Starfield, BG3 & Bluey

[GrantDawg]

Well that is a grizzly. Obviously

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[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

What beer should I get for gaming tomorrow? IPA suggestions will be yeeted.

I’m pretty much exclusively a PBR man. If I’m playing video games it’s PBR and kettle cooked salt and pepper potato chips and then eventually water and green apple licorice.

[GrantDawg]

Man, I haven't had PBR since a kegger at a friend's college. That sounds like a winner.

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[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Man, I haven't had PBR since a kegger at a friend's college. That sounds like a winner.

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Unfortunately no PBR at the Kroger. Instead I went with Sam Adams Summer Ale.

[GrantDawg]

Download started. Looked steady at the begining, but now it is studdering. Hopefully within the next hour.

[Edward64]

Check how much is being downloaded/installed.

Mine says 79GB which is the same as the EA, and not the expected 120+GB. So I'm thinking there's a queue?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Check how much is being downloaded/installed.

Mine says 79GB which is the same as the EA, and not the expected 120+GB. So I'm thinking there's a queue?

Restart Steam. That fixed it for me

[GrantDawg]

Wolfhearts Let's Play for those who are interested in checking it out:

[Edward64]

Thanks. I saw it was about the 120GB to install.

As it's installing it's saying x of 100.22GB. I assume that's a Steam "feature".

Download seems to be progressing well.

[Thomkal]

I think everybody is probably streaming this one-any of our gang?

[SirFozzie]

Sure, why not.

https://www.twitch.tv/sirfozzie

[GrantDawg]

I'm heading toward character creation. This should only take a few hours.

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[Edward64]

Penis? WTF

At least have pics to show A, B, C etc.


EDIT: okay, I see it now. Softcore CRPG

[SirFozzie]

Streamed for an hour and a half (you can see the VOD in my channel's videos). You know what this game needs? One of those big old strategy guides that gives you clues. It's a big, aweinspiring game, but it does require some getting used to.

Plus being a old style grognard, there's something really neat about a big old book that has every secret inside, so you can read or avoid at pleasure.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Penis? WTF

At least have pics to show A, B, C etc.


EDIT: okay, I see it now. Softcore CRPG

You can show nudity.

[SirFozzie]

dola: ​One thing that's cool, if you watch a streamer play, and they have the twitch extension installed, you can mouseover the top left corner of the stream and a couple buttons will appear, so you can see the streamer's party and quest journal without having to ask

[Edward64]

Finished first battle in the Ruins. So far so good.

Playing a human Monk.

Happy to say my AMD 6850u w/680m works well at low settings. No lags etc. but (obviously) graphics ain't great.

Stupid they left the version #. I do wish they allowed more than 4 party members at any given time. 6 would be nice.

[GrantDawg]

That is cool. Many little things are hidden that are funny. Hover over each companions camp clothes and underwear. My favorite is Shadowhearts underwear. "If pants could brood"

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[SirFozzie]

Version # showing will be patched out

[Thomkal]

Just got an email from Gog.com that they have a "Goodie Pack" available for free-emojis stickers wallpapers for those interested

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I do wish they allowed more than 4 party members at any given time. 6 would be nice.

Balance issues grow exponentially with the number of party members active.

[GrantDawg]

I have gotten pretty far into Act 1 so far, and there have only been a few changes to the story since EA. Wyll is deferent-ish. Some changes to his story and a different voice actor which is ok. I sort of liked the old Wyll but it seems most didn't. Camp is very different, and I really like the seperate tents. I am disappointed there isn't a break down on each subclasses future features when you are making that decision. You can go somewhat by 5e information but they have changed a good bit. They have definitely overpowered the githyaki. My guess is because it was the least played race, and they are trying to get people to utilize it. Didn't work for me. I have no interest in playing one.
Loving all the added spells, and being able to spec Shadowheart out of her crappy subvlass. Moved her to Warcleric, and she is my frontline tank. I'm playing a sword bard, and loving it.

[GrantDawg]

I just had something happen that I don't think was in the EA, and I have never had happen in any game ever. Spoiler time:


crap. I can't get spoiler tags to work

[GrantDawg]

Spoiler

I just walked in on an ogre giving to a bugbear. They were doing the nasty bent over a mangled corpse. Crazy.

Edit: Actually it seems it was in EA. I just never saw it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I feel like that spoiler pretty much sums up BG3 in terms of whether I need to keep any further eye on it.

(Mostly kidding, there's was really no chance I was going to pay any attention to it beyond it's broad performance before that spoiler)

[Edward64]

I feel as if I'm doing extra effort "looking" around the area with my cursor and WASD.

