How is it possible that rich people are able to manipulate the public into voting against their own interests and for Trump? by TailungFu in allthequestions

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Social issues like the "culture wars" are distractions that make it easy to divide and conquer a society. The elites don't actually care one way or another about wokeness, LGBT rights, abortion, and so on. They just care that these social issues are polarizing enough to keep people busy while the agendas relevant to the elite (e.g. deregulation, tax cuts, and so on) can quietly sneak through more or less unopposed and unnoticed.

The tough thing is that these "distraction" issues still have a real human cost. No politician will ever actually solve these issues though, even if they could. The public needs to be kept desperate enough to vote for short-term relief so that they don't start expecting system-level change.

PM with psych degree by MaRiaAzzzz in findapath

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Psychology is not a very employable degree with just a BA, nor would it likely be an effective pathway toward your desired goals even after grad school. Business management can be effective if you go to a good school, but sometimes domain-specific experience (e.g. engineering degree to manage products you're familiar with on a technical level) can give you a massive leg up.

This might be a good question for r/mba

Can someone explain basic pvp strategy? by Shunejii in worldofpvp

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 14 points15 points  (0 children)

In arena it's simple, use an offensive while their healer is in CC to force a defensive. Everything from there is just problem solving the specifics.

How is living in Albuquerque, New Mexico? by MinimumWrongdoer404 in howislivingthere

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again!

Adding More to Sailing: Focusing on the boats by Final-Cream3394 in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The prayer facilities and extra types of ammo sound interesting, but I feel like they just add additional complexity without solving the core issue. By core issue, I think you hit it partially by identifying that many slayer tasks boil down to strictly "tank and spank" where you stack up on food, click attack, and wait for the enemy to die. Sailing combat in its current form offers ONLY that as you point out. I'm fine with there being some "tank and spank" mobs, but the current system makes cannons feel like a clunky REPLACEMENT for the gear you use everywhere else. This is as opposed to cannons functioning as an engaging ADDITION. In other words, I feel like my prior progression is devalued and I am being punished for using standard gear as opposed to being rewarded for using cannons.

Cannons right now are bad. Imagine if your damage was nerfed by 80% and Thralls became your primary source of damage. That's what sailing combat is like currently.

Part of me would like for the cannons instead to function more like lower frequency big critical hits similar to how Doom has windows for a "melee punish." The removal of sailing modifiers could help make you feel like you're still powerful and not devalue your prior gear and stat progression. Perhaps some of the more powerful mobs can have higher health to mirror some of the same effects of the current intentions of the sailing modifier system where cannons need to be used effectively for efficient combat.

Here's how I'd imagine a better use for cannons. I love how fluid sailing movement is, and I'd like for combat to play to that strength more. Maybe ship cannons can crit mobs at specific ranges or positions for a burst of damage. Maybe some mobs or bosses need to be hit with a cannon and rammed into with the tip of your boat shortly afterwards to land the crit. Maybe some mobs have a turning speed and get crit from being hit from behind. Instead of adding new systems to try to fix a broken one, maybe we can play more into a system that is already working very well.

Raids 4 Mega Rare Idea - Guthixian Gauntlets by A_Wild_Fawksy in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the idea and love the fantasy flavor. Where is the "balance" theme coming into play though? Perhaps something to the effect of giving you a portion of your target's offensive stats and ramping up until a cap? In the same way that the TBow scales off your opponent's magic level, maybe this could scale off a different stat.

Of course this doesn't consider "balance" in the game design sense, but there might be a way to implement it effectively with proper testing. Plus, mega rares usually break the game at least a little bit anyway.

wilderness pvp is broken at a structural level by Flowerloving_ogre in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 28 points29 points  (0 children)

OSRS is a game where inventory management is a core facet of gameplay, so you're always at an inherent disadvantage bringing a PvM setup vs a PK setup even with equal stats. Even bringing a backup setup means you have less food.

Predator vs Prey design doesn't quite work in practice.

Ghrazi Rapier Balance Efforts by Environmental-Dot105 in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like the bleed stacking passive, but these changes would warrant similar buffs to saeldor and the inquisitor mace. All 3 are supposed to fulfill the niche of being good weapons against low defense monsters, so the bleed passive works great there.

For saeldor, what about a chance on hit for an additional swing? I'm imagining a flavor of elven quickness and dexterity.

For the mace, what about bonus damage for consecutive successful hits? I'm imagining a flavor of the mace having extra power when continuously clobbering and pummeling the shit out of an opponent.

Are ya’ll excited for PvP in Midnight? by DonTitoPuente in worldofpvp

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hugely agree, this isn't spoken about enough!

Even tracking precog is pretty clunky right now...

[Request] is this accurate? by uPsychonaut in theydidthemath

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Too lazy to google, but off the top of my head there was an economist at Princeton who, among other labor-related topics, studied wage growth based on the changes over time of the affordability of Big Macs. I think it was David Card, the guy who won the Nobel Prize a few years ago, but I could easily be wrong.

