Lurker > spanky1

Also, here's a cartoon made for children straight from the actual JW website, produced by the JWs, that is all about a child choosing to isolate themselves from friends at school. This is the short trailer for it because the full thing is 13 minutes long, but it gets the point across, and you can find the full thing if you want:

https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/children/become-jehovahs-friend/videos/Become-Jehovahs-Friend-Trailer-Who-Should-Be-My-Friend/

I've found their children's cartoons to be pretty informative on the religion, because they really do show off the insanity in a very simple way for everyone to understand, and the fact that they're aimed at children makes it hit even harder.

Toonstrack posted...

This is false lol. They regularly interact with co workers and some have friends who aren't in the religion. Many do in fact.

This is also false. There are many that have well paying careers. They tell their followers not to pursue education above anything else and encourage trade schools mostly over something like going to a college for 8 years pursuing a doctorate. Even still, there are JWs with doctorates and high level education.

This is false. To be shunned from their you have to do something pretty bad like cheating on your spouse repeatedly, stealing, sexual abuse etc. You dont get shunned for questioning things. Even after shunning, I've heard from some of the ones I know that elders will stoll check up on ones in case they wanna come back at some point.

Prince and Serena williams were/are both baptized JWs. Marlon Wayans was raised as one. Does serena seem isolationist to you lol?

If you're in the religion or out but still look back fondly or respectfully on the religion, the points you're countering can come off as untrue because of the harsh tone. But they basically are true. JWFacts helpfully organizes quotes and passages from JWs' very own publications that show a full picture of the practices and doctrines for JWs. These articles aren't some crazy apostate person's ranting, they're methodically taking JW articles and quotes and going through them all in a logical manner.

For the shunning and isolation stuff:

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/disfellowship-shunning.php

Two pages for them discouraging higher education:

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/education.php

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/higher-education-university.php

One of the things you gotta remember is how a congregation or someone you personally know operates is different from what the religion officially says and endorses. There are some cool congregations or members out there, for instance, who are lax about this rule or that rule. That can sometimes misinform someone of what the actual religion itself says.

Also for celebrities like you listed, it's common knowledge that they operate under relaxed rules, and aren't held up to the same standards as the rank and file.

I was born and raised as one! Yeah they're awful.

DuranOfForcena posted...

actually come to think about it, i can't remember if the guys i posted about were JWs or Mormons

They were probably Mormons. JWs wouldn't do that because they're just all about seeing if you're vulnerable enough to get suckered into the cult, and if you aren't then they jet. Mormons are more legit nice people who will do things just because it's a good thing to do. They're kinda known for helping out with yard work or whatever.

DarkBuster22904 posted...

And it really is amazing the lengths they go to to "erase" things they don't like from their church's collective memory. One of the governing body was fired and disfellowshiped like a month ago, and it's the closes thing to Soviet-era "un-personing" I've ever seen. Scrubbed from all their records, and a few JWs I know already talk and behave like the dude, who was basically one of their Popes for decades, never existed to begin with. It's fuckin creepy.

Oh shit one of the governing body was disfellowshipped? When did that happen? I totally missed out on it. (Nice multi point write up before btw)

GSWarriors- posted...

Buzzcut with one number is the best? I shouldnt cut the sides shorter than the top?

Oh yeah I was just talking sides. A true buzzcut I dunno. But use the same rules for cutting wood. Error on the side of it too long, that way you can cut it shorter if it needs it.

1 for me.

Oh and to the TC, buy the Legos. >:)

Can this be the Lego general topic now?

I just got and built some shelves dedicated to my Legos. Much better than them just kinda being randomly all over the place. They look so much better all together.

I like the classic themed sets. I have the 3 in 1 castle, pirate ship and viking ship, as well as the medieval blacksmith.

Eldorado Fortress is almost out, I'm definitely getting that.

This'll probably normal in the future actually.

Remember, delivery fees used to not exist. They're a very new thing. It used to be you just tipped the driver.

Fees will be added wherever they can.

I think I'm finally gonna wind down and give the game a rest until season 1 starts. At a certain point it honestly really does get just mind-numbing. You just do the same few nightmare dungeons to barely move up your XP bar hardly anything. Gonna wait for season 1 and then start a fresh character.

So I finally played it.

It's a mixed bag for me. I really like the graphic style and how they're aiming for a fairly realistic medieval fantasy vibe, compared to other more wacky FFs. And the combat was fairly interesting. I didn't get super into it, but it wasn't bad either.

I do find it very strange how accessibility options are baked into actual gear instead of an option in a menu. I don't think I like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those gatekeepers that thinks games like this should just be hard and there should be no easy option. Like, I wouldn't care if Dark Souls had an easy option. That's fine. And I totally understand there are disabled people out there, and having the timing rings makes it so they can play the game. Hell, it's even playable with just one hand. I think that's great.

