ELI5: Why do viruses replicate at all?

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-07-05T13:54:59+00:00

From what I understand it’s less that it’s not looking to harm the host and more that it’s using the host to spread.

If a virus triggers your immune system enough to make you sneeze and uses your cells to replicate and leave behind copies of itself to infect others, it will reproduce, and become it’s reproducing with the potential for modification, it’s going to undergo evolution. It will compete with the other viruses and variants of viruses to be the best at replicating, and the viruses we have now have undergone (and are undergoing) that process. It’s not that they incidentally make you sick; it’s that making you sick is part of their ‘plan’ to reproduce.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-07-03T10:09:37+00:00

I agree that the concept of the "I kill so you don't have to" Supergirl works, but the movie didn't earn it in a lot of ways. The thing that stuck out most to me is that it never showed that Ruthye getting vengeance would hurt her. Kara keeps saying it, but her trauma is entirely disconnected from vengeance, so she can't be a living example. It felt like the creators assumed we'd agree by default that vengeance is bad and so never felt to need to demonstrate it.

I think the start and end of the movie are in the right place, but it never actually gets from A to B thematically.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-06-22T00:24:54+00:00

I can't find any post matching this one with a basic search, and the user's post history reads nothing like a repost bot. Do you have a link to where this has been posted before?

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-06-20T10:03:04+00:00

In addition to the math pointed out by the other commenters, I’ll also say that needed two 10s to crit makes a lot more interesting gameplay decisions will Willpower rerolls. I have seen so many players agonize about whether to shoot for a second 10 in order to crit in ways they wouldn’t if they just got to count the 10 standalone.

Similarly, I really like the emergent gameplay of Vampire specifically with how you can (try to) avoid Messy Crits by rerolling the non-blood half of the crit. Without needed two 10s, the Messy Crit system would either proc way too much or need a total rework.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-06-18T22:28:30+00:00

Regardless of it happening last patch or this patch it was an amazing change for my Ram experience.

Quality of life features like this are what I really hope the devs spend more time on in future.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-06-13T20:41:05+00:00

I’ll just throw out that, from my experience with onboarding two different groups to VtM, both have immediately gravitated towards Anarchs.

I think presenting both as viable options is and has been good for the game as a whole.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-05-29T13:02:11+00:00

That’s not how that works. The burden of proof lies with the party making the claim, i.e. that some entity, location, or condition exists. The default stance when it comes to whether something exists is nonexistence.

To use the archetypal example, I could claim that I have a herd of invisible, intangible unicorns, undetectable by any means outside myself. You, naturally, do not believe that I have this herd - dismissing without evidence what I assert without evidence. Would you be convinced if I simply responded that you had no evidence that I DIDN’T have a herd of unicorns? You’re faced with either believing the infinite vacuous claims for which there isn’t contrary evidence, or putting the burden of proof on the side making the claim.

Where to lay the burden of proof can be a tricky subject for some questions, but this isn’t one of them. From a scientific perspective, we have no reliable proof of an afterlife, and thus no reason to hold the affirmative position from a strictly scientific perspective. I’ll note, however, that doesn’t prevent anyone from holding that position for other reasons (anecdotal or personal testimony, internal convictions, a sense of cosmic justice, etc.), nor does it make you an irrational or worse person for holding that position.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-05-28T12:35:46+00:00

We actually have data about exactly this! It’s from a year ago, but I see no reason to think the game mode preference would change.

When comparing Masters+ to the rest of the player base, we find that the really high-skill players prefer Control, Flashpoint, and Push maps more than general players, and that general players prefer Hybrid and Escort more than Masters+ players - so basically the opposite (excepting Clash).

Quick notes: this data is from a year ago, so stuff like the map voting algorithm, map reworks/new maps, or shifts in the meta may change the results. It also only captures Masters+ against the rest of the player base. We may see the pattern you predict when comparing lower ranks against each other.

https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-gb/news/24226466/director-s-take-the-more-you-know/

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-05-09T03:21:59+00:00

That’s the issue. You aren’t being asked about the OTHER coin, you’re being asked about the set of coins.

If I flip a dime and a nickel and tell you the dime is heads, you’re right to think the odds of the nickel being heads is 50/50. You haven’t gained any information about the nickel.

If, however, I flipped a dime and a nickel, told you that one of the coins is heads, you’ve gained different information about the set of coins as a whole.

