ToaKraka's profile

ToaKraka Dislikes you 33m ago · Edited 29m ago

Diocletian’s Price Edict

Fun fact: One well-regarded Dungeons & Dragons offshoot, ACKS (the Adventurer Conqueror King System), uses this document as a basis for some of its economics.

How ACKS Prices Were Set

To correctly set the relational price of any given good or service in ACKS, we needed a historical price for the good, and the historical price for wheat, extracted from the same time and place. Otherwise we'd just have Cargo Cult prices [as in D&D and other offshoots of it].

Fortunately, while developing ACKS II, we were able to find an English translation of all of the known fragments of the Edictum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium, better known as the Edict on Maximum Prices. Issued in 301 AD by Emperor Diocletian, the Edict sets the maximum price for hundreds of goods and services in denarii.

What makes the Edict so useful for ACKS is that it is set in the time period that the Auran Empire campaign emulates, Late Antiquity. By knowing how much a Diocletian denarius was worth in ACKS, we were able to use the Edict to establish historical prices for the huge number of goods and services that it covers. Since ACKS prices were benchmarked against wheat, where 1 quarter of wheat costs 4 GP [gold pieces], we were able to use the price of wheat in the Edict to work out the value of the denarii.

The Edict tells us that 1 modius kastrensis (“k. mod.”) of wheat sold for 100 denarii. The modius is a unit of dry measure equivalent to 8.73 liters. The modius kastrensis is equal to 1.5 modii, hence 12.93 liters. 12.93 liters of wheat weighs 22.15 lb. Since a quarter of wheat is 480 lb, there are (480/22.15 =) 21.67 k. mod. per quarter. Therefore the price of a quarter of wheat, under the Edict, is (100 denarii / k. mod.) × (21.67 k. mod. / quarter) = 2166.33 denarii. We have established that 1 quarter of wheat is worth 4 GP. Therefore 4 GP/quarter = 2166 denarii/quarter; and 1 GP = 541.58 denarii.

With this conversion rate established, we are able to establish wheat-relative prices for all the various goods and services extracted from the Edict and convert them into denominations of GP, SP, and CP. However, as we did so, we discovered that just because a price is in the Edict doesn't necessarily mean it's the proper price for ACKS. For one thing, the Edict itself was a price fixing statute, and governments have a long history of getting price controls very wrong. Diocletian might have been—for all we know—as bad at pricing goods and services as the typical RPG. In addition, the very particular conditions means that some prices might be peculiar to that place and time. From time to time, we even encountered prices in the Edict that were mathematically impossible—goods selling for less than their cost of production, for instance. In such cases we have revised the prices based on other research. Finally, we must also note that certain adventuring equipment in ACKS II are simply not priced historically. In particular:

While the medium and heavy armors are correctly priced, padded and leather armor are too expensive relative to historical norms. Padded armor should probably be 2–5 GP while leather armor should be no more than 5 GP. For simplicity we standardized at 10 GP = 1 AC = 1 stone.

Grappling hooks and other climbing gear do not seem to have been in wide use during Late Antiquity. Their use in naval warfare (with grappling ballistae) is notable enough that the ancient historians go out of their way to mention it. We have retained them in ACKS II, but raised the price to reflect that they are a specialized technology not otherwise in use.

Healing herbs with the potent efficacy of those found in ACKS II are simply fantasy. No poultice of comfrey or woundwort had anywhere near the curative power we have assigned them. However, healing herbs with a realistic level of efficacy would have almost no discernable game effect. Therefore we have magnified the efficacy of healing herbs to a playable (albeit fantastical) level, and increased their cost to an ahistorical level to compensate. If verisimilitude is a worry, assume the healing herbs are rare, fragile, and hard-to-find varietals of the real-world herbs.

Lanterns of the sort described in the Adventuring Equipment section did not exist in Late Antiquity. However, they probably would have existed in a Late Antiquity in which legionaries had to enter dungeons to fight monsters. Therefore we have included them in the game but at an ahistorical high cost. The same is true for adventurer's harnesses, disguise kits, thieves' tools, and other adventuring equipment. All of these items were well within the capabilities of the ancients.

The carts and wagons that existed in Late Antiquity were relatively primitive in the construction of their harnesses, yokes, and wheels. Rather than force adventurers to endlessly deal with broken axles, oxen choking on poor harness[*], and so on, we have included vehicles more appropriate for a later era and raised the price accordingly. You can simulate historical carts and wagons by applying some of the cost reduction and penalties from the scavenged equipment tables.