The screen edge panning seems to work with Left-Right-Top but does not work with Bottom because of the "quick/hot bar"? So I always used the S to see the bottom of the screen.

And I seem to use the Q & E rotation quite a bit so I can actually see where I'm going with all the environmental stuff.

[GrantDawg]

I am roughly 20 hours in at this point, and still bopping around the Act 1 area. Done a bunch of things I have done before, but I have also found things I never have. Most were there duting EA, but I kept restarting trying different characters so I never got all the way through the first act. I estimate I am still only half-way, and sitting on 4th level. My notes so far:
1) Love, love, love the Sword Bard. Right mix of utility and combat usefulness. Solid class.
2) I respected Shadowheart twice. First time to War Cleris, which was pretty solid. There were times she felt less useful than others, mainly because she would run out of spells. I just respected her to Tempest Cleric, and now we are talking. Took out three Gnolls in one Shatter using her divine ability perk. Can't wait till she gets even more powerful spells. With her wearing heavy armor and shield plus I took resilience to get her Constitution saving throws, she can take a beating and still keep her concentration.
3) New Wyll is eh. Warlock is still not my favorite class.
4) Gale's "aliment" has been turned up to 11. My original plan was to keep him in the party, but he has been shelved. It is going to be weird not having an arcane blaster, but I guess Shadowheart is going to substitute that part.\
5) Karlach is fun. I really like the Barbarian class. I went beserker even though I believe the Wildheart is the one most prefer. Berserker with tavern brawler equals profit.

[Thomkal]

Just in time for Balder's Gate 3, Humble Bundle has a Beyond Balder's Gate bundle available with a BG 1 and 2,couple other BG games/DLC, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, and oddly enough Pathfinder:Wrath of the Righteous.


https://www.humblebundle.com/games/r...mbleHighlights

[Edward64]

I'm about 16 hours in at at Level 3.

Accoding to Gamespot on best classes, the Monk & Druid are last. And I'm a human Monk vs Wood Elf. I guess BG3 is not optimized for a Kwai Chang Caine player.

403

I feel that I'm missing out on cool stuff. I may have to re-spec soon.

[GrantDawg]

Don't fret about the min/max. Do what you enjoy. I think the monk looks fun. I might try a play-through with that later down the road.

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[Atocep]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Spoiler

I just walked in on an ogre giving to a bugbear. They were doing the nasty bent over a mangled corpse. Crazy.

Edit: Actually it seems it was in EA. I just never saw it.

Yeah this one is going to stick with me for a while

[GrantDawg]

My long weekend of gaming update: I still didn't finish Act 1. I have done way more of it than I ever did in EA, but I still have to finish the Underdark section before moving on. I am trying to leave very few stones un-turned. I did get to level 5, and it really is so different. At earlier levels I had to push to keep from resting every couple of battles. By the time you get to level 5, it is pretty easy not to burn through all your spells and abilities with cool downs every fight.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Yeah this one is going to stick with me for a while

Just finished that encounter.

Should have gotten a magical item worthy of that visual.

[Edward64]

Getting my ass whupped by the spiders (multiple times).

Read up on it and realized I shouldn't have done something earlier.

Spoiler

I killed the 3 Ogres earlier, I should have avoided that so I could have called them to help out

Still at Level 3, may wait till I get to Level 4 and retry.

[Edward64]

FYI some Starfield news

Starfield’s download size – and its preload date – have been leaked online by retailers such as Amazon. There are just weeks left until the long-awaited, highly anticipated game releases worldwide, and we’re expecting leaks and tidbits of information to start flowing thick and fast as that window shortens.

It was revealed that Starfield’s download size tops out at a hefty 125 GB on both Xbox and PC – and it’ll be available to preload from the 9th of August. It’s arguably one of the most eagerly anticipated games in recent years, and many are praying that Bethesda delivers on the promises that have been made over the course of the last few years.

[Thomkal]

Some Balder's Gate stats from the Devs after the first week:


Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #23: Here's To You - Steam News

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Some Balder's Gate stats from the Devs after the first week:

Baldur's Gate 3 - Community Update #23: Here's To You - Steam News

WTF? On one hand, I admire the commitment. On the other hand, some people need to get a life. I'm still leisurely strolling through Act I.

And 368 of you managed to finish it within that 3-day weekend. We salute you.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

WTF? On one hand, I admire the commitment. On the other hand, some people need to get a life. I'm still leisurely strolling through Act I.

Not really a surprise. There are people that pride themselves at speed running through games. No matter how much content, they'll roll right through it.

