Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread • Page 16 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread
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HermitFromPluto
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:33 am

Read the article too last night. Very well written and very enlightening.

(And a humorous thought, makes me think of the module "The Assassin's Knot" ... Now there's a thought, a module based on the events described ... many interesting alternatives could be played out!)

increment
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:13 pm

While I'm not usually one to call attention to the reception of my own work, I've been really surprised to see the general interest in this article, not just from D&D geeks, but from people with an interest in business or law, or just people who find the story compelling. It's by far gotten the most clicks of anything I've posted on the Internet.

Apparently, even though this article came out on July 28th, it ranks #10 in the most-read articles on Medium for July. Medium just put it on their front page, and which will get this in front of significantly more people (when I tweet it to my 200 or so followers, it reaches the devout: when Medium tweets it to its 635,000 followers, that helps get the word around).

throwi
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:19 pm

increment wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:While I'm not usually one to call attention to the reception of my own work, I've been really surprised to see the general interest in this article, not just from D&D geeks, but from people with an interest in business or law, or just people who find the story compelling. It's by far gotten the most clicks of anything I've posted on the Internet.

Apparently, even though this article came out on July 28th, it ranks #10 in the most-read articles on Medium for July. Medium just put it on their front page, and which will get this in front of significantly more people (when I tweet it to my 200 or so followers, it reaches the devout: when Medium tweets it to its 635,000 followers, that helps get the word around).

Something this good, with the level of detail you've provided, deserves the clicks/reads as well as the accolades. Additionally, it clears up the muddy puddle of that time - many readers (me included) never quite knew what the heck happened.

Very well done.

~throwi

JasonZavoda
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:38 pm

increment wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:While I'm not usually one to call attention to the reception of my own work, I've been really surprised to see the general interest in this article, not just from D&D geeks, but from people with an interest in business or law, or just people who find the story compelling. It's by far gotten the most clicks of anything I've posted on the Internet.

Apparently, even though this article came out on July 28th, it ranks #10 in the most-read articles on Medium for July. Medium just put it on their front page, and which will get this in front of significantly more people (when I tweet it to my 200 or so followers, it reaches the devout: when Medium tweets it to its 635,000 followers, that helps get the word around).

While I find the subject very compelling I also found your article to be a rare combination of informative detail and accessible, as well as, interesting and evocative description. It seemed to me that I caught a glimpse of the motivation and emotions of the people involved with a background of Machiavellian machinations behind the scenes. Regardless of subject matter it is an excellent piece of writing and scholarship.

"You get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word."

benjoshua
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Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:17 pm

I saw the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, and I am glad I did. It was a wild and fun ride with the right amount of humor, action, personal interaction in the middle of a plot that somehow made sense. You notice the inconsistencies, and for some reason, it doesn't matter.

For the comic book crowd out there, this is supposedly a spin-off of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy and not the 1969 version, but it might as well be the 2014 version, there are so many differences between the comic books and the movie. But it really does not matter because the comic rarely took itself seriously and this version doesn't either. It's sci-fi comedy, and it's a good popcorn summer movie.

I saw it in IMAX, and I'm glad I did. I have made another observation about IMAX movies; there are a lot fewer noisy kids in there. That's almost worth the price difference alone. You can't say the special effects are good, but that's only because the whole movie is one big special effect after another, meaning, they are not special anymore. But the movie does a good job of making the special effects occasionally human to help you relate. I laughed when Rocket (the racoon-looking character) adjusts his maleness as he struts into the bad guy's spaceship. That's what I do when I strut into the big boss's hideout for the showdown...but I digress.

Anyway, the effects are good, the characters are good, the bad guy is the right kind of bad, the music is great, but everything's just a little too cartoony and wild to make it great overall. Both the recent Captain America movie and the Avengers movie were better. I would say however, it is one of those movies that are worth seeing in the theater. I also think, believe it or not, that it might just be a sci-fi, comic-book movie that your wife or girlfriend might like.

Even if they don't like comic books or science fiction.

Make sure you stay after the very long credits for one final scene. No hints here, but it will make you shake your head with disbelief and maybe laughter. I laughed and smiled a lot in this movie.

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cdenham
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:41 am

Was the D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay an actual module or was it released only as a PDF? I managed to pick up one of the kits on Ebay but it doesn't contain a module and I haven't seen any for sale?

If it is a module, does anyone have one they would like to part with?

Carpe DM!

sauromatian
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 11:30 am

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:For the comic book crowd out there, this is supposedly a spin-off of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy and not the 1969 version, but it might as well be the 2014 version, there are so many differences between the comic books and the movie.

I collect Marvel Preview from the mid-70s (featuring Star Lord & introducing Rocky Raccoon). All the half-assed, formulaic attempts to create new hit superheroes would usually be ridiculous train wrecks & entertaining for that reason. A big budget movie with them makes it seem like I'm living in an alternate universe. If a funny animal based on a Beatles song can be a hit now, then the next blockbuster should logically be Starman, DC's superhero based on the worst-ever David Bowie song.

gyg
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:13 pm

cdenham wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Was the D&D Encounters: Dead in Thay an actual module or was it released only as a PDF? I managed to pick up one of the kits on Ebay but it doesn't contain a module and I haven't seen any for sale?

If it is a module, does anyone have one they would like to part with? :)

my understanding is that it was pdf only fwiw

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

Badmike
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 2:39 am

sauromatian wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:
benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:For the comic book crowd out there, this is supposedly a spin-off of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy and not the 1969 version, but it might as well be the 2014 version, there are so many differences between the comic books and the movie.

