Sounds stressful!
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What I’ve been up to… -
An assisted suicide story -
Questions for the gym goers / exercisers -
Ohio Common GroundThat looks promising.
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What I’ve been up to…So, I haven’t been around much over the last few months. I’ve been sucked into a bizarre culture thing that’s had me absolutely fascinated…
I’ve always enjoyed puzzle games and have downloaded a number of them over the years.. Play a few rounds when I had a break, no big deal. But there’s been this one playable ad that kept popping up up for a game called Last War. I’d heard a little about Last War. It’s actually considered very predatory by some. They have a number of these little minigames that actually have very little to do with the primary game. But people get sucked in, and start eventually playing the regular game where they start selling you expensive upgrades…
I enjoyed the challenge of the minigame and eventually decided to download the game, figuring that knowing what was involved, I could avoid the pitfalls of buying the add ons since I’m a cheap bastard, anyway.
So I got the game early January, and played lightly until the middle of March, when my curiosity was piqued about why my base was on fire.. So I poked my head out into the server chats, and was sucked in.
To be clear, I’ve not paid a penny into the game… That’s actually becoming a part of my “character” and arc. It’s an alliance based game where actual relationship building and “diplomacy” can actually have a real effect in the game in addition to problem solving, tactics, and understanding the game mechanics. It’s a long form story arc. The server series that I joined started in January, and apparently will last at least 18 months.
From what I’ve witnessed and learned, the game is dominated by these super alliances that actively recruit and encourage players called “whales”. Whales are characterized by spending over $5K per month into this game and are expected to have paid more than $100K into the game through the end of the story. I thought this was complete bull until I actually met a fellow that was higher up in the alliance I had joined. I made a Pittsburgh Yinzer joke, and he immediately trepkied asking where in Pittsburgh I was from. We got to talking, and he lives in Northern Virginia as well. He flies to Germany from Dulles airport several times a month, so we’ve gotten together for dinner and drinks a couple of time. The guy’s retired high ranking military that now works for a defense contractor traveling the world. He spends hundreds of hours alone every month, got sucked into the game, and spends about $500-$800 per month into it. He enjoys it and doesn’t regret it. He’s considered low-spend. There are several other people in our alliance that are much higher spenders, likely $2K plus. And their characters power levels are nowhere near as advanced as the “whales” that I’ve mentioned.
So I took it upon myself to play the game $0 spend for free, and see how far I could get.
Two weeks after poking my head out and joining an alliance in March, the first major event was coming up, a 2 month challenge referred to as Season 1. There was a TON of stress put on the players. The alliance I was in was ranked 12th in our server, but was established with the idea of being a place where casual players could play, get the benefits of being in a group, but not being under tremendous pressure. Most of the members were pretty similar to me, partially aware of the outside game but more invested in the minis. I made a few tactical suggestions early on, they recognized my genius for what it was, and I was made a junior officer in this group. Then, 10 minutes before the big event started, our entire command structure fractured from the stress put on them from the self appointed leaders of our server, they fought, and they all abandoned us and went to other alliances. With the Doomsday clock ticking down in a game that I barely understood, I found myself in charge of a medium sized alliance of mostly sleeping players. So I decided to have some fun…
Long story short, I’ve figured out aspects of the game that most of these guys bought their ways around. And because I never bought their expensive how to guides or watch the videos, me and my alliance are playing the game quite differently than everyone else. While the alliance grew to be the 10th largest and most physically powerful in our server, we’ve actually out performed that ranking in our scores and accomplishments, coming in 4th, behind the three top alliances that have mega-whales… We’re completely outclassed and punching up… But we’re winning more often than losing and it’s frustrating the hell out of some of these people. It’s really been fun.
It’s a lot like this place. A lot of very intelligent and successful people, but when out of their element, they get shy and nervous. So they buy their way out or follow anybody that shows any sort of confidence. It really would make for a fascinating social experiment…
But that’s what I’ve been up to…
What’s new around here? Is the President still better than the alternative?
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Questions for the gym goers / exercisers -
It was Navarro -
Questions for the gym goers / exercisersJanet had one when I met her in 1990. We had one all the way up to 2019 when we retired, thinking now we'd have time to handle it. Truth is neither one of us want to do the heavy cleaning.
As you said earlier,
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Mid-2026 AI Usage Check -
Questions for the gym goers / exercisersFor having a half-acre lot we've made this as much like a condo as possible. Just hired a cleaning lady too.
