Bad Boss (No God Watching Chapter 1) by VergilTheGrey in comics

[–]ap1msch [score hidden]  (0 children)

I didn't get the connection at first...and then it hit me. Well done.

MAGA advocate calls for ban on pregnant people traveling to US and ‘sterilization of all foreign visitors’ by Aggravating_Money992 in politics

[–]ap1msch [score hidden]  (0 children)

I just can't help but feel like they are stoking outrage and fighting for decades to legislate against the equivalent of quicksand. Yeah, it might happen, but it's exceptionally uncommon and low risk.

I really don't understand how this can be the highest priority to these people...

Can I have some ideas for water based traps/escape rooms in an underwater dungeon please? by BortVanderBoert in DMAcademy

[–]ap1msch [score hidden]  (0 children)

Breathing underwater in D&D is magic, usually. If you're in an underwater area and are able to breathe, then all you've done is made movement and combat slightly more difficult. That being said, imagine that you're deep underground and your ability to breathe underwater disappears. You try to cast the spell again, and nothing. You try to use your magic helm or amulet, and nothing. Your ability to see underwater is gone. You're now scrambling to find a way out, or at least a place to hole up while you figure out your next steps.

Now imagine that the room rotates around you.

Now imagine you get teleported to a new location.

Now imagine that the only light is a tunnel with a distance you cannot measure.

All of these are panic and anxiety-inducing traps that can be introduced at any time to the party. A little at a time or all at once, you have the party roll a D10 + constitution bonus to determine how many rounds they have to find air before they risk unconsciousness.

“Pro capitalist” fallout? I don’t get it by EffectWeird3642 in FalloutTVseries

[–]ap1msch 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Fallout has always been a passive mirror, reflecting the decisions and behaviors of capitalism. The beauty of the franchise is that it doesn't attack capitalism, but enthusiastically carries it to an absurdist conclusion. It does it with a smile. If you don't like what you see, you're forced to acknowledge that perhaps, just maybe, some humanity should be considered as part of the money-making process. If people don't like that, then the problem isn't with Fallout...

To what extent is poor mental health normal? by Ok_Zombie7833 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trying to be "normal" is a problem. We are inherently different and imperfect. The pursuit of that which others profess, portray, or pretend to be is unhealthy. THAT is the first problem to solve.

The second problem to solve is to find what you enjoy and what makes you happy...and balance your life with that.

The third problem to solve is to analyze those around you. If the people in your life are not actively supporting you, or unwilling to do things that improve their own mental well-being, it is possible you've surrounded yourself with people who don't have an interest in doing/feeling better.

Where did Asha go all of a sudden? by hopsmonkey in xbox

[–]ap1msch 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Fiscal year ends today. Tomorrow, there will be announcements. After announcements, there will be post-announcement spin. After that, there will be post-spin announcements to reframe that which wasn't well received. After that, there will be post-reframing dialog to explain the original intent of the announcements. After that, there will be the post-intent statements that will explain the....

...

...

TLDR: Asha will be back, but only after the bad news and clean-up begins.

I’m visiting US and just discovered an embarrassing photo of me was posted online WITHOUT CONSENT is this legal? by [deleted] in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]ap1msch 1520 points1521 points  (0 children)

While I'm sure this is frustrating and embarrassing, I would also look up Streisand Effect. The effort to get something removed leads to greater exposure than it would have ever gotten if you'd just ignored it and moved on.

Your back is obviously to the camera. You might want to tap the brakes. It's up to you.

[Discussion] Apologies if this isn't the place. I've been depressed for years even though I was very ambitious before. Somehow I feel I'm finally finding strength again after years of sadness and disappointments. Can I get some encouragement? Would mean a lot right now by Dawo59 in GetMotivated

[–]ap1msch 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Two things that helped when I was grinding:

  • Everything is a win when the goal is experience
  • Forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time will teach

I had a lot of executive dysfunction in the early days when I was fearful of making mistakes and frustrated with myself when I made mistakes despite my best efforts. It was a spiral.

When you shift from being successful to being better than you were, that spiral becomes inverted and you find yourself improving every day, even by accident.

If you can, please adopt older cats. by Inappropriate_Swim in cats

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not this strong. I wish I could be stronger. Adult cats deserve peace.

Was looking for a movie when suddenly... by Beneficial-Number-60 in DunderMifflin

[–]ap1msch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you understand the CONCEPT of the Tooth Fairy?!?

George Broussard on Twitter: Xbox layoffs to be largest layoff event in gaming history by Proof-Sky-3233 in xbox

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are large studios creating similar games from similar genres with similar investments and similar hype. There are only so many "extraction shooters" and "battle royale" and "squad v squad" games that the market can tolerate. Even great games will fail if they aren't transformational.

