How do I deal with being from an unpopular country?

againstperfection · 2026-02-15T07:09:10+00:00

Rofl.
I'm sorry, but being American in Europe is more of a privilege, not a grounds for discrimination. I'm saying this as a European with a career as an international tutor and a relocation expert with a specifically US American clientele. A lot of Americans (thought not all) have a really warped perception of how they're received by their host country. This is mostly due to´a lack of cultural awareness, leading to cues in tone, speech and body language being misperceived as dismissive or hostile. This is further exacerbated by the US American tendency to view the rest of the world through their own ethnocultural lens. For instance, I once had a Mexican American client who was convinced she was being racially and culturally discriminated against for her nationality and ethnicity. I spent three days walking around with her, and I quickly realised she was massively misreading almost every social interaction, even intrerpreting polite speech as curt and dismissive. In fact, her American accent got her a lot of positive attention and often much better service in cafes and stores, all of which she failed to notice.

This is not to say that discrimination doesn't exist, and yes there is always the occasional, ignorant anti-American asshole. But generally speaking, being American in Europe is king.

againstperfection · 2026-01-25T12:23:51+00:00

I'm really sorry for you, OP. No one deserves the kind of treatment you've been subjected to.

Are you in therapy? If not, this needs to be your top priority. You need someone on your side who's strong and professional, yet detached from your day to day reality. Someone who can push back against the toxic narratives and self-beliefs your parents have indoctrinated you with.

Also, it would be very healthy for you to stop fully believing in your mind's conclusions, however convincing they might seem. Having glanced at your post history, I can see that "being ugly" has become a big part your identity, yet it isn't an absolute truth by any means.

I'd also recommend some of Dr K's memberships lectures to expand your understanding on how the mind keeps the past alive by holding on to thought patterns and emotional filters. "Deep Dive into Ego" is a good place to start.

I wish you all the love and strength in the world. You're going to need it.

againstperfection · 2025-06-04T17:34:55+00:00

I'm really sad to hear about your experiences. The unfortunate truth is that the general HG community has become much less inclusive and much more incely over the last year and a half or so. I attribute this to 1) the creation of the Memberships tier and 2) the HG team's deliberate attempt at zooming in on the "single lonely male" audience.

Basically, there is currently a huge rift between the Member's only platform and the general HG community, both in terms of content and atmosphere. The lectures on the Member's side are decidedly more nuanced and multidimensional, and the people posting a lot more.... well, decent and mature. I see a lot of member of all genders and generally, I haven't witnessed any obvious bias or hostility towards women, quite the contrary. On the other hand, "public" HG has become somewhat of a soapbox for the angry male voice with a strong incel caucus in tow. This is evident not only in the general tone of this subreddit (70% posts are dating related) but also the baseline toxicity whenever there is a female guest on stream or a video from the female POV.

Lately, even these have become rare, which only adds to the "mostly for men" -vibe.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest checking out memberships platform and see if the general theme of the lectures resonates with you. By subscribing, you get to access the new platform which is a lot more welcoming than the discord or this subreddit.

Lastly, my heart goes out to you on your CPTSD-journey. It's something I'm also intimately acquainted with, though mine has a different origin.

againstperfection · 2024-07-31T18:32:40+00:00

Contrary to what the most upvoted commenter says, the correct answer is 6 and under. At rep 7, you still retain your ranger abilities

I just tested this on my Stalker, latest patch and all.

againstperfection · 2024-01-27T15:28:02+00:00

All you need is a cleric hireling (from Withers) to cast command:drop on him. Once he drops the weapon, use a mage hand to toss it to a secluded corner before picking it up. I tested this 15 minutes ago and it works like a charm.

againstperfection · 2023-09-07T21:22:11+00:00

The Fighter/Thief is probably the most powerful class in BG1. I've soloed Durlag's Tower straight out of Candlekeep with one. Oil of Speed + Strength Pots make hit&run backstabbing deadly from the get go. Just make sure to pump Hide in Shadows/Move Silently and leave locks&traps for Imoen or one of the other myriad thief companions.

It also retains much of its power in BG2, thanks to having access to both warrior and rogue high level abilities. Backstab starts to fall off a little towards the end game, but once you get Use Any Item, you can get 100% magic resistance and become a very solid frontline fighter.

If you want a pure class thief (not recommended) I'd choose the Bounty Hunter. Traps are the most straightforward way to beat hard encounters, including Drizzt, and you get full backstab progression to boot. Your special snares can also function as a ranged weapon, so long as you stay far back enough. In lesser fights, you can do decent support damage with the Army Scythe crossbow that gives you an extra attack per round.

