Messages

1

General Chat / Re: What Games are you Playing 2017?

« on: April 06, 2017, 04:53:11 AM »

One or two people may have suggested that I'd like Heavensward.  That it is, in fact, kinda Excal bait.

They were right, so very, very right.

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Discussion / Re: Politicalcompass 2017

« on: March 06, 2017, 02:07:28 AM »

Economic Left/Right: 2.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.49

Feels about right.

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General Chat / Re: Fire Emblem Heroes Topic: You knew this was coming!

« on: March 01, 2017, 01:36:43 AM »

Mildly surprised that Corrin is a blue mage, though she's still fairly decent.  Also got my third 4-star character in Felicia.  She seems ok, and her silver daggers are nifty.

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Discussion / Re: Is there a politics thread? Guess I'm making one

« on: February 25, 2017, 07:39:57 AM »

Well that's the core question of affirmative action, no?  That sometimes it's okay to discriminate to correct a huge imbalance.

Snowfire's basically hit on the point I would want to hit on.  There are arguments, and they're generally used more by those on the liberal side of the equation, that discrimination is totally fine so long as it's being used to correct a greater wrong, and that's it's being used in a fashion which is meant to be temporary and where you can measure the effectiveness of the measures taken in order to see that they either will be temporary, or that they're ultimately useless and can then be scrapped and replaced with something that will work.  And honestly, the only reason I can be ok with affirmative action policies is because of their dedication to using equality of outcome only as a means to transition to a proper equality of opportunity.

In this instance, I'm a firm believer in Snowfire's scenario B.  It seems patently obvious that the people who love education and academia just also tend towards a certain political bent as well.  That said, while I can understand the frustration in this, I certainly feel it at times as well, I don't really see any use or point in legislation like this because I don't think you can use the hammer of the law to create equality of opportunity here.  That that equality effectively already exists, it's just that the people you'd need to create 'balance' just aren't terribly interested in taking those opportunities.  At which point, *shrug* whut'cha'gunnado?

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Discussion / Re: Is there a politics thread? Guess I'm making one

« on: February 24, 2017, 01:10:24 AM »

Y'know...  there's points of view other than yours and 'racist'.

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Discussion / Re: Is there a politics thread? Guess I'm making one

« on: February 22, 2017, 02:13:06 AM »

Have there been any news reports on how likely that thing is to getting passed?

Three real thoughts on reading the article.  First, the person ends it with a rhetorical flourish of stating that this is wrong because universities are places for a diversity of thoughts and opinions.  I think that there could in fact be a solid defense of this bill along those lines by pointing out that there is a trend of an overrepresentation of certain viewpoints and beliefs among those who act as instructors in institutions of higher learning, and as such forcing them to hire people with more different viewpoints would thus support the goal of having students interacting with and understanding more ways of seeing the world.  Secondly, given the sort of person who'd go about and make a bill like that, I suspect that one major flaw will be that it'd be in force even in departments where the politics of the instructor should never matter, at all.  So, basically everything but the humanities, liberal arts, and philosophy.  Third, I also suspect that this guy isn't putting in the sorts of safeguards you need to make an affirmative action bill, like this is, work.  Namely, are there provisions here that show how this bill will eventually lead to its own obsolescence, are there provisions for showing how the ideological makeup of faculty is changing, for showing how this change willbe self-sustaining over time without legal oversight, and when they can expect this to happen so they can track expectations vs. results, and effectively know when they can stop forcing an unfair job market and allow people to apply based entirely on their own merits once more?

Frankly, since applying to a job like university teach is a self-selecting trait, and unlike most affirmative action bills, this one aims for political views, which is also a self-selecting trait, and given there are signs of a correlation between belonging to one political group and seeking to teach at a post-secondary level (or even, I suspect, at any level), I would be shocked to find that there are any unbiased studies which suggest that the ideological makeup of the professors at post-secondary institutions will ever be the same as the general public without it being strongarmed by law or forced hiring practices.


Huh, that took up more than I thought it would.  Anyways, on to what I actually came here thinking about.

