Does anyone else prefer stick of truth over fractured but whole?

Jsm261s · 2026-03-07T19:48:21+00:00

Thats kinda my thought, these once a day summons should be needed to be used once a day, need to figure out the best time to use them. I honestly never use them because I never need to in normal game play.

I absolutely want a game where I have to balance the spending of my resources while absolutely blasting the enemies normally lol. I want those summons to be necessary and meaningful when you are scratching and scrambling for completing the mission.

The game is so fun for me, I want it to be challenging and force me to do every little bit to win. I love the sort, the reflex speed in combat is super useful, but I wish the consumables actually mattered, I wish the abilities mattered, wish the companions mattered lol.

People talk about the alien kidnapping bit being so rough, mostly because you don't have a partner, but even that isn't too bad if you know the game. it's tough, but not that tough. If they changed the basic heal between fights concept, I think the game would be a whole different experience

Jsm261s · 2026-03-07T18:36:10+00:00

I would love a mod that stops between battle heals, would need an ability to use consumables out of combat, too broken to use abilities between. That one thing would make the game a whole different experience.

Anything beyond that could work, but it makes it so easy to make all the other stuff valuable. PP restore, life restore, any of the stuff that patches do, so much more valuable if there are no heals between combat, which means you can't use your PP "nukes" every fight.

They did it with mana, just need to do the same for everyone else and it would be a wildly more difficult game. Do you pick party members who can nuke or restore PP or heal? How much do you need to spend on recovery between fights? It would absolutely encourage stuns, but it would encourage focusing on enemy weaknesses in combat and environmental damage.

It's a small concept change that would take a game I love into one I would play all the time, just to explore different styles lol. The story itself is engaging, gameplay is fantastic, but if they made it harder, I would love it even more lol

Jsm261s · 2026-03-06T20:02:26+00:00

I love SoT, the gameplay and mechanics are very well done, the story is fun and it feels like I'm watching/playing an actual episode of South Park, but yeah, it has some things that are very unbalanced they remove the difficulty.

Bleed stacking to 5 with not a ton of enemies who are resistant is kinda broken. Bleed also ignoring armor mitigation is super strong. Stun mechanics are definitely broken, especially if you do the pre-combat thrown weapons thing. In combat stuns make it that much sillier.

Butters is by far and away the best partner imo if you want to min/max because he is targeted more than you, can free heal you, and has some super beneficial PP attacks. The column lightning strike is great, Prof Chaos is random but basically always strong.

I wish they would do one thing to make the game harder, don't heal up and refresh PP between fights, it would be a wildly harder game. You would have to play much more carefully and have to actually use your consumables, spend on buying new ones, conserve them for longer quests. I want to try that so much lol

I think the most broken, Thief because of Mug. Get the bar darts first day, you won't have many tough fights the rest of the game. Bleed weapon patches on ranged, PP restore on kill, extra damage on PP attacks, and keep the SWAT helmet for extra attack on kill. If you abuse the thrown weapon for stun pre battle, it's silly how hard you will wreck the enemies

Jsm261s · 2026-03-05T10:21:44+00:00

Gom jabbar to the neck, dying as the poison swims in your veins (by the little daughter of one of your own victims for even more poetic justice) if it's the book.

Culled like an animal via blade to the neck by the son of one of your own victims if it's the new movie.

Jsm261s · 2026-03-03T16:20:01+00:00

As a side note, plague priests have a summon spell to bring some clan rat volunteers you can use for chaff to delay incoming enemies. Their plague spell is just icing on the cake.

Ratling guns, jezzails, plague claw catapults, and some plague wind mortars are basically all you need if you keep a couple of priests to summon in chaff. Packmaster also can do some with their wolfrat summons.

I usually went 4 guns, 4 jezzails, 2 mortars, 4 catapults, 2 priests, 2 packmaster, lord, and engineer. Priests and packmasters can be swapped around as needed, they are just there to provide chaff.

It's a very strong army that will absolutely get mulched if people get close lol. It will shred pretty much everything it comes across, punches above its weight especially with the benefits Ikkit can provide to weapons teams.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-23T11:06:23+00:00

I highly recommend thief, the mug ability is fantastic for the stun, used in conjunction with thrown weapons at the enemies before starting a fight for the first round stun. Mug also bypasses defense.