*A different well-regarded tabletop RPG, GURPS (the Generic Universal Roleplaying System), claims that this is a misconception:

Breast-Strap Harness

TL0

This is a rope or leather harness that wraps around the animal’s chest. Initial research suggested that this and other early harnesses rode up and choked horses wearing them. Recent reconstructions have shown this to be incorrect. The real drawback is that, on horses, these harnesses appear to be inefficient when used to pull plows or drag loads on the ground (again, halve the pulling divisor), as opposed to when pulling wagons.

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 10hr ago

Is it the shadowing on her face making her features too angular?

This, IMO.

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 23hr ago

if the reason why the property is worth $2.9M instead of $3.5M is that the grocery store owner has an interest in the property too

This is incorrect. Valuation as of 1994 means the price that a hypothetical buyer would have paid to buy the properties in 1994. However, buying the properties does not include canceling the grocery store's lease early. Rather, that would be a separate action after purchase. The grocery-store company terminated its lease voluntarily in 1999, so nothing is being taken from it in this condemnation action.

How bad were their property values in 2018?

It isn't mentioned in the appeals panel's opinion, but the original 2018 condemnation complaint indicates that the municipal government made an offer of just 0.92 M$, on the basis of an appraisal.

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 1d ago

Whoops, my mistake.

Without considering the ACME contract rent, the arbitrator determined "the market rent[]" for the ACME building was $4.00 per square foot. He then considered the ACME contract rate, finding "[a]ny reasonable buyer would certainly consider the financial impact of this lease in determining what it would be willing to pay for the subject site. To suggest that the ACME lease can be ignored in determining its market rent is manifestly unreasonable." Factoring in the contract rent, the arbitrator found the market rent for the ACME building was $2.00 per square foot.

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 1d ago

Robits are strong, and I’m not even sure which beam weapons have recoil.

Mobile suits also use rocket launchers one-handed. The Zaku Marine's is pistol-sized, while the RX-78-2 Gundam's is long-arm-sized and braced against the shoulder.

If one has more than two arms, how many of them have to be used to qualify as a rifle?

A few mobile suits, such as the The-O and the Advanced Hazel, have extra "sub-arms". But these extra arms typically are very short and unsuited for supporting a long weapon in collaboration with the two primary arms.

I propose that the deciding factor is whether or not there’s a stock (or brace; ATF be damned) behind the grip.

Yes, I forgot about this when I made the original comment. Here's one definition.

Long Arm: All kinds of long arms—guns fired either one- or two-handed and with the help of a shoulder stock. This includes: muzzle-loading muskets; muzzle-loading rifles; breech-loading single-shot or double-barreled rifles; bolt-, lever-, or pump-action rifles; semiautomatic rifles; assault rifles; single- or double- barreled shotguns; bolt-, lever-, or pump-action shotguns; semiautomatic shotguns; full-automatic shotguns; submachine guns; belt- or magazine-fed handheld light machine guns; grenade launchers; and gyroc carbines or support weapons. It also applies for any handgun, including a revolver, semiautomatic pistol, or machine pistol, that is fitted with a shoulder stock. All guns capable of full-automatic fire are best used with the Burst-Fire technique in that fire mode.

Pistol: All kinds of handguns—guns fired either one- or two-handed, but without the support of a shoulder stock. This includes muzzle-loading pistols, derringers, revolvers, semiautomatic pistols, stockless sawn-off shotguns (“shot pistols”), flare pistols, and gyroc pistols, as well as machine pistols without stock. The last are best used with the Burst-Fire technique in that fire mode.

But the mobile suits in question use beam "rifles" without any shoulder or waist bracing even when they do deign to use two hands.

“Declaring the property blighted” has got to be one of the cooler turns of phrase for city bureaucrats.

The Supreme Court agrees with you.

Public safety, public health, morality, peace and quiet, law and order—these are some of the more conspicuous examples of the traditional application of the police power to municipal affairs. Yet they merely illustrate the scope of the power, and do not delimit it. Miserable and disreputable housing conditions may do more than spread disease and crime and immorality. They may also suffocate the spirit by reducing the people who live there to the status of cattle. They may indeed make living an almost insufferable burden. They may also be an ugly sore, a blight on the community which robs it of charm, which makes it a place from which men turn. The misery of housing may despoil a community as an open sewer may ruin a river.

We do not sit to determine whether a particular housing project is or is not desirable. The concept of the public welfare is broad and inclusive. The values it represents are spiritual as well as physical, aesthetic as well as monetary. It is within the power of the legislature to determine that the community should be beautiful as well as healthy, spacious as well as clean, well balanced as well as carefully patrolled. In the present case, the Congress and its authorized agencies have made determinations that take into account a wide variety of values. It is not for us to reappraise them. If those who govern the District of Columbia decide that the Nation's Capital should be beautiful as well as sanitary, there is nothing in the Fifth Amendment that stands in the way.

