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Tyrphanax

User Group
Members
Join date
2-Nov-2010
Last activity
14-May-2024
Posts
6,821

Post History

Post
#1137199
Topic
The Place to Go for Emotional Support
Time

Hey folks, I’ve not been keeping up here as much as I’d like to.

Hang in there everybody. I know a lot of your are having a rough go of it right now, and that can all become worse with the time of year and everything, but just keep putting in the work, putting one foot in front of the other, and trudging on. It’ll get better if you just keep trying at it, even when it seems like things are rock bottom and all your trying isn’t helping any, keep it up.

Post
#1137179
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

Two thoughts on this tax reform…

First, I fear that it is designed to transfer success from small businesses to big businesses. Unless I am misunderstanding something, I don’t see how a small business can survive startup year(s) if it isn’t able to deduct its business expenses… those represent its investment in the future. Couple this with the end of net neutrality, and it’s pretty clear who our government cares about.

Second, I hope that Congress/Senate resolve away the provision in the Congress version that makes grad students count tuition waiver as income. That would cause a huge increase in student loan debt, as well as drive a number of students out of grad school and do further damage to scientific research. A student living on $1000/month having to claim 40-60K a year income? How is that fair?

It’s insane. It’s one of the worst bills ever. All you have to do is look at the riders to know it: this was an “easy” pass for them so of course they stuck in a provision to drill for oil in previously-protected lands (that wouldn’t make it on its own), and a provision to gut parts of the ACA (because they couldn’t pass it otherwise), and more. That’s how you know the corruption runs deep.

Not to mention the actual language of the bill and the process of the bill. Provisions for a tax credit for low income families were proposed but nixed because they would mean a one percent decrease in the tax savings for corporations. Not to mention the “tax breaks” they keep shouting about for the average American all end to coincide with the end of the potential second term of a Republican President. Corporate tax breaks, though? No end date.

Not to mention provisions for tax breaks for religious schools and homeschooling (which is very often religious), plus tax breaks for a school run by DeVos’ family, huge tax cuts for richer people and businesses, and the list goes on. The corruption is thick and rampant.

Go vote. 2018 is a big election year. Clean them out.

Post
#1137178
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

TV’s Frink said:

Nice try.

He’s such a moron.

In this tweet he’s accidentally implicating himself for obstruction of justice, but I honestly think that he’s just so stupid and has to act like he knows everything about everything all the time (especially when he doesn’t) that he didn’t actually know and just doesn’t know how to not put his stupid foot in his big mouth.

Post
#1132824
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Alright, let’s just nip this in the bud.

It wasn’t cool. I made an impassioned post in the heat of the moment after a day of catching up with our moron-in-chief’s childish bullshit and I used stronger language than was strictly appropriate. It’s not a word I bandy around in the worst of times, but it felt right in the moment; coming back with a more composed mind, it wasn’t.

Feel free to use the immortalized post to ruin my future political career. Thanks.

Post
#1132778
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

yhwx said:

This is a real statement by the President of the United States.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/932303108146892801

Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!

I got one better for you:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/932388590344196096

Sen. Jeff Flake(y), who is unelectable in the Great State of Arizona (quit race, anemic polls) was caught (purposely) on “mike” saying bad things about your favorite President. He’ll be a NO on tax cuts because his political career anyway is “toast.”

“Donald” Trump is a “very bad man.”

Post
#1131823
Topic
Detention Block AA-23 : The OT.com's Banned Members...
Time

ray_afraid said:

yhwx said:

Also: y’all should use Macs.

chyron8472 said:

If you’re into graphic design or video editing, sure. I am not.

I’m into graphic design (part of how I make a living), video editing (hobby) and music production (both) and I just don’t get along with Macs.

Ditto. Would never touch a Mac outside of goofy employers who have bought into the “Macs are for artists!” line.

Anyway, back to banned members.

Or band members.

