Lurker > ElatedVenusaur

Letron_James posted...

My sauces in hell have confirmed The Donald has his ow branch in hell between the 3rd and 4th circle

My own theory is that Trump's punishment will be being confined to a pit with Richard Nixon. Nixon would spend eternity tearing into him, and Nixon sowed this wind. It's only fair he reaps the whirlwind.
Trump probably wouldn't even know who Nixon even is, thereby ensuring Nixon's crippling need for validation will forever be unfulfilled.

Yeah. Being homeless is terrible, and virtually criminalized in many places.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Year_in_various_calendars
I'll include some choice ones:
2771 AUC(Roman calendar)
6768(Assyrian calendar)
5778(Hebrew calendar)
1440(Islamic calendar)
107(Juche calendar)
4351(Korean calendar)
2562(Buddhist calendar)
174(Bah'a'i calendar)

Hel(a) was half beautiful maiden and half putrescent corpse. Split vertically down the middle.
And she's probably the least strange of Loki's illicit children.

Calwings posted...

Frostshock posted...

Florina is definitely the flier you want to invest in. The only other good alternative is exclusive to Hector's mode and she comes late .

Fiora and Heath aren't that bad.

Hell, Heath is arguably better, as long as he doesn't get speed-screwed(which is a possibility).
Fiora is fine. Really, none of the potential peg knights is bad, it's just that Florina gets a huge head-start on them.
As for Kent vs. Sain, the latter obviously has the better growths, particularly for how this game works, but it's not outside the realm of possibility for the former to outperform the latter. Almost no one in Blazing Blade has growths so good(or bad) that outcomes are certain.

andel posted...

DK9292 posted...

I've honestly heard Americans claim that WWII didn't start until America got involved in 1941. And don't get me started on the "We won WWII for you!"

It honestly disgusts me.

i mean the first part is ridiculous but the us entering the war is one of the primary reasons the allies won

The Soviets would have won in Europe eventually, even without our help.
Given what Stalin did with the countries the USSR liberated, it is true that they wouldn't have been much better off than they were under Nazi Germany.
In actuality, the only reason we ended up fighting Nazi Germany at all is because Hitler declared war on us in solidarity after we declared war on Japan over Pearl Harbor. Given the rising tensions in the Pacific, American entrance into the war was inevitable, but Nazi Germany had many admirers in our country, so going to war with them otherwise would have been much trickier(politically).

Why? That would be like punishing some one for crimes committed by their identical twin.

Sunset Invasion is hilarious and I've never gotten the hate for it.

As far as CK2 expansions go, I don't really see a point in starting without them, personally. In any case, I would consider The Old Gods, Way of Life, Sons of Abraham and The Reaper's Due indispensable.
Then come Horse Lords, Conclave, and Monks&Mystics.
Finally, Charlemagne and Jade Dragon are fairly worthy. The rest mostly just makes other things playable(Sword of Islam and The Republic), is Byzantophile bait with a broadly useful mechanic attached for some reason(Legacy of Rome) or feels undercooked(Rajas of India).

The portrait packs are usually good, and music packs are good if you like the game's music, but they're just art. Even if you want it, never buy it unless it's heavily discounted.

That would make breeding way easier.

Yeah, swatting is really nasty. Not only is it wasting the time of law enforcement in a huge(and expensive way) and causing them to doubt reports of swat-worthy activity, it inevitably results in property damage and serious trauma for the victim. Potentially including serious physical, mental, and/or emotional harm or even death. It should be treated as a felony, and a swatting resulting in death or trauma treated as similarly severe to the relevant crime(i.e. assault, attempted murder or even straight-up murder, as relevant).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DesTVL-WkAIR4PV.jpg:large
Some one made a color poster based upon this. Farfetch'd evo continues to own.

Popcorn_Fairy posted...

I was just gonna ask when I get my Seth.

Calwings posted...

