randomwalker's page

Why would Comey be worried about leaks? Because Trump is keeping up the pressure, demanding justice. That is LEADERSHIP...

It may be called leadership, but to me it certainly doesn't sound like he wants justice. It looks exactly like he just wants her out of the way so he can grab power.

Shouting for someone to be imprisoned without a trial or even evidence is just sad. Doing so for obvious political gains is disgusting. And not questioning the motives of those shouting loudest is stupid.

:-(

My major concern with a nuclear winter is the whole polluting our air quality much like people that want to use volcanoes to do the whole cooling down the planet.

Ironically, the Icelandic volcano eruption in 2010 was calculated to the 'net environmentally friendly' since emission reductions from grounded planes outweighed direct emissions. (not the same effect as you were thinking of, but shows where people get crazy ideas from)

For the record, I'm against natural disasters.

(ps. a fundamental problem with US politics is that you have only 2 major parties, which makes negative campaigning way overpowered and prevents cooperation. Unfortunately there's no clear way out of it).

Aroden.

See the really interesting thing there is that... hmm... I seem not able to recall anything from the time when...

(but seriously? he was lost, and now all of Golarion is lost - and instead of the Absalom starstone there is the Absalom starbase? I bet he is in there somehow).

First: I think it's a fantastic idea!

You mention PC ships, but my first thought was maps for boarding enemy ships and starbases. Of course this assumes a ship combat system where boarding may be a viable option. (space pirates ftw!)

Starbases and capital ships will take the role of dungeons, with multiple rooms, hallways and security checkpoints to pass through before you reach the bridge/reactor/AI core/etc.

map packs for this: yes please! (sections for differnt racial designs, blueprints for small/medium spacecraft, modules for 'space dungeons' - i want it all).

..and since the "~" is on the far right of nordic keyboards and not even on a separate key, remapping is pretty much necessary.

however, i've done it by simply remapping my mouse buttons (setting button6 to "~") rather than changing the keybindings for the actual game (setting weapon swap to mouse button6, which wouldn't work if i used a 3-button mouse).

Shouldn't that be possible for gamepads too? ..and steam controllers?

LazarX wrote:

So... what can you pack in a second?

All the underwear ill need

that's... interesting. Thanks for sharing such a personal story.

...a rocket to another planet carrying an infant child as the sole survivor of our doomed planet.

umm.. that just delays extinction for a lifetime. Send at least two babies.

Solar 80% worse than coal

For recirculating plants (roughly 80% of power plants are recirculating, regardless of fuel source) they use water as follows:

Solar: 900 g/MWh

Where are those numbers from - and what for? Large-scale solar farms in a prime location with a 5 year payback time ?

For hydro and wind it's sort of the same: location matters a lot, initial investment is high but marginal running costs are very low.

@the OP: the original question has been answered fairly well. "I don't want this to be true" (for a large and varied number of reasons) is the key. Science and large commerical interests also seem to be on different sides here, unlike for example when it comes to vaccination.

@general science vs politics debate:
Science is not a tool for making desicions, but for understanding the picture (situation and consequences). Politics is the tool for making decisions. Mixing too much politics into science colors the picture and makes it harder to understand the picture, but may still make sense from a political perspective which looks at a larger picture.

(Now, is there a picture larger than climate change? Well, it depends on whether you think it's a problem with the climate or a problem with science/media/UN).

In an ideal world, media would also be a tool for understanding the picture but I think we can agree it does not function for this purpose.

@StarMartyr: the free 15 day trial is there. If you want to help the devs, give them some proper feedback on the new player experience from an actual new player perspective.

(But it's not alpha anymore, although the game is still very much in development)

@the various sceptics: You're right, it needs polish in order to be 'finished'. But I guess for some of us, being there to see the game and community develop (with an incredible level of disclosure from the devs) is just more exciting than picking up a fully polished game.

