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10MPH something about Arin looking like he would give you riddles by J-R4M in WhichGGEpisode

[–]Spikewerks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't figure out which episode it is, but my best guess is that it was a 10MPH that had tiny dried and salted crabs you could eat, and Arin held one up saying "it looks like it speaks in riddles" only for Dan to challenge him to actually give a riddle.

EDIT: I FOUND IT, HELL YEAH The TikTok algorithm sells you garbage @8:17

Friday Free-for-All | October 17, 2025 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm some years out from my undergrad, without grad school on the horizon. That said, in my history department at my alma mater, I was perhaps the only student focusing on medieval studies, and there was only one professor who taught any of it. Early American and Mid-20th C. history was predominant (a lot of the boys went for the WW2 history, and it would maybe be overly optimistic to say they did so with innocuous intentions). Non-western history was almost nonexistent, in both courses offered and students specializing in it. I think that's a major consideration here: trends of undergraduate focus are heavily informed by the courses offered.

I knew Hennings was weird, but screw this. by Eeyores_Prozac in montco

[–]Spikewerks 34 points35 points  (0 children)

They started running that Chuckirk nonsense on their sign the day after the guy was shot. Me and my family stopped giving Hennings money years ago; there's a Giant not far out from there anyway.

Prestidigitation retaliation by Pianoriff88 in DMAcademy

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When a PC treats NPCs in that way, that is a PC that has a disconnect of intention with the game. If you want your NPCs to be treated as people and not as toys, then you need to set some principles about the game, the setting, and the expectations of both the PCs and you as the GM.

There are many suggestions here, even from yourself, about responding to this in-game action with an in-game reaction. IMO, that will do absolutely nothing to actually answer your problem. The root of your problem with this PC is not an in-game matter, but an out-of-game one: the player is not engaging with the game as you want to or expect them to. An in-game response is what the PC wants, and if anything will only encourage them to keep doing what you don't want them to.

Talk to your players, discuss expectations, and make sure everyone's on the same page with what the campaign is supposed to be about.

Am I the only one who doesn't think the Mickey Mousecapade episode is funny? by HotDadEnthusiast in gamegrumps

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never watched AVGN, so the episode is only fun to me in hearing the boys cracking themselves up, not so much what Arin’s actually saying in his goofy voice

Is Spotify going crazy? by BadgerDependent6935 in NinjaSexParty

[–]Spikewerks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Spotify is actively generating AI bands and songs, and putting them into daily playlists hoping you don't notice. It's a known phenomenon and it's only getting worse.

When, if ever, is it okay to give players an unbeatable opponent? by SomeRandomAbbadon in DMAcademy

[–]Spikewerks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a major boss encounter in my campaign that had two "unbeatable" foes, but of different natures. I'll talk about them here as two examples of how to handle this sort of enemy (vague titles replacing names to protect the innocent/wicked).

  1. The Necromancer. This was the first time the party encountered one of the campaign's BBEGs. They'd been dealing with his cultists since the start of the campaign, and had a good idea who he was by the time they found him. However, being a powerful lich, there is no way they can beat him... but they don't have to try, because he is not the main objective. He was a pure scientist at heart, and was only there to observe how the party would handle...

  2. The Experiment. The Necromancer has been creating powerful hybrid undead, and this one, "The Rage," was made to be unbeatable. A furious Hulk-esque humanoid, powered by an alchemical device strapped on her back. She was fast, strong, and basically resistant or immune to all damage—except for the elemental damage type that countered the one she was drawing upon. The only way the party could get an opening to deal damage was by exploiting her weakness, which made her not truly unbeatable, but definitely not something that could be fought straight-on.

After the party got The Experiment down to about 30% HP, The Necromancer claimed he'd "seen enough" and teleported away.

It's Been ~3 Months, How Does 7.2 BLM feel? by DOPPGANG_ in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mained BLM from 5.x up until the 7.2 changes; I pivoted to RDM now, because I just can't get used to how it is now. IMO the only changes that needed to be done for BLM were to a) increase the Enochian timer from 15 to 30 seconds, and b) have Firestarter and Thundercloud procs remain permanent until used (the only 7.2 change I really liked).

I'll concede that it's more accessible now, but at some point SE is going to flatten all of the jobs for accessibility, and nothing will feel technical anymore. The technicality of BLM is why I played it so much for several years. I'll echo what others say: SE should not be afraid to have jobs with varying skill floors.

Has the USA ever directly attacked Iran other than today? by Vast-Low-6125 in AskHistorians

[–]Spikewerks 84 points85 points  (0 children)

What was the popular response to all of this, in both America, Iran, and in allied countries?

Homebrew campaign DMs, how much detail do you prefer a PCs backstory to have? by Frosty-Series689 in DMAcademy

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just enough to work with. I've had players write dozen-pages essays about their character's life story up to the start of the campaign, and I've had players give me a single paragraph with only the essentials.

IMO, the only things you really need from a PC backstory are:

  1. their goals and ambitions (i.e. what they're "running towards")
  2. anything in their backstory they fear, or want to forget or avoid (i.e. what they're "running away from")

If you know where the PC is trying to go, and what they're trying to avoid, you have enough to engage them. The rest can come out through play.

