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I was checking whomst online and found this:
https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=302590
Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity? How long has this forum been around?


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Originally Posted by geala
Originally Posted by Zerubbabel
Originally Posted by Terminator2020
Asmongold has posted like a more then 1000 youtube videos I believe and generally I have nothing against him funny leftist call him racist that is not true he is indeed white man and yes white lives matter accept that.
I don't want to argue with you about American politics, but my general understanding is that no one questions the descriptive statement, "White Lives Matter," or "All Lives Matter." Of course lives matter, black, white, and all. People get upset because it is a counter-statement to the phrase, "Black Lives Matter," which is specifically brought up because Black people in America consistently have a lower life expectancy than other Americans due to police brutality, unequal access to health and nutrition factors, and a general lack of policy-based and economy-based support that other demographics may receive. On average, a Black American lives seven years less than most other Americans (Citing the National Institute of Health from the US Department of Health and Human Services).

Also, I'm not a leftist. I'm not even on the left. I'm just making an observation.

+1 for Asmongold though.

You try to explain your correct observation partly wrong, which is no wonder when we analyse media obsession with certain incidents. I'm from Europe and I have a scientific relation to criminology, I try to see it not that ideologically. But I'm a bit angry about easy peasy explanations. Black Americans are not killed more frequently by police in relation to criminal activity than Whites, Hispanics or American Indians. So the reason for higher death rates among Blacks is not police brutality but higher involvement in crimes. The latter is by and large based in worse social living conditions and life chances (not least because of the widespread racism in the US) but also in a pathetic "bros in the hood" ideology, sadly not uncommon among Black males.

Interestingly there is clear statistical data that Black people in the US are more often bullied and beaten by police, compared to their involvement in criminal activities or per police contact, than Whites or Hispanics. So there is seemingly a racist element in police attitude towards Black people. It just does not result in more careless killings, like propagandized in mass media. Killing people is not something easily done, even if you are a racist, it has enormous repercussions to your life, that's the reason for the data. Such differentiation is of course far beyond anything many journalists are capable or willing to deal with. They love anecdotes.
SPOILER TAGS BECAUSE OFF-TOPIC
Police brutality does not only refer to killings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_brutality
If you cannot trust the police force, and the police force is an extension of the state's monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, then violence reigns in your community.
"Black Americans are not killed more frequently by police in relation to criminal activity than Whites, Hispanics or American Indians"
Can you cite sources for this claim. Here's a few peer-reviewed journals which say otherwise:
https://jech.bmj.com/content/75/4/394 (British Medical Journal)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0229686 (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, read Results and Discussion section)
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/231291 (University of Chicago Press)

The Harvard study specifically states, "A previous national, county-level analysis found that the racial distribution of police-related deaths is not explained by the racial distribution of crime in those areas," citing https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141854

"Across almost all counties, individuals who were armed and shot by police had a much higher probability of being black or hispanic than being white. Likewise, across almost all counties, individuals who were unarmed and shot by police had a much higher probability of being black or hispanic than being white. Tragically, across a large proportion of counties, individuals who were shot by police had a higher median probability of being unarmed black individuals than being armed white individuals. While this pattern could be explained by reduced levels of crime being committed by armed white individuals, it still raises a question as to why there exists such a high rate of police shooting of unarmed black individuals."

All studies above indicate that in a given encounter with police, a Black American is over 3 times more likely to be shot than a White American. Keep in mind, this is already WITHIN encounters with police, so some level of crime is already given (not necessarily having been committed though), and the above quote demonstrates that the threat of the suspect is less relevant to the use of deadly force than race.

Small Edit:
The term in the US is White vs. BIPOC. Generally speaking, White Americans have a higher life expectancy than almost any group, and a lower incidence of police violence or brutality than any group.

Another study, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11524-020-00430-0#author-information , indicates that "minimal-or-less" threat individuals were 3 times more likely to be killed if non-White. Additionally, Black Americans make up more of police deaths proportionally than their share of the population. Even if crime is more prevalent, for a single population to make up a larger-than-proportional segment of police-related deaths regardless of the threat level posed indicates some level of excessive use of lethal force.