[SirFozzie]

they probably use a cheat program like WeMod, and not a couple of them do it so they can be the first to publish endgame spoilers on youtube.

edit: For the love of all that is holy and good, do not click the discuss. Never mind Avernus, BG3's steam discussion board is the worst circle of hell. It's the same message as those we put on long-term nuclear disposal sites:

"This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here. "

All I can say is, the trolls are dedicated to their bits. At least I hope they're trolls, no one can be THAT delusional, can they? (probably they can)

[Edward64]

BG3 benchmarks on different laptop GPUs. Caught my eye because it included my 680m. It shows 35 fps on "low" setting.

Baldur's Gate 3 tech review: Laptop and desktop benchmarks - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

The graphics requirements of Baldur‘s Gate 3 turn out to be quite moderate. More powerful iGPUs, such as the Radeon 680M, are already good enough to run the game at 1080p and the lowest settings. You’ll need at least a mid-range GPU to push up the settings at this resolution. Our RTX 4050 delivered more than 60 FPS on average even with the settings maxed out.

[Atocep]

I'm roughly 25 hours in and fairly early in act 2. Act 1 was very good but kind of hit a lull midway through. Act 2 has been absolutely amazing so far.

I have seen a handful of bugs. One rather nasty one that required a reload of a previous save, but nothing else that was a big deal. Considering the complexities of the story, environment, combat mechanics, ect I'd consider that rather impressive.

Larian is the new Bioware. I just hope they're not so successful they get bought up and ruined by a major publisher.

[GrantDawg]

I am right at the end of Act 2 and some crazy number of hours. I have definitely had bugs here in there. Only one crash (using Vulcan, which I stopped using), and most everything was easily navigable. There are a couple of rules that are bugged that could be exploited, but I just haven't used them.
I agree Act 2 has been amazing. I can't wait to get to Baldur's Gate.

[dubb93]

Finally realized I gave my half-orc barbarian an acolyte background so I restarted. Guess I missed that part in the character creation the first time around. Thankfully I'm not very far into the game yet.

[Thomkal]

Cohh Carnage gets to meet the character he voice acted and motion carried for the first time in BG3, and make sure you stick around to see what he does to him:


https://twitter.com/CohhCarnage/stat...99795547795457

[dubb93]

Ten minutes. BG 3 has been beaten in just over ten minutes.

[bhlloy]

More accurate to say that somebody got a game over in 10 minutes by massively gaming a bunch of mechanics. If that’s the kind of thing that floats your boat, good for you I guess?

I’m 45 hours at the early part of act 3 and honestly it’s overwhelming. The game goes in a hurry from relatively linear to “here’s a massive city and we aren’t really going to tell you what you need to do to wrap all this stuff up”. Definitely an incredible game with unparalleled depth but I’m not sure when I’ll finish it up, maybe just a bit burnt out right now.

[dubb93]

Finally back to where I was when I restarted and already thinking about having a side play through with a different character.

[Edward64]

Starfield pre-load available today.

Anyone getting this for Day 1? I'm still slowing playing BG3 so no rush for me (also, I'm predicting many bugs that'll take some time to resolve)

Bethesda's vaunted space bonanza Starfield is available for preload today on PC Game Pass - if you're downloading it on Steam, you'll need to wait a little longer (even longer, if you plan on playing Starfield on Steam Deck). The file weighs in at 139.84 GB, so be sure to clear some disc space before you force this galaxy's worth of grey rocks, NASApunks and hopefully extensive Event Horizon comparisons into your protesting PC, which has only ever lived to serve you and bring you joy. Might be an idea to double-check those Starfield system specs, too, and make that final call on whether to invest in a new SSD.

[JonInMiddleGA]

re: starfield

The timing of the end of XBL Gold and the forced switch to Gamepass:Core ain't a coincidence.

Core does not have Starfield
the mid tier of Gampass has Starfield ... but no online multiplayer for anything else
So to have Starfield through Gamepass AND retain online multiplayer for other games would be $16.99/month ... for me & the kid EACH.

And I'm still not certain whether the library sharing currently existing between me & Will is going to work on Core.

I'm about ready to just say fuck consoles and just give up, it damned sure ain't worth $34/month for me to be involved and I'm not at all certain it's worth the worry & stress of figuring it all out.

We bought a total of 4 games in the past 12 months, that number might go as high as six in a year depending on release schedules and such. That'd be about the break even on that $34/month shit but honestly, the amount of titles being released on console that we're interested in between us is so limited at this point that coming up with enough to justify (assuming everything is on Gamepass) is iffy.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Starfield pre-load available today.

Anyone getting this for Day 1? I'm still slowing playing BG3 so no rush for me (also, I'm predicting many bugs that'll take some time to resolve)

I'm not even loading it yet. Going to finish BG3 first, and even then might wait till the first major patch. I need more SSD space anyway. My 1TB is near full.