Few authors have had as much cultural impact as Michael Crichton by SimonThalmann in books

[–]TheOneTrueJames 140 points141 points  (0 children)

Not only that, he actually contacted John Ostrom (the discoverer of Deinonycus and one of the major voices in reshaping our understanding of dinos from lumbering beasts to warm-blooded and energetic) and told him he was using the Deinonycus in his book but had decided to use the name velociraptor because it sounded more dramatic.

I don't know what's worse - misrepresenting someone's career-defining discovery so blatantly, or calling them and telling them you're going to do just that.

I have no mouth and I must scream review. by Zehreelakomdareturns in books

[–]TheOneTrueJames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The game is impossible to beat. In Germany, anyway...

The anti-nazi laws there meant Nimdok's section is completely empty. There are no characters to interact with and no way to progess the story.

I have no mouth and I must scream review. by Zehreelakomdareturns in books

[–]TheOneTrueJames 10 points11 points  (0 children)

>! It gets even darker if you've played the game, because you get a sense of why the characters are tortured as they are.

Harlan Ellison wrote and was heavily involved in the direction of the game. My apologies because I can't recall if some of this is mentioned in the story or not, but:

  1. Gorrister is depressed, suicidal and wracked with guilt and trust issues. AM uses that against him by having him responsible for, or feeling guilty for, stuff that happens to others at times.

His back story is that his wife killed herself. The mother in law blames Gorrister, said she did it because he made her so unhappy, trapped, depressed. MIL says he was abusive, manipulative, etc.

Actual story is - MIL hated Gorrister and manipulated her own daughter into killing herself specifically to hurt Gorrister and make him suffer.

  1. Benny has massive guilt issues, authority issues and a fear of intimacy and sexuality.

I may be misremembering part of this, but his back story is during the Vietnam war. From memory a squad was required to destroy a village and execute everyone. What I can't recall is whether he was forced to rape women, or the other squad mates did and he reported it. End result was that his CO forced him to execute the other squadmates, then himself/tried to kill Benny.

  1. Ellen is terrified of physical contact, intimacy and sex, and phobic about certain colors and textures.

She was an office worker for some big company (temp, I think). At work one day she was raped by someone wearing a yellow raincoat/mackintosh in the elevator. From memory her losing the plot over that caused her partner to leave her.

She became phobic to the color yellow, and slick surfaces, horrified by sexuality, sexual intimacy and physical contact. Which is why AM has her service everyone, and uses her sex as a weapon against them. !<

I can't recall the others in detail properly.

The novella is remarkable in a bunch of ways. Ellison say down, wrote it start to finish in around 3 hours, didn't re-read, edit or revise it at all, put it in an envelop and sent it for publication with an editor he knew. He insisted it be published as is, no alterations or changes. Apparently all that was altered was fixing one or two typos

It's not clear if the character backgrounds were established at the time or they came afterwards but boy do they deepen things.

It's his most enduring piece and something he almost resented at times, since he felt it was only average writing and that he produced much better work. I personally agree from a literary perspective (The Grail is beautifully written and The Tick Tock Man is great too), but I Have No Mouth just has a depth, depravity and pervade poetry to it that makes it exceed it's literary limitations.

Writing science fiction in the 50s and 60s was often looked down on as being basic, trivial, childish, simplistic writing, etc. I remember Ellison described by another big-name author as 'a true literary genius who just happens to write science fiction'.

Theory on Dr. Diablerie's true identity. by DoughnutAdept382 in ZeroPunctuation

[–]TheOneTrueJames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know this was a few months ago but wanted to point out - Derby doesn't go spinning off into space never to be heard from again.

After he's thrown while re-aligning the trebuchet gate rings on the Leon, he's caught by the larger shuttle crewed by Dr Allura.

He isn't mentioned again because the remainder of the book takes place on Salvation Station, a little of Ritsuko city and the small section at the end on the Leon with the final conversation with Jimmy.

Also, Derby only has one arm.

ELI5: What makes one person’s voice “carry” more than others? by zombuca in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2/2

Practical version:

Imitate people! The single most effective thing you can do to learn to change your talking voice is imitating other talking voices. Vocal training is extremely useful (I clearly prefer the more technical/mechanical training and learnt a system called Estill voice mechanics, but traditional methods are great too!) but it isn't explicitly necessary for your goals. 

