Poll of the Day > PotdMon: Nerd/Geek

(+) Yeah! (+)

Monster Hunter is my life now
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The Wave Master posted...

I wish DC would step their game up, but I know I'm asking too much.

I still hope for a David Tennant Riddler.
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Reposting this from another thread:

ParanoidObsessive posted...

MICHALECOLE posted...

Youre all gonna see all the movies

Ehh.

When the MCU started, I saw every movie in theaters. But I skipped Spider-Man Homecoming (and I still haven't gotten around to watching it, in spite of the fact that I bought it on DVD like two years ago), and I skipped Ragnarok and Black Panther in theaters (though I bought both on DVD and watched them right after). And then I skipped Captain Marvel entirely. I can literally chart my interest in the films slowly dying off.

I'm probably going to buy Far From Home on DVD when it comes out, but unless I motivate myself to watch Homecoming first, I almost certainly won't bother to watch that one either.

After that, future announced MCU movies include Black Widow (which I don't care about), The Eternals (which I don't care about), and Shang-Chi (who I didn't even give a shit about in the comics, and who I don't really care about in film form). So I can easily pass on all of those pretty much forever.

The only other films in the pipeline that we know about are a Doctor Strange sequel (which I would be interested in, except everything they've said about it so far makes me think it won't be worth my time), another Thor sequel (which I would be interested in, except everything they've said about it so far makes me think it's going to be adapting one of the worst Thor storylines ever written, so I'll absolutely be disinterested in it), and an eventual Guardians of the Galaxy sequel (which I would definitely be interested in, but all the shenanigans with James Gunn and plot points in Infinity War/Endgame makes me wonder if it will be as good as the previous two, or if I should just give it a pass).

Even as a huge comic geek, I have almost no interest in anything they're planning for at least the next three years. Sure, I might go see (or buy the DVD of) one or more of the new movies if reviews (from people whose opinions I trust) say they're really great, or if they reveal a concept I'm super-into, but at the moment, I could drop the MCU entirely and not really miss anything. Mainstream audiences may be even more disinterested, especially if burnout has set in from having to watch 22 movies over the span of 10 years to culminate in Endgame. It's a perfect jumping off point - a lot of people are going to, you know, jump off.

A lot of people are likely to stop watching the films soon, whether due to burnout, or because everything from Iron Man to Endgame feels like a complete story and they don't care about the new characters, or because they were younger when they watched them and feel like they've "grown out" of the franchise now, or because media in general just keeps demanding more and more of our time and we all have to prioritize what's most important to us. I'm sure the new movies will do extremely well regardless (even if older viewers age out, newer ones will likely age in, and China keeps growing as a market), and I'm sure tons of people will keep seeing them, and they'll probably remain cultural touchstones for a while to come.

But that doesn't mean I'll be watching them. Nor would I necessarily assume all the other geeks and nerds I know will bother watching them either.

tl;dr - do any of you feel like you've got total MCU fatigue and a general disinterest in the announced future movies? Or are you still excited for everything?


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David Tennant was aces as the Purple Man in Jessica Jones, IMO.

I admit that I am less fired up about the Marvel movies than I used to be, but I will generally go out of my way to see one if it means a hero who has not previously been filmed is getting screen time. (Yes, I'm actually excited for the Shang-Chi movie.)
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

tl;dr - do any of you feel like you've got total MCU fatigue and a general disinterest in the announced future movies? Or are you still excited for everything?

To answer the question with a post from that same topic:
Taily_Po posted...

I think I've only seen about a quarter of them and, tbh, a few are of little to no interest. And, honestly, people shit on the DC films all the time, but I haven't been that impressed by what I've seen of the MCU and the first MCU Avengers film basically killed a good chunk of my interest in the franchise.

ts;dr - I basically checked out ages ago. And I don't have much faith in Disney/Marvel to deliver a superhero movie I care about. That and the franchises they're focusing on are things I don't care about as much (sans Spider-Man, which I fatigued on after it got rebooted yet again).

That said, maybe the MCU Fantastic Four will excite me. Or if they actually do that Namor movie.

If they really wanted to excite me, they'd announce that the NFI Marvel shows were being brought back (sans Defenders... unless they *really* redid the format)
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Taily_Po posted...

If they really wanted to excite me, they'd announce that the NFI Marvel shows were being brought back (sans Defenders... unless they *really* redid the format)

Technically, I'm not sure they can. They're never coming back as a joint venture between the two, and I'm assuming the rights issues are such that neither can actually make new episodes without the other.

