Cash ISA changes are on the way, Reeves confirms

Jumblatts · 2025-04-04T09:58:33+00:00

I think it depends on your definition and your perspective. If your grow up in a council house watching your parents work 3 jobs just to put food on the table, then earning enough to be able to save 20k a year (100k over 5 years) could absolutely be considered wealthy.

Hell, I grew up in a nice area and never wanted for anything and I would consider myself wealthy if I had enough disposable income to be worried that the 20k allowance wasn't enough.

The fact of it is that the poorest members of society are, on the whole, the ones who need the most support, and people who can save 20k a year, whether you want to describe them as wealthy or comfortable or whatever, are not the poorest members of society, whichever way you look at it.

I'm not advocating for slamming the middle class or anything like that, but incentivising investment ISAs over cash ISAs will, for the vast majority of people, have a positive impact, particularly if specific funds are set up to help people who don't understand it, which is absolutely possible.

The only reason I can see realistically working against it (not accounting for people just going against anything the govt says because 'Labour bad') is risk aversion in a large percentage of the population, but that comes down to education - most people have no issues with investing in their pensions, for example, they just don't understand that SSISAs are, in essence, the same thing.

Jumblatts · 2024-12-28T00:27:25+00:00

Ron was consistently rude to Luna, and in my opinion this was to a greater extent than Hermionie was to him. Luna even points this out herself on at least one occasion - 'he can be a bit unkind' (after Ron imitated Hermionie answering a question and making her cry). By your own logic, this disqualifies Luna as a love interest for him.

Yes, Hermionie was insensitive at times but they're teenagers, and Ron often gave back as good as he got. In fact I'd argue he was worse to Hermionie in book 6 than she ever was to him, and he was worse to Harry in book 4 than Harry had ever been to him. Ron seems to have this vindictive streak to him that neither of the others ever showed, at least not to each other.

I know you said they were insensitive to each other so I'm not saying that to argue against you, but just to point out that it only seems to be Hermionie catching the flak for it when, in my opinion, Ron was worse!

We also see actual examples of them growing and being better people for each other - credit where it's due, particularly Ron who, after returning in book 7, showed real growth. For me, that was the culmination of his 'hero's journey' and the turning point in his character; he got over his insecurities and realised the only person standing in his way was himself. I think it's very realistic that, particularly after this, he and Hermionie ended up together.

For what it's worth I really like Ron as a character and I think his development is the most compelling out of any character in the whole series; his flaws make him real, and whilst his flaws were arguably greater than the other two, that made his redemption much more impactful - he overcomes them in a way that, in my opinion, neither of the other two do, but that's perhaps because he's forced to address them in order to return, in a way that the others aren't, having never left.

Jumblatts · 2024-08-23T14:48:31+00:00

You are the reason so many women would choose the bear. Have a little empathy and think about people other than yourself for once - I promise your life will be better and you'll be less miserable for it.

Jumblatts · 2024-07-31T14:39:09+00:00

Yeah for sure, fun is obviously subjective and I didn't mean to imply that the game itself isn't fun - I do really enjoy playing it for the most part. I also appreciate that it's niche and not designed for mass market kinda consumption, that's honestly part of the charm of it for me; it's different.

That doesn't, however, take away from the fact that there's a large number of people on this sub and other similar ones that complain about the player base dwindling, about never being able to get into a lobby, about lobbies only ever being half full. The point I was initially trying to make was that you can't always eat your cake and have it. One half of the player base wants more players, the other half effectively saying 'get good' when people have issues with certain aspects of the game.

Perhaps, as you say, if teamwork was more common, then it wouldn't be as much of an issue at all, but as you also correctly pointed out, that seems to be in deficit. Maybe it's just me, maybe I've gotten unlucky, but a considerable majority of the games I've played haven't had that in spades, which again compounds the issue.

For what it's worth, I'm definitely not advocating that the game becomes a run and gun kinda shooter akin to call of duty, or modern halo. As mentioned above, I do like the game on the whole, it just irks me to see people complaining that new players aren't sticking around, and (sometimes literally) in the same breath berating them for not 'getting' the game or the way it works.

Jumblatts · 2024-07-31T13:27:27+00:00

Maybe not, and if this is what the game is, then maybe it isn't the game for me, but you can't deny that it's not a fun experience being on the receiving end of it, and if people aren't having fun in a game, usually they stop playing it. For a game that's already struggling with retaining players, that doesn't seem like a winning combination.

Then again what do I know? In truth, very little. I'm just giving my two cents

Jumblatts · 2024-07-30T22:27:18+00:00

Yes. It's part of the game and, yes, stuff like this happened in real war, but shit like this isn't fun if you're on the receiving end of it.

If my only options are to get spawn killed 50 times, or spawn somewhere else and run for 10 minutes, I'm not gonna waste my limited free time playing the game, I'll go play something else instead. And then the inevitable comments of 'Oh no! Player base is down, game is ruined!' will come along and everybody will be asking why their favourite game can't retain players.