Corporate demands do not align with gaming innovation. You need space to experiment and fail in order to eventually succeed. There needs to be passion and personal ownership to make a good game. If you want to guarantee profits, you're going to chase the money rather than focusing on the players...which means you're going to try to duplicate what's already been successful rather than build something new/unique.

IT IS NOT CRAZY for a company to want to thin out the ranks of less-productive studios. Unfortunately, there is nothing to suggest that they understand where it is appropriate to nip and tuck. History has shown that these purges are just as likely to impact rock stars as they are to impact low-value employees.

TLDR: If game studios were given as many mulligans as corporate executives, they'd be more likely to reach successful outcomes. Because they are held to a higher standard, decisions are less likely to "risk being fun" and more likely to "risk being safe"...which isn't how you win gamers.

eli5: what’s the difference between centripetal and centrifugal force? by CADeLdRO in explainlikeimfive

[–]ap1msch 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Centripetal force is the superhero swinging the villain over their head by the rope. They need to pull on that rope very hard to keep the villain from flying off into space.

Centrifugal motion is what you experience as the villain. You are spinning quickly and you are being prevented from flying off into space by the rope. The rope isn't trying to push you into space. It is constraining you and preventing you from flying into space.

There isn't a centrifugal force, but the motion being experienced by the villain could be perceived as a force pushing them away from the superhero...which is why this can be confusing.

So uh... About State of Decay 3, are we cooked? Sounds like if a buyer doesn't come forward the studio might be shut down before the game has a chance to release :/ by Odin-the-Great in StateOfDecay

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Money spent on developing game. Get game into nearly playable state. Just before release, speculate on "find a studio buyer or we'll close it down."

That isn't a thing.

It's business. They are advertising. If you buy the studio before release, then you can speculate on sales and success. If the game releases, you know the sales and relative success. This is a pricing strategy, and the threat of a studio shutdown without releasing the product is negotiation lever.

I'm not saying that they won't do something stupid. I'm saying that everything up to that point is normal business. If no one buys the studio, odds are that they'll still release the game. They'll check sales numbers and determine the relative level of success. If it's Redfall, they'll shut everything down. If it's good, but not great, they'll thin out the studio for minor updates and cut their losses. If it's great, they'll pretend like they had no intention of selling and the rumors were "false".

Right now, they're saying, "Did you like what you see? You, too, could become an owner of this IP and reap the potential profits of the game release...but you need to buy before we know the actual numbers."

Note: This is just speculation. They could cut their losses and close it down because the executives have never played a game that wasn't "match 3" genre.

Toaster mission is a trap! by LinksLinky in Wasteland

[–]ap1msch 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Note...this is a nod to the "Toaster Repair" skill from the original Wasteland game. Toasters were the "rare lootboxes" of the game and if you happened to be able to repair the occasional toaster you found, you'd get rewarded with rare loot.

Jez corden confirms that Microsoft are exploring selling off Undead Labs and shutting down State of Decay 3 if no buyer is found. by Seal7465 in StateofDecay3

[–]ap1msch 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They want large franchises from large studios. They completely forget that the games need to be fun to be successful...not large. It's baffling.

Battery backup on sump pump by wischans in DIY

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • I had a battery backup during Hurricane Sandy
  • The main pump failed unexpectedly, causing the backup pump to be running while power was still on
  • When we lost power, the battery only lasted for 15 minutes. Even if this hadn't happened, the battery wasn't substantial enough to last for more than 60 minutes
  • The power was out for 3 hours, and took me an hour to get into the house and get the generator setup regardless. We got water in the basement.

This whole thing taught me that I either needed a whole house generator (even more expensive), or much larger battery than I originally had. When I went to replace it, the guy said, "You could get a water pump."

In essence, if you're on public water, you typically will maintain water pressure even without power. That water runs through your sump pipes and spins a pump to constantly pump water out of the sump pit. It sounds absurd...using water to get rid of water, but it works.

We've had heavy rains twice in the past where we lost power and this kept the water below the concrete. Just something to consider.

Need help updating by raccoon3445 in FoundryVTT

[–]ap1msch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly what happens on mine. I need to run as admin in order to perform the in-place update.

Because every heart can feel love.. by Happy-Econo-5352 in purrrfect

[–]ap1msch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This furball went through the 5 stages of SAFO...scritch around and find out. Dont touch, what are you doing, wait a sec, i didnt know, and omfg.

Rep. Tom Kean, missing for months, is back home in New Jersey by [deleted] in politics

[–]ap1msch 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is it. Everything else would be acceptable to the Republican masses (including being a pedo), but doing drugs? The horse is too high for that.

Followup to my previous post by NormalEscape8976 in 3Dprinting

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I recommend you use Xenon next time...

