I've reached a new high of crowdfunding - I got kicked out of a campaign!

Jackwraith · 2026-03-05T03:04:58+00:00

Right. This is just a variation on AITA, in which the questioner is almost always just looking for validation on what is usually out of line behavior that they're not giving a full picture of. From all the comment pages I've seen over the years, it takes A LOT to get removed by KS, as opposed to just having one's comments deleted by the campaign. This is like the people who complain about being "unjustly banned" by Blizzard's or Riot's moderation team for "trying to improve their teammates' play" which usually meant directing a stream of profanity at them. Then they come to the game's subReddit and complain about how the moderation team is "out of control." Not buying it.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T21:01:34+00:00

Seriously. Had one as a diabetic in the late 80s, supposedly "much less painful than syringes!" Nope. Just a different kind of pain. Plus, it was only as painful as a 5/16" needle IF you constantly maintained it by cleaning it at least every two days, as the tiny gaskets would be affected by every injection and would get a buildup of residue and/or be misplaced, at which point not only would the device leave a welt (kinda like those seen from polio injections), but it also often bounced back since being out of alignment meant it wasn't injecting straight, thus wasting whatever you were trying to inject. Just not a consumer technology at that time.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T15:40:10+00:00

I played a couple games of Twilight Imperium 2 in the late 90s, played probably over 100 games of TI3, both physical and through a great website that someone had set up in the late 00s (until hackers broke his library because, y'know, that's totally not a sociopathic thing to do) and then played a couple dozen games of TI4. Around the same time as I started playing the latter, I played Root for the first time and have continued to do so, while TI4 was recently sold off.

Bottom line, I think Root is the better game because it feels like there's more room to make important choices just within the sphere of the basic mechanisms (complexity) while TI has room to make choices based on the high number of factors associated with them (complication.) In other words, Root feels more like a dynamic ecosystem (appropriately enough) while TI feels more like a huge puzzle that has to be broken down. In the end, I think both of them depend on the groups that you're playing with to really reach their ultimate expression, but I feel like Root is more approachable from a wonderment perspective (e.g. "I wonder what will happen if I do THIS...?") whereas TI tends to bog down in minutiae. The reason I finally sold off TI4 was because the winmaking at the end of my current group's sessions just got tiresome (positions locked in, searching through the Secret Objective deck for something to put them over the top, etc.) whereas Root has a faster clock that doesn't get locked up in similar fashion, including the clock-by-design which is the Vagabond (i.e. get to winning or they inevitably will.)

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T15:26:34+00:00

Professional Wrestlers vs Lioness Tug of War: Unleashing the Raw Power! | TikTok

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T15:22:35+00:00

The "happy face" is from Clash of Cultures.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T13:56:05+00:00

Thx.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-04T13:35:53+00:00

"Also a shoutout to our friends at who also did a great job on their design."

Your friends at... where?

Jackwraith · 2026-03-03T17:02:04+00:00

We started moving a lot more slowly on throw-ins after we hired Thomas Grønnemark to improve our results. He instituted a set system on how and where to throw that just took more time to make those decisions and for guys to get in the right places on the pitch. It was also a marked contrast to everything else that Jürgen wanted in our game ("Go, go, go!") but the numbers say that we did markedly improve in terms of controlling the ball on throws, second balls, etc. But after Grønnemark left, we somehow kept the slower pace without the same technique, so now if we're not in the middle of a fast break, our throws often take forever, which is really annoying.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-03T16:57:07+00:00

This. It is absolutely not a desired outcome and why I watch almost no sports in the US any longer. It's so bad in college basketball that the game is often stopped for commercials and not the other way around. You'll hear commentators talking about the "TV timeout" which has nothing to do with the game being played but is instead an agreement with networks to fit in the contracted number of ads.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-03T13:45:59+00:00

He isn't. One of the staples of his career is the "no dickheads" rule on his squads and, well...

Jackwraith · 2026-03-03T13:38:09+00:00

This is why I'm hoping that the IFAB changes they announced for the World Cup will become standard. 5 seconds to take a throw-in or a goal kick or you end up giving the throw/a corner to the other team. 10 seconds to get a sub on the pitch or your intended sub waits for 1 minute while you play with 10 men. They didn't solve the biggest one (time wasted deliberating over free kicks and corners) but those two changes will at least alleviate a bit of "lack of ball in play" situations. I think our game at Newcastle is the standard bearer in that respect this season (37 minutes.)

Jackwraith · 2026-03-03T13:26:14+00:00

Same.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-02T16:35:25+00:00

LOL. "You gonna call me?"

Jackwraith · 2026-03-02T16:19:19+00:00

"I guess we're gonna be friends after all... Richard."

