OOTS #1181 - The Discussion Thread

[Arathorne]

Good ol' Strat-O-Matic, the original fantasy sports league.

Nice to see I was not the only one to have that come to mind in reference to the post. I could not afford the game as a kid so I made my own deck of cards.

[jwhouk]

Good ol' Strat-O-Matic, the original fantasy sports league.

Amen to that. I have a fantasy baseball league based in the future I still play - though I use the computer version of the game to sim an entire season.

[KorvinStarmast]

I keep hearing Girardi's name pop up but I don't think he'll come to Chicago, personally.

I seem to recall that it's his home town. But will they pay him? No idea.

Also, I'm deliberately ignoring the "Lol what r sports?" crowd. I get it, but honestly it's tiresome...

I was a jock in high school. I also played D&D. I also played Diplomacy. Hung around with some jocks in college and some nerds. Also played D&D. *shrug* The people who want to stove pipe or pigeon hole other people really should not.

I read books by Heinlein and Herbert growing up, and reread them even now.

I read SF and Swords and Sorcery books of many kinds. Some of my favorite stuff. Also read a lot of history. P:laying D&D got me to read more medieval history.

Really? It always seemed to me that ANH had the tightest plot of them all, likely from being a standalone while the rest all rely on other installments to various degrees.

I don't think they realized what a hit it would be.

[Skull the Troll]

On the high level, New Hope and Return of the Jedi have kind of the opposite problem. New Hope feels to me like it's trying to go all over the place and feels vaguely disjointed as a result, whereas Return of the Jedi is so tightly bound it's like Tatooine and post-Tatooine are completely separate movies, with a weak connecting piece....Making for a milder version of the same effect as when someone who was wrong thought it'd be a good idea to glue four episodes of (3D) The Clone Wars together without any sort of connecting pieces and call it a movie.

Speaking as someone who saw Empire and had to live years not knowing if Han Solo was going to be ok, it was a pretty critical part of the movie. 12 year old me would have even said that there was no way the Rebels could defeat the Empire without Han. Turns out he wasn't THAT critical, but you don't know that when you spend a few years discussing if Han Solo is still ok inside the carbonite.

[Jasdoif]

Speaking as someone who saw Empire and had to live years not knowing if Han Solo was going to be ok, it was a pretty critical part of the movie. 12 year old me would have even said that there was no way the Rebels could defeat the Empire without Han. Turns out he wasn't THAT critical, but you don't know that when you spend a few years discussing if Han Solo is still ok inside the carbonite.

All the more reason the "hey, everybody who wasn't here before, meet with everyone who was here before" mission briefing scene between Tatooine and Endor, which kind of ignored the entire carbonite thing, came off as weak. Without Caroline Blakiston's performance, it'd probably have been forgettable.

[Ruck]

Fair, that was poor phrasing on my part. If it helps, I wasn't meaning "your snark" in a negative light. Snark is pretty value-neutral, I think. Just, y'know. A mode of speaking that involves sarcastic humor.

I think snark generally has a more negative connotation than that, but whatever, it's not a big deal.

Also, I'm deliberately ignoring the "Lol what r sports?" crowd. I get it, but honestly it's tiresome...traditional "nerdy" things are mostly not seen the same way they were 10 or 15 years ago, to the point where things like Dungeons & Dragons are becoming increasingly popular across multiple demographics (even--and perhaps especially--with "jocks"). Plus, fantasy sports have always been a thing--the jocks were just lying when they said they didn't like "nerd stuff."

I was a jock in high school. I also played D&D. I also played Diplomacy. Hung around with some jocks in college and some nerds. Also played D&D. *shrug* The people who want to stove pipe or pigeon hole other people really should not.

Yeah, this is more my perspective and what I sympathize with.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yeah, us nerds and geeks are well into sports (see also Analytics). Plus we like talking about synchronicity, whether that's rolling three crits in a row or Washington winning NHL and WNBA championships in the same year and having a shot at MLB as well.




Really spellchecker? You recognize NHL but not WNBA or MLB?

[Arathorne]

Yeah, us nerds and geeks are well into sports (see also Analytics). Plus we like talking about synchronicity, whether that's rolling three crits in a row or Washington winning NHL and WNBA championships in the same year and having a shot at MLB as well.

Must be the year of Washington then, but the Redskins balance it out by being horrible. There have been other odd same season year success stories in the last 20 years, mainly in New England/Boston. 2004 won Super Bowl and World Series, 2018 World Series 2019 Super Bowl win, (was the 2018-19 season finale).

then some near misses like the year the Cavs won the NBA and the Indians made it to the World Series and lose it in 7 if my memory serves right.

Ah the interesting stories of "Karma" in sports.

PS: and here I thought this thread had finally gone so far off the rails as to have died. Wrong again I am afraid.

[Schroeswald]

PS: and here I thought this thread had finally gone so far off the rails as to have died. Wrong again I am afraid.

You know I’m pretty sure almost every single possible derailment has happened in this thread, by my count all we need to do is talk about Familicide, LOTR, Discworld and Harry Potter to discuss the entire range of derailments.