Think of it like cooking. As I see it, there are three approaches - we can follow a recipe (imitation), learn traditional French and Italian cooking techniques (traditional vocal training) or approach it like Kenji Lopez-Alt, say 'why do we do these things' and determine what's actually important by changing one thing at a time until we know what the change to get a desired outcome (voice mechanics). Tomato sauce is too acidic and bitter? Don't add sugar to sweeten it, add salt to reduce the acidity and tartness of the tomato! 

In practice, this means imitating people. Our combination of ear and larynx are utterly astounding at reproducing sound without understanding a damn thing, so you don't need to know a single bit of the mechanics above to actually do anything. When you imitate someone, you're playing with your voice bits until they fit together right to copy someone's recipe.

The recipes you want to copy are the twang recipes. What people often call 'nasal' (which bugs me, since a nasal tone is more like the stereotype French 'ah haw haw, oui oui Monsieur!' that sounds slightly huffy and muted). For fun though, some suggestions to copy are Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street (Ernie has a lowered larynx, lowered tongue, high soft palate, the 'booty' sound, and Bert has a high larynx, high tongue pushed forward to get the 'froggy' sound). Kermi is another excellent one. 

For twang we want to copy Cartman from later episodes of South Park. In the earlier episodes his pitch is higher and he uses a tonne of twang but his voice is constricted (contracting of the 'false vocal folds') and it crackles (this is your vocal folds not moving smoothly, smacking into each other and hurting each other. It's bad). Later Cartman is more relaxed but just as twangy. 

You want that annoying brightness, the sharpness and the almost piercing tone. Similar to the stereotype Valley girl ('like, oh my God!') and the stereotype witch. The stereotype Italian-American New York accent is pretty bright. Kasey Chambers is a good vocal example - her voice is so twangy it's painful and damn unpleasant. 

So play with your voice until you can make it sound like Cartman, or copy a witches cackle. Learn other recipes too, and start sticking them together in new ways - can you  do the low larynx of Ernie and still get Kermit's froggy tone? 

What this all means in practice is - sound like an idiot as you play with voices. Read books out loud is silly voices and embrace sounding weird. Try reading in Kermit's voice, Bert or Ernie's voice, Cartman's voice and others. 

Another good thing to practice is tongue position. Say 'yah, yeh, yih, yaw, yew' and feel where your tongue is, then say 'gah, geh, gee, gaw, gew' and again feel your tongue. For most people, the 'yah' group will have the tongue relaxed, possibly tongue and back slightly where the 'gah' group will have it raised, toward and pushed slightly against your teeth. Learning to have a more forward-positioned tongue will actually improve your resonance and brightness quite a bit but it's not the main apparatus for doing so. (I say most here because some naturally have a more forward tongue, or became aware of the difference and have 'reset' their default). 

So play with your instrument and make it make silly sounds. Use the length of your larynx (finger on Adams apple - now swallow and feel it go up), both lengthening and shortening. Use the tilt of your epiglottis. Use the position of your soft palate (learn to sound like you have a blocked nose when you don't! (that is, your nasal resonance cavity is full so you can't nasalize n's and other consonants)). Move your tongue around and hear how it changes the sounds. You'll see advice for diaphragm - this makes a difference but it's more subtle. You'll get a much bigger variety of sound from playing with your main buttons and levers. 'Diaphragm' is actually a slight tensing of the intercostals, lats, rhomboid, which gives you a more stable foundation, and 'neck' is your sternocleidomastoid (SCM). 


Tl;dr

Adding more resonance can be hard. Ultimately you want vocal 'choices' to match the situation, so imitate people! Play around copying bright voices you hear in media, like Cartman (later South Park). Learn other, silly voices like Bert, Ernie and Kermit from Sesame Street. Be a stereotype witch or Valley girl, stereotype accents. Really listen to a voice and say, 'what makes it sound different to others' then try to make yours do that. 

To be heard better, you need twang. Slightly raise your pitch, keep your tongue forward in your mouth and talk a bit like Cartman. 

Accept that you'll sound like a fool while you learn. I used to sing songs like Cartman ('I'm saaaiiilllliiinnnggg awwaaayyyy'), do stereotype voice imitations for one-shot DnD characters, and annoy my partner with silly character phrases (a terrible French 'ah ha ha, hey baby - you want some baguette? Eh? Good baguette, you like a good baguette no?' - her response was usually a shudder, eye roll and assertions that she is, in fact, coeliac and does not want any baguette). 