Post
#1131705
Topic
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - controversy thoughts?
Time

More news keeps flooding in, this is from a Reddit post, so take it with a grain of salt:

EA was just threatened with losing their exclusivity deal unless they revamp/remove the current microtransaction system

And from a comment:

I’ve posted this elsewhere, but in the interest of fucking EA, keeping them honest, and choosing sides, here’s what’s going on.

Microtransactions WILL be reintroduced (keep pushing, hard, because how so depends on what happens here). There are two options being discussed at the moment:

  1. Microtransactions will be cosmetic only
  2. Microtransactions will be used to purchase certain star card + cosmetic bundles, removing the “gambling” aspect from MTs.

Very interesting possible developments. If these changes go live, then I would advocate for purchasing the game to show that this is how we want games to be. Until then, go make more noise about it, so we can hopefully score the first option.

Post
#1131699
Topic
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - controversy thoughts?
Time

ChainsawAsh said:

As long as this isn’t just a tactic to wait until the backlash dies down so they can reinstate it as it was, then good.

100% what this is.

JEDIT: Here’s a great Reddit post about exactly why this kind of system is awful.

I am 19. I am payed $15/hour. In the past two years I have spent an estimated $10,407 on micro transactions, gambling, and other video game related digital items. At my worst I was working two jobs and considering dropping out of high school.

Post
#1131344
Topic
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - controversy thoughts?
Time

Anyway, here’s how pay to win looks in game (now imagine that same ability against a group of non-hero classes).

JEDIT: And here’s a good, objective review.

Lvlcap and XFactor are some of the best and longest running Battlefield-type gamers (who have both done a lot of sponsored content for EA), so their opinions are pretty valid and worth checking out.

Other JEDIT: I called the story months before release, of course.

Post
#1131278
Topic
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 - controversy thoughts?
Time

DominicCobb said:

joefavs said:

I unlocked Luke the second day I played and I suck at the game. Yes, it would take years to unlock everything, but “everything” includes a lot of meaningless bullshit like emotes and victory poses. You should be able to get all the heroes at least reasonably quickly.

This is good to hear, at least. I figured after the reduction it would be more manageable. And if I got it I’d be sharing the account with my brother, so that’d mean less individual time for each of us before good unlocks.

I usually don’t care about micro transaction stuff and I think the complaints tend to be silly (like who cares about special helmets and shit?), though this seems to be another step and I can’t say I’m not worried.

And I still play the original Battlefront II from time to time, and it’s still great, but it’s not a mystery why a new version would be appreciated.

The issue with Battlefront II is that it’s not just cosmetic crap in the loot crates. That’s stupid, but manageable. It’s that there are straight up stat permanent enhancing cards in there, so if I buy the game and drop 500 bucks on crates and you buy the game and don’t buy any crates, I will very likely crush you in every encounter we have regardless of how much better at the game you are. I played the beta and could see the dark path this game was walking even then.

This is the new model, though, thanks to mobile gaming. But it’s actually even worse because you have to buy the base game for full price in order to then spend apparently up to 2000 dollars (let that number sink in. What does 2000 dollars buy? Can you imagine spending that much on one piece of entertainment?) or 40 hours to painfully grind out the content of the game (which is engineered that way so you’ll give up and pay here and there).

Imagine paying full price for a movie ticket and getting access to the first third of the movie and then having to pay 2000 bucks to see the rest of it. Or you can roll up your sleeves and scrub the floors for 40 hours and see the rest. It’s insanity.

And that’s not even the worst part of it. Let’s pretend for a moment that stat-boosting unlocks were okay in a competitive multiplayer game (they’re not in any way), and let’s say you wanted the Level 4 version of the best card for your favorite unit, but you don’t want to grind it out for hours and hours in a game that doesn’t reward you based on your performance, but based on how long you’re in a match (? what?), so you reason that paying 40 bucks for some crates is worth it. Every crate contains three or four items in it, one of which is guaranteed to be for your favorite class. Now consider that there are over 20 useless emotes, four or five different “action poses” (for your character to have a different pose if you make it onto the VIP list at the end of a round), a chance to get a piddly amount of “scrap” (which you can use in large amounts to “craft” or upgrade the cards you want) if you get a duplicate item, plus the fact that only one item is guaranteed to be for your class while the rest can be for modes you don’t even play or classes or heroes you don’t enjoy, PLUS the fact that who knows what the odds are you’ll get the item you want (could be 3.00 or 0.003 for all we know), and you are literally gambling now. You are pulling the handle on a slot machine and hoping that all the 7s line up so you can make your money’s worth. Maybe you don’t get any items you wanted with your 40 bucks? Maybe the guy you’re playing against now got it in 40, or maybe he spent 2000 and unlocked everything and wipes the floor with you every time you meet on the battlefield? How is that fun?

