unclevlad

Yeah, I've seen stories that Barbie stuff is going to be EVERYWHERE for Christmas, so...it's a pretty safe bet we'll be inundated with pink for the rest of the year.

Different take on the number...saying it's much lower. https://www.oklahoman.com/story/sports/college/big-12/2023/08/02/big-12-expansion-arizona-decision-puts-pac-12-on-brink-of-destruction/70514910007/ And suggesting a LOT less traditional TV. So even weaker than what you cited. The Big 10 report...look, when we combine that with the 'report' about FSU and Clemson and the other 2, well, my read is it's all wishful thinking/I heard from a guy who knows a guy/there's a tweet about.... Random noise at this point, IOW. Plus, all the arguments against an 18 team conference still apply. I do suspect that Arizona's decision will be announced before the week's out. Huh, now this is something I didn't know, and supports the all-or-none angle: And the Big 12 will want an even number of teams, so Utah is the most likely 3rd leg. But I still say, they have no leverage, as UConn is reportedly an interesting add...for basketball, if not football.

Reports are that the media deal is with Apple+. I agree with Finebaum: this is not, not, not, NOT going to draw many people to sign on to Apple+. Sure, the immediate fan bases, some of them will, but this is a death knell in terms of national recognition. If Arizona thinks that staying will save the conference, tho, they're deluded. At least as a Power 5. And on Apple+, honestly, they might not rate the Group of 5, because what's this going to do to recruiting? We'll have to see, but even if the 9 teams stay...how many of their freshmen and sophs, in particular, jump ship? The most I think can be said is, even if they keep everyone they have right now, they've already taken a musket ball to the gut. Take your pick...bleed out or die from massive infection. San Diego State dragging their feet is looking smarter and smarter. The part I find absurd is thinking that Arizona has any leverage here, to 'force' an all 3 or nothing deal.

Oh, yeah, that does deserve highlighting. Memories of the PLANT his (I assume) brother did in the bowl game come to mind...still the most intense hit I've ever seen. Be a great name for a supervillain too.

People conflate hardness and toughness, when they're quite different. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness Mostly, scratch hardness...and diamond is still about as hard as they get. (IIRC there are some exotic materials that might beat it, and some I know come REAL close.) BUT, a diamond's structure makes it very easy to cleave...separate it along a crystal face. Diamonds in rings often take damage at the facets due to this. Not much, not all that fast, but rings don't get knocked around all that much. Toughness is something else. From the article: The very, very rigid structure of a diamond does not allow deformation, ergo it's brittle. Toughness and brittleness are generally the 2 sides of the same spectrum; the opposite of hardness is softness. As noted, tho...we're not doing physics here, we're playing a game. It doesn't have to be "diamond" in the full sense; in fact, much like a stone creature...taking it literally? How would such a critter move? Well, his power is such that it lets him move!! Well, fine, in that case, it also gives him more toughness than would be expected. BTW, the density of diamond is about 3.5, IIRC, so there's justification for some DI there. Quick digression: Shrinking with Normal Mass. Oh dear. 2 levels of Shrinking with Normal Mass means your density is basically 2-3x that of any metal, including the refractory metals that you can beat on all day, and won't show a ding. So what's the theoretical PD for someone with this ridiculous density? Similarly, the melting points of all refractory metals are *extremely* high; the loose definition is a melting point over 2100 C; the tighter one is even a little higher than that. So the ED from these is also crazy high. And 3 levels of Normal Mass shrinking???? Density exceeding 500???? You're not getting into the range of degenerate matter, but you're far beyond anything we know. From Phys.org: So density of 500 is 3x higher. Nothing is gonna penetrate. But we can't exactly define this in game terms, now, can we? So if ya wanna do this, ya wing it.

It isn't that they're doing it for free. It's the core function, the reason why you buy it. Some are stronger than others...I've never been a fan of PRE attacks, for example. I realize I may be an exception there. But, that's ok. Every characteristic has utility. They don't all have to have equal versatility, even at the same cost. The system granularity doesn't support it. I have no problem removing Leap from STR. They're not correlated at all. How far do you think a power lifter can leap? Heck, I've played with some 5E builds that are heavy on characteristics...and often sold back some of the leap, if the character was gonna be a flyer or use teleport. I did have fun with a build that bought Leap...and even Megascale for the leap...for what'd work as a light-hearted villain. As for BODY adding to STUN...you put it in yourself, man. Big tends to be more durable. NOT being stunned is also part of staying alive. And, the two are on notably different scales anyway. BODY is one of the awkward characteristics, tho. Yes, it helps keep you alive, but if we consider Hero to be the root, then the point is NOT to kill. This makes that function of BODY important, sure...but not gonna be invoked that often. By the way people want to use Transform, arguably, the core function of BODY is to resist being Transformed. Which...like being stunned...can largely be equated with staying alive. Nothing says the core function has to be simple. Can also argue that BODY adds to STUN because STUN is critical. The STUN from attacks scales up so fast, compared to, say the BODY. How much of our purchased defenses are needed for not taking BODY...versus, reducing the STUN to something manageable? It's why I'm a huge fan of both Damage Negation and Damage Reduction in principle, if not necessarily in practice.

