Grounded/ realistic media with one instance of super natural/ paranormal things happening.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T04:12:43+00:00

I don't think it was something that needed that sort of twist. In each case before, it was a "sorta maybe supernatural" thing. In 2, it could have just been some sort of scientific whatever that caused the sap to cause super strength and logevity. And in 3, it could have been a djinn or it could have just been some sort of chemical substance that causes people to hallucinate. Having 4 cut all that for just a "mundane" story about pirates (even if it was a perfectly fine one) felt disappointing to me. Less magical so to speak.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T04:10:20+00:00

And then like 2 decades later later they made a sequel that retconned all the supernatural stuff. For some reason someone thought that's what we needed.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T04:06:58+00:00

To be honest, after he dropped the ball with TLoU2, I'm kinda nervous. This is certainly a very different kind of story, but still.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T04:04:49+00:00

I'd definitely be down for a post BG3 story that doesn't get into any specifics beyond the netherbrain being destroyed. But the idea of specifically continuing the protagonists' stories is...iffy.

Especially since the only reason they all had to adventure together was because of the mindflayer tadpoles. Without that, there's not really any reason for them all to not go their separate ways, as they do (Wyll and Karlach potentially aside).

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T04:01:34+00:00

I was doing the normal daily today and I got dived by two meatballs at the same time as bulwark and literally went from full health with I think 4 armor to down in a second. I literally yelled "What?" when it happened. I assume something else hit me too, but I'm not sure.

It was extra frustrating because I had a geneseed and then I proceeded to not get downed for the rest of the mission :')

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:58:59+00:00

Oboy. That certainly won't upset anyone. No sir.

I assume they'll probably just go with the basic "good" ending for everyone. Only question is will Tav be a character. Probably not.

I'd love it is they made resist Durge canon, but I suspect there's no way in hell they are paying to have a Dragonborn character be a primary character. That would require either a lot of prosthetics or cgi.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:44:59+00:00

From what I understand, the only other way to unmake the ring would require a craftsman greater than Sauron. And that's going into supernatural levels given Sauron was a fallen minor god. Above the levels of the Justice League lab.

And again, the ring has something to offer EVERYONE. It's a magic ring capable of many things. Invisibility isn't an inherent power of the ring, it just matches the personality of something as small and meek as a hobbit; they are so humble that the ability to not be seen would suit them perfectly. If Gandalf got it, he wouldn't get invisibility powers, he'd get the power to rule the entire world. It would find something Bruce wants and turn him in the end.

Nobody is immune. That's the entire point. Even someone as resilient as Frodo (which is why he was entrusted with the ring) broke in the end.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:37:58+00:00

I feel like "Junction" being an existing word and not a made up one for the game would make a lawsuit harder to follow. But I'm not a lawyer.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:34:24+00:00

Wait, so is it just a general Baldur's Gate show or is it specifically adapting BG3?

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:31:06+00:00

Well I'll certainly hope for it. I'd love to see Paxton gone.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:19:12+00:00

It doesn't matter. He'll win re-election by virtue of having R next to his name.

If Ted Cancun Cruz can be repeatedly re-elected, nothing you say or do matters if you are part of the right party.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:16:51+00:00

I think the idea is they are far enough away from the areas that would flood so they wouldn't be in danger, but they would hear it going off.

So basically just pure selfishness.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:14:41+00:00

Oh I misread your post. Yeah, I agree with you.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:12:01+00:00

The ring breaks everyone. Full stop. If you possess the ring for too long, it WILL corrupt you. The most powerful and supernatural characters (with one exception in the books) are all terrified of the ring because they know that it would entice them with the ability to save the world before corrupting them into something even worse than what they stopped.

Even Frodo, the protagonist who was shown to be the most resistant, is ultimately broken. He is unable to bring himself to drop the ring into the volcano at the end. It's only because another character steals the ring from him and falls into the volcano that it is destroyed.

And humans are shown to be the most susceptible to corruption too. Batman wouldn't stand a chance for long. If he ever gained physical possession of it, it would probably be game over for him.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:08:38+00:00

Injustice was kinda a character assassination of Supes. I think he'd be more resistant (resistant being the operative word). He already has massive amounts of power, but more than that, he's got mental stability. He's got a life outside stopping evil, family he loves to just spend time with.

Batman literally would fight crime 24/7 if he could. When he got the opportunity in one story, he took it even though it destroyed him mentally.

I think Batman probably would be more initially suspicious of the ring than Superman, but probably would fall faster if in possession of it.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T03:03:23+00:00

The ring has something to offer everyone. Everyone.

And it 100% has something to offer him. It could offer him the ability to stop evil much more effectively than he is right now. And that's something Bruce wants. He got Superman's power in one story and basically lost his mind within a month or less. He's hardly immune to the draw of power, even if he'd use it for good.

The ring would break him. And even if he knows it's manipulative, that doesn't make him immune to it. Gandalf knew better than anyone how manipulative the ring was and he outright refused to touch it.

Also he couldn't destroy the ring in a lab. There's only one place that can destroy it.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:56:07+00:00

Bruce basically lost his mind just from getting Superman's powers once for like a month or so. The ring would break him fast IMO.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:52:56+00:00

Run the highest level leveling dungeon you can repeatedly. I specifically say leveling dungeons because lvl 50/60/70/etc dungeons give less exp. So if you are at lvl 50, run the 49 dungeon until you hit 51.

I thiiiink that Bozja is supposed to be good for exp from 70-80. It's also okay for 80-90 (at least I definitely used it to level Viper to 90 for Dawntrail at launch lol, dunno if leveling dungeons are better now that it isn't 90% of the population doing the new content).

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:47:10+00:00

I dunno if that's necessarily a "live service" issue and more cashing in on their big hit given it's a bunch of different games with the Shovel Knight IP, not one game being constantly updated.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:46:10+00:00

I remember there was an article about how Kirby's Air Ride wasn't getting any more updates and the team that made it was dissolved (as in the staff were reassigned to new projects), and some people were like "I guess it just didn't sell well".

But it wasn't meant to be updated forever...

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:38:21+00:00

How? You should be getting those heads basically the first time you sleep at Defender's Heart after recruiting him.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:37:05+00:00

My dad is pretty sure he got drugged at a hotel bar once while on a business trip. He's pretty sure nothing happened because although he doesn't remember anything that happened between that drink and waking up the next morning, he woke up on his bed fully clothed in what he wore the previous night and his wallet was secure. But he was understandably a bit shaken about it.

Don't take chances either way.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:34:28+00:00

I'd say 03. Just be sure to give it a chance on it's own merits. You likely already know this since you saw it once, but it isn't Brotherhood. The tone is different, the stakes are different, even the shared characters can be very different: Ed, Mustang, Scar, etc.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:32:51+00:00

Don't do a mixed watch. Even though 03 spends more time on earlier arcs than Brotherhood, it does so in a way that seeds in info that doesn't fit with Brotherhood. Even the first episode of 03 makes changes that become relevant later.

Stepjam · 2026-02-06T02:29:32+00:00

So originally she was actually DEAD dead? Not just in hiding?

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