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 1d ago · Edited 1d ago

Mildly interesting court opinion:

In year 1988, a married couple purchases a shopping center and an adjacent vacant lot. The shopping center's "anchor tenant" is a grocery store whose below-market lease of 0.77 $/ft² was signed in 1962 and can be extended all the way to 2012, but the other tenants pay rent at the market rate.
In year 1994 the municipal government declares the two properties blighted. In year 1999 the grocery store terminates its lease. And in year 2018 the municipal government starts condemnation proceedings for the two properties. The couple does not object to the condemnation, but engages in extensive litigation regarding how much money constitutes just compensation for the taking. The couple argues that the proper valuation date is year 1994, and the judge agrees. The parties submit the question of valuation to an arbitrator.
The municipal government argues that the grocery store's below-market rent of 0.77 $/ft² results in valuation of 2.3 M$ for the two properties at issue. The couple argues that the market rent for the grocery store was 8.5 $/ft² and on that basis the proper valuation of the two properties is 4.8 M$. The arbitrator finds that the grocery store was so "old", "in below average condition", and "grossly substandard in size" that the market rent for the grocery store was 4.0 $/ft²<ins>—but, when its existing below-market rent is taken into account, the rent for valuation purposes is 2.0 $/ft²</ins>, and the valuation for the two properties is 2.9 M$.
The couple appeals, arguing that the grocery store's below-market lease was irrelevant and should not have been admitted as evidence. But the appeals panel rejects that argument. The existing lease was "a fact relevant to the determination of what a willing buyer would have paid for the property in 1994".
The municipal government also appeals, arguing that the proper valuation date is 2018 rather than 1994. But the appeals panel rejects that argument as well. The law specifically states that the proper valuation date of a condemned property is the earliest of (a) when the condemning government takes possession, (b) when the condemnation proceedings begin, (c) when the condemning government takes action to "substantially affect" the condemnee's use of the property, and (d) when the property is declared blighted. Obviously, item d, which occurred in year 1994, was the earliest of these four events. The municipal government has no one but itself to blame for failing to start the condemnation proceedings until a whopping 24 years after declaring the properties blighted.

Funny excerpt from an otherwise boring court opinion:

Frank and Roseann Carone passed away in August and June 2022, respectively. Jeanie Mayer and Anton Mayer Sr. are their daughter and son-in-law. Plaintiffs Anton Jr. and Francisco are Jeanie's and Anton Sr.'s sons and decedents' grandsons.

On January 31, 2006, decedents executed reciprocal wills in which plaintiffs were named as beneficiaries. With the help of a new attorney, Michael Zimmerman, they drafted several more wills in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017. Plaintiffs were named as beneficiaries in the 2007 and 2011 wills.

In 2015, Anton Jr. became estranged from the family, including his sister, his parents, and the decedents, over a scheduling dispute regarding his wedding and his sister's wedding. As a result, neither his parents nor decedents, were invited to his wedding. Decedents were greatly upset by Anton Jr.'s conduct and Roseann asked Zimmerman whether she and Frank could rescind stocks they had gifted Anton Jr. [Anton Jr. was disinherited in the 2015 and 2017 wills.]

In 2019, Francisco's relationship with his parents and sister deteriorated because of his efforts to reconnect with Anton Jr. Francisco was residing in an apartment owned by Frank, which he vacated without providing notice. Decedents expressed their displeasure regarding Francisco's move and his poor relationship with them on several occasions to a few family friends. On June 10, 2019, they asked Zimmerman to draft new wills disinheriting Francisco [in addition to Anton Jr.]. These wills were not signed by decedents until 2021.

Zimmerman testified about his more than four decades of experience as a tax, wills, trusts, and estates attorney. He first met with decedents to plan their estate in 2007. Zimmerman recounted his longstanding relationship with decedents and the counseling he provided in drafting their various wills between 2007 and 2022. His work included drafting eight wills, living trusts, and health care proxies for Frank and performing tax work for him over the years. Zimmerman testified the number of wills decedents asked him to draft was highly unusual. He explained decedents "would have issues with the family and would change percentages. They would continually just change their minds as to who they wanted to give to."

Crosspost from >>>/k/64289538:

beam "rifle"

fired with one hand

This has really annoyed me ever since I noticed it.

