Oldmandan

Oldmandan, 4 months ago

Jace can’t read. He just alters everyone’s memories so they think he can. This is canon, and no one can change my mind. :P

Oldmandan, 5 months ago

Mod support has definitely been mentioned as an eventual goal, IIRC though they didn’t have plans to implement an official DM mode.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

Wotc can do this, sure… so long as they restrict it to BO1. In BO3, decks needing to run a couple pieces of hate/interaction in the sideboard to deal with a linear combo is good for the health if the game, if anything. (If that’s still not enough, then sure, ban it globally. But BO1 and BO3 are fundementally different games.)

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

Eh… I’d need to look into this specific one more, and it’s a bit weirder than ‘normal’ given this is a drug for a common physiological symptom, but there was a lot of bad medical science done from roughly WWI to the turn of the millennium that nonetheless still underpins some of our commonly available medicines. Clinical psych has it especially bad, but the replication crisis is a problem everywhere.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

It feels like every time I go on the internet, I get reminded I need to be very explicit about what I’m saying. (Or develop a thicker skin. :P) Apologies if I sounded dismissive, I was just trying to say that I don’t know exactly how it was approved as I haven’t done the research to know, but that wasn’t surprised it had been, given the overarching issue with medical studies from the last century failing to be replicated. I’m not trying to imply that I’ll somehow dig up the absolute truth of the situation that was previously unknown, I just know I’m making a statement with incomplete information.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

Yeah, post-shaving alopecia is a thing, especially in double coated breeds. (Which is part of the reason you’re supposed to avoid shaving them.)

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

If you want Canadian but about nerdy things instead of politics, LoadingReadyRun (Victoria BC) has a few, some actual-play tabletop stuff, some Magic the Gathering, some sketch and improv comedy (although they haven’t made a new one of those in a while, sadly), etc.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

While not representing a majority of Canadians, there are people living in regions that get regularly cold enough for heat pumps to be inadequate. Which means running a standard electric furnace (expensive and inefficient) during the coldest months of the year. Which… is not ideal, especially for lower-income rural persons. (IE, most people living in these regions of Canada.)

The rebate is great, but there are persons for whom it is insufficient.

Do I think that’s a good reason to remove the carbon tax from heating fuels? No, not really. (Assuming I understand how the tax works, it really isn’t the burden people expect it to be. (You can debate about inefficiencies, but as far as manipulating economics to incentivize transfer away from fossil fuels without harming the general public, it’s reasonably sound.)) But people do have legitimate concerns that shouldn’t be trivially dismissed.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago

That is a true statistic, yes. Without a ton of relevance to the discussion at hand unfortunately. Most of Scandinavia is coastal, and while cold compared to the rest of Europe, has quite mild winters compared to the northern Canadian interior. Additionally, popular in this context is about a 50% adoption rate by household, without much information (that I can find, at least) on distrobution; I suspect most of those are in southern and costal areas, and the (less populated) northern interior primarily relies on other heating methods.

Oldmandan, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I think perhaps you misread what I said (or I communicated poorly). I’m speaking about the funding incentive to purchase a heat pump. The carbon tax rebates, as you say, are designed to break even by or better for the majority of the population; I’ve got no issues with that. I was responding to the implication that a transition to electricity was trivial because households could purchase a heat pump for little to no cost. There are households for which the energy costs of resistive heating+heat pump are likely higher than their current heating costs, making this not the case. (Unless there are further rebates I don’t know about for people who have a heat pump, beyond covering initial costs?)

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

The VA for Laezel (Devora Wilde) has actually seen this meme and read it in-character. :P You can find it on YouTube.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Whoof. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but damn. “Yeah, we made 9 bil in profit last year, but we’re too focused on the long term and transitioning away from energy sources that are actively reducing the habitabilty of our planet.” Do you fucking hear yourself speak? As-is, if we manage to get things under control before literally rendering huge swaths of the world unlivable within the next century, it’ll be near a goddamn miracle. I understand the need for a smooth transition and the capital to support green initiatives*, and that practically we will need at least some amount of oil for decades yet. Nothing here though gives me any confidence this is anything but a move to maximize shareholder returns.

