BenS's page

A lot of people complain about their DLC scheme, but honestly guys, its just the JRPG market trying to mimic the West. Look at ME2: There are like 4 DLC which are fleshing out other characters, and little more than half a dozen missions each. Take the 8 or so DLC for Dragon Age, same boat. Criticizing XIII-2 for using our traditional western money grab method of expansion is a bit pot-kettle.

Two wrongs don't make a right. No matter how much I've enjoyed a game--and to be on the record, ME2 became my favorite video game of all time, toppling Deus Ex--I have never, and never will, go for the money grab of DLC.

What I could contemplate is something akin to the old "expansion packs", downloaded digitally, warranting paying extra for. But they would need to be massive, and of very high quality.

Am I in the minority among gamers? I have no idea, but it's a line in the sand I'm not willing to cross. So I hope the Japanese don't emulate the Western gaming trend too much in that direction. It's bad enough most of my favorite JPRGs are simply not being made any more for actual consoles (if at all). I'd hate to have to give up FF too b/c they thought it would be cool to do an "Alan Wake" episodic treatment.

Off my soapbox, I'm glad you're enjoying the game. Is the monster hunting/collecting similar to DragonQuest VIII (?)? If so, that could be cool.

I just played XIII last month; finished main plot and did all but a handful of the most difficult Marks at the end. So in a way, I was primed to jump into this one. But even though it supposedly fixes a lot of the complaints about XIII, I'll wait until the price is halved before buying it.

Why? Reviews have noted it is significantly shorter than any FF game has a right to be. About 30 hours for the main quest?! Yes, like XIII, that doesn't end the game, but w/ XIII I didn't finish the main quest until well past 60-70 hours.

Another thing that annoys me: DLC to come to pad out the stories of different characters. There's no way I'm paying extra for something that should already be in the game. Especially a shorter than reasonable (for a FF) game.

I'll check the price again come summer. In the meantime, I hope those who have it now, enjoy it.

Does anyone have Greg's direct email? Is the Root of Evil a free wotc 3.5 adventure?

Thanks

Mike

"Root of Evil" came from Dungeon #122, so, no, it's not free I'm afraid.

I don't have Greg's direct email either. Sorry, nothing but bad news!

Thanks for that!

Dave, I just searched the forums for your latest post, hoping you will come back to this thread to see this message.

I sacrificed Eola, who follows you after completing the Namira Daedric quest.

I did the exact same thing. Then put the Ebony Mail on my companion (I played a mage).

But I never used the ring. Too disturbing to think about, even in a fantasy game.

@Damon Griffin - My understanding is that Nick believes he's paid back most everyone who has requested a refund. My opinion is that he knows he hasn't paid back everyone who gave him money.

Gosh, I'm one of the few unlucky ones who didn't make the cut. Despite numerous emails and promises to refund my money.

I can only hope he has paid back most everyone who requested refunds. But somehow I highly doubt that he has.

These threads and resurrections of older threads just pain me, b/c they raise a spark of hope that I'll see my money returned, only to have it snuffed out every time.

Done w/ 1st character playthrough. Stopped at 55th level b/c I was at the point of diminishing returns. Somehow I managed over 220 hours of play, and left entire quest lines untouched.

I'll be able to streamline a 2nd playthrough w/ a different character type as now I know, just as an example, which Daedric quests I want/need and which I can ignore.

I'll also do the main quest to completion much earlier, get all the Dragon Masks earlier, and do the Companions line of quests; likely in addition to the Mage quests.

Biggest decision will be whether to go light armor or heavy armor.

But now I need a break.

I will note something odd.... if you don't want to deal with Dragons while doing lots of side quests and exploring, simply don't talk to the Jarl of Whiterun about the dragon attack. Basically stop the main plot as soon as you leave Helgan. With my Khajiit thief I've already done the Thieves Guild quest, will be starting the Dark Brotherhood soon, and likely side with the Stormcloaks for kicks, all without seeing a dragon beyond the first one.

** spoiler omitted **

That's a viable choice to be sure, but for me, one of the pleasures of this game is using the Dragon Shouts. No dragons, no dragon shouts essentially.