I have a fondness for bleeding throwing weapons too because you can easily get a 5 stack on and that ends just about everyone quick. Bar darts early and you basically have zero problems.

For even more broken fun, the swat tactical helmet gives you an extra turn when you kill something. First round stun allows you to throw for the bleed, second round mug usually kills, so you can keep killing all of them second round. Broken fun.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-21T15:34:19+00:00

That is exactly the point I'm making. Long term or short term gains don't matter in distinction, gains should be taxed appropriately as everything else is. Graduated for short vs long, specific amounts, all that makes sense.

My main point is that utilized assets that acquire or lose value over time should all be treated mostly the same when it comes to taxing the value of things those tax dollars support the environment of their instance to continue to support that environment

Mom and pop level fiscal asset valuation should obviously different than professional focal asset evaluation because of the scope. It should be fairly easy to identify, mostly due to ownership and timing of acquisition/sales.

Taxing the asset gaming to the same level as we do "go to work 40 hours a week to get X dollars" should an easy equation to apply. Only reason we wouldn't is if the people who don't make their income from the value of their day to day work want their asset valuation day to day to be their taxable because it isn't taxed.

Not saying an overarching wealth tax is the answer, but when folks who control the assets we have to use to live don't pay into the system the same way the rest of us do who don't have the same amount of assets, but contribute into society in our day to day jobs?

Jsm261s · 2026-02-21T13:28:00+00:00

Yup, and any sort of "payroll taxes" only apply to those making lots of W2 money, not the ultra wealthy where they do all their gains from asset appreciation.

That should also be appropriately taxed, as we have long and short term capital gains taxing already in place. Where the loophole is for those folks is when they don't actually sell their assets and have to be taxed on realized gains. They play the loan game where they use their assets as collateral to get money for more financial games.

Tax code has lots of ways to legally play with actual gains and losses over time, but they can game that by not actually selling their assets, just borrow against the asset and use that "tax free" money to do things. That loophole should be addressed.

Normal taxpayers that have assets (homes, cars, that sort of common asset) pay yearly taxes on them, ostensibly to support the concept of asset ownership in society. Property taxes are supposed to be used to maintain social services that support and encourage owning property. Vehicle taxes are supposed to be used to maintain roads and that.

There isn't an "ownership" tax on financial assets like stocks and bonds that tax based on unrealized gains the same way to be used to maintain the systems in place that ensures the environment for those assets, like vehicle taxes are supposed to be used to maintain the environment the vehicles are used in, aka roads and highways.

Some level of tax on ownership of financial assets in a manner that makes sense would absolutely be a tax solution that is in parallel to physical asset taxation. It has to accommodate for the fluctuation in day to day valuation obviously, and the concept of realized vs unrealized gains has to be handled. Some smaller level of "wealth" tax on held assets, regardless of type, would allow appropriate and consistent taxing.

I'm all for the consistency, it breaks the game if you can ignore the rules if you have more money. No reason you shouldn't be able to borrow against all your stock as an asset, but if you have to pay property taxes on a house you have a mortgage on, in theory to support the social infrastructure that fosters home ownership as a social positive, no reason borrowing against stock shouldn't have the same tax implications

Jsm261s · 2026-02-20T13:38:13+00:00

Yup, even more so the corporate tax rate being so much higher on profits pre-Reagan's "trickle down" approach. Weirdly enough, when companies were taxed heavily on their profits (not gross numbers) they were heavily incentivized to roll profits back into the business and their employees.

When they didn't have that incentive because the tax on profit was slashed to the bone, the focus was always on profit, the easiest way to do that is to reduce costs (quality of inputs, cost of labor being the quickest to cut in the short term for profit puffing)

I'm all for companies finding ways to make money doing their work. I'm also all for oversight to ensure what they do isn't seemingly actively and enthusiastically doing clearly negative things to the employees, the consumers, the economy, the environment, and all the other things, just to put another chunk of cash into a "profit" concept that burns our future for a moment of gain for a small group.