But for some reason, these options being tied to actual gear instead of an option you pick at the beginning of the game in a menu kinda doesn't feel good to me. Just because I'm one of those people where, when I play a video game like this, the "game" to me is min-maxing equipment, and equipping all the very best stuff to try to make my character as powerful as possible. So naturally, that means I have a compulsion to equip those rings, since they're there. And I know, everyone will say just don't use them, and I won't, of course. But it's just a strange choice to me. Why not keep those sort of auto-battle options within a menu?

Anyway, I wasn't too huge a fan of the story either. There are a LOT of cutscenes, and I just didn't find anything engaging. They're going for a more serious kind of story, almost Game of Thrones inspired, but the thing is, they're video game creators, not film makers. So nothing hit for me. Not even that big epic ending.

I sorta felt like I never was playing a video game. Like you know in the beginning of games where there's always some big set piece to wow you, but they're not really indicative of what the actual game is like, and you're kinda waiting to get to the real game so you can finally really enjoy it? I felt like I was in that space the entire time I played the demo. I kept waiting for it to turn into a fun video game but it never really did.

Anyway, I may buy it down the line when it's cheaper, but I don't think it's for me at new release.

Apparently Yao Ming's wingspan is only 7'4"? And he's taller than Victor. Thats crazy.

Depends on how quick she says her safe word HEYO WAKA WAKA

Probably just a regular human science dude explaining the science.

Just posting to say I agree with you.

How long total is the demo?

Honestly I just prefer their entire first album to everything else they've done. Each song is unique and has character and their other stuff kinda blends together.

Gloomhaven! Whoa!

For those who don't know, Gloomhaven is like the top rated board game ever. But its a nightmare to set up, so it in video game form looks amazing.

*airhorns in the distance, slowly getting closer*

Ninjaluver posted...

I am quickly losing interest in this game. Don't really understand what my motivation is supposed to be.

I'm level 58. Ice shards sorcerer. I can solo every nightmare dungeon I want with the same button combination. I stopped getting gear upgrades like 2 levels ago. Every level now takes a painful amount of time, god knows what it will take once I get 70 and progress to WT4. What's the point?

This game seems brainless at this point. My first Diablo game so maybe all are like this, but I'm not even seeing what I should be aspiring for.

The way I always played Diablo, at least 3, is just start a new character when I hit a XP wall. I mean, there's five characters. It takes a while to get each character to that point. That's a lot of game time imo. Worth the price of admission. And then you can also replay the same character but focus on a totally different build and style, and it's kinda like a whole new character.

The only reason I haven't started doing that yet is because I want to wait for seasons before starting different characters.

TheOnionKnight posted...

Nope! This is the first time I've even seen the name, to my knowledge.

He's a guy who basically makes his own movies on a bare bones budget, but he desires to still try to make them big and epic, and the results are fascinating. I mean just bizarre.

To anyone who has no idea who this man is, I highly recommend at least just watching a trailer for his movies on YouTube.

@TheOnionKnight ever heard of him?

TwoBit_Samurai posted...

I will have to try it. At this point I am breezing through WT3, but was told WT4 will humble you quick

The hardest part is the boss of the dungeon. I could make it through the dungeon earlier than level 65, but the boss wiped me.

I played the demo on switch a while ago. It is fantastic. It reminds me of a modern day Super Mario rpg. Really good graphics.

I managed to unlock tier 4 at level 65 with my barb.

M_Live posted...

Squirrel Girl

Just four different faces of Squirrel Girl, each with a different expression.

Interesting fact I learned about how some skills are handled. Whirlwind in my case. The game takes a "snapshot" of where you first activated the skill, and that's where it assumes to skill is taking place for "close enemies" damage. If you hold down WW far from an enemy, and then spin toward them, I always thought I was getting close enemy damage boosting, but I'm not, because the game snapshotted me from far away when I first activated it.

This also comes into play for enemies that have the Suppressor ability. This is that big circular field around some elites, and what it does is makes it so long range damage doesn't hurt them, it has to be close damage. Well guess what? If you start WW outside the circle, the game snapshots you there, and then if you move into the circle, you can't hurt the enemy because the game doesn't consider you as being in close range. You're still long range. So you have to start the WW within the circle for it to work.

This behaves the same way for abilities similar to WW. It certainly takes the oomph out of close enemy damage modifiers for some builds.

I sort of maybe agree, just offhand.

I tore Tier 3 Butcher to pieces and got a fantastic unique chest piece from him.

I'm a level 58 barb and I feel like my character is really in a good spot right now. Basically a dedicated shout WW barb that is always inflicting bleed and slow for damage boosts. Who knows how it'll hold up in later game.

Jeez is this still going on

I'm going from S9 to S23 sometime very soon, maybe this week. My phone is physically falling apart so I gotta do it. Wish me luck?

I missed that division thing. Is it a new game or expansion for 2?

Carljank posted...

