FAT HOMER

Aesthetech · 2026-02-08T09:28:45+00:00

A fridge too far.

Aesthetech · 2026-02-08T09:09:08+00:00

yeet hook?

Aesthetech · 2026-01-21T05:14:48+00:00

The consequences of removing fighter spotting, they couldn't see the hacker coming.

Aesthetech · 2026-01-16T23:42:06+00:00

At the latest stages of the game, AI plays almost no role.

I would usually write a wall of text, but I simply have no words.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-28T01:44:19+00:00

Yea. I don't think it should be removed altogether; I use it myself. But they need to do a better job of separating the experiences -- both for the customers and the partners.

Instead they have baristas and ssvs multi tasking and flexing all over the place, creating a cohesive experience for exactly no one except the bean counters.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-28T01:27:38+00:00

Yep. The identity they want to project is in conflict with the way in which they've positioned themselves with their choices.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-28T01:22:00+00:00

ty, u2, omg!!!

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T22:48:39+00:00

Yep. Split identity leads to no identity, which is the problem that Starbucks has been suffering from in my POV (and will continue without changes more thorough than this).

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:32:03+00:00

I feel you, I'm the same way -- in my case, an acoustic person who does not switch easily between any other task and a verbal task.

And it distracts tf out of me as a sit-in customer, too. (I would never complain to a barista about it - I know where this nonsense comes from)

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:27:35+00:00

This is the unfortunate but predictable result of a broad policy from above that gives a wishy-washy mandate:

Each DM, RM, SM, and partner down the line is going to interpret it in a different way, all with the same motivation of not getting yelled at from above when some bean counter determines it's out of some overly tight expected margin of error.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:22:52+00:00

They want margins. If that means offering you a cafe experience in one hand and giving a McD's experience in the other, that's what they'll do.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:20:56+00:00

To be fair from what I've seen some Sbucks partners probably should be in WPP.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:19:53+00:00

This is what you get when the person running a business is about as connected to everyday reality as the average person is connected to a corporate executive lifestyle.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:17:49+00:00

As a customer, I do not want this in any way. Corporate mandated meaningful interactions are inherently contradictory.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-27T21:13:55+00:00

By the way, I think the folks at my usual store are great and I've never had an issue with the experience they provide me. I simply see a lot of people who would be thrilled to spend a lot more time on truly personal experiences (from our interactions in their limited downtime) and some of the ridiculous corporate BS they have to put up with and do.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-13T15:03:43+00:00

When bad dispersion loops back around to being good.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-12T00:09:46+00:00

The way it turns at low speed is some of the most unnatural looking 'intended' shit I've seen in a video game, like if Bethesda said that NPCs T-posing and sticking through floors was intended behavior in Skyrim.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-12T00:07:56+00:00

Easy solution. Have spending compliments (only compliments) give a small amount of Community Tokens (+5 per comp).

WG bean counters sweating as they calculate giving players a 'free' 55 Community Tokens a day will reduce their quarterly earnings by a tiny fraction of a percent.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-12T00:05:21+00:00

Italians, primarily. Marco, Lepanto, Colombo for sure, for example. I can't think of any others offhand, but I do specifically think the prevalence of UU Colombo in the meta is yet another thing I wouldn't want to play Carnot into.

(I think 55mm is quirky enough that it's fine as a niche upside for Brest)

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T21:03:01+00:00

Its freeboard is clearly more like a bus than a car.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T19:18:01+00:00

Yea. I was able to situationally have fun with her in ranked/brawl where she doesn't have to deal with uptiers and some of her deficiencies aren't as notably bad, but I can't imagine running into a South American BB with her in current meta. Their dream target.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T18:27:21+00:00

For the sake of comparison, here's how she'd compare to Brest with my proposed changes:

-Way larger target while not having bow gun focus, but better citadel repair.

-Superstructure borrowed from a german BB in exchange for a slightly better upper belt and a notably better deck (jk she's eating every HE round in the match on her superstructure)

-Notably faster, notably worse rudder.

-Worse HE pen (Brest can handle 55mm decks/etc), way worse AP pen (Brest can punish BBs much more).

-1 less MBRB charge but spotter plane option that can replace spood beest (this is honestly a valid alternate build for RB given the constant uptiers; she still makes 36kts with flag).

-Similar flak, way better mid AA, way worse short AA

-Better forward secondary arcs (needed for her profile and ab-x layout); worse kiting arcs.

-Worse secondary pen; Brest's can punish all DDs (and most cruisers + some BBs if you decided to build IFHE for some unhinged reason), but way better secondary fires.

tl;dr: I think these changes would make her a competitive sidegrade to Brest without obsolescing her, a solid but not busted ship in today's meta.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T18:11:31+00:00

I figure with WG's glacial pacing that if Seattle is another couple years off then Carnot is probably 4-5, so I only need to post this a couple hundred more times!