John -

Pan links great stuff, but I don't know if you'd wanna jump in feet first into loose leaf....
...bagged tea ...Yerba Mate ...black tea ...flavors ...bottled brands...green tea...red tea and african honeybush ...

Good summary that covers most bases. If I may, I'll add two items to the list:

-White tea (silver tips, Fujian white, etc). In my opinion a very 'pure' and gentle tea flavour, but requires high quality leaves since it is minimally processed. Also has lots of antioxidants.

-Smoked tea, ie Lapsang Souchong, is sufficiently different from other black teas that it deserves a separate category. Not for everyone! As mentioned already in this thread it "tastes like campfire", even with milk and sugar. Taste it once just for the experience. A good tea for outdoors.

89 is a very respectable age for a musician, but his music will live much, much longer.

Well played, BB!

I once ran a 'traitor' campaign where a villain started as a PC (all planned between GM and player). He was played with an obvious NE alignment, including kicking a kitten when he thought nooone saw him (the player knew, but not the character).

When confronted with lies and cruelty, the player literally pointed to the character sheet and said "but, look, i'm chaotic good, it says so right here". And they accepted that...

After the betrayal, the same player played an uber-zealous paladin with the motto "Just because they say they aren't evil...". Hard to say which character the rest of the party ended up hating more.

A different viewpoint: how do you motivate a lvl 17 wizard to do this? If he's just after money he can likely make that faster with other spells that don't change the world map and have unforseen political, economic and military consequences.

A teleportation circle doesn't replace 1 ship, it replaces all of them that go to the target destination.

If you are a merchant already owning a fleet of ships, you might be more motivated to sabotage the circle than to pay for its use. If you are an evil empire, the military applications of the circle makes it a prime target to conquer and control (and squeeze max taxes out of).

Also, a ship is a lower initial investment, can move to another more profitable route, can escape war/taxman/evil empire. Many groups can compete in shipping but only the big power blocks can compete with circles.

Ships could be useful for short voyages where you make many stops along the way I guess, but teleportation circles can move an incredible amount of stuff incredibly fast.

Indeed, with circles the systems would most likely complement each other: circles for massive transport between major hubs and ships for regional transport.

Reason for wooden ships in a high-magic campaign: Wood Shape

Finding a few clerics 3 with Artifice domain (or a willing druid) should be a bit easier than a wizard 17.

... I just got this vision of an ulfen shipwright/cleric of Torag making the fastest longships in Golarion.

i'm going to give a slightly different response:
Banked xp is not such a bad thing!

Peruvian flute music as the soundtrack of ZKM, lulling trespassers into a false sense of security... ingenious!

I must admit for the contruction of a mine I expected something more like this

Thanks for the vid :)

thanks for the reply, Avena.

There are some really nice ideas for a MMO-kingdom-building-sim there (which i'd be happy to ramble about further), but I'm pretty convinced they are not for PFO.

Avena,
I still don't understand the Family concept clearly:

Are you suggesting each player (or account) plays a family consisting of one/few adventurers and a cast of support characters? (Or do you mean players should form families and share resources/rep/etc?)

Are you suggesting this for PFO, or for "the ideal game" that may never be?

There's certainly interesting ideas around. The permadeath/heir system in the old Pendragon RPG (and still-in-dev Salem) comes to mind, as does of course Sims and Crusader Kings. But those are very different types of games, and I don't quite see your vision for how families would work in an MMO.

Shared banking, rep and last name across all alts I can understand and see some merit in. Having alt slots be something you earn in-game could be an interesting idea. Beyond that, I'm not sure what you are proposing.

...And the bloatfighter, and the bloatpriest, and then we're all set to fight some normalorcs (sorry, Mikaze, no bloat for you).

Unfair! Orcs are players too. We deserve to be as bloated as Gothmog

...but whatever bloats your float

Just because the cohort expects to get some treasure it doesn't mean it has to come out of your share, the GM can just adjust the treasure so that everyone gets their expected share, according to the Character Wealth by Level table.