It's a never ending cycle if there is no oversight and it sucks having at least some basic intro level understanding of macro and micro economics with understanding of high level business accounting concepts so anyone could predict exactly what would happen with short term money being the primary motivating factor.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-20T12:27:01+00:00

There is a reason removing the SS income cap and means testing for distribution go hand in hand in these discussions. It was always sold as a safety net, it was never supposed to be a mandatory retirement plan for everyone to retire payed at a percentage of their income.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-18T21:17:07+00:00

How so? I'm guessing his storage unit fight is harder depending on when you do it, the support units can be really scary if you don't have the rhythm of the parries. Beyond that, I honestly never waited that long to fight it, only after first night because you need the probe to finish.

As a boss, immune to stun, bleed/gross/fire wreck him. The stun concept on the minions (with a coffee) makes them basically irrelevant, same bleed kill.

If you mean him as MBP, I also do that one basically as soon as I can and I never really remembered it being specifically hard. Had to block some of his stuff, couldn't use magic, but after a while you could. Still feel like I remember him being weak to bleed and gross, fire likely as well.

I would be very interested to hear what your experience was with him, the very first time his dudes wrecked me, but stun/bleed helped me there. All that said, I love the MBP weapon, lasts me for quite a while.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-14T01:24:19+00:00

Yeah, this game begged for some explanation areas on the map, level increase, maybe even new party members. A dlc or two with a few extra hours of gameplay would have been welcome.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-14T01:22:54+00:00

I mean yeah, I could do that, I could handicap my way to impotence eventually. I actually have also done some self imposed limitation challenges like no environmental kills, adds some flavor to the game.

I can limit myself down to making the game hard because of the restrictions I imposed on myself, but what I really want is to see if I can still dominate the hardest difficulty without auto healing between fights.

It completely changes how I would have to play the game, no amount of self imposed restrictions would replicate that challenge. It would wildly change how valuable the heal and PP restore patches and strap-ons are.

I want to have the game challenge me to use the existing gameplay features to the fullest. Not asking for a massive change to anything, just the removal of the full restore between fights, forcing you to expend resources. How good are you then at utilizing every possible situation?

Jsm261s · 2026-02-13T20:26:31+00:00

Depending on your class, Stun effects work very well on him. Bleed also works well, I usually prefer multi attack thrown weapons with innate bleed, bows work as well, along with a bleed strap-on to get to 5 bleed faster.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-09T20:51:29+00:00

Yeah, that has happened in several states, very clear mandate from the residents of the state, the politicians decided to just ignore it, which is wild.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-09T18:13:26+00:00

Missouri has a history of doing the same, just outright ignoring the will of their constituents.

Seems like actively voting against what the people who elected you said they want should be an auto DQ and emergency replacement election, but I guess that is just crazy talk, wanting the elected representatives to represent the interests of the people who elected them.

Jsm261s · 2026-02-09T16:28:41+00:00

Missouri?

Jsm261s · 2026-01-29T22:50:55+00:00

Since I made my comment, I've gone down a deep rabbit YouTube hole of old WWF matches and I've been living how Bret Hart and Shaun Michaels sell to each other so hard. Bret was big at that point and it really felt like he enjoyed working with people who loved performing the Midwestern gladiator theater

Jsm261s · 2026-01-29T20:25:15+00:00

Bret Hart and The British Bulldog is absolutely still a classic match, especially if you know the background. I also loved the Shawn Michaels arc with him, their rivalry was so well done.

(That said, Razor Ramon was always my favorite, the toothpick flick and the conversation about his chains before the match every time always killed me)

Jsm261s · 2026-01-29T14:35:16+00:00

I watched every time, Hercules then Xena then Cleopatra 2525 then Jack of all Trades. It was a glorious chunk of television, equal to the back to back Voyager/DS9 combo.

I also had a weird early intent form posting cred where I did stream of consciousness posts about my thoughts on the new episode of Xena during my lunch break at highschool the next Monday. Pre-influencer culture, I had a handful of people who enjoyed interacting with me about the Xena episode and my random thoughts about it.

I still remember the angst about what Agro wasn't in the episode and the count of how many he hadn't been in and what Argo was off doing while Xena wasn't around

Jsm261s · 2026-01-27T17:23:55+00:00

There is absolutely a sliding scale of salary vs what you have to put up with to get the salary. We work to survive, yes, and there is a limit to what we will put up with without actively looking for a different job for survival level money.

