#its observation and I am not critting ccs

[an0nfr0mth3d3n]

I liked Bolas at first and thought it was funny and hilarious, (and still is) but the reason I’m getting more meh about it is the weirdly disproportionate fan response. I shouldn’t be feeling bitter that when new people hear of Purgatory the only thing they take out of it was Bolas cult.

I do recognize that this is because the largest portion of viewers had been on Red Team, so I knew they were gonna be the fan favorite, but I wasn’t expecting them to just. Be purgatory.

We need love for Green teams family dynamics, and clips of forever being the mom, and we need clips of the difference between the spawns for all the teams and how soulfire Perservered. Clips of the hunts, of the Etoiles manhunt, of Aypierre robbery, of Ggn discovering the ruins of their base.

I think the admins balanced it well in terms of skill (if you respond with saying that Red was needed in this regard you are crazy. Y’all slept on so many of Red team members and refused to wake up) but they ended up not balancing it well in terms of viewership, which this might be a weird position, but I think that is a very important thing to do.

@aimseytv I BEG you, please react not only to the Red team

[infernaltenor]

maybe im just a super salty person bc its 5am and im Still not sleepingn and Still thinking about it but i cant help but feel that qtubbo fans are some of the most hypocritial people ive ever seen. this is like. full of generalizations and just observations ive made as a crow and im. typically defensive and salty so im gonna try to be objective but at the very least im not trying to neg on the characters or the ccs, since im directing this towards the fans. its also like a solid two months of build up .so. oops?

but uh. how to start explaining this. well for one im taking this as a recent fan who is a phil watcher pretty much only. but i tend to chronically read posts about other characters since when im into things i like to be informed on all cases (idk constant instinct i have lol). like i said im gonna focus on qtubbo here, if i go into qphil stuff its purely as a comparison point. i cant speak much on interactions with other fanbases since i simply am Not informed enough but yknow.

for one, i think both tubbo and phil ahve similar things when remembering lore that is Not their own. not a neg on either one, since i dont expect them to remember it, but both have forgotten major stuff recently, ie. fred's kidnapping (phil) and the birdhouse (tubbo). both things happened before purgatoryand the subsequent forgetting happened after so even in character it makes sense (they had more to worry about), but i also think reactions in character tends to fuck with audience perception. ie, tubbos very visceral reaction to the ill timed fred joke phil had made (and it was ill timed, and thats all that i feel was criminal about it. tubbo and phils friendship is very much based on banter and friendly barbs, lots of teasing from either side. phil simply shot back on a smilar level as tubbo had originally, making his joke about "phil and who?". other people have spoken on that so im not gonna rehash about whos comment was worse, since imo they were both just shy of being insensitive, had tubbo not been dealing with freds presumed death at the time. im not gonna talk about the funeral, becasue if i do i'll get mad.). likewise, when tubbo forgot birdhouse phils reaction was much less outwards. he just said a birdhouse wouldnt be slaying- given the imprisionment he had, it makes sense that phil would associate it negatively, especially since it catalzyed all of his future derealization episodes. both of these are simply ooc things imo, from their original standpoint. i dont think either is in the wrong for forgetting. but what annoys me is the fandom perception.

this is a problem im going to link back heavily to purgatory. im not sure if it was present beforehand, as i only really got into qsmp the last two-three weeks in october (bad timing) and had only really been watching vods in order to catch up. that being said, i think the bolas and soulfire rivalry had widened the gap between the fans, which in turn affects negative perception. later weeks in november had full bad faith interpretations of phil because he was critical of tubbos choices or simply didnt understand sunnys character perfectly. and there were. a lot of those. purgatory had happened just a few weeks prior, so i liken it to that. maybe it is just my expierence, but the phrasing of a lot of character crit and analysis between the two has wildly different interpretations of a character (to wildly different results)