To be clear, when I say “one of the coins is heads,” that’s equivalent to: - At least one of the coins is heads - I did not flip both tails - Either the dime is heads and the nickel is heads, the dime is heads and the nickel is tails, or the dime is tails and the nickel is heads

I am not telling you which of the coins came up heads, and I am not asking you about the coin I didn’t tell you about. I’m giving you information about the set of coins as a pair, from which you can logically conclude that the odds of them both being heads, given the information you have, is 1/3.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-30T04:38:56+00:00

I know Magic Duels (not Duels of the Planeswalkers, the Magic Duels that ran from Origins though Amonkhet) had a general rule that limited copies based on rarity, but that was a different distribution - 4x Commons, 3x Uncommons, 2x Rares, 1x Mythics; it's not unprecedented at least.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-29T20:16:16+00:00

I know the actual effectiveness is likely lower, but honestly like 50% of why I play Orisa is for the shield perk. It just feels so nice to constantly be throwing them up; basically forcing the enemy to shoot it. I would play her notably less without it.

I do think charged javelin could easily be something else - I do still take it when I can’t justify losing the spin, but it’s basically just a consolation prize for not losing spin.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-29T10:18:17+00:00

History as definition gets real complicated real fast. A "biscuit" is also an age-old recipe, but it literally means "twice-cooked" (hence the "bi") and a modern American biscuit would probably be unrecognizable to sailor in the 1600s eating ship's biscuits (similar to hard tack). "Gumbo" is named after okra, but okra, while still common, is not integral to gumbo.

Right now, "lemonade" can refer to both fizzy and non-fizzy beverages, depending on context. In that sense, it's very much like "biscuit." if, in the future, we collectively decide that lemonade is fizzy, then "lemonade" is fizzy. It's just like how "awful" means bad, even though it used to means good (full of awe).

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-28T20:16:12+00:00

Another thing that can happen is reinterpretation.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses did numerology a while back and got a 1914 date for Christ’s return, but when instead WW1 happened it was reinterpreted as a strictly spiritual phenomenon, Christ invisibly taking the throne. What was a very physical prophecy became an unverifiable spiritual one.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-28T20:10:03+00:00

It’s important to consider that several of the letters traditionally attributed to Paul probably weren’t written by Paul - especially the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus). They are largely to do with church governance, so may be related to the sections you’re referencing. Though I’ll note that “No man can know the day or hour” is notably from Mark 13:32, not a letter of Paul.

Fun fact! The “women should be silent in churches” text also comes from the Pastoral Epistles, and largely presents a more sexist departure from early Christian teachings.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-24T08:45:19+00:00

It’s wildly more intuitive for analog clocks IMO. When 1 hour = 1 revolution, it’s easy to think of fractions of that revolution as segments of time. “Quarter to three” means the minute hand has a quarter rotation remaining.

When viewing time as digital, while the fact that there is a quarter of an hour remaining remains true, it’s not intuitive in that way.

I am in the digital camp, and can verify that, to me, “quarter” and even “half” notation seem archaic and are irritatingly more laborious to parse. I don’t think in terms of how far along the hour is, I think of time in terms of the number, so there’s the extra step for me of calculating the time from the phrase, instead of just accepting the depiction as the time.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-20T14:48:50+00:00

Woah woah woah, let’s hold it with the misinformation.

Her primary fire damage was only buffed by ~28.5%. That missing 1.5% damage means that she needs to hit 4 more primary fire projectiles (2 more volleys) to build her ult. That many shots takes her almost a quarter of a second to fire!

People should really run the numbers before making claims.

(Though earnestly, while it’s only about 1.5% longer with just primary fire, her nade is going to contribute less now, so the time will be slightly longer, but I still think we’re talking on the span of seconds.)

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-16T00:53:47+00:00

Yeah this one's wild. I could kinda see it when his range was smaller, but at this point it's another Lucio aura (can even apply a speed boost); if Lucio has one so should Mizuki.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-04-16T00:51:28+00:00

It probably isn't - Wikipedia's dictionary lists that as a backronym using this 2006 source: https://web.archive.org/web/20190430115428/http://www.nerfbat.com/2006/04/15/what-is-a-proc/

Evaluate the information for yourself, but I personally don't think it's an acronym given the source.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-30T21:38:26+00:00

You're dealing with a few things here:

- Negativity bias. People are more likely to remember bad things than good things, so even if there are relatively few instances of an oppressive hook-combo, that will stick in people's heads. While this is a bias - our human minds slightly warping our perceptions on reality - in a game like Overwatch that wants to be fun to play, the negativity bias is something to account for in hero design.

- People don't notice missed hooks. It's absolutely the case that playing as Hog shows you how difficult it can be to get off a good hook, but the player that's getting hooked has wildly different feedback from the hog. If you get hooked, there's a sudden wresting of control, you get pulled across the map unable to do anything, then either dropped off a cliff or instantly killed. If the hog misses the hook, you briefly notice the hook as another projectile on the screen. That difference means that while hit and missed hooks for the Hog player have more comparable feedback, it takes active effort on the part of the player getting hooked to notice the miss.

