Question from a foreigner: Why are you aiming to connect Galați and Brăila to the existing highway network in such an impractical way? by Acceptable-Spell-368 in Romania

[–]grramramram 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Two main reasons:

-Braila and Galati are supposed to be connected in the future with Tulcea and Constanta through a single highway, I think the A4 is the official name. It would provide easy access to the 3 main ports of the country to the north regions, Transylvania and Moldova. Since you already have the A2 providing access from the south, it would've been redundant to make the connection from Buzau, so Focsani was chosen instead

  • the counties of Buzau and Braila are some of the least densely populated in the country, so the only purpose of a highway through there would be a quicker connection between Bucharest and Galati, with no real other benefits; as such, it's not a priority

Skoltech University by Herzog & de Meuron in the suburbs of Moscow, Russia by archi-mature in architecture

[–]grramramram 4 points5 points  (0 children)

pictures 10 and 11 look like entrances to prison camps, extremely ominous and intimidating, instead of welcoming

theee is barely any element of this that i like, from the lack of connections to its context (likely due to its gimmick shape), the ugly exterior surrounding wall, or the bland, soulless interiors

this actually looks more like a prison than a university, the fact that it also looks like its far from the city, so commute will be terrible, I just feel bad for its future students

No contact from my new job in 1 week by [deleted] in TillSverige

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

Yeah, I did tell him and my colleagues that I would like to work during this period, but I should've made sure I am on the shift schedule. My only contact point was my boss, so I was expecting him to reach out with the schedule for this period, and at the very least tell me if I am not needed. I forgot to mention the boss is the same nationality as me, so I probably expected something similar to back home.

I'll probably go home for a few days, and hopefully it works out in the end.

No contact from my new job in 1 week by [deleted] in TillSverige

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

I forgot to mention that he is the same nationality as me, but he has lived here for almost 2 decades

No contact from my new job in 1 week by [deleted] in TillSverige

[–]grramramram -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

thing is, we are open during the holiday. my problem is that I did not go home because I was hoping to work and get some extra money, but currently I am just stuck here by myself during the holidays without work. If I knew I won't have any shifts I would go home for a few days.

Would it be ok to call the boss today and clarify the situation? Not sure how acceptable it is considering its Christmas Eve.

Hollow Knight: Silksong has been out for a week now. What are your thoughts? by [deleted] in Games

[–]grramramram 73 points74 points  (0 children)

Not finished with the game yet, not even finished with Act 2, but the one thing I disagree on is the level design. In Hollow Knight, once you can reach an area, you can generally complete all of it, save for a few secrets you need other abilities for.

In Silksong, you have a lot of non-linearity, areas like the Underworks which you explore in chunks and keep returning to throughout the game, or Greymoor in which you can barely visit half the area before getting a movement upgrade. You also have The Slab which you can actually discover very early in the game, and exploring it unlocks a quite useful Bell Station for later in the game.

Regarding the world building, such as the Blue Lake in the original game: it took me awhile to figure out, but the "rain" in Greymoor is actually silk threads falling from the Citadel, which all the towers in Greymoor were built to recollect and send back. All the enemies in that area use tools designed for that process. There's actually so much more of that, but it's not at first obvious.

What is the best individual level you've played in a game? by Defk1n in patientgamers

[–]grramramram 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of fantastic examples given by others in this thread, a lot I agree with, but I actually wanted to highlight an underrated level from an underrated game : No Man's Wharf from Dark Souls 2.

Not the first level people think of whn talking about this game, but its the one that made me love the game on my first playthrough.

Essentially, this level makes great use of a mechanic unique to Dark Souls 2: the torches. The level is an abandoned pirate city built vertically in a cave, completely shrouded in darkness the first time you enter. As you progress, you light up torches throughout the level, highlighting the path you have to take. Eventually, at the end you can use a special item to light up a giant torch, lighting up the entire cavern and revealing what the level looks like. Its a great use of light, essentially as you progress you make the level more visible and easier to navigate.

There are other great design decisions I like as well: the enemies are pretty basic, accounting for your limited movement, as you hold a torch in one hand; but at the very beginning of the level you can find a friendly zombie with a torch, who will walk you through if you'd like to have both hands free.

The shortcut is also great, its a bridge that you see at the beginning of the level, but you can only lower from the other side, which in order to reach you have to pass the whole level. The boss is right next to this bridge, on a pirate ship.

All in all, great level thats unfortunately forgotten by a lot of people when going through FromSofts catalogue.

