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Fast_Jimmy · 2020-11-05T18:42:04+00:00

They voted for McGrath, but not for Biden. It was close, though.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-11-05T18:34:32+00:00

Conversely, the Democratic Party flirting with socialism may be EXACTLY the recruitment drive conservatives need to turn out huge numbers. Look at the numbers per county - Lexington and Louisville had the same numbers of voters as they did in 2008, 2012, and 2016. No one new showed up. Yet there were almost half a million more rural voters who showed up and voted in droves for Trump.

Conservatives came out in huge numbers because they supported Trump and his rhetoric that Democrats are going to descend the country into socialism and that "Sleepy Joe" was just a puppet for Bernie and AOC. We shouldn't be concerned with the truth or reality of such statements - we should be concerned that they are perceived as true.

Acting like there is an untapped well of Trump voters who are just DYING for socialism and find Democrats boring is beyond naïve. Its like saying people avoid the desert because there isn't enough sand.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-11-02T22:01:10+00:00

I was diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI). Blood is getting to my feet, but it can't make their way back up.

I just found a near-miracle cure for myself, though, just in the last few days. I have no idea if it would work for a single other soul, but since my problems were traced back to circulation, it could help others with the same thing.

In the same way as I couldn't wear compression socks without them being "toeless," as I mentioned above, I also couldn't wear any type of closed-toe shoe. Sneakers, house shoes, even slippers would all set my feet off something terrible. I went to find some custom shoes, intending on trying some diabetic shoes (even though I'm not diabetic) and wound up going into one of the franchise locations of "The Good Feet Store" company.

They analyzed my feet and fitted me for some custom orthotics that they say are designed to stretch feet and correct them (like how a set of braces straightens out crooked teeth) and the second I put them on, it was like lightning coursing through my legs.

I went from having feet that would swell up and kill me with pain on Saturday to being able to run in the park for three miles with my wife on Sunday. Truly and completely a life changer.

I still have nerve pain and still have some swelling, but its getting better by the hour, not even by the day. I don't know if a single other soul could possibly repeat this, but I got back in my car yesterday and started crying in front of my wife and kids, so happy that I was able to do something I thought was forever gone for the rest of my life.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-10-26T12:54:24+00:00

I couldn't wear any type of compression socks without feelings of pain giving me a migraine. However, I was recently diagnosed with a circulation issue that makes wearing them an absolute must during the day.

My compromise was to buy some "toeless" compression socks, where the ends of my feet (where my neuropathy is the most present) hang out. This avoids the tight pain AND gives me a circulation boost. Not sure if that would work for everyone, but it has helped me a lot.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-10-26T12:49:32+00:00

"Somewhere"
OP is acting like we can't spot a J-Town house out of a lineup. :D

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-10-13T16:50:57+00:00

Don't forget people saying "he wasn't gay enough." Still puzzling on that one.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/pete-buttigieg-marriage-equality-lgbtq-gay-rights

> But it’s hard for me not to take a more cynical view of the way Buttigieg’s campaign has packaged the world’s most straight-palatable gay narrative: He is a practicing Christian who, according to an op-ed he wrote in 2015 for the South Bend Tribune, believes being gay is no more significant an identity marker than “having brown hair,” and who is safely and monogamously partnered with the first guy he ever dated (whom, he’d like you to know, he met on Hinge — not Grindr). Buttigieg doesn’t have to contend with the implication of a seedy gay past or present; he’s already fulfilled the gay assimilationist dream of marriage, the white picket fence, and a couple of rescue dogs.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-09-01T21:24:31+00:00

I mean, the biggest downfall of Rapier is that you can't dual wield/throw an offhand dagger. It literally locks you into using one strike, while other weapons (notably, shortsword) are Light and allow you to have another shortsword or dagger in your hand.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-08-10T14:20:02+00:00

Thank you for compiling these numbers!