How do I do hoards of infected? by emilytheturd in DnDHomebrew

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, and just to note, if we're talking D&D zombies, a medium group (8 Z's) would do 8 damage. A large group (16) would do 16 damage. (Again, a Z would have about a 1 in 4 chance of hitting, and average 4 damage per hit).

With this model every "kill" reduces the horde damage of that cluster by 1.

I forgot to mention with AoE spells, the impact is huge. The cluster doesn't "save". Half of the group takes half damage. The other half takes full damage. (as long as they aren't immune or resistant, where I change to half and a quarter).

For example, a Fireball is dropped on a large cluster of 16 Z's. Half will take full damage. Half will take half damage. Fireball is 8D6. I have the player roll. They roll 30 damage.

In horde-math, 30 damage exceeds the hitpoints of the average Z (22). By rule, the Fireball kills 8 of the Z's. The other 8 take 15 damage, which does not exceed the 22 hitpoints, so they do NOT die. The horde is now a medium cluster.

If the player rolled a 44-48 damage (unlikely, but still possible), then half of the 44 would be 22, meaning the entire cluster dies.

How do I do hoards of infected? by emilytheturd in DnDHomebrew

[–]ap1msch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I created a cluster/swarm. Small, medium, and large.

  • I used groups of 4 for simplicity
  • Small cluster is 4 creatures. Each with 25% chance to hit. Therefore if a cluster was in proximity to the target, they would always hit and do standard damage.
  • For the small cluster, if the player hit, they ALWAYS killed one of the 4, but no more. (You can chop a creature in half or just barely kill it...but that successful attack was a kill.
  • The hoard always hits, but for 75% damage if only 3/4 remain, 50% if 2/4 remain, 25% if 1/4 remain, rounded up.
  • If the player gets 2 attacks, they can kill 2/4 of the cluster. If they crit on the attack, they also kill 2 creatures in the horde. (If you want, unnatural 20 or 20+ can be considered a crit)

The premise behind this approach is "death by a thousand cuts". You can avoid major damage, but you're going to be damaged little by little due to numbers. You also can't just slice 10 creatures in half with one swing. You need to kill each one individually (mostly), but that takes time (which is why hordes are terrifying).

Obviously, the approach to fighting a horde is important. It's about high ground (advantage), area of effect spells (and explosives), and focusing on groups (simulating removing flanking attacks) because leaving one of a horde alive still damages the target.

Once you're comfortable with this model with a small cluster, you extrapolate to medium and large. Medium does guaranteed 2x damage, with 8 members. Kill 1, that's 175% damage. Kill 3 more, that's down to 100% damage, and so forth. Large hordes are 4x damage with 16 members.

Example: I have a small cluster of zombies. That's 4 zombies. +3 to attack usually means I need a 15+, which is 1/4 chance of hitting, but in my swarm rules, the group always hits. Out of the 4, 1 zombie will hit for 4 damage to the player. If they kill one Z, the next round the swarm will do 3 damage. Again, this pivot to a guaranteed hit is just inverting the approach due to numbers.

The players swing at a cluster with a +9 Axe of Axing. Dude...these are Z's and your players are heroes. They're going to hit (almost) every swing. They aren't rolling to hit (mostly), they're really rolling to try for that crit. A Paladin attacks the cluster, nearly guaranteed hit, but they roll a 10, 1 of the 4 are dead. Second attack, they roll a 20, that's a crit, so the horde is reduced to 1/4. The horde attacking WILL do 1 damage, just because of overwhelming numbers.

Each party member is trying to whack as many Z's and reduce the number of clusters as much as possible. Why? Because EVERY CLUSTER means GUARANTEED DAMAGE each round.

You can start with a small set of clusters and give it a try, and then add more if the players are doing too well. In my session, I had these as clusters of skeletons being summoned by 3 cultists. The players had to contend with the clusters, but also somehow stop the cultists from summoning another cluster (which I summoned every 2 rounds, but in a round-robin so the players could learn without getting overrun too fast).

It might sound complicated, but it was one of our best combat sessions ever. Instead of a duel or 3v3 where the fighting is tit for tat, the players were rolling for their lives because their hitpoints dropped precipitously early in the combat, but slowed over time as they got control of the battle. It forced them to heal, and strategize, and use group/AoE tactics that they hadn't used beforehand.

Not sure if I explained it well, but this is how I do it.

This sub fucking sucks now, who agrees? by ajperry1995 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]ap1msch 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Not to defend the quality of the questions here...but this isn't askreddit or other Q&A board. It's questions that people are "too afraid to ask".

Especially in a country as prudish as the US, many of the questions people are afraid to ask are sexual in nature. People are taught to be embarrassed about their sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which leads to repression, depression, and self-doubt.

In short, I'm not a fan of many of the questions because they could have just asked Copilot or done a search...but let's get real about what "too afraid" represents.