I disagree entirely with anything resembling "...but I have a cohort, so that chest needs to have 15% more treasure than it says in the AP".

That said, the math here is surprisingly simple:

Option A: cohort gets same share (full, half or whatever) of loot and xp. The gold/xp ratio for players is not changed and they stay on whatever WBL track they were on before getting a cohort. Essentially 20% less xp and 20% less gold is balanced by 25% more mobs

Option B: cohort gets 'free xp' but a share of the party loot. Compared to above, this 'free xp' makes them level slightly faster but doesn't come with free gold. Net result: slight drop in WBL.

But seem from a different perspective: the inherent value of the Cohort increases, so option B is perfectly fair.

None yet. Maybe a few on April 2nd, but I have the feeling we will be above the max limit anyway unless we drastically change the company structure.

Actually.. the way the system is set up, it's better to have lots of low-hanging achievements left so you can generate influence fast at a later time. Though active veterans are indeed their own reward.

188. Blame Cosmo. (for babies, for moral dilemmas, for the GM, for whatever)

You could play her as an apologist for the goddess? You might want to consider the mutant eye trait which gives you a third eye. It could be because of this deformity you were scorned by wider society which drove you to the faith of Lamashtu, where ugliness and deformity is celebrated, despite you not being as evil and demented as a more typical follower. Since you're playing a female you might like

i'd also suggest something like this. You an be a warpriest with an agenda of part revenge, part wanting to show them you are better than them, part missionary and part revolutionary: tearing down the status quo order so we can build a better world from the ashes (where either monsters get to be the top dogs this time, or where monsters and fluffy kittens play together in the sunny fields)

Against power gamers: play the NPCs like they want to win!
(warning, may be tough on some egos and literally is a gm-vs-players game, but if they like tactical challenges it can work fine).

No suicide charging in small groups, but instead hit & run, ambushes in places with traps, calling for reinforcements, illusory reinforcements, delaying tactics if the players use short-term buffs, etc. Never give them enough time to rest and buff (unless of course they actually need it), but let them earn every victory.

(disclaimer, haven't DM'ed since 3.5 but my nostalgia wanted to post)

Like many others, I change the 'evil races' from mindless cannon fodder supply to more like an 'evil twin civilization'. Orc vs dwarf, human vs hobgoblin, forest elf vs gnoll (and mages vs necromancers). Low magic, human-centric campaign on homebrew map.

The orcs were not so much changed, just basically just 'mountain orcs'.

The hobgoblins were militaristic with a highly organized caste system, had longships, cavalry, siege engines and good supply lines. Inspired by mongols, goths and vikings.

The gnolls were my favourite: think werewolf-rangers stalking the forests: strong, stealthy, cunning elf-hunters. I changed the lore (and gnoll stats) so that forest elves lived in trees and used bows because the gnolls were simply too strong in melee combat and faster on the ground (but slow and heavy climbers).

@Cheatle

Could do - no problem. Remind me if I don't come back straight away or suggest a price as you know better how many of your settlement would want to gather.

I like the 1cp token fee, Thodd. Bascially welcoming people to gather (but not strip mine) in exchange for a formal recognition of EL's claim to the area. And Cheatle responding with a top-level solution that removes bureaucracy plus prevent hypothetical incidents from unlicenced gathering.

@Theodum:
The 10% donation i'm less enthusiastic about from two purely practical perspectives: bookkeeping and having to find the quartermaster.

Typically I would gather in those hexes either as part of travelling (Thornkeep-Riverbank or similar), or i would just touch into them as part of gathering in the 'greater Keepers Pass district'/Hammerfall. In either case, EL would not be where I bank my goods or go to sleep at night, nor would most the stuff in my bags be from EL lands.

