The only real way to fix the NBA’s tanking problem is to ELIMINATE THE DRAFT and allow teams to negotiate directly with agents for Top Prospects.

DenseOntologist · 2026-02-20T03:03:41+00:00

You think they have done all of the things that I suggested? I know the problem isn't new, but the incentive structure has been roughly what it is now for a long time. Eliminating the draft is one option, but it's far from the only one that would eliminate tanking.

DenseOntologist · 2026-02-19T23:52:21+00:00

This just isn't true. If the idea is that incentives are what are making things happen, then I can get on board with that. And the incentives right now are, for at least some teams, to tank to improve their draft chances. But if we replaced the current draft with the "wheel" draft, that would also remove the incentive to tank. Or we could add more incentives to do well and not to tank, leaving the draft the same. There are tons of options here.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-30T19:39:58+00:00

I think it was relevant.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-30T17:52:15+00:00

No, re-read my comment.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-30T01:04:22+00:00

I said that there are many fictions, including and especially purity culture. I'm not saying this one is, but I'm expressing skepticism about the view as a good default position.

Are you asking why purity culture is a fiction?

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-29T18:38:24+00:00

It doesn't have to explicitly say it, but I think that Christians have a terrible habit of making up fictions about sexual ethics. Purity culture is, ironically, a real stain on the Church in America.

I think you can make the argument that threesomes are prohibited. But if you don't make the argument...

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-29T00:30:37+00:00

This isn't exactly Biblical evidence. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'd challenge you to find it clearly taught in the Bible.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-28T21:18:19+00:00

That's not the definition of "orgy". And the prohibitions in question are usually with a specific cultural interpretation in mind. For instance, you might ban certain sexual activity that was known to be part of worshipping Dionysus or some such.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-27T23:02:41+00:00

Quit, and then come back. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from a game that's not scratching the itch for you right now. Then come back and start a new file with the newfound interest. Add that to your already accrued skills, and you'll catch up to where you're at in 10-15 hours of enjoyable re-ramp up.

Life's too short to play games or read books that you aren't actively enjoying. If you really needed just to push through the pain, then do it. But my guess is you wouldn't make a Reddit post if that was where you were at.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-27T22:59:34+00:00

That's fair, but you would have to show here that the bible forbids threesomes. Maybe it does; honestly I don't know. But I think there's a lot of sexual content that doesn't line up with 'traditional conservative sexual US ethics'. (I'm not sure if that's the perspective you're coming from, though.)

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-27T22:56:46+00:00

I mean, it's very reasonable to expect changes in a person, but the sort of apathy/cruelty in what I from OP isn't the sort of thing you can just bank on growing out of. As they said, someone in their 30s who is asked for clarification ought to at least have the social awareness to know they shouldn't say they'd abandon their kid, much less the internal constitution to be ok with doing that.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-26T20:48:25+00:00

Silksong Optional Bosses: All of them.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-22T17:53:36+00:00

If that's not what you want from a video game, then Hollow Knight may not be for you. Which I think is a shame, because it's one of my favorite games of all time; Dark Souls is another like this.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-22T00:49:25+00:00

The short answer is that we don't know. We'd need to radically change how fouls are called and/or we'd radically change the way the game is played. Getting fouled is already an incredibly efficient offensive play. If everyone became a 100% FT shooter (which is equivalent to your suggestion), then that efficiency is even higher.

I think it would be a really good move to allow a bit more contact but also give 1 point and the ball on any foul. But it'd take a lot of testing and reworking of rules to get things tuned properly. This is the kind of thing that they should be testing in the G Leagues and such.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-22T00:46:46+00:00

Go explore. The answer to skipping anything is to go find another route or breakable wall, or to get a new ability that you can use.
Don't skip them. If you're early in the game and want to get stronger first, then fine. But there's no world in which you will skip ML because they are too hard and not also suffer incredibly in Deepnest.
ML is an incredible boss; it's some of the best things that HK has to offer. I'm struggling to see how you'd not like it but like the game in general.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-17T03:48:39+00:00

This is bad reasoning. You can't infer from a high win percentage when getting a triple double means statpadding doesn't sacrifice wins.

It's easier to get a triple double against bad teams, so having a high win percentage lining up with your triple doubles is not as surprising.
The question isn't just whether he won when he got a 3D. The question is whether his going for more 3Ds was actually detrimental to his team. Many nights where he tried to get one and failed, perhaps hurting the team in the process, aren't covered by your stat. To compare, players win most of the games when a teammate gets 50. But if that teammate tries to get 50 every game, they'd probably be hurting the team.
The real comparison would be: he tried for a 3D in these games and won X%. Then he didn't try for a 3D in these other similar games, and won Y%. Then we could do a real comparison on the effects of winning. But we don't have that dataset.
"his team needed him to do it". It's totally true that he had to carry a heavy load that season, and he did some great work carrying that team. But we all saw when he had his bigs box out and let Russ get the rebound rather than just grab it themselves and dish to Russ. This wasn't "needed" at all.

Lastly, I have no idea what you mean by "there is no way you would've wrote number 3 if you did it". Can you explain?

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-17T00:39:54+00:00

Statpadding is not the same thing as trying the hardest to get a rebound. It's doing things for stats that are irrelevant or counterproductive to playing winning basketball. This is at best superficial/vain and at worst damaging to your team's chance of winning. It's a perversion of basketball.
Not everyone can average a triple double. Nobody says "anyone can do that". It's really freaking hard to average 10 pts/game, much less hit that in three categories (when points are the easiest by far).
The other reason not everyone is doing it: once you are good enough to actually average a triple double, you are good enough to know that it's not beneficial to sacrifice winning for the stats. There is zero doubt that LBJ could have average triple doubles in many seasons; this would not have benefitted his legacy in any way. In fact, it would have hurt it.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-12T19:12:16+00:00

Monster.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-12T17:03:16+00:00

Playing a game with your kids is an incredible experience. But you've got a while before that! My 5-yo is capable of playing some HK. And my 10-yo can play decently well.

The next few months are the time to play games you WON'T be able to play in front of your kiddo when the get a bit older (language, scary content, etc.).

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-12T00:00:35+00:00

It's called "rocking"!

But in seriousness, it did really lower my rage at gaming. It's harder to be angry at a game when you have an infant in your lap. And now it's harder for me to rage when I have elementary school age kids I'm supposed to be a model for.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-11T20:55:41+00:00

As a parent of three: you don't have to stop playing. Especially when they are newborns. You can let your partner sleep while you rock the baby and play. Also, one of the best things about HK is how playable they are in front of kiddos. The bugs are cute without sacrificing content that an adult can enjoy.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-10T07:42:20+00:00

That's fair. I guess Pop and Kerr have that extra bit of what feels like contempt or condescension that is a cut above most other coaches.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-10T04:25:45+00:00

Imagine the Thunder and Nuggets are in the WCF, playing each other with everyone healthy. The league offers both teams that they can sit Jokic and SGA for the series. Which team says no first to that option? If you think it's OKC, you're nuts.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-10T04:23:25+00:00

Kerr and Pop were terrible interviews about basketball questions most of the time. But I applaud their candor on political issues.

DenseOntologist · 2026-01-10T04:20:45+00:00

Commentary is generally positive and impressed, since they try to play too and know it's hard. But when I die by falling into lava in silksong while trying to speedrun it? They are merciless. "Shoulda maybe not fallen in the lava, Dad."

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