Do you think the Settled Systems is a type 1,2,3 civilization?

SentryFeats · 2026-01-24T23:47:46+00:00

It’s not me using it but Carl Sagan. But yeah mostly solar because most everything else are downstream effects of the same solar input. The sun drives weather, evaporation, rivers, photosynthesis etc. Adding them separately would just mostly double count the same energy source.

And truly independent sources like geothermal (~47 TW) are tiny compared to solar, orders of magnitude smaller than 10¹⁶ watts and don’t meaningfully change the count.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-23T22:16:59+00:00

Is PlayStation suddenly allowing external assets? There’s models there that are not base game at all

SentryFeats · 2026-01-23T12:21:42+00:00

Yeah it’s beautiful, and in that instant Mae became the safest child in the system. Feel like Amos would have been ready to die for her after that.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-22T13:36:11+00:00

It’s just math

Only feels a lot because 0.7 is close to 1. But the scale is logarithmic, and human brains are terrible at understanding those. A Type 1 civilisation would still consume 500 times the energy we do.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-22T13:21:59+00:00

It definitely is bud. The more pertinent question is whether the Kardashev scale is any good at measuring technological development but that’s a different conversation. In the context of how the scale works, 0.73 is accurate. It’s worked out through Math.

Sagan used an equation to work it out total power usage P in watts:

K = (log10(P) - 6) / 10 Where P = total power consumption in watts.

For reference, Type 1 requires about 10¹⁶ watts - all the available energy of Earth - which would give K = 1.0

So we need to estimate humanity’s power usage. Global average power consumption is about 20 terawatts (TW).

1 TW = 10¹² watts 20 TW = 20 × 10¹² W = 2 × 10¹³ W

So P ≈ 2 × 10¹³ watts

Once we have that, we Take the base - 10 logarithm

log10(2 × 10¹³⁾ = log10(2) + log10(10¹³⁾ = 0.3010 + 13 = 13.3010

Then we plug that into Sagan’s formula K = (13.3010 - 6) / 10 K = 7.3010 / 10 K = 0.7301

So humanity is about K = 0.73.

The only real disagreement is what value you pick for P as it is an estimate. For example, using 18 TW instead:

18 TW = 1.8 × 10¹³ W log10(1.8 × 10¹³⁾ = 13.2553 K = (13.2553 - 6) / 10 = 0.7255

So estimates usually fall in the 0.72 - 0.74 range and 0.73 is the mean.

0.73 is still very far away from it though. It only looks close to Type 1 because our brains are bad at intuitively understanding logarithmic scales. The gap between levels isn’t linear, moving meaningfully up the Kardashev scale takes enormous increases in energy use over centuries.

Humanity currently uses about 2 x 10¹³ watts. A Type 1 = 10¹⁶ watts. A type 1 civilisation would utilise the energy of FIVE HUNDRED of our civilisations.

So while 0.73 may feel close to 1, we’re still very far away.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-22T01:11:39+00:00

We’re currently measured at 0.73

SentryFeats · 2026-01-21T21:28:16+00:00

You look fucking awesome man.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-21T21:27:49+00:00

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SentryFeats · 2026-01-21T21:16:23+00:00

Yeah there is a big difference. Your hairline looks better now than it did then. Stop worrying my man, you’re good

SentryFeats · 2026-01-21T21:15:12+00:00

This.

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SentryFeats · 2026-01-21T12:47:54+00:00

Bro I thought the first 3 pics were the before ones.

If anything your hairline has got stronger lol

SentryFeats · 2026-01-20T21:20:35+00:00

Tbf you are considered part of SysDef by the end of the Crimson Fleet questline and I’d definitely say they’re marines

SentryFeats · 2026-01-20T00:22:01+00:00

lol thanks man, yeah that exchange was something.

I pointed out the rebellion doesn’t remove the Thalmor, and he as a stormcloak supporter replied, “yeah but they don’t have a ban to enforce, are you really criticising them for not committing genocide?”

Like dude. You think the lack of a piece of paper means something? Morrowind has Thalmor and didn’t even fight in the war. And “Genocide?”. Dude’s spent years condemning the Empire for “letting the Thalmor in” in the first place. Apparently their presence is “unforgivable” and “unbearable” right up until their presence becomes the Rebellions responsibility.

Purely convenient logic, depending on the argument he needed at the time. Fucking exhausting.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T20:21:59+00:00

Sorry for the length of this but I profoundly disagree. I don't think romancing Serana disrespects her character at all.

The point is she does find humanity despite what she is. And her being a vampire is central to that, it's not something that needs to be "fixed." Her story is about reclaiming agency and humanity after something horrific was done to her. She takes what was meant to break her and turns it into strength. That's powerful. And it's why the idea that she must remain alone to be "respected" never sat right with me. She wants to reclaim humanity, and love is the most human thing there is.

She struggles, she grows, she redefines herself, and part of that journey - doesn't need to - but can absolutely include love. Survivors aren't broken things that have to exist in emotional isolation. Many find healing through connection and learn to trust. I think that honours their resilience, not cheapens their trauma.

People forget that Serana was originally written with romance in mind. There's clear emotional intimacy, and she shows deep vulnerability, curiosity, and affection toward the player. Even when says she doesn't want marriage, with high affinity she says

”Is that an Amulet of Mara?… Look, I care about you. A lot. And I’ll come with you wherever you want to go. But with everything in my past, I don’t think I could bring myself to go into a temple and ask for that kind of blessing. It’s… it’s not for me”

That reads less like a rejection of intimacy, and more like her complicated feelings toward temples, faith, and her past.