At best you'd just get new series with recast characters. But they might want to hold off on that for a while (I could see them push out a new Punisher series sooner, though, and maybe something like Moon Knight), but that's it. And you'd still need Disney plus to see any of it.


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I'm definitely still excited about where they go with Spider-Man next.
I'm interested in Guardians 3, Dr. Strange 2, Captain Marvel 2, and Black Panther 2.
I wanna see how far the Sam Cap story goes.
I wanna see if and how they will introduce the Fantastic 4.
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I've already expressed my Marvel fatigue, which works with how content I am with the MCU. If the future movies turn out well, great. If the golden age of it is indeed over and it shows, c'est la vie.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Taily_Po posted...

If they really wanted to excite me, they'd announce that the NFI Marvel shows were being brought back (sans Defenders... unless they *really* redid the format)

Technically, I'm not sure they can. They're never coming back as a joint venture between the two, and I'm assuming the rights issues are such that neither can actually make new episodes without the other.

Which supposedly also killed Spectacular Spider-Man, which was probably the best animated version of Spider-Man to date =x

ParanoidObsessive posted...

At best you'd just get new series with recast characters. But they might want to hold off on that for a while (I could see them push out a new Punisher series sooner, though, and maybe something like Moon Knight), but that's it. And you'd still need Disney plus to see any of it.

Considering that Punisher is a hot property, I can kinda get that... and I also expect that Daredevil may eventually get a go. Granted, if the new shows they're doing wind up flopping, all of that might go by the wayside.
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Zeus posted...

Which supposedly also killed Spectacular Spider-Man, which was probably the best animated version of Spider-Man to date =x

If I remember, that was a case where Disney got the opportunity to reclaim the rights after they bought Marvel, and decided they'd rather do their own cartoon in-house rather than farm the rights out to Sony (especially since the cartoon was already airing on Disney XD), which is why we got Ultimate Spider-Man instead.

I never watched either (I didn't have Disney XD at the time), but I do remember at the time that the comic geeks over on /co/ basically praised the hell out of Spectacular, complained about Ultimate killing it, and whined that Ultimate was bad (though that might have just been because it killed their beloved baby).

The only other thing I remember from that time is that is that they really loved Tron: Uprising and were sad to see it go.



Zeus posted...

Considering that Punisher is a hot property, I can kinda get that... and I also expect that Daredevil may eventually get a go.

Punisher's also kind of generic, so as long as you've got Frank Castle shooting criminals you're 90% of the way there. Plus, the Netflix Punisher series wasn't around as long and wasn't a huge critical smash, so it feels like it would be easier to relaunch with new cast than something like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, or Luke Cage (and Iron Fist feels like it might be a bit of a poisoned well for the opposite reason).

I definitely think TV works better for lower-level, street-based heroes than movies do, and Punisher's sort of a quintessential street-level character for Marvel. He just feels like the first character I'm going to go to if I'm trying to build a TV shared universe franchise (especially considering the supposedly hostility between the TV and film divisions of Marvel, which is a shame).

Something else I think they should do (but I doubt they ever will) is do a "Borderline Investigations" show (aka the Nightstalkers). Private detective agency, investigating supernatural crimes and fighting vampires - it's basically the X-Files meets Angel. Your core cast are Frank Drake (a human descendant of Dracula, a former spoiled rich dude who hunts vampires), Hannibal King (a private detective-turned vampire who refuses to feed on humans and who uses his powers to hunt down monsters), and Blade (who is, you know... Blade). Then you can have supporting cast like Rachel van Helsing, Quincy Harker, Topaz, and Taj Nital, and you can dip into some of the other 70s horror titles (like Werewolf by Night), some of the 90s stuff like the Darkhold Redeemers, Lilith, and even some of the newer horror-related stuff (like Moon Knight and Elsa Bloodstone). You could even throw someone like Brother Voodoo or Doctor Druid or Daimon Hellstrom (or even Mordred!) in as a replacement for Doctor Strange, though tastes may vary there.

But it would work best with the spirit of the 70s comics and not the 90s ones, at least in terms of writing (the 70s comics felt kind of like Hammer horror - the 90s books... were 90s books). Or they could go with the current trendy thing and go full-in with Lovecrafting/Cthulhu flavoring and lean heavily into Chthon (aka, ancient dark god of magic and the true source of all vampires) and the Darkhold (which is Marvel's Necronomicon, and which has generally always been pretty cool).

It's a huge chunk of the Marvel universe that almost always gets ignored, and most of which is almost certainly never going to be used in any movie or major project for a long time. Blade and Moon Knight are the only real problem characters (because Blade's getting another movie and Moon Knight probably will eventually, since he's pretty much Marvel Batman).


