The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXXI

[Takhisis]

Does Metallica get to use the power of rock?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Is there an example of a music group (a rock band, say) that, over the years, has lost and gained members such that there are now none of the original members in the group?

If there are multiple instances of this phenomenon, I'm looking for most famous instance.

Some here besides me may be old enough to remember Rockapella. None of the current members are original members. My favorite is still with them, though.

I'm working on an RPG where the players are partially divine and set in a sort of Ancient Babylon themed world and am looking for a good ruleset to go along with it. I have experience with D&D 5e, Cyberpunk 2020, and GURPS but none of them have the feel I am going for. D&D sort of has it, but I'm not a huge fan of how D&D handles skills and magic. (Plus I have to bring along all the class progression junk.) Combat would be a large part of the game. I looked at Mythender but the players are too divine there.

Any ruleset recommendations?

I think Original D&D has a rulebook for PCs who are so high-level that with a bit of tweaking on your part, these rules might at least help give you some guidance.

The beauty of RPGs is that you can change things around to fit the requirements of your game world. As long as the rules are consistent in-universe and no character class receives unfair advantages or disadvantages (aka game balance), it should work. Of course you'll need a gaming group to playtest it, either in-person or PBP.

Which part of D&D skills and magic don't you like?

 

[Catharsis]

Does Metallica get to use the power of rock?

Yes, they can rock as a tactic if they want. It might be effective as an 'area of effect' type move. They'll need something like that because they have a lot of diminutive Japanese girls to mow down.

 

[The_J]

Have a deja-vu situation, need a deja-vu advice:
Like 9 months ago I had the situation that I met a girl I liked, but was also thinking that I'd be close to moving away from here (turned out to be not true). So I hesitated and asked here about thougths. Someone (think Owen) then said (paraphrased) that it's my inner coward speaking, and that I shouldn't be a wuss.
So, now, same situation again, besides that I'm definitely moving in 3 weeks, the new work and apartment contract are signed, and getting back to here is like 2.5h by public transport.
Is my hesitation again my inner coward, or is this reasonable right now?

 

[Arakhor]

Well, now it's even easier, as if things go tits up, you have your unskippable exit from the scene. Just go and introduce yourself and if she's interested, that's the time to let her know about your plans.

 

[Takhisis]

If you like her enough she's worth it.

Yes, they can rock as a tactic if they want. It might be effective as an 'area of effect' type move. They'll need something like that because they have a lot of diminutive Japanese girls to mow down.

If they use the props-men to string out spare power cables as trip-wires, I think they can hold the fort for a considerable time.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Well, now it's even easier, as if things go tits up, you have your unskippable exit from the scene. Just go and introduce yourself and if she's interested, that's the time to let her know about your plans.

this.

 

[Takhisis]

What should I use to clean a computer (flat)screen?

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

One of those compressed air things and a cloth that won't damage the screen, like microfiber. If you really need liquid, purified water or all-purpose cleaner that some companies sell is fine, just put it on the cloth to get it lightly damp, not the screen directly.

 

[Takhisis]

I don't have one of ‘those compressed air things’. I'll still probably need something liquid to wash the stuff away - water: warm, cold, lukewarm?

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Warm water works best.

 

[Michkov]

Microfiber and a bit of windowcleaner worked so far for me. Just dont go overboard with the liquid

 

[schlaufuchs]

Have a deja-vu situation, need a deja-vu advice:
Like 9 months ago I had the situation that I met a girl I liked, but was also thinking that I'd be close to moving away from here (turned out to be not true). So I hesitated and asked here about thougths. Someone (think Owen) then said (paraphrased) that it's my inner coward speaking, and that I shouldn't be a wuss.
So, now, same situation again, besides that I'm definitely moving in 3 weeks, the new work and apartment contract are signed, and getting back to here is like 2.5h by public transport.
Is my hesitation again my inner coward, or is this reasonable right now?

I started hooking up with a girl a month before school broke up for summer, and I was at that point already going away from school to work every weekend. We ended up dating for 3 years. Relationships, even very fresh ones, can survive distance if both of you are committed to making it work. If you want it to happen, make it happen and let the chips land where they fall. If not, don't, but don't let something like fear of future events that may not even come to pass prevent you from acting.

 

[The_J]

Well, now it's even easier, as if things go tits up, you have your unskippable exit from the scene. Just go and introduce yourself and if she's interested, that's the time to let her know about your plans.

I actually don't fear to fail, but fear that it works o_O.
Because part of the issue is also that I'll also not have weekends for the next half year or so, because I still need to finish my PhD thesis (while working full time elsewhere).
So there's no time. At all. (Righ now my weekends also consist half out of work; should be more, but cannot motivate myself for more than 4h per Sat/Sun; mainly an issue with getting out of bed though).

