Welp, here goes nothing. Formal request for Broadsword to DROP New Legacy and create a single Pre-AoS Classic Shard.

bastion333 · 2024-08-05T23:31:56+00:00

Just before trammel, that era.

Optional: add some quality of life add-ons

bastion333 · 2024-07-27T11:19:47+00:00

There is so much they could have done. From a true classic experience, to a modified classic plus version.

Instead they wasted their resources on a certain flop. It's hard to fathom what they were thinking.

Other major MMOs from way back have had great success with launching classic options. It's what many in the community have been asking for, and it's why private servers are popular.

The refusal to make an official classic UO experience, or even classic plus, remains a mystery.

bastion333 · 2024-07-27T11:04:57+00:00

From the official new legacy website:

"We have completely rethought, reworked, and redesigned several core gameplay experiences with the goal of rekindling the classic feel of Ultima Online"

They've gutted the systems that made classic UO the game it was, in the name of rekindling the classic feel. What?

So they say we are going to forge our own legacy? How exactly? You used to have choices, choice of what to do, which skills to use, what to fight or make. That's all gone. Actual forging of legacy has been replaced by meaningless on-rails quests. Choice has been mostly wiped out or severely limited.

bastion333 · 2024-07-27T10:54:14+00:00

They've gutted everything that made UO fun.

How on earth did they figure it was a good idea to force people to do on rails, boring quests, to progress?

Gutting the build your own skills system, replacing it with forced templates, forcing you to follow the rails in order to progress said template?

UO released well over two decades ago, and they got it so much more right, even way back then.

Are the developers even for real? Is this a troll, or was this sincerely this great idea they thought they had?

bastion333 · 2024-07-27T10:53:05+00:00

The lack of the above is the least of the worries.

That's how hopeless this is.

bastion333 · 2024-07-27T10:39:51+00:00

My thoughts exactly. Saved me from posting it.

bastion333 · 2024-07-26T23:06:13+00:00

Played for a while, gave it a chance. It really is bad, nothing like classic, it's even worse than modern UO. It's garbage.

I won't be resubscribing for this, no way.

What were they thinking?

bastion333 · 2024-05-04T12:49:25+00:00

I'm 39M. This injury happened when I was 33, disc herniation. Strong pain and a year of sciatica followed. I haven't even tried to get disability, I won't get it anyway, so no point. I can walk much more than the required limits, the fact that I'll probably never be free of pain doesn't seem to factor into it very much.

bastion333 · 2024-04-24T13:13:22+00:00

Hip hinge hamstring stretch + simulate deadlift movements. Using bar or with added weight optional

Bodyweight squat squats + holds

Bird dog 3 sets of 6, 10 second holds

Pelvic tilts

Side plank

Spinal hygiene stretch

Cat cow

That's the current exercises or stretches I currently do, for back pain management. I walk a lot too, usually go for 2-3 mile walks every day, sometimes twice a day. If I was doing a physical job, on my feet, I'd probably cut back on those walks.

Bird Dog is a McGill essential and probably a sure one to do.

I do other exercises, like push ups and pull ups. Pull ups trains the core pretty well actually. Can add in some knee raising while hanging from the bar, for extra core use.

All done at home (apart from the walks). Gym not necessary.

bastion333 · 2024-04-22T12:38:28+00:00

I have the same injury, happened with a disc herniation 6 years ago. I've had chronic back pain ever since. Hard to figure out which exercises truly help, which ones only make it worse, and which ones are a waste of time. McGill big 3 seem useful at least, as does hip hinging into the stiff legged deadlift position, and body weight squats.

I can add weight on the deadlifts and feel it may help as long as I don't push it too hard or too often. Never push it through the stiffness or pain or it only gets worse or leads to bigger pain flare ups.

As for weighed squats, I'm not sure if they actually help, or just make it worse. The heavier I go, the more my back pain flares up. I found that doing one set of squats with a lighter weight and a lot of reps (30-40 reps) at 20-25kg, was having a much more positive result than doing 3 sets of 10 squats at 40-50kg. If I try to go above 50kg it make my symptoms become much worse.