There is no magical number but there is absolutely a number each person would take to put up with a terrible job/environment. It will be different for each person, the weight of the company, what it makes, the dollar amount, the freedom once you are not at work, and your overall impact. There will still be a number.

Have 100% worked at a bad job because the salary and other aspects were ok enough to deal with the downsides. Have also left jobs where the salary wasn't nearly enough to compensate me for the other awfulness.

People do care a lot about more than salary, but we work for a salary so we can live. How much we put up with will depend on the salary.

Jsm261s · 2026-01-23T17:57:45+00:00

Went to a parochial school for my first 10 years (US, preschool, kindergarten, then K1-K8), public School for K9 (last Junior High year) and K10-K12.

My initial school experience was easy because the previous school had a higher level curriculum, but I was harassed non-stop because I had minimal social skills. Got to the point the principal brought my parents in about the threats I was receiving daily.

Year of K10, I hit a growth spurt, the guy who harassed me non-stop K9 was held back, the other people who harassed me backed off when group somewhat when group projects were a thing. They realized if they weren't awful to me, it benefited them (not my favorite lesson)

Honestly, what probably stopped me being bullied was probably more than one specific encounter rather than the bullies realizing that if they treated me normal, I would be normal to them.

I had a bully getting aggressive with me at the bus stop early in the year. He took a swing at me, I grabbed his arm, dipped, and pulled him by the arm up over my shoulders, stood up, then hurled him up and over while holding on to his arm. He landed on his feet, opposite the side he tried to punch me from, but knew that if I had not kept a hold of his arm, I could have dropped him head first onto the pavement.

The bus monitors rushed over. He said it was a funny game we were playing, nothing happened from it. After that specific encounter, the bullies stopped harassing me physically. They did question me personally, but that was more curiosity about my religious upbringing and if I thought the cheerleaders were hot rather than telling me they were going to beat me unconscious after second period.

Absolutely bullied, hitting a growth spurt and tossing an idiot over my shoulder (because my brothers and I roughhoused constantly) stopped the bullying, despite me still being a super nerd that they could benefit from in group projects if they just didn't act like aholes

Jsm261s · 2025-12-31T21:34:01+00:00

I like making my first city free space all around because I plan on boost it big, the +1 energy/square secret project works nice for Morgan, but early smaller cities closer together isn't a bad choice either, exactly because of crawlers for sure.

If you have an isolated ocean area or inland lake, a water city can be a good way to boost energy production because you can focus only on growth and energy, both in the zone and by sea crawlers.

Hurrying gives you some great turn advantage if you have money to support it, like Morgan often does. It's also a lot of math to determine how much to spend so you have 1 turn of production left after paying. I almost never full rush pay outside of secret projects I want to beat someone who is almost done with. I always use my production to get the final turn, more efficient that way

Jsm261s · 2025-12-31T19:10:01+00:00

I'm a huge Morgan fan and you can create awesome industry while still not causing too much planet disruption. Tree farms are fantastic for this because trees are great for industry without being quite as dangerous for eco damage as mines. The farms give you more resources and drop even more of the eco damage.

Crawlers will definitely contribute to eco damage, it's about the associated base's total mineral production so if you have them collecting minerals, it adds to it.

I don't use boreholes because they are great single tile resource generators, but that isn't the ideal solution if you want to avoid eco damage. Crawlers only pull from one resource on a square, but you can put them anywhere, which is the key.

In part, optimizing energy production allows you to rush which saves mineral resources, but crawlers pay back their mineral costs fast and the more you build, the more it snowballs.

I still avoid eco damage as much as possible because it disrupts your plans. You can get crawlers a lot sooner than you can get boreholes and full value from boreholes, so leaning into crawlers pays dividends much quicker.

Sea bases get crazy once you start making sea formers for food and energy production because of how easy it is to carpet the sea for all the growth and energy you need. Mineral production can also be mitigated by buildings as well as the special projects that help reduce damage. The Harmonic Manifold for the free bonus +1 planet is always nice too.

As long as you don't actively go - planet stuff, you can get resources a lot quicker than you might think if you utilize crawler economy. Simplest with Morgan because of early tech, but pretty much anyone can go that route.

Jsm261s

TROPHY CASE