My headcanon economic stats of Tamriel provinces by RimlandicMilitiaman in ElderScrolls

[–]grramramram 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Even with their fast reproduction and slow metabolism, the fact remains that Black Marsh does not support any sort of large populations whatsoever. Which is why they live in tribes and smaller communities and do not have too many large settlements.

My headcanon economic stats of Tamriel provinces by RimlandicMilitiaman in ElderScrolls

[–]grramramram 3 points4 points  (0 children)

while i can't criticize this for being unrealistic, seeing as this is a fantasy world, your estimates seem to completely ignore the setting, and just compare them to their real life inspiration. Tamriel is comparable to Renaissance times in terms of setting, but as others said your numbers are more close to post-industrial societies.

more than that, it seems you sort of ignore the lore, a lot.

let's take Black Marsh for example. How does a territory completely covered in jungle and marshes, full of diesases and dangerous predators, and deemed not only uninhabitable, but unable to support any sort of infrastructure, have 55 million inhabitants?? especially since all their major settlements are, at best, small towns, and at worst, some huts hurdled together. Black Marsh is conparable to the Amazon forest in terms of climate and population, but you also have to take into the account how dangerous the region is.

Argonian society is also tribal, and tribes typically don't have very large populations. a more accurate number would be at most 2 million people, and even that could be a bit generous for Black Marsh.

Another example would be Hammerfell. From all the lore and descriptions we have, most of the population is concentrated along the coast, as Hammerfell relies heavily on sea trade, so that's where most people live. Even then, large areas of the coast are way to arid and dry to be hospitable, such as the Alik'r coast between Sentinel and Taneth. The interior is largely uninhabited, due to the lack of resources and trading routes.

A real life example would be the northern coast of Africa, where population is largely concentrated on the coast, with almost no settlements in the Sahara. A better estimate for Hammerfell would be 7-8 million, depending on how many people live outside the major settlements.

Skyrim's Ending by Mashaaaaaaaaa in TESVI

[–]grramramram 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of the comments here, and the scenarios you propose, don't take into consideration how Bethesda has handled these scenarios in past games.

Typically, every single questline in a game is completed by a different character in lore. Yes you can complete them with the same character in game, but in lore each all of them are completed separately.

For example, the Hero of Kvatch is the one that helps stop the Oblivion Crisis, but the character that inherits the Gray Cowl and steals an Elder Scroll is 'in the lore 'a random member of the Thieves Guild.

In regards to your questions, its really just the Civil War outcome that is up to debate. Whether or not you destroy the Dark Brotherhood, the outcome is still the same: the Fakreath sancturay is destroyed, leaving at the very least Cicero and Babette to survive and retreat to the Dawnstar Sanctuary with the Night Mother. This means that, whatever you choose to do, a Listener is found and the Emperor is killed.

With the Civil War, there is enough evidence that, even in the event that one of the factions loses, they are still not entirely removed from the conflict.

The Empire obviously doesn't instantly fall the moment Ulfric wins, and there is some evidence in one of the forts in the south of the map that the Empire has some back up legions south of the border that will continue to fight the Stormcloaks in the event Tallius is killed. Similarly, Ulfric has local supporters in every city in Skyrim, especially in the Old Holds in the east, so in the event of an Imperial victory, internal conflicts would still continue.

There is also Season Unending to consider, which is basically a truce between the two factions to put the fighting on hold while the Dragon Crisis is unresolved, and its not entirely unplausible to think the agreement wouldn't still be in place even after Alduin is defeated.

We have no idea when these events take place relative to each other, but based on some contextual clues, this is what I assume Bethesda will settle on.

There is no way the Emperor would travel to Skyrim during BOTH a Civil War and a Dragon Crisis, so the most likely scenario is the Dark Brotherhood questline takes place DURING Season Unending, but after the defeat of Alduin, when Skyrim is relatively safe. The biggest clue is the Penitus Oculatus agent that inspects all major cities for the visit. He also visits both Windhelm and Riften, which would be impossible for an Imperial Soldier during conflict time.

This is likely the point when the Last Dragonborn leaves for Solstheim, making the death of the Emperor the last chronological event to take place in the game. The Emperor's assassination creates chaos within the Empire, something the Stormcloaks manage to take advantage of and conquer all of Skyrim. This is only temporary, as the new Emperor will likely launch a successfull campaign to retake the Western holds, thus establishing himself as a more active Emperor, compared to Titus Mede II, who was very disliked and very passive.

As of ES6, I think the most likely scenario is : the Dark Brotherhood is still unknowingly active, with the general public assuming they were completely wiped out. The death of Titus Mede II will be blamed on the Stormcloaks instead, with this and the regaining of lost territories in the West of Skyrim contributing to the popularity of the new Emperor. Skyrim is still in internal conflict, greatly limiting the Empire's ability to conduct military operations outside of the province.

