The Gaming Den

Well, this is Bumble where the women have to initiate contact. Realistically I don't expect anything at all.

Ah, that's why they all have the crazy eyes, then.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Well, this is Bumble where the women have to initiate contact. Realistically I don't expect anything at all.

The best are the, I assume, joke accounts that instruct you to contact them first.

Like, I don't expect success. I don't really want to meet most of these women, they all have "can I speak to your manager?" haircuts and their profiles seem fake. I dunno, maybe I need to move on from my last relationship and this is more symbolic than practical.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Like, I don't expect success. I don't really want to meet most of these women, they all have "can I speak to your manager?" haircuts and their profiles seem fake. I dunno, maybe I need to move on from my last relationship and this is more symbolic than practical.

Online dating is full of duds, but judging people by their pictures is almost always going to be horrible. I've met with folks who looked great in their pictures that were pretty meh. I've met people who were pretty meh in their pictures that ended up looking great. Talk to everyone, find someone who seems to jive with you, then give 'em the horsecock.

Also, everyone's profiles sound fake because everyone thinks other people all want the same shit. It's really annoying and makes getting to know people beyond banal small talk difficult. Just cast a wide net and don't be afraid to tell someone you aren't interested when it turns out you are incompatible.

Not sure where to put this. My kids in school have social media apps that only the teacher and parents can see. I got an update with a word cloud for MLK with his profile. Most words made sense like Peace. Freedom. Black. But then my screwball son throws in “laughs like a villain”. I laughed wtf and then replied “I was definitely going to look up Dr King laughing now!” So I did. Google “Martin Luther king laughing” and you get a full page of stories about him laughing at a rape in some FBI smear documents unsealed last year. Ghost dammit world.

My kids in school have social media apps that only the teacher and parents can see.

What the fuck? Can the other kids see it?

The Adventurer's Almanac wrote:

My kids in school have social media apps that only the teacher and parents can see.

What the fuck? Can the other kids see it?

Not unless it is something the teacher deems fit for sharing. Some is. Some ain’t. I honestly don’t have a problem with this since it is pretty sandboxxed already. Gotta download the app. Register the code for the class. Say who you are. Have teacher confirm. And still things are filtered and monitored. Seems a sane way to introduce kids to social media rather than just jumping right in without guidance.

Case in point. My other kid has a different app where teacher posted a notice that the kids learned about stuff in health class today and may come home with questions. It always has an option to respond with an emoji but it didn’t let me use the eggplant. Pretty sandboxxy.

But eggplants are delicious and good for you!

If there's one thing I've learned from my time on the Internet it's that if you allow anything phallic onto your app people are going to use it to talk about dicks. There is an app named "Bro" that was meant to help bros find bros to do bro things with. They allowed eggplant emojis and now it's a gay hookup app.

erik wrote:It always has an option to respond with an emoji but it didn’t let me use the eggplant. Pretty sandboxxy.

Two hands facing opposite directions (as though they are reaching out to shake hands), and a circle in the middle? It's 3 emoji's, but it means one thing.

I'm sure if they're doing line-item vetoes on emojis, someone can probably find something dirty to do with them. Also, kids will create a meaning that makes one dirty, if necessary.

They only have 5 available whitelisted ones. I could clap and heart. But that’s as good as it gets.

When I got back to the apartment from walking the dog today, there was a balloon just sitting around inflated on the ground. I could tell she was curious, so I asked if she wanted to go check it out, and let her lead me over to it.

She sniffed a bit but wasn't very interested in it until I kicked it lightly towards her (and, being a balloon, it moved at full speed until it hit her lightly). She got excited, and I managed to not hit her the second time, so she pounced on it. I kicked it again and she bounced it off her nose 5-6 times before losing it, and ran around excitedly. So I guess I need to get her some balloons now.

A guy in my game group wants to run Star Wars Saga edition. I was going to search through threads here and maybe ask some optimization questions, but after perusing the rules I honestly am having trouble giving two shits about it. It just seems like someone's awkward d20 kludge where they nerf everything (I'm kind of bored with d20, but the system is the best when it's crazy fantasy superheroes, it doesn't handle lower-powered stuff well at all).

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:A guy in my game group wants to run Star Wars Saga edition. I was going to search through threads here and maybe ask some optimization questions, but after perusing the rules I honestly am having trouble giving two shits about it. It just seems like someone's awkward d20 kludge where they nerf everything (I'm kind of bored with d20, but the system is the best when it's crazy fantasy superheroes, it doesn't handle lower-powered stuff well at all).