Play Lyn/Normal into the main Eliwood/Normal story, then for the second playthrough, do Lyn/Hard (same missions and enemies but without all the tutorial stuff and a bit more freedom) into Hector/Normal. I wouldn't worry about trying to get all of the extra gaiden chapters until that second playthrough, but they're worth checking out.

So, I guess it has two stories? Like Sacred Stones? Without spoiling, is it gonna branch at a choice, or is like automatic or something.

Eh, Hector mode is mostly the same as Eliwood mode, except you have a different main character, a handful of extra chapters, and two units exclusive to that mode. It's also a bit harder. Mostly it just fleshes out the game's story a bit more.

Pfft. They're still B-list stone fruit. Plums and apricots are where it's at.

My manager once bragged to me that he reads 75-100 e-mails a day, seemingly as proof of how hard he works.
I'm glad I'm apparently really good at keeping a neutral impression, because I was laughing inside.

josifrees posted...

ElatedVenusaur posted...

An unrelated but fascinating tidbit is that part of the Sassanid royal family fled all the way to China and got Tang-backing for an expedition to liberate Persia. Most of the mercenaries they hired ended up defecting and they had to go back to China, where they were appointed to government posts and eventually Sinified.

Wow great post, have any more info about this tidbit or a source for me to read?

I believe I read that in "The War of the Three Gods: Romans, Persians, and the Rise of Islam".
Which is the only reason I know anything about this topic. "The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam" sheds some more light on what was going on in the area pre-Islam.

They would basically be living in zoos, which would suck. Especially since they were probably about as smart as elephants.

James Buchanan. He celebrated Dredd Scott and looked the other way as his cabinet paved the way for the secession of the Confederate States.
He wasn't just useless, but actively malicious.

It's an excellent game, even though it's a bit flawed.
Would love to see more games like it. IIRC, Paradox owns the license these days.

Pow Pow Punishment posted...

Zoroastrian imagery is still very prevalent. I've been seeing it in my household since I was a little kid (Iranian), and I only recently found out thanks to ISIS being in the news so much that Kurds have the same thing going on.

I'm not surprised: like other widespread religions, Islam undoubtedly appropriated symbols and holidays from the religions it "defeated".
Zoroastrianism also held on in some areas of northwestern India and Afghanistan as well, IIRC. In fact, the area around modern Mumbai is believed to have the largest concentration of practicing Zoroastrians in the world today.

Because the Sassanid Persian state was left in a badly-weakened state by the last Romano-Sassanid War(a titanic, decades-long struggle that bled both powers white). The Eastern Roman Empire had "won", and its Emperor(Heraclius) was a hero, so he had the political capital to straight-up abandon the Levant when he realized he couldn't defend it from the invading Arabs(Egypt was lost in fighting, in part due to poor military decisions by the Roman governor).
The Sassanid Shahanshah had no such political capital, and was thus forced to bet the house on holding onto everything. The Arabs crushed the Sassanids in battle after battle, and they basically ran out of soldiers and were overrun, so Zoroastrianism lost its state sponsor, which was really important, because its priesthood was largely hereditary and heavily integrated into the Persian state.

After that, you mostly have simple attrition. The Muslim Arabic rulers would become increasingly Persified, but Islam remained their religion. Zoroastrians were tolerated, but your career options were limited if you weren't a Muslim(couldn't join the army or government), so if you wanted to be influential, you converted. This resulted in the remaining Zoroastrian nobility becoming increasingly marginalized to more remote areas. When they rebelled and were crushed, the Muslim elite(unsurprisingly) seized upon it as an excuse for some persecution and land-seizures(a tactic used extensively by Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and virtually every other religion you can think of as well)
Of course, getting out of the Jizya(a poll tax on dhimmi i.e. non-Muslims who were tolerated) was also a factor(ironically, it tended to encourage Muslim rulers not to go too wild with religious persecution, because non-Muslims were a reliable source of cash for their coffers!)
Plus, Islam was straight-up a much more flavorful and egalitarian religion than Sassanid Zoroastrianism.
All these factors combined to put it into terminal decline, but it was still the majority religion of Persia for centuries after the Arabic conquest.