Wow had no idea. A rare example of feelings of black supremacy. Its also very ugly.

tremain07 posted...

Man, that's disgusting.

NoxObscuras posted...

JFC. I had never heard of that before. All I ever hear about Nick these days is how he's got some new woman pregnant (he's got 12 kids by 6 different women).

Yep, it always blows my mind seeing that he's still working. He's straight up flagrantly racist, and it seems like most people just don't even know it.

This avatar game looks pretty bad.

How does Nick Cannon still have work. Hes such a horrible, racist human being. Now he's body shaming

masterpug53 posted...

Yep, that's a purchase all right. Been thinking about building my own witch / alchemist hut to sit next to the Blacksmith's Hut on my shelf, and this'll be just about perfect.

Only downside is no Billy the Zombie.

Yeah it does look cool and similar style to the Blacksmith, I just wish it was medieval themed instead of hocus pocus.

bsp77 posted...

I just found out that you are capped at level 50 at tier 2 and you can't reach tier 3 until you beat the story. I better stop screwing around and get going then as I am level 35. Finished about half of the side quests and dungeons in the fractured peaks.

Yep, that's why it's advised to just focus on the story at first.

It honestly kinda makes sense thematically too. At first your character is mostly concerned with stopping Lilith. And then after all that, the Wanderer goes around and spends their days being a do gooder and helping out random people.

I've managed to take down Butcher twice on tier 3. I think WW is actually a good move against him, you can dodge a lot of his attacks while still damaging him.

GranolaPanic posted...

Tried a couple different ones for each class.

Necromancer

Blood Wave and then companions

Barbarian

Whirlwind and Rend

Rogue

Twisted Blades

Sorcerer

Ice Shard then Arc Lash and Chain Lightning

Druid

Tornado and then Wolves and Creeper

Hmm, almost seems like there might be some fundamental thing you're not doing or something if you're having that hard a time. Tier 1 shouldn't be hard enough that you're dying so much you can't even afford armor repairs. Are you using health potions? Upgrading them? Equipping new armor? I'm a WW barb and there were certainly a few times early on where you're kinda squishy because you're melee, but finding some good armor and maybe the defensive shout helped out eventually.

If anything, I've heard werebear druid is the tankiest class. Maybe try respeccing to that?

So are you guys waiting for season 1 until you start a next character? I played D3 but never did any season, not sure how they work.

GranolaPanic posted...

I might give up on this game. No build I try is fun and Im dying all the time even on world tier 1. I cant even afford to repair my gear. Thats how much Im dying.

Dont know what Im doing wrong. I had fun with D2R and D3. This game is so much harder than them.

What class and build are you going for?

Is Tier 3 supposed to be pretty tough out the gate? Level 50 WW/shout barb. I haven't died yet, but some close calls. Feel like I need to get a bunch of sacred items to feel better. There are a LOT of elites on tier 3.

And whats with the helltide? Is this important? How do you do this efficiently? I feel like a headless chicken.

I want a dommy mommy Lilith

Two questions: What do the aliens look like, and how soon can I have sex with them?

Holy shit

Isn't the full game releasing in like 30 minutes? Good luck servers.

Just got the horse.

My advice to anyone who hasn't yet would be to skip side content for now and just do the main story at least up to this point.

Horse is good.

Straight up murder.

ai123 posted...

One former intelligence official.

Not the same thing.

Corroborated by several others.

https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/141ch26/intelligence_officials_say_us_has_retrieved_craft/

I mean whatever it's probably hogwash, but reading all that and the article and comments, I did sort of get a freaky feeling for a moment where it was totally real in my head. And it wasn't a good feeling. I don't think I want aliens to be real. I think they're a terrifying concept when you really sit and think about it and they probably don't have good intentions.

Just imagine for one moment that they are real. If they actually do exist, they've been hiding all this time because they value their secrecy.

What happens once the entire world knows they are real?

What if they do something then?

This particular comment thread got me feeling pretty spooky. It's how they said they needed to whistleblow because the world needs to be prepared for mass contact soon:

https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/141ch26/intelligence_officials_say_us_has_retrieved_craft/jmzi7ts/

Here's a spooky comment from the thread:

I saw an interview with Leslie Keen a couple of months ago where she basically said she was taking some time off and just trying to enjoy her life for the moment, because of knowledge she had that she couldn't elaborate on beyond "geo-political things." It was quite jarring actually, and makes some more sense now given she's had this info for a few months and was probably just doing all of her due diligence to confirm it at the time of this interview. It didn't sound like the usual "tune in next week!" kind of hype, she really didn't want to talk about it at all and seemed genuinely concerned.

It's just like...what if, guys. What if.

thronedfire2 posted...

the cap is 100 so you have plenty of leveling to do after finishing it

Yeah but enemies are capped at 50 through tier 2, meaning XP comes very slowly and it gets brain dead easy then. Tier 3 is goes to 70 and 4 is uncapped.