Posts made by Arkandel

@Misadventure The circumstances are completely (?) different but the last time there was a laughably misimplemented referendum in Greece a few years ago the way a friend of mine put it when he was voting for the radical option of the two was that he wanted "everyone to be okay or no one to be okay. Everything to be well or everything to go to shit".

I don't understand it but I've never been truly without options. There are people across the world, too many of them, who are simply marginalized. They've nothing to lose, and it shows. Why would they show empathy for others for a potential disaster when they perceive - rightly or not - none coming their way for their own presently dire situation?

@Ganymede said in RL things I love:

@Arkandel

Here, read this. It's a good article.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/donald-trump-2016-election-oklahoma-working-class

It is, thanks for sharing!

@mietze said in RL things I love:

@Arkandel Actually I had a hotlink on my phone to register people to vote in my county. Every single person of age I talked to of which there were many had already registered. Our political party organization for the county had over 100 people ready to do the same as well as some in possession of the paper forms--to the same result.

Please don't buy into Trump's bullshit.

As I mentioned in the post, I'm well aware Trump makes bullshit posts to serve his agenda. They are bullshit because he is much craftier than the crap he posts would make him sound like, and he posts them in the first place to cause something specific - to counter a good argument without using facts, for example, or to distract from revelations made in the media with some random petty shot on a celebrity.

It's not his bullshit I'm worried about, it's my perception that we're (meaning liberals and not just in the US) circle-jerking by continuously preaching to the choir - each other - things we already believe, and which we know will be well accepted because we're aware our target audiences accept them as well.

In that way it's easier for 'us' (I don't mean to bundle everyone's opinions together just by using a generic label like 'liberals', it's only to argue my very specific point here) to accept there are two camps and we simply happen to belong to the one where racists, homophobes, xenophobes and bigots are not, making us by definition the better people. It's certainly an attractive thought. I would personally like to buy into it - sure, it comes with the assumption the other side is extremely numerous as well, meaning tens or hundreds of millions of the worst humanity has to offer, but at least I'd be sided with the good guys. That's good, right? Being with the good guys?

But the nagging concern I have is that things aren't quite as black and white, not while right wing nuts the world over are gaining one victory after the other. There are people (who I'd like to demonize but can't) who feel left behind, ignored and neglected, and we - our side - haven't been able to reach them through years of more or less liberal governing. I don't know that they are all the scum of the earth; being downtrodden, unemployed, living in rural areas and stuck somewhere in lower middle class hell doesn't necessarily mean when you vote for someone like Trump you're an asshole; maybe it means you're just desperate. And if we're the good guys why haven't we done more for them?

I am in no way saying Trump gives half a shit about those people either, even if they're his base. He's already betrayed them - his cabinet is a who's who of the one-percent - and he will continue to do so unapologetically over the next four years... or more, if something doesn't change.

I am saying knowing he's full of shit doesn't mean the people who elected him didn't. I'm trying to imagine what that feels like; knowing you are voting for a person like that and still feeling he's better than the alternative.

@Cupcake said in RL things I love:

Now they're saying 175,000 people! Insane.

You know, for all I dislike Trump and think the majority of his statements are calculated bullshit to serve his agenda, he made a good point today when told about the massive protest marches.

"Why didn't these people vote?" he asked. Well... tweeted (obviously).

It's a fair question.

@Misadventure said in Star Wars: Insurgency:

You're saying you have a bad feeling about this?

On the contrary, I thought he was getting pretty excited there for a moment.

@Ganymede said in Star Wars: Insurgency:

FCs as NPCs? That's fine. FCs as PCs, and, especially, staff PCs? Dear God, no.

I specifically made the distinction though (if you're replying to me) - they should be NPCs. In fact I'm a firm believer they should be 'special' which means they need to be rarely seen; if you meet Luke fuckin Skywalker every goddamn time you log on he's just a... person. Plus you start to notice all the player's faults, the way Luke is posed, any mistakes you think are being made in his portrayal - rightly or not, compared to your expectations.

But see him once a month when he comes in after your group is done wiping that cult off the face of the planet and compliments your character for his efforts in front of everyone? Yeah, that counts. You just got praised by Luke Skywalker, dude. It's a good milestone after he gets back into his ship and takes off, not to be seen again for another several weeks.

Make him a PC and he'll be played as one; every day, in bar scenes, making small talk about nothing. That's not awesome.

@Ganymede said in Star Wars: Insurgency:

@Arkandel said in Star Wars: Insurgency:

But personal preferences are, of course, a thing. Not all games can satisfy all people.