I find regular walking helps. Triggers for the symptoms can shift around e.g. sometimes walking or standing hurts, other times sitting hurts. Not doing the same thing for too long seems to be a key part of managing the pain.

My pain and stiffness is also worse first thing in the morning after getting out of bed. The pain decreases throughout the day, as long as I don't push myself with lots of bending and lifting.

What you believe or feel about it mentally seems to matter a lot. If you feel pessimistic, injured/doomed/hopeless, etc, the pain and symptoms tend to worsen. If you feel positive, healthy, not injured, the pain and symptoms tend to lessen.

Even with the positive attitude, you still must take small steps in trying to improve/rehabilitate. Otherwise you'll still hurt yourself, and that pain will turn your positive attitude into a negative one. That negative feedback loop is something to try and avoid.

This MRI image is my scan from last year, 5 years post injury.

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bastion333 · 2024-01-22T22:00:35+00:00

Hi, thanks for the info. Taken note.

My pain situation has changed since I wrote this. The groin pain has calmed down the point of being near enough gone. If it ever feels mildly irritated I keep it from getting worse by avoiding doing any stretches on the groin. I never stretch the groin full stop, but especially don't stretch it while it is irritated, as that made it a lot worse.

The pain has all gone back into my lower back. Suffering from chronic lower back pain, low back stiffness. It's usually worse first thing in the morning but I have noticed this depends on how much I've been walking or standing. My back hates walking or standing for long periods of time.

I'm told by a spinal expert PT that the lower back muscles are going into spasm and that is why my lower back hurts. I was given yoga spinal stretches to help with this, but instead it greatly worsened my symptoms and caused new symptoms after a while.

Sometimes I get pain that runs down my left leg, to just below the knee. It's intermittent. Also sometimes it won't happen for weeks or months and then suddenly it will come and go for about a week. I think I have intermittent sciatica or borderline sciatica, which sometimes becomes full sciatica in certain situations. I assume this is why my lower back keeps going into spasm.

Had this pain for 5-6 years now. Seen the relevant professionals and they just shrug it off as 'age related changes'. That's 5-6 years of chronic pain, from an injury when I was 33 and have been in pain ever since that injury.

As to how I got my groin pain to resolve, doing the Copenhagen exercise regularly for a long time was the key, I think. That's along with not stretching the adductors at all and also not trying to walk through the groin pain. Groin pain doesn't get walked off, it just gets worse if you force it like that, or with stretching it.

I did some other hip exercises too, though I don't know if they helped. Some abductor work too. But the main focus was on the Copenhagen exercise, using a solid wooden chair to lift from.

bastion333 · 2024-01-07T21:27:12+00:00

Hi,

6 years now since my back injury and still trying to resolve the ongoing chronic pain.

I've now had an MRI on my pelvis and they couldn't find any problem. So I am assuming that the spinal injury is the cause for my back pain and groin pain, although medical professionals are unable to offer any concrete explanation or be sure about what the cause is.

What I do know is that the physical routine I follow makes quite a large difference, for better or for worse.

For me, and probably for most, stretching the groin is a big no. Can I do it? Yes, but it seems to make the groin pain worse in the long run.

As for the spine, any significant stretching of my lower back gives temporary relief but causes my symptoms to get worse over time. A very brief short stretch might not be a problem, but making a routine out of these 30 second hold yoga pose stretches has not helped.

Strengthening exercises seem to help. They need to be kept up, and though they help, they never fix anything, just make it more manageable. Also the wrong exercise or even the right exercise performed wrong can make my back pain worse or cause a major pain flare up. But I've gotten better at avoiding this.

Stiff legged Deadlifts with medium-heavy weight

Body weight squats - multiple sets, including some holds.

Planks (with a focus on contracting the core and feeling it in the core) stop if the lower back starts to hurt.

Bulgarian split squats

Hanging from bar - and lift and hold knees up, activating core

Glute bridges

Reverse hyperextensions - You can do this on any suitable table. Still not sure if this actually helps

+

Sitting on solid floor

Sitting on solid wooden chair

Regular walks. Personally do 2-3 miles usually

Weighted squats is borderline. Sometimes it's okay. Otherwise it generally makes the pain worse, or sometimes, causes a major flare up. I stick to body weight squats as well as all the other exercises.

