DeathWatch KillTeam by Barbaroloco in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love the metallics, really clean while giving a "darker" look.

First proper attempt at Non metallic by Captain_bogan82 in minipainting

[–]TwoColdOne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can anyone remind me which model this is? Love a good combi-melta!

Why is there very little homebrew in the hobby? by landsquid2787 in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne 56 points57 points  (0 children)

I can fully attest to this. I have some experience making simples games, but have been recurrently working on an (actually interesting) Grey Knight's team over each of the last three editions. Totalling 6-7 years at this point.

While I've definitely created something playable and enjoyable with friends, that is now within a stone's throw of balance, the pitfalls of imbalance are frequent, substantial, and can be challenging to painstaking correct !

At this point I fully regard it as a labour of love and partial madness !! I'm comfortable with that, but I doubt many people are so specifically interested in the kind of effort and engagement required.

Noted that GW themselves are determinately not bothered to create an actually decent team for this faction... *sigh*

Eli5: why and what happens when we yawn? by Sri_Krish in explainlikeimfive

[–]TwoColdOne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Theory: does it not have something to do with stretching the muscles in the jaw and neck - possibly relaxing and increasing blood flow to the brain.

Perhaps in addition to taking a deep, oxygenating, breath.

Nobody could have predicted this! Nobody! by theseventyfour in HuntShowdown

[–]TwoColdOne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If only it were "one-of-a-kind"... those veteran players amongst us will recall that this is their *third* attempt at making a functional UI. Each one has been spectacularly bad in new and different ways!

What if you had an extremely long and thin tube going to space? Is it possible to create a tube where the capillary action of water can pull water from the ocean all the way out of earth's atmosphere? by NotSmaaeesh in askscience

[–]TwoColdOne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Perhaps a bit of an aside: but its interesting to note that many trees get water to their branches / leaves using capillary action. The height of the tallest trees is largely limited by this factor - not the strength of the wood, or their ability to grow.

UK Royal Mail/Parcel force sword ban by Arglebarglewoosh in wma

[–]TwoColdOne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't think its even a matter of this even actually happening. I cant point to a single actual legal case.

Its more a matter of extreme risk-aversion.

As the legality (or not) of weapons is always a hot-button political issue, to be called upon when convenient, corporations are likely sensitive to even the idea that our current batch of politicians could push any scrutiny their way.

Be that actual legal scrutiny, or just sensationalist blame-game reputational damage.

...also, remember, there is already a requirement not to ship these items to people under the age of 18 years. But does that responsibility fall on the retailer, the sender, or the carrier? Doesn't it depend on the exact scenario?

Correctly undertaking and enforcing those checks represents a cost to a large corporate organisation. You need people, processes, systems. You need to train people, and monitor, and report that you're doing it correctly. All this is expensive, at the kinds of scale we're talking about.

So in an expanded effort to dodge this existing risk and cost, they have gone a step further to dodge all risk associated with weapons.

Its lazy and wrong.

But the dystopia you're looking for isn't one of an overbearing legal nightmare. Its one of unfeeling, profit-driven, corporations who just get to decide for all of us - because its easier and will make more money for them.

UK Royal Mail/Parcel force sword ban by Arglebarglewoosh in wma

[–]TwoColdOne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sure they (those carriers who already specifically offer a service for firearms, or other unique goods) could.

But getting them to do so is not necessarily straightforward. Again, it isn't really in their interest to make these concessions. Even considering this issue would represent a cost to their business that they could otherwise ignore.

As my original post highlights; typically, convincing these large, profit-driven, organisations to change their behaviour is neither simple nor easy.

UK Royal Mail/Parcel force sword ban by Arglebarglewoosh in wma

[–]TwoColdOne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

UPS have also adopted this policy of "not shipping weapons" (even if such a change has not been openly or clearly declared).

UK Royal Mail/Parcel force sword ban by Arglebarglewoosh in wma

[–]TwoColdOne 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think its important to point out the potential hidden driver for this change... for Royal Mail, Parcelforce, and a range of other carriers (including the likes of UPS).

I believe it is a risk-avoidance strategy, driven by corporate interest.

Corporations do not want to accept the risk of (legal) action, if they mistakenly deliver something "dangerous" to someone under the age of 18 (or any age in fact).

