cjet79
Anarcho Capitalist on moral grounds
Libertarian Minarchist on economic grounds
User ID: 124
cjet79
1yr ago
I think it is honestly a function of how much you care.
When I think it is important the alarm is almost unnecessary, I will wake up at the correct time, 5-20 minutes before my alarm was scheduled to go off.
If it is only something I sort of want to get up for ... an alarm will help. I will get up when it buzzes, maybe snooze it once.
Occasionally, when I am incredibly tired and don't care too much about sleeping in. The alarm will not be registered in my memory. I think in most of these cases I have gotten up, turned off the alarm and gone back to sleep in a semi-daze/sleepwalking state. I have no recollection of turning off the alarm, but that is what happened.
cjet79
1yr ago
I've only watched gameplay and haven't tried it myself, but while the game seems like a good game, I'm mildly confused at the poor job it does of being an RPG in some important regards, such as making you feel like a student in Hogwarts as well as an intrepid adventurer.
Some of it is explained as the main character having a special natural affinity for magic. The main character tends to learn new spells super easily with minimal instruction. There is a little mini game we have to play.
What I do find baffling is how inconsequential the use of Unforgiveable Curses is, even if you do them in public or in front of your teachers (!). I understand the desire to not be too restrictive of the player, but it would have been easy enough to have it diegetically explained as a temporary relaxation in the light of the Goblin Revolt, and make the character face repercussions for blasting anything and everything they see with a killing curse, even if you don't end up in Azkaban or kicked out of school.
I think in general they just took the lazy programming route on a bunch of things. There is also no penalty for being outside the dorms during curfew. They have a mission or two where they fake it by forcing you to use stealth in certain areas of hogwarts (a classic "sneak into the forbidden section of the library"). Also the headmaster conveniently bans quidditch that year. I cant imagine what kind of nightmare it would have been to program that sport.
Also no one seems to take the Goblin revolt very seriously. It seems most of the government and authority figures are in denial. Which isn't too unbelievable from a story perspective. But it means any kind of "special considerations" are off the table.
I can appreciate taking the lazy programming route. I'd rather have them make a good system for what they can do well than spend a lot of effort to make a crappy system that everyone hates.
I'd say the best thing about the game is the unique combat system. Its all very close range, closer than almost all modern shooters, but not actually melee range. The visual cues and mixed spell options make for a system with plenty of death. By the end of the game I felt like a god in some combat situations. Dodging spells to zip around the battlefield, or blocking them to unleash powerful retaliatory attacks. But one or two mistakes in a row would bring me to the edge of death.
cjet79
1yr ago
I also had a point about how Azkhaban seems significantly worse than the killing curse, but I deleted that part of my comment, because I realized real life prisons are often much worse than the crimes they punish too.
The "good" guys stupefying their enemies just to send them to a torture camp for the rest of their lives doesn't seem all that good though.
cjet79
1yr ago
How do you not be a boring person after work? Help, please.
- Get a different job that is less demanding.
- Learn how to flip your switch faster. If you go from work mode to fun mode in just a minute you can have more time for both. Some way to psych yourself up, a song, a shot of your favorite liqour, a good fap, etc.
- Wreck your sleep schedule. Just stay up really late on some nights to have fun and make up the sleep on other nights.
- Be worse at work. There is often a range of performance that all gets treated essentially the same. Different companies have smaller or larger ranges. But its where an employee getting 3 things done a day is treated the same as an employee getting 5 things done a day. If they drop to two things done a day its a problem. If they go up to 6 things a day its maybe worthy of praise. The worst place to be is at the top of the "standard work" range. You are working too hard for too little recognition. If you can't get to 6 things a day, it doesn't help you to get close and do 5. If you aren't getting special recognition just do better than the worst employee, and be a joy to have around and you'll be fine.
cjet79
1yr ago
Another thought. I read a bunch of litrpg and progression fantasy novels with very mechanical magic systems. Like slot in experience, get +2 to magic pool. Harry Potter has a much more whimsical take on magic. Where many of the things that happen ... dont make sense. But that is fine, because its magic.
cjet79
1yr ago
I played Harry Potter Legacy and reached 100% completion last night. I cant remember the last time I 100% completed a game like this. The assassin creed series and far cry series have the similar big maps and lots of collectibles, but I tire of the game before I ever reach it.
It was a good game, combat was interesting, if a bit easy once I got the hang of it (I had to turn up the difficulty to hard, but still never died). I liked a few of the side stories more than the main story. There were some silly fan service moments, like at the end how your house ends up winning the house cup cuz one of the school teachers gives out a bunch of points to just you.
There was some level of story and gameplay disconnect. I was slaughtering a dozen enemies at a time, and still sometimes got reactions like "you are a kid, it is much too dangerous for you!" Kinda like when some no name bandit in Skyrim tries to mug the dragon born that is walking around in Daedric Armor.