you can get qphil fans explaining against a bad faith interpretaiton, and people will (and have) called them excuses to defend against character analysis. i have noticed, however, when qtubbo fans do the same thing (and they have) it seems to be more of a matter of adding context to the conversation. thats.... exactly what qphil fans are doing however? when talking critically about qtubbo not communicating with other parents and friends both his and sunny insecurities, its all that hes younger and in a bad mental state. but you have something about phil not understanding sunnys character perfectly, and hes a cruel stepmother and such; and when an explanation is added to why hes not a bad father nor a good father, just an imperfect one trying his best, its simply a "mindless defense against a crit of his character". are these not the same things? providing context to a percieved bad faith interpretation? idk. i cant tell if its the age or the percieved roles theyre supposed to take, but why is tubbo allowed to be imperfect and doused in outward angst, especially when interacting with other characters (ramon had to take the initiative to communicate with tubbo. and yet. age age age.) phils just as complex and imperfect and unwell. all of qsmp is unwell. it is an explanation, not an excuse.

anyway. i think i was thinking about this because of the flightless bird/ostrich dna joke. ill timed, just like the fred one. but phils reaction speaks volumes doesnt it? if its an age one maybe he'll overdramaticize, but he laughs it off mostly. theres a lot he laughs off. he doesnt. "if your kid wasnt here id kill you". tubbo doesnt know about phils failed flight. he probably wont for a while (i cant help but think qphil is embarassed. he was knocked unconcious from hitting the water too hard. and he knows how to fly? fuck, man). i think its wild, however, that one fred joke gets the entire fanbase ready to deface and mischaracterize the whole character. but one wing joke gets maybe shocked laughter and about two posts complaining? idk. maybe im just complaining about nothing, im tired as fuck.

tldr is that tubbo fans are so wildly hypocritical that they cant see when theyre doing the same thing as everyone else. im sure im being hypocritical in this post, its human. but its annoying as fuck when its everywhere, and i think purgatory made it worse.

[retphienix]

Helldivers 2 ""wishlist"" ramble for fun :)

Just a load of thoughts from my time in the game, my observations on some of the "bugs", and my assumptions on what could be a positive addition/change purely for the sake of rambling about a game I really really really enjoy rather than pointlessly critique because "I know best" lmao

Address the ps5 crossplay damage thing (It's just weird and the inconsistency is causes is not fun to play around)

Remove crits because it's currently making armor as a whole meaningless- why slow yourself down if the game crits like half the time and makes the armor not matter? Probably the same for "headshots" on players because it's not something you can MEANINGFULLY play around so it doesn't positively add to the gameplay in my dumb opinion

Fire granting a CC effect- "scaring" small enemies (similar to how mechs seem to effect scavengers) and "stunning" all enemies caught in the flame (the shock of being caught on fire, for bots it would be a comical ineffective "pat down" on themselves to (fail to) put out the fire) Fire atm is kind of pointless, even the buffed flamethrower is mostly benefiting from the direct damage and not the 'fire'. Since it's "limited" in range / application (napalm strikes, incen grenades, flamethrower) it applying a hard CC on application sounds like a 10/10 adjustment/buff, having some unique interactions like Chargers / Hulks going FRENZY on fire could be nice as well!

Armor effects! I LOVE the armor passives system and am looking forward to more! Armor that lowers energy weapon drain for longer periods of fire! Heavy armor with a radio on the back (visual signifier not a gameplay mechanic in itself) that grants EITHER (as in 2 armor sets) faster orbital cooldown or +1 to each equipped eagle strike! Fire proof armor for the firebugs! Rubber armor for the electric inclined (or rather, their teammates 😬)! Heavy armor should grant an innate passive against staggers! A heavy armor that also grants a passive against slows (MAYBE EVEN EMS MEANING YOU CAN SPAM IT A LOT!)

Apparently Helldivers 1 had healing equipment, I'd love a heal/fix gun! Maybe I'm biased more towards fix though- I'd love a restock nanite gun SUPPORT WEAPON that can fix/reload sentries for that "engineer" playstyle lol

Normal Guard dog could be more lenient on its ammo- restocking from normal ammo pickups rather than just supplies, to grant it more usability to better compete against the infinite ammo laser dog

Some of the "weak" strikes should have less cooldowns + more "call ins per rearm"! Like the eagle strafe.

