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PurpleXVI posted:I doubt anyone's going to be reading along at home and going "AHEM. You wrote about the goofy thing on page 10 before you wrote about the goofy thing on page 2!" If posting it out of order is the order in which it makes the most sense(or the way in which it can be written the funniest, either way), then post it that way.
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May 22, 2017 20:25
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Is it just me, or is this guy carrying those scrolls in his crotch? Like he just holds them between his legs and takes short steps with just his knees, lest he lose his crotch-scrolls of power.
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May 22, 2017 21:02
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I just noticed that, it's such a baffling design decision.
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May 22, 2017 21:08
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If you've got a better place to keep your crotch scrolls, I'd like to hear it.
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May 22, 2017 21:11
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Timg'd, I keep mistaking the fluttering bit of his robe for his other leg, and it makes me think he's midway through a giant step.
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May 22, 2017 21:20
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Robindaybird posted:it's such a baffling design decision. PathfinderCharacterArt.txt
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May 22, 2017 21:45
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Bieeardo posted:Timg'd, I keep mistaking the fluttering bit of his robe for his other leg, and it makes me think he's midway through a giant step. ...it's only now that you mention it that I realize he ISN'T halfway through a giant step. Though I'd parsed it as a big, dramatic, baseball-esque wind-up prior to hurling the tome at someone.
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May 23, 2017 01:46
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Do whips do slashing nonlethal by default? Because it seems to me if they don't then the Butcher ability literally doesn't work as written, on top of being bad. Did the writer think Deadly was something else?
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May 23, 2017 02:02
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marshmallow creep posted:Do whips do slashing nonlethal by default? Yup. Edit: Actually, I looked it up. It doesn't grant the deadly weapon ability, it grants it the deadly weapon quality. That gives any coup de grace attempt made with it a +4 bonus to the DC. senrath fucked around with this message at 02:25 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 02:19
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PurpleXVI posted:...it's only now that you mention it that I realize he ISN'T halfway through a giant step. Though I'd parsed it as a big, dramatic, baseball-esque wind-up prior to hurling the tome at someone. 
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May 23, 2017 02:38
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senrath posted:Yup. there are two different weapon attachments named "deadly" in Ultimate Equipment? that is some extremely stupid bullshit
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May 23, 2017 03:08
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Wow, that is a worthless bonus.
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May 23, 2017 03:16
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Cease to Hope posted:there are two different weapon attachments named "deadly" in Ultimate Equipment? that is some extremely stupid bullshit One is a magical enchantment and one is a characteristic some weapons have. Under most circumstances it's clear which one you mean. Most.
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May 23, 2017 03:55
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Cease to Hope posted:there are two different weapon attachments named "deadly" in Ultimate Equipment? that is some extremely stupid bullshit One's a magic property, one's just a normal weapon quality. Yes, it's dumb. Edit: Oh, and d20pfsrd (a massively popular third party repository of Pathfinder rules) doesn't help matters by having its autolinking bot link every instance of the word "deadly" on the website to the magic property regardless of context.
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May 23, 2017 03:55
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i fixed it. still so stupid.
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May 23, 2017 10:50
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If anything it's even worse.
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May 23, 2017 12:42
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Isn't a coup de grace's dc based on damage done? So that's like a +4 to virtual damage on a helpless target?
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May 23, 2017 13:03
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It's also an auto-crit. Generally speaking, if your character is at all dedicated to melee damage, the save on coup de grace should be "passes on a 20" for almost any enemy.
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May 23, 2017 14:58
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To me that sort of thing is the essence of lovely 3e design. It's not exactly baked into the design itself, but it's the sort of thing that pops up a lot in D20 shovelware--a bonus to a situation that rarely comes up, that you won't even need. The worst example of such design I can think of, off the top of my head, is a Harkonnen-only feat from a homebrew called Dune: A Dream of Rain. IIRC it was "when you perform a coup de grace action, you get a +2 bonus to Intimidate checks on your next turn."
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May 23, 2017 15:13
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A Coup de Grace is an automatic hit, and an automatic crit. If the target survives, and death in PF is [negative Constitution score] HP, they need to make a Fort save with a DC 10 + damage dealt. So yeah, it causes the Fort save DC to be 4 higher, but without making the damage any higher. To go slightly off-tangent, in the course of tracking this down, I found a rule in the Core Rulebook that trying to deal lethal damage with a weapon that only deals non-lethal damage will give you a -4 penalty to the attack roll (in the same way, trying to deal non-lethal with a sword also carries a -4 penalty). But since a Coup de Grace is always a hit (and a crit) anyway, it probably doesn't matter for the purposes of CDG-ing that you're using a whip.
