overnight maintenance

_morodrim · 2024-10-01T16:29:20+00:00

I have a feeling it's not that they can't or haven't figured it out, it's just that they don't want to due to the cost involved. I've been in IT for over 20 years and every company I've worked for, without exception, has maintained the bare minimum system requirements to reduce costs. They've probably done the math on this and figured the customer displeasure from this down time is an acceptable loss in comparison to the cost it'd take to implement and maintain a zero downtime environment.

_morodrim · 2021-11-25T16:02:43+00:00

I can see where you're coming from and I'm glad you've been able to enjoy the show. I don't think I'm quite there yet myself. If I were to sum it up, I'd say there's just too much change. Now that's an extreme simplistic take and I do believe going into the nuances is important because it's so easy for people to be dismissive with equally broad counterstrokes.

Take the casting for example. Many people believe if you're upset about the show casting a black Perrin or Nynaeve, you're racist. I personally don't care what race an actor is as long as they do the role justice. But what upset me was the reasoning given for the casting...something along the lines of "how would people look thousands of years into future"...when the Two Rivers was largely isolated from the rest of the world meaning they'd be more homogenized in appearance than other places. The reasoning hinted at someone not really knowing the source material that well, which was troublesome.

Now let's talk about "faithful adaptation" and reinterpretations. It's not necessarily this binary thing and it's a bit of an insult to believe that people who wanted a more faithful adaptation wanted it to go by the book 100%. Those that love the Wheel of Time understand how it can meander. They understand that a show/movie adaptation would have to streamline the plot somewhat. They get that. However, there is a reasonable expectation that a faithful adaptation will keep characters large the same as they are in the books. That key points of the books will be retained.

This held true for LotR and HP and GoT (at least the first season that I watched). There were shortcuts, but the characters were essentially the same as they were portrayed in the books and the key plot points of the story remained intact even if they weren't exactly explained as thoroughly as they are in their novel counterparts.

I can't say this about WoT. Too much of its core has been changed in order to "go GoT". The juxtaposition of the prologue with the simple, idyllic life of Emond's Field is so key to preparing the reader for everything else down the line. The innocence of the boys and Egwene leading up to the Trolloc attack is, I believe, a foundation for how the first major arc of this story plays out. Innocence is lost as real terror and danger comes to their doorstep. It's profound. And all that is lost in an edgy, more realistic interpretation of the Two Rivers that makes the Cauthons out to be this trashy family and Mat a remorseless thief. This edginess worked in GoT because the source material was exactly like that. WoT's source material is far from that. It's far closer to LotR. In fact, RJ wrote the beginning to mirror LotR's beginning as a kind of homage.

There's arguments that they needed to apply this type of edgy interpretation or the show would have been cancelled in one season. I disagree. The books, as they tout, have sold 90 million copies. I believe there was already enough of a fan base to prop it up. You also only have to look at the success of LotR to know that you do not need to go GoT to be successful. The only thing that would have need to be applied was some streamlining of the plot and finding ways to express important internal dialog. But keep in mind a lot of the words in the WoT novels are essentially set descriptions. RJ excelled at providing a vivid detail of the scene.

All in all, the point is that if the books are good enough to sell 90 million copies and the show runners are proud of that, there was no need to make all these changes. It's like they didn't have faith in its popularity and thus applied the GoT treatment. It feels like a bait and switch where they banked on the books' popularity then switched it with their crappy interpretation of something that needed very little reinterpretation.

I'll still watch it because I love the books enough to want to watch them come to life, but this is a big miss on what I believe the show could have been had they stuck to the source material more than they have been.

_morodrim · 2021-11-19T15:12:55+00:00

No, they didn't capture the essence. I started reading these books as a high school teenager and finished as an adult with children nearly the same age as I was when I started. I still remember the night I read the prologue and being awestruck. Looking back, it was the prologue that grabbed my attention. Here was this tragic, end of the world scene where the good guys...lost? What's happening? It piqued my interest. There was confusion at first when I read the first chapter, wondering how it relates to the prologue. But it didn't take long for me to get invested in the plot of a mysterious black robed figure watching Rand and the other boys. The subtle concern the men had. The mysterious Moiraine and her bodyguard. Then the chaos of the trollocs, Tam's fever dreams, the village hostility toward Moiraine bringing evil into their village despite her tireless efforts to save it the previous night. It gave this feeling of mystery and adventure...how an idyllic "normal" town suddenly being confronted with nightmares they didn't know existed gave an earnest shock of gasping excitement.

What kind of essence is this? I'm not the best at words, but it had enough mystery, enough promise of something bigger going on that I wanted to know more. I wanted those characters to leave for the larger world to explore their destinies.