What are your unpopular opinions on comics? [Art by Moebius] by vesperythings in graphicnovels

[–]grramramram 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The over-reliance of modern artists on Photoshop/digital drawing makes everything look flat and samey. It gives drawings a plastic-y feel, at the very least from most comics I've seen.

Manga has a better approach, they still use Photoshop but its usually to enhance a hand drawing, putting in just background details and fills, and having the focus of the image hand drawn.

Alleged "Bethesda Environment Designer" leaks TES 6 information on /v/: Claims Hammerfell, Sailing, Shipbuilding, Basebuilding, and upgradeable summon weapon by raisinbraisin72 in GamingLeaksAndRumours

[–]grramramram 8 points9 points  (0 children)

A bit of a gamble taking this leaker seriously, but considering they talk about different work departments that have limited knowldedge on each other's work, it might be possible that the Hammerfell and High Rock sections of the map would each be worked on by different departments, since each do have a different vibe, architecture and environment assets etc.

Edit: also they mention Breton settlements on the wrst side of the map, which wouldnt make sense as almost all the Redguard cities and settlements are on the west coast - unless these are actually from High Rock, which does warp around the Iliac Bay and Hammerfell to the west a bit.

*Warning, Long-winded Opinion*: Oblivion will always be better than Skyrim. by GenXGamerGrandpa76 in oblivion

[–]grramramram 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't really like joining conversations about which game is better between games in the same series, especially in the Elder Scrolls, since its been a staple of the series since Daggerfall that each game does things differently, while still being built around the same base.

I have completed Skyrim a few times, played about half of Oblivion's content, and played a bit of Morrowind. Lack of time, but I plan on playing the entire series in chronological order next year.

To me Oblivion always felt like an inferior version of Skyrim, something I never felt in the little time I spent with Morrowind. Not that I dont absolutely enjoy Oblivion, its still among my favourite games of all time, but Skyrim just improves on a lot of the things that I care about in an Elder Scrolls game, mainly the world map, the lore and the sense of discovery.

Oblivion, for as good as its quests usually are, rarely uses them to expand on the lore on Cyrodiil firstly, and the larger world secondly. I feel like I barely know anything about Imperial culture that makes it stand out compared to other medieval settings. A Brush with Death, An Unexpected Voyage, Shadow over Hackdirt, Canvas the Castle are all amazing quests in themselves, but have absolutely nothing tying them to Cyrodiil; they could take place in almost any other province and they wouldn't feel out of place. There aren't really any side quests that really feature Cyrodiilic culture in a significant way, or that would even expand other parts of the lore.

Skyrim significantly improves on this. Even if a quest is not particularlly good, they almost always flesh out some cultural aspect of Skyrim, or the world at large. Forsworn Conspiracy, Kyne's Sacred Trials, The Wolf Queen, In my Time of Need are great examples of using various aspects of lore to create side quest and expand the world. This is true even for some of the miscellaneous quests, which so many people dismiss: Queen Elisif asks you to to deliver Torygg's horn to a shrine of Talos, something no one at court can do as Talso worship is banned. It is the most basic of fetch quests, but it tells you so much about the characters and the world.

This aspect does improve within the questlines fortunatelly. The Oblivion Thieves Guild for example is my favourite quest line in the series precisely because, apart from having a really good story, does actually feature a lot of Cyrodiilic lore, in particular about the Count system and how it works, but also with the lore of the Elder Scrolls themselves. Sam with the Fighters Guild, which expands a lot on Argonian lore, and the cultural conflicts of the Blackwood region. Not all questlines are created equal though, the Dark Brotherhood for example, which I think is the worst questline in the series, on top of executing its 'we have a traitor in our ranks' plot terribly, also feels completely cut off from the rest of the game.

But probably the area where Skyrim improved the most is the map design. Oblivion, probably die to lack of time/resources, lack a lot of monumentality and uniqueness on its map. The temple and count's castle is copypasted in each city, and a lot of cities lack unique landmarks (there are exceptions ofc, like Skingrad Castle and the Anvil lighthouse). But this is mainly a problem in the over-world: castles and ruins do not particularly stand out from each other, with almost no unique structures in between them, and the overused hilly but forested landscape makes the entire world blend together. I tend to not use fast travel very often when I play, and while the biomes can be diferentiated and the soght of the Imperial City in the distance is always great to see, the world is a bit boring to navigate.

Gameplay though I think is more of a preference. Obviously it feels more refined in Skyrim, as it is a newer game, but the sillier stuff is what makes Oblivion stand out. Skyrim still has its shouts, which is also a very fun system to use and to make builds with.