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May 23, 2017 15:14
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Welp! Got my first take-down request. It's for the "Middenarde" writeup by PurpleXVI, and the guy cites the writeup being based on prerelease content that was supposed to be held in confidence. Dunno how true that is, but I decided to honor his request; probably the only reason folks are reading about that game is for the (very nice) art anyway.
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May 23, 2017 16:17
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inklesspen posted:Welp! Got my first take-down request. It's for the "Middenarde" writeup by PurpleXVI, and the guy cites the writeup being based on prerelease content that was supposed to be held in confidence. Dunno how true that is, but I decided to honor his request; probably the only reason folks are reading about that game is for the (very nice) art anyway. The review was done as a close person to the author, so I think its fair. That said I hope you let them know the art was real good.
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May 23, 2017 16:24
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Funny that. If that was pre-release content, does that warrant another look? I remember PurpleXVIs review good enough to know that it mainly came down to "Game bad, Art good" and that the author was somewhat focused on his research on dick shoes instead of actual medieval England (like thinking London was landlocked etc..). Or is that more of a PR sentence thing?
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May 23, 2017 16:40
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It might be worth another look, if only to say "yes it's still all of these things."inklesspen posted:Welp! Got my first take-down request. It's for the "Middenarde" writeup by PurpleXVI, and the guy cites the writeup being based on prerelease content that was supposed to be held in confidence. Dunno how true that is, but I decided to honor his request; probably the only reason folks are reading about that game is for the (very nice) art anyway. FWIW You can mark the Conquering Heroes review as complete. The third Insatiables update was the last.
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May 23, 2017 16:47
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The author never told me I wasn't allowed to post it(or, well, he did just today, maybe should've said that back when he asked me to review his game), or that the art in particular was supposed to be held back as "backer only" content, plus since he found me through my reviews, he knew exactly what I would be planning to do to his game if he didn't tell me otherwise(if he'd told me that I couldn't post the review, I wouldn't have been very interested in doing it, in any case). But yes, he's also been after me for, in his words, "libelling his trademark," and allowing people to "doxx" him and ruin his life as a cybersecurity expert. Take it down if it's any trouble. Also it won't be getting a second look, he told me, since he's going to only release it to his backers now, and otherwise refuse to sell the "final" version. PurpleXVI fucked around with this message at 17:04 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 17:01
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PurpleXVI posted:But yeah, take it down if it's any trouble. Also it won't be getting a second look, he told me, since he's going to only release it to his backers now, and otherwise refuse to sell the "final" version. Hahaha what a pisslord. Kurieg posted:FWIW You can mark the Conquering Heroes review as complete. The third Insatiables update was the last. Okay. I'm on around page 375 or so, and steadily moving forward, btw. I'd also like to thank everyone who includes a post title at the top of writeups, even if it's just an out-of-context quote of terrible game words like ARB tends to do. Makes my job a lot easier.
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May 23, 2017 17:02
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Goddamnit the drama cannot end this silently, If he doesn't have a meltdown soon I'll forget all about his (reportedly) mediocre game. Again.
