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unclevlad

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  1. Thanks
  2. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from RavenX99 in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're talking about impacts to the player and to the campaign...not to the character.  
     
    I'll also note that this is MicroLad hijacking the entire game, should you do it.  Not that it's wrong per se, but that's the impact, and that's something I grew very leery about a long time ago.  It's also part of the reason why I agree with RavenX99...especially with an NPC, this'd become just a plot device.  And yes, with an NPC, points are NOT a primary concern.
  3. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Lord Liaden in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    As the story notes, it's the direct result of the push to assert that life begins at the moment of conception...that is, when fertilization occurs.  They'll try to segregate natural vs. in vitro fertilization, but that won't be easy for them.  And they won't want to back down on the assertion, as, if not then, then...when?  And that opens the door back for abortions.
     
    Politically, this also just brings the issues right back, front and center...and this is a very, very bad weak policy point for the Republicans.  "See?  Here they go again, here's Republican policy at work.  IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?"  It's much easier to push this point when it's still fresh.
  4. Thanks
    unclevlad got a reaction from Cancer in A.I is here and it will make the world worse.   
    ARGH......the latest Microsoft intrusion is *their* AI, Copilot.  A preview version was forced onto my desktop by the latest downgrade...I mean, Windows Update.  
     
    FORTUNATELY it can be disabled.  For now.  But this is Microsoft, and they'll likely try to force it down our throats by making it a "core feature" of the OS....
  5. Haha
    unclevlad reacted to Pariah in The 2024 Baseball Thread   
    Well, it looks like we had our first spring training game last night, so the new baseball year has officially begun. Let's kick it off with an amusing little article from college baseball:
     
    LOOK: LSU designated hitter Hayden Travinski uses pencil bat
     

     
    Maybe he can land an NIL deal with Ticonderoga.
     
  6. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from GoldenAge in Winter Clothing   
    In general, my thought is, why does it need definition at all?  It's off the rack cold-weather gear, it's trivial and reasonably inexpensive to buy.  Not everything needs definition in game terms;  common sense is enough.

    EDIT:  to expand on this, I feel like, if I start assigning game terms to things, then I have to abide by them.  I'd rather not.  What did you get, how good is it?  Are we talking a winter coat, or gear to run the Itidarod or something equally insane?  Conditions matter, too.  Went shopping earlier...well, yesterday now.  42 degrees, intermittent light rain...so humidity was high.  Little bit of wind.  Raw kind of day...felt quite a bit colder than 42, but dry and decently sunny with no breeze.  As long as I'm not stuck with game terms, I can say "oh man, you really want an extra under layer for your patrol tonight" and be done with it.
  7. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Sketchpad in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're talking about impacts to the player and to the campaign...not to the character.  
     
    I'll also note that this is MicroLad hijacking the entire game, should you do it.  Not that it's wrong per se, but that's the impact, and that's something I grew very leery about a long time ago.  It's also part of the reason why I agree with RavenX99...especially with an NPC, this'd become just a plot device.  And yes, with an NPC, points are NOT a primary concern.
  8. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Duke Bushido in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're trying to make a points analysis, rather than a character impact analysis.
     
    If this was a PC, getting taken out of the campaign for a month, would you not say this was *incredibly* extreme?
     
    How is this any different from being captured, in any meaningful way???  The impact is that the person cannot interact with the world *at all* while this is the case.  So...microverse or a prison cell, who cares?  That's a meaningless distinction.
  9. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Grailknight in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're trying to make a points analysis, rather than a character impact analysis.
     
    If this was a PC, getting taken out of the campaign for a month, would you not say this was *incredibly* extreme?
     
    How is this any different from being captured, in any meaningful way???  The impact is that the person cannot interact with the world *at all* while this is the case.  So...microverse or a prison cell, who cares?  That's a meaningless distinction.
  10. Like
    unclevlad reacted to Cygnia in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    Which got blocked from Gannett owned papers this past Sunday
  11. Haha
    unclevlad reacted to wcw43921 in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    The Doonesbury strip for February 18th--
     

  12. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from RavenX99 in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're trying to make a points analysis, rather than a character impact analysis.
     
    If this was a PC, getting taken out of the campaign for a month, would you not say this was *incredibly* extreme?
     
    How is this any different from being captured, in any meaningful way???  The impact is that the person cannot interact with the world *at all* while this is the case.  So...microverse or a prison cell, who cares?  That's a meaningless distinction.
  13. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Sketchpad in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    You're trying to make a points analysis, rather than a character impact analysis.
     
    If this was a PC, getting taken out of the campaign for a month, would you not say this was *incredibly* extreme?
     