Second small edit:
The study you are likely to referring to (Perhaps the Johnson Study), where it is argued that Black Americans are only more often victims of police killings because they commit more of the crime is a frequently criticized study by other peer-reviewed journals like this one: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1919418117 . It is equally likely that racial bias in policing inflates the numbers of "Black Crime" as it does lethal force against Black Americans, thereby leading to the (faulty) claim that Black Americans are no more likely to be killed by police than White Americans.

Last edit to make this post less snarky/snippy

Last edited by Zerubbabel; 06/02/23 12:33 PM.

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Icelyn
At least according to the leak, Dreadwolf will have better hair!😂
You dont mean Solas tho, do you? laugh
In the next Dragon Age game Solas’s hair will be like Sephiroth’s!

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Originally Posted by Warlocke
I’m still a little confused why they chose to give him such a strange shaped head.
Indeed ...
But i allways simply dismissed it as an Elf thing. laugh

I mean, im aware that nowadays Elves in Dragon Age have regular shaped skulls.
(not that i checked ... >:] but i did MUHAHAHAHA )
But Solas is meaned to be litteraly ancient, he is over 4.000y old ... if we would appear in year -2020AC ... besides to dying in few days to common diseases our bodies are not used to ... we would also look quite different from peple back then. laugh

Originally Posted by Blackheifer
I think it's almost time to put Dreadworlf with VTM2:Bloodlines.


Add there KotOR remaster, Metal Gear Solid Remaster and Elder Scrolls VI.

//Edit:
Originally Posted by Icelyn
Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Icelyn
At least according to the leak, Dreadwolf will have better hair!😂
You dont mean Solas tho, do you? laugh
In the next Dragon Age game Solas’s hair will be like Sephiroth’s!
Just imagining it ...
Solas would be trully terrifying enemy! O_o

Last edited by RagnarokCzD; 06/02/23 03:04 PM.

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While it is true if you traveled 4,000 years in the past people would look different, it wouldn’t be quite like that. On average most peasants would look a lot older than we’d think they were and would have worse skin. Nobles and rulers might look better off depending where and when. And there would be more people with conspicuous deformities (like Solas I guess) that today doctors could take care of. And of course people on average were much shorter, so if you are 6 ft tall you’ll very much stand out. But people would otherwise look the same as they do now. Human skull shape hasn’t changed for a few hundred thousand years.

Disease wise we would probably be fine. We’ve inherited thousands of years of genetic immunities because we are the descendants of people who survived those diseases. Natural selection at play there.

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Originally Posted by Warlocke
I do hope that BioWare paid attention to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. They tried to make a party based, pause and play action hybrid twice and I didn’t find either particularly fun to play. Then FF7R came out and, at least in my opinion, showed exactly how to do it.

If they decide to put their own take on that formula, I’m totally down to give them a shot, despite my usual misgivings with their games. While I appreciate a strong story, gameplay is always king for me. As long as the story isn’t isnt atrociously awful I be forgiving on a good enough story.

I’ve not played FF7R so am not going to say it doesn’t do gameplay better, but I really enjoyed combat in ME:A, even though I was initially worried as I tend to avoid games that require good hand-eye coordination and quick response times as I’m frankly rubbish at them. But it felt like a great evolution of gameplay in the first three ME games. Whereas DA:I combat I found extremely disappointing and a big step backwards from both DA:O and DA2, largely due to the over-simplified-to-the-brink-of-nonexistence tactics system.

In short, I don’t personally think there’s a clear pattern of prioritising story over gameplay by the studio. Though it’s clear that there have been many things wrong there that have led to their games not living up to their potential, so perhaps it’s not a bad thing that there’s been some staff turnover. I’m also not sure how much is EA’s fault but I agree it doesn’t seem feasible that all the blame can be laid at their door.

Still, while I think both DA:I and ME:A could have been a lot better, the next episodes in the franchise would need to be far worse before their new entries cease to be auto-buys for me.


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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Blackheifer
I think it's almost time to put Dreadworlf with VTM2:Bloodlines.

