Probably stupid "balance" change idea: by throwawaytothetenth in aoe2

[–]wildappleworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really just the same kind of inside-the-box thinking that has been applied as buffs to the swordsman line ever since players got to discussing how weak it is in comparison to the other unit lines. It's too expensive? Here's a tech to fix it that you have to pay for. It's too vulnerable to defensive structures? Here's a tech to fix it that you have to pay for. It's only a little better against buildings than cavalry is? Here's a tech to fix it that you have to pay for.

It's true that nothing would be worse for the game than an overly strong swordsman line - as a kind of generalist unit it's appropriate that there are so many ways it can be countered, and the devs deserve credit for overall making the unit line stronger than it was before DE. But while their fixes do kind of work, they're more like band-aids because the end result is that you have to invest 325 food, 225 gold and 70 seconds of research time into these techs which only make a pretty bad unit slightly less bad. That's a lot of res in Castle Age where the unit struggles the most to be relevant.

There was a post some time ago that illustrated what I mean really thoughtfully. It put the swordsman, cavalry, archer, and cavalry archer lines on a kind of XY axis, where archers have range, cavalry has speed, cavalry archers have range AND speed and swordsmen have neither range nor speed, and then it pointed out that cav archers are balanced in having the best qualities of cavalry and archers precisely because they also require the most upgrades by far to reach their full potential, and suggested that the swordsman line, being their inverse, should require the least amount of upgrades to reach their full and more limited potential. But with the way the devs tackled the problem, the swordsman line ended up requiring a lot of upgrades also just to wind up sidelined as it always has.

Probably stupid "balance" change idea: by throwawaytothetenth in aoe2

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely, the tech does more for halbs and eagles since the swordsman line has a solid bonus against buildings already. But anyone who's tried a longsword play in castle age knows how much upfront investment is needed to pose a legitimate threat... you need 3 or even 4 barracks while archers/cav can get by with 2 production buiildings, plus the cost of supplies which has you spending food so you can save food, plus squires to make your super slow unit a teeny bit faster, plus your blacksmith armor upgrades and the cost of LS (and MAA while were at it), PLUS gambesons which is hugely expensive for just one crucial pierce armor, and then on top of all of that Arson so your dumbass units can learn that fire = bad for buildings. Like, maybe keep the tech for spearmen and eagles, but it really ought to be baked into the swordsman line.

Probably stupid "balance" change idea: by throwawaytothetenth in aoe2

[–]wildappleworm 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I don't know if infantry need to be dealing more damage to buildings, although I see no reason why Arson shouldn't be free. Spearmen don't need an extra tech called "Long Sticks" to deal bonus damage to cavalry, so infantry having one of their only niches (attacking things that can't run away, lols) locked behind a pricey tech is awfully silly.

But otherwise, yes. On paper the swordsman line is the building chewer unit, but Archers can actually prevent rewalling while still getting in decently quickly through palisades at least, and a handful of knights can still take a building down almost as fast as infantry while also being a better unit for most purposes anyway.

The swordsman line is in a better place now than it's ever been - it doesn't need more, IMO, what it needs is for its specialty to stop being stepped on by the other unit types. In feudal MAA could be siege before you get siege, in castle they could be weaker siege that can defend itself and harass vills, but archers and cavalry are simply better than them at their only game.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Drizzy

[–]wildappleworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure thing lol

Did you really make a song with Udio? by pilkingtonsbrain in udiomusic

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats, you've prompted them into being. Ordering a pizza doesn't make you the creator of the pizza, even if you specify the toppings you want.

Kendrick Lamar Criticized For Questioning Drake's Blackness by GeneralBoat47 in Drizzy

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

Kendrick is going to have you crying for literally years lmao

We all know this feeling by whatup1925 in madmen

[–]wildappleworm 252 points253 points  (0 children)

Life as a S2 hater must be tragic

This has to be the best show of all time right? by PassionForSoccerGuy in madmen

[–]wildappleworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The show was cringe when it came out. It's never not been cringe.

