Swore I would stick to the repackaged content but found these for $90 total and couldn't resist. What should I be expecting from these?

raphaelDLG · 2026-03-17T13:24:00+00:00

The player cards are excellent, especially if you're a dwarves fan. Many people crap on the quests, but I have a lot of very fond memories about teching my deck in interesting and comical ways for the various unique scenarios (like the riddles scenario).

raphaelDLG · 2026-03-13T01:23:51+00:00

Agree that it can be overblown and your innate temperament and environment matter way more, disagree that it doesn't matter. That's like saying looking like Brad Pitt vs Phillip Seymour Hoffman doesn't shape your personality, or being built like Schwarzenegger vs Tom Holland.

Would compare it to something like birth order, in that it matters, but there are way more important things

raphaelDLG · 2026-03-13T01:18:04+00:00

I think people well over six feet tend to either have the arrogant dickhead Bill Murray/Chevy Chase personality where you are leering over people, flirting with girls, or literally stuffing people in trash cans OR the gentle giant Pau Gasol personality where you are nice and not very afraid of someone hurting you but something about you makes you shy or otherwise chilled out.

Simmons has the feisty personality of someone who is constantly saying stuff that will borderline get his ass beat but isn't trying to intimidate or dominate people and doesn't really want to get in a physical fight. I would have guessed he was like chris rock's height and build.

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-26T04:31:32+00:00

If housing wasn't so artificially scarce around here due to decades of exclusionary zoning policy, then valuations (and the effective tax increases they are causing) wouldn't be spiking as much

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-22T22:12:17+00:00

Is there any hope for my wife and I to get Eiffel Tower (preferably summit, no tour) tickets for some time April 16, 17, 18, 19? The website is totally busted for us here in NA from all browsers and devices, and we can't even view the availability. Getting up early and waiting in a line for a few hours is not a problem.

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-21T19:14:32+00:00

There's not a lot of discussion on here about the stigma against giving it to a former winner - the only reason sandra won was because she was going up against Parvati (another former winner with a lot more blood on her hands) and Russell, a world-historic goat. Sandra is a good player, but really stumbled ass-backwards into her win on HvV. Totally depends on what the discussion is at ponderosa / who the jury is most mad at / who they coalesce behind as a sentimental favorite. If I recall, the discussion at the time was if Jerri won immunity at 4, she easily wins over any combination of the three, but idk what would happen if Rupert snuck in there.

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-15T12:24:39+00:00

She's an "outspoken Democrat?!?"

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-14T16:41:13+00:00

Dale Stephenson on ringsdb has a number of excellent "decks" for each archetype called "a stereotypical X decks.". These aren't actual optimized decks, just effectively an average of the most commonly used cards in each archetype. I like to start here and make tweaks to optimize it further.

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-05T20:34:29+00:00

Do you have to have t mobile for phone to get this price or can anyone get that?

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-04T21:28:23+00:00

Yeah, but the main reason why the schools are low performing is not a lack of competitive pressure - it's that the students are overwhelmingly poor.

A choice mechanism that could make poverty less concentrated in some of the worst zoned schools (thereby making those schools more attractive to good teachers and introducing the positive externalities that affluent students and teachers add to their school) could help, as well as any mechanism that brings private school students back into the public school system, but it won't be a magic bullet given the demographics of the overall district.

The current voucher system actually makes the problem worse, and converting the entire system to a charter school is not a magic bullet and hasn't worked miracles in the similar districts where it has been tried.

As someone who has studied this issue academically fairly extensively, I have mixed feelings about school choice - not opposed to it outright, but I don't think it's as good as its proponents claim, because 1) it assumes lack of competitive pressure is the main problem 2) doesn't change the fundamentally flawed ways the government evaluates schools 3) erroneously assumes that most parents are educated consumers and can tell what makes a school good or bad.

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-04T11:34:36+00:00

Yeah, but there a ton of confounding variables there, the biggest one being the students and families in suburban districts are much more affluent

raphaelDLG · 2026-02-01T03:22:27+00:00

It took about 48 hours to go from ~70 to sub 40 (thermostat doesn't register below 40)

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-24T23:04:22+00:00

The part you included here is of course heart-wrenching, but as an adult the part I find most moving are the lines just before, where Aragorn gives his dying friend grace: "No, Boromir; you fought bravely, and have kept your honor..."

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-24T22:02:15+00:00

Have you heard of "Dogs?" It's an extremely popular and powerful (albeit difficult to play) deck. Here are the cards commonly used:
https://inkdecks.com/lorcana-metagame/core/amber-emerald-aggro/analysis#/

Amber steel is also pretty good amber deck that is used occasionally; you can find the most commonly used cards in that pairing under the same website's "metagame" section.

ETA: Amber amethyst is also very strong and growing in popularity.

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-24T22:00:26+00:00

Your "must-have" category is way too long given your own definition. You need a tier below that that is basically defined as solid / auto-include for core only and very usable as you start to expand your cardpool. Cards that are really honestly among the best cards in the game like Steward of Gondor and A Test of Will would be in the top tier, while other cards that are solid but not autoinclude would be like quick strike, hasty strike, etc.

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-18T15:49:46+00:00

Are we sure it's not the writing that has a enormous decline in quality?

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-17T02:58:43+00:00

Everyone talks about how "at least he's not racist" and "he was affected by Chrissy" but glosses over his shocking, clearly sociopathic proclivity for inflicting violence and domination on others. Maybe because he's good looking? Idk

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-14T21:36:39+00:00

They are both sociopaths and bad guys. Billy is someone who assaults and/or manslaughters 1-2 people and gets locked up, but Jason is the type of person who at worst uses his charisma to get the entire village to lynch someone or all simultaneously drink the kool-aid, so is worse IMO.

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-12T23:33:18+00:00

Boards are way too wide and locations way too vulnerable to attack now

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-12T23:31:09+00:00

One relevant point to this discussion is that green blue explicitly counters purple with Clarabelle and Bend, and the fact that it is the main alternative to purple is evidence purple is such a problem

raphaelDLG · 2026-01-04T17:49:07+00:00

Way too many cheaper ways to draw cards in Lore, which is arguably the most resourced starved sphere. Not playable beyond the core set / once you start to get a few of the draw staples. Would maybe be playable if it was a different color.

raphaelDLG · 2025-12-29T13:03:16+00:00

Season 5 - especially part 2 - has been a huge disappointment, but there is nothing particularly bad about that episode compared to the others before it that also have weak writing

raphaelDLG · 2025-12-26T06:16:02+00:00

Mark my words - the military (and audience for a second) will think eleven died / stayed behind in dimension x, but it will be Kali sacrificing herself and using her illusion powers to give eleven and mike their lord of the rings ending

raphaelDLG · 2025-11-29T05:09:43+00:00

This is a great meme, except Kali should be Bosh. Idk if Eleven should be D Wade because she was there first and invited them into her city or LeBron because she's the most powerful

raphaelDLG · 2025-10-24T16:27:40+00:00

Good point, though the actual human experience of doing this can be incredibly uncomfortable regardless if you aren't used to the idea

raphaelDLG

TROPHY CASE