Also, unlike, say, Oblivion, I think the main quest rewards you more for doing it sooner rather than later. It's also broken into thirds, so you can pace yourself. I did the 1st 3rd early and then waited very late in the game to resume. I won't do that for my 2nd playthrough.

All that said, there comes a time when you're just sick and tired of endless dragon attacks. Certain areas get attacked more than others. College of Winterhold waaay too much for my taste.

You might try entering a building and waiting a number of hours. I tried this once and the dragon was gone when I re-exited.

I will actually go and double-check that. I have both a Legendary set of both sets of Heavy Armors and see which is statistically better.

Personally just went for the Dragonplate simply because [boop] YEAH, DRAGON PLATE! ..... That, and I had over a hundred pieces each of Dragon Bone and Dragon Scales lying about in my Whiterun Storehouse.

Edit: No, you are correct. Daedric Armor at (Legendary) level has around 20 points of armor bonus on a character with both the Matching Set and Well Fitted perks (25% bonus to Armor bonus for each perk) and 4/5 perks in Juggernaut.

Also, while Badass in both stats and appearance, I can't help but feel like a Paladin in Unholy Full Plate wandering around in that stuff...

I believe (working from memory) the top AC is w/ Heavy Armor, at 567 pts. Whatever the actual #, it equates to 85% resistance to physical damage. Just like you can't get better than 85% magic resistance in the game.

W/ that in mind, around a 20 point differential is not that meaningful. Go for whatever feels right for your character. I'm w/ you on the Daedric = Anti-paladin badass, though. I have it on Mjoll, my follower. The only thing I don't like about it is her face is obscured.

FINALLY leveled my Smithing to Maximum at level 40. Dragon Plate and Scale armor acquired, now to get rid of this ton of Dragon pieces littering my Whiterun Storehouse.....

Malacath's TEETH this stuff looks awesome. My only complaint is the back of the legs of the Dragonbone Plate Armor is that the defenses there are ... what looks like two thigh-bones from a Halfing on my thighs and some manky-looking fur on the back of my calves.

That said, with Smithing 100 and my Heavy Armor Skill maxed out, nothing short of an Archmage or a Dragon is a threat to me anymore. Kinda ... sad, but standing there punching things to death as their daedric weapons just bounce right off me is still incredibly hilarious.

I believe for Heavy Armor users, Daedric Armor offers better protection than Dragon Plate. Though for Light Armor users, Dragon Scale armor is definitely tops.

Is this just a symbolic thing for you, to wear the dragon armor, or do you contend it offers the best protection?

Best armor in the game:

BenS wrote:

Question for those of you using companions: does everyone just use Lydia from Whiterun? I ask b/c I did until recently, thinking all companions are created equally (at least of the same skill set). But after using a 2-h specialist (Mjoll the Lioness from Riften), I can't help but think she's tougher than Lydia, who got the crap beat out of her far too often--and she even had a shield for better protection.

From what I've heard, the level of your allies is set based on your level when you first encounter them - so Lydia, who most people encounter earlier in the game, tends to end up weaker than most other possible companions.

I don't believe that's true. Your companions level and improve like you do, they just don't pick perks. Though your theory would certainly account for my problems w/ Lydia.

I think the Cohorts/Companions are at different levels, but it also depends upon what you were doing. While there is a 'leveling system' at work in the game, generating stronger and weaker monsters depending upon your actions and levels, I believe the Cohorts/Companions level as you do.

also, are you equipping your companions with gear? Their base-level stuff is fairly crap, for the most part, although something-or-other the Steel Heart (Orc Female, MAH WAIFU!) refused to use any of the (Superior) Orcish Armor I made her except for Boots, Helmet and Shield, but leaped at the chance to wear all of my Ebony Armor.

In fully (Legendary) Ebony Plate, Lydia the Packmule, whom I am convinced is derived from Henchmen stock, enchanted to improve her One-Handed *Gauntlets*, Heavy Armor *Chest*, Block *shield*, Archery *helmet*, Fire Resistance *Ring* and Frost resistance *Necklace* She could pretty much solo a Giant when my character was at level 30-ish.