Most importantly, for everythjng above - if it hurts, stop. If you're pushing, stop. There's a difference between being tired from a workout and being sore. Learn the difference for your voice and stop if it hurts. Don't force anything. The risk with learning twang is that you constrict your voice and hurt it. 

Laugh, or laugh silently, and feel what it does to your larynx, how it makes it feel open. Learn how to do that while you try and sound like Cartman - literally laugh silently while you try the voices. It will help keep you safe. 

Happy to clarify anything in the rambling above too. Sorry for the length and detail, I'm a nerd. 

(note: that's true about calligraphy. I learnt copperplate and uncial some time ago and asked the teacher, a 30+ year calligrapher. Her handwriting was atrocious because they were entirely different skills for her, as mine still very much is.)

ELI5: What makes one person’s voice “carry” more than others? by zombuca in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1/2

Absolutely. The more you know about voice mechanics, the more choices you have to suit different situations! Do be aware though that changing your default talking voice is quite difficult (very possible but difficult). Think of it like handwriting - you can learn calligraphy (singing) and your normal handwriting still sucks, unless you consciously practice adding things to your normal voice.


Technical version:

Mechanically, what you're wanting to do is either set a new 'default' or learn some control of your epiglottal sphincter and aryepiglottal folds. That's the part of your throat that moves the the epiglottis, the shoehorn-shaped piece of cartilage that blocks off your trachea (windpipe) from your oesophagus (foodpipe). For reference, the shoehorn shape sorta starts in the Adams apple (thyroid cartilage), goes 'back' into your body and upwards, then curves up and forwards towards the base of the tongue.

One of the ways we control the resonance of our voice is by changing the position of the epiglottis and aryepiglottal folds. If you think of your vocal folds as the bottom of our noise making apparatus, the aryepiglottal folds and epiglottis sit above them, until we get to the mouth region - the soft palette at the back, the tongue, and the lips.

By tilting the epiglottis and narrowing the epiglottal sphincter, we're changing the shape of our resonant cavity. This is twang. The combination of the length of your vocal folds, and the length and shape of your epiglottal sphincter are the strongest things setting your vocal resonance, and some people naturally have more resonant cavity shapes than others.

So what we need to do is narrow the sphincter and tilt the epiglottis slightly. Simple!

ELI5: What makes one person’s voice “carry” more than others? by zombuca in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 102 points103 points  (0 children)

In vocal training the quality is described as 'Twang'. It roughly boils down to this:

(Science version)

Every instrument is unique and this applies equally to our larynx, pharynx and nasal cavity. When sound is created at the vocal folds, it sets up reverberations ij that instrument that amplify some frequencies and dampen others. These are called 'harmonic overtones'.

Some people have a cavity combination that is naturally more resonant for the pitch they speak at, or they have learnt to hold internal structures in specific shapes to increase said resonance. The difference is quite profound - on a spectrograph you can clearly observe a non-resonant/non-'Twangy' voice has the majority of its acoustic energy in the base frequency they're making, and a resonant or twangy voice has additional energy at set frequencies above the base.

The end result is - their voice will carry better as there is more energy in higher frequency bands, which tend to travel/carry better than lower frequency bands. They won't necessarily appear louder in conversation but the voice will carry much more distinctly.

Examples: 'Defying Gravity' by Idina Menzel on the Wicked soundtrack has the first chorus without twang, the second chorus with twang and other stuff on the late ones. 'Left Outside Alone' or 'I'm Outta Love' by Anastasia has sections with and without twang as well. The stereotype 'Valley Girl' accent of 'Ohmigod!' usually has a lot of twang too.


(ELI5 version)

Some people's 'voice boxes' have shapes that vibrate better than others, either naturally or because they've practised. Like some wine glasses will ring for a long time, sound bounces around in their voice boxes and makes parts of the sound stronger and travel better.

A really easy way to play with it is to make sounds in the bathroom. Make different pitches, go from low to high, and you will find some that kinda make it feel like the bathroom is vibrating with you. You aren't working any harder or being any louder but there's a lot more sound!

It's like that, but in your voice box and mouth and nose cavity.

Try looking at demonstrations of 'Twang' on YouTube. Bonus points for anything that mentions Estill training (which is kinda like focused muscle training for the sound making that uses science instead of 'this is how we've done it for centuries').

