captain yesterday |
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I told you, it's not what you'd think
Not to worry, it's not inappropriate or a Micheal Bolton video.
Although that farmer on the tractor seems to have some back problems.
Maneuvermoose |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Iphones are actually pretty good at what they do. So are Macs, and iPad Minis.
Full-sized iPads, though...not so much. Just a couple weeks ago I got an HP x360 2-in-1 computer that's the same size as the larger iPads. Its keyboard can fold back so that it can be used like a tablet, but when ya need it it has the full functionality and power as a desktop in the size of an iPad. It also has vastly more powerful hardware, four times the storage of even the most expensive iPad Pros, and the parts can be replaced and repaired more easily. And it will last a lot longer, both in terms of hardware (more powerful hardware so it won't need to be replaced as quickly) and software (Apple tends to drop support for iPads after around 5 years. HP and Microsoft would support my computer for at least 10 years, except that I also installed Linux so that I can get free support indefinitely.)
It's a strictly superior product to an iPad Pro in virtually every way...and it cost around $450, significantly less than an iPad.
The iPad Mini is actually uniquly valuable among Apple's tablet offerings. While there are plenty of cheap and mid-range 2-in-1 laptops which completely eclipse the larger iPads, the iPad mini is smaller than almost any laptop. There are plenty of 13 inch laptops (the largest iPad size), and you can get 2-in-1s in many configurations down to around 9 inches. You'd be hard pressed, though, to find a decent 8-inch laptop on the market, so the iPad Mini is good for people who need a device of that size.
Maneuvermoose |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So, in summary, my assessment of Apple's various product lines are:
Mac Pro: Great at what it does, though somewhat pricy.
iMac: Great at what it does, though somewhat pricy.
Mac Mini: Great at what it does, though it needs an updated version.
MacBook Pro: Spectacular at what it does, though somewhat pricy.
Macbook: Great at what it does.
Macbook Air: Great at what it does.
iPad (12.9 inch version and 9.7 inch versions): Overpriced and a complete scam. Anyone who bought such a device in the last few years without a colossal+ discount was conned.
iPad Mini (7.9 inch): Great at what it does and fills a specific size/price niche.
iPhone (all sizes): Great at what it does.
Hmm, notice anything odd about that lineup? One of those devices is not like the others.
PathlessBeth |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Or you could just get a droid, spend half the money and have the same thing.
Well, maybe. The big, expensive Android-based tablets aren't cheaper than iPads, and they have the same limited lack-of-functionality, and those tablets are scams for the same reasons as the full-sized iPads. On the other hand, there are smaller and/or cheaper Android-based tablets which may compare favorably to an iPad Mini in either price or performance (or both). And the cheapest Android tablets exist in a market with almost no laptops*
In the smartphone market, though, the Android-based phones with hardware comparable to an iPhone are priced comparably to iPhones. Heck, Google didn't even try to hide it, as they gave the Pixel and Pixel XL the exact same prices (unlocked) as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. There are also Android phones at much lower prices, but they have correspondingly less powerful hardware. If you don't use the full capabilities of your hardware, then a cheaper Android phone is obviously a better deal than the most expensive ones. There are, however, customers with cash to burn who do use the full power of their smartphones' hardware, and those people go for the highest end phones. At the high end, the top Android phones (Samsung's S series, LG's V series, Google Pixel, etc) aren't really much cheaper than Apple's offerings.
(*)
I did here about a recent computer called C.H.I.P. It cost a measly nine dollars, and was funded via Kickstarter or some other crowdfunding website. It is able to run the full Debian 8, which is a popular OS for servers that is also useable as a desktop OS. I doubt it can actually do all that much, since keeping Debian running probably consumes most of its resources, leaving almost nothing to devote to software you actually want to use. At such a low price, it's mainly for the entertainment/novelty of having a fully-working computer at that price.
Tacticslion |
Hey, little buddy. I need an avatar for this alias. Suggestions?
Something involving pants?
EDIT: or maybe burgers? (I like burgers.)
((For nuance, you shoot for leather pants or someone who obviously lives in the city - or "'burg" as it were.))
OR! ... perhaps something involving a master burger chef named Bob?
... more seriously, Monstrous Humanoid, pg 2, Abominable Snowman or Shag Solomon; Magical Beast pg 1 Mekuhare, 2 Aurumvorax or Wolverine; Catfolk (one on the far right or far left); or Triaxian second on the left!
Hope that helps!
(Also, I'll take two burgers, please: hold the sequins and glue, add meat and tomato and lettuce, please. Thanks!)
Tacticslion |
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I've got too many game ideas!
They need a place to be free~!
... so here a few of them are.
(These are solo games built off of conversations held with my wife.)
ONE
World-Building
- Build a world where the gods and their servants are all dead, and only fiends remain, but forever sealed away by the power of the ritual sacrifice of the Divine Holy (and the death of the evil gods); a world where divine magic is wild (but extant due to faith and ritual), and where arcane magic is anarchy and doom - the only reliable powers are psionics and personal skills and martial might; a world where the exotic exists in ever-decreasing numbers and the mundane is ever-more-prominent; a world where reality is different, but eventually synchs up similarly to our own. An anime world.