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May 23, 2017 17:27
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 The Great Modron March Part 6: M o d r o n i z e Y o u r s e l f a n d F a c e t o B l o o d s h e d When we last left our heroes, they had traded the Dryad’s Favor for the Avariel Feather, and then traded that for the Healing Water, to get the Biggoron Sword… Anyways, the modrons are well and truly in the chaos side of the Great Ring now, and things are starting to get hairy for them. This adventure builds on some of the themes explored earlier, namely, amoral weird science and modron dismemberment. The March has left Arborea without incident and is now passing through the gate town of Sylvania. This isn’t a very dangerous place per se, but it’s absolutely party central, which the modrons do not like at all. The locals love it when the March comes around-- it’s fun! It’s something new! They have a tradition of decorating the modrons who pass by using streamers, feathers, paint, bells etc. As long as no overzealous reveler attacks a modron, they remain completely passive and march along ignoring all this buffoonery. They’re focused on surviving Limbo. This story begins with a friend of the PCs. Any NPC from their past can be used, but in case none is readily available, they’ve provided one: Xaldra Miloni, a manic pixie dream tiefling from the Free League. The adventure begins with the PCs and Xaldra enjoying some well-earned rest time in Sylvania. They’ve got rooms at a tavern called The Drunken Leaf, courtesy of Xaldra, who wants to hang out and party down with them. She’ll try to trick them into coming to Sylvania if they won’t come on their own, but if they don’t come, they don’t come, and you can skip this part of the adventure. The inn is beautiful and spacious, the innkeeper friendly, the town is fun and relaxing. The DM is encouraged to let the PCs unwind for a while. In Sylvania you can just chill and do whatever and totally relax. "Take it easy" is the Sylvania motto, for example, that's how laid back it is there. Ahem… So finally, the modrons arrive. If the PCs didn’t bring decoratin’ gear, some will be provided to them by friendly Sylvanians. There’s a huge crowd, and it’s very easy for the PCs to become separated. Everyone’s having a grand old time, darting out to paint a modron or hang a feather boa or whatever. The modrons just silently tolerate this like they do everything else. Of course, there’s bumping and jostling and some shoving (not too much, this is still on the Good side of the Ring) and in all the commotion, Xaldra just up and vanishes. This shouldn’t be too worrying at first-- she does tend to duck out and party on her own-- but when she doesn’t return all night, they might start to worry. If they don’t, some of her local friends will come ask where she’s at. Nobody seems to know, though a lot of people have apparently been going missing lately. If the PCs ask around, they can get some reports of people who have seen abductions. They’re mostly carried out by a group of thugs that’s recently moved into the area. They’re unfriendly types that don’t socialize, but the locals can point the PCs to their encampment. Before the PCs can head out there, though, they’re attacked at home. There’s a hissing mechanical noise and something metallic thumps against their door, then smashes it in. It’s a creature made of flesh and metal, blades extruding from its arms, staring madly at them-- in fact, it’s recognizably Xaldra, but completely mad. She attacks and fights to the death, wailing in agony the whole time. When it dies, the metal parts fade away, leaving only Xaldra’s body. She doesn’t even look like she’s at peace now. If the PCs try to capture instead of kill, they’ll have to sedate her, as so long as she’s awake she’ll be trying to kill them. She’s not reachable in there no matter what-- her spirit is gone. Obviously, this event causes a huge stir, and if the PCs aren’t motivated by revenge and wanting to find out what’s happened to their friend, the innkeeper offers them free room and board for a year if they can solve this mess. The PCs can easily track the kidnapping brigands back to their lair, a set of caves in a hill. It’s deserted during the day and there’s not much to find-- a few tents, a few storage rooms, the whole thing pretty rough and obviously temporary with no real valuables to find. Coming at night the PCs can sneak in or fight their way in (there are 11 brigands total, 3rd-level fighters with a 5th-level rogue leader) but talking might work best. The brigands are Bleak Cabal and don’t give a poo poo about their employer or anything else. They’re working for a wizard who needed experimental subjects for modron experiments. During daytime they guard him, kidnap new victims, help out with his surgeries etc. A job’s a job. The brigand leader will even point to the wizard’s tower, but will warn that he’ll have to defend it against any attack-- at least until his contract is up. If they describe Xaldra’s fate he’ll say that there are about ten more mechanized creatures. The wizard is Valran Stonefist is a Sensate who’s obsessed with seeing the world through modron senses, and has been experimenting at merging modron and non-modron life forms. In fact, his notes form the basis for the Tacharim’s similar “research” in this direction. He lives in a bizarre “tower” shaped like a flower fallen on its side, but massive and petrified into wood-- he imagines it was once a celestial rose that fell to earth in the Outlands. It’s mostly underground and the entrance is guarded by two brigands, but if the PCs can sneak past them there aren’t any more standing watch inside.  