Not sure I was ever gonna say these words, but I'm kinda impressed by Trudeau's damage control savvy.  While I'm not sure how big a percentage of his electoral base they are, there's certainly a very vocal, noisy portion which was in love with one thing they thought he'd do, and another he'd promised to do.  Namely, not build more oil pipelines, and changing our electoral system, by fiat if necessary (because having the party in power right now determine the method by which any other party might try to replace them by fiat is a genius idea, but I digress).  He's since given the ok to two major pipelines, and he recently dropped the bomb that he isn't going to change the electoral system after all.  Cue the sound and fury and the marches and the petitions.

The clever thing is, he dropped that bombshell about two and a half weeks before he was due to meet Trump for the first time.  So the dude pulls off some of the political theatre him and his father are so good at, gets along well enough with Trump while landing enough small digs that everyone can read in subtle insults and evasions of the more egregious Trumpisms.  And now all that anger is gone because if there's something the noisy ones hate more than pipelines and British systems of voting, it's Trump.  And now we're back to a chorus of Trudeau's general awesomeness and even a few shirtless Trudeau pics (though I'm really hoping those go away soon.  Damned things were fricking everywhere back during the honeymoon).

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General Chat / Re: Watching any anime?

« on: February 20, 2017, 08:17:22 AM »

So, been watching that new Gundam, Iron Blooded Orphans.  Generally pretty fun stuff.  Main highs so far is the main pilot, who a few people have tried to psych out by trying to convince him he's turning into a cold blooded killer.  If he's feeling talkative, that ploy has him agree they may have a point before killing them, and usually he doesn't bother saying anything.  Also, it passes the Weber Test in a few different ways, which is always nice.  The core cast is also pretty good.  I mean, the core of it is the brotherhood of the main unit, and specifically of Orga and Mikazaki (the captain and the pilot) who compliment each other nicely.  But the female lead makes a good case that, despite not being front and center promotionally, or ever doing anything combat related, she may actually be the main character.  I mean, without her, there isn't really a plot.  She changes the most from a fairly meaty character arc, and you can clearly see how her behaveour, posture, and position in this military organization changes from beginning to end of the first major arc.  Some of the major echos you get later on call back to her actions early on, and at the end of it, the main resolution is as much her conviction and her words as it is the fighting prowess of Mikazaki and the boys of Tekkadan.

Of course, having finished the first main arc, I am left with one overwhealming thought.  You can sum the whole thing up by saying it's just one perilous and roundabout trip from Mars to Edmonton.  At least the vast forests of Edmonton got proper billing.  I can only imagine how this has been received by the Gundam fans in Calgary.

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General Chat / Re: Fire Emblem Heroes Topic: You knew this was coming!

« on: February 19, 2017, 08:57:29 AM »

Still no smart phone, so I found an emulator.

Still in the prologue, but my 4-stars are both sword chicks, specifically Serena and Fir.  Should be fun.

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Discussion / Re: How will the Trump administration end?

« on: February 16, 2017, 05:52:08 AM »

Yeah, I was mostly responding to polls that showed that, despite the huge amounts of noise, Trump's immigration order was acceptable to about 40% of the country.  That said, Trump and polls confound me, since the guy seems to be made of teflon.  In the absence of anything you can use as proof of an exception, I'm falling back into traditional patterns of two terms under one president and then switching to the other party.

Hell, I'm expecting that congress will probably swap in 2020, and the senate in 2022.  And that events and issues will have minimal impact on this progression.

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Discussion / Re: How will the Trump administration end?

« on: February 16, 2017, 04:48:09 AM »

Dubya didn't just get voted in a second time, he got better results the second time.  And while the news and social media seem to suggest that Trump is wildly hated among those who make noise, polls conducted since the inauguration seem to suggest that those who don't make noise are ok with Trump at present.

My bet is on eight years followed by a Democrat in 2024.

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General Chat / Re: Gooooooooood Morning 2017 Edition! No Political Commentary Here!

« on: January 29, 2017, 08:37:03 PM »

I know I've said this to you before.  But I think this needs to be said on the record on the DL.

Bout damned time.  Grats to the both of ya.

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General Chat / Re: What Games are you Playing 2017?

« on: January 22, 2017, 06:56:38 PM »

Yeah, I've been fiddling around with EU4, for all that CK2 is still demanding more attention from me. 