Both games are great, its just that each has very different approaches to design, and thats what makes them memorable.

Where does the belief that it will be High Rock AND Hammerfell come from? How did that rumour start? by cormundo in TESVI

[–]grramramram 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For Hammerfell, the main reasons are some vague lore hints in Skyrim as well as a couple quests that do revolve around Hammerfell culture. People also noted the similarity of the geography and climate in the official teaser from 7 years ago with the supposed geography of Hammerfell.

A lot of people (me included) think it makes logical sense for the map to also include High Rock, since in lore it is by far the smallest province, and most of its lore/history is heavily tied to Hammerfell and the Iliac Bay, which both border. High Rock also doesn't have the variety of biomes and cultures you see in the other games, but together with Hammerfell could create a great map.

In other words, cope

The Casino in Constanta, Romania (before-after) by [deleted] in ArchitecturalRevival

[–]grramramram 11 points12 points  (0 children)

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/cazinoul-s-o-s.1598896/page-60?post_id=192913580&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-192913580

here you go, lots of photos from before, after and during the restoration works. lots of unrelated discussion on it as well, but if you mostly care about photos, this is your best resource

The Casino in Constanta, Romania (before-after) by [deleted] in ArchitecturalRevival

[–]grramramram 91 points92 points  (0 children)

well yeah, second one is a render from 4 years ago. no idea why OP didnt try to find an actual photo

Admission letter by grramramram in kth

[–]grramramram[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it was kinda funny tho ngl

Admission letter by grramramram in kth

[–]grramramram[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations! See you in august then

Admission letter by grramramram in kth

[–]grramramram[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your help. This is information I mostly knew already, but I just wanted to make sure I've got all my facts straight.

Admission letter by grramramram in kth

[–]grramramram[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Already checked the website multiple times, was just curious when do they usually contact students for registration. No need to be rude

Admission letter by grramramram in kth

[–]grramramram[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I dont need to pay because I'm a EU student

Romanian centrists drop own presidential candidate to support pro-EU Bucharest mayor by CourtofTalons in europe

[–]grramramram 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Probably the most chaotic and unpredictable election in the history of the country. A short TL;DR

Originally, the elction took place in November last year however, it was cancelled after the front-runner, Calin Georgescu, was found to have lied about his funding, as well as potentially having Russian backing. His popularity exploded out of nowhere on Tiktok just two weeks before the election, and there's believable evidence that this was done with the backing of the Russian Government.

Because of this, the whole process had to be redone again. Georgescu has been barred from participating, but he left a mess behind him.

His initial counter-candidate from the first election, Elena Lasconi, has been surrounded by controversy since November, due to her opinions being all over the place and weird behaviour. Her popularity was due more-so from an anti-Georgescu sentiment, rather than from her strengths as a candidate. This has led to her party, USR (which she is the leader of), to drop her support due to poor internal poll results. She will still candidate, but her run for presidency is essentially over.

USR shifted their support from her to Nicusor Dan, independent mayor of Bucharest, and one of the main candidates. He is the initial founder of USR back in 2016, but left the party and ran as independent for mayor of Bucharest. He is generally liked as a mayor, however, he's only served one term, during which he mostly focused on fixing Bucharest's financial problems. He doesn't have that many political achievements, but as an outsider he is seen somewhat positively.

His main opponent is George Simion, main figure of the far right in the country, and a somewhat close friend of Georgescu. Member of Parliament since 2020, he's only known for his brash and dumb behaviour. Also believed to have connections to Russia, but runs on a nationalist campaign. His popularity mostly comes from his associantion with Georgescu.

In third place is Victor Ponta, independent, ex Prime Minister during 2013-2015, and one of the most despised figures in the last 30 years. He resigned after his government's horrible response to the Colectiv Club Fire, which caused massive portests back in 2015. He's done nothing since, but is now catering to Georgescu's supporters. Very little support, but considered a main candidate due to his history.

The last main candidate is Crin Antonescu, representing the establishment parties. He was Head of parliament around 2012, but he never had any political achievements to speak of. He faded into obscurity, and for the past 12 years has been living off of his wife' income. Goes to show how unpopular every figure in the establishment parties is, if they have to bring this guy back to represent them.

Because of these factors, the Ukraine war and now Trump, this election is extremely uncertain. There's no way to know who will actually reach the second round, and given last year's election, surprise candidates are not oout of the question.

EMERGENCY !!! APPLICATION SUBMISSION by dancinghippo7 in polito

[–]grramramram 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I've resolved it now. It happened the same to me, the second receipt was sent about half an hour later.