The 'neutral good' solution would be that I conscientously promise to at semi-regular times donate an amount of goods I think is appropriate, and we'll discuss it if you feel cheated.
The 'lawful evil' solution would be that I note the 10% is a request and agree to your terms as written.
You can pick either, but my suggestion would be the NG one.

only skimmed the replies, but in response to the O.P. One key part of settlements is the bank, especially if/when people can be locked out of foreign banks.

Absolutely, but I wouldn't expect banking to be by default limited to settlement/kingdom members. If settlements are allowed a choice between NBSI/NRDS-type banking policies it will matter more who you make friends with, but if banking rights are a main reason for staying in a settlement something is wrong.

During the war of towers, banking is not a reason to join/leave/expand settlements, though. So while it's certainly a big part of a settlement's value it is peripherical to the 'big question' in the OP: what would happen to settlements if we scrapped the training support mechanic.

Big Questions:

will leaving out the Training Support feature bring the Economic and Political engines of this game to a grinding halt?

Leaving out the support mechanic but keeping the training mechanic:

during war of towers:
-provides the same incentive for settlements for capturing more towers to provide higher levels of training, but slightly less incentive to defend/reclaim attacked towers (losing one or losing all is not so different for veteran players).
-would allow settlements to benefit from cycling tower ownership or using temporary membership.

after war of towers:
-would take away one of the balancing acts for settlements: specialized training vs broad support
-might lead to more diverse settlements with highly specialized training (for a fee) and less generalist settlements.
-would make 'homeless' veteran charaters much more powerful than new characters.
-less mechanical incentive to stick with your settlement when you've reached the max training they will offer, but basically same incentive to stick with it until you reach that point.
-would give veteran characters an advantage in building new settlements, ie: favour 'daughter settlements' over new groups.

my (clouded) gut feeling is: the difference won't be huge, and for WoT it might be ok-ish, after that I'm less certain. Removing it to later bring it back will create the most drama.

your LN and NG ones cover a lot of what i would put as 'neutral'.

Some simple suggestions (can even be combined). Both these would be gods that are busy with bigger things than mortal individuals, but care about balance on a larger scale. Both could have weather as part of their domain.

- the ocean. Gives and takes, calm and violent.

- time. Seasons, lifecycles, birth and death.

Golgotha (and the rest of the Empire) are my favourite villains by far!

Essentially my responses to the questions would be identical to Yrme's above, with the added emphasis that:

Playing as 'prey' is most fun when there is just enough risk.

Being robbed/attempted robbed on, say, 5% of my gathering runs I see as a good thing, but around 20% it becomes a bad thing for me. Even for RP, it's a lot more exciting when friendship/emnity actually matters (and you can if you want -force- people to notice you), but it breaks down if PvP paranoia sets in.

I'm very happy to have the NC as our resident forces of evil. On-stage i'll keep fighting (or fleeing) you but behind the scenes i'd be very sad to see the Evil Empire (TM) fail. Good luck and catch me if you can.

Should we look forward to it too, or run from you?

Nihimon wrote:

Savage Grace wrote:

Do you know what a really evil settlement would do?

They same thing they always do: denigrate those who strive for something better while pretending that they themselves are the "real" good guys.

So what you have done the entire game?

I think you guys might be confusing the topic with "is EBA goodie-two-shoes enough?". Which is in that other thread.

But it makes me look forward to hearing Thod's class on politics tomorrow...

For me, Golgatha is just the right amount of evil - wouldn't want any more.

'Us vs Them' is really all you need to get warfare going, but choosing evil gives you more tactical options and attracts certain player types (at the cost of losing the morale higher ground).

I hear you Cheatle, it's a good idea. I'm just not sure if we could social-forge something properly when there is a fix so soon in the queue. Also, it opens up a lot of very valid "word warfare" opportunities for all parties involved.

I think copying Kadere's ignoring it all is the best solution (and certainly the best non-warfare tactic).

If we genreally agree on the basic rules, was can always implement a policy where someone spamming general will be flooded with whispers telling them 'please don't spam general chat'. (but that won't work if you are the only one complaining)

Thanks, Pino.

