Roleplayer's Off Topic Thread #35

[The Good Doctor]

Especially ghouls!

Ignore the outfits and the hair (that they shouldn’t have!) and they’re basically all the same person.

 

[BigBossBalrog]

1 minute ago, The Good Doctor said:

While this is true, I’d almost rather wait. Or, if they do use those assets, I hope they update and change them a lot more than they did from 3 to NV.

Particularly character models. I’m tired of the worlds being inhabited by the same five derpy-looking 40-year-old characters who are mostly indistinguishable but clearly just alterations of the Nate/Nora presets. Sure, the graphics are way better than 3 or NV, but at least characters looked unique in those games.

I think Elden Ring () is a really good model and argument for asset reusual. It clearly took a ton from Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, but tidied it up enough. For example, look the crabs 

 

They use the same skeleton rig, but gave them a entirely new model and skin. And because of the fact they did this, the could ALSO add a ton of new stuff and jive it in with the admittedly large amount of repurposed stuff.  I think it would work really well if Obsidian did the same thing (Though for New Vegas I agree some of the stuff wasn't altered nearly enough)

[BigBossBalrog]

But then again; I always thought the Lake Lurk was super lazy of Obsidian  

[Witchking of Angmar]

2 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

Recent events have just shown how lucky we are to live were we do. (And in Canada's case, right beside our close, super powerful neighbor)  

@Witchking of AngmarHow is your country holding up? 

Hard to say right now. Government is saying their expected condemnations. I'd expect the military is on high alert. News are having a field day.

[The Good Doctor]

21 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

News are having a field day.

As is tradition.  

[Witchking of Angmar]

2 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

As is tradition.  

I can't even hold it against them. Big events generate traffic for obvious reasons.

Though even our news, that tend to be skeptic towards Russia at best, take varying degrees of pity on the Russian people and put all blame on Putin.

[BigBossBalrog]

6 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

I can't even hold it against them. Big events generate traffic for obvious reasons.

Though even our news, that tend to be skeptic towards Russia at best, take varying degrees of pity on the Russian people and put all blame on Putin.

There's mass protests in Russia right now, people being arrested just for holding anti-war signs  The Russian people shouldn't be blamed for this at all.

[Witchking of Angmar]

I reckon it'll come down to a test of endurance. Ukraine can't win militarily, but they can make it costly, which in turn can make Putin's position even more precarious. Then there's the gas Russia used to sell to Europe, primarily Germany. Not buying Russian gas is of course gonna cost both ways. Then there's Russian oligarchs that has a lot of money tied up in Britain, a sizeable part in London's real estate. And so on.

[The Good Doctor]

30 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

There's mass protests in Russia right now, people being arrested just for holding anti-war signs  The Russian people shouldn't be blamed for this at all.

Putin isn’t riding into Ukraine alone on his horse. He has a lot more support than the media would have you believe.

[Witchking of Angmar]

4 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Putin isn’t riding into Ukraine alone on his horse. He has a lot more support than the media would have you believe.

Though we'll have to wait and see how long that support stands firm. War tends to generate bodies and when people see their sons coming back in coffins, they tend to ask what is being fought for and if it's worth it.

My guess is this might end up as an Afghanistan/Vietnam.

[The Good Doctor]

59 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

My guess is this might end up as an Afghanistan/Vietnam.

I suppose it’s possible, but I personally doubt it. Ukraine is less equipped to maintain its own sovereignty than Afghanistan has ever been, which is why it’s usually just a puppet of Western powers or a part of the larger Russian territory. The conflicts in Afghanistan also had lots of money and interest behind protracting them. Which, granted, could end up being the case here as well. Hopefully not though.

Meanwhile, the Russian narrative seems to be that entering Ukraine is a defensive action in response to the way NATO’s been pushing east for the last few decades. Even if the powers in Russia do have ulterior motives, there is some truth to this point, and it’s been the source of a lot of anger for a long time now. Considering all the pointless crap that populations have been willing to fight and die for throughout history, I think that "keep foreign powers from being able to amass on our borders" will probably resonate enough that Russians will consider this worthwhile.

