Min/Max Boards

Unfortunately Brazil's space program is all but dead... I'd really really like that not to be the case, but alas, we're not exactly a very wealthy country, and our politicians can't even manage to properly manage basic things like roads, railways, sanitation, affordable housing, education and basic infrastructure... We're decades away from having a proper space program. We have to fix a lot of stuff before we go down that road.

Quote from: brujon on January 08, 2019, 01:07:28 PM

Glad to say it's working, at last! But for how long?

It depends.

So I like the table leg analogy for this one. If you build a life built on one thing, such as drug abuse & partying which is a pretty rickety leg anyway, it's pretty easy to tip the table over and send everything on it crashing to the floor. Your acceptance of your real self can be considered a leg too, and it's a lot sturdier than one that sits on a couple books of a delusional self image someone can simply kick apart. You can count bringing a disorder under control to be support too but you need to understand it can collapse if you lose medication access.

You should build your self-esteem and even your life with as many pillars as you can to make things as stable as possible. Identify them and how they are made, such as your house or job, and realistically look at how they can collapse. By having a plan you can add braces to a table leg or construct new ones. Like a source of income is nothing more than a leg too, it's an important one, but it's a leg because if you lose your job everything that requires money goes bye-bye without another job or leg to take the weight of owning several things.

That's also why people feel like their stuff owns them or they work to pay bills btw. They piled a lot of heavy stuff onto one end of their table and are trying to balance it all on financial resources. It's pretty easy to topple their entire lives in just about every way by nudging it, and the insecurity of it leads to other issues too.

That's a pretty solid advice. That's exactly what i'm doing and will be doing going forward, working not only in managing inner demons, but in actually building up my support structures as well. Taking care of my physical health, my friendships and relationships, my family, getting a better job/promotions, continue my MBA, get my Masters and PHD. Basically, continued self improvement on all fronts.

Taking care, of course, not to overwhelm myself, so that i don't fall into the trap of trying to do too much and ending up not being able to do anything at all.

Well, ten years ago i did my exams and got into Pharmacological Sciences as my bachelor degree. I was so enamored by psychedelics, psychotropics and other mind altering drugs... Mesmerized as i was, i went in blind thinking it'd be a natural knack. And it wasn't, and i dropped out. Over ten years later, i went ahead and got some "empirical" evidence of their "effectiveness" and "effects". After some binging, some time as a lost soul, i finally found my ground again. As much as drugs change your mindset, as much as they go and make you see things through a different light, a different point of view... Nothing matters unless you listen to them. And i did listen. And i quit. And quitting was the best decision i'd ever made.

TBH, quitting seemed like what the drugs wanted me to do. I felt rejected by them. Like "you don't need me, go fuck yourself". They showed me what i needed to see, and then continuously kicked me in the butt until i gave up.

Now i can see the beauty in everything, and i feel absolutely no need to use anything. And if i do, it's over and done with it. No hard drugs, no synthetics....

feels like a small accomplishment

I may have gotten through crippling depression once again, and this time, no suicide attempts.
 Hooray me

So, i bought Stellaris.

It's well worth the money! Paradox may charge a pretty penny for their products, but the gameplay is superb and the support amazing.

Currently having fun playing as a sentient robot species that evolved as a gestalt consciousness after the planet's previous inhabitants realized the futility of the flesh. They consider all forms of biological life inferior and seek to expand their empire of logic and reason to all reaches of space, all the while purging xenos life in all forms, by means of apocalyptic orbital bombardment.

In other words: FUN

Chugging bleach to die is such an idiotic thing to do... One of the most painful ways to die, and if you live, you're scarred for life, myriad of problems to deal with.

Another day, another failed relationship

Ticking up my 18th notch on assassinated relationships, should i celebrate or something? FML

I thought the op made it sound like it was planned to be a live game. Mythweavers allows hybrid games on their site, now. So you could recruit and host characters and game materials there but play live in roll20 or whatever.

Mostly when i posted this, i had broad general ideas, but no true set in stone way of implementing them or making them viable. I think this type of constantly-developing-world is a very organic way of making an interesting and believable setting.

When only one player is responsible for world-building, even if the PC's are able to influence and change the direction of events and shape the world as it evolves, the DM's bias, both his flaws and his qualities are the mirror through which the player's actions influences the world.

No matter how mature, experienced and fair a DM, he's still unable to "unbecome" himself. As such, he will be, using a Tolkien metaphor here... The leading voice in the song that builds the world, eclipsing the others. Maybe more of a Maestro, in fact.

