Drifting Pollen

Arena Chat Thread

Gr8 deb8 m8s I r8 it 8/8.

If nothing else, I think we can all agree that this election has been pretty fascinating to watch, ugly as it is. You've got all this anger with the way of things being channeled by candidates like Trump and Sanders, with extremely impressive results delegate-wise.

I just wonder what's going to happen when whoever gets elected ends up not fixing things. Maybe people will get so fed up they'll actually elect Vermin Supreme...

Arena Chat Thread

Just because your skin is a slightly different color doesn't mean you're a different race. It just means you live in a different climate.

@LeeRoy

You're exactly right, of course... but the people who discriminate against others based on the color of their skin? They don't think that way. They couldn't care less which precise country someone comes from, only that they're obviously different and are therefore somehow bad or inferior.

He's a blunt plain spoken man, and yeah, of course he's riling up tension. Tension gets votes, once he's in office you'll notice he suddenly stops the sharp aggressive speeches.

@LeeRoy

You say he's blunt and plain spoken, and then in the next sentence you admit he's lying through his teeth. One can claim he'll drop the rhetoric if he gets elected- and yeah, it is probable. But what will he do? His campaign has basically shown that he can do or say whatever the fuck he wants and still get away with it, and that's not the kind of candidate you want running one of the most powerful and well-armed countries in the world.

TBH I probably shouldn't care that much, since I don't even live in the US now... but it's a big country with a lot of influence, and as distasteful as I find some of its denizens, I wouldn't want to see them suffer more than they already are.

Arena Chat Thread

Illegal Immigration is kind of problematic. We get it, like, everyone gets it. America IS BETTER THAN MEXICO, pretty much all of Central America is run by cartels and violence. So coming to America is an opportunity that they can't get down there.

@LeeRoy

So basically, 'all their countries are shit, and all the people are shit too if they don't get here legally.' Maybe you don't think that personally, but it's a growing opinion among your countrymen.

Let me tell you, as a British citizen with all the right documents, getting into the US was a massive pain in the neck. For someone from a less well-connected country, perhaps without money or the right documents, entering the legal way might be truly impossible.

But anyways, that's not my point. I know people from Southern and Central America, and they're fucking scared of Trump. Not because they're illegal immigrants (they're not) but because of the rhetoric he's spreading. He may phrase it in vaguely political terms (and yes, it is true that illegal immigration causes a multitude of problems), but the overall message he's spreading is one of hate, one of racism. These people I know? They've experienced that personally. One of them actually left the fucking States and moved up to Canada because he couldn't handle the constant harassment he was getting.

So fuck Trump. The president can't get shit done anyways (as the recent years with Obama have proven), so electing an established politician like Hillary isn't going to hurt the country too much. Not as much, at least, as the guy who is utterly loathed by the rest of the planet, because he says whatever he needs to to get the crowd riled up and on his side, even if that means turning them against a whole demographic. If he gets elected, people are going to get hurt because of his false ideals. At least with Clinton you can see she's just going to continue the same old bullshit.

Arena Chat Thread

Your food stinks of violence, ours smells of victory.

@LeeRoy

Is it that wonderful smell that makes you lot eat so damn much of it then? Perhaps there is some rather distasteful history behind our own food, but it's also extensive- and we've learned the art of proper portion sizes! While the world mocks you as rotund, we are the pinnacle of elegance!

Arena Chat Thread

@MelonHead
Stop being British so loudly. We're having a discussion about food, not drivel.

@LeeRoy

The Crown discusses what it wants, you useless tea-wasting secessionist! I adjust my monocle at you!

(That being said, one should also remember Swiss chocolate. That overly commercialized Toblerone aside, they do make some good stuff!)

Arena Chat Thread

To be honest, I think either way can work... On one hand: on my 'home' forum, numbers are barely ever used at all in a fight (other than prep counts) and I've been able to do several fun, clean fights there. On the other hand, I've also been on forums where everything is stat-based (e.g. 'my character has 20 speed, and can therefore run a 3 minute mile') and have still been able to do several fun, clean fights.

So really, I think people should just go with whatever system they prefer. The fact is that problems and arguments don't arise from a specific system, they arise from people being stubborn. From what I've seen, such people will start arguments no matter which system is used... Now, whether or not arguments are a normal part of RP fights or not is a whole different can of worms, but essentially using numbers or not using them won't help much if the people fighting are already the kind who don't get along smoothly.

Arena Chat Thread

Force equals mass times acceleration squared

@ImportantNobody

I'm sorry, but that's wrong. Force equals mass times acceleration, there's no square in there.

Arena Chat Thread

tl;dr Statistics are a limiting factor which is what makes them useful, generally vague descriptions of abilities are going to leave too much room for subjectivity and cause problems in ranked fights.

@MelonHead

IDK... I think these 'problems' only arise when both sides become more dead-set on winning than on having fun.

I've personally experienced bullshitting of the kind you describe. However, I can make up for this by having vague abilities of my own. If someone says "but my attack/defense is stronger!" then I'll just ask them how they know. With no numbers to support either side, the attack that comes out on top is usually the one with more preparation and planning behind it. Of course, I've had opponents who just BSed their way through everything I threw at them regardless- but they knew they were bullshitting, and eventually conceded with barely any argument and no need for judge intervention. Honor is not dead, it just takes a little patience to lure it out.

Not saying that numbers are bad per se, but I've dealt with vagueness in plenty of fights, and it's never stopped me from having fun or wrecking faces.

In quasi-related news, I've started up the project I discussed a month or two ago, the Gaian Combat League as a sort of spiritual successor to the large-scale tournaments my community used to have.

@Darth

I am so in!

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

Well, if nobody can agree...

I hereby claim the last word of this argument!

Anyways, seeing as the fight is unranked and no final decision was requested, I'm just going to leave it as is. Both sides can walk away believing they won. Congrats to both of you, I guess... though TBH I am not impressed with either, given how easily things devolved into a spite-fest.

That aside, there was some good writing IC in the earlier bits, and although it was riddled with issues, the showdown in the cave was pretty cool. So well done on those parts, and good luck to both of you in future fights!

Running and Gunning - Higan Vs. The Magna Pater

@Drifting Pollen Higan is on top of a hill looking around with Electric vision, can he see the Pater yet? Also there is nothing about the Pater being particularly sneaky, certainly not silent, so with the benefit of knowing how Higan is listening is he also unaware of any sound in this completely empty forest?

@MelonHead

Higan can't see it, nor can he hear anything.

You'll note that I said he could hear it earlier (based on the trick you PMed me), and the capabilities of the electric vision have already been established. Even if I were to lean towards Higan's senses being 'better' than Pater's stealth, he still wouldn't pick up anything on audio or visual in the current situation.

@Doc Doctor maybe it'd be best to just tell him at this point? Melon's going to figure it out eventually, and I don't see much point in dragging this on a few more posts.