How did Deion miss Buck COORS? Oh...true...that's Golden, not Boulder. Beneath notice.

Hmm...reacting to CRT's stats rework, with figured stats. STR...interesting, potentially. Not sure it's sensible that there's no damage per se attached to the ability to throw a truck. Also, what are the limits here? Can I buy a 50 STR and 1d6 with STR adds to damage, and get an 11d6 punch? DEX: I like it but I'd split it, as I noted, into AGI and QUICK. AGI is 1 point per, QUICK is 2 points per. QUICK adds to SPD. CON: this is good in concept. The details will matter, more on this later. EGO: why does EGO add to ECV, when DEX doesn't add to standard CV? EGO can't be 1 point per if it does this. BODY: if BODY becomes the baseline for REC, then everyone's getting a big boost there. BODY is a weird stat to me, because there's such a push to make Transform do so much. Also note that BODY did not add to REC in 5E...and it was 2 points per, just adding to STUN. Now, the details...specifically, the costs of REC, END, and STUN. These have to be considered. 5E: REC is 2, END is 1/2, STUN is 1 6E: REC is 1, END is 1/5, STUN is 1/2 Granted, these relate to the difference between figured and not figured...the 6E costs had to be reduced to reflect the points losses. I don't see a reason why 6E's costs for raising REC, END, or STUN over the baseline, couldn't be used with figured characteristics (FC). FC gives the elevated baseline, just because you're doing that...doesn't mean these should be super expensive. With what you've got...DEX is straightforward. I'd say split as I suggested, and it's very clean. It's CON and BODY. CON...let's start with 5E's calculations. REC gains CON/5, END is 2x CON, STUN is CON/2. With 6E's costs for additional REC/END/STUN, 10 CON gives 2 REC (2 points), 20 END (4 points), 5 STUN (2.5 points). That's 8.5 points of benefit, for 10 points...not a good deal. Simplest option? STUN gets CON. So 10 CON gives 10 STUN, which'd be 5 points. You get 11 points of benefits for 10 points. I also like this because of how STUN scales. An alternate notion would be to have CON cost 3 points for +2 CON. 10 points of CON now costs 7.5 points for 8.5 points of benefits. I'd rather NOT do 3 for 2 with primary characteristics, tho. If BODY costs 1 per, then adding to STUN only, where STUN still costs 1 point per 5 STUN, means you get 6 points of benefit for 5 CP. Huh, OK...that' works simply. If BODY adds to REC...to what degree? What's the formula? In 5E, it's CON/5, so 5 BODY would give another +1 benefit. Total's 7. That's feeling like too much. Also, just because you're big, doesn't mean you can recover...so I'd leave BODY at 1 and have it add to STUN only. So...to consolidate...my suggestions.. STR: has no figured stats. (The issue about damage is separate.) DEX: split into AGILITY (1 point) for skill checks, and QUICKNESS (2 points) for initiative. QUICKNESS adds to SPD. CON: 2 points. REC gains CON/5, END is 2x CON,, STUN gains CON. BODY: 1 point. STUN gains BODY. EGO: the simpler approach is to leave it at 1 point, but it doesn't buy MCV at all. This feels like it just gives too many points...if nothing else, buying back OMCV, which'd be totally painless for every non-psychic type. That alone suggests having EGO add to ECV is not a great approach. The non-egoist gets back the cost increase on his EGO while getting a useful boost to his mental defenses...he's a lot better off with a 6 DMCV than if he has a 3. Against an 8 OMCV, we're talking 13- vs. 16-.