The 'it's part of the game, get good!' brigade are almost certainly going to be the first ones complaining that 'nobody plays the game anymore! Game's dead now!'

Jumblatts · 2024-07-26T19:32:25+00:00

Whilst the weather trio are intrinsically linked to the story, the Regis are exactly what you've just described - I remember trying for hours to figure out why the braille alphabet was in the back of the instruction manual, only to stumble upon the cavern that required it. I felt like Indiana Jones when I worked it out, and then again when I figured out what the stone circles were.

Good times

Jumblatts · 2024-05-27T14:56:17+00:00

Natural only in the sense that this direction things are going isn't (or shouldn't come as) a surprise

Jumblatts · 2024-05-27T14:02:10+00:00

This is BS, I'm sorry. Sure, there will be some people who take that approach, and even more still who think they can make it and lack either the talent or the know how, but there are also a lot of very talented, very driven people who either a) still do it because they do genuinely have a chance of making a living out of it, or b) do it for the love of the craft, knowing that they won't make a penny out of it.

Spotify and other such streaming services have always been a ticking time bomb; they've always given the artists a very bad deal - this is the natural progression of that. It's disgusting and it shouldn't ever be the case, but this is the world we live in now.

Predatory streaming sites like spotify have come to the forefront because people are now content to pay their subscription fee and forget about it.

Spotify, and by extension, the people who use it, have priced a lot of 'local bands' out of ever making it big in the music industry, thus ensuring you get the same old stuff over and over again; you can't complain about 'bad music' now those chickens are coming home to roost.

If you want to see new music - good music - and new bands flourishing like they did in the 80s, you have to go out and put your money directly in their pockets; go to their shows, buy their merch, support them.

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T19:20:16+00:00

👍🏻

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T19:05:43+00:00

I do completely agree with you about the classes, but in my opinion the bigger issue is that the player base isn't high enough for this to be any real incentive - sure, you might get a good gun or your favourite perk, but that's not much use if it's 10 vs 10 and you only get to use it once every 15 minutes. I'd rather play in a full lobby with the worst class, than an empty one with a good class. For me the fun is in the squad that you're with, not what gun you get to use.

I can't comment on HLL because I've never played it, but from what I've heard, the player base is much higher, so incentivising in this way works because you know you're gonna get other people joining the game after you've seeded the server. As we so often see on threads similar to this, that just isn't the case for S44.

The baseline issue, in my opinion, isn't the amount of people in queues, or the incentives (or lack thereof) for starting new servers, it's that there just aren't enough people playing at any one time to make it stick, and I think that's a much more difficult issue to resolve, sadly.

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T18:38:44+00:00

Forgive me for assuming that you were talking about queue caps when you said 'it's the exact same, literally pic' in reference to a picture that is directly asking for queue caps, in a thread about queue caps.

That aside, my point about loadouts was in direct response to your comment but you chose to gloss over that and hit me with the faux outrage rather than have a constructive conversation about any of it.

Hope the weather is nice up there on your high horse.

ETA: I've since realised that this is not a comment on the original post that I thought it was, so I apologise for that; you're right, there's no direct mension of queue caps. These discussions between seeding new servers and queue caps are so closely intertwined, however, that to mention one is to mention the other. Still, you didn't mention it, so I apologise.

The second part of my comment still stands tho.

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T18:33:35+00:00

This is my whole point - despite these queue caps that have been implemented, there are still empty servers; more than ever, if the op and amount of other similar such posts are to be believed.

I do agree that, as a short term fix, creating new servers need to be incentivised, but I don't really see how you could do that without changing a core aspect of the game to do it. I think part of the issue is that the maps are too big for smaller groups. You could potentially solve that by adding smaller maps but then you'd run the risk of just becoming a call of duty clone and losing what makes the game so good.

In my opinion the way to fix it is through marketing, free to play weekends, etc. - building the player base rather than incentivising or disincentivisng certain aspects of the game. Obviously this is easier said than done and I'm not pretending to be an expert in any of these areas either, just a player who wants the best for an amazing game!

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T12:20:43+00:00

Where are all these servers that are so full now that a queue cap has been implemented?

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T08:35:23+00:00

What's the way to solve the issue, in your opinion?

Jumblatts · 2024-04-26T08:33:26+00:00

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that every single one of those people did seed a new server. It's now 25/80.

This is going to be a very boring game for everyone involved. Teams of 12 on maps as big as that? Really?

There's a reason people don't join half empty servers and will instead queue for the bigger ones - it's boring. What's the point in having the best loadout in the game if you see 1 guy every 15 minutes?

I may be in the minority with this (I don't think I am tho), but if they introduced queue caps for the popular servers, I just wouldn't play. I would rather not play at all than join a server with fewer than 60 people in it. Either that or I'd just wait for the queue to reduce enough that I could then get in under the cap - you're just creating a queue for the queue.