    How is this any different from being captured, in any meaningful way???  The impact is that the person cannot interact with the world *at all* while this is the case.  So...microverse or a prison cell, who cares?  That's a meaningless distinction.
  14. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Doc Democracy in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    Extreme Physical Limitation.  Wrote up this one:
     
    Phys. Lim.:  When fully shrunk, 8- to fall into the microverse for 1d6 weeks (Infrequently; Fully Impairing)
     
    Or, alternately, Extreme Side Effect.  Extreme starts at -1.  If it always happened, it'd go to -2.  OK, so for something intermediate...happens on an 8- might be another -1/4, 11- another -1/2.  You're saying the NPC's power simply does this sometimes, and he's got no control...so I'm taking the additional -1 for "it always happens" and reducing it based on how often it happens.
     
     
  15. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Sketchpad in How to Build: "Accidental Exile" Complication   
    Extreme Physical Limitation.  Wrote up this one:
     
    Phys. Lim.:  When fully shrunk, 8- to fall into the microverse for 1d6 weeks (Infrequently; Fully Impairing)
     
    Or, alternately, Extreme Side Effect.  Extreme starts at -1.  If it always happened, it'd go to -2.  OK, so for something intermediate...happens on an 8- might be another -1/4, 11- another -1/2.  You're saying the NPC's power simply does this sometimes, and he's got no control...so I'm taking the additional -1 for "it always happens" and reducing it based on how often it happens.
     
     
  16. Thanks
    unclevlad got a reaction from Old Man in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    2 adults charged with murder in the KC parade shooting.  Ballistics matched the shots that killed the DJ to the gun of one of them.  The charge is felony murder in the 2nd degree.  Missouri law says
     
     
    So even someone who didn't fire the fatal shot...it won't matter.  Someone died.
     
    This is on top of the 2 minors charged.  Story in the NYT says the other defendant told detectives, "just being stupid."  Yeah, I'd say so, man.  Really, really stupid.  And it's basically cost you anything like a normal life from here on.
  17. Thanks
    unclevlad reacted to Cygnia in A.I is here and it will make the world worse.   
    Why The New York Times might win its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI
     
  18. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Lord Liaden in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    Yeah, that's the main thing...this isn't even a 20% increase, 30% increase...it's a massive increase.  Historical precedents don't apply because the magnitude of the increase is so large.
  19. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Pariah in Alphabet Game 2021   
    Nutella
    Neufchatel cheese
  20. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from TrickstaPriest in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    The discrepancy in cost of living from areas like San Fran, versus elsewhere, is a major problem.
    https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ca
     
    She's picking the most expensive city in Cali by that article;  Kiplinger's has a 10 most expensive in the US.  San Jose is #3, San Fran is #4...and that's in the country.  #2 is Honolulu , #1 is Manhattan.  
     
    So, she might arguably have a case *in San Francisco*...and LA, and San Diego...but not necessarily for many other parts of California.  She also, as Hugh suggests, doesn't recognize that businesses would be forced to raise prices substantially, particularly fast food and small retail.  To the business, it's not just the wages.  That $50/hour isn't the final cost to them...not even close.  Every employer has to kick in 6.2% to Social Security.  There's worker's comp and unemployment insurance.  The salaried employees won't be happy if the hourlies get a massive raise, and they don't get *something*...even assuming they actually don't get a big raise in the first place.  (I never made $50/hour.)  The cost for full-time, full-benefits salaried employees is MUCH higher than simply their salaries.
     
    EDIT:  she's also not considering that not everyone has a family.  $127K *for a family of four*.  But the wage is gonna get paid to singles too...or to 2-income, no-children couples. To teenagers at the big fast food places.
     
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/01/chipotle-mcdonalds-raising-prices-california/71408254007/
     
     
     
  21. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Pariah in NFL 2023   
    .....which speaks volumes about the Cowboys since then..............
  22. Like
    unclevlad got a reaction from Cygnia in A.I is here and it will make the world worse.   
    None of this supports this claim, *particularly* the part I emphasize:
     
     
    The only location would be Ukraine, and well, before the invasion?  I wouldn't have called that one of the worst places on earth by a WIDE margin.  And when you combine "illegal in the US" with "worst places on earth"...you invite interpretations like the Tuskegee study.
    https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
     
     
  23. Haha
    unclevlad got a reaction from Cygnia in A.I is here and it will make the world worse.   
    Oh yeah, high-quality, high-reliability data.....
     
  24. Thanks
    unclevlad got a reaction from Cygnia in A.I is here and it will make the world worse.   
    This either requires support or retraction, IMO.
  25. Haha
    unclevlad reacted to dmjalund in Alphabet Game 2021   
    Are you stuck in vapour form? You may be entitled to condensation!
     
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