I'm talking 2 different companions w/ identical (mostly Daedric) armor, and the only difference being whether they're 1-h + shield (Lydia) or 2-h (Mjoll). Each had some enchantments to boost weapon damage (necklaces) etc. Though I haven't done too much w/ enchanting b/c you can buy, find, get rewarded w/ stuff every bit as good as you can enchant, and I'm starting to think I've wasted perks in Enchantment altogether...

Anyway, let me narrow my original question: are there players using mage-type followers instead of the default 1-h or 2-h weapon types? I'm planning a more fighter/mage type for my next playthrough, so I don't necessarily need a pure melee fighter as a companion.

The 1.3 patch is out for PC, should follow next week for 360 & PS3. This fixes the 2 glitches introduced in 1.2 (some dragons fly backwards--I haven't seen it personally; and no magic resistance--my poor Breton is experiencing this now, as I have a 360).

Question for those of you using companions: does everyone just use Lydia from Whiterun? I ask b/c I did until recently, thinking all companions are created equally (at least of the same skill set). But after using a 2-h specialist (Mjoll the Lioness from Riften), I can't help but think she's tougher than Lydia, who got the crap beat out of her far too often--and she even had a shield for better protection.

Latest patch news:

In the near term, Bethesda is planning to release an incremental update for the game next week, fixing issues with the calculation of magic damage and dragons that fly in reverse. That patch will debut on the PC first, with Xbox 360 and PS3 versions following later in the week. The developer pledged to release a steady stream of updates for the game after the holiday season, rebalancing difficulty and addressing exploits as they emerge.

I'm a norse sword and board. Level 35. I concentrated on smithing, one handed, heavy armor, blocking and a couple perks in archery.

...

I use practically no magic at all other than scrolls that i pick up and the occassional heal.

What do you primarily melee types do for light in caves & dungeons where it's frequently fairly dark? Sure you can mostly see your way around, but I'd think you'd miss chests, urns, ore deposits, etc. w/out a good source of light. I know you can have a lantern in 1 hand, but that seems an imperfect solution once a fight breaks out.

I use the better of the 2 light spells (Magelight?) in the Alteration school religiously b/c I don't want to miss anything. It's also great for revealing trap plates/stones (and rune traps) before I step on them, and can draw aggro from a distance and allow me to prepare. Obviously not what a Sneak-based character would do, but...

I wish we could enchant a weapon to produce light.

BenS wrote:

Another problem w/ Destruction spells--especially area-of-effect like Fireball--is that you can end up killing your follower. So keep that in mind. I'd be curious how many others have had this worry to deal w/.

It was probably the biggest thing hindering me... until I had a 'Doh!' moment and realized I could gear up my companion with Shock Resistance so that Chain Lightning (usually) just bounces off of her. And suddenly I could spam death at hordes of enemies once again!

Don't know why I didn't think of that, but this character build will not be the great Destruction magic specialist. I'll leave that for a future PC. Thanks for the suggestion.

BenS wrote:

Now if they can work on fixing why Lydia resorts to her damned Hunting Bow instead of the Legendary Daedric Bow I crafted for her...

Just take it away from her.

I can't. It's her default gear, and doesn't show up to swap out.

Pro-tip for people starting this game, Either level Archery or Destruction schools. You will NEED strong ranged combat abilities. Other than that, go for whatever you want.

If it needs pointing out, I'd say your PC doesn't technically need ranged combat abilities, as Conjuration specialist mages can choose melee or ranged creatures to summon. Plus you do have a follower who can help out as well.

Just wanted to point out there's a 3rd option available. I've never fired a single arrow in this game, and my Destruction spells are no higher than Adept, I think. They don't do much damage w/out the perks I've found, though blowing apart a skeleton w/ a Fireball never gets old. But against leveled opponents...not so much.

Another problem w/ Destruction spells--especially area-of-effect like Fireball--is that you can end up killing your follower. So keep that in mind. I'd be curious how many others have had this worry to deal w/.

PS3 patch out today; comes out Wednesday for both Xbox & PC. Here's the list of fixes fyi:

Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player's wedding dead
Dragon corpses now clean up properly
Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)

"After releasing the 1.2 update, we will continue to monitor forums, blogs, etc. for issues you are reporting, and we will keep you updated on further updates to improve your gameplay experience," Bethesda stated. "Thanks for playing Skyrim."