The chaos i expect from my idea seeks to, in part, smooth out those rough edges, to breathe some sort of new take and new life on something. After all, the world we live in is built out of chaos, out of seemingly completely impossible ideas but it somehow works...

So maybe this chaotic game can lead to something great? I don't know.

But you guys are helping me think about it some more

For a while, i've been thinking of building up a world from scratch. Every time i do so, the challenge seems daunting, herculean. Most of the times i've tried, i end up taking so long that new inspiration takes over, and i'm unable to finish. Every idea i've had before seems inadequate, as i keep on reading, dreaming and changing it until parts of it don't work together.

But then, one night, i thought... How did the world, our world, evolve? It evolved by the actions of ourselves, of nature. Time gave it substance, and made it deep and rich. Then, i had an idea. A radical new idea.

What if i didn't have to do it alone? What if i wasn't the one in charge? What if i was only one of the many that could contribute, but then, everyone in this living, breathing world, could help shape it into something else?

Something unpredictable. Maybe greater than the sum of its parts. Completely wacky or something that made sense. No boundaries. Only a few rules, to help form a cohesive whole.

And then i came up with this:


This would be the world map.

Some of you may be familiar with it. It's one rendition of a Terraformed Mars, with some landmarks to help guide us, as we try and build this into something, together.

To help get things going, i'll lay down some background, but try and leave most of the story intentionally vague and open, so that we can all embark in this together.

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The Background:


The Barrier was always there, and the City is all that there is. All attempts to breach it, all attempts to take it down failed, no matter how hard, no matter the attempt.  The City is all that there is, and it is all that anyone has ever known. 80km in diameter and roughly circular, it's packed up to capacity.

No one knows exactly when the city started, but some have theories. There are many religions in the city, too many to count. Some popular, some not. Land is a valuable resource, so we've built up.

Food is tightly controlled by the elites, who divide up the city. Every attempt at unification has failed so far, and The City's history is filled with short-lived would-be Monarchs and Emperors. There were those who tried to make it about the people. They were also unsuccessful. The City respects no one, and everyday survival is a struggle.

But every time anyone tried to rule the city, or change the way it works, when they fall, it all ended up being the same. The Streets seem to have a mind of their own, and eventually, it all comes back to the rule of the Streets.

Some Streets are more powerful than other Streets. It all comes back to basic survival, in the end. The city is ready to burst, and the wall is as ominous as ever. Those who control the Streets are called the Landowners.

In the past we've had our fair share of culls. Eventually, the City gets filled to capacity. There's bounding to be one coming soon, and the Landowners are slowly realizing it and getting over their petty squabbles about control. There's a Cull coming, and everyone's getting restless. The Landowner's enforcers are getting more and more brutal by the day, and the bleak atmosphere of The City is getting thicker and thicker by the day, you can almost feel it.

And then, everything changes. Throughout the whole city, tremors are felt. Massive winds take over, as a sunny day suddenly becomes cloudy and heavy with rain. Roofs and crops are razed, buildings topple and the shimmering glow of the everlasting barrier seems to fade, and fade, and fade, until it is no more.

Riots and fire break over, the Streets are wrestling to keep control. Faithful gather to celebrate both the End and Salvation. Mouths are agape, or screaming. Those sleeping are forcefully roused from rest. Something that has never before, has happened.

It isn't long before the first brave ones go to the edge, and try and do the impossible. But, they come back bearing different news.

The barrier has fallen. It is no more, and whatever power the Streets held is quickly fading as the news spread across the city. After that, there was no need for a cull. The streets ran red with blood, as more fell than ever before. Complete Anarchy spread. Even though the barrier fell, few were able to leave The City, as there were many eager to stop anyone from leaving.

There were many who believed that we couldn't leave The City because something terrible would happen. But then there were those that wanted to leave no matter what, and eventually they won out in the end, and drove the losers out into hiding. Out of pure need, they cast their differences aside, and swept up power in the vacuum left by the bloodiest Street War that has ever happened in the history of The City.


Finally, any who wanted to leave was free to do so. There were exceptions, of course. The United Church of the Holy City, as the religious coalition now called themselves, restricted travel of all those they deemed "essential" for the continuing well-being of the city. That meant that all the farmers, animal herders, medics and scholars, among other such important folk, were prohibited to leave the boundaries of The City. But all others, were free to finally explore the unknown.


You all are among those who dared to have hope, who dared to venture beyond the unknown, and become a part of The Age of Exploration.