For anyone interested...the core rules book is now out. Hardcopy and Kindle versions. The Kindle version says 320 pages...and a file size of about 180 megabytes. Pretty clearly, it's HEAVY on graphics. Makes me worried how much rules content there'll be, but it sounds like they're doing full-page full-color illustrations to start each chapter, and those alone will be substantial. I still find Kindle format somewhat odd; the print version is only slightly larger than 8.5x11, but that's still too large to comfortably manage a full page on a Kindle. I suppose it's not all that different from graphic novels on a Kindle...but those don't work very well either. But they work in the Kindle app on my PC. Looks like the print version is selling fairly well.

An 18 (!!!??!!) team conference? That's insane. And totally unworkable, IMO. In all sports. OK, perhaps Rutgers and someone else bail out, they're at 16. IF!!! it happens...just rumors right now...it largely guts the ACC in football. Clemson and FSU are the only schools with any kind of top-level track record over the last decade, altho after the national title, FSU started slipping. One story I saw pointed out that leaving the ACC is, apparently, NOT easy or cheap, so this is another reason why it might not be a done deal all the way, altho Oregon and Washington...that's easier to see, and at that point we could lower the Pac 12 coffin into the ground and start filling up its grave. My wild thought...probably premature, certainly speculative.... If the Big 10 goes to 18 teams, it's a move to challenge the NCAA and start the formation of a football-only organization with the SEC, and possibly the Big 12...but a football-only super-conference with the SEC and Big 10 alone would be a force. Yeah...IF FSU and Clemson bail on the ACC and join the Big 10...this is as big as OU and Texas bailing on the Big 12.

Why, thank you for that segue, LL… https://www.npr.org/2023/07/31/1191055173/twitter-x-sign-san-francisco-investigation-musk The man thinks he can ignore any law whatsoever…

Not trying to be flippant, but...what do you mean? MOST of the game uses characteristics in some form or another, so I really have no clue what you envision. On figured vs. not...as noted, figured characteristics, principally STR and DEX, gave much too much in 5E. In addition to the core aspects, 10 STR gave +2 PD, +2 REC, and +5 STUN. In 5E, that's another 11 points. DEX...seriously ugly. 3 DEX gives 3 points for SPD, and the big one...+1 OCV and +1 DCV. That's 13 points. Yeah, OK, DEX cost 3 in 5E, but still, it's 2 now. The killer here is the boost to OCV and DCV. Having the DEX cost 3 covers the SPD perfectly...but the OCV and DCV together are even more points overall, in many cases. Note that by the rounding rules...going to an 11 DEX takes you to a 4 OCV and DCV. 1 point over the 6E cost for another 10 points of crucial benefits. It's something that can easily get overlooked, since it's typically obscured. Beyond OCV and DCV...STR is complicated. It's 1 point in 5E and 6E...even if we use 6E costs for REC and STUN, it's 6.5. (The 5E costs to increase the figured characteristics are high.) That...might be livable. Or, drop the STUN boost, so +5 STR just gives +1 PD and +1 REC. Yeah, it's a little something for nothing but it's not bad. The alternative...increase the cost of STR...is a MESS. It increases the END issues for many character types. It clashes with TK, HA, HKA, the martial talents, and martial maneuvers. I think in terms of supers, but it has an impact in fantasy, where weapons have STR mins. Recosting...for no figured stats, I think Hugh's suggestions largely work. It definitely works for DEX, IMO; an alternate approach would split DEX into AGILITY (for skill rolls) and QUICKNESS (for initiative), where each are 1 point. INT...Hugh, are you saying that the base PER would now be 11-, regardless of INT? Not sure about that...but I'll grant that's my personal biases (I loathe playing stupid characters, and I do it terribly) snarling..... PRE/EGO...I wouldn't mind combining these, at 2 points per, or maybe 3 points for +2.

Lots...and I do mean lots...of pop musicians prove CRT's point. By the 90's/00's, I was giving up altogether on the medium. Mostly because the artwork was kindergarten grade too often.

Oh, to be sure. There's no way anything about Trump can go anywhere else.

It is. From the story: That's a busy road connecting Boulder, Niwot, and Longmont. https://nfrmpo.org/wp-content/uploads/us287-inventory-chapter-8.pdf Traffic volumes and speeds are high. It's also commuter driving, so the risk there'll be drivers not paying attention/on their phone/paying more attention to oncoming traffic/navigating...is probably higher than many other situations. Perhaps it's because they get more reported, but this is by no means the first non-competition cyclist death I've seen. Related story: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/25/1099566472/more-cyclists-are-being-killed-by-cars-advocates-say-u-s-streets-are-the-problem Very sad, to be sure.

I don't claim to be a comics historian, so I'm not competent to ditch the qualification.