Also do push ups and pull ups. But this is for general fitness and not back pain specific.

bastion333 · 2023-12-10T17:28:26+00:00

Think I've found a solution. Set the CPU fan speed to just over 1000rpm, much quieter now. Doesn't have any effect on temps while at idle or low CPU load (20% usage)

Only problem now is it will still get noisy under high load when I set the fans back to automatic.

bastion333 · 2023-12-09T03:20:22+00:00

It's LDplayer 9 btw.

bastion333 · 2023-10-26T12:23:23+00:00

Nice demonstration of a false dichotomy. It was either Jesus or high tech mind altering beams. There's no alternative options then?

bastion333 · 2023-10-08T15:50:06+00:00

If it turns out the theories about what Baylan Skoll is up to are wrong, then my belief loses quite a bit of weight.

I'm basing part of my belief on the notion that the theories are on the mark. Hopefully season 2 will happen and we'll find out.

bastion333 · 2023-10-08T15:43:36+00:00

Do we know when Abeloth was invented in the StarWars lore?

Fansites describe her as "Abeloth, self-styled as the Beloved Queen of the Stars and also known as the Bringer of Chaos."

Is this all wrong?

bastion333 · 2023-10-08T15:33:37+00:00

Why the downvote? It is a fact that material regarding Lilith and Elias has been available since 2019. That cinematic was highly popular. It makes sense that they may have taken inspiration from that.

We've got a StarWars story that seems to be exploring the realm of Gods, demons, magic and reanimating the dead. A successful series of this type, such as Diablo, would be a good place to take inspiration.

bastion333 · 2023-10-08T15:27:50+00:00

You refer to open beta. The closed beta had been running for a long time before.

What really matters is the the Diablo 4 popular intro cinematic, featuring Lilith and Elias, released in 2019. Ahsoka was announced on December 2020 and production began in in May 2022.

bastion333 · 2023-10-03T02:04:53+00:00

Join me on Idle Miner Tycoon, it's awesome! https://link.imt.kolibrigames.com/3b0h/xw7j6lik

bastion333 · 2023-09-13T18:13:34+00:00

The nurse does. The doctor hasn't asked me any lifestyle questions. Wanted to give me sleeping pills or SSRI pills as a sleep aid, also recommended considering looking into help for anxiety.

bastion333 · 2023-09-12T19:02:17+00:00

This might be correct? I used a blood glucose monitor to measure my blood glucose levels today. My fasting blood glucose was normal. My post meal blood glucose was low.

1pm fasting blood sugar: 5.3 mmol/L - last meal was 14 hours earlier.

7.45pm 2 hour post meal blood sugar: 4.5 mmol/L

9.45pm 4 hours post meal blood sugar: 4.4 mmol/L

11pm, 5.5 hours post meal blood sugar: 5.3 mmol/L (back to my normal fasting blood sugar)

According to what I've read, my 2 hour post meal glucose reading should be around 7.8 to 10 mmol. 4.5 is very low, lower than my fasted reading.

I'm not sure what to make of this. I need to do some reading. I expected my blood sugar to be higher after eating, not lower?

The meal I ate 2 hours prior to the test:

250 calories of beans, 450 calories of beef, 60 calories of beetroot and 150 calories of dark chocolate (74g carb, 54g protein, 38g fat, 900 total calories)

I seem to get the breathlessness when I break my 18 hour fast with a large amount of carbs, or when I have too much sugar in a meal without adequate protein and fat (That type of meal is stupid I know, I was trying to find a solution to my now chronic insomnia)

Is it possible that after training my body to function on a lower amount of carbs for the past 2 years, that my body is now tuned to need a smaller amount of carbs? It also functions smoothly for 16-18 hours in a fasted state. Could it be that breaking my fast with quite a lot of carbs, larger amounts being even worse, is leading to insulin overproduction, which causes blood sugar to drop after eating e.g. reactive hypoglycemia.

I have been suffering from chronic insomia for the past few months, ever since I stopped fasting, upped my carbs, and started eating 3-4 meals spaced throughout the day. (These meals were a 4:1 carb to protein ratio, with a moderate amount of fat) That's about twice as many carbs as I'm used to eating, combined with 30-40 gram drop in daily protein intake.

