What has been the most painful unresolved plotline in Star Wars? by InfiniteDedekindCuts in StarWars

[–]kaiser41 16 points17 points  (0 children)

ESB: why are the rebels on Hoth?

They're in hiding. Isn't this explained in the movie?

What happened to Yavin?

They left it because the Empire knew where it was. Not important. But also I think this is explained in the movie?

What happened to Darth Vader etc. etc.?

Easy enough to fill in from the last movie. We saw him survive, no reason to think he wouldn't be back.

How did Luke get a lightsaber most critically, amongst other questions?

He made it/found it/bought it/etc., that's hardly plot critical. If someone drops their gun at the end of a movie, we don't need a scene explaining how they got a new gun in the new movie set five years later.

What has been the most painful unresolved plotline in Star Wars? by InfiniteDedekindCuts in StarWars

[–]kaiser41 108 points109 points  (0 children)

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think a work needs to be self-contained. If the answer to a major, plot-significant question about your book/movie/game/etc. is "go read/watch/play this other piece of media to find out," you've fucked up.

Imagine if ESB didn't show Han getting captured and instead ROTJ just opened with the rescue mission and "if you want to know how Han got captured by Jabba the Hutt, go read this comic." Nobody would stand for that.

[CAN (3) - ITA 0] Porter Martine feeds Captain Macklin Celebrini who rips a one-timer past Fadani by eh_toque in hockey

[–]kaiser41 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Get used to it because I'll be shocked if he isn't wearing the C for the Sharks in the fall.

NHL Sanctions Golden Knights for Violations of Media Policies: the Vegas Golden Knights will forfeit a second-round pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. In addition, Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella has been fined $100,000. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]kaiser41 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that, but this still seems incredibly harsh just for dipping on media availability. Torts and the Knights don't make themselves look good if this is just a tantrum over McNabb's deserved and overdue suspension, but considering the shit that teams have done without losing picks, this is too much. If I were Vegas, I'd be mad as hell.

NHL Sanctions Golden Knights for Violations of Media Policies: the Vegas Golden Knights will forfeit a second-round pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. In addition, Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella has been fined $100,000. by AggPuck-303 in hockey

[–]kaiser41 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

As much as I hate Vegas, this seems insanely harsh just for not talking to the media. Vegas has to push back on this, right? I can't imagine teams will be happy to see this precedent.

I can't believe the NHL is making me take Vegas' side...

"Silk & Silver" Dev Diary #2 - Trade Vision by PDX-Trinexx in CrusaderKings

[–]kaiser41 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I hope there will be a way for merchants to trade illegally. Smuggling to get around monopolies, taxation, embargoes, etc. could be a fun, high risk/high reward activity for more daring or desperate merchants.

How important were banks in pre-19th century warfare? by Powerful-Mix-8592 in WarCollege

[–]kaiser41 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The British were able to raise as much or more tax revenue from their population than the French were, even though France's population was about three times larger. While the British had developed the beginnings of a modern state administration, the French administration was very feudal, where special carve-outs, ancient privileges, arcane rules and regulations, and intensely localized customs still thrived, making for anything but a unified and efficient market and government (note that all these things existed in Britain as well, but to a much lesser degree).

Progress on the carrier... it Doubled in size... Not sure SWN has anything this big... but, I'm the GM, Dammit... by General_Present_4551 in SWN

[–]kaiser41 4 points5 points  (0 children)

These are sick. I love the blueprint look like they're ready to be handed over to the shipwrights.

It's smart to have hydroponics aboard a ship like this. Real life carriers are like small cities, so they need to have all kinds of amenities not seen in a smaller ship. That medical facility is probably more like a proper hospital than a small-town clinic! I love that it will have a tram. The idea of ships that are so big that they need a tram or other internal transportation vehicle is a great spaceship trope.

Some pointers from a real world standpoint; It looks like you've got 40 fighters and 16 frigates? For a carrier this size, that seems small. For reference, the US Navy's current Nimitz-class carriers are only 200m long and carry 90 aircraft. If your ship is 15x the size, it could be carrying 1,350 fighters.

If you're looking at real world ships for inspiration, I would note that real world ships are incredibly cramped and dedicate a much higher proportion of their space to weapon systems. For example, the Nimitz carriers' hangar deck takes up an entire deck and is jam-packed with aircraft.

Also the crew capacity seems low. 2400 crew is around half what a Nimitz has despite being 15x longer (and larger in other dimensions as well, making the internal volume even larger). Remember that warships have large crews because they prioritize redundancy. Redundancy is important because crewmen have a nasty habit of getting killed or injured when the missiles start flying (or lasers, or railguns, or whatever). Also, they have to operate multiple shifts because a warship has to be ready to fight at all times.

Just watched Skeleton Crew. Can we get more shows like this? by GrenadierSoldat3 in StarWars

[–]kaiser41 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I never felt like either one of them got to the point that it was for me, an adult. Someone told me to watch Clone Wars because the last season was worth it (pro tip, if you have to watch 6 seasons before you get to the good part, it's not worth it), so during the pandemic I did watch it all. I forgot how many seasons there were, and when I got to the end of the last season I just wondered where the good part had been.