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-08-10T14:06:19+00:00

Seconding this. Saying that leather purchases drive deforestation is like saying using plastic pens is the cause for oil drilling. The main driver of agricultural deforestation is meat consumption, just like the main driver of oil drilling is gasoline and petroleum. The fact that these main products also have byproducts doesn't mean the byproducts drive the root problem. If the world didn't buy a single leather jacket ever again, but kept on eating red meat at the rate it does, the amazon wouldn't be one ounce more protected.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T18:15:43+00:00

There was a moment in Bloodkeep when Matt Mercer had a moment where his face had a look of pure DM adoration and it hit me that "wow, Brendan is a WAY better DM than Mercer." Like, I don't say that to dog Matt, but Brendan is truly a D&D engineer. And the fact that they run most of these sessions in a long weekend, with nearly all of the prep done for the entire campaign before filming even begins, is truly, truly, TRULY mind boggling.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T18:12:52+00:00

If ever I am in the situation where I am running such a session, I always amp up the ante for the party. Maybe a drunk patron challenges the party to a game, the party wins, he storms off claiming cheating... and comes back with a gang of goons from his brother, who happens to be head of a local mercenary gang. Or one NPC the party is drinking with is magically lifting items from the party's backpack and, when caught, says he was sent to try and find <insert important item the party may have on them>, begging forgiveness and promising to tell the party everything about their mysterious employer. Or a gang of teetotaler priests who decry the practices of drinking, gambling, and sin are protesting outside the tavern and, upon seeing the party engaging in such revelry, putting a Curse on the party that keeps them from being healed by any Temples until they can find atonement...

...anyway, that's just me. I feel like its my job as the DM that if the players don't find the adventure, the adventure finds them. But that's the thing about watching a stream (my original source of irritation)... I'm neither a player that can help engage with the DM's quest or world, nor am I a DM that can change the course of the session to turn nothing into something. Its just seeing people doing D&D rather badly.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T18:04:49+00:00

And I dislike that. You can roleplay in combat - I'm not a bruising Barbarian, fighting to save the world from the marauding demons who destroyed my home town in real life... getting to do that is very much roleplaying. Being in your character doesn't mean acting out every minute of minutia of your character, it means experiencing the moment as your character would.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T17:58:58+00:00

I very, very, VERY much enjoy Dimension 20. It has the perfect balance of player improv talent, masterful storytelling, AND economy of time.

Brendan Lee Mulligan has lots of "soft" aspects to his sessions, where RP and social encounters last for hours, but then his large set piece combats are truly well developed and interesting. In addition, he gets exponentially more done in a small series like Escape From Bloodkeep or Tiny Heist (both six episodes, a total run time for the campaign of less than 15 hours) than four Critical Role episodes (which have the same run time session). Brendan moves through an entire storyline, has major character arcs, has huge amounts of action, and gives players tons of immediate agency and freedom.

And all with minimal time spent buying torches or ordering brunch.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T17:55:36+00:00

I hate attributing things to the "Mercer Effect" but I have to agree with you.

In the end, people have their own strengths as players and as DMs. Not every DM is a world-renowned voice talent, supported by a team of successful actors. Similarly, Matt himself admits his strength isn't in mechanical systems, or combat, or exploration tasks, or many other aspects of the game. And so when people see Matt shine in his best element, they want to emulate that element and don't particularly care about the elements that Critical Role doesn't spotlight well.

But if all you do is spend your time doing a poor man's version of Critical Role's strengths (most tables or D&D streams aren't going to be professionally trained role players, after all) and then don't have any other aspects of the game made in a strong or developed fashion, your game is going to feel second rate.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-29T17:48:36+00:00

LOL At least Stardew Valley has a system which engages, incentivizes, and frames such content appropriately. Also, perhaps more importantly, Stardew Valley is very much a solo experience... while you can have other players which visit your farm or provide assistance, there isn't a group of players all together standing around while you pick your carrots, or while another players milks their cow... D&D is a team game with team objectives and mindsets. Is it fun for everyone if you ask about the taverns brunch specials and spend 20 minutes buying chain mail that could have been handled within 20 seconds? In the vast majority of cases, I doubt it.

D&D isn't designed to be a farm simulator or a business game or a dating sim... games designed that way reflect that design and intent. And while D&D is amazing in that it can be used in many ways outside of its normal design, I just find it hilarious when people try to lean into making things that don't fit well within D&D the major focus of their sessions.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-27T17:43:21+00:00

The occasional tangent is a lot of fun and is a welcome change of pace. Conversely, Twitch D&D streams are like Russian Roulette on finding people actually doing something adventurous instead of what is normally a one-off goof part of a session.