While this is no doubt true, create a sandbox is you want one, but label it as such. I generally don't join games when I'm only going to end up being the lighting-guy.

But that's why I said FCs would need to be 'done correctly'. If they take over - well, few people want to play the sidekick role, but they don't have to. If the big names are in every scene, doing all the cool things while everyone else is on standby that's the opposite of what they should be there for.

Now, if you have Leia overwhelmed with bureucracy trying to keep everything together she's unable to go out on those tricky diplomatic meetings or investigate a streak of suspicious assassination hundreds of miles away - so she can delegate the investigation to PCs. If on the contrary she shows up in every goddamn scene you have stealing the spotlight because the person playing her wants to show her off then it's a problem since why is your character there at all?

The same obviously applies to combat, etc.

FCs aren't the problem. Their players sometimes are.

@Wizz said in Star Wars: Insurgency:

.........

I appreciate the transparency, I really like the setting, and I actually like Fate, but FCs are strike one and staff-played FCs are strikes two and three for me. Purely personal preference and opinion but I wouldn't touch the place unless Beta saw FCs done away with altogether.

Fair enough. I think FCs done correctly could be a great way to set a game up, although I'd prefer them strictly as NPCs controlled by either staff or prominent players reporting directly to staff - there's a lot of potential to act as quest givers, caches of information and linking the MU* thematically to its original material.

But personal preferences are, of course, a thing. Not all games can satisfy all people.

I'm considering playing on Arx again. I've an Ashford, is there anything fun in those parts of the woods? Or is there anyone looking for something in particular? Message me.

@TwoGunBob Enjoy living! And spending the next few days watching in horror as your body ejects... things it had been producing during the downtime. Thanks, body!

@Auspice My heart is already reeling from the meh-ness that is Preacher. I don't know if it can handle another disappointment.

@Ganymede http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-first-artificially-intelligent-lawyer-gets-hired-2016-5

@Cupcake I like it because it speaks of potential, not necessity. I don't know how to do most of the things in it. But I could.

As for judgment, I reserve 100% of it (and it's all harsh) for myself.

@Ganymede Ah, if we're going for inspirational slogans then this is my favorite.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Robert A. Heinlein made a damn good argument there. It's one of my all-time pet peeves when I pick up zealotry, and it happens a lot; my sister's yoga instructor scoffs at any other discipline, gym-bros of course swear by how much iron they can move around exclusively, runners only run, cyclists only cycle and so on.

There's no reason for any of that crap. People should do whatever it is that gets them off the couch and that's it; for example I find treadmills dreadfully boring but I can walk or hike for hours just because it's how I'm wired. Some folks like the social aspect of taking classes and revel in pilates or the such but others want things to be more under their control (if I want to go to the gym at 6 am I can).

What matters in the end is being more content and in better health. I want to lift but I also want to run up and down a full basketball court without my lungs giving out. I want to be flexible and not feel like my hip hinge is made of rusty iron, and be confident I can pick a pencil from the floor without my lower back's nerves simultaneously exploding. And yes, I want to look good without a shirt on.

All of those things are important to me, not just one of them. But also any one of them is better than vegging out in front of the TV.

@Ganymede One of the coolest thing about the human body is how newbie gains work. When you start from untrained in anything your potential is so much higher than where you are, so the capability curve goes up so fast you might as well be playing an RPG - that's how quickly your abilities scale up at first.

Although every way to work work out has its particular benefits one of the reasons I personally like lifting is how quantifiable it is; you can do pilates or yoga for example (both provide great training, by the way) but it's not very easy to tell how much better you're getting; you know it, you can see it in the mirror, you can feel it when you move, but you can't put a goddamn number to it.

With lifting, especially at first, it's addicting. You struggle to lift 20 pounds then the next week it's 25. Then it's 30. Then 35. And for the first few months it can go almost lineary like that - until you start getting really, actually, honest-to-god fit - so that what you couldn't even pick up from the rack a while earlier has magically become unworthy of even warming up with. It's amazing.

@Auspice said in RL Anger:

I could really use a hug.

That's exactly what pets are good for!

A nice chunk of BBQed sirloin steak was ready and put in the fridge last night so I could have it for lunch today at work.

I'm at work now and that steak is still in the fridge.

Yogurt.

The end. Sad!

@Goldfish I thought at first you said you played Patrick on TR and was already looking for the popcorn.

Okay, not to be a SJW on a Friday but wtf Highland High School in Salt Lake City ?

Getting up in the morning after a streak of being sick and no longer having a cold.