An unrelated but fascinating tidbit is that part of the Sassanid royal family fled all the way to China and got Tang-backing for an expedition to liberate Persia. Most of the mercenaries they hired ended up defecting and they had to go back to China, where they were appointed to government posts and eventually Sinified.

I'm pretty good. I can throw together good food from random stuff, and know some strong recipes for when I actually care(i.e. am cooking for others).

Hexenherz posted...

TheVipaGTS posted...

...why would his own fuckin lawyer even make this comment publicly?

There was a really good article about how Giuliani operates and basically it's to throw all these absurd baseless claims out there so that the real stories get overshadowed by his dumb BS, and also sets really weird public expectations for things (like people literally now anticipate that the Mueller investigation is going to be done by 1 September even though no one ever said that except Giuliani).

Yeah, he is actually good at creating chaff, because the media slavishly reports on everything he says and does even though it's all really dumb and/or intentionally in bad faith, and they usually don't do a great job at conveying just how dumb it all is.
Of course, I doubt anyone other than Trumpists buy it, but, then again, lots of people don't realize that the investigation has delivered a lot of indictments and a few guilty pleas already, so maybe it works better than I, some one who follows this stuff closely, realize.

MagnusX posted...

assassinCrash posted...

I think these conspiracy theories all come from paranoia and mental illness idk.

This, plus a feeling of disenfranchisement, less education, and/or low income.

Distrust of the government has exploded since Watergate, which has helped fan the flames a lot.

Phantom_Nook posted...

TheVipaGTS posted...

...why would his own fuckin lawyer even make this comment publicly?

Rudy isn't his real lawyer. He's just the TV lawyer Trump sends out to get people on his side.

Rudy is terrible at that though. Also probably not much worse at lawyering than Trump's actual lawyers, considering they're already resorting to the Nixon defense.

Darklit_Minuet posted...

2 is objectively better than 3 because it has way less water routes

Johto has a lot of early back-tracking, and in actual Gen 2 it takes a while to get the bike, so that aspect sucks. Plus, most of the caves don't have trainers in them. Once you get to Goldenrod, it does improve a lot though.
Hoenn does have a lot of water routes. It's made a lot worse by the fact that they're all concentrated after Lilycove, so you do ALL of the water routes back-to-back-to-back(and that's just the required ones!).

4 and 5 were the best gens, IMO. Sinnoh's my overall favorite region, but Unova was pretty good and was also the last region to really do its own thing with its own pokemon, which I respect, plus it has Ghetsis. It definitely deserves to get dinged for the starters though.
Gen 6 was kind of weak overall, IMO, but it had by far the best online mechanic in the PSS.

I don't know much about mono-type team design, but your entire team is weak to fire and I don't see that you have even an emergency-out on it. Friendly or not, that's a glaring weakness.
If you can't get Heatran(hard to get a good one, may fall under your legendaries clause), Empoleon could do the trick.
Getting Stealth Rock onto your team and prioritizing getting it set would also help mitigate the problem.

That Farfetch'd evo has a pretty cool sprite.
Beta-Girafarig looks better than the version we got(IMO), and I really like whatever that ball tiger/gerbil thing is.
Other than that, a lot of these beta designs are lame. More pointless pre-evos, terrible water starter, and whatever that derpy-ass eel-thing is.

It's also interesting to see how many of these things got recycled(Tangela evo, Lickitung evo, black cats, and the shark come to mind).

Romance of the Three Kingdoms VI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu6_5dx3JyI&list=PL2E1B7F571F1A3C59&index=7
Cao Cao/Wei Theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VreAIIvYEEE&index=18&list=PL2E1B7F571F1A3C59
Naval Battle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnJQs8hLOnY&index=21&list=PL2E1B7F571F1A3C59
Imperial Battle(only plays if one of the commanders in an emperor OR you're invading the Han capital.
On that note, I remember waging one particularly nail-biting battle in the Emperor Yuan Shu short scenario to this theme).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkM4DfEdlaY&index=25&list=PL2E1B7F571F1A3C59
Council Theme(only plays if your lord dies. Your leading retainers vote on who should succeed you. Cool, but nothing really comes of it).