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Started to watch the remake of the Beauty & the Beast tv series and almost immediately recognized a now-older Kristin Kreuk (Lana from Smallville... and don't tell Scotty that she also played Fiona from Eurotrip). It's a little weird to see her now. I wouldn't say that she's aging well or badly, she's just older. (Unlike Jordana Brewster who, while visibly older the Lethal Weapon show, rocks her age.)

I don't remember that much of the original Beauty & the Beast show (which was one of GRRM's earlier writing credits) and was a little surprised that this new show -- which I *might* have seen announced at some point or seen a poster at a mall -- is intended as a remake.

And, tbh, if not for Kristin Kreuk, I'm not sure I would have bothered watching much past the first terribly written scene.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

If I remember, that was a case where Disney got the opportunity to reclaim the rights after they bought Marvel, and decided they'd rather do their own cartoon in-house rather than farm the rights out to Sony (especially since the cartoon was already airing on Disney XD), which is why we got Ultimate Spider-Man instead.

The creator mentioned that there was a tie-up with the rights.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I never watched either (I didn't have Disney XD at the time), but I do remember at the time that the comic geeks over on /co/ basically praised the hell out of Spectacular, complained about Ultimate killing it, and whined that Ultimate was bad (though that might have just been because it killed their beloved baby).

I've never had Disney XD. I think I watched it either on YT or NFI. And I was a hard sell, but the show is just that good.

As for Ultimate, it's terrible on its own merits so it's not just the fact it replaced a better show. It has a far more kiddy presentation and an annoying gimmick where Spidey frequently breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience -- freezing the action while doing so -- or changing the animation style. Honestly, had they used that approach in a Deadpool cartoon, it might have worked. (They did have a Deadpool episode -- can't remember if I saw the whole thing -- which seemed moderately amusing.)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I definitely think TV works better for lower-level, street-based heroes than movies do, and Punisher's sort of a quintessential street-level character for Marvel. He just feels like the first character I'm going to go to if I'm trying to build a TV shared universe franchise (especially considering the supposedly hostility between the TV and film divisions of Marvel, which is a shame).

Given that the Punisher is less team-up friendly than other heroes, I'd kinda feel the reverse is true. However, I agree that tv is a better medium for the less-epic-scale heroes. It's also a *much* better way to push a lot of supervillains, since somebody like Kingpin would have been completely wasted in film... which he basically was with that Daredevil movie.

And I'm assuming that the movie and tv halves will be more cooperative if they're sharing talent. However, it's bad enough that you kinda have to watch a bunch of other movies before starting a movie, having to also follow tv shows to get the complete story is really going to suck.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Something else I think they should do (but I doubt they ever will) is do a "Borderline Investigations" show (aka the Nightstalkers). Private detective agency, investigating supernatural crimes and fighting vampires - it's basically the X-Files meets Angel. Your core cast are Frank Drake (a human descendant of Dracula, a former spoiled rich dude who hunts vampires), Hannibal King (a private detective-turned vampire who refuses to feed on humans and who uses his powers to hunt down monsters), and Blade (who is, you know... Blade).

Yes, I'm familiar with the Nightstalkers even though I think I only ever had a few of the comics. I would certainly be down for something like that, given that I follow countless horror shows.

Speaking of horror continuity, I continue to be disappointed by the failure to really get the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe off the ground. It's stupid because that HAS worked in the past, first for Universal and, as you bring up, Hammer as well.
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It's weird to think about, but up until maybe 10 years ago I owned fewer than 30 movies on DVD. Then as recently as maybe 4 or 5 years ago, I might have owned fewer than 50 or 60 movies on DVD/BR. Today it feels like I'm on hoarders. I'm going through a lot of the stuff and finding that I have way more duplicates than I thought.

The largest part of the problem is just cheap DVDs -- mostly thanks to hitting up Goodwill where I can get them for a buck apiece half the time (and $2 the rest of the time). Then there are movies that I was kinda sketchy on that I paid $1-3 for because they also included a digital download code =x

The worst is typically long-running shows, since I recently picked up another copy of Smallville season 7. (Honestly, even the first copy of season 7 was probably a mistake. It wasn't a particularly great season... not that Smallville was a fantastic show, mind you.) I also apparently own 2 copies of Burn Notice s2, although one is BR and the other is DVD. For tv shows, I also usually wind up paying more which makes it more annoying. While it's likely still considerably cheaper than going through other sources (excluding piracy, obviously) for the same material, a lot of the stuff I might not have bought had it not been cheap in the first place.