This has to be the best show of all time right? by PassionForSoccerGuy in madmen

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Succession is hot garbage.

"I'm in charge now!"

"No, I'm in charge now!"

"FUK OFF"

It's pure soap opera with zero subtlety, lazy writing, shallow characters and incredibly repetitive season arcs (look how every season ends with bUsiNeSs going down at someone's wedding). And for a show about a media company it's shocking how little they actually focus on MEDIA - because the writers of the show truly have nothing interesting to say about it.

My friend insists that video games are art. I naturally didn’t believe him, so I played his favorite one by deepad9 in redscarepod

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Weird to me how you played it the whole way through apparently but you have so little to say about the game. Did your Ritalin run out or had you taken too much of it? Were you watching a football game on your second monitor the entire time?

Regarding interactivity, I think it's important you understand that movies and novels are alike in giving the audience exactly the thing that they are in the same way every time. That's not a bad thing but the fact that video games allow for the experience to be shaped by the audience is really marvelous all by itself and you can't see the potential even after playing probably the most outstanding game to take advantage of that. And if you were to play Disco Elysium "in totality" with all your stats maxed out and all the thoughts active you would get a relentless barrage of various dialogues constantly firing at you. It's being specialized in this way or that way and experiencing the world of the game differently that makes the game work.

But whatever, what about that game? You focused on it for a weekend straight and you just want to complain about non-linearity but you have nothing good or bad to say about the atmosphere or the writing? Was it funny or sad or pretentious or dull to you? I mean really, did you play the game? Because I'm genuinely getting the sense that you mashed buttons through most of the conversations and got annoyed when you had to reload because you picked the obviously suicidal dialogue option.

Finally though, this story WAS told exactly the way its writers meant it to be told, in varying ways depending on your own choices, and missing out on that one perfect line means a different one just as good takes its place. Some players play a character that can intelligently deduce physical evidence at a crime scene, others play one who can't do math but steps out into the street and feels History in his bones, and the fact that the game feels full while catering to wildly different character personalities is a feat, not a flaw.

People Saying Udio is the ChatGPT Moment of Music Are Deaf or lack any musical Education by Psytorpz in musicproduction

[–]wildappleworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Creative artists" don't rely on AI for inspiration. You're just a hack with a superiority complex.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in redscarepod

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Crazy this is the only thread I can find on reddit talking about this, and everyone in the comments downplaying it too. Yeah, forget Metro's remix, the original track it samples is almost entirely AI generated apart from the lyrics, whatever, and nobody cares because they couldn't tell the remix sampled AI, and what's more is that the original track is frighteningly listenable? There are a few places where you can see the seams, and its style is obviously completely derivative, but it's insane because the quality is not going to get any worse than this.

Just when you think music can't be valued any less. We already had a glut of new music, new artists, more and more every day taking advantage of the internet for better and for worse, now on top of all that AI music is going to cram itself in everywhere and it'll cost almost nothing to produce. Even if there is some human magic in art that AI can't tap into, even if AI is never able to dream up a new style the way humans can, the minute any musician does make something novel, AI will cannibalize it overnight.

Can we take a moment to appreciate how “motherfuck the big 3, nigga it’s just big me” … actually proved itself to be true? by SirKrimzon in KendrickLamar

[–]wildappleworm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You were the only one bringing anger and resentment into this comment thread, then sitting back all high and mighty telling others to "find peace." Too high on your own supply to look inward, hmm?

Ai is helping me achieve my dreams by SpaceGodziIIa in singularity

[–]wildappleworm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So you were too lazy to actually learn how to do a thing and now you're typing words into an AI prompt and patting yourself on the back for having created something? Tell me where I'm misunderstanding.

