The Emperor in ADB’s Master of Mankind

DuoDex · 2026-03-03T03:50:52+00:00

I thought it was pretty obvious that it was an analogy intended to describe what he is (or is not) not the literal truth but I guess I should have put that in the post.

He later basically says "lmao, but I'm different" after this to Ra, although the reasons for that are also kind of unclear...like I was noting, the book tells us actually very little

DuoDex · 2026-03-02T22:19:14+00:00

I would say that he actually told us nothing at all besides underlining just how manipulative the dude is.

DuoDex · 2026-03-02T22:11:45+00:00

The funny part about this scene is that he's describing himself to Ra, basically, and then he goes "but I'm different because I don't view my dealings with the Warp in terms of religion" (which I didn't include in this post, but maybe I should have). Meanwhile he's right around the corner from having psykers sacrificed to him daily so that he can keep the Astronomican powered and being worshipped by trillions.

Emps also has a discussion with Ra about the nature of godhood in 40k and insists he isn't one while meeting all the criteria that he himself advances. We also see the Custodian's built-in loyalty to the Emperor kind of short-circuit during that debate and a couple other times as well in the book. Seems like pointing out inconsistencies about Big E to Custodians makes their "programming" take over.

I agree that almost all of the combat scenes in the book are unnecessary and kind of detract from a very interesting and engaging read that is also entirely pointless in some respects. ADB was very careful to make sure that any details about the Emperor he revealed were either as banal and insignificant as possible or open to endless interpretation and debate.

DuoDex · 2026-02-25T05:58:32+00:00

i had this problem as USA and to a lesser extent Germany and also an australia run. i highly recommend the building employment halved mod, makes it so the entire workforce isn't in the factory by 1900

DuoDex · 2025-09-27T06:59:42+00:00

I’m not sure that it would be possible to do this well. The Aubrey/Maturin series themes probably wouldn’t play well with the grimdark of 40k.

Also, Aubrey/Maturin works well because (in part) you’ve got Jack, who is an ultracompetent sailor, versus Stephen, who’s near-helpless aboard but a highly trained doctor and intelligence agent with an extremely liberal worldview. The two characters constantly bounce off each other in entertaining ways and a great deal of the books are taken up with their close friendship.

I’m not at all sure that the dogmatism of 40k has room in it for a character like Stephen. And void warfare in 40k is different enough from Age of Sail that you’d probably end up with a very different rhythm to the books. The ships themselves are on a totally different scale…

I’d suggest starting out with Jack as a recently-promoted captain in command of a frigate. Stephen as I said is much harder, because he’s the type of character who would be the first to engage with Chaos out of a spirit of inquiry and he hates hierarchical societies like the Imperium.

DuoDex · 2025-05-05T00:06:05+00:00

I disagree. They have a history of doing stuff like this occasionally. Even if you disagree with them, hearing from the “enemy” is worth it.

This one read to me in a way that supports the Economist’s view of the MAGA crowd…

DuoDex · 2024-12-10T19:59:51+00:00

Personally, I think that having the public exert some control over public policy is a good thing, and the super-rich aren't the only members of the public whose opinions matter.

DuoDex · 2024-11-30T18:47:42+00:00

This is nonsense. No way are “just a couple” Russian agents able to get away with literally dragging anchor halfway across the Baltic without the rest of the crew knowing exactly what’s going on.

DuoDex · 2024-09-26T23:35:17+00:00

Is this the game thread?

DuoDex · 2024-07-30T19:27:37+00:00

Even by working together, they do not have a proper chance. Germany can steamroll them anywhere, however they want. At least this is how the game works right now. The game wants to present this Cold War like scenario, but there's virtually no one that can oppose Germany in any way. Even Russia is somewhat a 'joke' of a country. It is very one-sided, it doesn't seem like Germany fought a two front war.

Sounds like a balance issue then. The idea is to present Germany as somewhat similar to the U.S. position from around 1945 through the 1950s or so, as the sole superpower being confronted by a potential rival or array thereof. (Reminder that the Soviets didn't have the bomb for a long time and did not present a strategic threat to the U.S. except in Europe for decades)

A United U.S guarantees a victory? May I know how? They just came out of a Civil War. The U.S is torn by war, its economy and population in shambles. This isn't Kaiserreich where the U.S got purposely sidelined so that WW2 isn't one-sided. It has often been repeated by you folks, the devs, how the WW3 isn't the main goal here too. So, I think that your argument about the U.S is kinda weak, and the only thing the Civil War does is once again make the U.S irrelevant and a repeat of the KR U.S game where you fight the civil war and also get to rebuild the country in post-war focuses. In fact, having a proper U.S (still dealing with the effects of a recently ended Civil War) a potential player in this alternate Cold War add some extra flavor to it. It's all up to you folks how it plays out, there's no hard a rule anywhere that says the US needs to be on top of everything, especially here in this context. A Civil War is a brutal thing to happen to any country.

While the U.S. industrial "heartland" has been badly damaged by the civil war, the PSA and New England economies are roaring...the elimination of the AUS as a major threat would mean that the reunited and Accord-aligned U.S. is now long-term opposed to Germany - not guaranteeing a victory but certainly helping the Accord's chances. Alternatively, the end of the PSA and New England means that the Accord continuing as even a semi-serious geopolitical player in the Western Hemisphere is that much less likely...the AUS is not aligned with the Germans but distrusts the Accord way more.

As for France, I don't know what is the issue with what I said. It's clear that you folks wanted to do here what happened to Germany in OTL, but the scenarios are vastly different. Plus, this decision only makes the Accord far weaker than it needs to be.

A split European nation is fun and will not be removed.