But yeah, I also realized I own 2 copies of Young Frankenstein and I *still* haven't seen it.
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Young Frankenstein is solid gold. The Gene Hackman bit is my favorite.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a huge chunk of the Marvel universe that almost always gets ignored, and most of which is almost certainly never going to be used in any movie or major project for a long time. Blade and Moon Knight are the only real problem characters (because Blade's getting another movie and Moon Knight probably will eventually, since he's pretty much Marvel Batman).

I've gushed about Moon Knight here before, but the Marvel Horror side of that universe was, in general, pretty cool back in the day. It's one of the reasons I still occasionally dip into the Essential Marvel TPBs. (The fact that those are always released in black and white just adds to the atmosphere, IMO, especially for Moon Knight.) And I'd definitely watch any show or movie that recaptures that. Kinda like how I was willing to give Guardians of the Galaxy a chance because Marvel Cosmic is another neglected aspect of the whole Marvel universe.
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I_Abibde posted...

Young Frankenstein is solid gold

Yes
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I_Abibde posted...

The fact that those are always released in black and white just adds to the atmosphere, IMO

A fair amount of their horror stories were always in black and white, if I remember correctly. They had a "magazine" format in the 70s that they used for certain stuff, and some of the horror titles fell into that category (especially because it allowed them to bypass the Comics Code). Conan fell into the same deal.


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Well, whether it's one mod or several, the gang is going crazy on me so I've got to make some new accounts soon. Because literally anything I post could result in a moderation-turned-suspension/ban, I'm not even going to bother to Aaantlion. However, unless I have some accounts I set up and forgot about, it might mean that I'll be away from the geek topic until I set up the new accounts and get them enough karma to access PotD because I'm pretty sure both Broken Zeus & Taily Po are going to get hit because I responded to people -- including one mod -- who rubbed in the fact I got modded and apparently complaining about being modded here is grounds for modding. This whole new system is fucking insane.

At any rate, my previous name suggestions are probably all I've got (unless maybe we could do Young Geekenstein or Young Frankengeek: The Musical).

And, honestly, my free time will probably be tied up anyway for a few days. My primary/home laptop seems like it's running on borrowed time since nothing is working right and the one I usually bring with me everywhere is struggling to keep up because I'm using it for everything instead of breaking stuff between both. I probably need to buy a new laptop (or see if somebody is looking to get rid of an old one... or maybe try to figure out how to reformat that old all-in-one unit I picked up a while ago). Of course, all of those are really questions for a *nerd* topic rather than a geek topic; although I will ask for the crew's opinion on refurbished pcs/laptops. I'm just kinda wondering if it's worth risking saving a bit of money there (even if it's first-party), both from the previous issues and whatever malware could be hidden.

Which brings me to Part B of what's going to tie me up -- both migrating content from the old laptop and going through my super-large Notepad file. I figured I'd take this time to extract useful content from it, be it novel/story ideas, game ideas, etc. I spent a good chunk of the evening looking through it so far and I'm maybe 20% through it so far and this initial run-through I'm just grabbing content pertaining to a series of fantasy novels I was toying around with.

Metalsonic66 posted...

I_Abibde posted...

Young Frankenstein is solid gold

Yes

Movie aside, I should mention that I absolutely love the OBC recording for the musical.
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Can't imply a certain poster routinely defends pedophiles because that's offensive, despite the same poster also regularly getting modded/warned/suspended/purg'd for...well, I'll let y'all guess.
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WhiskeyDisk posted...

Can't imply a certain poster routinely defends pedophiles because that's offensive, despite the same poster also regularly getting modded/warned/suspended/purg'd for...well, I'll let y'all guess.

If it's the one I think you mean, I just block him whenever he makes a new account. If it's another one... well, there are a lot of those guys here.
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The Wave Master posted...

What about you guys? What foods do you dislike?

I have very few big dislikes, but for the ones I do, tend to be ones that most like.
Licorice, grapefruit, Swiss cheese, olives, and mushrooms most of the time. All of those being taste related, mushrooms for texture.

The only thing in MCU phase 4 that immediately interests me.is Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, if nothing else due to that (very Lovecraftian ) title alone. And that it's supposed to be very horror-esque is intriguing.

Blood & Thunder sou ds awful.

Im.also chilling at the JFK airport, waiting for my 2 week vacation flight to St. Maarten.
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CyborgSage00x0 posted...

The only thing in MCU phase 4 that immediately interests me.is Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, if nothing else due to that (very Lovecraftian ) title alone. And that it's supposed to be very horror-esque is intriguing.