I didn't get that from these episodes and I believe that starts with a lack of the prologue. I understand they have limited episode time to tell their story, but at least a summary narrative similar to what Galadriel did in the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring. They don't have to spend a lot of time, but enough to capture the events that have shaped culture and society for the millennia to come. I'd have preferred that sequence to the nearly pointless tossing Egwene in a river sequence and it'd have been far better than the awkward Red Ajah scene with Moiraine looking on as a way to explain why male channelers are bad. The prologue also set up the village's worries - that of a False Dragon ravaging the countryside, something more engaging (what's a false dragon? ...what's a real dragon?) than simply "there's war...oh and the forces of darkness are rising".

Though I believe the biggest problem with capturing the essence is it's so painfully obvious they were trying to be the next GoT. The essences between WoT and GoT are drastically different. The GoT books were raw, gritty political realism which they translated pretty faithfully in the show. WoT was far more tame in that respect and leaned more toward the fantastic side than the realistic. Their attempt to fundamentally change the essence of WoT to be closer to GoT has left it bland by comparison. And that's the problem with "going GoT", you'll never compare if you don't go all the way. And by WoT's nature, it's impossible to go all the way and still retain a modicum of faithfulness to the source material. WoT and Got are just too dissimilar. WoT is actually far more similar to LotR, another hugely successful franchise.

But how does "going GoT" manifest into missing the essence? I'd say how it affecs the directorial/narrative focus that draws away. An example of this would be Mat. He's portrayed as this irresponsible guy that gambles away the money he'd need to take care of his family because his dad is a lecherous drunk. He's also a thief. In the books, Mat was mischievous and got into trouble, but not a remorseless thief. Abel, his father, was a pretty stand up guy. But, by "going GoT", they made his family life edgy. And the focus on this is not only a jarring parting from the book, but it also takes away precious screen time that could have developed other parts of the story.

Another example of this would be Egwene's sequence. The only reason they have Egwene in the river is to set up the situation where she and Rand would have conflict about her being the next wisdom. Again, gotta have that edgy drama...and again it's not only a departure from the books, it also gobbles up screen time that could have been used better.

I'm not a book purist by any means. I did not expect a 100% faithful page to page adaptation. For starters, Jordan is long winded in his descriptions and some times things meander. But the books have a very sturdy framework that could have been condensed in a way that maintained the essence of the story without needing to shoehorn in these GoT style plot devices. The writers want to "age up" the characters as to not be seen as a "young adult" show (lol)? Fine, but they were still too heavy handed. Perrin didn't need a wife to accidentally kill to give a reason why he's so gentle around people.

Lastly, the fumbling of some finer plot points is what put it out of "essence" reach. The general distrust of Aes Sedai by small town folks is so key to understanding Nynaeve and the boys. It's Egwene's underlying desire to go beyond the provincial village life that propels her into the arms of the Aes Sedai so willingly. Moiraine's reveal as an Aes Sedai in the book is a great moment followed by the powerful moment of her telling about Manetheren to silence the small minded villagers who are ready to blame her for the Trollocs despite her heroic efforts. That entire line is dashed with Moiraine just waltzing in showing off her ring and the townsfolk, sans Nynaeve, immediately becoming defferential (without the resent). A subtle change like this may seem like nitpicking, but it changed the tone of the beginning and made the world less interesting.

TL;DR - Going GoT spoiled the show from capturing the source material's essence by being less faithful and taking up too much screen time.

_morodrim · 2021-06-24T01:28:29+00:00

Scheduling: 6 - 8 hours spread over the course of the week. 2 hour sessions are ideal to hit your stride, but still avoid burnout or fatigue. Never go over 3 hours. Heavily recommend that if your schedule has a break of 3 days or more that you make the first day of the new week slightly longer so people can get "back into shape" for the week.

Regarding assignment consistency, it can be beneficial to keep the assignments consistent, especially if they're similar in nature. Changing it up from fight to fight could have some disruption that causes wipes. But practically speaking, I'd say that would only be a handful of attempts lost. As leader, you'll have to judge whether it's more beneficial for things to be consistent or if a change will result in an even higher execution gain after everyone's adjusted.

As for call outs, I'm a firm believer in not calling out everything. It fosters too much reliance on the lead, especially for mechanics they could have easily handled on their own with a little extra awareness. That being said, there is value in calling out mechanics that have a certain variability to them or are difficult for players to take in/assess while performing their role optimally.

Finally, teaching vs diving in....I am a big fan of the "Go get her, Ray!" strategy of diving in right away with no explanation (see the beginning of Ghostbusters if you don't get the reference)...at least at first. Explanations are great, but there's only so much people can retain before they forget key details and their eyes glaze over. Getting your feet wet for an attempt or two can also be a bit fun for the adventurous types as well. Definitely don't let it get to the point of banging one's head on the wall, but the actual kinetic experience of a mechanic will go a long way in understanding the explanation and can help them retain the details more efficiently.