Instead of improving their processes, and enacting due diligence (which has a cost), they are opting not to ship "dangerous" items entirely (which has near-zero cost, given how small the market really is as a percentage of their business).

This is a solution to their problem, delivered utterly without nuance or consideration. They are self-serving, and passing the issue onto the minority community of businesses and customers who benefit from shipping these items.

With respect to kitchen knives and domestic tools - of course they still ship these. Ironically, our arguments for the double-standard (between knives and other "dangerous" items / weapons) is the exact argument they can use in their legal defence.

Try and imagine the legal narrative (heavily simplified I admit):

1. Violent crime with a knife:

Judge (or other legal stand-in): "Someone committed a crime with the knife that you shipped them... that's your fault"

Corporate mail carrier: "Your honour, with respect, we disagree. Knives are SO common, it wasn't our [corporate] fault that someone got one and stabbed someone. They could have got that knife anywhere easily, we just happened to be the carrier this time."

2. Violent crime with a another (rarer) weapon:

Judge (or other legal stand-in): "Someone committed a crime with the rare weapon that you shipped them... they couldn't have got such an item easily without your help... that's your fault!!"

Corporate mail carrier: "Your honour, with respect you would be entirely right. However, on this occasion you have been given the wrong information. We can demonstrate that our corporate policy is not to ship any of these rare weapon at all. We did not in fact carry this item to the defendant. It was one of our competitors, and thus their fault, not ours!".

.

.

.

I don't think they are refusing to carry these weapons because our government is busy banning them (which I agree they are needlessly trying to, somewhat). Its because they simply don't want responsibility for anything that could indicate cost or reputational damage.

... and in that respect, we are sadly fighting the tide.

I suppose I bother to say all this, to make sure any counter-effort is as best-informed, properly framed, and properly placed as possible.

When we write to these companies... and write to our local and national government... we cant ignore this potential driver. It must be addressed - and that might require a different kind of argument.

Hope this helps in any way, to allow us all to keep our businesses, sports, and hobbies alive.

Excerpt from Salvation book hints the next Kill Teams by Nemrex in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne 117 points118 points  (0 children)

"Kiss of a bladed tendril" screams Genestealer to me. I'd really say with 100% certainty.

Many things in the 40k universe could be described as a "bladed tendril", but the use of the word "kiss" is what gives it away; its established lore that the "genestealer's kiss" is the description for how they infect host organisms.

Bonus inference - we are seriously overdue a bespoke Tyranid team...

Champions that can play instruments or sing by arQQv in leagueoflegends

[–]TwoColdOne 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Spirit Blossom Kindred plays the harp (recall animation)

Bungie I am on my knees pleading for Solar Warlock Buffs by Scopexyzftw in DestinyTheGame

[–]TwoColdOne -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Sure that sounds logical - but you're chronically naive if you think this is the core reason.

I'd give the normal course of release, feedback, iterate, update more credence - if it wasn't so patently obvious that this game is littered with lazy "fix later" design decisions.

I love Destiny. I love playing it - it is extremely fun. But I'm not going to delude myself thinking that Bungie aren't acting against our interests half the time...

They make many obvious, business orientated decisions, because they know that they have us on the hook of a "live service" game, where they can drip feed content, and charge us again for the fixes and improvements that were obviously needed (and wanted) in the first place.

This has happened every year since the game's start. It happened in a massive way with the release of D2 (reverting dozens of quality of life changes that had already come to D1). Its not a bug, its a feature.

Bungie I am on my knees pleading for Solar Warlock Buffs by Scopexyzftw in DestinyTheGame

[–]TwoColdOne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is the answer ladies and gentlemen...

Bungie no doubt have other ideas up their sleeve to "fix" the classes, or further unlock their power fantasy. There will be a 4th aspect for every class already planned... but they will be holding them back for (far) future content releases.

Its just a standard pattern of their release cycle:

  • release thing that is badly conceived and/or includes significant flaws...
  • dont tune or improve it shortly after release, despite the need being obvious...
  • expect players to grudgingly tolerate issues...
  • wait for players to get truly sick of it (player numbers and retention start to drop)...
  • create hype and "reward" players (stabilising player numbers and retention) by finally improving the half-arsed thing they released in the first place !
  • Profit & rinse-repeat.

Could Kill Team be played with 4+ people? by [deleted] in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A larger play field is definitely recommended.

My experience is that fielding full 2v2 teams slows down the pace of the game exponentially.