All of which makes me hope that Shuma-Gorath will feature into it. All that aside, like I mentioned in WC's topic, as far as superhero horror goes, I'm most looking forward to that New Mutants film.
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Taily_Po posted...

All of which makes me hope that Shuma-Gorath will feature into it.

He might appear, but the main villain is supposedly Nightmare, which makes sense. He was always a major Doctor Strange villain, especially early on.



Taily_Po posted...

and apparently complaining about being modded here is grounds for modding. This whole new system is fucking insane.

That's actually always been the case - I remember someone complaining about that more than 10 years ago, and the argument was something along the lines of complaining about moderations technically counts as trolling, because you're trolling the mods.

Though personally, I'd probably count it as disruptive, because all the "Fair, next" topics complaining about moderators start to get annoying after a while.

But your real problem isn't the mods, it's that you've pissed off enough people that they mark the hell out of anything you post that's even remotely borderline ToS-breaking, so even if they're only hitting one out of ten times, you're still getting nailed constantly. And then that makes your mod history look like hell, so the mods come down harder (which, again, has always been the case here).

If you really want to dodge mods better, you'd probably be better off using a VPN or some form of IP randomizer so your new accounts don't get put on the same user map as the older ones, then lay low for a bit and don't let some of the more assholish people bait you into saying things they can mark once they realize a new account is yours.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

That's actually always been the case - I remember someone complaining about that more than 10 years ago, and the argument was something along the lines of complaining about moderations technically counts as trolling, because you're trolling the mods.

Perhaps it's an objection that makes sense when making topics, but not when making posts where it's already being discussed. At any rate, I'm not sure any of the moderations were warranted under any conventional or traditional reading of the rules.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

But your real problem isn't the mods, it's that you've pissed off enough people that they mark the hell out of anything you post that's even remotely borderline ToS-breaking, so even if they're only hitting one out of ten times, you're still getting nailed constantly. And then that makes your mod history look like hell, so the mods come down harder (which, again, has always been the case here).

Not so much "enough people" as it is a handful of trolls with near-limitless time (unless you mean the more loosely defined "enough" where even one person is "enough"). tbh, when the last system went into place, one poster looked through things I posted months ago to report. However, much more importantly, I've been suspended for "agreeing" with posts that weren't modded -- even after I marked them myself (and then sporadically marked it again to see what the status was until it once again went in as a new report meaning it was no actioned TWICE despite it doing what the mod explicitly complained about) which suggests that the problem goes much, much deeper than me being overmarked. And keep in mind that trolls have been marking everything I post for years so that's not exactly new either.

And I should also mention that one of the suspensions had the reason cited as "harassment" of a mod despite the mod both bringing up the moderation in question and then pushing the conversation. And, I should note, that the same individual has been taunting me over the previous moderations (which is a large part of why I thought they had been doing the modding), including dropping the ok-sign after I was suspended for that post where I "agreed" with that one poster.
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Has anyone played Zero Dawn and would like to give me advice?
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Broken_Zeus posted...

Perhaps it's an objection that makes sense when making topics, but not when making posts where it's already being discussed.

Still applies. Technically, you're not supposed to talk about moderations at all.

They actually used to be stricter about that, then they relaxed a bit and really only enforced it when people posted screenshots of moderator replies to disputes, but it's never really stopped being moddable.



Broken_Zeus posted...

Not so much "enough people" as it is a handful of trolls with near-limitless time (unless you mean the more loosely defined "enough" where even one person is "enough").

Yeah, basically "enough" is "however many are required to achieve their purpose". Even a few people with a grudge and enough time/pettiness can go out of their way to try and bait you into saying things they can then mark.

And again, even 9 out of every 10 posts they mark are ignored for being fine, but they're marking dozens of posts, the mods that do go through are going to add up eventually.



Broken_Zeus posted...

I've been suspended for "agreeing" with posts that weren't modded -- even after I marked them myself (and then sporadically marked it again to see what the status was until it once again went in as a new report meaning it was no actioned TWICE despite it doing what the mod explicitly complained about) which suggests that the problem goes much, much deeper than me being overmarked.

That's probably because there's some degree of MMA involved, in spite of everyone in charge always swearing that was never a thing, with most mods who quit eventually admitting that it was always a thing. I suspect they may have changed it from being purely a measure of marks processed to weighting it based on someone's user-map and karma (or maybe a combination of the two), which could mean your marks aren't doing much because they've already dismissed your validity in the system.

It could also be an issue where you can only mark a given post so many times from a given IP/user-map and have it count, and on a board like PotD you definitely need multiple people marking posts to move them up the queue fast enough to get them modded rather than having them slowly slide off the topic list when the expiration time limit hits.