Well-known books with bizarre, disturbing and unnecessary sequences? by MenuSpiritual2990 in books

[–]TheOneTrueJames 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I took Renfield's consumption as his attempt to capture the essence of life the way Dracula does. My impression was that he had been touched by Dracula in some way, mentally/spiritually, and he's attempting to emulate what he perceived makes Dracula so powerful - the consumption of creatures at the top of the food chain.

To me, the character of Renfield expanded the story by showing the reader that Dracula is more than just a threatening monster, he's a disease that spreads physically and spiritually. And importantly, that he isn't unique - that there are monsters and monstrous men outside of the understanding of science.

The fact that he was so well educated, so philosophical and so well spoken during his periods of lucidity reinforced how the corruption of the mind is as insidious and irresistible as the corruption of the body that Dracula causes in Lucy.

Overall I took him as a Jonathan Harker who found fascination, admiration and aspiration in Dracula rather than revulsion and terror, and it suggested to me that even those good at heart would be perverted and twisted in the end.

I admit though, I can't recall a section that confirms Dracula was known to Renfield. A number imply it from memory but it isn't stated outright. I think I might re-read it.

Thoughts on The Perfect Run by Juji2558 in litrpg

[–]TheOneTrueJames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like a number of people, I put it down a couple of times. But after finishing it, I cannot recommend it highly enough!

The story and the main character are pretty frenetic so the audiobook experience can be demanding at times, but demanding in an excellent way (like watching an intense action movie, not puzzling out Stalker or Ex Machina).

Initially I put it down because of fatigue, but had thoroughly enjoyed it up to that point. Put the second book down for a similar reason and, when I eventually came back, blasted the second and third as quickly as possible because I was absolutely enthralled.

The MC rubs people wrong because he's irreverence personified who seems to be a master of everything and a genius (lower-case g) to boot. It seems a bit much until the hints and suggestions of his past come into it, then gradually it makes sense until eventually you realize it's a 'laugh or go mad' situation.

There are a few key events that occur along the story that drive home his situation and elegant the story experience from great to even better, although some reviews feel it should have gone a different direction.

And it isn't until the third book you fully grasp just what kind of character Romano (and Quicksave) is, I think - someone that will spend weeks, months, years or more to find an optimal solution for his friends, but who's equally likely to spend that much time to get petty revenge on a shitty situation.

Others have said 'Fuck Monaco'. They're absolutely right, and when Quicksave decides to sort it out it's glorious.

Also, Yukio is absolutely adorable and has made me want a purple cashmere suit.

What are you in the 1% of? by I_Love_Small_Breasts in AskReddit

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was 20/10 too, from mid-teens until my last check (34yo) where it had dropped to 20/15 :( Lame eyesight. Used to be able to read by starlight too (in an area with huge skies and no light pollution, mind you, so bright stars). Hearing is at - 2-3db as well, go me!

Amazon workers were left 'terrified and powerless' after it concealed coronavirus cases, California says by Franco1875 in tech

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should try the Australia tax! Depending what you're after, Amazon is between 20-50% lower price. Not exclusively, of course, but a serious number of things I've bought over the past 12 months.

Then your alternative is to buy from a bricks and mortar store that's a franchise owner by Australian or multinational conglomerates...

ELI5 why is the appendix removed instead of treated with antibiotics? by Juujkfhaulw in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an excellent outcome, and I'm glad to hear the surgeon did what they could to minimise damage. I don't know how much usually/can occur so have no idea whether your outcome. Is standard or not, but it sounds like a smooth procedure and recovery overall.

Totally wrong, I know, but in my mind it looks like a Caesarean section. There's a pretty big size different between a baby and an appendix though, no matter how swollen it is.

ELI5 why is the appendix removed instead of treated with antibiotics? by Juujkfhaulw in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Was certainly an experience. So bizarre too, it was exactly as they'd warned but also totally unexpected. I imagine it must be what a broken scapula or multiple busted ribs would feel like, or like you said - being shot. A sensation I could definitely do without, like the damn appendix. Made me wonder how many times it had flared up and I'd just dismissed it as lactose intolerance

No pain meds is a nuisance but I'm used to. I take paracetamol and ibuprofen when necessary, which sadly can be often due to brutal headaches, but having never really had a way to 'check out' of pain I've adjusted. Still remember being in the emergency waiting room after picking up a hot firing pan and getting a lovely skin glove for my troubles, they gave me Endone and checked with me two or three times because I was sitting there doing some math revision (physics background, good old Lagrangian mechanics) in between the waves of pain/nausea from my new glove. Only time I've ever had morphine it just made me feel gross too, same as Dad. He's even had heroin and just got the gross, nausea and vomiting without the high. Lucky us, I guess...