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About The City:

- Technology level as of the beggining of The Age of Exploration is early-industrial. That means steam is already being used, but not large scale.

- Firearms weren't developed due to lack of resources and the extremely close quarters nature of every fight in the city.

- No magic in the past... But some may have felt something stir within as the barrier fell.

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About the Campaign and Setting:


The primer above is meant only as a starting point. The whole world is unknown, and every character oblivious to it. Everyone starts out at level 1, and classes/equipment are, at first, limited to PHB/DMG/MM1, D&D 3.5 and D20 Modern to begin with, observing the "no magic" restriction above.

How stats are going to be assigned will be subject to a poll where all participants will be able to cast their vote and decide.

Everything is left intentionally vague, both past, future and present, because this is meant as much as a campaign, as it is a world building exercise, and to that end, here's the radical idea that i've come up with:

Everyone gets to be both DM and player. Even the first DM will be selected from all participants.

But brujon, won't that end up turning into an unmanageable mess? Maybe it will, but maybe it will turn out being something awesome.

How do i plan carrying it out?

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 The Rules for the Campaign:

- There will be eight players, including myself, all starting at level one with the restrictions placed above.

- Every week, each Sunday, a random player will be selected to act as DM for the week, and he is removed from running in the next week as the next player is selected for DM.

- The acting DM for the week cannot control his own character, and instead, relinquishes control of his character to the DM of the previous week, who will be controlling both characters until next DM takes over.

- The acting DM has broad freedom to introduce lore, new enemies, new mechanics, terrain features, quests and pretty much just act like a normal DM would in a regular campaign.

- However, any player may call out an OBJECTION! and put up the challenged decision up to a vote by all players as well as suggest something else. Both are put up to a vote by all players and whoever wins, wins. A tie is decided in favor of the acting DM.

- Sourcebook and other restrictions on Level Up are decided upon by the Acting DM.

- Retcons can be made, but must be approved by a 2/3 majority of all participant players.

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What do you all think? Any ideas?

So, i played Call of Duty Black Ops III for the first time today on the PS4. Only multiplayer, playing 1x1 with a friend of mine who's also new, but already played a fair bit.

Won first map, lost second map.

First map, none of us knew very well.

Second map, he knew it very well, i did not.


I always resisted playing with a controller, because i played FPS's from a very young age, and i've always played them with a keyboard and mouse, and i'll be damned if there's any better configuration for play. Mouse gives you an unbelievable reaction time transfer from what you're seeing to your movements, and controller cannot replicate that.


I felt the controller clunky and underequipped for the task of playing a first person shooter. Perhaps tweaking a bit with sensitivity might help some situations, but i feel it also would make aiming a pain in others. You simply cannot have as fine a control with a controller that you can with a computer.

Furthermore, i felt as if the use of both hands for controlling aiming and firing is clunky. Use your left hand for aiming down sights, your right hand for shooting, but also use your left hand for walking and your right hand for moving the reticle. It's a brain scramble if i've ever seen one.

I guess one could accustom, but i still think keyboard and mouse are vastly superior, and the only option if the aim is competitive play.

Still, it wasn't as bad as i've thought it would be. I still had fun, the banter was great, i managed the enjoyment of beating someone who has much more experience on console FPS in general, lost the second match but still got close scores.


What this tells me?


Tactics and experience matter.


There was this one situation that had my friend baffled. He was hiding on a sniper perch in "Redwood" and i threw in a grenade from a blindspot. I knew he'd see the grenade and back off, so i moved across the danger zone, then threw a concussion grenade. I knew that would hit him at least a bit, and he'd probably think i'd still be in the same first blind spot as he had not seen me move from the first blind spot, so i used my stealthy character to sneak up on him and nab the kill.

My suspicions were confirmed when he voiced his objections over voice chat: "HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?!"


And i explained all of the above to him. Even though i didn't know that game, and i was unfamiliar with the controls and the platform, my general knowledge of FPS was enough to at least close the gap enough so that the game wasn't a complete one-sided battle.


My take from all this is:

Knowledge from a genre is valuable. I may have lost the second round, but i know that in the rematch tomorrow i'll stand a better chance. In this way, i think, genre knowledge is like an experience multiplier. If you know a genre well enough, even though the platform and gameplay are at the beggining unfamiliar to you, you'll pick it up much faster than someone that has never seen that in action.

Even if theoretically you're starting from the same place, in reality the more experienced player has a higher skill ceiling, and a faster rate of learning the skills required.


So that was a fun experience.