Some more stats for support weapons at the strategem table would be nice. I'm partial to "full transparency" on stats, I really am, but I respect the dedication to lesser info and the purpose they are aiming for with that- but- I think support weapons should AT LEAST share the same amount of info as the main loadout weapons. Things like the Stalwart being light armor at best, and the MG being medium- these should be directly shown on the strategem screen rather than "Support Weapon / Hellpod" <- this means nothing.

I have nearly no idea what they could do, but I want assist weapons to be buffed significantly so that duos do a LOT more and solo struggles a bit more (in some cases). As is, some duo weapons like the autocannon literally don't ever need to be duo'd- you reload just fine solo so who cares. But then other duo weapons like the recoilless are REALLY slow solo but don't exactly reach "good enough" when duo'd. Being stationary sucks- wasting a backpack on ammo instead of shields sucks- being tied together for the pack sucks, and then the payoff is JUST a reload buff which some (autocannon) don't need. Maybe having like a "safety feature" attached to the payloads that is enacted in solo reload (so they don't blow themselves up grabbing it and twisting their body) but DEACTIVATES on duo loading so all shots loaded by a partner do more damage or bigger aoe? SOMETHING to make duo firing these beasts impactful and worth the plethora of "costs".

Bug nests should count as targets for "aimed" strikes like the laser, just like fabricators. Fabricators should NOT count as targets for sentries/drones.

Either non-AP sentries need an ingame-upgrade/armor perk/overall game update to not target armor and waste all their ammo, or Chargers need to be "dumbed/selfished" down a bit so they ignore non-AP sentries unless the non-AP hurts them or is the only viable target. I think there's a lot to be said on properly using sentries, but there's also a lot to be said on the plethora of armored targets on higher difficulties making most sentries (almost all) unusable garbage. I'm aware a mention of "adjusting the amount of armored targets" has been said- that might fix it indirectly tbh.

Orbital Precision strike (and other call ins but I'm singling this one out) needs buffed. Just full on. It's slow to fire, takes too long to reload when better alternatives reload faster and do more, and it's the first thing players have- it should be "reasonably good" not "call it in and it misses the target and then you wait nearly 2 minutes to try again". I'm a big fan of how many early options are actually cracked if you use them well and learn their quirks, but this isn't one of them in comparison.

Buff the HMG emplacement (and future manned emplacements), why does the HMG do less work than the machine gun? It's a STATIONARY emplacement and it seems to have the same impact? I feel like as a stationary emplacement it could get away with even heavy armor pen tbh

Charger ass should be a weakspot. There's just no realistic reason it shouldn't be in my opinion- it's the one unarmored bit and the best it does is "normal damage", it should be flagged for explosive damages 100% bonus dam and it should get the normal 10% from everything else- meaningfully hurting them with normal weapons through proper gameplay makes more sense than practically needing to blow off their armor every time.

Shield generator relay could use a gameplay-centric buff. Something like tossing a screen on it that a player can do strategem combos into to reinvigorate the shield at will. This could make calling it down and having 1 person "overcharging it" a viable strategy to counter being overwhelmed by bots :)

Ballistic shield could go for blocking melee attacks tbh- it's literally "what if the energy shield took skill" but it's worse anyway- aiming at enemies should let you block em! Maybe in the future we could "plant" the shield to brace ourselves to block even chargers if properly positioned (unrealistic, that's a lot of heft, but maybe a future shield design that drills into the ground for a sturdy stance)

Super samples being difficulty tied, rather than difficulty "influenced" kinda sucks. Wish they were possible as rare spawns in points of interest elsewhere, with increased chances per difficulty. Also weird that they spawn in a specific poi so often like why not spread around like the others? Even just tossing supers on daily order reward tables would be nice- I just think I dislike the difficulty gate for them when higher difficulties are already rewarding in and of themselves.