Add there KotOR remaster, Metal Gear Solid Remaster and Elder Scrolls VI.


Rag buddy, I am worried that we may need to get you therapy to help you let go of VTM2. :P

You know what though, BG3 is the only game I really NEED to come out. I think I can die happy as long as it gets released in some form before the total collapse of humanity. That way I can sit in my bunker and play it while my food supplies dwindle. If I can die just as the final credits roll that would be great. I know, I am a romantic.


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Originally Posted by Warlocke
While it is true if you traveled 4,000 years in the past people would look different, it wouldn’t be quite like that. On average most peasants would look a lot older than we’d think they were and would have worse skin. Nobles and rulers might look better off depending where and when. And there would be more people with conspicuous deformities (like Solas I guess) that today doctors could take care of. And of course people on average were much shorter, so if you are 6 ft tall you’ll very much stand out. But people would otherwise look the same as they do now. Human skull shape hasn’t changed for a few hundred thousand years.

Disease wise we would probably be fine. We’ve inherited thousands of years of genetic immunities because we are the descendants of people who survived those diseases. Natural selection at play there.

Yeah, but the diseases we would bring to THEM would probably end the human race...and that WOULD kill you technically if you count non-existence as death.


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Originally Posted by The_Red_Queen
Originally Posted by Warlocke
I do hope that BioWare paid attention to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. They tried to make a party based, pause and play action hybrid twice and I didn’t find either particularly fun to play. Then FF7R came out and, at least in my opinion, showed exactly how to do it.

If they decide to put their own take on that formula, I’m totally down to give them a shot, despite my usual misgivings with their games. While I appreciate a strong story, gameplay is always king for me. As long as the story isn’t isnt atrociously awful I be forgiving on a good enough story.

I’ve not played FF7R so am not going to say it doesn’t do gameplay better, but I really enjoyed combat in ME:A, even though I was initially worried as I tend to avoid games that require good hand-eye coordination and quick response times as I’m frankly rubbish at them. But it felt like a great evolution of gameplay in the first three ME games. Whereas DA:I combat I found extremely disappointing and a big step backwards from both DA:O and DA2, largely due to the over-simplified-to-the-brink-of-nonexistence tactics system.

In short, I don’t personally think there’s a clear pattern of prioritising story over gameplay by the studio. Though it’s clear that there have been many things wrong there that have led to their games not living up to their potential, so perhaps it’s not a bad thing that there’s been some staff turnover. I’m also not sure how much is EA’s fault but I agree it doesn’t seem feasible that all the blame can be laid at their door.

Still, while I think both DA:I and ME:A could have been a lot better, the next episodes in the franchise would need to be a lot worse before their new entries cease to be auto-buys for me.

I don’t think that they necessarily prioritize gameplay over story, I just think that they aren’t great at designing gameplay systems. Even Origins was a bit underwhelming for me. The game was largely chugging potions and spamming whatever was on cooldown.

Then in DA2 they dumbed down the strategic gameplay while padding out every single fight with waves of enemies. Can never fight just a group of random thugs in an alley way, you need to fight their 20 buddies who were chilling on nearby rooftops too. It was just such a slog.

I didn’t really play Inquisition. Eventually I bought it for $5 but only played maybe 3 or 4 hours. I ran into a group of bears while not paying attention and half my party was immediately downed. Realizing I wasn’t winning that fight I decided to run away, only to discover you can’t. If you get too far away the bears teleport to you. I had to run all the way across the map to a safe zone to get away. Once I did I just paused for a moment and said “this is bad” and uninstalled the game. 😂

I’d love for Dreadwolf to be just absolutely awesome. Party based RPGs are my favorite type of game, and there aren’t many big budget ones to choose from. I’m not expecting anything from BioWare, but I’d love for them to change my opinion.

I also hear rumors that Starfield is in a bit of a Charlie-Foxtrot development hell and that MS is forcing Bethesda to rush. Heavy sigh.

Last edited by Warlocke; 06/02/23 04:11 PM.
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Originally Posted by Blackheifer
Yeah, but the diseases we would bring to THEM would probably end the human race...and that WOULD kill you technically if you count non-existence as death.