But I’m just some idiot guessing based on what he’s seen like everyone else. You’re right that we’ll really just have to wait and see. 

[The Good Doctor]

5 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

But then again; I always thought the Lake Lurk was super lazy of Obsidian  

I actually agree.  Well, maybe not "super" lazy, but it wasn’t exactly inventive either. I’m always in favor of unique regional mutant types.

That’s one annoying thing about 76, it basically just crammed in all the monsters from 4 even when they didn’t really fit. Especially the Far Harbor creatures. Hermit crabs and mutant angler creatures don’t fit West Virginia at all.

[BigBossBalrog]

2 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

I actually agree.  Well, maybe not "super" lazy, but it wasn’t exactly inventive either. I’m always in favor of unique regional mutant types.

That’s one annoying thing about 76, it basically just crammed in all the monsters from 4 even when they didn’t really fit. Especially the Far Harbor creatures. Hermit crabs and mutant angler creatures don’t fit West Virginia at all.

The Point lookout Swamp Lurk is one of my favorites, so when I saw it with a hideous bland look, I was like "Look what you've done to my boy"  Could have given it some different regional traits to make it standout. 

[The Good Doctor]

14 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

Could have given it some different regional traits to make it standout. 

Or just made something else entirely.  

Though I will say that New Vegas’s quest with the lakelurk king was probably the best presentation we’ve gotten of that particular creature type. The distress signal leading to the wounded NCR trooper whose comrades were all killed. 

[BigBossBalrog]

Apparently Ukraine is fighting hard; there's hundreds of thousands of citizens taking up arms. (There just handing out AR's to anyone who wants them. The Ex President is running around the city with one lol ) Russia expected them to just roll over, and it's not happening. They tried securing an airport North of Kiev, and it's just been reclaimed by the Ukrainians. Seems like they can actually turn this into a brutal slogfest in which even if the Russians win, they'll take massive losses. 

Putin is now threatening Swedan and Finland from joining NATO too, which is just going to push them to them. He's literally rambling on Russian state media screaming how "The Ukraine army must have a coup against the current NAZI (?!) goverment. 

[The Good Doctor]

3 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

Apparently Ukraine is fighting hard; there's hundreds of thousands of citizens taking up arms. (There just handing out AR's to anyone who wants. The Ex President is running around the city with one lol )

Understand that this is for cameras, intended to be shown to us through an approved lens. Everything you’re seeing on the news, social media, etc. basically anything spoken or written in English instead of whatever language they speak over there, is going to be filtered through a pre-written narrative. 

I wouldn’t be so confident about the "facts" of anything that’s happening right now. Even if I lived in Kiev and could see the president handing out guns myself, but certainly not as an American reading articles. It’s way too early and every major source is too overtly biased.

[Witchking of Angmar]

My guess, judging from that Russia is attacking Kiev, is that Putin wants to turn Ukraine into a puppet state like Belarus. Which I reckon will cost him. I doubt the western Ukrainians wants to become subjects to Russian oligarchs. If he had only invaded the land the separatists (whom protecting has been his casus belli so far) lay claim to, I think there would have been a lot less uproar.

[The Good Doctor]

2 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

If he had only invaded the land the separatists (whom protecting has been his casus belli so far)

That’s not his only casus belli. They’ve been open for years about wanting to ensure the region can act as a buffer zone to keep NATO off Russia’s doorstep. Probably as a puppet state, like you said, or better yet just reabsorbed into their country. I think this is more for Russia than for Ukrainian separatists.

[Witchking of Angmar]

38 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

That’s not his only casus belli. They’ve been open for years about wanting to ensure the region can act as a buffer zone to keep NATO off Russia’s doorstep. Probably as a puppet state, like you said, or better yet just reabsorbed into their country. I think this is more for Russia than for Ukrainian separatists.

