Yeah, like the proficiency represents training and study, but an Int (religion) check usually involves knowledge of deities, mythology or symbology. That said, you might rule that a practical application of that knowledge, such as how to perform ceremonial rites, might constitute a Wisdom or Charisma check instead.
Yeah, like the people who equate not voting for Hillary with sexism seem to forget that she ran a hideously out of touch campaign - "America is already great" as a direct response to "Make America great again" which didn't exactly resonate with anyone who was making less than $200K a year and struggling with the forever recession.
The thing I'm noticing now is a deep stratification between Democrats who are begrudgingly forcing themselves to vote for Biden because a second Trump presidency basically means the end of the United States if it wasn't already inevitable, and Progressives who are refusing to vote for Biden because of his tacit support of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, who feel it doesn't really matter who they vote for because the AMIC ensures that bombs will fall and innocent people will die regardless of who's in the White House.
And the thing is, Biden has achieved a lot that goes quietly unnoticed. $130 billion in student loans debt relief, the $35 cap on insulin, gains in employment and reduction on inflation, to name a few accomplishments. But America's been circling the drain for a long, long time, and the refusal to admit it, and hold accountable the people responsible for it (because as much a sin it is to engage in bothsidesism, those people bankroll campaigns for team red and blue) is what will end up being the death knell for democracy in America, and even if it's not, the earth is falling apart faster than we can fix or escape it.
Me, personally? I'm voting for Biden, but I'm not holding my breath for hope in this lifetime. Suicide rates are the highest they've ever been and it's not hard to see why.
Do not be afraid to kill your PCs. Not egregiously, via Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, but the world acts and reacts. If your PCs are trigger-happy murderhoboes, they might find themselves on wanted posters with a significant bounty. Theirs is ostensibly not the only adventuring group, and nobler heroes might take it upon themselves to prepare accordingly to deal with the threat to peaceful communities the party represents.
Crow Country looks and feels really good. It's by the same folks that did a whole bunch of flash games back in the day, notably Detective Grimoire, which is getting iterations today.
I know they make a joke about Tom in office space being the one who brings the specs from the customers to the engineers - as much as it looks like he's dead weight, there really is a skill in being able to explore the customer's needs (and frequently manage their expectations of what the proposed software should be and do) and parse them into something more technical for the engineers, because you might not know how to program, but you've got a good idea of what the capabilities are because you communicate with the engineering team on a daily basis.
Yeah, like even if you don't have a HOTAS, if you've successfully landed a plane in sim you know what the procedures are and how to approach, which is very helpful if someone needs to talk you down.
I'm sure the US isn't far behind. Our own real estate markets have been fucked for decades. Housing costs have more than tripled and wages have stagnated.
I mean, aside from near-caricature levels of racism, the slavery apologist house elves, an underage relationship with an adult celebrity, and the tacit acceptance of child abuse that are all played completely straight and nobody seems to take issue with, or if they do, they're treated as misguided and irrational?
This is just what I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure if you dig deeper, there's more.
Worth noting this is all a byproduct of capitalism as it exists today. Not nearly enough competition or regulation means every major change these days is really just "How can we put more ads in people's devices? How can we instill FOMO? How can we charge more money for less service?"
Look at how bad mainstream UX/UI has become, even on the biggest platforms with the most industry experience. Windows 11 is a fucking joke and everyone is certain the next one will be worse. We know Microsoft can design a good UI, but they choose not to because they don't care about the consumer except as it pertains to getting clicks and ad revenue. They shove Edge back in your taskbar after every update, they make finding your own shit on your computer impossible so you'll use Cortana. Who asked for icons to be centered by default? Who asked for them to fuck around with the start menu for at least the fifth time in two decades? Nobody. But everything they do is for the benefit of the shareholders.
Actually, I do tend to buy my games when they're available (and affordable) on the platforms I already use, but I've also sailed the high seas just because I didn't feel like paying $70 for a game that I didn't think was worth $70 and offered no demo for me to confirm my suspicions, or that was platform-exclusive on a platform that I don't use.
I think the thing is, if I could buy a file and know that I would own it in perpetuity, and while the company that sold it to me still existed, would offer the best support they could for it, I'd be a lot more amicable to the prospect of curating a legal digital library. But the way it is now, with exclusivity deals, licensing terms, intrusive DRM, Fomo bonuses, and the implication that pirating old unsupported software is a crime just because whoever owns the rights might decide to repackage it and lease it to you again and again, if they feel like it?
And keep in mind, these are the same ghouls who insist on making live service games, adding loot boxes and micro transactions, just to prey on the most susceptible people. They're responsible for good talent leaving or retiring just because they get in the way of people who want to make good games, which would be profitable, but maybe not as profitable as the shareholders want them to be. ZA/UM got eaten from within, Arkane withered down to nothing because they were forced to make a live service game, I can't count how many studios got tanked or cannibalized by EA and Blizzard/Activision. Corporate is a cancer.
Oh I know, I've played it, I like it, but I'm a chronic shitpost enjoyer. I suppose you can't beat the price, but I think I'd hesitate to call it a puzzle game, exactly?
Yeah, like the proficiency represents training and study, but an Int (religion) check usually involves knowledge of deities, mythology or symbology. That said, you might rule that a practical application of that knowledge, such as how to perform ceremonial rites, might constitute a Wisdom or Charisma check instead.