Legend of Dragoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B75Zr06988k&index=9&list=PL08FEE6C0B34C86B6
Okay, on to Legend of Dragoon. Dart's theme straddles that line between heroically cool and cheesy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUGri5xlFg4&index=18&list=PL08FEE6C0B34C86B6
Imperial Capital of Kazoz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9uKo2HDuHM&list=PL08FEE6C0B34C86B6&index=41
Poor Rose...

Antifar posted...

Pelosi isn't even particularly radical.

She is; however, to the left of Chuck Schumer and her presumptive heir, Steny Hoyer.
She's not great, but she's probably one of the best Democrats in a leadership position currently, and she did manage to get a ton of bills passed in the two years the Democrats could accomplish anything.

It would probably take decades for a unified Korea to repair the north. The populace is poorly-educated, malnourished, and the infrastructure is decades old or non-existant. The south would basically need to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on getting it up to speed.

bob742omb posted...

i knew it wouldnt stop with glitterhoof

It didn't. There are bears too.

A theme so awesome you almost don't mind that you're in a teleporter dungeon!
Almost.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/dev-team-2-1-1-beta-patch-available-checksum-9b49.1101942/
2.1 beta patch out. The following notes are of most interest:

Now possible to achieve partial victory in subjugation and liberation wars with occupied systems splitting off as a new subject or ally in the event of a status quo peace

Increased power usage of torpedoes
Reduced HP of missiles across the board, making point defense more potent

Fixed a bug where guaranteed nearby colonizable worlds sometimes did not appear

Seems they finally fixed subjugation/liberation being all-or-nothing. And are also looking to nerf missiles and torpedoes.

I usually kit my corvettes out with missiles. Point-defense is pretty weak right now, and missiles and torpedoes are both very powerful. Missiles are best against small ships, but Torps tear through heavily-armored vessels(so, great for killing Cruisers and Battleships).
As for overall ship balance, I agree Destroyers are lost. Corvettes do okay with PD in a pinch, but PD just isn't that strong currently(though it's still in a better place than strike-craft). Battleships get tons of slots and can chew through stations with their big guns(and sufficient tracking can allow them to one-shot pesky corvettes on occasion. Void Lightning helps), and cruisers can mount a bunch of missile slots as well as medium and small slots. Destroyers can mount the most PD(without getting weighed down by hangars), but the bow PD section is garbage and PD, again, just isn't good now, and they can't mount missiles, so they're basically without a role once you unlock Cruisers(which eat Destroyers for breakfast AND fare better against 'vettes and battleships).
And, of course, Corvettes have great evasion and such a high disengage chance that you're unlikely to lose many, and the missile slot lets them hit really hard.

I have a rather significant amount of student loan debt and a fairly modest income. Of course more money would be immensely helpful.

I hope your new genitalia is everything you hope for. And, if possible, more!

The NFL's fan-base sucks(as a football fan).
https://i2.wp.com/fusion.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/bell-kaepernick-1500.png?resize=1024%2C726&quality=80&strip=all

Dash_Harber posted...

ElatedVenusaur posted...

One of the new anomalies gave my dudes Extremely Adaptive.
Like, wow. Adaptive would have been really powerful. Still rushed Terraforming because everything aside from the freebies was base 20%(or, in one case, worse).

As for how to begin with Stellaris, I'd argue you're missing a lot if you don't have Leviathans, and Utopia still has the Bio, Synth, and Psionic paths wrapped up in it.