Then think about how this is a game that is within a franchise that is beloved by children worldwide and suddenly a lot of people under 18 are functionally gambling. That’s a cool thought. It doesn’t help that loot crates have these fancy exciting opening cinematics where it reveals a set of cards laying face down that you then have to turn over to see what you “won” that’s designed to hit all the dopamine centers in your brain. It’s so shady.

Loot crate gambling is one of the most toxic and predatory things to come from the mobile gaming scene and now here it is in premium, full price, AAA games, and not even for just pointless cosmetic content anymore. I paid 60 bucks for Majora’s Mask back in the day and I never had to pay again, and I got a full game with no content locked behind a paywall. Now today I have to pay to get content in the new Zelda game. Now today, I have to dedicate 40 hours of my life (or the low, low price of a couple Gs) to access all the content of a game I already paid full price for. It’s ridiculous.

Don’t buy this game. Don’t support these practices. And none of that “well I only want the story mode so it doesn’t affect me” or “well everyone else is going to buy it so whatever” garbage, either. This is a toxic practice and it will only stop if they see these games don’t succeed.

Post
#1128310
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

TV’s Frink said:

Warbler said:

chyron8472 said:

Warbler said:

chyron8472 said:

Warbler said:

I don’t know that he was saying never pray publicly, just don’t do it if you are only doing to be seen doing it.

Even so, that is what they were doing; or if it was not, it is unclear that it was not. Which makes it a bad idea either way and means it still is relevant.

It is unclear to YOU. It is not unclear to person doing the public praying or to God. If I pray publicly and my motivation is unclear to You, I am still going to pray. I know my real motivation and so does God.

Let me be clear about “publicly.” There is a difference between you praying and being in a place where people see you do it, and doing it with the intent or in the knowledge of people watching or else calling other people to do it in a non-worship setting.

Calling fellow believers to pray in a setting among them is different from calling anyone and everyone via social media or television broadcast.

Sorry but asking for prayer via social media or television broadcast doesn’t seem wrong to me(unless done disingenuously).

Everything Paul Ryan does is disingenuous.

If you look up “Wet Noodle” in the dictionary, it’s a picture of Paul Ryan.

Post
#1128294
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

dahmage said:

Tyrphanax said:

Yeah the Liberal snapback from Trump’s stupid reign is probably going to end up in a Democrat supermajority that ends up slapping us with a bunch of stupid California-esque gun control laws.

Imagine how many people will die as a result… Oh

DominicCobb said:

Tyrphanax said:

Yeah the Liberal snapback from Trump’s stupid reign is probably going to end up in a Democrat supermajority that ends up slapping us with a bunch of stupid California-esque gun control laws.

Can’t wait.

*sigh*

Post
#1128286
Topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Time

Puggo - Jar Jar’s Yoda said:

With all due respect to people’s religions, it irks me when politicians tell me that I need to pray. I’m not religious, and we are supposedly in a country that values separation of church and state. Yet every time some catastrophe happens, the first thing politicians tell us is that we need to pray. Not “pray if you’re religious”, but “we need to pray”. While I don’t mind if people want to pray, I don’t appreciate politicians telling me that I need to become religious.

It’s not a big deal, it just irks me. I realize I’m probably in an extreme minority.

Eh, there’s this whole “separation of church and state” thing that literally everyone seems to have utterly forgotten in this country, so you’re not alone there.