I guess it depends which time travel rules we are using. 😂

And I forgot that Vampire the Masquerade is supposed to one day be a thing again. I wonder what the behind the scenes story is there. Well, it’s usually always the same: bad management.

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Originally Posted by Warlocke
Human skull shape hasn’t changed for a few hundred thousand years.
True ...
But this isnt purely biological matter ... is it?
There were some tribes that alterned shape of their skulls for ritualistic purposes ... sizes, shapes and positions of different parts of our faces (nose, eyes, ears, lips, etc.) would be quite different.

And even if it would be matter of biology ... you are forgeting about single important thing!
We, Humans on our planet, are the only "intelligent species" (i know, its questionable statement, but lets put that aside for now) ... we cant crossbreed with anyone else.
Elves in Dragon Age are compatible with Humans (and as it is in most Fantasy worlds), their descendants are capable of futher reproduction.
Meaning old elves could have hypoteticaly look a lot more like Solas ...
And i would even say that they do:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonage/images/9/97/Abelas.png/revision/latest?cb=20141129134033 (img tags dont work)
But today elves, dont have so "pure" blood ... i mean, 4000 years its long time ... and nobody would know how much human blood was added to your lineage during that time. wink

Also ...
There are some theories around the internet that first Elves in Dragon Age were actually just spirits, who materialized physical body.
Just as Cole from Inquisition did ... or that Templar leader, who was actually a demon ... or like, well, basicaly every demon you meet in physical world there. laugh
So, maybe he just picked this shape of head. laugh

Originally Posted by Warlocke
We’ve inherited thousands of years of genetic immunities because we are the descendants of people who survived those diseases. Natural selection at play there.
This is quite common missinterpretation. smile
Sadly its not even close to how things works ...

Have you heard about Spanish Flu for example?
People didnt get immune, virus mutated to "less fatal" version of itself ... basicaly we got lucky. :-/

Originally Posted by Blackheifer
Rag buddy, I am worried that we may need to get you therapy to help you let go of VTM2. :P
Im not really sure if there is any in the world. laugh

//Edit:
Originally Posted by Warlocke
And I forgot that Vampire the Masquerade is supposed to one day be a thing again.
So they claim ...
I dont really want to get into conspirations (but believe me, i have read some serious laugh ) ... but i just have to say that every game is "in development" until studio states otherwise ... even if nobody touch it for last two years, officialy it would still be "in development". frown

Originally Posted by Warlocke
I wonder what the behind the scenes story is there.
Dunno ...
But i bet its one of those that we never hear. frown

Last edited by RagnarokCzD; 06/02/23 05:12 PM.

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Originally Posted by Warlocke
Human skull shape hasn’t changed for a few hundred thousand years.
True ...
But this isnt purely biological matter ... is it?
There were some tribes that alterned shape of their skulls for ritualistic purposes ... sizes, shapes and positions of different parts of our faces (nose, eyes, ears, lips, etc.) would be quite different.

And even if it would be matter of biology ... you are forgeting about single important thing!
We, Humans on our planet, are the only "intelligent species" (i know, its questionable statement, but lets put that aside for now) ... we cant crossbreed with anyone else.
Elves in Dragon Age are compatible with Humans (and as it is in most Fantasy worlds), their descendants are capable of futher reproduction.
Meaning old elves could have hypoteticaly look a lot more like Solas ...
And i would even say that they do:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dragonage/images/9/97/Abelas.png/revision/latest?cb=20141129134033 (img tags dont work)
But today elves, dont have so "pure" blood ... i mean, 4000 years its long time ... and nobody would know how much human blood was added to your lineage during that time. wink

Also ...
There are some theories around the internet that first Elves in Dragon Age were actually just spirits, who materialized physical body.
Just as Cole from Inquisition did ... or that Templar leader, who was actually a demon ... or like, well, basicaly every demon you meet in physical world there. laugh
So, maybe he just picked this shape of head. laugh

Originally Posted by Warlocke
We’ve inherited thousands of years of genetic immunities because we are the descendants of people who survived those diseases. Natural selection at play there.
This is quite common missinterpretation. smile
Sadly its not even close to how things works ...