Area 1 is an entryway and mudroom with bandit boots and cloaks hanging up. Area 2 is a dining hall/meeting area for when Valran (rarely) has visitors. It’s covered in dirty dishes but no flies, since there’s a magical insect repellant stone hung up above. Some of his notes on modron anatomy and transplantation are here too. Area 3 is a filthy kitchen. Nothing much to see here. Area 4 is Valran’s bedroom. His wardrobe is a portal hole full of his colorful clothes. Under his bed is a scrap of paper with the word “rukhalis” on it, the command word for a trap further inside. There’s also a shifting tapestry that, when touched, displays one of a variety of different scenes. It can’t be taken, sadly. Area 5 is a scrying chamber with a crystal ball plus some other weird stuff (a giant fleshy ear, a megaphone, a telescope). A tapestry against one wall acts as sort of a CCTV monitor showing what’s going on outside the tower. The ball is trapped, and anyone who disturbs it without saying “rukhalis” is magically rooted in place until dispelled or released by Valran. Area 6 is the library. He has some valuable books, including some of the other Planescape books that exist in-universe like The Factol’s Manifesto and Faces of Evil. The good stuff is locked in a glass cabinet with a wizard lock and a fire trap on it. Area 7 is the Sensorium, which holds dozens of memory stones containing experiences of both Valran and his victims. Xaldra’s is in here, but the stones lose all effectiveness if they leave this room. Placing Xaldra’s stone on her modronized body will restore her mind, but not fix her body. Area 8 is a guest room that hasn’t been used in a long time. There’s a ring of free action that’s fallen down behind the bed, and a hoofprint belonging to the bariaur Yissa (from the Tacharim) but nothing else of interest. Area 9 is a closet. That’s all. Area 10 is a long passage. Human and modron screams echo down it, and the rooms off to the side hold examples of Valran’s “work.” 10a is a cell holding a bunch of terrified humanoids. They’ve heard the screams and their minds have been dwelling on what’s going to happen to them. They’ll beg to be released and will flee at once if they are. 10b holds seven modronoids (there were in fact 10, but three managed to kill themselves) restrained by a web spell. One has been sawing through the web, and they will all burst free when/if the PCs confront Valran. Whenever they get free, now or later, they will all attack mindlessly and fight to the death. 10c is surgical prep and a guard barracks. Most of the guards will be here during the day, except for the two out front. They might be preparing prisoners for surgery. 10d is a tool shop for repairs and replacements. 10e is a modron prison-- this is where both whole modrons awaiting surgery wait, and where Valran stores partially “disassembled” ones. Valran tries to keep them healthy, because his process links human and modron life force, and if one perishes, so does the other. He’s smart: he keeps modrons separated by more than one “caste” so that they cannot communicate and plan to escape. He currently has five monodrones, three tridrones and one pentadrone. 10f is the surgery. It’s a blood-spattered abattoir lit by stones with continual light cast on them. There’s a nasty crawlspace full of discarded parts and a shell of modron parts Valran plans to place himself in when he’s ready. Currently present is one dead human, totally mangled. Also present is Valran, making notes. He’s totally nuts and very dangerous; he won’t strike first unless provoked, but will fight back if attacked, and he’s a level 7 mage. He has lots of disruptive spells like friends, web, polymorph other, bind, suggestion and hypnotism which, combined with the guards, should sorely challenge the party. If he’s beaten he’ll try to escape using wraithform. If the PCs restrain him he’ll just smile and relax-- he’ll note their faces and make sure to kill them later.  the doctor is IN He’d much rather talk than fight, though. He wants to tell people about his work and tends to assume that PCs are admirers. He says that he’s using “worthless modrons” to improve people, and as soon as he can figure out how to stop them succumbing to “modron madness” he’ll take part in the process himself. If he could only work out the kinks… If the PCs mention Xaldra, he’ll express some remorse, and offer them some gold-- 500g to start, but up to 2000g (above that is excessive, he feels). He will get very defensive if criticized and ask the PCs to leave. He thinks his work has to continue and will be very resistant to the idea of setting free the prisoners. However, it is around this point that the modronoids break free, and suddenly everyone has their hands very full indeed. It’s very difficult for the PCs to permanently get rid of Valran here, and depending on their actions they may have earned a very dangerous enemy. Still, stopping his experiments is a good deed. The bandits may likewise seek revenge later, or they could even become allies; you never know. Surviving humanoids will flee back to Sylvania; surviving modrons will attempt to rejoin the March, while the Modronoids all eventually succumb. And the March goes on. Next time: CHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSS DAD LOST MY IPOD fucked around with this message at 18:00 on May 23, 2017 |
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May 23, 2017 17:52
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PurpleXVI posted:The author never told me I wasn't allowed to post it(or, well, he did just today, maybe should've said that back when he asked me to review his game), or that the art in particular was supposed to be held back as "backer only" content, plus since he found me through my reviews, he knew exactly what I would be planning to do to his game if he didn't tell me otherwise(if he'd told me that I couldn't post the review, I wouldn't have been very interested in doing it, in any case). So what you're saying is that he wanted you to do the review in order to get press for his Kickstater and now that his Kickstarter is done he wants the review excised from the internet so the game maintains it's "exclusivity"? He does realize that removing it from Inklesspen's website doesn't magically remove it from SA right?
