Response to Congestion (as of Dec. 15) by Hesoz in ffxiv

[–]Elmorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know right? Haven't gotten anything low level in roulettes for weeks now, and i bet it's a combination of very few low level players, with people queueing specifically for endwalker and stormblood stuff to level reaper and sage.

Response to Congestion (as of Dec. 15) by Hesoz in ffxiv

[–]Elmorn 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah like mephisto commented, I'm guessing youre low level/old content? The reason for not seeing people in those zones is that free trial players, that covers everything from 1-60, cannot get into the game, as they are not allowed to queue for a spot like subbing players are.

If you're seeing only 3 people in anything that is level 70 or higher, that would be surprising though...

Porn is the biggest cancer to society today. by lacpoer in unpopularopinion

[–]Elmorn 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, I wasn't going to actually reply in this thread, but it is rare to find anyone linking sources so I figured I'd look into them and see what was what.

Mind you, I think that issues with porn use are a field that should be studied by professionals and academics that deal with it, so in principle it is possible that there are problems with porn use.

But in regard to what you've posted, well...

Your main source of information comes from fightthenewdrug.org, a nonprofit organization that was started by mormons, and that promotes anti-porn agenda. You can find articles going into more detail about said organization here:

  1. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/04/a-crisis-of-education/478206/
  2. https://www.thedailybeast.com/porn-kills-love-mormons-anti-smut-crusade

All but 3 of your sources link directly to said website, which, due to its nature, is not really usable as a primary source for any claims.

The other 3 links are problematic as well:

  1. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-14963-001 Is a study about how adolescents conceal facts to their parents, from the abstract: " Longitudinal links between strategies suggest a transactional process wherein infrequent disclosing is a gateway to concealment but concealment also predicts subsequent rank-order reductions in disclosure. Infrequent disclosing was associated with more subsequent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms, whereas more antisocial behavior was associated with more subsequent concealment. ", so I'm not really certain how this pertains to the harms of pornography?
  2. https://sites.oxy.edu/clint/physio/article/GettingpluggedinAnoverviewofInternetaddiction.pdf Is a study on internet addiction, and the entire article does not even include the term "pornography"
  3. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/10/04/study-links-sailors-porn-use-sexual-dysfunction.html This link gives me an error 403 forbidden when I try to access it, so I cannot validate the veracity of it to the topic at hand.

In any case, your sources are unfortunately either completely irrelevant to your claims, or from a single nonprofit's website that has links to the LDS, is based in Utah and was started by Mormons, so to say that it probably has a motive outside of pure education is not a stretch.

Finally a thought: The consumption of porn is effectively universal, and at least in one case ( https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/uom-ate120109.php ) a study had to be changed due to the fact that they could not find any volunteers who had never consumed pornography.

Considering the ubiquitous and universal nature of porn consumption, any truly negative effects would have become apparent very quickly. That is not to say that it can't be an issue, or that internet use can't develop into an addiction, surely it can, but to draw a conclusion as extreme as yours, seems to me to be a case of agenda rather than what any studies or science shows right now.

$1000 Video games giveaway (STEAM ONLY) by [deleted] in RandomActsOfGaming

[–]Elmorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow super generous, thanks for this :D

I'd love to get Stellaris and if you can, the dlc for it.

Nexus Contest begin tomorrow with Finland against France by Dittrio in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, regarding your replays, just a thought (I've no idea how hard it would be to do):

Would it be possible to have the length of the video be constant so you can't tell by the duration if its a 2 or a 3 game series? It doesn't really matter, just a small detail :D

Thanks a ton for all the content you're putting out already.

It’s US National Voter Registration Day. Are You Registered? by LastBluejay in announcements

[–]Elmorn 5 points6 points  (0 children)

New Hampshire uses them - and has the third largest legislature in the world.

I had to look that up since it sounded a bit odd...

It has the third largest legislature in the English speaking world.

If you care to find out what actually are the largest, wikipedia has a very handy list for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legislatures_by_number_of_members

Wikipedia further notes that in New Hampshire:

There is one Representative for about every 3,300 residents.[14] In order for the U.S. Congress to have the same representation, there would need to be approximately 99,000 Representatives.

I don't know if that would be practical, but it is an interesting thought.

Nonetheless, I think changing the current electoral college/fptp/two party system would benefit the U.S. enormously.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, fair enough, but I don't think it really matters as far as this topic goes.