[Larre Gannd]

You know I’m pretty sure almost every single possible derailment has happened in this thread, by my count all we need to do is talk about Familicide, LOTR, Discworld and Harry Potter to discuss the entire range of derailments.

I’m totally game.

[D.One]

You know I’m pretty sure almost every single possible derailment has happened in this thread, by my count all we need to do is talk about Familicide, LOTR, Discworld and Harry Potter to discuss the entire range of derailments.

You mean talking about that time Sauron cast Familicide on Draco Malfoy while he was reading The Colour of Magic?

[Schroeswald]

You mean talking about that time Sauron cast Familicide on Draco Malfoy while he was reading The Colour of Magic?

That’s part of my favorite Lord of the Discs book, The Order of the Familicide!

[The Aboleth]

Must be the year of Washington then, but the Redskins balance it out by being horrible.

That'll happen when your team's owner is
Dan Snyder. He's the worst.

[Ruck]

Yeah, us nerds and geeks are well into sports (see also Analytics). Plus we like talking about synchronicity, whether that's rolling three crits in a row or Washington winning NHL and WNBA championships in the same year and having a shot at MLB as well.




Really spellchecker? You recognize NHL but not WNBA or MLB?

I had some hopes for a Triple Championship for my teams in 2017-18; I only got one, but it's not unrealistic 2019-20 could pull it off.

[jwhouk]

At one point I did do a GURPS add-on for becoming a pro hockey player, but never really play-tested it properly.

[KorvinStarmast]

That'll happen when your team's owner is
Dan Snyder. He's the worst.

Our Jerry Jones surely tries our patience, but I must award the palm to Snyder for driving his fans nuts. (My brother is a major Redskins fan ... I would not be surprised if there are Snyder dolls with pins stuck into them in that old man cave...)

[Ruck]

Our Jerry Jones surely tries our patience, but I must award the palm to Snyder for driving his fans nuts. (My brother is a major Redskins fan ... I would not be surprised if there are Snyder dolls with pins stuck into them in that old man cave...)

Jerry is bad for plenty of reasons, but at least he cares about winning. Imagine having a Mike Brown or Bill Bidwill (RIP) as your owner. Or, obviously, a Snyder, who acts more like a spoiled child who has to do everything his way or he throws a tantrum.

[Alex Warlorn]

I just hope the artist is okay.

[Emanick]

I just hope the artist is okay.

It's better than okay - it's great.

[The Aboleth]

Our Jerry Jones surely tries our patience, but I must award the palm to Snyder for driving his fans nuts. (My brother is a major Redskins fan ... I would not be surprised if there are Snyder dolls with pins stuck into them in that old man cave...)

I work in the DC sports media market. The things I've heard from beat reporters, radio jocks, etc who have actually interacted with Snyder is that he's every bit as awful as his reputation would suggest. Heck, this is the guy who essentially used his team's cheerleaders as paid escorts to impress Important Clients, and when he got caught gave the weak defense of (paraphrased), "They weren't told to sleep with anyone!" As if being told, "Stay with the Client and make sure they're comfortable all night" didn't carry an obvious sexual implication.

A high-ranking member of a different NFL organization recently said that Snyder "acts like how most people THINK rich people act." The other owners reportedly aren't fond of him, either, but are happy to keep him around so that their teams can enjoy an easy Win on their schedule.

The funny thing is, I'm not even a DC sports fan and I still hate Snyder! Actual fans want him shot into the sun, and I completely understand that reaction. [/rant]

[Riftwolf]

That’s part of my favorite Lord of the Discs book, The Order of the Familicide!

I always preferred the fight between Darth Twoflower and Nanny McGonagall for the Seventh Ring, Ingmar.

[DrivinAllNight]

This is why I love this comic, it literally has everything a great comic should have

[Emperor Time]

This is why I love this comic, it literally has everything a great comic should have

Agree completely since only the best webcomics are able to reach such a milestone in quality.

[redemedic]

I wonder if they will actually get together at the end.

[Riftwolf]

I wonder if they will actually get together at the end.

My guess is 'no'; just because they have a kid together doesn't mean they'll automatically pair up or that said pairing would be healthy. Durkon being a responsible dad doesn't require him to be a husband.

[Arathorne]

How in the world did we get back on the "Rails"?

[Mad Humanist]

You mean talking about that time Sauron cast Familicide on Draco Malfoy while he was reading The Colour of Magic?

Well Draco had it coming to him. Minutes before Draco had used his light-sabre to slice the full-scale matchstick model of the USS Enterprise that Sauron had been painstakingly building.

[Rogar Demonblud]

How in the world did we get back on the "Rails"?

Well you see, sometimes we derail so hard we loop back around onto the rails.

[Crusher]

Well you see, sometimes we derail so hard we loop back around onto the rails.

Gotta roll a 20 sometime!

Or maybe a 1...

[Schroeswald]

Gotta roll a 20 sometime!

Or maybe a 1...

The rails rolled a natural 20 and we rolled a natural 1 against rerailing.