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May 23, 2017 18:00
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Kurieg posted:He does realize that removing it from Inklesspen's website doesn't magically remove it from SA right? There's a surprising number of people that work in IT but have no idea how the internet works.
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May 23, 2017 18:02
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Kurieg posted:So what you're saying is that he wanted you to do the review in order to get press for his Kickstater and now that his Kickstarter is done he wants the review excised from the internet so the game maintains it's "exclusivity"? I get the impression that it was more that he thought his work was ABSOLUTE GENIUS and he wanted praise and back pats for it(maybe a positive review to post to get sales). Then when it turned out I was kind of savaging it and had very scant praise for anything but the artwork, he got very upset. One of his main issues with the review was that "BUT IF ANYONE GOOGLES MIDDENARDE THEY'LL SEE THE BAD REVIEW FIRST" even though one of the very first things I pointed out was that it wasn't a review of the final version. I kept up a constant conversation with him while reviewing it, though I never explicitly mentioned that I was posting it anywhere, while feeding him the exact same complaints as the ones that went into the posted review. His response was mostly backpedalling all the time, moving the goalposts, etc. getting him to actually agree to change anything(rather than insisting I just didn't UNDERSTAND) was a major challenge. As far as I know, the Kickstarter was already done by the time he asked for the review.
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May 23, 2017 18:13
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If he's not going to sell it to anyone why would he care what the reviews look like?
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May 23, 2017 18:19
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PurpleXVI posted:I get the impression that it was more that he thought his work was ABSOLUTE GENIUS and he wanted praise and back pats for it(maybe a positive review to post to get sales). Then when you actually do review it and point out all the problems, they don't want to hear it. I mean, I get that accepting criticism is hard, and the game you spent years working on is your baby, but if you don't want actual feedback then why'd you ask?
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May 23, 2017 18:31
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Evil Mastermind posted:[...] Because personal and public perception differ profoundly. Not quite unlike what Siembieda is doing actually, only with even less subtle awareness of how much of a doubleplusbad person he is for his business practices.
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May 23, 2017 18:57
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Evil Mastermind posted:I mean, I get that accepting criticism is hard, and the game you spent years working on is your baby, but if you don't want actual feedback then why'd you ask? Or any time someone argues that Video Games should be treated as serious Art, and then gets upset when people apply serious critical analysis to them.
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May 23, 2017 19:04
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While I'm annoyed that someone's bruised ego is making you take down the review, I'm glad that I was reminded of Middenarde, a game supposedly of grim, brutal medieval life where thisZeroCount posted:In the grim darkness of Middle Ages Europe a small duchy is terrorized by local Birdlord who keeps sending his swarm of Trailblazer pigeons to join the parties of hapless travellers and immediately propel them into the stratosphere
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May 23, 2017 19:06
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If he had stated that this is the design goal of the game, it would be amazing. Instead he goes for Totally realistic and bores everyone.
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May 23, 2017 19:10
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Nathan Quill, Star-Lord posted:Hello Rose! What I find most unbelievable is that he has an editor.
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May 23, 2017 19:12
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I suppose I just have a different stance on critisism, mainly due to my job. My work on my last project/client went through three different levels of peer review (due to regulatory and audit needs), so it's not a place where you can just go "well I think it's right, so screw you." It really makes you learn to listen to other people's review of your work. Of course, that hasn't stopped one or two people getting bounced because they couldn't handle the guy who looks at your work like an auditor would pushing back on stuff for both your and the company's protection.
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May 23, 2017 19:15
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:If he had stated that this is the design goal of the game, it would be amazing. inklesspen posted:What I find most unbelievable is that he has an editor. Dear Sir or Madam inklesspen, My nom-de-guerre is Earth-1 Batman Professor Bruce Wayne and I do not consent to joinder with your website.
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May 23, 2017 19:18
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