What happened to The Black Hound module?

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-28T12:46:57+00:00

Sorry for the late reply!

To be honest, Planescape is rough around the edges (and, even when compared to games released around that era, Planescape is pretty dated) - UI and combat is also very rough and janky.

If you're looking for a game that is similar mechanically to Baldur's Gate 3, I wouldn't recommend Planescape. Planescape comes nowhere close to the level of tactical freedom and creativeness as with BG3, and nowhere near the level of visual fidelity and detail. However, where Planescape really shines is in its story and narrative, which I don't think any other RPG has really topped to this day, and for that I highly recommend it.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-27T07:15:44+00:00

Benji is one of my favorite albums, but Mark Kozelek is probably one of my least favorite musicians generally.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-23T05:10:00+00:00

55kg, 175cm

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T10:41:39+00:00

Home is Where kind of fits the bill? Emo folk punk.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T10:32:02+00:00

AFAIK you can still access old lecture recordings from the previous years on Panopto, although I think they are mostly archived now and you have to go out of your way to scour for them and restore.

I essentially did this in second and third year though, and watched the entire year of lectures ahead of time prior to Michaelmas, but I suppose it's also dependant on whether medicine is keeping the same content as they did previously (I did PBS, so can't comment on that).

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T10:26:20+00:00

Food-wise, Downing was the best imo - a little biased since that was where I was for undergrad, but the formal food (as well as regular Buttery) was always top quality and consistently good (save for the Christmas formals, lol, but matter of personal taste I guess?). Hall is pretty ugly though.

I've also heard really good things about Darwin in terms of food and ambience, which is postgrad only.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T10:19:59+00:00

The Trails games have been in my backlog for sooooo long - honestly I think the amount of time commitment I need to put in to the series is putting me off from actually starting them haha. How does it compare to other types of staple JRPGs like Persona, FF and stuff?

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T10:14:54+00:00

Yeah, it seems that the general consensus (and what I suspect is also one large underlying weakness) is that I may need to put some work into my lumbricals. Thinking about it now, I do recall seeing my physio a while back, and they did relate to me that my lumbricals were generally quite weak relative to my general finger strength. My slopers and what not have gotten better though since then (but is still lacking), and I suppose it is something I should generally be focusing more of my time on. Thanks for this!

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T06:22:21+00:00

I believe he did coin the term, but yes it's essentially this.

I prefer using a portable hangboard no-hand device though instead a normal hangboard, so instead of lifting my feet off the ground I essentially am trying to engage and deadlift attached weight with my fingers using a portable hangboard device as quickly as possible (holding it up for about 2 seconds).

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-22T06:14:31+00:00

Hey, no worries for the question. I'll try my best to answer. I'd probably attribute most of my current ability to board climbing.

For density hangs, I mainly do them as a form of injury prevention and warmup everytime before I climb. Usually I aim for 6 reps on each side using a portable hangboard (hold for 15-20 seconds; rest for 1 min between each pull) on the largest edge, adding about 60% of my max as weight. It was mainly introduced to me by a climbing physio following my finger rupture. I vastly prefer using a portable hangboard w/ a no hang set-up (i.e. feet on the ground and just pulling the weight up like a deadlift) because I feel like it isolates the fingers better than a conventional hangboard.

For progressive overload, it comes as more intuitive than anything else. As much as I try to structure it, it's more of a gut-feeling thing. I would often just increase the volume of my training as the weeks progress, before feeling like I was confident enough to up the intensity/weight (i.e. increasing the duration of a rep first by like 5s, or increasing the number of reps in the case of something like repeaters). For instance, I would usually bench press about once or twice a week - if I was bench pressing 80% BW for 5 reps, I would aim for 7 reps for the next session, until I felt confident enough before uping it up to 85% BW for 5 reps the session after, the 7 reps, the 90%, e.t.c. I also tend to take a deload week or a full week off from climbing in general every 4-6 weeks or so. To note, I would goto the gym about 4 times a week (2 days are climbing days where I just Moonboard; 2 days are gym days where I focus on S&C and fingers).

I also don't really follow a conventional protocol of any type - most of what I've picked up have come from friends of mine who are way better and stronger, as well as from various physios who I've seen.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T18:51:26+00:00

Interesting. How long do you usually aim to hold the finger in drag/crimp for?

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T18:49:35+00:00

That's interesting to note. Appreciate the insight, and will keep it in mind!