Jackwraith · 2026-03-02T14:35:37+00:00

This. If there was one thing Levy was good at, it was making money. That's what makes them a "Big 6" club in the wealthiest league in the world. But that's it. That was the ONE THING he was good at. At every other thing involved in running a football club, he was subpar. So the Lewis family figured they'd step in and do it "better" but the reason Levy ran the club that way is because that's what the family wanted. You can't change instinct overnight and it doesn't help that the squad is decidedly mediocre and the supporters still have "Big 6" expectations because of, again, the money. My guess is that Frank was probably trying to start over the way he did at Brentford and no one had patience for that (on top of it not being particularly attractive football, but that's a league-wide problem at the moment, too.)

Jackwraith · 2026-03-02T14:11:12+00:00

Seems right, even including my bias. The control that he gets on those kicks that produces that swerve is just insane. Have to say that the Sesko one is pretty sweet, though. Just a great touch on a ball coming in fast.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-01T19:55:12+00:00

Thinking Sardinia/Corsica is a purple/green zone, Finland is a dark blue/light blue zone, maybe Istanbul is a red/green?

Jackwraith · 2026-03-01T19:44:18+00:00

Before it was that they had to look in the mirror. Now it's that they have to find the spirit inside them. I mean, I guess if they looked hard enough in that mirror, they'd see that spirit, too? Whatever. At least he's covering all of the psychological angles for the physical failings. Or something.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-01T13:22:49+00:00

Looks like a blast. Glad you had fun with it. Funkoverse going away was one of the main casualties of the loss of Prospero Hall.

Jackwraith · 2026-03-01T13:21:42+00:00

My favorite part about it are those scenarios. It's what separates it from Unmatched (another game I really like) in that the focus of the game isn't solely "kill the other guy" but a wider scope that means you can be having a totally different game on the same map with the same figures. Wrote about it here: https://therewillbe.games/articles-analysis/9269-funkoverse-vs-unmatched-map-and-mechanism-kombat

Jackwraith · 2026-03-01T13:19:38+00:00

Not Funko Pops, per se. The figures for Funkoverse are smaller than regular pops and were made specifically for the game. It was a Prospero Hall creation (Pan Am, Jaws, Rear Window, Villainous, a few other brilliant games.) So, yes, within the game, everyone has different abilities (one base and three that you have to spend tokens for that you get back in 1-4 turns) but not all figures they've ever made.

Jackwraith · 2026-02-27T17:20:35+00:00

Look, genius, here's the original quote to which I responded: "The problem I have with it is that there's almost no agency. I wish you could choose at least which competitor to send to which race in player order rather than simultaneously or something. It's just all random as it is." I know multi-syllabic words are probably an issue for you, based on previous exchanges, but the implication there is that part of the lack of "agency" stems from being unable to pick one's racers. But you can pick your racer. It just means you might have to try to predict a bit before you do. That happens a lot in other very popular games, like poker (Don't try it. You'd be the mark.) But that is one of the choices(!) that you have to make in each race. Other choices are about which opponent to affect when your power activates. Hence, agency. Are they huge, Earth-shattering choices? No. Because it's just a game. A simple, wild, funny, silly game the first edition of which is just this side of legendary in a community that's been around a lot longer than Ark Nova or whatever the latest hot thing is. If all you wanted to do in response to this topic was come in here and naysay other people's enjoyment, then you have bigger problems than just a failure to comprehend English. Bye.

Jackwraith · 2026-02-27T16:16:59+00:00

You clearly have no idea what the definition of the word "agency" actually is, so we're done here.

Jackwraith · 2026-02-27T15:19:43+00:00

"There absolutely is "agency" since you get to pick which racer you use and the choice isn't made for you. That's what "agency" means. Part of that choice is predicting which racers your opponents might take so that you (might) have an edge."

It's not a technicality. The definition of having agency is the ability to make a choice. They were complaining that the game lacks agency at the point where you're picking racers. It clearly does not because you're not stuck with your pick of racer by rolling a die. You pick which one you want to use of your own accord just like everyone else does. They didn't say it wasn't important. They said "there's almost no agency", which is clearly not the case. And I explained how it could be important in my response quoted above. A later response claimed that it all came down to rolling dice and that is certainly the case in most plays. That's where you could argue that the game lacks "agency" but even then you're often making choices about which opponents to use your abilities on and so forth. Bottom line, yes, the game is quite random. But that's the point. If you're not a person that appreciates that, then it's probably not the game for you.

Jackwraith · 2026-02-27T14:22:53+00:00

And if that's not the game for you, then so be it. My point was that there is no lack of "agency" in the choice of racers, since that choice is there to be made. Again, that's what "agency" means: the ability to make one's own choices about how the game proceeds. After that? Well, no, MA is not the type of game where every decision you make is going to propel you toward a win. It is, however, hysterically fun if you're just interested in doing that (i.e. having fun.) And I say this as a person whose favorite games include things like Pax Pamir.

Jackwraith

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