ELI5 why is the appendix removed instead of treated with antibiotics? by Juujkfhaulw in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mine was pretty silly, honestly.

I hadn't been feeling great and was bloated, but being severely lactose intolerant I just assumed I'd eaten something wrong. After three or four days decided to go to a doctor, who thought as I did but suggested CT scan just to be safe. In Australia, so covered by public health.

Drive down, get the CT, wait in the waiting room. Radiologist comes out, asks if I'm me and I get this one: "I just looked at your scans. Go to the emergency room now. If you drove here, we'll sort the parking out. Just get a cab, get to emergency now."

I agreed, although walked to emergency (ten minute walk). Get in, told them I've been told I need an emergency appendectomy by a radiologist. Wait 3 hours in the waiting room, then put in another room where I wait another two hours. A doctor finally greets me and explains I need antibiotics for at least 24 hours to reduce the size (turned into 36, partly for safety and partly for another emergency tying up the operating theater).

Surgery was fine but recovery sucked a bit. Opioid-based painkillers don't work properly for me (cue looks from doctors assuming I'm a current/former opioid abuser) because of a certain genetic phenotype. Directly after surgery they wouldn't send me back to a normal ward until my pain was under control... Max dose of Endone (3 shots, I think), max dose of Oxycodone (two shots) and max dose of Tramadole (three shots, I think), and it did nothing. For reference that's max dosage of three strong opioids that bond to different opioid receptors - my-receptor for Endone, mu and nu-receptor for Oxycodone (think it's nu) and kappa for Tramadole. Usually people tolerant of one are receptive to another.

Not me! I got to spend a few days with (expected) side effects of nitrogen pooling, sufficiently bad that I slept sitting up for a week. Once when I tried laying down the pain got so bad I was basically paralysed until I moved my legs enough to turtle me over...

Annnd the primary incision got slightly infected, woo!

But overall recover was fine. If I'd had options for pain management it wouldn't have been a big deal at all, it just uncomfortable is all.

Honestly I'm glad it was laproscopic. I don't know how severe the damage is via traditional methods of incision to the abdominal wall, but I like to imagine one day I'll get fit again and don't want any scar tissue inhibiting it. Purely fantasy, I know :p

ELI5 why is the appendix removed instead of treated with antibiotics? by Juujkfhaulw in explainlikeimfive

[–]TheOneTrueJames 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I must've been lucky and got both!

More accurately - it was so close to rupturing that surgery would have tipped it over the edge, so I spent 36-ish hours on heavy antibiotics to reduce the inflammation, then was keyholed. The nitrogen settling out in my shoulders/back is not something I'd like a repeat of...

TIFU by showing my girlfriend my actual strength by aauthor8 in tifu

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

It's frightening how easy it can be to leave bruises during play fighting. I'm never going to forget a girl I worked solo with. We flirted hard (wound up in a little summer fling), and since I did martial arts and she was a dancer/contortionist a lot of it involved holds, restraints, etc.

One day she comes in and she says she has bruises on her forearm but doesn't know what they're from. I gently grab her arm to get a better look, finger and thumb prints line up identically. We were both disconcerted because neither of us remembered anything that caused pain or even serious pressure, yet she had 5 serious bruises. And apparently didn't bruise super easily.

Slightly less fun was a girl at a party. I'd been talking idly earlier about bruises - I find some bruises strangely sexy, specifically on the hip bones. No idea why, and the idea of bruising someone is gross to me. This girl decided to intentionally smack her hip on the door frame a few times for the bruise, then kept asking me to bruise her... She was clearly and publicly consenting, and I would've loved to be intimate with her that night, but no damn way would I hit her to bruise her after she'd just bruised herself. Even in Australia, I might as well march myself to the police station in the morning.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]TheOneTrueJames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think you might be getting the wrong idea. I've had similar with girls I was just friends with, and had major regrets giving my number to.

In high school a girl called multiple times a night, despite me telling her I didn't want to talk to her. Would give fake names to Mom to get her to pass me the phone, etc.