Nope. Karma. From the sound of it, waiving Hamler was the cleanest procedural approach. Non-football injury list is gone for the year. On the surface? Cutting a kid in need of significant medical treatment might look harsh, but this might not be the case here.

Much of the video deletion episode sounds like it belongs over in Dumb Criminal Stories.

Also remember that the draft was quite firmly in place back then, and many would've been drafted for WW I and WW II. Almost EVERYTHING in WW II went along with a pro-military, anti-Nazi...heck, you can't call it a slant. It was a fundamental element. I don't recall nearly as much about how the war in the Pacific was covered...but hey, after Pearl Harbor, it's largely a foregone conclusion. So, yes, trying to ascribe too much significance to the military connections is a bridge too far. I would generally say: for much of their history, comics reflect the culture they're in.

It may help, if the prospects are any good. Which is why I think the Angels are going to be fallen angels. I don't think just making the playoffs will be enough, and I don't trust them to have the back-end pitching to win 2 rounds in the playoffs even if they make it. Can they get some back-end pitching? Is there *anything* left to trade? I kinda doubt it. So I think they're gonna lose Ohtani and be right back at square -10 in terms of actually developing a sustainable franchise.

We have met the enemy, and he is us.............

Well, Angels have bet the house on re-signing Ohtani now. Get Giolito but ship their #2 and 3 prospects...in a farm system that's consistently poorly rated. Now 2 hitters from the Rockies. Sorry, Mr. P, you've still got a AAAA franchise. Mets and Cards have decided to reset, altho with the Mets, I can see trading Scherzer and Verlander both. They can't be considered long-term assets.

I don't think 16 teams is manageable. There's only so many game slots. 12, 14, and 16 all split into 2 divisions for college, where you can't run a complex playoff schedule. 6 teams per division...play everyone in your division, play half the other division. 8 conference games. This has been pretty common, as it lets schools have rivalry games (USC-ND for example) and snack on plenty of cupcakes. Basketball, 16 game schedule simply; could even go to 18, where #1 and #2 in division A, play home and home versus #1 and #2 in division B, etc. 7 teams per...somewhat awkward. If you want a full divisional round robin, that's 6, leaving 2 or 3 slots interdivision. That means it could be 3 years between matchups, and thus probably 5 years between specific interdivision trips. Basketball, it's a 19 game schedule. Tight but doable. 8 teams per...the SEC issue. Scheduling is a pretty big mess in football and basketball. Plus, obviously, with 16 teams, revenue sharing gets somewhat diluted. There's also the potential for more games no one will want to watch, which won't make media partners happy. That plays into giving out revenue shares to schools not increasing the value of the deals in the first place. Hm. Speculation: PART of the problem the Pac 12 is having, getting a media deal, is...there's only so many Saturday slots. Sure, it's a lot; what, 3-4 on CBS nets, maybe 6 on Fox nets, maybe 8 on ESPN? With the massive priorities given to relevant conferences. The Pac 12 did a lot better last season, but overall...they haven't been consistently relevant for quite some time. One can argue that, other than Clemson, neither has the ACC, but they're in a better time zone for broadcast purposes. The expansion, particularly of the SEC and Big 10, gobbles up more of those slots, meaning there isn't *that* much pressure on the media companies to add Pac 12 games. At least on Saturday. But...let's face it...playing on Thursday or Friday night is nice PR...but it's for conferences that can't play in the big leagues.

Ummmm.... When proper, trained medical attention can be on-scene within moments, I don't believe heart attack survival is anywhere NEAR as bad as 1 in 10...and why add "during a practice at USC"? In fact, a very similar incident happened last summer...at USC...and the kid came through. Yeah, I can see the 1 in 10 survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but a LOT of that relates to response time issues. And LeBron has 4 rings. I have yet to hear what they think may have triggered this. That's important to determine his limits moving forward. Did find this: https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/ncaa-basketball/news/bronny-james-cardiac-arrest-explained-heart-doctor-lebron-son-next-steps-recovery/cesjqahuhz5k5mujyws7mq3a

My point is, do they need to call out specific Earth versions? There's fairly well known characters like Miles Morales and some of the alt-Thors...does one call out the specific characters, or the worlds? The focus seems to be on the print version; space is expensive now. What's the best way to use it, when dealing with other worlds? A supplement might make sense. Give some guidelines for designing your own alt-Earth, and show maybe both a reasonably well known one...then lay out a sample not linked to anything per se. That might be a reasonable approach.