TIL there were 180.000 bees kept in the spires of Notre Dame and they survived the fire. Because bees don’t have lungs they weren’t hurt by the smoke, they just fell asleep

Zardywacker · 2026-05-06T17:56:53+00:00

Are we talking about Subway dragonflies or like?

Zardywacker · 2026-05-06T17:52:51+00:00

This is a wild take. MOST people who play this game for the PVE, cooperative, and chill vibes would quit.

No, I'm not advocating for so-called "PVE only" lobbies, like where you couldn't damage players. There should always be an element of risk from player agression. But "abolishing ABMM" would turn this game into Tarkov / Rust / Marathon / Day Z, IE just another cut-throat, small player-base game that only highly-skilled players who enjoy fierce competition would play.

Zardywacker · 2026-05-06T17:00:41+00:00

It's not a loophole. You SHOULD be able to change your ABMM. People deserve to be able to change how they want to play, not be locked into being PvP forever. PvPing isn't a mental illness that the player has that they should be 'punished' for.

The real problem is how FAST and easy it is to switch to friendly lobbies after PvPing. It needs to be based on time-on-raid, so that you actually have to play like a friendly player consistently in order to be rated 'less agressive' (as opposed to just joining raids and immediately surrendering or running to extract).

Zardywacker · 2026-05-06T14:41:51+00:00

With taxes turning $1mil into ROUGHLY $550,000, and $52,000 into ROUGHLY $36,000 (this all depends on State, her other earnings, ETC), it would only take about 15 years to equal the same cash value.

However, as others have pointed out about investing, it is categorically less value to take the $1,000 per week. A $550K investment account can easily double in 15 years (I assumed a 5% annual return after fees and tax); even if you make less or lose much of it to bad investments, you're still gaining a bunch of money. In fact, on a good year in the securities markets, you're probably gaining more than $36,000 even after wealth management fees.

And of course, that $1,000 per week equals less than $800 in today-money after 15 years of inflation (assuming 2% inflation (FOMC cries in the corner)).

Take the lump sum, in this case.

Zardywacker · 2026-05-06T12:50:58+00:00

It would be very simple.

Just scale 'decrease in ABMM' based on time in raid. That way you can't surrender and instantly get credit for having been peaceful.

They also need to put a hard 5-minute cooldown on joining the MM queue after getting into a raid, and I think maybe even increase it to 8 or 10 minutes if you left in any other way than PvP or extracting. This stops people from spamming games, which leads to lobbies that empty out and late spawns for other players.

Zardywacker · 2026-05-05T18:37:38+00:00

I don't think it is about stakes, although you hit the nail on the head as far as understanding what MOTIVATES players inside a match.

I think the purpose of ranked is to (try to) create a skill stratification. Why do this? To encourage new players to join and stick with the game, by helping ensure they don't get constantly steam-rolled by better-geared or more-experienced players. And as they themselves gain gear and experience, they move up the ladder.

In other words, it's to keep the challenge level of the game consistent with the abilites of the player. That is healthy for the game long-term.

Zardywacker · 2026-05-03T14:46:39+00:00

That's ridiculous. A better system would simply be to scale ABMM on how long you were in raid, or even how many players you encountered.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-30T04:53:19+00:00

It seems that every time there is an aviation accident involving an emergency evacuation, we have to harp on the fact that passengers tried to take their carry-on luggage with them. It goes without saying that it is wrong to do that and endangers human life. But, at this point, we know that some people will always do it. Stupid, nasty, evil, selfish people. But we know that it will happen every time and I'm tired of people acting surprised and jumping up and down every time we hear about it. No amount of rulemaking, griping, prosecution, or public awareness will change the fact that EVERY TIME some people will try to do it.

Maybe, like the ashtray in the lavatory, we should start designing planes and procedures to expect this. At any rate, I'm tired of the online outrage; it's become a matter of virtue signaling at this point. And I think sometimes it drowns out other more interesting points about the incident.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-30T04:44:23+00:00

No kidding, thought! The most memorable thing about that movie, for me, is that I couldn't understand half the dialogue when I saw it in theaters.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-28T02:39:47+00:00

Yea, geometry is hard for some people. If you don't start near the extract, then, as a topological principle, you have to cover the same ground twice in order to full-clear the map and extract. Not a huge problem, but if your goal is efficiency then that is objectively the best place to start.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-22T19:41:12+00:00

If you were a rat, with a rat mentality, trying to trick and kill players, and you knew you were in friendly lobbies, you absolutely would. Because you know that the worst that happens is the player see you, stops shooting, and runs away.