Game-Building
- Build a game (secretly in that world) an amnesiac bird woman wakes up thinking she's the god of cats (and has a bit of the memories and experiences to sort of prove it), and must collect lingering divine essence, destroy an ancient evil, subdue an corrupted nation, and restore faith in goodness and the divine - and probably herself - in order to regain her sense of "self"
- Build a game (secretly in the same world) where a marilith "spirit" incarnates into the body of a young changeling; she must subdue a plague, and rekindle a dying once-mighty and -powerful city in a world gone rogue from the ancient will under which it was ostensibly guided
- Build a game (secretly in the same world) that is basically Rise of the Runelords, except it's also Gravity Falls after the show
Tie these together, like a rug does for a room, and have a climactic showdown in an ancient city in the depths of the world.
=====================
TWO
5E game (maybe Tyranny of Dragons, maybe not) in which the PC is a "dead" spirit that inhabits/incarnates into a semi-random creature. There are a certain number of "lives" it has to go through ("just in case") and it builds its power as it goes through each of them - so while dying has a problematic consequence, it also increases the power of the PC. Tack on PF's mythic rules for maximum "awesome" (to me).
=====================
THREE
Some Combination Of:
- Black Butler (so good!)
- Seven Deadly Sins (fantastic!)
- Heaven's Lost Property (never knew this existed until Netflix; it's... not perfect, but it's an interesting premise with some oddly funny moments - I just wish it ended in a more satisfying manner)
- Kill-la-Kill (embarrassing to admit how much I enjoyed this)
- Guerren Lagann (I'm actually not sure about this one; great show, but hard to come up with in-game concepts that fit)
- One Punch Man (should be awesome)
- Highschool D x D (not watched the show beyond ~5 minutes, as it becomes very... ah... explicit..., but the premise and setting are awesome; I've subsequently recycled several of the elements into another game)
=====================
I might add more later.
LuniasM |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I never asked, it just sort of started happening and I didn't notice until about 4 posts later when I started searching through my posts to -massage my own ego- check for new replies when I thought to myself "Hey, haven't I seen that guy somewhere before?"
To this day I don't know whether he really did favorite that early post of mine or whether he archive-binged. The source is truly an enigma.
Cole Deschain |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I never asked, it just sort of started happening and I didn't notice until about 4 posts later when I started searching through my posts to -massage my own ego- check for new replies when I thought to myself "Hey, haven't I seen that guy somewhere before?"
To this day I don't know whether he really did favorite that early post of mine or whether he archive-binged. The source is truly an enigma.
Same here. Some days it seems I have to be incredibly vicious to stave off a fave-swarm...
Tacticslion |
I never asked, it just sort of started happening and I didn't notice until about 4 posts later when I started searching through my posts to -massage my own ego- check for new replies when I thought to myself "Hey, haven't I seen that guy somewhere before?"
To this day I don't know whether he really did favorite that early post of mine or whether he archive-binged. The source is truly an enigma.
Truly, none can know the true him - or her?! - it will be forever a mystery.
EDIT: truly, he is a blank page, an enigma, and none can read his profile page!
Tacticslion |
LuniasM wrote:Same here. Some days it seems I have to be incredibly vicious to stave off a fave-swarm...I never asked, it just sort of started happening and I didn't notice until about 4 posts later when I started searching through my posts to -massage my own ego- check for new replies when I thought to myself "Hey, haven't I seen that guy somewhere before?"
To this day I don't know whether he really did favorite that early post of mine or whether he archive-binged. The source is truly an enigma.
The fight is difficult, but it must be had for truth something something mutter mumble something prevail!
Tacticslion |
Also (unrelated): "Tanks are a delicate and fragile instrument of destruction underneath exceedingly specific forms of armor" or "The tank's biggest weakness is the tank." or "Tanks, lol."
Maneuvermoose |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm dissapointed in you! Over in the thread for the Adventurer's Armory 2, I made a string of posts repeatedly responding to myself (starting around here) and NO ONE FAVORITED ANY OF THEM!
Tacticslion |
I'm dissapointed in you! Over in the thread for the Adventurer's Armory 2, I made a string of posts repeatedly responding to myself (starting around here) and NO ONE FAVORITED ANY OF THEM!
Wow, were you wrong...!
>:)
Tacticslion |
But in other news, I just favorited one of your posts, bringing YOU up to 4000 posts favorited by others! Congratulations!
Thanks! Awesome!
HERE, HAVE SOME SPECIAL SPAGHETTI! I CALL IT "GETTING 4000 POSTS FAVORITED BY OTHERS CELEBRATION SPAGHETTI," BECAUSE IT IS TO CELEBRATE GETTING 4000 POSTS FAVORITED BY OTHERS!
Thanks! Awesome!