I had fun roleplaying a bit and making my own personal cannon. I unlocked the killing spell, and never used it on anything smarter than a Troll. It was a little silly that the killing spell got treated so badly, but I created a literal mountain of bodies without the killing spell. (unless they are all just sleeping)
I also had the thought that finishing a game at 100% completion is kind of bad. One thing that could be said in favor of an assassins creed game that I play to 80% is that there was enough content for me to play for as long as I was enjoying the game. I suppose I could start a new playthrough in harry potter in a different house, but Ravenclaw felt like it fit best, and I don't respect the other houses very much.
cjet79
1yr ago
I know someone who actually went to one of these camps. From their description the only person who might have found the experience torturous would have been a straight male. It was a barely restrained Gay hookup camp.
You gotta remember who signs up to run and work at these camps: gay men.
cjet79
1yr ago
Ha! That is a fun trope. Would have potentially been interesting if that had been the trope they went with, but they didn't. She just bought the bar because she worked there waiting tables as a student and liked hanging out. It gave off more of a "I never escaped my hometown" vibe than a "retired level 18 fighter" vibe.
cjet79
1yr ago
I'd be surprised if those were the only two things I got wrong in that list.
The good retellings
My earliest memory of a story retelling was that of Chex Quest. A Doom clone made for kids. With the cereal brand "Chex" replacing most of the blood, demons, and foul language with cereal motifs. Looking back on things it seems like a joke, how the hell did that thing even exist? I know there is a legit story behind the game, but I honestly don't want to read it. It is more fascinating to imagine how such a game could be created.
There is definitely something very cute and sweet about retelling adult themed stories for kids. I chuckle every time my young daughters belt out the lyrics to "Rich men north of richmond", and instead of saying "Your dollar ain't shit" they say "your doll er aint chic". That wasn't a reinterpretation I suggest or pushed on them, just what they seemed to have heard.
I also find cleverly disguised adult themes in children's media rather entertaining. The jokes in pixar movies that go over the heads of every kid, but they still laugh as they see their parents suddenly entertained and laughing along with the cartoon.
The Bad Retellings
There is however a hamfisted political messaging that sometimes gets shoved into stories. I find it bad, even when I agree with the message. I'm libertarian, and many of my fellow travelers treat Ayn Rand's books as holy text. I've instead always been highly turned off by some of her books. The short ones like Anthem were great. The long 60 page diatribe in one of the other ones is just ... gross.
The best political literature always seems to be written by the opposition (these are vague recollections, some or all of them might be wrong):
- Starship Troopers, a defense of a Fascist military dicatorship, written by Heinlein, who was closer to a libertarian by most accounts.
- Shakespear's plays nominally supported the king and monarchy of England, but other have pointed out the subtle and sometimes not so subtle critiques.
- Anthem, Ayn Rand's best book IMO, basically just assumed the communists had won, and depicted the shit society that would result.
- Terry Pratchett's discworld. I assume Sir Terry Pratchett didn't believe in the efficacy of a dictatorship run by a psychopathic assassin, but damn did he make that system look good.
- Bioshock. From what I remember of developer commentary they are generally pretty average liberal sentiments. They actually wrote a great libertarianish character. I think in the followups they continued to write some great politicalish commentary.
- Animal Farm, where the communist author turned off everyone from communism.
- Ender's Game, where the Catholic religious author has a religious awakening in the character that goes off to speak at funerals. While the secular psychopath older brother ends up ruling the world.
I've written a bit of fiction on my own before, and I kinda get it. I felt I was at my best when a story just came to me from the muses. I let it flow onto the page, and it took me in unexpected directions. I was at my worst when I had some ideas of how things SHOULD work, and I tried to shove them in and make a point.
Some stories written in the modern day just feel like all those authorial instincts and all the inspiration from the muse just got shoved to the side. They had a point to make dammit, and they weren't gonna let a good story get in the way of making the point. Sigh whatever, they ignore the muses at their own peril. No one will like or care about their stories in the future. Some idiot genius that learns to listen to those whispers of the muse will beat them 9 times out of 10 in the long run.
Harry Potter Legacy, the ugly storytelling
I recently beat Harry Potter legacy. Lots of good story telling in most of it. But it had a low point. A trans bartender. There was a disconnect between the face I was seeing and the voice I was hearing. I thought maybe it was some kind of audio mistake at first. Why did this female looking character sound like a dude with a throat problem? Ah, they had to hamfistedly clear it up later, "I use to be wizard, [other character] still recognized me after i became a witch".
Look, this is a freaking magic world. Polyjuice potions can completely imitate someone else, voice included. So whatever magic she/he figured out to change their appearance couldn't also target their voice? Seems dumb.