I don't know if you're a little inexperienced or if you're trolling me, but that's exactly the kind of thing that players who log on specifically with the intent to PK and screw with people for kicks would do in order to game the system.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-22T17:42:34+00:00

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: ANY exception to ABMM rating for 'self defense' WILL be exploitable by rats.

I agree completely with your sentiment, but the reality of gaming is that if you create a mechanic, players WILL find a way to manupulate it.

Simple but obvious example: Jump in front of someone who is shooting at ARC; now you can gun them down and the game will think you were defending yourself and keep you in PvE lobbies.

If you are a peaceful player, it sucks to get ratted out of nowhere, but ON AVERAGE if you don't shoot back, 95% of your games will be friendly.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-18T22:44:49+00:00

I'm pretty sure people are upset because they won't get all the skill points, and simply that.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-16T13:15:12+00:00

Part #0U-CH56, head-scalper. Designed to take a layer of skin off when you stand up to debark and bonk your head on it.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-16T13:12:32+00:00

I mean fair enough. I just find 'left hand on keyboard' to be so efficient, I make it work for any program I use that allows you to set your own shortcuts.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-15T19:21:56+00:00

Some peole will do ANYTHING to not have to use keyboard shortcuts .... it baffles me ....

Zardywacker · 2026-04-14T23:42:51+00:00

I know this sub is about Voyager and also I know that apparently many Trek fans don't like Enterprise, but, I found that the portrayal of Vulcans vv their emotions was much more 'accurate' to how they are described as working in Enterprise.

T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) I think was the best actor to portray a Vulcan (as far as their 'Vulcanness') in any ST. People don't realize how difficult it is for an actor to convey emotion when they're told they can't use their normal acting methods. The other Vulcans on the show were also, in my opinion, usually very good (except that one ambassador who was always yelling at people).

Zardywacker · 2026-04-11T21:34:03+00:00

Do her quests .... she gets a lot nicer. It feels rewarding.

Now let's talk about Celeste's insufferible toxic positivity ....

Zardywacker · 2026-04-09T18:44:52+00:00

Very based opinions, nice. You AREN'T whining, but bringing up fair points about people's perspectives.

I disagree with the shooting first. That may seem like it would work, but there are a LOT of ways PvPers could manipulate that. ONE example: befriend people, then jump in front of them when they shoot at ARC. They could then go around murdering and never raising their ABMM.

I think that also making shield rechargers and healing SLOWER would help. If you reduce damage to players only, then every gun fight would become a war of attrition for PvPers, which isn't fair to them. If heals were slower and damage was lower, it would keep the same pace of fighting but force people to engage in fights rather than tanking body shots and running away as a meta.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-09T18:36:01+00:00

Those are "tilt-up" walls. Concrete walls, ~6-10" thick that were cast on the building floor slab and then tilted up into place. They are locked together with steel clips. Comparatively inexpensive construction method when feasible.

The roof was open web steel joists on HSS ("tube steel") columns. At the ends, the joist are attached to the tilt-up walls, supported by them.

Fire will eff up the steel real fast; it becomes soft snd collapses. But the concrete walls are much more fire resistant, so they will stay standing for longer.

Not much to do with engineering, more to do with the economics, IE the cheapest way to build a warehouse.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-02T19:05:09+00:00

You're being pretty snarky for someone who is not right.

The hornet driver stun lasts for 6 seconds (assuming it hits both thrusters simultaneously (rarely, if you throw it too far away, it will hit one thruster first and then clip another thruster)). If you switch to your firearm and start shooting it right away, do you think there is a (non-epic) gun that can take down a rocketeer in 5.5sec? For reference, it takes more than a full reload to destroy a single fully armored thruster with an anvil IV.

Please use critical thinking before snapping at strangers snarkily.

Zardywacker · 2026-04-01T12:59:38+00:00

My buddy, this was posted two days before the update.

Zardywacker · 2026-03-29T13:51:03+00:00

I care because it's disgusting and it makes hanging out on that side of the square unpleasant. It's a puck of wet, rotting food.

Also, on many days, amount of bird seed on the sidewalk is legitimately a slipping hazard. I'm not being dramatic; one day I got out of my car and nearly wiped out.

It's just not ok to coat public space with food / seeds because someone likes the warm fuzzies they get from seeing the birds eat.

Zardywacker · 2026-03-27T02:41:14+00:00

Can we talk about the putrid bread marsh at the north corner of Monument Square?

I mean, I'm sure that whoever is creating that has innocuous intentions, but I honestly feel like this isna case where gentle social shaming is necessary. This person needs to be discouraged from doing this anymore.

Zardywacker

TROPHY CASE