I started hooking up with a girl a month before school broke up for summer, and I was at that point already going away from school to work every weekend. We ended up dating for 3 years. Relationships, even very fresh ones, can survive distance if both of you are committed to making it work. If you want it to happen, make it happen and let the chips land where they fall. If not, don't, but don't let something like fear of future events that may not even come to pass prevent you from acting.

The last part I need to consider.
Guess I'll wait and see if I get a chance to ask her tomorrow. If so, I might do, and if not...well...that was then the last chance (know her from some class, which ends tomorrow), not going to force it.
(realistically seen, I'll probably chicken out, but I guess that'll be okay too)

 

[shadowplay]

I don't have one of ‘those compressed air things’. I'll still probably need something liquid to wash the stuff away - water: warm, cold, lukewarm?

Laptops usually come with a small microfibre cloth for this purpose. I recommend using that + the blue cleaning solution they sell in PC stores for a couple dollars... it lasts a really long time. Bought mine years ago for like $5, I still have most of it left. I also use it to clean the TV. Avoid tap water, the minerals can damage the screen over time from what I've heard.

If you're going the homemade route, use warm, distilled water.

 

[Synobun]

Laptops usually come with a small microfibre cloth for this purpose. I recommend using that + the blue cleaning solution they sell in PC stores for a couple dollars... it lasts a really long time. Bought mine years ago for like $5, I still have most of it left. I also use it to clean the TV. Avoid tap water, the minerals can damage the screen over time from what I've heard.

If you're going the homemade route, use warm, distilled water.

Yeah. Plus, you don't need to use a lot. A low-flow spray bottle and a couple spritzes is all you need.

 

[Takhisis]

It'll have to be warm water and a non-damaging cloth then.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

This is another question that I've been asked.

Why is it that American sports don't have promotion and relegation?

 

[schlaufuchs]

This is another question that I've been asked.

Why is it that American sports don't have promotion and relegation?

Because the baseball equivalent of the FA folded and rich owners stepped onto the scene who had an interest in keeping the national league as a closed circuit, admitting teams who would play ball with the other owners, and kicking out those (e.g. Louisville Sluggers, Cleveland Spiders, Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles) who wouldn't.

In 1903 another chance at establishing a tiered league system was firmly rebuked as the upstart (and then-superior) American League agreed to settle with the failing National League and collaborate as equals.

The big death-knells for any chance of a pro/rel system developing, though, were the 1922 decision Federal Baseball Club v. National League, which ruled that baseball, being an essential cultural institution, was not subject to antitrust regulations, meaning the owners' grip on the league and its players was absolute, and the 1926 World Series victory by the St. Louis Cardinals, which proclaimed to the rest of the league the effectiveness of a farm system composed of subordinate minor league teams. This victory kicked off a massive arms race throughout the rest of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s which saw the vast majority of independent and minor league teams get bought out and incorporated into existing major league farm system structures. With the death of the PCL in the 1950s, any hope of a change to the MLB franchise system was effectively dead for all time. The NFL and NBA developed within the context of the MLB's history, and so largely followed the same trajectory.

Consider what could have happened when in 1992 the biggest, richest, most successful clubs from the Football League broke off and formed their own independent league to protect their competitive and financial interests. Because soccer had at that point a 100-year tradition of promotion/relegation the format was ultimately preserved, but had that not been there, the owners that formed the Premier League would have had a financial interest in securing their position in the Premier League and thus would have pushed for a closed structure. That's essentially what happened to baseball in the 1880s and 90s.

tl;dr: the early histories of the soccer and baseball are remarkably similar, but four things happened to baseball that dramatically altered its trajectory compared to soccer:

1) The FA-equivalent for baseball, the NABBP wasn't able to handle the transition to professionalism and collapsed, with wealthy owners filling the vacuum left in the association's wake. This shifted the focus of the game from an open sport-wide system of various affiliated leagues of local, team-owned clubs, to a singular closed system of owners who had a deep interest in carefully controlling the format of their league (restricting players to teams, only admitting teams with large fanbases and amenable owners). Because the National League took in the biggest, most popular, most well funded teams, it was difficult for any other league to compete or negotiate, and there was no larger overarching governing body to arbitrate on their behalf, thus creating a Major-Minor league system.

2) Any attempt to break the existing format failed. Bad teams were tossed from the league. Rival leagues were either smashed in legal battle (The Federal League) or were incorporated into the structure (The American League), at which point they gained an immediate interest in maintaining the closed franchise system. Any attempt on the part of the players to organize and collectively bargain, was likewise crushed. Individual minor league teams achieving a level of play comparable to a Major League team (e.g. the Baltimore Orioles in the 1920s) were ignored entirely.

3) Federal Baseball Club v. National League codified the closed system into law. Baseball was a trust and could act as they pleased without having to entertain competition.

4) The success of the farm system established by Branch Rickey began a process by which nearly all minor league teams were bought out and forced to become subservient to the interests of the Major League.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Hey, is this the post that entitles me to start the next thread?

Or is it the next post that does that?