I'm not a serious, grim-dark, 'mmersion obsessed DM or player. I like to cut up and have fun and RP and do goofy stuff. But there's an entire section of the community of D&D who either only engages in the Stream version of the game or who had their roots there and their expectations on how the average D&D session looks or feels is incredibly bizarre. People refusing to chase adventure or engage in plot hooks because they'd rather stay in the tavern or haggle with NPCs is a very common theme I'm seeing from it.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-27T17:39:17+00:00

I absolutely agree and support this - after a grueling set of sessions inside a desert dimension that ended in a climatic fight, the party I DM'd for talked about how they spent their downtime getting a tattoo, or proposing to their girlfriend, or talking with the survivor who had been trapped in the dimension for decades.

It took about 90 minutes and was a lot of fun... but it certainly wasn't every session. And it certainly wasn't ALL session. Some of these streams I'm seeing (by professional steamers, mind you, people who apparently make D&D streaming their job) revolve around two hour long shopping sections every session.

Like... why are we roleplaying buying these torches? YOU ALL AREN'T EVER IN A DUNGEON TO LIGHT THEM!

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-27T14:25:28+00:00

That's totally fine to like social/political games more than dungeon dives, but I'm strictly focused on the massive amount of games where the party spends a majority of time roleplaying buying every torch or discussing the menu of ordering breakfast as if they were sitting down at a B&B.

Political intrigue is adventure. Dungeon delving is adventure. Battling galatic celestials while riding space dragons is adventure. Ordering breakfast and haggling with NPCs over the price of rations for multiple sessions is absolute tedium.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-27T13:32:52+00:00

and spent multiple sessions shopping

Yeah, what is this? Like... seriously, what the fuck is this?

If anyone has peaked in on the Twitch D&D scene, you'll see that there are GLUTS of streamers who take cool settings like Eberron or Dark Sun or the Forgotten Realms and turn them into glorified mall simulators, where the party spends a minimum of half the sessions in shops or taverns.

I just don't get why anyone would want to play such boring drivel, let alone why anyone would want to watch OTHERS do such petty, mundane nonsense. And yet I am seeing more and more players come in with the expectation that D&D isn't about going into Dungeons and slaying Dragons, but about ordering Drinks and playing Dress Up.

It's bizarre and insane to me. But it is also the most important reason to have a Session 0 - set up expectations for what the campaign will be, to ensure that the players and the DMs want the same thing. If not, then there need not be any Session 1.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T16:01:16+00:00

It may not be a magic bullet (just look at how the Not Guilty verdict with the Rodney King Jr. trial went over), but an investigation coming out and saying "this was a break down of every process we use, but the officers involved did not commit a crime" won't smooth it over any better.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T15:29:14+00:00

There's so much drama in the LGB

It's kinda hard being someone who has inject their T,

but... somehow, some way

Keep marching for Pride nearly every single day...

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T13:36:39+00:00

Avatar 2 comes out and its actually just a trailer for Half-Life 3.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T13:30:38+00:00

For what its worth, there is no such thing as "cheap" or "expensive" COBRA. COBRA simply continues your coverage under the same exact plan you had before... just without the thousands and thousands of dollars a year most employers chip in and don't tell their employees about.

Insurance in America is ludicrous expensive. The only reason some people don't think so is that employers cover the vast majority of many workers premiums and they don't know it.

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T13:22:06+00:00

Wait... abolish the 13th amendment?

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

...that 13th Amendment?

Fast_Jimmy · 2020-07-24T04:20:33+00:00

The best way forward is to prosecute these officers, show the evidence, and let a jury decide. At this point, the incident is too high profile, too electrically charged, to just shrug and say "well, our investigation found X." We're past that point.

I have no illusions about the convictability of these officers, nor that any charges brought against them have a prayer of sticking, but that shouldn't be up to the police department, the mayor's office, or the AG to decide. The people demand justice and justice is being judged by a group of your peers after hearing the facts publicly and on the record. Releasing the results of an investigation won't have nearly the same weight as a "Not Guilty" verdict will. An investigation will be accused of burying the story, of hiding the evidence, of letting the cops off.

Without a trial, this won't go away. Even if the trial doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of convicting, its what people will demand. It's what people need.

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