[martinlawless]

Velo-Schils BMCR Double Circuit Races

2 x Cat ABCD races 9 May 2021 Northern Gateway Sports Park, Colchester

The Northern Gateway Sports Park is a rubbish name for a really good brand new facility on the edge of Colchester. It features a one-mile cycle circuit loop. The Velo-Schils BMCR races there caught my eye as it was a chance to check it out.

This would be my first BMCR race and partly a plan to focus more and more on veteran’s racing, with a view to having a good go at some of the Vet 50+ races next year. The 30 spaces filled up pretty fast and I scanned the start list beforehand and did a crude calculation of who I might be able to get the best of, and who was better than me. My slide rule suggested I would be 14th.

I packed well in advance. It’s nice to feel prepared. However, with 48 hrs to go, my rear wheel decided to fail. It is on its last legs. Or maybe even finished. Luckily, a word out through Strava and I had several offers of a spare wheel. I also found time to see Richard in Ashwell for some TLC on the wheel to patch it up as best as could be done.

The drive over is quite long, but it’s very easy and I’m there without fuss. The facility is really new. It reminds me of Lee Valley Velodrome in some ways: layout and general buzz. The circuit has a similar vibe too.

The loop is really quite straightforward, making it fast. The bends are mostly gentle, it’s as good as flat, so every corner is attacked at speed. It is a flatter version of the Lee Valley circuit, without the dead-ish corner at the far end. An MK Bowl-Lee Valley lovechild. It does have an oddly sketchy chicane - near the finish line too. In itself not a bad challenge, but the run off is into chunky gravel and pretty certain disaster if you need to ride into it. I would recommend they fringe it with some safer rideable edges. Like they have at Lee Valley.

I arrive in good time, register and pin up and get a good 20 minutes easy rollering in. Mostly to wake the driving legs up. It’s warm with a light breeze for the first race. This would be a double race event. Each half-hour race, half an hour apart. I have brief chats with CC Luton’s Matt who I met at the Ashwell chaingang a few weeks ago. And I get to congratulate Valentino on his great 6th place at last weekend’s Hog Hill race. I twiddle away in the car park whilst watching the 60+ age category race and hope I’ll be as fit and fast as those guys one day in the future.

We set off on a neutralised lap. We’re going clockwise. I hear later that British Cycling won’t approve the course to go anti-clockwise. But can’t work out why. Going clockwise means hitting the chicane hard near the finish line and adds considerable drama.

We glide over the start line, the flag goes and we’re off and full gas. As I’ve literally never raced a millimetre of the nice tarmac, I choose to tuck inside the bunch for the first few laps to try and figure out the best lines. It’s a northerly wind and I get into a gliding rhythm of drifting from one side of the bunch line to the other in search of shade from the breeze. At times, the bunch seem indifferent to the optimal protection from the wind, which is good news to me. I find out that the first left bend is too tricky to try and jump on the inside. It’s too tight and you lose all your speed. The far bend that brings on the return leg is gentle and swooping and quite easy to find the right line except for when you get over the rise where you need to be careful not to clip off the left edge of the track. There’s a significant drop in height to the left. If you come off the track here, it would be interesting to see if you could claw back on OK.

The return leg of the lap is gentle in curve. This will most often be a headwind and possibly where a break would most commonly be made or consolidated.

Then, turning to the lap start/finish, there’s a chicane. If you’re not being observant, it will catch you out and you’re off into the heavy gravel stuff. Past here and it’s a dash to the line. Really short.

After a short while I’m conscious of the burn I’m making being at the back. Too much braking and surging. Wasted watts. I try and climb higher into the bunch and have an easier time. I notice many riders are not carrying a bottle but I do - to keep the airways clear and cool and to swig and signal when you want to communicate you’re not going to push hard on the front.

There are some great riders in the mix and I am aware my chances of any success lies in keeping it a bunch and going long at the end. There are some brave moves at a breakaway. But everyone is too fresh to let anything go. Having said that, in to the last lap and one rider has a certain gap while we others chase down the rest of the places. I have a good go at things with half a lap to go and find myself in a decent position where there’s good momentum. It seems it won’t be a slow - then manic surging - finish. My least favourite race finish. We swoop the final corner and everyone is pretty locked into their position. I have a clean run in and am happy to come in 10th, 4th in Age Category (B, 45-49).