Though it is his proclaimed casus belli, alongside saying he's doing it to depose nazis. Even though it's just an excuse, Putin still can't just say they want to invade Ukraine on the chance that Ukraine might join NATO. That would be openly admitting he's the aggressor and that he wants to dictate the Ukrainian people's position. Especially since NATO can't make a country join and has to rely on countries choosing to join.

[The Good Doctor]

35 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

Even though it's just an excuse, Putin still can't just say they want to invade Ukraine on the chance that Ukraine might join NATO. That would be openly admitting he's the aggressor and that he wants to dictate the Ukrainian people's position.

That would be dependent on how Russia views Ukraine as an entity. It’s taken for granted in the West that Ukraine is a sovereign state, because it was Western countries that propped up its current government. But as far as I’m aware, Russia never recognized it as one, and there are quite a few quotes from Putin over the last several decades saying that there is no legal line separating Ukraine and Russia.

With that position in mind, they can and probably are making the argument that moving troops to ensure NATO stays away is perfectly justified. They never recognized Ukraine as having the right to make that decision. 

[Witchking of Angmar]

9 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

That would be dependent on how Russia views Ukraine as an entity. It’s taken for granted in the West that Ukraine is a sovereign state, because it was Western countries that propped up its current government. But as far as I’m aware, Russia never recognized it as one, and there are quite a few quotes from Putin over the last several decades saying that there is no legal line separating Ukraine and Russia.

With that position in mind, they can and probably are making the argument that moving troops to ensure NATO stays away is perfectly justified. They never recognized Ukraine as having the right to make that decision. 

Ukraine was part of the Russian empire, then declared itself an independent nation before being absorbed into the Soviet Union and declared independence again somewhere in the early nineties. And looking up countries not formally recognized by at least one UN country, Ukraine isn't on the list.

[The Good Doctor]

Just now, Witchking of Angmar said:

Ukraine was part of the Russian empire, then declared itself an independent nation before being absorbed into the Soviet Union and declared independence again somewhere in the early nineties. And looking up countries not formally recognized by at least one UN country, Ukraine isn't on the list.

The UN does recognize them as independent, which I guess technically does include Russia. But I don’t believe that Putin’s administration cares or agrees with that position or lays as much weight in the UN’s declarations as most countries do. He has publicly said many times over many years that his stance on Ukraine is that they are Russian, and have been since the Soviets reconquered the region. It’s no secret that this is his belief.

[Witchking of Angmar]

4 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

The UN does recognize them as independent, which I guess technically does include Russia. But I don’t believe that Putin’s administration cares or agrees with that position or lays as much weight in the UN’s declarations as most countries do. He has publicly said many times over many years that his stance on Ukraine is that they are Russian, and have been since the Soviets reconquered the region. It’s no secret that this is his belief.

It means Russia has formally recognized Ukraine as a sovereign nation in front of the entire world. Otherwise you'd have a situation like where Turkey does not recognize Cyprus, despite Cyprus sitting in the UN and being recognized by all other countries in the UN.

[The Good Doctor]

40 minutes ago, Witchking of Angmar said:

It means Russia has formally recognized Ukraine as a sovereign nation in front of the entire world. Otherwise you'd have a situation like where Turkey does not recognize Cyprus, despite Cyprus sitting in the UN and being recognized by all other countries in the UN.

It looks like you’re right about that recognition occurring. But what this means is that Russia has, for whatever reasons, delivered completely conflicting positions, with Putin being a major face of the "they’re not sovereign" one.

Even if the UN considers itself an authority on the Russian position, that doesn’t necessarily mean much when discussing how the Russians would rhetorically justify actions like this.

[Witchking of Angmar]

4 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

It looks like you’re right about that recognition occurring. But what this means is that Russia has, for whatever reasons, delivered completely conflicting positions, with Putin being a major face of the "they’re not sovereign" one.

Even if the UN considers itself an authority on the Russian position, that doesn’t necessarily mean much when discussing how the Russians would rhetorically justify actions like this.

The UN is a forum and not some world state. It has no real authority. All declarations are merely formal ways for countries to make their positions known to all. If Russia wanted to withdraw their formal recognition of Ukraine as a sovereign nation, they could do that at any point.