the first shot from a vantage point the enemy will take 4 rounds to reach through strategically placed magical spikes.

I passed one particularly worrying trial by just turning the most powerful opponent into a sheep until every other enemy was dead and I could gang up on them. Cleared another fight sitting entirely in the rafters where they had trouble hitting me, and shoved them to their death when one found a way up.

Going straight into a battle is the most expected way to do it, but there are usually shenanigans that can be played, is what I’m saying. Accept with grace the attempts that don’t work. If the rules of engagement seem unfair, change the rules.

If it helps any, the game does also reward xp fairly generously. Just reaching new/hidden areas grants a little bit, to say nothing of side quests.

That guy I was talking about, the one that finished with zero kills, ended the game at level 10. The level cap is 12. That was all just wandering around, doing stuff that didn’t require fighting.

Know which stat each class mainly uses and focus on that. Do not make the mages wear armor, it is not a happy fun experience. Beyond that, be clever and moderately lucky with your cleverness. You’ll be fine.

It’s a lot to get used to and does take time to be familiar with all your options, but I started out not very far above where you sound like you are. You do get used to it if you take your time, and I’m certain most people would be overjoyed to help.

I’m not so sure. I’ve not played the first two to be able to measure between them, but I do recall thinking that if I hadn’t been so into watching videos of other peoples’ dnd campaigns, I would be so helplessly far out of my depth.

As it was, I was already struggling a little bit with which class was best for my likely playstyle. Who can use what armor, why, and what happens when they don’t. What skills go with what stats. The general info they don’t have a need to go over when you’re not the one at the table.

Those aren’t things OP would know enough about to even know they don’t know, so I’m glad they have someone helping them. I don’t consider myself anything remotely resembling intelligent and they’re starting out with less. For being easily one of the best things I’ve played in years, it would feel impossibly daunting for a noob

The post can, yeah. The predictability with which all posts or comments containing the word “Google” will have several responses underneath evangelizing Firefox almost certainly will not, after it exceeds a point it very clearly routinely exceeds.

Not because you guys are wrong, (you’re not), but because you’re annoying, which is almost as bad. There is something in psychology called reactance theory, and it’s the reason why, when you’re just about to do the dishes and then someone else tells you to do them, it’s suddenly the last thing on earth you want to do.

It is a choice so small it isn’t worth arguing over, but it’s no longer your choice born out of your own free will, and now you feel cheated and resentful and you are not doing it, both out of spite and more truthfully to regain your sense of choice.

This is the same reason everyone hates vegans so much. They’re not wrong. They’re annoying. Firefox has vegan PR.

I held off listening to Hamilton for three years for no other reason than nobody else I met would shut the goddamn fuck up about Hamilton. Same with the TV version of Good Omens, whatever stupid cartoon jester thing has been in a third of the memes lately, and a hundred other things.

I am very likely to switch over to Firefox myself in the ever-nearing future. That ice is breaking. But it will not be because a bunch of strangers whined at me over my own choices for over a decade. It will be because the cons of whatever Google, Windows, etc. have done finally outweigh the pros of not having to exert effort to maintain my experience.

It bears consideration that in the meantime, Firefox users have a tendency not to even read the several duplicate comments before they start jacking off into them, not uncommonly in a way that’s loudly judgemental towards their own target audience.

The resultant spam cements a mental association between Firefox, the brand and the feeling of being annoyed and insulted. Don’t be those vegans. If I had to think, be like the art community treats Adobe. Fuck Adobe, but I’m not just gonna overload someone with aggressive pompousity who’s only using the industry default.

The thing about it is, his isn’t even the most uninteresting storyline. His whole and only deal is literally “guy who can’t get over his abusive ex” and it’s still more riveting than whatever they did to Wyll.

For real, though, if the Elminster in this scene is illusory (and it is), where did my food go?