Also, playing Civ6.  Currently on an Egypt game where I want to win via science, but am starting to get worried I may start veering towards a culture win.  Which would be a shame, since I do kinda want to get the easy achievements out of the way.

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General Chat / Re: What Games are you Playing 2017?

« on: January 15, 2017, 01:42:12 AM »

So...
Nintendo Switch event revealed that there is a Fire Emblem Dynasty Warriors game in production. How has the DL not exploded over this?

I have been uncontrollably Kermit Flailing for the last 48 hours.  Even in my sleep.
It is very uncomfortable.
Please send help.

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General Chat / Re: Gooooooooood Morning 2017 Edition! No Political Commentary Here!

« on: January 14, 2017, 09:22:52 AM »

Grats!

Shame that having a child means you will soon have   l    i    t   t   l   e           m    o   n   e   y    but yay for having her!

Here is to much healthiness and not so much 3am screaming and waking!

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General Chat / Re: RPG quotes quiz! Round 9 (Snowfire time!)

« on: January 07, 2017, 05:52:15 PM »

Huh, didn't realize that I actually knew four of the five songs.

I realized Otherworld like a day after I sent in my guesses, but was too lazy to send in a correction, while I've always heard that P4 line as "Set me free from fear and doubt" so I don't think I was ever gonna get it.  Also, colour me shocked.  Granted, it's a throw away spell quote that I suspect most of the locals skip, as opposed to the major character trait of a main PC, but I am surprised Garrus got more recognition than FFT on the FFTSB 2.0.

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General Chat / Re: Gooooooooood Morning 2017 Edition! Sorry, OK. But no.

« on: January 04, 2017, 01:03:09 AM »

So, no more making the DL great again?  Sadness.

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General Chat / Re: What Games are you playing 2016?

« on: December 30, 2016, 08:39:25 AM »

...ompchompchompchompchompchompcho...

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General Chat / Re: Movies

« on: December 29, 2016, 03:20:40 AM »

I think at least one of your complaints will be dealt with in Rogue Two, Cap.

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General Chat / Re: Good Morning 2016: Man hat doch nicht alle Tassen im Schrank!

« on: November 30, 2016, 01:22:45 AM »

Two things, one amusing, the other, well...  guess I should talk about it somewhere.

Main supervisor at work is going to be going on vacation in a little over a month, so she's training up her replacement for the vacation.  Replacement cares a lot more about the rule and letter of the regs, so a lot of stuff is getting done that probably should have been a while ago.  Also some things are attempting to be done which, eh, theoretically are important, but are kinda impractical.  One thing that happened is the resumption of the health and safety meetings, the topic today, the importance of safety equipment.  And some other stuff.

Anyways, at one point when she brings up reporting unsafe practices and what safety gear you should be using, and a few people get positively excited about selling other folks out.  Now, I've had a few brushes with the higher ups because I'm supposed to wear gloves, but I don't.  Honestly, I find my grip better without them, and aside from a few nicks, nothing's happened to my hands because I make a point of being careful (honestly, more than I would be in gloves.  Having them be more vulnerable makes me more cautious of what I'm doing with them, which is good since I can be pretty thoughtless on autopilot.)  So, when folks are getting eager to mention a safety breach, I'm unsurprised to hear my name called out.  What did catch me off guard though was why.  Seems people think I don't wear steel toes.  So, I have my toes a good hard rap, asked some folks if they wanted to stomp on 'em.  Had a good laugh about it later.

On the other one.  Dunno exactly what to say.  For the last few months, been spending a few hours each day thinking about ending my life.  I mean, don't get me wrong, my life is probably better than it has been for a long time, possibly ever.  But, it just means that the pendulum is swinging higher both ways, and hell.  My joke back in 2003 was that I'd never off myself because I never finish anything I set out to do.  Well, now I do.  So hey, why not this.  Still not entirely sure about method, that seems to be the main debate these days.  Though I think I'd rather go out as a John Doe than myself.  I mean, when I can't function and withdraw into myself for months at a time, it's not like anyone ever contacts me to ask what's up.  This will just be a longer period of people not noticing I'm not functioning, and I'd really rather not make a fuss.  I also don't think this will happen soon.  I mean, I'll admit, I probably won't know when it will happen myself until shortly before it happens.  But, it just doesn't feel right.  Not yet.