Also it had the traditional problem that once came with female superheros. They can do no wrong, and they are strong and powerful. She is the only one to stand up to a powerful evil wizard and the evil wizard just ... backs down and lets it go. Unlike every other time that particular evil wizard has encountered a problem. I'm sorry, what? A bar owner is a powerful and scary enough wizard to scare away one of the main villains of the game, while the entire Hogwarts staff, and government of magical England is just kind of an afterthought that the evil wizard isn't worried about at all?
Dumb. The scene should have been rewritten. Trans person shouldn't have confronted evil wizard, they should have hid the player character, and shamelessly lied to evil wizard. After the evil wizard leaves, trans person should have suggested the player character lay low. That would be in line with the behavior of someone that spent most of their life hiding a deep dark secret, and then decided that their highest calling in a magic world was to own a bar. The wasted story and unrealized character growth disgusts me far more than the hamfisted "trans people are great" political messaging.
cjet79
1yr ago
I don't really expect death to hit me hard any more unless its my wife or child.
I feel a bit the same. My parents and siblings would probably hit me hard, as well as a few close friends and neighbors.
Surprisingly SSCReader went through that and seems like they came out ... not great, but not ruined either.
I guess people get through stuff.
I've dealt with clinical depression most of my life, and the weirdest thing to explain to other people is that it seems worse when I should be happy. Its when something terrible happens that it almost fits better.
cjet79
1yr ago
I find the best thing is to show reverence for the deceased, even if you don't really care. Besides being socially appropriate, it can help others through their grief.
This is generally what I do, I've just been doing it for so long, and people around me do it too, that I'm not really sure how anyone really feels. Which is why I asked here.
cjet79
1yr ago
They are noticing a worker shortage in geriatric care. There has been a shortage of medical personnel for a while.
cjet79
1yr ago
Congress has multiple levers for encouraging state compliance. But no, none of this is really constitutional.
The political solution should be at the state level, but if congress is going to keep insisting on messing with medical care at the national level I don't see how this is much different.
cjet79
1yr ago
Restricting supply is the tools of the trade, regulation and taxation. It is often easier to tax the supplier then it is to tax the consumer.
Subsidizing demand is popular and offering to do it wins elections.
cjet79
1yr ago
I think this would be ideal, but both Democrats and Republicans are less likely to pass laws that are seen as targeting state level regulations in absence of a very compelling reason. It happens of course, but getting a serious majority on board with removing a masters degree requirements for specific industries for twenty seven states or whatever is a harder legislative sell than just passing funding laws or regulations that aren't directly challenging state govs. Significantly, this wasn't even discussed by either party in the hearing, I've just happened to hear Senator Cassidy say it in another context.
They should just go all the way and remove the ability of states to create licensing requirements for jobs. It was a nice little experiment while it lasted, giving every last petty tyrant in every industry the right to restrict their own competition. But it has two inevitable outcomes, worker shortages and price increases for consumers. Allow states to set up certification systems, but do not allow them to restrict what work can be done by whom.
Of course it takes a crisis in geriatric care to get the geriatrics in congress to notice this massive blunder.
cjet79
1yr ago
Lovely that the Democrats respond to a supply crunch by further increasing demand via these new rules.
Governments love to restrict supply and subsidize demand. They are basically helpless to solve supply crunches.
cjet79
1yr ago
The answer to all questions is probably "regulation".
The government broke the healthcare system many years ago by encouraging employers to offer healthcare plans. Since that time it has been trying to paper over and fix all the problems this has caused. It often causes new problems with the fixes, so they adjust it again.
cjet79
1yr ago
Once a month ish with some longtime friends. We catch up on events that happened. Discuss some big ideas. I have a few longtime friends, I like having a once a quarter meeting with them.
Among my family half of us maintain these long term friendships and the other half dont have them. So it's not weird if you don't do this.
cjet79
1yr ago
Make snide comments about the overly social friends to your shy friends. Hopefully not mean, at least a little ribbing. The best comment would be something that is funny if the social friend hears it and mean if said behind their back all the time.
- If the social ones don't hear it, their fault for excluding the rest of the table. If they do hear it it can be a light reminder that the rest of the table exists.
- The social ones are usually extra attuned to outside conversations about themselves, they are likely to hear it and interrupt their own conversation. Most other topics will not pull them in.
- The shy ones are given a relevant topic to discuss that is right in front of them. It is unique to the situation. The best conversation topics are maximally inclusive with the person you are talking with and maximally exclusive with everyone else.
Or just ignore your social friends occasionally and engage in conversation with the shy ones. You can always come back to the social friends later if the shy friend conversation fizzles out. They will definitely still be talking.
You can start one, I'm on mobile and busy right now. But I'll pin it when I get some free time. Just copy text from previous mega threads.
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