Tacticslion |
Content removed, as it is a PM in progress, soon to be sent out to others. This post was a method of transferring it from my phone - which is running out of space, and takes longer to build stuff on anyway, to the computer. [i]Not that it's any of your business! Obviously, this post is heavily edited.
Just a Mort |
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Im watching the part about "How To be a Good Player". Now one thing is that I don't practice any martial arts nor used any weapons before so I uhh...don't know how to use weapons? Except maybe try to stick the pointy/sharp end into the bad guy?
I also think Jared is also more of a rule lite GM from the way he's been describing things.
Tacticslion |
Im watching the part about "How To be a Good Player". Now one thing is that I don't practice any martial arts nor used any weapons before so I uhh...don't know how to use weapons? Except maybe try to stick the pointy/sharp end into the bad guy?
I also think Jared is also more of a rule lite GM from the way he's been describing things.
Oh, my, yes! He's definitely much more, "The rules are inspiration for our common sense to dominate." rather than, "Follow the word strictly." - although not always, true, I find that players who grew up in AD&D tend toward the former.
I also disagree with him about a number of different things... but he has fun, so I'm glad it works for him! That's awesome! :D
EDIT: Also, you taking my joke seriously is... pretty awesome! Hah! Thanks! :D
Tacticslion |
Just a Mort wrote:Im watching the part about "How To be a Good Player". Now one thing is that I don't practice any martial arts nor used any weapons before so I uhh...don't know how to use weapons? Except maybe try to stick the pointy/sharp end into the bad guy?
I also think Jared is also more of a rule lite GM from the way he's been describing things.
Oh, my, yes! He's definitely much more, "The rules are inspiration for our common sense to dominate." rather than, "Follow the word strictly." - although not always, true, I find that players who grew up in AD&D tend toward the former.
I also disagree with him about a number of different things... but he has fun, so I'm glad it works for him! That's awesome! :D
EDIT: Also, you taking my joke seriously is... pretty awesome! Hah! Thanks! :D
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~!
I'm watching his, "In defense of 4th Edition" video and, though I love the guy, and find his videos entertaining, and agree with many things... it becomes clear that what he considers balanced and what I consider "balanced" are very, very different things.
I wish to emphasize that this is not bad: he disagrees with me, and I find his D&December to not only be cool, but fundamentally awesome. I am super-glad he does them, and I'm glad to hear his opinions on this.
I just... disagree. XD
(But, daggum does 4E need to be made into a FFT-style video game. It's the greatest lost opportunity of that system's existence - it was the one game that didn't get a "faithful" video/computer game adaptation, and it was literally the best edition to do that to! Arg! Such a shame!)
EDIT: to be clear, I do agree that 4E had things that it did well - better than other systems. While it wasn't my favorite system, I had some fun with it. I just disagree with his assessment of balanced, because, I'm pretty sure, he's using the more "this is how I think it's intended" instead of "this is what the minutia says" approach. Still an neat dude whom I respect!
Just a Mort |
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The problem with 4e is that in trying to achieve balance, they made all classes too similar to each other. The premise of D&D to me is that you and your party members are different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Together you form a complete whole. If all the blocks are the same, it sorts of loses flavour.
I think also that 4e combats tend to be very draggy.
Sorry, I'm not very philosophical. Generally because my life is full of things to do, I go with a - what do I need to do next on my to do list.
Tacticslion |
There was one - Daggerford,IIRC. I did have it, but I can't remember how faithful it was to the rules.
Oh!
...
...
... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Diablo clone. :I
Welp: /interest.
(I got plenty of that style of play with Nox.)
The problem with 4e is that in trying to achieve balance, they made all classes too similar to each other. The premise of D&D to me is that you and your party members are different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Together you form a complete whole. If all the blocks are the same, it sorts of loses flavour.
I think also that 4e combats tend to be very draggy.
Sorry, I'm not very philosophical. Generally because my life is full of things to do, I go with a - what do I need to do next on my to do list.
It's funny - they worked hard at being balanced, but it really wasn't, and, unfortunately, the nuance of how it was unbalanced was often lost in the apparent-"samey-ness" of the system.
Instead of "balance," (its goal) 4E focused heavily on "symmetry" - i.e. "everything looks the same."
I believe this was an effort to decouple fluff enough that you could do what you wanted... but the manner in which they did so tended to (in my opinion) leave it bland and unfulfilling (in addition to an over-focus on combat).
I suspect a lot of its flaws stemmed from its troubled history (related) - warning, the second link discusses a horrible tragedy.
That said, I really think it had some great ideas, and even some good execution! Just... not over-all, at least compared to other systems. I just never found it as immersive, as a system.
That said, for those who enjoyed it, it can be great!
C'mon! Join the race to 400 aliases! It's not whether you win or lose, but how you finish the race.
I may get there eventually. But it's going to be a sssslllooooowww process, so it's unlikely.
Completely agreed on 4th computer game.
I know, right?!
EDIT: arg! Missed a single '['...