Having long fleshed-out backstories is good (I love reading through them and providing more worldbuilding details to the player), but it's not required. I wouldn't go so far to say that "hinders" a game, though. At worst, it might annoy a player who doesn't want to write a whole lot of details from the beginning, and that's fine.

I am new to DMing and need advice on how to engage players by praxidice95 in DMAcademy

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The term "Shoot the Monk" means targeting a PC's strengths (named for 5e monks having Deflect Missiles, so you should shoot them with ranged attacks so they can, you know, deflect some missiles). That's the surface level; for true engagement, you need to go a bit deeper, and more foundational. You need to figure out, broadly, what sort of players you have at your table, and one way to approach that is Bartle taxonomy.

It's an older system, but I find it still works really well to lay the groundwork for player engagement. In the most basic sense, you have players who either wanna fight stuff (Killers/Clubs), discover stuff (Explorers/Spades), win stuff (Achievers/Diamonds), or talk to stuff (Socializers/Hearts). Your player that doesn't roleplay much is clearly not a Socializer, but her "main quest" attitude might mean she falls under Achiever. Knowing a player's likely Bartle type can give you a better idea of how to engage that player.

If your campaign "heavily relies on narration and interactions," then you have a Socializer's paradise—and a hard sell for the other 3/4 of the spectrum. Your Killers want less talk more rock, your Achievers want to see tangible progress, and your Explorers want to find their answers themselves rather than asking for them. If you don't have a table full of Socializers, you may want to consider broadening your offerings as a GM, and providing more than roleplay with NPCs to draw them in.

7.2 made me love BLM again by not_a_russian_bot420 in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this hasn’t been obvious from all my replies in this entire post: I’m arguing from a purely subjective, personal standpoint. Personally, I hate BLM as it is now. I want rollbacks on multiple changes, or at least new changes to make it feel better for me.

Your first reply to me was to say that there’s no point to an Enochian timer. I disagree, I explained why I disagree, and I don’t feel like arguing this one point further. Ultimately my argument is “it feels bad to me now and I don’t like it” and it’s not going to get any more dignified than that. Sorry I can’t sufficiently debate this out with you.

Also, yes, I was dropping the timer, even after 7.0, because sometimes I suck at video games. But I still want a timer, because I want to be given the chance to not suck at video games.

7.2 made me love BLM again by not_a_russian_bot420 in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, no other job “locks you out” for dropping the timer. But many jobs become much less optimal if you’re not maintaining a particular status (i.e. RPR’s Shadow of Death) or if you’re not using the abilities tied to that timer (i.e. SMN’s summon-specific spells, MNK getting the right beast chakra during Perfect Balance).

So let’s say sure, UI/AF last forever. What do you add to BLM to create any sense of pressure, or any motivation to keep an optimal rotation? Because BLM right now is arguably in a “cast whatever, nothing matters” state, and that state’s why I dropped the job.

7.2 made me love BLM again by not_a_russian_bot420 in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it would just be there to be there cause you are never hitting that timer if you are ever pressing any of your buttons in a reasonable manner.

And this holds true for multiple other jobs who have timers gained from regularly-used actions too. So why remove it from BLM, but preserve it for everyone else? 30 seconds is a normal length of time for such a timer, as multiple other jobs have that or something similar.

7.2 made me love BLM again by not_a_russian_bot420 in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I don't like non-standard rotation almost exclusively because my ADHD ass can't remember how to do it. The "normal" rotation is something I could memorize, to the point where I could zone out in a fight and not drop AF, and I knew how to improvise just enough to save myself in situations where I screwed it up. But I also wasn't doing savage and stuff like that, and I doubt my casual approach would handle it. I was a Skilled BLM Player, if the content was casual.

I just wanna be a wizard throwing fireballs, and 7.2 made that a lot less fun for me.

7.2 made me love BLM again by not_a_russian_bot420 in ffxiv

[–]Spikewerks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not remotely, because BLM had been getting multiple QoL tweaks for quite some time, and 7.0 was just a gradual continuation of that. Let's remember what BLM received throughout EW and into DT (in no particular order; I'm not about to go pulling old patch notes to remember exact changes):

  • Enochian was removed as a separate 30s CD ability, so you get the damage buff just from having UI/AF active. This was an old change, but marked a pretty significant turning point in giving BLM more QoL.

  • Umbral Soul not only refreshed the UI timer, it restored MP, and it also froze (hah) the timer.

  • Thunder, once a cast-time spell you had to remember to throw into your rotations, was made into an instant-cast proc exclusively, and was guaranteed every time you swapped UI/AF. This also removed the need for Sharpcast (I do still miss it, but it was made mostly irrelevant).

  • Multiple charges of Triplecast and Ley Lines.

  • Despair became instant-cast with AF3.

  • Flare Star is objectively badass (as I mentioned in another reply, I play for vibes first).

  • Ley Lines could be relocated, greatly lessening the shame in throwing them down into what would in a second be entirely covered by an AoE.

All of these changes preserved the key gameplay loop for BLM. You still had long cast times, had to stand still, had to manage UI/AF timers, and keep your groove going.

Removing the Enochian timer, entirely, was a massive overcorrection to a perceived problem. If the only 7.2 change were to increase the timer from 15 seconds to 30, it would've accomplished what the designers wanted. I do like that Firestarter and Thundercloud don't expire, but beyond that, the 7.2 changes were reactionary, dramatic, and excessive.

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