The GM's beam spray gun kind of looks like a pistol, so I'm okay with seeing it fired with one hand.
The RX-78-2 Gundam's beam rifle looks more like a rifle, and probably should be fired with two hands, but it's not quite big enough to damage my suspension of disbelief.
The Zeta Gundam's beam rifle is as tall as the fucking mobile suit! For it to be fired with one hand just looks ridiculous.
And then we reach the Ex-S Gundam's beam smart gun, which isn't any longer than the Zeta Gundam's rifle, but has enough extra heft that it finally needs to be fired with two hands even in-universe.

[Yes, I am aware that a pistol can have a rifled barrel and a long arm can be smoothbore.]

Mildly funny excerpt from a lawsuit:

Since Plaintiff’s promotion in January 2018, the [Division] and/or [the Department's Deputy Director] has never provided him with a written description of his job duties and responsibilities. In contrast, Plaintiff’s predecessor, and all of Plaintiff’s subordinates, have written job descriptions as reflected in their annual Performance Assessment Reviews.

Since Plaintiff’s promotion in January 2018, the [Division] and/or [the Deputy Director] has never provided Plaintiff with a Performance Assessment Review (“PAR”).

[The Department] is required by Civil Service Commission regulations in the New Jersey Administrative Code and the [union] contract to provide employees with PARs on an annual basis. Plaintiff performs PARs for all of his subordinate staff on an annual basis, as required by [Department] policies. On occasions when Plaintiff has been late with any part of the PAR process, [the Department]’s Human Resources staff members have been quick to e-mail him reminders.

Not receiving annual PARs has caused Plaintiff to receive a disadvantageous numerical ranking in the Civil Service Commission computer system. According to the Civil Service Commission website, staff with no PAR on file receive a numerical ranking of “1”, while staff members with good or very good PAR ratings receive a numerical ranking of “4”.

This ranking can prevent Plaintiff from receiving automatic step increases in pay, and puts Plaintiff at a disadvantage when competing for other Civil Service titles, thus further suppressing his earning potential and preventing him from advancing in his career. In fact, Plaintiff has applied unsuccessfully for at least 10 civil service positions within the state government since 2018, and believes that not having PARs on file for his current position negatively affected his chances of obtaining any of those positions.

Only recently, on or about January 10, 2023, did [Supervisor] finally begin the PAR process for Plaintiff by sending Plaintiff a PAR form listing his supposed “job expectations” for Plaintiff to review. Upon review of this document, Plaintiff determined that it contained a completely incorrect and inaccurate list of job duties and responsibilities that are not reflective of the actual job functions he performs as Supervisor of the [Unit].

Plaintiff suspects that [Supervisor] mischaracterized his job duties and responsibilities in the PAR purposefully, as retaliation for pursuing his discrimination claims through the Division on Civil Rights, and as part of a calculated attempt by the [Division] to force him to request a Civil Service “desk audit” alleging that he is working “out-of-title”, rather than pursue his equal pay claims.

If Plaintiff were to file a desk audit request, then any resulting directive from the Civil Service Commission to adjust his title and/or compensation would date back only to the date he filed the desk audit request. By filing a desk audit request, Plaintiff would be giving up his right to pursue equal pay claims and seek backpay for the ongoing pay differential dating back to January 2018.

No PDF is provided because the plaintiff is my father. The complaint was filed in May 2023, but discovery has been repeatedly extended from November 2024 to December 2024, September 2025, and January 2026, so no end is in sight. I am not particularly close to my father (I stumbled across this lawsuit purely on accident by looking up my last name in my state's database of cases), so I have no personal knowledge of the merits of the case. But, as the kids say nowadays, big if true.

To clarify the importance of these missing PARs: The union contract specifies (p. 38) that every employee must be rated on a three-point scale (unsatisfactory, commendable, or exceptional) on an annual basis. Generally, if your rating is at least two, then you get an automatic "step" pay increase of around 4 percent within the "range" assigned to your job (p. 170), on top of any other "across-the-board" increase that may apply (3.5 percent per year in this contract—p. 28). The meaning of a blank PAR is not mentioned in the contract, but apparently it counts as a score of one (or maybe zero, since the complaint describes it as a four-point scale rather than a three-point scale). The plaintiff in this case alleges that his bosses were intentionally depriving him of these regular raises by failing to fill out his annual PARs.

7

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 1d ago

(via Astral Codex Ten's link roundup)

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 1d ago

Wild. I never imagined anyone would use that feature to read 2,000 comments a week.

There are dozens of us.

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 2d ago

The story does not indicate that Scrooge had any enjoyable hobbies. Rather, immediately after work:

Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker’s-book, went home to bed.

Also, he obviously had not retired.

5

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 2d ago

I have no idea if you're being serious here or not.

I am being completely serious.

