kvothbloodless

[kvothbloodless]

I never did finish Baldur's Gate 3 for a number of reasons (mainly to do with my PC setup and how exhausting the looting + inventory management could get) but there's a whole lot about it that I really like.

Normally the thing people bring up with this game is the characters, but I'm not really the romance type so for me the highlights are:

1- The encounter design is really good. Nearly every fight feels unique and memorable, and many make good use of the environment or some other unusual element to add a spin to even basic encounters. It's a sharp contrast when compared to, for example, Wrath of the Righteous or Kingmaker, both are pretty good games but also have a lot of fights that feel like filler and end up getting repetitive.

2- Adjacent to that, I really like how much freedom you have overall and how you can use the mechanics of the game in interesting and creative ways. Freedom is very important for me in RPGs and this game does a wonderful job with including it. In fact, it's actually kind of concerning how many interactions have at least two or three different outcomes that can then have long-term consequences. It's a type of complexity that seems really difficult to implement in a game this large yet they somehow did it.

And that's on top of having the option to play as the Dark Urge (and either embrace it or defy it), which by itself requires editing or even adding a bunch of scenes for a route (Tsukihime Mode) that a lot of players may never even see. It's truly impressive to me.

3- And adjacent to that I feel like this is an RPG that truly understands the "role-playing" part of its genre. Being an RPG or having "RPG elements" is not about having progression systems like character levels or weapon upgrades. It's about letting the player define and embody a character and immerse themselves in the world through that character.

In this case that is helped along by how your chosen background rewards you for following your character's goals, and how often things like your character class and chosen stats/skills will matter for things outside of combat.

For example, if you want to play a curious and clever type of character you can be a wizard with the Sage background and this will do much more than just letting you kill people with magic instead of swords. It will give you mechanical advantages for finding lost knowledge and also enable you to more easily understand magical things you find in your adventures, or even encourage several unique ways to approach issues (such as reading minds or magically charming others).

4- Additionally, the world is very dense and exploring it feels really good when you're not bogged down by inventory management or obsessive looting. One time I was fighting a giant spider in a cave but it fell into what looked like a bottomless chasm so out of curiosity I cast Featherfall on the party and jumped down after it to see if I could... and encountered a massive underground area with multiple distinct locations and other entrances/exits. It blew my mind.

[kvothbloodless]

they did this

i missed "they did surgery on a grape" so much

[kvothbloodless]

The first rule of cable management is "out of sight, out of mind"

[kvothbloodless]

In the snail-shell centre of the labyrinth, the Minotaur made his prayer.

“I can’t,” said Echidna. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I can’t give you any protection.”

The Minotaur said nothing. Lacking anything else, he had snapped his own horn as an offering. Blood dribbled down his face and blinded him in one eye.

“I have nothing to give you,” said Echidna. “I have nothing, do you understand me? Nothing.”

Unshaking hands held up the horn. Offer. Offer.

“Stop that,” said Echidna. “You aren’t my child. I don’t owe you anything.”

Offer. Offer.

A ragged sigh cut through the gloom. Slender hands took the horn.

There was a. Sound. The horn had turned into a long strip of rag, which Echidna held up to the Minotaur’s mouth.

“Spit,” she said.

The Minotaur obeyed. She wiped the drying blood from the fur around his eye, and then wrapped the rag around his bleeding stump of horn.

“You are mine,” she said. “You are doomed. You will die and I will remember you as mine for centuries of heartache. I will remember you as I remember my Chimera’s laughter, my Hydra’s temper, and wiping tears from the eyes of my Cerberus.”

Gleaming eyes looked into his. “You’ve given me a terrible burden,” she said. “And so help me, I will carry it forever.”

The Minotaur closed his eyes and sagged with relief.

[kvothbloodless]

The three kinds of bird species name

1. God’s Specialist Little Boy

2. Hot Breasted Milf

3. Grey Bird With Brown Head

4. Walter’s Fingernail

[kvothbloodless]

So I finally managed to get into Seek, and im enjoying it, but it really does seem like the worldbuilding is like...an order if magnitude worse than his other settings. Like, on a lot of levels, though admittedly the big one for me is that the complete and utter lack of privacy with onboards being so load bearing to the plot while also just...making no sense. I mean, I get what hes going for, but it absolutely wrecks the versmillitude, especially compared to his other works.

[kvothbloodless]

i know naturalists complain about getting constant "can you ID this for me" texts but not only do i love getting them, i love sending them to other naturalists instead of using my own skills, just to keep things lively

[kvothbloodless]

I found this youtube channel run by a pet groomer and all she posts is just. Fluffy lil sweetie pies getting groomed.

[kvothbloodless]

What a mean engraving

[kvothbloodless]

art reflects reality

[kvothbloodless]

Minor moment of panic when I realized I was holding my coffee such that the cup was facing the camera and totally legible to everyone on my work call.

[kvothbloodless]

how have I never seen this one before??

[kvothbloodless]

Do you not see why people believe astrology tho??

so i'm a custodian.

whenever someone does something cool like shit on the bathroom floor or get blood all over a toilet, i have to close the bathroom down by blocking the doorway with a CLOSED sign.

this sign is big and bright. it says CLOSED in four languages and has a do not enter symbol. it completely blocks the doorway. the only way to enter is to look directly at the sign and either move it or climb over it.

almost every single time i shut down a bathroom so i can suit up and clean a biohazard, someone will enter the bathroom with a dead-eyed, slack-jawed expression and try to wordlessly walk past me to use a stall.

and every single time, i have to block their path and say, "this bathroom is closed. there is one directly down the hall, marked by signs. please leave," and they either try to argue that THEY specifically should be allowed to use this one, as if they are god's most special little guy, or express shock even though they, again, had to contend with the CLOSED sign to enter.

often, i am standing there in the middle of cleaning up bodily fluids having to firmly repeat myself. they always leave angry or confused.

anyways, you clicked this button to send me an ask about astrology:

[kvothbloodless]

in an effort to ween myself off ai art discourse, I've been making it a habit that every time I see a post on the topic that annoys me real bad I'll practice my meditative breathing. and then I'll open my notes app and rewrite the post word for word but replacing every instance of the phrase "ai art" with "photography" (and if applicable, every instance of words like "drawing" with "oil painting", and etc similar replacements) and then I'll sit back and re-read what I've written while pretending it was posted by a disgruntled oil painter 100 or whatever years ago during the advent of photography as an artistic medium. and this makes me happy, yes

[kvothbloodless]

sometimes I think about how brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and gai lan are all the same species, and i understand why biologists are constantly furious about taxonomy

[kvothbloodless]

Sounds hot