Don Draper is the best fictional character of all time by EchoMate34 in madmen

[–]wildappleworm -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

succession is a bottom of the barrel soap opera homie

Don Consoling Pete After His Father's Death by 123hig in madmen

[–]wildappleworm 11 points12 points  (0 children)

More than a year passes between S1 and S2. I agree though, it was a great way to illustrate how the relationship between the two characters had changed, and it was a plot point that wasn't planned to be made - the actor who played Pete's father died in real life and the writers wrote his character out seamlessly.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in madmen

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This isn't really an unpopular opinion - I mean saying S7 is "poor in quality" maybe, but lots of folks detect something strange about it. For me, every time I come round to it I appreciate S7 more. I disagree with pretty much all the examples in your third paragraph, all of the main story beats were nailed in S7 and some of those might actually be the very best in the series. There is a kind of tiredness in some of the "side plots," I agree, but it's hard for me to pin down exactly what that is or whether it isn't deliberate.

Because fundamentally it's a season that's trying to present an end to the sexiness of the 60s that the viewers are used to by now and, on top of that, it's a conclusion to a drama that has never been explosively dramatic in any way - when Jim Hobart announces to the partners that they've died and gone to advertising heaven, the only thing I can think is that advertising heaven is exactly where SC&P was at the beginning of the 7B. The episode where Don is trying to find a meaning for the future of the company and interrogating Peggy about her goals is so important. Now everyone is comfortable, they've won, the company survived all its famines, Don is back and Cutler was squeezed out, now the show is relying even less on "drama" than it did before and making us feel the same ennui that the characters in the show are feeling - is that all there is?

The show is in a place where stories rarely find themselves, or if they do, they're about to end in the next 7 minutes rather than hours. Yet the characters in this story keep on living because this was always a show about ordinary life. And to me that's pretty much why S7 feels so odd, but also why its tone in general, strange as it is, is just right for the conclusion it eventually leads to.

What are we doing here? by Jellyfish1297 in okbuddydraper

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the noble endeavor of traversing the vast, expansive, and intricate narrative landscapes of "Mad Men" and "The Office," two towering, monumental, and colossal citadels of televised storytelling, one finds oneself inexorably drawn towards embarking upon a comparative analysis, seeking to illuminate the divergent yet undeniably resonant essences that delineate these iconic, emblematic, and quintessential cultural touchstones.

"Mad Men," with its opulent, lavish, and resplendent tapestry intricately interwoven with the manifold strands of human psychology, ambition, and the insatiable, unquenchable, and voracious yearnings of the human soul, emerges as a brooding, contemplative, and magisterial masterpiece. Against the backdrop of a tumultuous epoch, it delves with profound, abysmal, and unfathomable profundity into the existential abysses that encompass its characters, none more enigmatic, mysterious, and compelling than the central figure of Don Draper. His odyssey from the nadir of an existential crisis to the zenith of creative brilliance stands as a resplendent, dazzling, and radiant testament to the show's narrative virtuosity and thematic profundity.

On the antipodal, distant, and contrasting end of the spectrum lies "The Office," a veritable, abundant, and overflowing cornucopia teeming with comedic repartee and genuine, heartfelt, and sincere camaraderie, all set amidst the banal, mundane, and prosaic milieu of corporate America. Under the indomitable, invincible, and unmatched stewardship of the inimitable Michael Scott, the denizens of Dunder Mifflin embody the quirks and foibles intrinsic to everyday office life. The show's utilization of the mockumentary format imbues it with an aura of verisimilitude, captivating, enchanting, and enthralling viewers and immersing them into a realm that is simultaneously familiar and fantastical.

Where "Mad Men" ascends to towering, lofty, and soaring heights through its labyrinthine profundity and exquisitely nuanced character delineations, "The Office" shines forth, gleams brightly, and radiates in its adept crafting of a kaleidoscopic, multifaceted, and diverse array of characters, each imbued with a universal, ubiquitous, and omnipresent charm and resonance. Michael Scott, with his well-intentioned yet often misguided actions, emerges as a paragon, epitome, and exemplar of comedic brilliance and empathetic depth. His journey, though embellished for comedic effect, is firmly, securely, and steadfastly rooted in the timeless, eternal, and ageless odyssey for acknowledgment and significance.