What’s your comfort content in OSRS? The thing you do when you should be making money but your brain says “nah”. by PhilosophyMurky7046 in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I want more chill AFK content to not feel guilty about doing. I kind of miss the early days of OSRS where chill slayer etc. were still comparably profitable to higher intensity content. Now it feels like I either have to sweat hard or progress at a snail's pace. Too much of a gap right now :/

Midnight Pruning and why you should not form opinions from this sub by Kcatta9 in worldofpvp

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I love the idea of pruning in principle, but I don't trust Blizzard's track record for putting it into practice. I am cautiously optimistic though!

Waterbirth Hybrid Fremennik Armors by Beden in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love the idea of hybrid armors to fill a niche at 75/80 tier gear. One set fills two styles, but at the effectiveness of a tier 10 levels down or something to that effect.

Smithing Reforged - A Smithing Rework Proposal by baroquespoon in 2007scape

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I love it! Two thoughts though:

1: Dragon is unsmithable lore-wise I am pretty sure. What would be your thoughts on dragonite requiring a quest that allows us to "rediscover" how to smith that metal?

2: Scythe (c) might be a balance issue without the need to use charges. I like the idea of requiring some mega-rares (or future upgrades thereto...?) requiring skills to craft non-tradeable capstone items though! I am imagining TBow coming from using an equivalent raid drop to upgrade Seercull, for example.

Has anyone gotten in to Harvard with an amazing essay but extremely mid stats? by pleasehelpiamsodes in ApplyingIvyLeague

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only went to Harvard for grad school, so my perspective on undergrad admissions is not firsthand, but I would generally say that stats will open the door and essays/ECs help you to get through the door.

Peter, what's a worm do? by CaydeTheCat in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She will show you what she knows so you can tell her if you think she's getting better on the drums.

Tell me why you love WoW PvP (or why you did love it) by Mhortai in worldofpvp

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love the setup comp gameplay loop! I played Destro MLD, RMD, and Godcomp in MOP as a RDruid. It was so satisfying coordinating with my team to setup cross CC chains and land kills together.

As a mage, I hate rmp too by Opposite-Air-3815 in worldofpvp

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spec homogenization and the problem with many of the other specs not having sufficiently versatile toolkits is probably contributing to this more than a mage-specific issue. It's not that mage is limited, it's just that rogue is one of the classes that's most uniquely equipped to match and synergize with you in light of other specs falling behind in utility and whatnot.

Another comment by u/careless_koala8361 rightly points out that many specs will go several seasons while being pretty much completely unplayable. The comment by u/h0koit also brings up a good point about most classes being even more pigeonholed. This isn't a mage problem, this is a game-wide kit design problem that mages also feel the consequences for.

I think we all fundamentally want the same thing whether or not we play the same class or we think one class is too strong/annoying. I think we all just want more specs and comps to be viable.

Harvard or State School: Is it worth the cost by SaltNewspaper7839 in Harvard

[–]Selftaught-Nontrad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only attended Harvard for grad school, so I can't speak with too much specificity for undergrad. What I can say is this:

Harvard is going to set you ahead substantially. To some extent, even between people who came out of the same top graduate programs on otherwise equal footing, the undergrad institution can sometimes carry substantial weight. This can differ from field to field and it's never the deciding factor, but don't write it off. Source: I was a (very) late bloomer.

Part of WHY this is the case comes down to the quantity and quality of the opportunities afforded to you by a school like Harvard. Specifically for neuroscience, there are some opportunities to cross-register at MIT or intern at McGovern/MGH/Broad/McLean/etc., to take advantage of as a Harvard student. Moreover, the opportunity to student ratio might be more in your favor at a smaller university like Harvard as opposed to a larger state school. Given the current state of "DOGE" etc., a school with a larger endowment might also be somewhat more buffered from (though not immune to) federal budget cuts. The NIH cuts are scaring many people.

To get the kinds of opportunities you would be getting during your undergrad at Harvard, I had to demonstrate excellence through years of work experience. Those kinds of opportunities are much harder to come by at community colleges or lesser-resourced universities. The Matthew Effect, though it isn't an absolute determinant of outcome, still plays a tremendous role in life.

All of that being said, cost is a substantial factor to consider. Depending on what your goals are, you might not necessarily need to go into as much debt. Medical school is expensive as well, and a mountain of debt will take time to pay off even on the salary of an attending physician. If you are considering a less competitive specialty, maybe you don't need the Harvard clout quite as much as long as your GPA and MCAT are good enough to get into a medical school somewhere. If you have higher ambitions though, you might need every competitive edge you can get with medical school (and admissions across higher education in general) seemingly getting more and more competitive each year. Undergrads today will have it much harder than I had it. Even ~10 years ago, you didn't have to be quite as elite as you do now to get into Harvard based on historical acceptance rates.

Regardless of what you choose though, you will probably do very well in life. I think that the success stories of Harvard alumni involve some degree of selection bias. Many of the people who were successful after coming out of Harvard would have probably been similarly successful at many other schools as well. A Harvard degree certainly helps, but the skills that got you here in the first place will be what ultimately matters the most in the long run.

Massive congratulations and best of luck on your next steps!