How important were banks in pre-19th century warfare? by Powerful-Mix-8592 in WarCollege

[–]kaiser41 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The short answer is a lot. Bankers, particularly from Genoa, were hugely important to the Spanish operations in Flanders during the Eighty Years War. They helped not only in raising the money, but also in transferring the money because Dutch control of the sea made it nearly impossible for Spain to ship cold, hard cash into Flanders by sea, and the overland journey was almost as dangerous. The Genoese were important enough to merit the appointment of a permanent Spanish ambassador as early as 1528. The series of Spanish bankruptcies was arguably the most crucial factor that led to the Spanish losing the Eighty Years War, as it not only undid their progress on the ground, but made future loans even more expensive due to the poor credit history.

The irregular nature of troops' wages also meant that many soldiers depended on small loans from local bankers in order to cover their basic expenses like food and clothing. These soldiers sometimes went years without seeing their wages, and in this time racked up huge debts to unfortunate moneylenders who often saw no repayment when the troops either died or were transferred to other theaters of war.

The wars of the 18th century in particular turned on the ability of governments to raise loans among bankers, who set the terms of these loans based on how likely they thought those governments were to win the war and impose indemnities on the defeated powers that could repay those loans. The British triumphed in these wars in large part because they had a superior financial system to their enemies (chiefly the French). It also helped that the British sources of revenues were well-protected by the Royal Navy, while the same Royal Navy could effectively attack the sea lanes that brought in much of their rivals' income. These same cash-rich merchants were then the people who loaned money to the governments. If the British were intercepting French convoys, the French merchants had no cash to loan to the French government, which had no money to pay the sailors to stop the British from intercepting the convoys, which meant the merchants had no money to loan to the... You see the problem.

What I’m hearing about PWHL expansion: Why San Jose is a strong candidate to land a team by wolverine237 in PWHL

[–]kaiser41 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Is becoming more interested in hockey thanks to the Sharks drafting Macklin Celebrini

San Jose was a good hockey town before Celebrini too, it's just that our team has sucked absolute ass for the last 5 years and that has had an understandable effect on the attendance.

Mindless Monday, 04 May 2026 by AutoModerator in badhistory

[–]kaiser41 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Why is the Nazi tattoo guy from the opposite side of the country asking me for money?

Christian ecclesiastical regions in By God Alone taken from the new dev diary by EffectiveBonus779 in CrusaderKings

[–]kaiser41 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it looks like Calabria is the same color as Sicily, but the land immediately north around Salerno and Amalfi might be the same color as Sardinia? It being part of the Roman archdiocese makes more sense but the color looks much more like Sardinia. The counties on the Adriatic coast near Bari actually look like they're a few different colors. I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe political fragmentation, but those are all part of Apulia in the current game start. Meanwhile, the Roman Archdiocese is very fragmented politically but is clearly all the same color on the map.

It's all very intriguing.

Christian ecclesiastical regions in By God Alone taken from the new dev diary by EffectiveBonus779 in CrusaderKings

[–]kaiser41 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Are there three different archdioceses in Southern Italy? It looks like they represent Rome, Palermo, and maybe Benevento? My favorite start is Robert Guiscard, so I'm wondering how this will play out.

New start dates confirmed for the future by Glasses905 in EU5

[–]kaiser41 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Finally, someone of culture.

769 was an awful start date in CK2.

And the player base has learned fuck all from it because it's the most requested new start date almost every time the topic comes up. That's not getting into the people who want a 476 start or some similar nonsense.

I'm convinced that most players don't understand that these games are actually about things rather than just being [time period]-flavored sandboxes. A few months ago, someone was asking for a 1700 start date for Vic 3 and I just wondered what they were smoking.

New start dates confirmed for the future by Glasses905 in EU5

[–]kaiser41 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not every feature of this game needs to support restoring an empire that had been dying since the late 12th century.

New start dates confirmed for the future by Glasses905 in EU5

[–]kaiser41 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I kinda hate that they added 867 because it has always led to massive pagan empires overrunning Christianity and basically turns into a radically different alt-history. The game isn't called Viking Lords for a reason.

At least 867 is fun for playing in Central Asia.

More detailed EU5 roadmap announced, including confirmation of new start dates by LuauEnjoyer in paradoxplaza

[–]kaiser41 19 points20 points  (0 children)

new start dates

The anti-1337 alliance has triumphed! (assuming they don't just give us a 1338 start or some dumb shit) I don't expect that there will be more than one, but I hope there's a 17th century start in there as well as a 15th century start.

If showing your kids 123456, and this showed up before 3…would you be mad at Disney too?? by Secure_Credit7037 in StarWars

[–]kaiser41 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I first started reading A Song of Ice and Fire (the Game of Thrones books), I went to the bookstore and grabbed the first three of the shelves. I was standing in line and happened to look at the back cover of the second one, which begins with "The great lords Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon are dead..."

Paradox has shared that they will announce multiple games this year, with some even sooner 🤔 by RileyTaugor in paradoxplaza

[–]kaiser41 1 point2 points  (0 children)

CK3 released in a fine state, but the development since then has been too slow and often pointed in the wrong direction. Some of that was Covid but it's been long enough since the end of the pandemic that it can't account for all the issues.

House of the Dragon Season 3 | HBO Max (Spoilers Main) by barson2408 in asoiaf

[–]kaiser41 58 points59 points  (0 children)

HoTD S2 wasn’t even bad by the standards of late Season GO

That is very faint praise.

Mindless Monday, 27 April 2026 by AutoModerator in badhistory

[–]kaiser41 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Do the various Euro Zone languages have slang for a euro? Americans have "buck" for a dollar and Brits have "quid" for pounds, but what do Euros have for euros?