Did you also record the sunday one with Ryan Dancey?

Nice piece, but I think there is a problem that you aren't considering:

Midnight of Golgotha wrote:

1) Get out there and do offensive PvP. It will make you a better defender as you see the various ways people defeat/escape you....

You see, number 1 advice, probably the more important, don't work.

You are suggesting PvErs to do something that they don't like to become better at doing something they don't like. In a game.

Two comments:

-The suggestion is also that they (we!) learn how to avoid the stuff we don't like by learning how it actually works. An alternative would be to practice running away tactics - which is exactly what the original post is about.

-Getting killed during something like the Barbarian brawl (with no valuables on you) is very different from getting robbed when you have a full load of valuables. I hate being forced into pvp when outnumbered with everything to lose (I love getting away, though). Taking away 'forced', 'outnumbered' and 'things to lose' from the equation and you might find a little practice worth it to increase your survivability.

..and I still find it remarkable that the "evil predatory Golgatha" is teaching everyone how to get away from them. I'd rather not critique them for seeing things from a non-PvP-adverse point of view.

Hijacking the thread momentarily to mention that Thannon is also giving some great lectures at the Pathfinder University. Show up for a lecture, get a business deal on the side!

/hijack

When it comes to settlements, there are 3 things to consider.

Location, location, location.

meaning:

My impresssion is that Golgathans see close proximity to enemies as a convenience.
Funnily enough, players such as myself tend to see it as just the opposite.

Is it really a war though?

My impression was that it is a cold war at most. Or just rivalry. And that the driver for it is the need to have some pvp in the game more than anything else.

something something about Golgatha playing the villains the game needs.

maybe I'm naive, but what I've seen so far is a bunch of players wanting the game to succeed and able to cooperate just fine in the background while fighting and looting each other in the foreground.

Thank you Midnight!
Hopefully you will have slightly less easy pickings now ;-)

For the record: this presentation is officially endorsed by PFUniversity.

(and it's my fault it didn't make it into the 1st week schedule)

I guess the issue is not so much people grabbing it off you when you are carrying it around, but rather someone stealing it when you are sleeping, taking a bath etc. So:

Alarm spell. Ring of sustenance so you need less sleep. Sleeping with it under your pillow. Magic circles around your bed (but watch the time). Sleeping in a Magnificant Mansion (though that is far beyond 'reasonable' IMO).

+0 T2 weapons do 10 more damage and have an average 50 higher to hit, than a +2 T1 weapon.

+0 T2 armor will have 50-120 more hitpoints, 30-80 power, +2 to three different recoveries, +50 to all defenses, and +2-6 in 2-3 defenses.

Both giving you +2 to Epow and Epro

...and +4 physical protection. (woot - Cheatle missed a tiny detail?!)

but of course, T2+2 is even better. That's what you should be aiming for if you can afford it (says the refiner...).

I made 160 Cotton Twine +0, and not a single +1. :( Which is a pity since I was lucky to get a +2 Composite Maple Stave from a Batch of +0. So no +1 Wardens Longbow just yet. I am going to keep trying.

save the stave for a +2 bow!

I can make cotton twine+2, so TEO (per open offer for refined items, see GW/trade subforum) should be able to trade you.
If you wait a few more days, even +3 might become available for the right price.

anyone who thought a wiz was op EVER in pfo is straight up full of crap.

Apparently I'm straight up full of crap, then. And have no point to make.

But when my rogue decided to finally try out a staff, it felt like easy mode in comparison! The guys who farmed ten thousand goblins in the first week also seemed to rely mainly on staves. And when Ryan back in alpha took all the classes straight to level 8 (see, they already did that), his only complaint about the wizard was that getting the arcane achievements took relatively long. Since EE, the devs have felt the need to nerf several spells. Because, apparently, they felt wizards were too strong.