Did you really think this was an appropriate thing to respond with?

Your post does not really pose an unambiguous question, but its most specific requests appear to be "I don't know what to do with myself after I move out." and "Basically, I need advice from smart people.". I have been considered smart by my teachers and my coworkers (though perhaps not by the illustrious denizens of this forum). So I think my comment is responsive.

That's autism on another level. You are not the person I want to hear from.

As the kids say, "o7".

-3

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 2d ago

I know one thing: I actually do need a [romance], regardless of my misgivings of hurting my partner. I predict that if I move out and don't start a [romance], I will quickly wither and crash out of my job, lacking any warmth in my life. Regardless, I need to start before my parents die, or my life will either end with a quick romp through alcoholism and a gunshot, or something similar to Brad Armstrong, a purposeless journey more brutal and agonizing without any end in sight.

Maybe I'm just a killjoy autist who is badly disconnected from normal human motivations, but every time I see a person whine about """needing""" romance I become more disgusted. The recipe for happiness is simple:

Accumulate money
Retire
Spend the remainder of your life and money on enjoyable hobbies
Die alone and unloved

Who cares about friends and romantic partners? Familiarity breeds contempt. Gradually you will begin to hate any person to whom you become close.

Reddit, DAE lack any intimacy and fear the unknown? AITA?

Definitely YTA. Get some goddamned hobbies.

-13

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

This forum has previously discussed how people who make excessive use of online personas often allow those personas to become Flanderized and even to bleed back into their real-life opinions. Still, when doxing/doxxing/SWATting/phonebooking/unmasking can lead to being fired by your employer or ostracized by your family members, some measure of detachment between one's personas seems advisable.

But at what point does it not matter any longer? When should a person abandon his online personas and walk proudly under his government name? After he retires, so that he need not worry about his job? After his parents die, so that he need not worry about his inheritance? Never? Or perhaps, after retirement, his government persona will become the secondary one, and his online persona the primary one.

3

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

I think there are a lot of visual-novel fans who would disagree with you.

1

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

Reported for racism.</joke>

3

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

I hate controllers.

I also can't adapt to controlling the camera with a thumbstick.

I picked up this habit back when you had to enable mouselook in Quake console.

Very interesting.

I see that Quake was released in 1996. Personally, I was first introduced to keyboard/mouse-controlled action-focused video games by Claw maybe around year 2003, and quickly adapted to gamepads when my father bought a GameCube with Bush II's 2008 stimulus check. But I guess different people have different preferences.

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

Is it fair to say that I am not a fan of videogames in general and should only describe myself as a fan of those 9 categories?

IMO, yes.

I can think of another standard that addresses your complaint, but it's even less workable than the first one.

There is a list of all non-video-game creative works, numbered n from 0 to n_works − 1.
The list is organized in ascending order of quality q, from 0 to 1.
There is also a list of what those non-video-game works would look like if they were video games, numbered n from 0 to n_works − 1.
For each work, the imagined video-game quality q′ presumably will not be the same as the actual non-video-game quality q.
If ∑₀^{n_works − 1}(q′) > ∑₀^{n_works − 1}(q)—that is, if you think that, on average, the overall quality of a non-video-game creative work would be improved if it were turned into a video game—then you are a fan of video games.

1

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago

Even funnier idea for a Victoria 3 mod:

Problem: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland overshadows the entire game as the world's sole superpower.
Solution: Recreate the empire of Charles V as an ahistorical balancing force. Make Nederland, Spain, Sardinia, and the Two Sicilies into <del>personal unions</del><ins>crown lands</ins> of Austria.

1

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 3d ago · Edited 3d ago

There is a list of anime shows, numbered n from 0 to n_shows − 1.
The list is organized in descending order of quality q, from 1 to 0.
You like all shows from 0 to n_you − 1. (n_DradisPing ≈ n_shows × 5 %.)
If ∑₀^{n_you − 1}(q) ÷ ∑₀^{n_shows − 1}(q) > 0.5—that is, if you like more than half of all anime shows on a quality-weighted basis (or if you estimate that you would like them if you were to watch all anime shows and could judge all their quality)—then you are a fan of anime.

(epistemic status: probably only 25 percent a joke)

8

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 4d ago

The bare-bones Mitsubishi Mirage is only $16,000 (and was $10,000 not that long ago), and it isn't exactly flying off the lot.

It was dropped from the US market last year.

2

Context

ToaKraka Dislikes you 5d ago

>he doesn't have his own personal website to which he can upload images
ngmi

9

Context

What is this place?

Why are you called The Motte?

New post guidelines

Rules

Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats

ToaKraka

ToaKraka