Of these, only 2 had been problems for me (dragon corpses & not giving me their souls 1-2 times only). Now if they can work on fixing why Lydia resorts to her damned Hunting Bow instead of the Legendary Daedric Bow I crafted for her...

Glitch/warning: if you upgrade your home, don't use the weapon racks! I put Keening there, and luckily I don't want to use it for this character. When I came back to the home, it was lying at the bottom of the weapon rack, but you can't retrieve it at all.

Doesn't Skyrim feel like a nice blend of Golarion's Irrisen, Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and Realms of the Mammoth Lords?

I love how the Draugr Scourges use Dragon Shouts (Unrelenting Force I believe) on you, which sound great echoing through the crypts you're invariably in when you fight them.

The Forsworn: poor Celt-analogues just don't realize yet...Skyrim is for the Nords!

I'll probably save the Civil War quests for last, and do this character as a Stormcloak. If I play again, I'll be an Imperial sympathizer. But there's still a million and one things to do before I worry about that.

Kudos to Bethesda for providing shortcuts to escape large dungeon complexes w/out incessant and interminable backtracking from the endpoint.

I seem to be rambling. Sorry.

Anyone maxed out a Skill yet? I've maxed out Smithing & Conjuration (nothing else is even close). A few observations for those contemplating these.

Smithing: a Master can finally craft Dragon armor, either in Light or Heavy variations. The Light version is clearly the pinnacle of Light Armor, but not so the Heavy variation, where Daedric armor still offers better protection (and looks cooler, let's face it), which you can get at Smithing 90. Though if that matters to you, Daedric armor is slightly heavier.

Since I'm playing a full mage, I won't be wearing any Dragon armor, and I'm keeping Lydia in Daedric armor. So I don't think I needed to Master Smithing (or at least pick the perk when I got there). Should I play again, it will be a Magus-type, and I will get the perks for both Light & Heavy Armor, so I can keep myself (Light) and my companion (Heavy) fully geared up. While my mage gear is great for lots of Magicka and its regeneration, getting 1-shotted by an arrow from a Draugr Deathlord was not fun :/

There's an alternate route to Daedric armor, by the way, that doesn't involve traditional smithing. A more mage-friendly route is all I'll say for now.

Conjuration: awesome sauce and more of it when I got the Master perk of Twin Souls. Which means I can run around w/ 2 separate (augmented) Dremora Lords, plus my companion. Oh. My. Goodness. For those of you not comfortable w/ getting up close & personal in your fights, this is a great way to go.

Random scenes I've enjoyed recently, or that moved me:

Playfully chasing after a fox, only to have a snowy sabre-tooth lion appear and crush it w/ 1 vicious swipe. Needless to say, I avenged the cute fox.

The varied environments, both indoors and outdoors, in this game are quite breathtaking. Weather effects, changing as they do, only add to this.

I think I had the same drawn-out Dragon fight as Mikaze did above. I was willing to let it go, but when it picked a fight w/ a Mudcrab, the kid-gloves came off! Speaking of mudcrabs, how awesome would it be to have a full suit of Mudcrab Chitin armor! Ok, not really, but it would be funny. Like maybe a Daedric quest reward.

Some glitches I would like to go away: my Companion using clearly inferior weapons (bows!) when I've already given her better versions of the same weapon; dragons dying but not burning up and giving me their souls (yes, this could sound strange to someone unfamiliar w/ this game...); the floppy dragon skeletons that won't go away.

There should be a console patch next week, fyi, and a PC patch to follow.

My only real glitches are spazzing dragon skeletons that flop around, or appear halfway in a building. But they disappear as well.

30th level, and only had 2 restart (Xbox) freezes. Everything else is minor stuff.

Kicking myself for waiting so long to use my Dragon Shouts, of which there are plenty left to find.

An addendum to my smithing comments earlier; not only do you get more $ for selling off improved gear you don't need, and improve your Smithing skill along the way, you'll also improve your Speech skill from the constant selling...