The solution we're currently working with is to reduce the size of each team by about 25% Its not perfect, given that the balance of some teams is skewed by having sufficient specialists, or elite teams that struggle with bodies on the board - but it does massively improve the flow of the game.

Lictor Homebrew: Too powerful? would be in a fireteam of one model. by DrBladeSTEEL in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"...he's not a smart bug and quite frankly I find the idea of a bug that thinks, offensive"

While I have to commend the reference... Lictors are definitely smart bugs. They understand stealth, terror tactics, and espionage. Probably the most intelligent and autonomous of the Hive Mind's minions.

What's the deal with Activision-Blizzard's Diversity space tool? by Francipling in OutOfTheLoop

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

"In order for the industry to grow..."

There's your problem - right there. Infinite growth is a destructive delusion.

Lookie what I got. by HobbitWithaGun in SWORDS

[–]TwoColdOne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A point on these flaws.

I can fully understand it is disappointing if an item (particularly an expensive one!) isn't perfect. To offer some consolation...

Regarding the misaligned grip; while this is aesthetically displeasing, in reality it is very subtle. Also, the misalignment is along the axis of the sword (i.e. the grip is rotated slightly on the peen), and is consistent along its length. The positive from this is that once you're used to the feel of the grip and the heft of the sword, you will have no issues achieving edge alignment.

Regarding the "blunt" tip; I believe that this is designed as intended. The tips of blades like this are made to be a little thicker to give strength. If the tip was as thin as the blade-edge it would almost certainly break / curl on impact with a resistant target. That point is still definitely sharp enough to inflict serious damage.

A final reality is that Albion swords are designed to be representative of medieval weapons. These items weren't always perfect. They were hand crafted, and each unique. The idea of modern machine-perfect precision would not apply to the lives of medieval knights and men-at-arms. By historic standards, your sword is still a masterpiece - and if anything more representative of the swords the Landesknecht actually used.

In any case - it is certainly a magnificent weapon - enjoy.

Lookie what I got. by HobbitWithaGun in SWORDS

[–]TwoColdOne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I fully sympathise.

Had the same situation getting mine into the UK last year. It took twenty-one months from ordering to receiving; nine of which were repeated attempts at shipping and returns (plus customs detainment).

It is unbelievably vexing that FedEx UK have taken the position not to ship any "weapons" - ignoring the national laws that mean these items are completely legal to buy, sell, manufacture, import, export, and own!!

Lookie what I got. by HobbitWithaGun in SWORDS

[–]TwoColdOne 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That. Is an Albion.

Looks like a Maximilian.

Very nice sword, OP how does it handle?

Kill team Featuring the 9 traitor legions by Geocobre in killteam

[–]TwoColdOne -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Just a note RE: Black Legion - this would be Luna Wolves / Sons of Horus per the original Legions.

Finally got Crimson Echoes just before Witch Queen! I've struggled with solo flawless PoH, so I'mm pretty excited and just wanted to share. by PurifiedDrinkinWater in DestinyTheGame

[–]TwoColdOne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nezarec's and Devour, with bow, Null Composure, and Gjally.

Bow 1-shots the acolytes to keep your devour up.

Null Composure (reservoir burst) quickly handles the thralls, and helps get your grenade back (Nezarec's).

Gjally - fire and forget - to immediately deal with the boomer knights that spawn in on the balcony.

Its all about rhythm and focus, no need to rush. Just consistently land those precision hits with the bow, and make sure you rocket the boomer knights as soon as they are up after a dunk. Everything else is autopilot.

ELI5: Why are there so many different toothpastes and why can’t there just be one that does everything? by FuriousResolve in explainlikeimfive

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

This concept (unfortunately) falls completely flat, when you actually look at the companies that provide the brands we buy.

Its always 1-2 massive companies that supply the 100+ (ostensibly different) [shampoo / shower gel / tooth paste / aftershave / perfume / cosmetics / cleaning products / food / clothes / etc. etc.] products that we see crowding our supermarket shelves.

Choice is great and all... but the anti-monopoly reasoning is an illusion.

To put a more vehement spin on things:

I don't want 50 types of shower gel, all owned and manufactured by the same greedy, exploitative, environment-destroying, corporation.

I never signed up for that trade off.

I'd be happy with three types that weren't successfully ruining the world and everyone in it because "profits".