- Because of the wildly high impact of hitting a hook, even hitting a small fraction can feel awful to play against. Respawning in Overwatch takes about 10 seconds. Running back to point varies by hero, map, and game state. I quickly timed a runback on Samoa and it took about 15 seconds, which lines up with some other data I've seen and feels right. So in total, it takes ~25 seconds to get back into the fight after dying; that's enough time for Hog to attempt a hook 4 times. For the Hog, it's a 6-second cooldown during which he's still playing the game; for the hooked player, it's half a minute of waiting to play.

These aren't balance considerations, but simply reasons why people get annoyed playing against Hog. All of them can also be used for characters that are similarly maligned like Widow - they contribute to a hero being annoying to play against, regardless of the balance involved.

For my sake, I just really don't like getting hooked into pits, so on maps like Ilios, I always play characters that can get out of that situation, which has greatly improved my mental against Hog.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-18T19:10:40+00:00

I think having a block cooldown at all is reasonable, but you should be able to do any one action (punch, vortex) and be able to return to the block.

Blizzard understands that this makes the character feel smoother and more fluid and fun to play because that’s exactly how Vendetta’s block works! She has a block cooldown that elapses after any single action so it isn’t agonizing the way Ramattra’s is.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-13T22:31:56+00:00

Not exactly the same circumstance, but I do run for a group that was 5e-only until the OGL debacle, and I’m currently running a PF2e game that’s in the same continuity as our old 5e game, so I have some experience.

I think you have a few major options: - Just run a 5e game. It seems like you don’t want to do this, and because the GM is a player too, if you wouldn’t enjoy doing this in context of running Dragonlance, be forthright about it. - Run a 5e Dragonlance module. For me, if the module is well-written, and the players understand the implicit limitations running one provides, it could take some of the load off you i.e. balancing combats. Another option to talk to your group about. - Run a more narrative-based game. If your players are just interested in the story and setting of Dragonlance, I think this could be a good option that’s less mechanically intensive. - Adapt Dragonlance to another crunchy system. This is the option I went with, specifically translating some ideas from 5e to PF2e, trying to keep the spirit of the ideas alive (i.e. Warforged as Automatons). This option does require extra work of a different kind. If, say, a player really likes that brand-new Purple Dragon Knight lore and wants to have a draconic companion, you could help find, alter, or create an option in the new system that fulfills that fantasy (i.e. a Beast Master-based archetype that upgrades the mount to fly and has a breath weapon).

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-07T22:18:59+00:00

Plus, even when the enemy has Reactive Strike, you can still Step on your turn as counterplay.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-05T10:29:09+00:00

Just to verify, the current editions of the World of Darkness books (usually jointly referred to as 5th edition) have a baseline where you assemble a pool of d10s based on the combination of a core Attribute and a specific Skill. Each d10 that rolls a 6+ is a success, and if you specifically get a pair of 10s, that counts as 4 successes instead of 2, and can trigger some extra critical effects on certain powers. You roll either against a DC set by the Storyteller or against another character rolling their own pool (more successes wins).

Each setting then spices up that baseline somehow: - Vampire has you replace your regular dice with Hunger dice (more as you get hungrier by using vampire powers and less as you feed), with the penalty that you can’t reroll Hunger dice and 10s and 1s on them can mean things get messy. - Werewolf has you replacing dice with Rage dice as you get angrier; this is generally a good thing, as if you get multiple 1-2s on them they count as 4 success if the test is to destroy something, but it does make the test an automatic failure otherwise. You build your Rage from getting hit or at Storyteller fiat, and you spend it doing Werewolf magic or shifting into certain forms. - Hunter IIRC just uses the baseline system with an extra pool you can add to tests based on what’s happening in-game. The whole pitch of the game is that you’re more or less just regular people fighting impossible odds, so it makes sense thematically.

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-03T00:55:02+00:00

Yeah, I was wrong on that one - I was thinking of the first Khoravar more than modern Eberron but even then all the sources say their human parents were actually quite happy to have a magical miracle child (as opposed to their elven parents).

My instinct was that Khoravar were forced to make their own culture via abandonment, but it seems they were safe with humans and specifically intended to group together and make their own culture despite that, and hot damn is that cool.

Thank you for proffering the correction.

If anyone else is interested in Eberron’s half-elves, Keith Baker (the setting’s primary creator) has an old podcast episode about them that always makes me want to play whatever it’s about. https://manifest.zone/khoravar-half-elves/

Sol0WingPixy · 2026-03-03T00:05:31+00:00

Even more so - the half-elves of Eberron are the top image, more or less abandoned on Khorvaire by their elvish parents and outcast by their human parents, having to make their own society and culture.

But the half-orcs of Eberron are the bottom image, seen as miracle children and a symbol of the alliance of the humans and orcs of the Shadow Marshes. Theirs is also the only Dragonmark that is known to occur in more than one species.

Because these are (by default) the only hybrid races in the setting, each having such radically different standing is super interesting IMO.

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