Alternately, you could buy/mine all the Iron ore that's ever available, get that Transmute (Alteration) special spell, transmute iron>silver>gold ore, smelt into gold ingots, forge gold necklaces (or better w/ the right gems), and have a never-ending profit stream. Thereby improving Speech at the same time.

Anyone else running w/ a Conjurer specialist? I'm now summoning Darth Maul (aka a Dremora Lord) for HTH fights, and a Storm Atronach for ranged fights. Dragon fights inevitably begin w/ the latter and move to the former.

So far my Dremora Lords are my favorite NPCs. Their taunts and boasts as they go running around hacking things to bits are hilarious.

Favorite and arguably most important skill in the game: Smithing. Even though I'm a full mage w/ essentially no armor, I do my best to keep Lydia (Whiterun) in the best heavy metal gear, and now I can even improve the magical stuff. Awesome.

She started out w/ 1-handed weapons & shield, but if I equip her w/ a 2-hander that does more base damage, she swaps that out. Sometimes I leave it alone, but sometimes I fiddle w/ what she should be bearing.

No problems (a la Fallout: New Vegas) of a companion disappearing, and she carries a fair amount of loot for me during dungeon crawls. Another benefit to being a mage w/ little armor is that I can devote time to carrying loot as well.

Some of my favorite non-conjuration spells: Water Breathing & Transmute! Get iron ore and boost it to silver > gold ore, smelt into ingots, forge jewelry...hello profit + boost your Alteration skill as well.

I love the Dragon Shouts, though I often forget to use them in the heat of battle.

This game is a blast and then some. An insane amount of things to do and places to go. I'm about 13th-14th level w/ my Breton mage, and I'm still just exploring Whiterun. One of 9 different Holds.

Best character death: be outside, let a Giant hit you w/ that massive club. Enjoy your trip into the stratosphere!

Playing on an Xbox, and so far only had 1 major glitch where I had to shut down and restart the machine. Happened around 9th level I think, and luckily I had just left a dungeon so there was an autosave I could come back to and not lose progress.

This book is a perfect blend of Todd's typically great, flavorful writing and some absolutely gorgeous art.

Homerun!

Thanks to Zaister & Shem for proving I wasn't making that up, about getting emails telling us a new chapter was out. Which stopped after a certain, indeterminate point.

Anyway. I'm done carping. I do enjoy the product very much, and I guess I'll just find out from places like these boards when a new chapter comes out. Only 3 more to go after all.

Thanks.

Add me to the list of subscribers not getting any emails w/ links when a new chapter comes out. I've had to bug Bill Webb a few times, and the last time he sent me something, b/c he had a virus on his Yahoo account, I'm stuck getting spam for eternity, even through my spam filter.

I don't understand where or why the breakdown in emails occurred, but it's annoying when you preorder the whole package and then have to scrounge around on the internet to find the latest chapter.

I understand also this isn't Paizo's problem, but there was a thread so I decided to vent...

Nice to see something new from Steve Greer. Looking forward to it.

I appreciate that, thank you Liz. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I just read the Nightstalker entry in Undead Revisited the other day, which was also written by Todd Stweart.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!

and if BoD3 is even half as good as that entry, this is going to be an utterly amazing book that will devour all our souls :)

Might I recommend Todd's magnum opus for Paizo: The Great Beyond. In the off-chance you don't own it already, you should treat yourself to one of my all-time favorite Paizo books.

Just remember that wisdom check can be helped with owls wisdom so that it's impossible to fail. Barring a natural 1.

That's a good tip, b/c my cleric's Wis is only 16, so she could fail that Wis check on a 1-2 right now. Looks like I'd better make good use of my Brew Potion feat to carry around an Owl's Wisdom potion or two.

Bump.

Well, 10 months later and a handful of these preorders remain just that, w/ no release dates.

Specifically:
Epic II
Heroic III
Paragon II
Paragon III

I preordered these on 5/31/11. Now I'm starting to worry I'll never see them, as a few of the earlier ones are listed as "discontinued".

Anyone have any updated information or guesstimates?