Have you heard about Spanish Flu for example?
People didnt get immune, virus mutated to "less fatal" version of itself ... basicaly we got lucky. :-/

Originally Posted by Blackheifer
Rag buddy, I am worried that we may need to get you therapy to help you let go of VTM2. :P
Im not really sure if there is any in the world. laugh

Well, no, that is how it works. One of the reasons that the indigenous populations of the Americas were so devastated by the coming of Europeans (aside from us being a bit awful to them) was that they hadn’t inherited genetic resistances to small pox and other common diseases of the Old World. Europeans had these resistances and if you have European, African, or Asian ancestry you likely do to.

Genetic immunity on a continental scale is something that builds up over generations, not a single outbreak like the Spanish Flu. It happens because virulent diseases kill off the people who are most susceptible to them. Those left over to parent the next generation had more efficient immune responses and thus, so do their children.

So if you traveled into the past you would be taking generations of built in immunity to diseases with you, and wouldn’t need to worry very much about getting very sick.

Last edited by Warlocke; 06/02/23 05:28 PM.
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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
Have you heard about Spanish Flu for example?
People didnt get immune, virus mutated to "less fatal" version of itself ... basicaly we got lucky. :-/

Ah yes, there is a theory that viruses don't actually want to kill us because it prevents propagation. That over time they reach an equilibrium* - where they learn to function and reproduce without being fatal to the host, OR to only enter stage 2 (full replication and lysing of infected cells) at some (possibly arbitrary) signal from the host that it is about to die anyway and so it makes a final attempt to infect new hosts.

Viruses and fungi are fascinating little buggers.

*It is not my intention to ascribe any sort of intention to this behavior. I am anthropomorphizing a virus, which is not accurate. They method by which they replicate and survive would favor NOT killing the host.

Last edited by Blackheifer; 06/02/23 05:28 PM.

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Oh, and I hadn’t heard the theories about elves and humans reproducing in DA. I remember in the run up to Origins BioWare said they could reproduce but together but don’t often and if they do the offspring is either just human or just an elf. So I’m not sure how much bearing that has. Your image didn’t come through so I can’t see whatever evidence that was.

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I believe the offspring are human, it's a plot point in one of the games I think.

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Originally Posted by Sozz
I believe the offspring are human, it's a plot point in one of the games I think.

Hmmm, magical fantasy genetics.

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Originally Posted by Warlocke
Originally Posted by Sozz
I believe the offspring are human, it's a plot point in one of the games I think.

Hmmm, magical fantasy genetics.
Ah, yes, Racial Phylogeny


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Originally Posted by Sozz
I believe the offspring are human, it's a plot point in one of the games I think.

Yes, I recall this being mentioned. I am certainly no biologist but I guess the pseudo-scientific explanation is that human genes are dominant in some way. Alistair, for example, has one elven parent yet appears totally human (at least it’s very strongly implied that a particular elf is his mother, though I’m not sure whether it’s ever been 100% confirmed).

I think there are other indications that pre-Veil elves were different from modern day ones, but iirc that’s more to do with life span and magical affinity than head shape smile. Not that I personally see Solas’s head as appearing particularly odd.


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I peeked in here for the first time in weeks and I already regret it.

Why are we allowing bad faith actors turn this forum into yet another tiring political battleground?

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Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
So they claim ...
I dont really want to get into conspirations (but believe me, i have read some serious laugh ) ... but i just have to say that every game is "in development" until studio states otherwise ... even if nobody touch it for last two years, officialy it would still be "in development". frown

Originally Posted by Warlocke
I wonder what the behind the scenes story is there.
Dunno ...
But i bet its one of those that we never hear. frown

Studios don’t like announcing games being canceled. Public admission of failure isn’t good publicity.

We may find out one day. Jason Schrier (I think that’s his name) does great gaming investigative journalism. We found out a lot about Anthem’s disaster. So who knows?

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