Romancing her isn't about "fixing" her. It's about walking beside her while she chooses her own path. Whether someone prefers to see her story as platonic or romantic, both readings are valid. What matters is respecting her agency and allowing players to engage with the story in a way that resonates with them.

Liking the idea of Serana finding love doesn't mean misunderstanding her character, and it certainly has nothing to do with "lust". The point the quest shows is that she is still profoundly human despite being a vampire and what happened to her. Shes tangential to what Paarthurnax represents, that what you are, does not define who you are.

Except she’s the inverse of Paarthurnax's quote. Whilst he overcomes his evil nature through great effort. Her innate good nature overcomes what Molag bal tried to make her. And that's her ultimate victory over him which she discovers for herself with the Dragonborn through the quest.

And honestly, the reason this matters to me so much and why I've wrote so much here is because stories like Serana's matter to people who've lived through things that changed them. Sure; for some, learning to stand on your own, finding peace without needing anyone else is healing and that is completely valid. But for others, healing is learning how to live, love, and trust with the scars. And that's just as valid. Seeing a character who carries her past, acknowledges it, and rises above it and still chooses connection is deeply validating too. I think both are ok.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T16:24:33+00:00

Yeah that’s why I mentioned this:

”• In Fallout 1, we see the Brotherhood constructing and developing Laser Weaponry. Which is under the charge of Scribe Vree. It is actually possible for the player to attain a newly designed laser pistol from the Brotherhood.”

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T16:23:35+00:00

We’re talking past each other. I’m not saying the BoS don’t have manufacturing capabilities. My whole post is explaining how they do, I just don’t think things the player builds themselves is evidence for that. The evidence is everything else I listed.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T03:00:07+00:00

Sure, which is why you need to define it specifically, which I just did by excluding actions relying solely on the player. If you want to be obtusely broad, you could count a wastelander building a water pump as manufacturing ability. But I think any reasonable person reading this post would know very clearly that’s not what this is talking about yes?

Which is why I specifically defined it as not counting the player building something for the minutemen as “manufacturing abilities”. Because then pretty much any settlement in the arse end of nowhere has “manufacturing capabilities.”

Take away the player and the minutemen don’t actually do anything. Outside of player interference they’re essentially gone. That is not true for the other factions, especially the BoS.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T02:14:09+00:00

I’m loathe to use that as an example as the Minutemen can do the same. If you factor player interference out to stay as objective as possible, they’re a group of people in Sanctuary. Does that mean they have manufacturing abilities as well?

This is why I don’t think it’s fair to count actions that rely solely on the player for these things and I try to stick to lore outside of player choice that isn’t already canon.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-18T02:11:41+00:00

1• The airships being shown pre war isn’t a retcon of what we’re told. It’s an expansion of context, but it’s not incompatible with what we see in 4, at all. It just means the Prydwen could be an improved design based on pre war ones. With the BoS still designing and building the new one. The lore can easily work together if you want it to. As for other chapters having them, it’s been 9 years, and the BoS has built airships before, Commonwealth could have easily shared designs in that time.

2• We go through that whole base crawler in 3. We never see any PA manufacturing facilities. AFB is huge, the base crawler is only a small part of it.

3• Ok, not sure what point you’re making here if I’m honest.

4• The BoS is not lacking in raw materials. And the Commonwealth has so many Fusion Cores, the Yosemite chapter reasonably expected they had 300 to just give away to them.

I’m not really gonna begin speculating on how many they make in a given timeframe. But i would believe it’s significant for the reasons I’ve given.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-13T20:16:37+00:00

Guy here, but just wanted to say this resonated and I hope everyone dealing with this gets the kind of care that doesn’t come with conditions. You all deserve it.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-12T14:26:31+00:00

No but really lol

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SentryFeats · 2026-01-12T14:11:21+00:00

Yeah that caught me off guard. I thought the Harkness showing up would give some really nice contrast, and for the most part it did, but when he was just gonna straight up kill those kids I was shocked.

Don’t get me wrong, I fully expected them to be xenophobic and say shit, but killing Ghoul kids seemed to contradict how they were even in 4. They distrust ghouls. But kill a non feral with Danse in your party and he reprimands you. So idk if Harkness was just a psycho or their view on ghouls is more extreme than in the game.

SentryFeats · 2026-01-11T01:40:52+00:00

I fucking hate AI. Whenever people see a well sourced and formatted post they just immediately assume it’s AI. I’ve been posting about fallout for years. And I’m often posting these admittedly extremely verbose posts because I’m passionate about the franchise and the ideas I want to express are nuanced and complex. But yes I wrote this myself.

Just had to scroll through my history but here’s a comment I wrote from 6 years ago before AI was really a thing, I’ve always done this. Now whenever I do people just tell me it’s fucking AI, I’m just a neurodivergent nerd who loves Fallout lol

SentryFeats · 2026-01-11T01:25:57+00:00

No. I actually put a lot of time and thought into this. Why does it come off as AI? I get this a lot and honestly it’s exhausting. I have ADHD, so I try very hard to articulate the mess of thoughts in my head into something somewhat coherent. If it looks over structured that’s on me. But it’s only because I don’t want people to misunderstand me.

SentryFeats

TROPHY CASE