dethjon

I agree. Reading other people's experiences makes it seem like my game is bugged or something. I turned Gale down once during his magic show and I've been offered a couple of flirty conversation options with other companions that I didn't choose because I wasn't interested in pursuing a romance in them. That's it. Meanwhile, from what I've read, I accidentally locked myself out of the one romance I WAS intending to pursue because I didn't meet Karlach until after I resolved the Druid/tiefling/goblin situation.

So while everyone else is looking for a way to make their party take a cold shower because they can't take a hint, my poor lonely dwarf is just over there pining after Karlach, who never has anything new to say to him, and being ignored by everyone else.

Richard Belzer played the character John Munch first in Homicide: Life on the Street and then in Law and Order: SVU. Through various crossovers and cameos, the character John Munch has appeared in 10 television shows, from Arrested Development to the X-Files.

To add to that, Homicide had a crossover episode with a show called St. Elsewhere. St. Elsewhere's series finale implied that the entire series had been a fantasy taking place in the mind of a boy with autism named Tommy Westphall.

So with all that in mind, we can extrapolate that...

St. Elsewhere

Homicide

Every version of Law and Order

The Wire

Arrested Development

Sesame Street

The X-Files

American Dad

...plus more all take place in the same universe and that universe is contained in a neurodivergent boy's head.

For reference, I'm a little behind you in the game (towards the end of Act 1) and there are 7 companions in my camp (not counting my custom character, non-playable characters, or animals.)

The guy on the windmill is not a companion. So you might just be missing Wyll.

If that's the case, I'd just keep going, unless you've read about Wyll and really want to experience his story or romance. Since you can re-spec characters into any class or just use hirelings, there's no gameplay advantage to the companions, outside of their storylines. That said, Wyll has just been hanging out at my camp ever since he joined in my game and I'm not super into his story, so I'm biased. Someone else could comment next that he's their favorite character and you're missing the best part of the game without him.

Bottom line: there's no way to experience everything in BG3 in your first playthrough. If you're having fun, keep going. If you think you'll have more fun with every available companion, start over. It's entirely up to you.

I had this thought when I saw a "what should Larian do next" post. It makes total sense to me. They could do a stripped down, combat-focused Icewind Dale game, as sort of an equivalent to a "tactics" JRPG. Then, they could do a Planescape game that is all dialogue/RP focused with minimal combat. And then by that point, the BG3 engine would probably a bit out of date, so they could create a new engine and make a new Neverwinter nights game.

It makes total sense to me, but I was also 14 years old when BG1 was released and the phone lines at my house were too old to be able to play Everquest with my friends, so those old DnD CRPGs were basically my life in high school.

That said, Larian is not Black Isle and they can do whatever they want. I'd be just as excited by D:OS 3 as I would be by another nostalgia bomb like BG3. It's just fun to think about the possibilities.

Thanks for the detailed response. You gave me a lot to look at and consider, but it still seems like the TM2 ticks the most boxes for me. I just want to be able to grab a device, take a couple of rips, set it down, and then go enjoy my high. Long sessions, desktop devices, complicated processes, and excessive gear are not attractive to me.

I know I'd be jumping in the deep end with a hobbyist device, but I would rather deal with the growing pains of a learning curve than end up with something that doesn't mesh well with my personal consumption habits.

Interesting point about switching up your methods to help with tolerance. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like we're on similar wavelengths. What dosing capsules do you use? I saw that there are a couple of official styles available, with v1 being more like a mesh basket and v2 being more solid sided. Any issues with using them with 3rd party stems or anything?

Your other 3 bullet points are all things I've already thought about. If I had purchased the XMAX myself instead of borrowing it, I think I would have been disappointed. It has shown me what vaping can be, but I just don't really enjoy using it.

I also think that I will likely be a "set it and forget it" type of person with the temperature control. I've experimented with temp stepping on the XMAX and it's interesting, for sure, but I definitely prefer the effects of getting everything at once. I might dial it down occasionally to medicate without getting stoned on particularly bad mental health days, but that wouldn't be a regular thing (hopefully.) Outside of that, I'd probably just leave it at 7 or 8 all the time.

And finally, regarding session vs. on-demand, I will likely be in on-demand most of the time. I like to get high and then put everything down and go enjoy my high. Then when I'm not as high as I want to be anymore, I can use more and repeat the process. I do see the value in something like the Mighty for passing around with friends, but I'm mainly looking for a daily driver personal device right now and long "sessions" have never been my preferred method of consumption.

2 more questions:

Is the bubbler stem you mentioned the official Tinymight one? I haven't fully researched it, but from what I've seen, it looks like it would be fairly awkward to load without spilling water. EDIT: Maybe this is where the dosing capsules come in handy?

Have you experienced any of the common issues with the button, uneven extraction (although from what I've read, this seems like part of the learning curve, rather than a flaw in the device,) excessive heat, etc.? Any other issues?