(*as much as free-market solutions to problems related to common goods (like our goddamn climate) fundementally offend me, due to inherent inefficiency and misaligned incentives, an inefficient response is still better than waiting until we can fundementally restructure society >>)

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

In terms of extremely minor one-off characters, He Who Was was very cool. I was sad when he didn’t show up in act three. Just a random Shadar-Kai warlock of the Raven Queen chilling in the Shadow Cursed lands, delivering warped justice to the dead, and collecting their tormented memories and emotions to sustain his queen.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

I could see that. She’s got some thematic ties to Karsus, shares a home plane with Shar, and has a portfolio revolving around lost knowledge (ie, a potentially attractive avenue for recoving an amnesiac’s memories) giving options for a subplot around her to resonate with a couple different origin characters. (And could potentially serve as a more “benign” (for certain definitions of the word) source of power to Wyll, if he wanted to retain his powers but escape his contract with Mizora.)

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

spoilerYou monster.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Yeah, as the other commenter mentioned, wander around north of the Shadowed Battlefield waypoint, make sure to explore all the nooks and crannies at the edges of the map, you’ll find his campsite eventually.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Clearly, I need to find a Dane to get in a fight with. I could use a drink. :P

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Yup. Until our technology and biological knowledge reaches the point where we can stop using (metaphorical) chainsaws and start using scalpels, everything is a tradeoff that’s going to vary greatly by individual. Personally, the only side effect I’ve noticed from my meds (diagnosed as a child, didn’t take medications for it until more recently), is appetite supression, and aside from a couple blood sugar crashes before realizing working out on an empty stomach was a dumb idea, I’ve seen no ill effects. On the other hand, a good friend of mine on the same medication experienced heightened anxiety and tachycardia. /shurg

There’s perhaps an argument to be made that the current state of healthcare leaves clinicians unable to provide the needed followup care and medication adjustment, but then the issue isn’t the use of medication, so much as the burden on physicians. /shurg

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

This is also a valid question, the systemic pressure to “be productive” puts a lot of weight on the side of taking meds despite side effects. Anecdotally though, some ADHD patients do find meds useful for helping them maintain interpersonal relationships and the like, not just focus on work.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Yes. Thank you. There have been plural studies (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4165, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3489818/, and many more, these are literally just the first google results), showing that perscription stimulants have a negligible, or even negative, effect on productivity in neurotypical populations. Their reputation as a “smart drug” has been greatly exaggerated.

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Never mind the nudity toggle, we need a “hairless cats” toggle at the beginning of the game too I guess, if we want everyone to be happy. :P

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Worth noting, if you’re dual-wielding, you can sneak attack with a bonus action. (Go into your reactions and make sure Sneak Attack is set to always.)

AT is mostly about adding control and utility abilities to the Rogue; options to take enemies out of the fight, and aid/supplement your sneaking. Sleep, Colour Spray, Hold Person, Invisibility, etc, are your mainstays. Your unrestricted spells (ie, ones that don’t have to be enchantment or Illusion) should probably be geared towards defence and mobility. (Shield, Misty Step, etc.)

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

It would definitely be an improvement. I’ve been involved with both volunteer/municipal and provincial/public health programs to provide food in schools, and the story is constantly one of trying to do more with less. More kids (and more of those kids in need), higher prices and less community/government support. (In terms of both funds and volunteers.)

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

Move over spherical cow, circular cat is my new best friend

Oldmandan, 7 months ago

IIRC, elves can sleep properly, if they want to, they just generally choose not to. And depending on the age of the elf, they do “dream” in their trance, IIRC. Said dreams are memories of their past lives. (Since elf souls are special and don’t work like regular souls.) Realistically though, none of our companions are in the right age range (dreams being super rare for elves older than ~100 and younger than ~600). Astarion might dream normally though, if he ever sleeps*, severed from their reincarnation cycle as he is by his nature as a vampire spawn?

When in doubt though, blame tadpoles. :P