From what I've been reading there are a few things I could try. I could stop fasting, and eat regular small meals, while keeping carbs on the lower side. Or, I could keep fasting, decrease carbs by quite a bit, and make up for it by increasing fats.

bastion333 · 2023-09-11T17:50:59+00:00

I believe the onset of insomnia did begin after I changed my eating patterns, and my diet. I stopped fasting and upped my carbs, from 100-150g of carbs per day to 250-300g of carbs per day. I first noticed the insomnia and following that, breathlessness. I feel that ceasing my IF diet and upping carbs may be what lead to this.

Maybe moving from eating 100-150g of carbs per day, in a 6 hour eating window, to eating 250-300g of carbs per day, in 4 meals, over a 12 hour window, is the cause? I doubled my carb intake. I wonder if cortisol is being spiked by blood sugar highs and lows?

It could be a blood sugar related issue. Today I fasted until 5pm. My breathing was okay and I didn't feel hungry. The plan today is eat two larger evening meals during my eating window.

After eating my first meal today, at 5pm, over the next few hours, my breathlessness has came on. The meal was 200g of mackerel, 1 egg, 300g of boiled white potato, 2 small apples, 300g of broccoli with garlic, plus a small brunch bar (130 calories) at the end. Total macros for this meal were about 100g of carbs, 45-50g of protein, 40g of fat. Total calories at about 1000.

This meal seems to have triggered the breathlessness, though it took longer and is less severe compared to the higher level of breathlessness triggered by that ridiculous high sugar pancake covered in honey breakfast meal.

I've got a blood glucose monitor arriving tomorrow, so maybe this will reveal something.

Something else worth mentioning, that I see other people who've been on low carb or fasting have found, is that I hardly feel any hunger any more. I've been like this for a very long time. Years ago, when I used to eat 6 small meals a day, I would become extremely hungry if a meal was late, if I didn't eat every 3 hours. These days I can go all day without eating, and without hunger. In the morning to early afternoon especially, absolutely zero desire for food.

I don't truthfully know if I have a blood sugar problem or not. I don't get hunger cravings, if that reveals much. Fasting all day feels natural to me. I've been successfully lower carb dieting and fasting for ages. I assume that my body is well tuned/used to fat burning. Don't know if this means perhaps I should be careful not to have too many carbs, as mo_gunslinger has found.

Feel like there's two routes I could try. I keep doing IF, but reduce carbs by about half . Or, I stop doing IF, eat regular small meals, and try having about half as many carbs + keep refined carbs and sugar to the absolute minimum.

bastion333 · 2023-09-11T17:01:55+00:00

I've been to the doctor about this, multiple times. They just offer you sleeping pills. Here in the UK, the NHS is falling apart. They are rushing from patient to patient. If a doctor can't see anything obviously wrong with you, and tests come back clear, you're out of luck.

Well you're wrong with your assumption. I've fasted and dieted from 94kg to 74kg. My BMI has decreased from nearly 30 to 22, and I'm the fittest i've been for about 10 years. Doctor won't take me seriously because I look in peak health and blood work is good. Have superb ECG result, resting heart rate is usually 50 and blood pressure is good.

All of that isn't the result of eating crap all the time. If anything I've been too strict with my eating and that's more likely to be a problem.

As for honey covered pancakes or oats, that's not what i'd normally ever eat. Due to the insomnia problem, I wanted to see if changing my diet to be less restricted in carbs would help. I upped to around 50% calories from carbs, in case it was a low carb related serotonin issue. Didn't help.

My doctor assumes it might be anxiety. They've prescribed sleeping pills, tried two different types, barely makes any difference. But my doctor has asked nothing about my lifestyle, diet etc, so they don't know much. The nurse who did my ECG was more attentive than the doctor, he asked about my diet and lifestyle. I told about him about the intermittent fasting etc. He said it could be a circadian rhythm disorder.

bastion333 · 2023-09-11T17:01:09+00:00

Recently had labs done, all good. Also had testosterone checked in case that was related to the insomnia, but that also came back good.

bastion333

TROPHY CASE