While a suggestion of "seek professional help" would be understandable.  The last time I talked to someone in the field, I got a curt "You're cured, now stop bothering me."  Frankly, can't really blame them.

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General Chat / Re: What Games are you playing 2016?

« on: November 22, 2016, 01:48:33 AM »

No Pokemans, but I upgraded my PC, so been doing PC gaming.  Stupidly grandiose historical PC gaming!

Crusader Kings 2 - Now that I can run more than 80 or so years along without crashing, I've decided to do a Petty Kingdom of Wessex run.  The biggest issue facing my line is twofold, first is that most of my folks don't seem to be capable of living very long.  It is not uncommon for my dudes to not see their 30th birthday, and 40 is rare.  The nice thing is, if they make it that long, they're probably gonna gun for their late 60's.  Of course, this leads to the other problem.  My line runs heavily towards girls.  I once had the joy of dealing with a -20 cumulative modifier for having a Duchess with a female heir.

Run started off pretty standard.  Get a claim on Hwicce so that I can swallow up that duchy and claim the third bit De Jure if Mercia ever looks weak.  Then move over into the lesser areas of Kent, Essex, and East Anglia.  Of course, as this is going on, marriage ties and religious squabbling leads to getting a respectable chunk of Wales, including Powys and Deheubarth.  Sadly, it's not all sunshine and rainbows.  One marriage attempting to bring the Duchy of Upper Lorraine into my holdings led to a problem when the Duchess of UL gets assassinated by some Flemish person.  This means that my heir goes down there and when his time to shine happens, he brings three horrible things with him.  First, he's German, not properly Anglo-Saxon like any respectable person.  Second, he's decided he likes being under the King of France, and holds on to his leige.  Third, he replaces the kick-ass inheritance law of Primogeniture with fricking Gavelkind.  Bastard.

Fortunately, the Gavelkind doesn't actually matter too much since the lack of children I'm facing means that there's only one time that my holdings get split.  And five years after that happens, the primary heir dies childless, reuniting the holdings.  Also fortunately, the granddaughter of the surviving brother is Judith of England.  Now, sadly, Charlemagne's Empire, this time, didn't split.  So by the time Judith starts her rule, she's under the Emperor of Francia, who seems to be happily trying to grab and crush all the Kingdom titles under him.  Judith instead is the one who manages to get the upper hand on Mercia, and forms the Kingdoms of England and Wales.  While there's still some resistance from the Mercians, Northumbria accepts her rule.  Her Great-Grandaughter Aegwyth the Great, manages to finish up the job, forming the crown of Ireland, and being part of a successful faction demanding independence from Francia.  While she doesn't quite finish the job, her son Gryth then moves north into Scotland, and manages to take enough to claim the title Emperor of Britannia.  All by 1024 AD.

And that's where it stands, and will stand for a while because...

Civ 6 - Got this, played a game as the Romans under Trajan.  Definitely feels like there's a lot more room for more civs, or even for civs to have more than one ruler.  But that's for future expansions.  While there's a lot of new features, I'm digging the card-customization for the governments, and the past governments influencing the abilities of future ones.  Also feel like I'm just now starting to figure out how the districts are supposed to be working.  Though I do like the added interactivity between the map and cities.

It's also weird, but I feel like I'm noticing the affects of Trajan more now that I'm finished playing him than I did while I played him.  Roads aren't super trivial to build now that they're not a worker function anymore (also, now that workers are limited use resources) but instead are built by trade routes.  But the All Roads Lead to Rome thing connecting every new city to Rome if it's close enough is subtle, but powerful.  Same with Trajan's master builder trait which just gives every city a free monument, so they have great culture growth with minimal effort.

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Discussion / Re: Is there a politics thread? Guess I'm making one

« on: November 09, 2016, 05:00:25 AM »

Easy for you to say, Grefter.  You've got an ocean to buffer you.