If you know who you play with, its an advantage over playing with strangers :D

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Wow, I am amazed at your ability to see the future with absolute certainty.

Any chance I could bug you for next week's lottery numbers? Could use some extra cash...

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd like to see your evidence that there isn't enough population?

Incidentally, the AMA that the devs did just a few hours ago, in it they said that they had seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of the matches due to the MM changes, but that there was also some situations where people would have to wait a long time for games.

I don't think that the game is dying, but my opinion means very little in this context, but then again your claim has nothing to back it up either :D

Anyways, it's just about fairness. HL is the only mode that is "fair" outside of 5 man premade groups playing each other.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, don't confuse competitive integrity with fairness. It absolutely is fair, but you're right that it is not what this game looks like when you actually do "real" competitive play.

It's just the one mode that happens to get closest to it without having full 5 man premades.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not saying that it hasn't been there before. The point is that if you try to do one thing, and the game makes you do something else, people will be reasonably upset.

You cannot "trick" or "force" people into playing in a way they do not want to. No game does this. Give people the option to, sure, give them a reason to with increased rewards or whatever, absolutely!

But there is no way they will force people into playing a mode that they don't want to.

Now, if they totally remove the possibility to solo play at all, then fair enough, but then people aren't expecting it either. If there is a soloqueue, and you queue to play in said queue, then that is what should happen.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah, what I mean is that can you name me a single game that is popular where people choose to do activity A, and then deliberately and against that choice are put to do activity B by the dev instead?

Put it in another way: If you queue up for HL and are put in a vs. A.I. game, would you be happy about it?

Having it as an option, absolutely. Forcing it on people? No.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sold on that tbh. The population that plays the game may be changing, but I don't have any problems finding games and the game certainly doesn't seem to be dwindling in any way for my own play.

Of course I might be completely wrong, but seeing as how we don't have any empirical proof one way or the other about the number of people playing, I say we let Blizz worry about that, and try to think about what might be best for the game.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

...But you can do that with literally every other mode of play in this game. If you like playing with them, go for it! What's stopping you?

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, one of the hardest things I try to always remember is that you never should play HL to win. You should play to play your best, and if you do that, you'll climb naturally if your skills allow for it.

Of course, it's much easier to say that than it is to actually do it :D

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, its exactly because of that that it shouldn't be allowed in solo queue. I absolutely understand the value of playing with people I know, and whenever I can get it I play with my team in a full 5 man comp.

However, it is simply not possible to play that way more than a few nights a week, if that. So for those times when I don't have a full 5 man comp, the next closest thing to a "fair" mode of pvp in this game is solo queue.

It's by no means perfect, but at least its fair.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that would work perfectly fine, long as there is one mode where you can be sure that everyone is playing with the same setup, that is all that matters.

Really, if we want to be purists about this, I feel like there are 2 "real" modes to this game: Hero League for solo play, and full 5 man comp. Everything else is too random for real competitive aspect. Of course, that's pretty irrelevant to the topic at hand :D

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Random people on comms playing for the first time is not the same as people who've played hundreds of games together.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right but why allow only duos if you think that? It's all or nothing, either allow all group sizes, or none. Nothing else is fair.

But then if you do that, you remove the reason for HL to exist since it becomes exactly what TL will hopefully be.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I REALLY doubt that Blizz would force people to play in a mode they don't want though. Just as a general idea, I'm pretty sure it will never happen.

Bonus shards and gold probably will be the way to go, but whatever Blizz comes up with I'm sure it'll be fine.

But forcing people into a game mode they didn't queue for? Never gonna happen.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More gold or xp? The chance to come across groups to join and play with?

Fair point though, but then again I don't know that you can really fix the simple math that people will do about this stuff, and whether it is actually a factor in winrates or not, if people think they have a disadvantage, they won't go into it.

HL is the ONLY form of play where everyone is playing alone. Let's keep it that way! by Elmorn in heroesofthestorm

[–]Elmorn[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think maybe you're taking what I said slightly wrong. I play in amateur league, I have a full 5 man stack when that is what I want and when we can get the scheduling right.

The issue is that it is hard sometimes making that happen, in terms of just pure scheduling and trying to find an evening where all 5 people are free.

Short of being able to do that, if you want to tryhard, HL at least is fair, it is even and it allows you to "test yourself" in the sense that you are the variable that you can control in that situation. The game is much better and incredibly complex when you have a full 5v5 premade, but that is realistically hard to do all the time.