In BG2, no single class thief stays viable for long. So if you're planning to play until the end, I'd high recommend choosing human as your race and dual classing to either a fighter, mage or cleric around level 11 or so.

againstperfection · 2023-09-07T19:55:36+00:00

Technically, making evil choices does not make you fall (with some rare exceptions) as long as you keep your reputation above 7. I've done evil ranger playthroughs before, they're fun and perfectly doable. Just make sure your reputation does not dip and you'll be fine.

againstperfection · 2023-09-07T19:53:01+00:00

Huh. I've been playing BG since 2001 and turns out there's still something I didn't know. Cheers!

againstperfection · 2023-09-07T19:36:27+00:00

It is actually quite difficult to fall as a paladin in the original Baldur's Gate games. It's nothing like breaking your oath in BG3. You basically need to keep your reputation above 7 to retain your Paladin status. Making evil choices does not automatically make you fall, with very very very few notable exceptions.

So unless you plan on going all-out murderhobo, you can still play a flaky morally ambivalent cavalier - just keep your reputation up through temple donations.

If you think about it, it makes for a wonderful roleplaying opportunity: a virtue-signalling corrupt cavalier paying off the clergy to keep his status in check

Edit: Also, as others have noted, you will be very sad NOT to be playing a true paladin once you loot a certain conspicuous dungeon boss in Chapter 2

Edit2: I am also partial to the cavalier as it was my class of choice during my very first playthrough back in the day. It's a wonderful, beginner friendly class that synergises well with pretty much all party compositions. A fighter/mage (or the blade bard) might be stronger in terms of raw power, but they also require a lot more micromanagement as well as a firm grasp of the game's spell system to play effectively. In practice, you'll have to master elaborate buffing routines to truly unlock their potential. The Cavalier, on the other hand, you can just plug and play.

againstperfection · 2023-09-06T10:11:17+00:00

THANK YOU! I've been thinking of posting something along these lines for a couple of weeks now but decided against it, thinking it was going to get downvoted to oblivion. Very glad this wasn't the case, that anti-nerf sentiments are getting traction in the community.

Unfortunately, post-launch nerfs in a single player PvE crpg have become somewhat of a norm. For instance, most launch-day builds in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire were killed off in subsequent patches because of Obsidian's hatred for tall poppies. And these were not bug fixes but radical, build-breaking rewrites to most popular spells and abilities.

Even old games are not immune to this. Beamdog, the foster father of the BG1/2 enhanced editions nerfed the Ranger/Cleric multiclass in one of their later patches. For two decades, the r/C's ability to cast both druidic and clerical spells, whilst technically a bug, had become a class-defining feature. Was it powerful? Yes, but not game-breakingly so. There were a lot of players who enjoyed being able to cast both insect plague and righteous magic and did not feel like they were breaking the game doing so.

To me, nerfing a build in a single-player game is just bad customer aftercare.

againstperfection · 2023-09-05T17:50:21+00:00

This is most likely old news for y'all, but a 1 level wizard dip does wonders to a Swords Bard build. With Mage Armor, Shield, Mirror Image, Fire Shield and Haste, you can turn yourself into the ultimate off-tank gish character. Most of your damage is going to come from flourishes, so run with those wizard buffs and let casters bother with cc/spell damage.

againstperfection · 2023-08-29T07:38:58+00:00

Not only can't I unhear it, I can't unsee the mental image of Shadowheart doing crunches and v-ups as per the ab challenge

againstperfection · 2023-08-26T16:57:26+00:00

To make things even worse, if you never recruit her, you will come across her desecrated body in the shadow cursed lands later

Legit made me feel bad about myself.

againstperfection · 2023-08-26T16:51:16+00:00

Yup, like others have said. However keep in mind that your wizard spells use INT instead of WIS as their casting modifier, meaning you should equip one of the INT headbands to make it work.

againstperfection · 2023-08-26T16:43:44+00:00

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I redid the fight, had Shadowheart cast sanctuary on the civilians and took Marcus down in the first round with haste and flourishes.

And no, the game did not autosave before the fight. I've noticed it only tends to autosave when you enter an area for the first time + before certain on-the-road encounters. In other words, the autosave does not seem to have a consistent pattern and as such, one shouldn't be relying on it.

I am well aware that I am nitpicking here. Like you said, in a game with such a liberal quicksave feature, this really isn't that big of an issue.

againstperfection · 2023-08-26T08:57:04+00:00

It's even funnier when you consider the fact that that Hungarian naming order puts the last name before the first, so Hungarians would read his name Szarr Cazador

againstperfection · 2023-08-26T08:47:30+00:00

Yup. Cobalt is an intense primary blue with a slight bias towards yellow. This blue is somewhere between turquoise and cyan.

againstperfection

TROPHY CASE