Honestly, Adaptive and Extremely Adaptative sound great on paper, but are a bit underwhelming. There is a degree of adaptability, so it's not like you are cut off from every planet that isn't like yours. On top of that, you are guaranteed 2-3 gimmie planets right near your spawn that will be habitable for you. By the time Adaptivity comes in handy, there are a ton of easier ways to spread, like enslaving/migrating new races, discovering adaptation technology, terraforming, artificial habitats, synthetics, etc. At that point you can also pretty easily deal with any unhappiness caused by slightly unsuitable environments with things like the Paradise Dome, or other + happiness/- unrest technologies.

It only really shines if you build around it with a sort of 'locust horde' race.

Unadaptive is usually one of my given negative traits regardless of the build just because it's so easy to work around in the long run.

I think you underestimate them, personally. Sure, Extremely Adaptive and especially Adaptive lose their luster over time, but, early game? Your options are limited. You're only guaranteed the 2 planets of your preferred biome: the rest is luck of the draw. Adaptive and especially Extremely Adaptive weight that in your favor. +10% habitability isn't inconsiderable, but +20% is huge early on. It represents a large increase in productivity as well as happiness. Keep in mind I got this via event: I didn't even have to pay the normal opportunity cost for Extremely Adaptive! This happened early too: it effectively doubled the habitability of non-compatible biomes, which allowed me to (quite comfortably) colonize a desert planet in a vital choke-point despite playing an Ocean species.
Early game advantages allow you to snowball into late-game dominance, after all. That said, I would agree that Extremely Adaptive is too expensive to be anything but a niche-pick in species creation. Adaptive is okay, but it pales in comparison to, say, Industrious or Thrifty(or even Enduring!)

I imagine Infinity War 2 will resolve this via the Time Stone(in other words, by undoing "The Snap").
Nonetheless, I applaud Marvel for having the balls to end a blockbuster film on "Thanos wins".

Garioshi posted...

Frankly, the Southern states got off scott-free.

They really shouldn't have, but they did.
Worse, most of the southern states continue to be garbage to this very day.

One of the new anomalies gave my dudes Extremely Adaptive.
Like, wow. Adaptive would have been really powerful. Still rushed Terraforming because everything aside from the freebies was base 20%(or, in one case, worse).

As for how to begin with Stellaris, I'd argue you're missing a lot if you don't have Leviathans, and Utopia still has the Bio, Synth, and Psionic paths wrapped up in it.

More like National Fascism League.

UnfairRepresent posted...

Honestly not serving Jews, Muslims and vegheads pork is not much to ask

Just have prisons offer a veg alternative that Muslims can have if they dont go for pork

Or chicken. I'm pretty sure those options would actually be cheaper, so I mean, it's obvious what's actually happening here.

Yeah, exploration is a hugely important element of the game, and easily its greatest strength. Now it's even better.
Most of the event stuff is patch material though. Distant Stars is mostly just stuff related to the L-Cluster and a few new leviathans.

JE19426 posted...

SciFi posted...

Okay wait, why is "Islamic Law" being 'practiced' in a jail cell to begin with??

Because the US government can't prevent you from following your religion without very good reasons.

I wonder how CE would react if the prisoner in question was Jewish?

What kinds of races does everyone play with? I created a bunch out of other sci-fi medium and history as well as just random stuff. I only actually play as 3 though.

The Paxalus are Fanatic Egalitarian/Materialist, and generally just swell plant people who are abhorred by space slavery. They're the seed-pod looking guys with a retractable noodlehead(so cute!), so I made them sedentary and resilient.

The Miyatido are Militarist/Materialist/Authoritarian. They're nasty mad scientist birds with a society controlled by a fused scientific-military apparatus. They like to uplift primitives into their caste system and conquer weaklings for fun. Natural Engineers and Talented, of course.

Lastly, there are the Evucks(lifted from Last Federation). They're Xenophobic/Pacifist/Spiritualists. They're passive-aggressive telepaths who find the existence of other intelligent life disconcerting, and would much prefer it stay at safe (but researchable) distance. Inwards Perfection civic. They're solitary(because they're cranky), traditional(sweet, sweet unity), sociologists, and enduring(because of course the jerkbags live longer).

I like Nocturne(SMT III) better, but IV is really good stuff.