Basically, you'd have to test it by picking a post that looks very much ToS-breaking and modworthy, then get multiple other people to mark it for you to see how fast it goes away. But you'd probably also need to arrange something like that in secret via PMs, because otherwise you could potentially get modded yourself for a post encouraging other people to mark posts, because that can theoretically fall under harassment or trolling itself.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

and really only enforced it when people posted screenshots of moderator replies to disputes, but it's never really stopped being moddable.

Hence why I've never posted a screenshot of the "Wile E Coyote" mod response I've alluded to multiple times in the past.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Basically, you'd have to test it by picking a post that looks very much ToS-breaking and modworthy, then get multiple other people to mark it for you to see how fast it goes away. But you'd probably also need to arrange something like that in secret via PMs, because otherwise you could potentially get modded yourself for a post encouraging other people to mark posts, because that can theoretically fall under harassment or trolling itself.

Or you could just post an opinion to the right of TYT on 261 and see how long it takes to get gang modded by a resident mod there that literally provokes posters on various alts. Silencing your opposition by way of moderation has become the norm there to preserve the echo chamber. Then you can go to reddit to subject yourself to extrajudicial moderation on two forums instead of just the one...
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The 5th Edition campaign is drawing to a close, and I have been conferring with my players about what to do next. I offered to run a Basic Fantasy (i.e. Rules Cyclopedia lite) campaign, and, after I pitched the system to them, they agreed to it. (It helps that you need only one book to play, and that book retails for $5 U.S. because the author sells it at cost on Amazon.) Several new players will also be joining. I count this as a success. Returning to Greyhawk has been good for me getting back into the DM-ing groove, but going back to my campaign world will be the breath of fresh air I have been needing.
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WhiskeyDisk posted...

Or you could just post an opinion to the right of TYT on 261 and see how long it takes to get gang modded by a resident mod there that literally provokes posters on various alts.

Your first mistake there was attempting to wade into the open sewer that is the Politics board in the first place. Your second mistake was attempting to post there.


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Beauty and the Beast continues to feel like an even worse version of Smallville. At times, it feels kinda like Smallville was mashed together with Grimm -- mostly in terms of the stupid goofiness of the random plot contrivances, changes in character motivation, etc. One of the things that randomly annoys me the most is the logical inconsistencies surrounding the time-frames. Kristin Kreuk was born in 1982. She was noted as graduating in 2003 (circa the reunion episode; which, by the way, would puts the actress's real age at 21 upon graduating -- not a big deal in theory, because shows always cast older for younger characters).

She had either started college or was getting ready to go to college at the beginning of the series, which is set prior to the show's modern day. If she graduated in 2003, then she'd likely be younger than 28 in the first episode (since Vincent was supposedly in hiding for over a decade and was likely in hiding when they first saw each other). Isn't that kinda young for a detective? I was under the impression that you had to work a certain number of years before you could take a promotion exam and homicide detectives should have more stringent requirements.

Then we have Vincent. He was already a doctor as September 11th. Even if he hadn't fully gone through his residency, etc, that would make him probably at least 25 at the time (and 10-12 years older than that when the show starts, meaning there's probably a substantial age difference between Vincent and Cat but nothing absolutely insane). Assuming that the show is set in 2012, the time line is *really* screwy. Even if he enlisted right after the attack, it would have taken time for him to get over there, go through the experiments, etc, and THEN go into hiding for over 10 years after that.

Granted, this is among the more inconsequential inconsistencies >_>

Currently watching s2, where the show has taken on more of a monster-of-the-week format as opposed to season 1 which, while it focused on cases, seemed to have more running plot threads. S2E1 was probably the worst episode so far.
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Taily_Po posted...

Beauty and the Beast continues to feel like an even worse version of Smallville.

Currently watching s2

If I had as negative reaction to the first few episodes as you seem to, I can't imagine a world where I'd watch enough to get to the second season. You're a media masochist!



Taily_Po posted...

I was under the impression that you had to work a certain number of years before you could take a promotion exam and homicide detectives should have more stringent requirements.

Then we have Vincent. He was already a doctor as September 11th. Even if he hadn't fully gone through his residency, etc, that would make him probably at least 25 at the time (and 10-12 years older than that when the show starts, meaning there's probably a substantial age difference between Vincent and Cat but nothing absolutely insane).

Maybe they're in the same world that all Japanese anime and video games take place in, where you can be a legendary retired veteran soldier in your mid-20s or a famous neurosurgeon in your late teens. And where you're ready to start collecting social security by age 30 (if you haven't died already by then).