I collect Marvel Preview from the mid-70s (featuring Star Lord & introducing Rocky Raccoon). All the half-assed, formulaic attempts to create new hit superheroes would usually be ridiculous train wrecks & entertaining for that reason. A big budget movie with them makes it seem like I'm living in an alternate universe. If a funny animal based on a Beatles song can be a hit now, then the next blockbuster should logically be Starman, DC's superhero based on the worst-ever David Bowie song.

Cmon man Bowie has WAY worse songs than Starman.

I also enjoyed GoTG on a few levels. Good summer SF action flick with humor. Tons and tons of inside jokes for Marvel Comics collectors and readers.

Mike B.

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Invincible Overlord
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 10:57 am

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:I saw the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, and I am glad I did. It was a wild and fun ride with the right amount of humor, action, personal interaction in the middle of a plot that somehow made sense. You notice the inconsistencies, and for some reason, it doesn't matter.

For the comic book crowd out there, this is supposedly a spin-off of the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy and not the 1969 version, but it might as well be the 2014 version, there are so many differences between the comic books and the movie. But it really does not matter because the comic rarely took itself seriously and this version doesn't either. It's sci-fi comedy, and it's a good popcorn summer movie.

I saw it in IMAX, and I'm glad I did. I have made another observation about IMAX movies; there are a lot fewer noisy kids in there. That's almost worth the price difference alone. You can't say the special effects are good, but that's only because the whole movie is one big special effect after another, meaning, they are not special anymore. But the movie does a good job of making the special effects occasionally human to help you relate. I laughed when Rocket (the racoon-looking character) adjusts his maleness as he struts into the bad guy's spaceship. That's what I do when I strut into the big boss's hideout for the showdown...but I digress.

Anyway, the effects are good, the characters are good, the bad guy is the right kind of bad, the music is great, but everything's just a little too cartoony and wild to make it great overall. Both the recent Captain America movie and the Avengers movie were better. I would say however, it is one of those movies that are worth seeing in the theater. I also think, believe it or not, that it might just be a sci-fi, comic-book movie that your wife or girlfriend might like. Even if they don't like comic books or science fiction.

Make sure you stay after the very long credits for one final scene. No hints here, but it will make you shake your head with disbelief and maybe laughter. I laughed and smiled a lot in this movie.

But what sets this movie apart from the other movies, is that it's established the Infinity Stone / Infinity Gauntlet plot line for the next 6-8 years of Marvel movies.

And if we're lucky (say about 8 years from now), a JLA / Avengers crossover where Darkseid tries to manipulate one of the Infinity stones... but I am getting ahead of myself...

RPGâ€™s, D&D in particular has had a major influence in my life. Itâ€™s bonded me together with life long friends...itâ€™s that bond in life not just as friends, but in our jokes, our mannerisms, and what we find funny. Invincible Overlord

sauromatian
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 12:25 pm

Badmike wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Cmon man Bowie has WAY worse songs than Starman.

True. Maybe I should take consolation in that at least Rocket Raccoon does not speak with his original British accent, which includes phrases like "now that's a sticky wicket."

red_bus
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:40 pm

Officially the most important news today... yes, it is true... in the past, Giant Penguins roamed the earth !!

Giant penguin fossil shows bird was taller than most humans | Science | theguardian.com

Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!

sauromatian
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:51 pm

red_bus wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Officially the most important news today... yes, it is true... in the past, Giant Penguins roamed the earth !!

This is a significant discovery, as it would confirm penguin-like lifeforms at a scale matching the inhabitants of Antarctica's pre-human cities. If penguins were the inhabitants of these ruins, then all human knowledge, art, & sorcery must have flowed from their beaks. It explains why conspiracy theories always depict the true, behind-the-scenes rulers of Earth's nations as a bunch of guys in tuxedos. I propose an expedition to find out the truth, to be funded by Kickstarter.

darkseraphim
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:12 pm

You know that man in the chart is absolutely British, because he's keeping calm even though he's about to be pulverized impolitely by giant penguins.

cdenham
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:52 pm

Does anyone know how to currently join the RPGA? I've been trying to find out so that I could without much success other than going to a convention.

Carpe DM!

HermitFromPluto
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:50 am

sauromatian wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:
red_bus wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Officially the most important news today... yes, it is true... in the past, Giant Penguins roamed the earth !!

This is a significant discovery, as it would confirm penguin-like lifeforms at a scale matching the inhabitants of Antarctica's pre-human cities. If penguins were the inhabitants of these ruins, then all human knowledge, art, & sorcery must have flowed from their beaks. It explains why conspiracy theories always depict the true, behind-the-scenes rulers of Earth's nations as a bunch of guys in tuxedos. I propose an expedition to find out the truth, to be funded by Kickstarter.

I was recently on a PIA flight and was served what looked like a tray of pre-digested food. I thought the label said something like MP foods, Product on Antartica, but wasn't sure. :pale:

Agent Cooper
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:40 am

I just read online that SSI, the game company that made the old "gold box" D&D computer games, is reforming to make the same genre of games.

This is good news! I have fond memories of playing Pool of Radiance and Dragon Strike as a kid.

I hope they are successful.

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GreyM
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 2:33 pm

Agent Cooper wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:I just read online that SSI, the game company that made the old "gold box" D&D computer games, is reforming to make the same genre of games.

This is good news! I have fond memories of playing Pool of Radiance and Dragon Strike as a kid.

I hope they are successful.

I wonder how long nostalgia will last with the "gold box" format...I purchased the iPad version of Baldurs Gate, along with the enhanced version and haven't played either one very much. Now true, I can play Baldurs Gate on the iPad, its just that I don't have the time to devote to games like I did back when it was first released. I think I flew through the gold box games fairly quickly compared to that though.

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