A lot of people get into GMing for the power. They like lower-level stuff, because it's easier to shit on the players for not following the script the GM wants them to. It might be the case that they thought "Star Wars, that's always fun and can tell some interesting stories", but the odds of that are pretty rapidly dwindling.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:A guy in my game group wants to run Star Wars Saga edition. I was going to search through threads here and maybe ask some optimization questions, but after perusing the rules I honestly am having trouble giving two shits about it. It just seems like someone's awkward d20 kludge where they nerf everything (I'm kind of bored with d20, but the system is the best when it's crazy fantasy superheroes, it doesn't handle lower-powered stuff well at all).

It's definitely "nerfed" in the sense that the Force doesn't have the power and breadth of D&D magic, but it's not an awkward kludge. SWSE actually runs quite well, probably the best low- to mid-level experience of the various d20 derivatives I've been exposed/subjected to (which I realize is not exactly a high bar). The reining-in of modifier math is noticeable and helpful without doing the 5e thing and making characters random and incompetent; the way Force powers, Ace Pilot techniques, and similar selectable abilities are handled is fairly elegant and makes it easy for characters to diversify; the design-a-droid and design-a-starship rules are nicely robust for tinker/crafter types; and so on.

There are only two major pitfalls to watch out for:

1) Getting just one talent or bonus feat per level can definitely feel anemic for players used to classes getting both class features plus spells/powers/maneuvers/etc. at most levels, and some talents feel like they should be freebies or combined with others so you can get further into talent trees before mid levels. It's more an issue of not being able to scatter the more fun and interesting talents into your build than a balance issue, in practice, but it does mean I usually houserule a more generous talent progression when I run in it in the same way that I generally houserule in a more generous feat progression when I run 3e these days.

2) The design for certain things is set up to try to emulate the movies and isn't really balanced otherwise. The skill vs. defense math means Force powers start off awesome and taper off with level, to emulate how padawans wreck stormtroopers but experienced bounty hunters can go toe-to-toe with Jedi; if you want Force users to have a more even power level, the GM needs to tweak the Use the Force progression. Armor isn't really worthwhile past level 1 or 2 without sinking two talents into (Improved) Armored Defense, to emulate how mooks tend to have armor but most powerful characters don't bother with it except for Mandalorians and such who really trick out their armor; if you want characters to be able to make more common use of armor, the GM will need to houserule or remove those talents. And so on.

Iduno wrote:It might be the case that they thought "Star Wars, that's always fun and can tell some interesting stories", but the odds of that are pretty rapidly dwindling.

SWSE does use Legends canon instead of the Disney dreck, so I've run a few mini-campaigns in it over the past few years to the get the taste of the recent movies out of my mouth, and Count's GM may be feeling similarly.

Eh, I'll at least give it a try. GM shot down my Gungan sithlord named Darth Crunchen, so I'm going Rodian Jizz-wailer. As perform is not a skill that actually leaves me wide open as far as class goes.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Eh, I'll at least give it a try. GM shot down my Gungan sithlord named Darth Crunchen, so I'm going Rodian Jizz-wailer. As perform is not a skill that actually leaves me wide open as far as class goes.

I assume Manny Bothans was pre-vetoed?

Okay, that took me a second lol.

I have since searched out some threads here. Wow, Phonelobster sure had a hateboner for Saga. I mean, most of his complaints were somewhat valid but damn he salty.

So yeah, might be interesting soon. My HSA has decided that psychiatric care is not covered and canceled my HSA account (No, I don't get the money I paid in back, that'd just be silly). So yeah, my insurance doesn't cover psychiatric care, the fund I pay into to cover the things that the fund I already pay into to doesn't cover doesn't cover psychiatric care.

So yeah, no more crazy pills. Luckily I've already worked through Zoloft withdrawal. Hopefully I can keep my job without flipping out and do something stupid.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:So yeah, might be interesting soon. My HSA has decided that psychiatric care is not covered and canceled my HSA account (No, I don't get the money I paid in back, that'd just be silly). So yeah, my insurance doesn't cover psychiatric care, the fund I pay into to cover the things that the fund I already pay into to doesn't cover doesn't cover psychiatric care.

So yeah, no more crazy pills. Luckily I've already worked through Zoloft withdrawal. Hopefully I can keep my job without flipping out and do something stupid.

Sounds familiar.

I hope not, if I tried to dance while walking down a staircase I'd probably break my neck, I'm incredibly uncoordinated and can't rely on my natural toughness to push through at my age...

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:So trying Bumble at the recommendation of a random stranger on Whisper.

Holy hell, single women my age both look old as hell and have the crazy eyes. Not sure I want to be matched with any of these people. Granted, I have not aged well either...

Late but what the hell - I met my wife via online dating, so it does work. You just need to find a particular site/app used by people of your age.

It's nice to come home to a kitty. I missed having one.