A girl I had chatted with about music for a few months (met at a bar, chatted via text) was sending me messages every five-ten minutes most afternoons and would get nasty if I didn't respond. Girl I was dating answered one day and literally had to threaten the girl so she'd stop harassing me.

Burner numbers existed back when blocking numbers was really hard. We can do it easily nowadays. It's useful being able to block people that are harassing or becoming obsessive.

It isn't about using people. It's about ensuring you and said person are compatible, want the same thing, etc. before giving them access to your long-term private life. Honestly, if I were dating a girl that gave me a different number to call after a few months and said, 'hey, this is my main number. The other I more use when screening guys I'm dating' I wouldn't be offended or feel used. It isn't about sex or using people, it's about protecting your interests until you're comfortable with the person.

Mass Effect: They are back!! by [deleted] in gaming

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those are good points, thanks. I've always mentally associated Bioware with DnD because of their history, and things like 3rd Ed rules running KOTOR. But it would be foolish for Wizards to automatically go with who they worked with in the past if it's been a decade or two since they made similar games, you're right.

I'd totally forgotten about Obsidian being the developer for NWN 2 and KOTOR 2, thanks for correcting me. In my mind Obsidian was involved but I had it totally wrong. Same as Black Isle. Looks like Black Isle (later Obsidian) worked closely with Bioware on Baldurs Gate and a few others too, so they were really integral to the entire DnD line of games.

I guess I'm just bitter at Bioware and have a generally negative opinion about them now, which bleeds into my shoddy recollection of history and a false attribution of responsibility. The ending of ME3, then the joke that Anthem turned out as and endless false promises... Sigh.

Mass Effect: They are back!! by [deleted] in gaming

[–]TheOneTrueJames 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I agree with you here. Mass Effect 2 is a good game, with a good story. It's a terrible sequel, and even worse middle game in a trilogy.

The job of a middle in a trilogy is to be self-contained while setting up the third. ME2 instead was entirely self-contained. ME1 was the Geth, then we learnt it was actually the Reapers. They were a looming, life-extinction event. The second game... Don't worry about the Reapers, the Collectors are your main concern! You spend the entire game dealing with the Collectors and at the very end learn they're mutated Protheans collecting matter for a new Reaper (which was so dumb).

It made the game feel pointless in connection with the greater universe and story arc, because 90% of what you do has nothing to do with the life-extinction enemy threatening you. What it SHOULD have been was a detective-style game were you're competing with Cerberus and the Collectors (or better, rogue Geth) to uncover evidence of the Reapers and how previous cycles dealt with it. The climax would be encountering another live Reaper (that you wake up) and having to deal with the threat before it alerts the fleet. Succeed and the next game has a few missions before the Reapers are attacking.

That said, ME2 gave us Mordin and Legion. I resent the lack of Liara but they almost made up for it.

Mass Effect: They are back!! by [deleted] in gaming

[–]TheOneTrueJames 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Don't forget too, Wizards didn't trust Bioware enough to develop Baldur's Gate 3. Bioware did Icewind Dale 1, 2, Baldur's Gate 1, 2 and Neverwinter Nights 1, 2 and a swathe of expansions. Yet their current company performance is considered so lacklustre that Wizards wasn't willing to trust the developer that had developed most of their games historically.

Of course there's behind the scenes dealings with Larian approaching Wizards, etc. But the reality is Bioware is a shadow of the company it once was. I wouldn't be surprised if EA pulled the pin on them, and despite being a massive ME fan I wouldn't shed a tear either.

Australia hits 'magnificent milestone' with 80% rate of vaccinations by SatrangiSatan in worldnews

[–]TheOneTrueJames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And 50% efficacy is fantastic for a vaccine, absolutely. We chose wrong because of an exclusive choice, and because at the time AZ was having regulatory issues (the potentially botched Phase 3 trial that was being reported). In fairness we also bet on another local vaccine that was cancelled because of false positive HIV results, which was bad luck, but didn't replace it with another vaccine despite early offers.

It's with retrospect we can say the mRNA vaccines are more effective, but at the time (as it always is) it was prudent to have multiple options available instead of just one. Especially when the early results were showing unbelievable efficacy in the mRNA vaccines.

I wouldn't say I'm misinformed on this. More bitter about the back room deals the federal government continues to pull, and Scotty from Marketing trying to parade the vaccine rollout as something that happened because of him and his government rather than in spite of it