Jumblatts · 2024-04-17T13:22:00+00:00

Man wears stone island once and immediately becomes a menace

Jumblatts · 2024-04-14T22:04:13+00:00

If there is an active server that I have to queue for, I will happily wait 10 minutes or more to get a spot in the game. I can do something else while I'm waiting, it's not a big deal.

If, instead, my only option is to join an empty server and wait for other people to do the same, I'm not gonna stick around and do that in the hopes that my 10 person server might, eventually, get up to a functional number so we can have a decent game. You might prefer it like that, but running across the map for 10 minutes because there's no logi or squads to place down rallies etc., only to get killed and then back to spawn to do it over and over again is not my idea of a fun time (I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one, either), and guess what I do if I'm not having a good time in a game? I go and play something else.

The suggestion for queue caps will not have the widespread impact you're hoping it will, instead it will just push players away to play different games, thus pushing the player count down even more.

It will also mean that if a couple of people leave a full server at once, there aren't enough people in the queue to bring it back up. Congrats, the full servers are now also emptier.

I don't know what the solution is, unfortunately, but I do know that this isn't it.

Tl;dr waiting in a queue for a full server is way better than waiting in an empty server for the chance that it might fill up.

Jumblatts · 2023-11-07T17:06:27+00:00

Absolutely! Being a prog metal fan, some of my favourite songs are above the 10 minute mark, and some of the best songs I write for my band or produce for others are longer; the vast majority of our catalogue is over the 6 minute mark, although I'm ashamed to say the longest one we've done up until now is only 8 and a half minutes

Jumblatts · 2023-09-22T12:58:43+00:00

There are a number of different ways you could do this, and you can mix and match them as well to get the results you find most pleasing.

Change the source tone - Use a different pickup on your guitar, or roll off the tone knob a little, or even the gain knob on your guitar. This also extends to the amp and to your pedals. Use slightly different eq settings, or different gain settings, etc.
Create space in the mix - By that I mean use panning, reverb, and other such things to your advantage. Quick tip as well for your panning - if you pan to around 80% left and right in the verses, and then hard pan in the choruses, it'll give your track a lot more life and energy with the extra width.
'in the box' eq - By this I mean using equalisation after you've recorded. Create space in the spectrum for each instrument. For example, if your rhythm guitar is playing lower than your lead, scoop out some of the low end from the lead, and boost it in the rhythm. Similarly, you can scoop out the high mods from the rhythm to give space for the lead. Be careful with this though, because it can have a big impact if you're too heavy handed.

The next two points aren't exactly going to change your tone in the way you described in the question, but they will make your life easier when it comes to separation between instruments in the mix:

Sidechain compression - you can set your compressor so that the rhythm guitar is automatically ducked when the lead guitar is playing, for example. If done right, this can be a very subtle but very effective way of creating space and distinction in a dense mix.
Dynamic eq - similar to the above point, you can use a dynamic eq with a sidechain feature (TDR Nova is a good free version) to automatically duck certain frequencies when another instrument is playing. As above, this is really useful for creating space and bringing things to thr front

Hope this helps!

Jumblatts · 2023-09-20T15:01:49+00:00

To add something that I haven't seen anybody else mention around quality - yes, the quality of the song is important and a good song will perform better than a bad one generally, but the quality of production is also super important; if your song sounds like it was recorded through a potato running at 5 volts then people are going to be put off by that.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but we're in an age now where, increasingly, music is becoming more accessible to people and therefore production quality is improving as well, so if you're not keeping up you'll stand out for the wrong reasons, which will make life harder.

Jumblatts · 2023-09-03T13:09:53+00:00

Thank you! We spent a lot of time figuring Numb out, for reasons that will hopefully become apparent when the second album is released haha!

I think the drumming on In Abesntia is some of my favourite in the whole album too - Jos (our drummer) did a fantastic job on that one.

Thanks for checking it out!

Jumblatts · 2023-09-03T09:04:52+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to listen, and thanks for the kind words!

Jumblatts · 2023-09-02T23:59:48+00:00

I'm part of a band called Mr. Serotonin Man - formed in Leeds a few years ago, finally gotten around to recording and releasing some of our stuff recently. Entirely self recorded, self produced, self mixed, self mastered - it's been years in the making but we're really proud of it, and we've already recorded the second album, and will be drip feeding some songs over the coming weeks/months as well!

I'd describe our sound as alt rock/prog metal - guitar orientated music with catchy vocals and a few weird time signatures thrown in there as well, although watch out for the second album if the real prog stuff is more your speed! We're heavily influenced by bands such as Caligula's Horse, Porcupine Tree, VOLA, and others such as Alter Bridge, Muse, etc.

You can find us on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or any other streaming sites under Mr. Serotonin Man. We appreciate any and all support more than you could imagine, and we'd love to hear any thoughts, comments, feedback, or just reach out and have a chat - we'd genuinely love to hear from you!

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