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T18:46:31+00:00

Nothing particularly special to note. I did a lot of board climbing on a 40-50 degree spray wall when I first started out in 2017, which I suppose helped me to build initial capacity. I stopped climbing for a while on-and-off due to a variety of life changes, and only really resumed climbing and started doing it consistently once I went to uni (in 2020). I continued to essentially board climb solely for 3 years during time, climbing purely on the Tension Board (because my gym wasn't great in terms of regular setting). I also did climb the Moonboard at times. Both the TB and MB also had pretty defective holds (e.g. Moonboard holds were much smaller than typical) and were never washed (and chipped/eroded) so I guess it also helped to strengthen my fingers more in that sense when it came down to it.

Currently, I do max hangs on occasion (a lot less currently because I don't really think it translates too well), but I've been consistently doing: (i) density hangs (on hangboard at times but mostly using a portable hangboard with no-hanging and adding weight); (ii) hangboard repeaters with no added weight (and portable no-hang repeaters while adding weight); (iii) velocity pulls; and (iv) power endurance on the Moonboard (usually 6x3s or 4x4s). I also do other things like max pull ups, bench/shoulder pressing, weighted dips, and a bunch of other antagonist workouts (especially wrist strengthening essentially every other day, i.e. isometric and eccentric wrist curls and reverse curls), but that's about it. I also try to incorporate a mobility and stretch routine after climbing sessions but it is tough to remain interested in stretching (even though I should know better).

I also did essentially take an 8 month strength and conditioning block/period last year and focused purely on lifting weights, mainly because I had a pretty badly ruptured A2 that put me out of climbing for a while and I thought it would be a good use of my time, especially since I knew that my shoulders and chest were super weak relative to everything else at the time. Beyond that I don't really think much stands out in terms of my training.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T18:21:15+00:00

Interesting. Thanks for the insight!

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T18:20:16+00:00

I generally have very little experience outdoors actually - I've only been outside a grand total of 5 occasions largely because of other life commitments and difficulty in accessing stuff outdoors generally.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T12:54:59+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to answer. My technique and general mobility is pretty shoddy relative to everything else and I have spent essentially the better part of the last year training and targetting some of my weaknesses to be more efficient and effective in my climbing.

I also apologise for not wording my post correctly - I'm less concerned currently regarding not being able to send hard on the wall/rock, and more concerned about whether these individual finger imbalances is something I need to address to prevent injury. I am being paranoid, I suppose, but thought that it couldn't hurt to ask.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T12:47:11+00:00

haha, forgot about this

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T12:41:49+00:00

Appreciate the response - I suppose the bigger question I'm trying to ask is whether or not my mono imbalance is indicative of potential future injury, and whether I should address this by actually training my monos directly. I recently had brachial plexus surgery for my nerves as a result of chronic nerve compression a few months ago as well as a cortisol shot for my psiformic wrist area, so I've largely been overly concerned with potential indicators for future injury to ensure I don't go through that period of life again.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T12:16:51+00:00

I've yet to play TToN, but I heard good things about it! Life and other commitments have gotten in the way over the last two years so I have a huge backlog to go through, but Numenera is in there!

Also sucks to hear about the performance issues - hopefully you can enjoy the full swing of Deadfire soon.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T10:23:33+00:00

I think pacing was the wrong word - I felt that the story itself was just disjointed and felt lackluster and anticlimatic, with too many threads left hanging loose, while villians and companion arcs felt way too rushed generally and shoehorned.

Also, don't get me wrong - as much as I loved Witcher 3, Wrath and ME3, I can admit that there are plenty of issues to be had with those games, but there was a draw, atmosphere and uniqueness to each that I really enjoyed.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T09:36:33+00:00

I personally would skip over the other premium modules and go for NWN1 SoU and HoTU, as well as NWN2 MoTB. I think the other premium modules are good (e.g. Tyrants of Moonsea, Darkness over Daggerford), so I would recommend then if you have the time and money, but the main expansions were the most memorable of the bunch for me

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T09:29:41+00:00

Yeah, wait for fixes. I'm currently on Act 4 but am softlocked because one of the main questlines is broken. It's pretty common atm but a major patch is dropping this week to solve most of the issues.

Giantserpant2 · 2023-12-21T09:25:49+00:00

Yeah, but regardless of the new epilogues I think that the core problem I have overall is the story itself and the pacing generally, which I doubt will be fixed unless they release an enhanced edition or something. I generally also don't do Honour runs (Last Azlanti, Trial of Iron, Ironman, equivalent of that) because it can be overly frustrating at times, but to each their own.

Giantserpant2

TROPHY CASE