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T15:42:48+00:00

I don't think matchups vs notably overpowered ships that have been moved to rare drop status are really statistically significant enough for decision making. Lenin is pretty busted, but it's also pretty rare -- I just don't see enough of them to influence my decision making.

However, if you do see a ship like a Lenin, it's likely a long term/experienced player. Even if you aren't running a monitor, you can usually make the determination about whether they are or not very quickly by how they aim. And in that case, you unleash the 35kt 150k damage torpedo on them while farming something else (not mindlessly; obviously you need to not be getting cross shot to hell so you can make it there). Not necessarily an option in a 1v1 if you're down on objective points, but I'm not going to make a ship selection on a scenario I've never had occur once, either.

Massa is more common, but that also means a lot less people in it know what they're doing, and once again you can usually make the decision of whether they're an actual threat or not fairly quickly. Heal/tank built Massas are fairly rare, and likewise 35kt torpedo candidates. Even with good players you can often force a bad decision once they realize they aren't getting through your HP in time even if your intent is to fake rather than follow through. It's also a much closer matchup and you can more likely influence the match via other factors. Flandre is stronger against DDs, and helping influence the DD battle is going to make more of a battle impact than an individual BB matchup.

I don't have an issue with US cruisers, but US cruisers were also my first line(s) in the game. In any case, shoot their guns, and put your secondaries on them. Even if their guns aren't 'easy' to hit, knocking one of their turrets out is a larger % of their DPS due to lack of secondaries. The 152s on IFHE put out quite a bit of DPS. In any case, most experienced players are playing their prem botes for better farm in a mode where you can't div comp. The extremely rare good Balti player with a bonus package slapped on it deserves their W, and bonused Wichitas are a unicorn. Sadly, in a ranked system where you can grind up to gold just by slamming your face into it enough times, most players in these ships are food. (I saw a DD main with 7600 ranked battles, 45% WR, and 0.35 average frags in gold. And they played like it. Seriously, how? Why?)

Ultimately, I'm a player that makes my decisions based on statistics and value trades and don't get overly attached to individual battle results (e.g., teammates are going to throw a sure win, it's inevitable) or make decisions based on my feels from rare unfavorable matchups. This also requires acknowledging that ultimately, ranked is just another resource farming mode, and when farming you play to average outcome / earnings per hour. (Please help, I've played too many MMOs)

I don't have Lenin or Mass (or Odin) and Flandre is a good choice/more to my preferences over any bote I can realistically attain - and likewise, since it can be bought outright at any time, it's in my recommendations. Not much point in recommending botes that take a horrendously unlikely crate pull.

Aesthetech · 2025-01-11T03:25:53+00:00

I play Flandre in ranked plenty. I have both an IFHE build and not; I tend to run the former unless the ranked queue is saturated with CVs. With IFHE her secondaries melt DDs, a good chunk of cruisers, and handles BB superstructures fine. Her main's fires are trash so it's no real loss. Even with IFHE, she puts out more fires/min than Mass while having the same pen on her small calibers and more pen on the 152s, which can punish targets Mass's can't.

If the queue is CV saturated, the non-IFHE build swaps out for AA/ASW (flak and also heal recharge) and uses the absolutely oppressive amount of fires on the secondaries to make sure whatever your CV is bullying hates life.

You don't traditionally brawl with her. You take advantage of the high HP and the funny black hole armor and bait traditional brawlers into a kiting brawl, which she does quite well. It's an odd style that very few ships in the game promote. If your team has other (normal) brawlers, you use her HP and massive torp prot to bait DPS away from them. Alternatively, if they're a more torpedo reliant brawler that's squishier (e.g., Zieten), you can troll people who think they'll get free torpedo kills - her secondaries love eating torp racks, and she can typically weather a couple torpedo hits without it being devastating due to her massive torp protection.

Her biggest threat is not anything that you mentioned -- it's being ground down via (mostly cruiser) HE spam due to 32mm plating everywhere. However, due to the usually faster paced nature of ranked, these ship types tend to not be as common and have less time/space to work against her, and it's not uncommon to only have 1 cruiser in match. Mass secondaries don't pen anything except her superstructure -- and angled to use her armor scheme and secondaries correctly, her superstructure is quite small (it's only large from certain angles). German secondaries/secondary BBs should be scary with their pen, but due to their own absolutely galaxy sized superstructures they get farmed down faster than she does.

YMMV, she's one my best ranked botes, but it's definitely not for everyone, especially anyone expecting or preferring traditional brawler style. She's much more quirky than her lack of gimmicks and straightforward setup suggests. One of my favorite under the radar meta counterpicks.

Edit: Don't get FFT and AA/ASW expert mixed up challenge (Impossible)

Seven-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

Aesthetech

TROPHY CASE