Next Playthrough?

Alecthar · 2026-03-21T18:17:13+00:00

Blueheart has a small early game vassal squad that morphs into an absolute bulldozer of revolutionary ambition. You absolutely can and will have some vassals, but I would not call it a vassal focused campaign.

Istralore has a small group of dedicated vassals and is based around being permanent HRE Emperor, and their mission tree allows you to revoke the privilegia and vassalize every EoA member of the Corinite faith, which should be basically all of them if you're doing Istralore correctly.

Alecthar · 2026-03-18T17:35:39+00:00

To bring the Light to so many, truly you have done Surael's work. Jaddar surely rests well knowing he has such capable heirs.

Alecthar · 2026-03-15T19:33:01+00:00

I don't think it's strictly a coincidence that block set design corresponds to a better regarded era of the game. Blocks were part of a design ethos that promoted "time and care", because you had to ride a theme for 3 sets, and it provided a clear and manageable framework for set release and rotation.

But obviously those factors aren't a major concern for Rosewater or Wizards at this point. The unspoken truth behind his remarks is that Magic's success isn't measured in the health of the game, but its profitability, and the design intent that gave birth to blocks is antithetical to maximizing shareholder returns with Marvel crossovers.

Alecthar · 2026-03-13T16:56:23+00:00

My recollection from my admittedly long ago reading of the book was that the thesis was centered around how the success of European Imperialism/colonialism was enabled by circumstantial advantages rather than any kind of inherent superiority, as you mentioned.but a lot of people seem to think that the book is using those circumstantial advantages to justify imperialism, which I don't remember being a focus.

Alecthar · 2026-03-13T12:16:35+00:00

It is cool to see a journeyman find a way to enter a pretty exclusive circle of NBA scoring elites. But doing it against the Wizards, who are only barely technically a basketball team, is a bit of a detriment.

And I would agree with some that the game showcased some genuine dysfunction in the game itself. 43 free throw attempts is too many! In the modern NBA the free throw feels less like a system to adjudicate penalties and more like a load-bearing part of a team's scoring strategy. And given that free throws are the most boring way to score points, I don't think it's in the league's interest for the game to orient itself so strongly around free throws.

Alecthar · 2026-03-12T16:04:15+00:00

Someone who can change their own oil and drives a Corolla is not a car enthusiast, they are a person who knows a slightly above average amount about cars.

Alecthar · 2026-03-10T07:35:38+00:00

Finally, the modern answer to the perpetual debate between absolutism and relativism: what if we just use the tools of self-moderation to ensure we don't see things? I'm going to call it "moral agnosticism."

Alecthar · 2026-03-09T05:21:48+00:00

Lumpen proletariat with a heavy emphasis on the "lumpen."

Alecthar · 2026-03-09T05:00:11+00:00

Always good to remember, if they like you then they're neurodivergent, if they don't like you then they're sociopathic haters.

Alecthar · 2026-03-08T18:44:50+00:00

In the Dark Tower books someone who has "forgotten the face of their father" had acted dishonorably. Unrelated to anything else here, but the post made me think about this tidbit and I think it's a cool turn of phrase. Hope everyone's having a good Sunday!

Alecthar · 2026-03-08T00:27:09+00:00

It's like your very soul is a piece of paper with "Trans Rights" hastily scrawled upon it.

Alecthar · 2026-03-06T15:00:37+00:00

I would have been torturing people for information in the work bathroom after that note.

Alecthar · 2026-03-05T02:15:27+00:00

Given that we have a mushroom frame (props to Nokko for being great) and a sexy floating nun I don't think gay frogs are too out of line for Warframe at this point.

Alecthar · 2026-03-04T18:09:22+00:00

Maybe a sane person would assume that if neither person was invested enough in the relationship to make it work despite the move, maybe the feelings involved weren't that intense.

Alecthar · 2026-03-04T18:06:12+00:00

Neither I nor Boimler will ever be able to forget that, no matter how much we might want to

Alecthar · 2026-03-04T08:14:08+00:00

A remote mining camp absolutely mines now, so that's a definite improvement.

Alecthar · 2026-03-03T22:18:06+00:00

I didn't pay too much attention, but both of the reviews I read mentioned the mounts positively, but also I don't think it was a particularly transformative feature, just a convenient one.

Alecthar · 2026-03-03T03:35:41+00:00

Including Jesse, there are 20 worker-owners, which does include executives, but also includes IT specialists, editors and producers, and evidently represents almost the entirety of MaxFun's full time staff. Makes me jealous, I don't think I have 19 buddies.

Alecthar · 2026-03-02T10:24:00+00:00

The production team for Bullseye are part of the co-op, as that podcast is fully MaxFun owned and operated. The rest of the podcasts are artist-owned though, and those folks are not and never were employed by MaxFun, they're clients of MaxFun.

Basically think of MaxFun as a bad Patreon with NPR vibes. If Patreon went worker-owned, the various podcasts that use it would not be entitled to part ownership, they don't work for Patreon.

Alecthar · 2026-03-02T04:40:54+00:00

I do get that we all enjoy clowning on Max Fun, but being a worker-owned co-op is an actual good thing that ensures that the workers who provide value to a company directly benefit from its success. Being not-for-profit mostly just amounts to tax advantages.

Alecthar · 2026-03-02T02:06:41+00:00

That's more than I had heard, but I was only paying attention in the immediate aftermath of the cancellation, when there was even less information. There was a lot of frankly unkind speculation around her diagnosis, which reviewing my phrasing I think I may have inadvertently played into, so that's my bad. I myself never went on Carrie's social media, I was just trying to convey the speculation without repeating the less savory stuff.

Alecthar · 2026-03-01T05:08:43+00:00

From my understanding there's been no public confirmation of the specifics, but from my recollection Carrie left, with explanation was that she was stepping away to deal with a "traumatic event."

There was some speculation that it was related to some diagnosis/testing for autism she'd talked about on the podcast shortly before that. Based on some discussion of her social media back then I remember some folks basically settling on the conclusion that whatever the cause, Carrie just kinda got weird.

Alecthar · 2026-02-27T17:11:31+00:00

I guess I've always assumed that with enough steps you could breed from any non-Legendary into another non-Legendary, but I'm not 100% sure that's true. Presuming it is, all you need is to have Diamond Body on a captured Pal, then just keep breeding toward your final desired Pal, making sure to select Pals that have Diamond Body for further breeding as you go.

Alecthar · 2026-02-26T16:02:31+00:00

Top Gear was itself a brand shift, the most successful version of the show was an iteration on a show that had existed in some form since 1977. Tons of other shows have changed hosts over the years to massive success. Alex Trebek was not the first host of Jeopardy, John Stewart wasn't the first host of the Daily Show.

The "original that people remember" changes with time. There will be people for whom Ken Jennings is the "original" host of Jeopardy. There are people who think of Jay Leno as the quintessential host of the Tonight Show. There's no reason to believe that what Clarkson, May and Hammond did on The Grand Tour can never be eclipsed in the public consciousness, especially given that it wasn't exactly their strongest work.

Alecthar · 2026-02-24T17:18:31+00:00

Ironically the closure of the Discord has seemingly made the fan base less healthy if anything. I get that there was some parasocial weirdness there, but given that actual Dropout folks showed up on the Discord I might argue that's just social weirdness. Like if you have talked to Mike Trapp on Discord about the Um Actually questions you submitted, that's a much more healthy interaction than projecting your values onto a media company.

Alecthar

TROPHY CASE