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Okay, I got to a point in B&tB where it seems like they've introduced a green rock that suppresses beast powers -- ie, fucking kryptonite >_< . Granted, it works more like blue (Smallville) or gold (comics) kryptonite than green kryptonite, since it seemingly just makes them vulnerable.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

If I had as negative reaction to the first few episodes as you seem to, I can't imagine a world where I'd watch enough to get to the second season. You're a media masochist!

Well, either it gets less bad as it goes along or I got used to the crappiness. Keep in mind that I watched Smallville, Grimm, and a lot of popular-but-kinda-awful shows so my threshold is a lot higher, especially when I'm looking for something to binge. Granted, even I have my limits -- I can't seem to get through the hotel season of American Horror Story. (That and, after getting out of my detective kick, apparently I can't take Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Back when I was going on a detective/mystery binge, I thought the show was almost passable.... and then I kept not getting through the first episode which apparently I hadn't seen.)

But jfc, you have to see how badly choreographed some of these fights scenes are. I just watched a guy move his head in place during a combo so it could be snapped. This is lucha-level crap. (Happens in S2E11 32:00 in.)

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Maybe they're in the same world that all Japanese anime and video games take place in, where you can be a legendary retired veteran soldier in your mid-20s or a famous neurosurgeon in your late teens. And where you're ready to start collecting social security by age 30 (if you haven't died already by then).

Kek.
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Did anyone pick up Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Switch. The reviews have been solid, even great, but you can't trust those paid for reviews. Plus, I don't ha e rhe money to drop sixty on a brand new game if it's just mediocre.

Today is my wife's birthday, and I got her a really nice opal bracelet to match her wedding ring. I also took her to dinner Saturday night, and I got her pretty drunk, but since i don't drink it was pretty funny as I watched Forensic Files as she went to sleep. It was kind of awesome.

Thus I'm broke, but happy, so let me know how the new Fire Emblem is, and did we decide on a topic title? It should go to a person who hasn't had a title zlevywd yet.
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Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Go.explore the little northern bit, or find that city in that big bit in the world to the West?
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The Wave Master posted...

Did anyone pick up Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Switch.

*raises hand*

Right here. I'm taking a week's vacation from work to play it. ... And, so far, it's one of the best games in the series, IMO. (I've been playing since Blazing Blade in '03, but I don't get quite as salty about the newer games as most of the fans here at Game FAQs.) Might even be one of my all-time favorite JRPGs. And you can immediately that a lot of the money people have been pumping into Fire Emblem Heroes for the past two years was used to make Three Houses. The production values are pretty stellar, and I've yet to encounter a line that isn't voiced.
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Speaking of taking breaks, didn't feel like starting the next episode of Beauty and the Beast -- and can't find a replay of the primary debates just yet -- so I was browsing through some stuff and found that Roku has the Adam West Batman (which, I guess, I could *also* just pull from YT or something).

I skipped "High Diddle Riddle" -- which I've seen quite a few times -- and moved to the first Penguin episode. And, midway through the episode, I couldn't help but think that we'll likely *never* see a superhero show like this again... which depresses the fuck out of me. Granted, I'm not sure we could even find a cast as fantastic as the 1966 Batman's anyway.

Nowadays all the live-action superhero stuff is either grim-dark or soap opera (except maybe Black Lightning, which is a grim-dark soap opera). And even when we see something that's a little campy, they still take things too serious. (Speaking of superhero comedy, I should mention that they apparently also have World's Greatest Hero on there. >_>) Batman 1966 was bright, colorful, and fun. And it's a damn shame that there's nothing quite like it. (Although they did do two animated films after the fact, one of which I picked up and need to watch.)
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Part of me wants to make a show that combines the feel-good atmosphere of the 66 Batman with the storytelling of the 90s animated series, using more material from the comics without turning the characters into pure melodrama (though some events will still carry impact). I can picture everything necessary from introducing the Batman and family, actually starting with the least popular Robin an episode or two in, and alluding to earlier days in Highlander-esque flashback sequences when relevant. Ah well...
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I can't imagine that working as a concept. As soon as you start to get really into continuity, you begin to wander into the realm of the serious.
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Taily_Po posted...

I can't seem to get through the hotel season of American Horror Story. (That and, after getting out of my detective kick, apparently I can't take Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Back when I was going on a detective/mystery binge, I thought the show was almost passable.... and then I kept not getting through the first episode which apparently I hadn't seen.)

I couldn't be bothered to watch any of AHS after the first season. I found the pay-off to be kind of underwhelming, and I really disliked the "every season is totally different and unconnected but we're mostly keeping the same cast" idea. It just discouraged me from bothering to put the effort in for another season.