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Discussion / Re: Is there a politics thread? Guess I'm making one

« on: November 09, 2016, 04:21:21 AM »

Sorry, Djinn.  Looking pretty likely Trump's gonna be sitting in the White House when the dust clears.

Guess you'll be wanting to stay in Japan for the next four years.

23

General Chat / Re: Books

« on: November 08, 2016, 04:45:55 AM »

WoT Reread:  Been my main project for the better part of 2016.  Currently on Book 11.  Despite my memories of Knife of Dreams being good, I had forgotten how much of the early book is the romantic adventures of Mat and Slaver Queen.  At least I finally got to Moiraine's letter, even if that's another two books until it pays off.  Can't wait until I get to whoever is next, be it Elayne or Rand.  They've both been consistently excellent.

24

General Chat / Re: What Games are you playing 2016?

« on: November 07, 2016, 07:27:29 AM »

Should probably get around to detailed thoughts at some point, but it is late and just want to get some general observations out for now while they're on my mind.

Finished AA6.  Generally agree with folks about the seances, they are great and I hope we get to see the Fey's learn the technique so they can be used in future games in the series.  Mot entirely sure about how I'd rank the cases, but think 5-2 > 3 > 5-1 > 1 > 2 > 4.  Despite this, Athena felt really, really underused, especially her psych profiles.  Psyche locks also felt underused.  Still don't like Apollo's tells.  Last current impression, really liked the final villain.  Reminded me a lot of Manfred.

Finished RE:CQ as well.  Short impressions, great battles!  Great PC cast!  Jostling with Grandia 1 for story quality.  I mean, the writing is better than Grandia 1, but it isn't half as good at pissing me off and exasperating me as Conquest was.  Potentially, playing this at the same time as Crusader Kings 2 was a bad idea, since Garon is kinda run of the mill and potentially even kinda on the virtuous end of the activities you kinda get up to there.

So, started up Birthright.  Played CQ on Normal, BR on hard.  CQ is, despite this, the harder game, and I haven't even availed myself of any of the grinding opportunities yet.  On...  what, 8 or 9?  Regardless, plot right now is pretty bog standard FE plot, and I'm hoping it will stay that way.

25

Forum Games / Re: A New Day Dawns (Episode 2)

« on: October 15, 2016, 08:40:41 PM »

<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> roll 9#d10
<Tarubot> 1,0Heroic_Pudding_Excal rolled :1,0 9#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=9 ]1,0{9}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=7 ]1,0{7}, 1,0[ 1d10=7 ]1,0{7}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> roll 9#d10
<Tarubot> 1,0Heroic_Pudding_Excal rolled :1,0 9#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=3 ]1,0{3}, 1,0[ 1d10=10 ]1,0{10}, 1,0[ 1d10=10 ]1,0{10}, 1,0[ 1d10=1 ]1,0{1}, 1,0[ 1d10=3 ]1,0{3}, 1,0[ 1d10=7 ]1,0{7}, 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=10 ]1,0{10}
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> roll 9#d10
<Tarubot> 1,0Heroic_Pudding_Excal rolled :1,0 9#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=1 ]1,0{1}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=7 ]1,0{7}, 1,0[ 1d10=10 ]1,0{10}, 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> roll 9#d10
<Tarubot> 1,0Heroic_Pudding_Excal rolled :1,0 9#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=6 ]1,0{6}, 1,0[ 1d10=6 ]1,0{6}, 1,0[ 1d10=9 ]1,0{9}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=3 ]1,0{3}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=6 ]1,0{6}, 1,0[ 1d10=1 ]1,0{1}
<Heroic_Pudding_Excal> roll 9#d10
<Tarubot> 1,0Heroic_Pudding_Excal rolled :1,0 9#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=2 ]1,0{2}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=7 ]1,0{7}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=3 ]1,0{3}, 1,0[ 1d10=4 ]1,0{4}

Roll 1 - 5 suc  Succeed!
Roll 2 - 7 suc  Succeed!
Roll 3 - 5 suc  Succeed!
Roll 4 - 1 suc  Fail...
Roll 5 - 1 suc  Fail...

"I agree, going along the Si seems to offer the best chance of success.  Wu is wary and hostile, while the San is barren."