I lost a character to trying to cast a higher level spell off a scroll. Tried to cast Stone to Flesh in order to save a family that had been turned to stone. I was able to cast 2nd or 3rd level spells at the time. A tough roll but not impossible. Well I rolled a natural 1 for the caster check and another natural 1 for the Wis check. GM ruled that I fried my brain. I had to roll up another character and the group needed to find someone else to cast the spell.

That's a bit harsh. Couldn't your fellow party members have pooled their resources for a Heal spell? A scroll is only 1650 gp, so I don't think it would cost much more (if anything) to have an NPC cleric cast that. Unless you were in the equivalent of Timbuktu and couldn't get to such a healer...

Awesome. I had about given up on seeing any more of these.

Ok, thanks. Looks like I only needed a 6 or higher on D20, or a 75% chance to cast that 5th level spell from the scroll. I thought I needed a 14 or higher, or a 35% chance. I actually rolled a "17" so it worked out...

Looks like I can be a little more adventurous w/ the higher level scroll spells, and stop hoarding them until I'm higher level!

This is a bit embarrassing, 10+ years into 3x., but here goes.

Somehow I've avoided situations where I needed to cast a spell from a scroll that was higher level than I could normally cast. Looked through the relevant sections in the PH, DMG & Rules Compendium. Still seems to confound me.

Here's my example. Mystic Theurge (cleric 3, wizard 3, mystic theurge 1) means I'm a 4th level wizard for this purpose. I find a scroll of Teleport (5th level spell), presumably scribed by a 9th level caster.

What do I roll to see if I can cast this scroll spell? Am I rolling 1d20 + 4 (pretty sure), and more importantly, what is the DC? 11 (base) + 9 (level cast) = 20??

Don't have any forbidden schools...

EDIT: and if I fail that roll, is the spell still on the scroll, or ruined/cast??

the two pawn sizes from the Beginner Box sheets are also fine, we don't need true/perfect scale for cardboard pawns.

I was w/ you and the others up to this point. If I were to buy pawns, they'd absolutely have to scale for the battlemat (i.e., medium-sized are 1" base). I could live w/ them being upright as opposed to the tons of flat die-cut tokens I already use; but the sizes need to match up.

If that can be done, add me to this growing chorus of fans of these sold separately.

Awesome. Can't wait for this!

Wow, thanks for the replies guys. I might buy The Final Wish just for that reason, the articles sound like they could be pretty interesting.

I highly recommend this issue of PF. Not only is that article on the Spawn well-done, it's got some cool art. In addition, the Bestiary covers CR 14-22. Xotani the Firebleeder is CR 20, fyi, and is the last entry; and one of my all-time favorite Paizo art pieces is Ahriman, Lord of the Divs (CR 22), also statted up.

Check here.

Thanks so much for that link. I'm playing a warlock now, and it gave me some good ideas for future planning.

BenS wrote:

I started another thread not knowing about this one.

I've gone to get the Thawte root certificate(s) from their site Vic linked to, but you can tell I'm clueless b/c now I have 2 .pem.html files on my desktop, and when I open them, it's just gibberish.

I don't know how to actually "install" these root certificates, or even if I should be installing these .html versions.

I even tried putting them into my hard disk icon (don't laugh). Still the same invalid server certificate message when I post here. They're currently residing back on my desktop.

I posted here so Vic doesn't feel like he's my dedicated IT staffer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

If you right-clicked (if your Mac has a 1-button mouse, ctrl-click) the links from thawte's site, you should have a file that ends in .pem, not .pem.html. (It's possible that your older browser isn't as clever as it ought to be, and added the .html; you could try just removing the .html part of the file name.) Double-clicking a proper .pem file should launch Apple's Keychain Access application, which will then ask you if you want to install the certificate. (At least, it'll do that on OS X 10.6 and higher; I *think* it'll do the same on 10.5, but I'm not 100% positive.)

VICTORY! Thanks so much Vic, that solved the problem.

I started another thread not knowing about this one.

I've gone to get the Thawte root certificate(s) from their site Vic linked to, but you can tell I'm clueless b/c now I have 2 .pem.html files on my desktop, and when I open them, it's just gibberish.

I don't know how to actually "install" these root certificates, or even if I should be installing these .html versions.

I even tried putting them into my hard disk icon (don't laugh). Still the same invalid server certificate message when I post here. They're currently residing back on my desktop.