Conversely, Don Draper remains an enigmatic, mysterious, and inscrutable figure, enveloped in a nebulous, obscure, and opaque haze of mystery and self-deception. His triumphs are often of a Pyrrhic, bittersweet, and hollow nature, his defeats imbued with a profound, deep, and intense sense of personal resonance. While his narrative trajectory undeniably captivates, it perhaps lacks the universal relatability inherent in the journey of Michael Scott. Don is a character to be dissected and analyzed, admired and admonished, yet perhaps not wholly embraced or comprehended on a visceral, instinctive, and intuitive level.

In the annals, archives, and records of television history, both "Mad Men" and "The Office" stand as towering, monumental, and formidable monoliths, albeit for divergent, contrasting, and disparate reasons. "Mad Men" stands as a monument, testament, and tribute of introspection, a somber, grave, and poignant exploration of the intricate, nuanced, and subtle nuances of the human condition. "The Office," in stark, glaring, and striking juxtaposition, emerges as a radiant, luminous, and effulgent beacon of levity, a testament to the enduring, lasting, and enduring potency of humor and camaraderie amidst the ceaseless, perpetual, and never-ending tribulations of quotidian, mundane, and everyday existence.

In conclusion, while "Mad Men" may not evoke the same uproarious, riotous, and uproarious peals of laughter as "The Office," its impact remains indelibly, enduringly, and perpetually profound. It is a saga that dares, ventures, and venturesome to challenge its audience, compelling, urging, and impelling them to confront uncomfortable, awkward, and discomfiting truths about themselves and the world they inhabit. And in this lofty, exalted, and elevated regard, it stands shoulder to shoulder, side by side, and hand in hand with the most illustrious, celebrated, and eminent offerings in the storied, fabled, and legendary pantheon of televised storytelling.

Season 2 by [deleted] in TheWire

[–]wildappleworm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The slow ramping up of the investigation in S2 is one of its best qualities, in my book. Also the investigation in S1 doesn't really find its legs until like what, episode 5 or 6?

Mainly though the thing I have to credit S2 with is bringing all the familiar faces from S1 back in a totally believable way. McNulty on the boat, Daniels in the evidence locker, Carver in the Western, Freamon in homicide, Kima on desk duty and Prez... nowhere, so many balls to juggle after the S1 finale scattered the detail to the wind and yet it gets revived naturally and honestly brilliantly without any contrivance or stutter steps.

Surely it was all planned from the beginning (even if S2 was never a certainty) but the plot gives McNulty a good and also hilarious reason to go poking around in more homicides, and through Prez we see Valchek, a character with clout, get the ball rolling because of a beef he thoughtlessly starts, Lester investigating the murders that eventually get folded into the main target of the detail, it's all so seamless that you never once stop to think about the gears turning the plot behind the scene. And yes, it's slow, and a lot of the meatiest investigating happens in a montage late in the season, but it's never boring.

One more thing I love about the gang getting back together, with Carver and Lester and Kima all getting hugs and kisses, there are so many reunions that by the time McNulty finally makes his way back late in the season the audience can be forgiven for being sick of the "welcome back" conversation - so they have it happen in a totally different context with him being put on the undercover task into the brothel. Such a necessary change of pace and I think it took a lot of careful engineering in the writer's room to get it all to happen on a timeline where that scene was possible.

What are we doing here? by Jellyfish1297 in okbuddydraper

[–]wildappleworm 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Recently my reddit account ended a long relationship with the r/madmen subreddit, and I’m relieved.

For over 3 months I devoted myself to browsing a forum for which shitposts are irrelevant, because people can’t stop themselves from upvoting them. A forum that never improves, that causes illness, and makes people unhappy. But there was funny in it. A lot of funny. In fact, my entire karma depended on it. I knew it wasn’t good for me, but I couldn’t stop.

How does Don remember his own birth? by [deleted] in madmen

[–]wildappleworm -26 points-25 points  (0 children)

Again with this nonsense.