As for Miss Fisher, my mother actually watches that show a lot (and I think she's got at least a few seasons on DVD). She's hugely into watching mysteries (in the classical British detective sort of mold, including stuff like Murder She Wrote, not so much modern procedurals like CSI - though she did used to watch NCIS with my father when he was still alive).

PBS has always been a huge thing for my family. Back when I was younger I used to use it to watch a lot of British sci-fi and British comedy, and my mother watches a lot of British mysteries on it.



Metalsonic66 posted...

Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Go.explore the little northern bit, or find that city in that big bit in the world to the West?

If you haven't made your decision already, go west. Then later, you can double back to the north.

If you've got the DLC, that's to the north, and it works better if you do it later (narratively, there are some lines of dialogue that change depending on what you've done in the main game). So you can pick up the other northern quests when you're on your way to deal with that.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

I couldn't be bothered to watch any of AHS after the first season. I found the pay-off to be kind of underwhelming, and I really disliked the "every season is totally different and unconnected but we're mostly keeping the same cast" idea. It just discouraged me from bothering to put the effort in for another season.

AHS s1 was crap (although I liked the setting). Asylum, Coven, and even Freak Show were a lot better. Otherwise I'll mention that I had been skeptical of the self-contained seasons, but they work out really well. Generally speaking, a *lot* of stories are best told in a season of tv rather than a film, but it's hard to pitch doing a one-season show.

Cast-wise, they only really keep a few key actors. Looking at the list, only three actors have been there for the show's entire run. And, in fact, part of the reason why Hotel is so lousy could be because Jessica Lange -- who played a supporting role in s1/Murder House before getting a more prominent role in later seasons -- was no longer with the show.

Also they're not entirely unconnected. There's one season that connects the events of the other seasons, plus there are characters shared between seasons. The biggest example I've seen so far is Pepper, who plays an inmate in Asylum where she was imprisoned for supposedly killing her sister's child -- something that later gets disputed -- and we get her full backstory in Freak Show where she has a somewhat larger supporting role

Otherwise I will say that Slasher -- which I don't recommend at all (although I haven't seen s3) -- claims to use the same concept but they replace much more of the cast. Granted, Slasher doesn't seem to be produced on as consistent of a basis which is probably part of it.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

As for Miss Fisher, my mother actually watches that show a lot (and I think she's got at least a few seasons on DVD). She's hugely into watching mysteries (in the classical British detective sort of mold, including stuff like Murder She Wrote, not so much modern procedurals like CSI - though she did used to watch NCIS with my father when he was still alive).

Speaking of, Murder She Wrote was another thing I enjoyed binging while on my detective kick years ago, but when I tried watching it after a break, the episodes felt a little disjointed. They were still watchable, though, whereas I had trouble getting through Miss Fisher.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

PBS has always been a huge thing for my family. Back when I was younger I used to use it to watch a lot of British sci-fi and British comedy, and my mother watches a lot of British mysteries on it.

I think PBS might have been what got me started on my detective kick. I was flipping through channels and caught an episode of Poirot starring David Suchet ("Cat Among the Pigeons"). ITV's Poirot and Marple were by far my favorite detective shows at the time; I also liked the BBC's Miss Marple. Come to think of it, I'm not sure whether I preferred Marple or Miss Marple. Either way, they *might* have preceded me watching Murder, She Wrote at the time because Angela Lansbury had played Miss Marple and JB Fletcher had numerous Marple overtones.

Although I decried it at the time, I have somewhat mixed feelings about the Murder, She Wrote remake not going through; granted, the actress they had picked (Octavia Spencer) was waaaaay too young for the role. Lansbury was 59 when she was cast as JB Fletcher and the stories worked because she an unassuming, grandmotherly-like character. Spencer was only 40 and looked like she was in her 30s, which would given things a very different vibe.
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Over 90 hours into Monster Hunter World already
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Aaantlion posted...

I can't imagine that working as a concept. As soon as you start to get really into continuity, you begin to wander into the realm of the serious.

I can imagine it, however.
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Gotta play some more MHW. 90 hours is about where I left off.
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Back from vacation. Did not make as much progress in Three Houses as I would have liked, but it's a pretty meaty game, so that's all right.

MarvelousCaptn posted...

an unassuming, grandmotherly-like character.

And, wherever she goes, people die. Kind of a menacing show, really.
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First new Tool track in 13 years is out.
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I'll post to close this one out, because the response I was going to post to actually respond to things wound up spreading across multiple posts... and there's only one left here.

I'll save the rest of the discussion for the next topic.
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