I posted here so Vic doesn't feel like he's my dedicated IT staffer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Gary Teter wrote:

One of our servers had a hiccup during a software update which, among other things, included changes to SSL certificate handling. I think this has been fixed now.

I'm doubtful that was a factor in this; during the period where that server was having issues, it was not serving pages to customers.

Instead, I suspect that it may be an issue that Apple fixed with last week's "Security Update 2011-006" release for OS X 10.6.8 and 10.7.x. BenS, I'd recommend installing that ASAP.

Thanks Gary & Vic.

Unfortunately, I'm double-hosed. I still get that warning message, and Apple has left me behind w/ regard to updates (none available for my current OS X 10.5.8).

Beyond buying a newer version of the OS, any other suggestions?

You might be connecting to a website that is pretending to be "secure.paizo.com"

I get this when adding a new thread, replying to a post, or adding a new post. I've never had this issue before that I can remember.

Anything I'm doing wrong?

the pdfs of the 14 chapters as they come out (10 have been released so far with 4 more to go--11 should be out next month)

I've only received the 1st 8 pdfs. Looks like I need to head over to FGG and find out how to get #9 & 10.

BenS wrote:

I'm just the opposite. I prefer the flat Fiery Dragon/Monster Vault-style counters.

Can I ask how you store them? (Not that the counters in stands are any easier). This is another of the reasons I prefer three dimensional models to counters/paper minis - when I've used counters, I've always struggled to file them in an easily accessible way.

Good question on storage. I use the Chessex (?) counter trays, which I'm pretty sure I bought here on Paizo. If not here, try Noble Knight Games online.

Each tray comfortably holds close to 200 counters. That's the square 4th edition counters that are thicker than the flat, circular ones Paizo used to produce in Dungeon magazine. I break them up thematically, and have lots of duplicates of many different types stacked up in the tray slots (16 slots per tray).

Check 'em out; they're pretty inexpensive trays.

Vic Wertz wrote:

How do folks feel about the tokens in the upcoming Beginner Box?

In my opinion they're an improvement over the flat Monster Vault-style counters. I like my large creatures to tower over the PCs, not to look fatter.

I'm just the opposite. I prefer the flat Fiery Dragon/Monster Vault-style counters. However, from Vic's comment just above your post, it looks like standee-type counters are the most we could count on.

I seem to champion the underdog a lot in my personal tastes. Though I guess I don't know how many people would prefer the standee-type counters to the flat ones...

Ah well.

I've advocated for these tokens for years, but can't seem to strike a responsive chord in Paizo.

Perhaps it's just an economic decision to stick w/ minis; and I can't fault them for that.

Just finished this last night, and greatly enjoyed it. I liked the teases that lead into the original game's plot, as the original game is one of my all-time favorites.

Had 2 technical issues (on the 360 version) that annoyed me. One, the Detroit-based sidequest "Cloak & Daggers" was broken and could not be completed. There are numerous purported fixes for this known issue, but none of them worked for me.

But I got over that in time, since it was early in the game. Much more annoying was the fact that my energy cells never regenerated beyond the 1st bar, even w/ the proper augmentation maxed. That had a noticeable effect on my gameplay (e.g., couldn't use optical camouflage for very long, and had to keep part of my inventory for power bars), which is unfortunate.

That said, I enjoyed the game very much. Some of the "100% stealth" players reacted angrily to the boss fights, but really, like much of the game, there's multiple ways to solve those problems. A little experimentation goes a long way. EMP mines + stun gun + fragmentation mines are all excellent; and if you pre-ordered the game and get the (spoiler) as a reward for the extra mission, the 3rd boss fight becomes extremely simple after a quick EMP mine...

I loved the final mission/location. Had lots of fun hacking every computer I could find, reading emails, PDAs, E-books. Fleshed out the story for me, which was a bit murky in places otherwise.

Everyone get the "Hangar 18" achievement? ;-)

I haven't read through them, but if you do and like what you see, there's more than the super adventure (4 levels) in Dungeon #112.

Dungeon #124 & #139 have continuation levels, and Oerth Journal #23 (you can get this free online) has yet another.