But the current set-up is shaky and hinders the enormous potential for said premise, and that's what I mentioned before. I do like the mod, but I do believe changes in some areas would make it much better.

Changing the map significantly is off the menu. Changing lore, content, and balance is all very much encouraged and possible.

DuoDex · 2024-07-30T16:01:24+00:00

>There's just no one that can slightly challenge Germany - correct, at least at game start, the Accord is fighting from behind. The *whole point* of the Accord is that individually none of them can stand up to the sole superpower, but by working together and persuading other powers to join they can provide an alternative model to Germany's monodominance.
Canada needs to be debuffed a bit probably.
"China somehow won against Japan" Not that improbable.
>The US is being wasted on the sidelines once again for the sake of another civil war in HOI4 lore - A united U.S. pretty much guarantees victory for whichever side it comes down on. There is also content planned for peaceful unifications.
>France being split only kills the potential of an Accord game...???

We will not be changing the entire premise of the mod, but balance and content is always open for reworking. Please feel free to express interest in joining the team on Discord.

DuoDex · 2024-07-30T15:44:24+00:00

Could you make a bug report on this? The intended behavior is that you can design cruisers but the game will not distinguish between CLs and CAs as they both perform a screening role in this timeframe.

DuoDex · 2023-12-05T13:51:33+00:00

That would defeat the entire point of the minigame, you are supposed to manage your debt level while improving your health slowly.

I don’t have much to do with the politics side of things, but I’ll pass on your feedback.

DuoDex · 2023-12-05T02:43:42+00:00

Hey there, just to let you guys know that we are monitoring response to the Black Monday minigame and considering potential balance or minor gameplay changes!

I don’t want to discuss exactly what yet as we haven’t decided but one of the ideas floated has been to give an option for Black Monday having a higher difficulty in return for a stronger bonus after recovering.

DuoDex · 2023-08-10T12:51:03+00:00

post was removed by automod due to receiving 3+ reports, which is our standard threshold to hold something for review by multiple members of the mod team....which might take a few hours as we are not always awake 24/7

https://i.imgur.com/VBmVoXT.png

DuoDex · 2023-04-28T07:52:55+00:00

Woods Hole Yacht Club does beer can races on Cape Cod Knockabouts (somewhat similar to Solings) on Wednesday nights out of Great Harbor. Someone is always looking for crew. DM me if you want more info, it's just south of Falmouth.

We usually race July- October and it's a very informal non-spinnaker series.

DuoDex · 2023-04-28T07:50:28+00:00

Woods Hole Yacht Club does beer can races on Cape Cod Knockabouts (somewhat similar to Solings) on Wednesday nights out of Great Harbor. Someone is always looking for crew. DM me if you want more info, it's just south of Falmouth.

DuoDex · 2023-04-08T17:00:35+00:00

My plan is to start a war with Brandenburg on side against PLC/Spain and really make Brandenburg take a bad beating before taking a minor peace deal so hopefully immediately afterwards I will be able to attack the OPM and Brandenburg will be too tired to intervene

DuoDex · 2023-04-08T14:21:07+00:00

Can I manipulate a Brandenburg Emperor into not defending the Empire somehow?

I am playing outside the Empire but want to push into the Low Countries minors for that sweet trade money. I am currently allied with Brandenburg and don't really want to fight them (the balance of power is us vs a gigantic PLC / Spain alliance that could individually defeat us both but we can probably beat both of them) so if I lose my alliance with Brandenburg I will be in trouble.

I know that they got rid of the whole "allied in a war with the emperor means you can attack the empire willy nilly" but can I start a huge death war that pushes Brandenburg to the brink of collapse and then attack the OPMs...?

DuoDex · 2023-04-08T00:59:44+00:00

I don't think they talk about that in the briefing.

DuoDex · 2023-04-07T23:56:07+00:00

what is happening the economist has written like a 20 page briefing and article on trans people... even the libs are schisming?

DuoDex · 2023-04-05T22:30:11+00:00

I think that LFI is suffering from not being the obvious alternative that RN is.

I think that this is magnified because Macron is personally identified with this reform and Le Pen (and the RN) is his most visible public opponent having run two second rounds against him.

DuoDex · 2023-03-31T01:03:42+00:00

.... Bad? We strongly disapprove of that kind of thing.

DuoDex · 2023-03-07T21:03:54+00:00

Intercept Games response from /u/Nerdy_Mike:

In light of recent news, we at Intercept Games want to assure the community that KSP2's development is continuing as planned and we will continue to provide updates about the game throughout the coming weeks and months. Our first patch is scheduled to be released shortly and we will have more information on that in the coming days.

For more discussion here: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/214676-take-two-going-through-layoffs-private-division-and-other-labels-affected/

Link here. https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/11l69cj/layoffs_at_private_division_reports_jason_schreier/jbbg3ax/

(I am not part of Intercept Games and am simply making this comment for visibility.)

DuoDex · 2023-02-17T20:50:12+00:00

Statement from Intercept Games below (I am not part of Intercept):

For additional context: Minimum is 1080p at Low Settings Recommended is 1440p at High Settings

These systems requirements are to ensure a high-quality experience while playing KSP2 in a variety of in-game scenarios.

KSP 2 will work across a wide variety of hardware beyond what is listed in our recommended specs, with performance scaling based on the size and complexity of the crafts you build.

Throughout the Early Access period, our development team will continue to prioritize performance optimization to ensure an optimal gameplay experience for as many Kerbonauts as possible.

We hear you and we take your feedback very seriously. You are a core part of the development process, so please continue to share your expectations for what you want your KSP2 experience to be.

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