I think you are just talking about the perceived situation right now and tossing out words like 'EVER' just to try to add strength to your argument. I liked it better when you were arguing for better grass - the hyped emotional style was entertaining then.

Your point that fighter/cleric builds are more suited for wading through groups of mobs is a very valid point, though. So at least one of us made one.

[/rant]

I am greatly pleased with the energy around PFU. Congratulations on the developer interviews. I think that is fantastic that new voices are rising to support the community. Indeed a worthy successor to Gobocast

Indeed the fireside chat with Lisa reminded me of Gobbocast. But even with the new voices sounding we don't want the older ones to go quiet. Talk to me if you are interested in being a guest lecturer.

Golgotha has decided to not add PFU to its list of conquests. :) In all seriousness we want PFU to do well and get players engaged in the social aspect of the game.

Thank you Phyllain. Let's all hope our usefulness as a learning facility continues to outstrip our usefulness as prey. Now, as a winner of PvP tournaments - any chance of getting you to give a duelling masterclass?

(The classes "how to be a successful evil overlord" and "peasant revolt 101" are in the advanced curriculum for the fall semester and won't be offered this spring).

And that, good sir, is why I as readily turn new players toward Golgotha as to any other settlement, depending on the player's intended play style...

Absolutely! The PFU main goal is to have no players quit in frustration because of the learning curve. Beyond that, we see joining a settlement as a key step to enjoying the game - as long as the settlement is functional and matches your playstyle.

But how will players know what settlement to pick? This is where we offer anyone to come give a guest lecture (contact me or Hoffmann if interested) and represent their company.
If someone is willing to compile and maintain a guide to settlements/companies that would be great, but it must be done with liberal amounts of care and respect.

Foxglove/Randomwalker
Master of Curriculum, PFU

Patience, the grass is always greener in the spring.

also, OOC tags can always be used in RP posts to make it over-obvious that you are not RPing. Any post by Theoodum (and not Thod) is a RP post.

Shooting you a few questions on PM, Hoff.
Be sure to record it so I can watch at a less ungodly hour than 3am.

(actually you forgot to ask Lisa why they insist on living in such an inconvenient time zone).

TEO Cheatle wrote:

Wealth doesn't have to mean gold.

Regardless of what it means, do you have access to a listing of the number of friends, allies, or assets that any other person on the board has? If you don't, the claim (while it might be accurate) is both spurious and provocative.

Michelle Wedgewood.... there's a crafty one. They can strip her of her titles and proclaim her just a commoner, but until they figure out how to access the vault without her they can't touch her power.
And if they were stupid enough to try anything, it would take about 10 seconds before all the mercenaries figured out the business opportunity.

Since cutting off the head prevents Raise Dead, I would only...

..nah, scratch that. I'd definitely pull it. And I think I know exactly which player would be tempted despite the warnings of everyone else.

Let's throw a little organised chaos into the world. Announcing the Barbarian Brawl! Melee only, FFA, blood splattering fun-times!

Any chance of organizing another brawl this weekend?

PFU is working to arrange pvp classes (by some very skilled guest lecturers), and a brawl would be the perfect place for some hands-on experience afterwards.

If you consider making the brawl into a regular event, we'd definitely want to plan some classes around that and promote it.

Great initiative in either case!

Foxglove/Randomwalker
Master of Curriculum, Pathfinder Universtiy

Friday 2/20 at 10pm central EU time (UCT+1) we will have Foxglove presenting Gearing Up; how to get beter gear and use it too. This class will provide an intro on crafting Tier 1 +2 gear, and Foxglove will help you make your own! We are going to provide some supplies but are always interested in donations to the university of gear and raw/salvage/refined goods.

Hi all,

No crafting skill (or combat skills) required, but anyone wanting to craft their own T1 gear will get a boost from us.

Donations welcome, especially stacks of steel plate +2.

-looking forward to see you
Foxglove/Randomwalker