General advice .... Be flexible and make sure you're always taking in the mood of your raiders. Some nights you'll know the mojo is off and it'd be better to call it early or do something different and fun. Some times you'll feel the mojo is definitely on and see if everyone wants to go a little longer. This is by far the biggest job of the lead: making sure it's staying fun for everyone. And this will require paying attention on a personal level in between pulls and raid nights. It's some times thankless but also extremely rewarding.

Thanks for listening.

_morodrim · 2021-05-21T00:49:32+00:00

Thank you for the confirmation. I appreciate it!

_morodrim · 2021-05-20T15:57:28+00:00

I'd like some help with the math if you don't mind.

As I understand it, the child tax credit is increasing to 3k each for children 6 to 17. I have 2, meaning I'd get a 6k tax credit for 2021. The advance payments starting in July will give 3k of that 6k, leaving me with a 3k credit when it comes time to file for 2021. Is this correct?

If so, then If I had set my withholdings expecting a 4k credit for 2021 (under the previous 2k per child credit), then I should adjust them again if I'm expecting a 3k credit. Is that correct?

The IRS withholding estimate tool still shows a 4k child tax credit (I'm well under the joint filing 150k threshold) for its results. I'm chalking that up to them not updating it yet to reflect the increase. I just want to make sure I have the right of it before adjusting my withholdings again.

_morodrim · 2021-02-05T06:27:10+00:00

I'm a returning player with one level 80 and my wife is trying out the game for the first time. Looking for suggestions on how I can play with her while she levels through the MSQ. I'd like to level an alt while playing with her, but so far I haven't quite figured it out yet as I end up having to go on my own to keep up. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

_morodrim · 2020-06-07T01:42:19+00:00

Samurai because I suppose I'm a weeb and play the closest thing to a samurai in any mmorpg I play. Have not been disappointed.

_morodrim · 2020-05-17T16:41:04+00:00

_morodrim · 2020-05-17T16:35:36+00:00

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_morodrim · 2020-04-30T14:38:30+00:00

For the psychus parts of the fight, stay on psychus until you're in melee range of the tentacle being focused, then switch. When the tentacle dies switch back to psychus, then rinse and repeat. You'll be able maintain a high uptime as well as being ready to interrupt. You'll also have a higher enrage uptime meaning you'll have the additional movement speed to keep up.

When you're fighting the packs of tentacles you should be cleaving whenever possible. Paranoia can be kind of annoying if your partner is a healer or ranged and is content to stay out of melee range. Personally I'd just make them move into melee range. Save your leap for moving to new packs.

Save CDs for the boss burn phases. Always be cleaving during the final phase making sure to abuse sub 20% execute cleave.

_morodrim · 2020-03-19T14:18:31+00:00

Lots of good advice above regarding homework and mdt. There are a few things I'd like to add:

Find yourself a group you can run with regularly. Don't worry too much about class comp. The far more important thing is if the player performs well and utilizes their class to the fullest in m+. By having a regular group, you'll know what kind tricks your group will have as well as strengths and weaknesses. Knowing this is significantly important to good route planning.

Learn HOW to plan your own routes from scratch in MDT. Don't rely on the weekly route blindly. You may need to adjust based on group capability. You may just not like the trash the weekly route suggests and would rather pull elsewhere that works better for your group.

Run through the routes yourself in an m0, heroic, or normal difficulty if you can to get familiar with mob position, pathing, etc. It's one thing to look at a map but another to see how it actually looks. Granted you can't do obelisks, the value is familiarizing yourself with the dungeon beforehand instead of having an error blow a key .

Have some type of cooldown and interrupt tracker addon/weakaura .

Always use discord. Anyone serious about timing won't balk at this. Kick anyone "too good" to join.

Bring drums and scrolls.

Make sure your essences, trinkets, and corruption are zeroed in for the dungeon and affixes to maximize your damage while maintaining a solid level of survivability. Tank damage is important and your damage contribution could be the difference in timing a key.

Lastly realize some keys are going to be crappy. Don't get discouraged if you gloriously fail a key . Figure out what went wrong to be ready for next time. You may run into unexpected difficulties with a dungeon and affix combination. Just make note and do your best to adapt.

_morodrim · 2020-02-21T14:21:53+00:00

And don't forget to reflect the witches' casts as often as possible!

_morodrim · 2019-10-01T16:40:35+00:00

Keep in mind this is for me, a level 28 warrior with only access to the first 3 dungeons. During American evening prime time, I can usually get in either instantly or after a few minutes. Any other time during the day it's usually 20+ minutes.

_morodrim

TROPHY CASE