We clear the course, there’s a bit of banter and I make my way back to the rollers for 10 minutes to keep the legs turning ahead of race 2. It’s now hotter. The bike computer is saying 26 degrees, with heat bouncing off the tarmac. It’s also significantly windier.

Fresh energy drink. Another gel. A little chewy bar. An apple. We’re off into race 2. I can feel the lack of freshness this time but also know that others will feel it too. It’s a relaxed start and one guy goes rogue over the chicane and cuts across the course, to prove his cyclo-cross skills and maybe to make a point on this pokey-out bit. Laughter over, it dials up. Soon, it’s hot wattage again. I feel like I’m in the Ashwell chaingang, “lap 3”, where it’s biting but doable. I can feel we’re dropping riders here and soon start to see some on the opposing part of the track. But I’m doing OK and enjoying learning the curves. At one point I see Valentino and a few others consolidate a break and think that looks good. I breathe in a make a burst over to them. I’m pleased to have made the leap. Unfortunately, my effort wasn’t quite a clean break and I pull the bunch with me too much. But, I’m pleased to have been able to apply this effort without too much trouble.

Fresh legs. My strategy to get to today with fresh legs looked like this:

Sunday, hard short Zwift crit, full beans for 22 mins.

Monday, easy 2.5hrs road ride

Tuesday, hard Ashwell chaingang, 1 hr 15 mins

Wednesday, hard Ashwell 10m TT, 23 mins 40 secs.

Thursday, nothing really. Home-made 40 mins HIT gym session, + 5k light run.

Friday, 20 miles easy morning tailwind ride. Was thinking about a Zwift crit too, but exhausted by a stressful day at work.

Saturday, nothing. Sports physio in the afternoon.

Sunday, racin’. 48hrs of fresh legs.

I enjoy the level-headedness of my co-riders. No stoopid moves. Though one rider does lurch to the left and I have to be evasive to avoid getting chopped. A Rapha CC rider observes this and raises his eyebrows at me and laughs, while I roll my eyes invisibly from behind my fancy new shades. Drama - but no drama - sort of thing. Grown ups.

OK. Last few laps. I don’t quite know how, but I read the lap counter wrong. On reflection, I may have read “3 laps to go” as the sign was being put out - not to announce it was actually “3 laps to go”. Anyway, for whatever reason, when I see the Colourtech rider, followed by the nippy Stow CC rider ping off the front with what I think is the final lap, I go with. I cross the line and hear the bell and don’t see the chequered flag. Oops. Racing is planning and opportunism. What to do now? Without much thought, I figure, I may as well give it full beans and see what happens. There are no points to score this season. Colourtech chap is significantly ahead and not interested in teaming up. Stow CC fella is burning up fast and I’m catching him. But I’m frazzling quickly too. The bunch are around 8-10 bike lengths behind. Into the headwind and I can see and feel this is a desperate attempt to beat the bunch. They are not relenting and I am dipping below 25mph. This is hopeless.

Stow elbows me to take the front but my help is feeble. Into the final big bend and I can hear the wheels of the bunch. I’m pedalling squares in the final short sprint and swamped. 11th, 4th in Age Category again (B, 45-49). Ah well. I had a go. This might have worked if I had been allowed to escape with half a lap to go. Something to think about for another time. It was good to pressure the bunch and I will think about such a move again in the future. I need to use my TT more in races.

Race over. We’re all done. I say bye to Mark, Valentino and several other of my competitors for the day and get home without fuss. I think about a celebratory McDonalds from the one opposite the park, but the 40 car queue puts me right off an it’s a bobbins Wild Bean Cafe BP garage americano and a banana and clementine from my food bag instead.

I look forward to more adventures here and more BMCR racing too.

Strava links: https://www.strava.com/activities/5266417763 https://www.strava.com/activities/5266971821