Talraen (Fri 3:05 PM): Crafting is one of those weird things where a lot of it is boring, but if you automated all the boring stuff, it would seem even more pointless somehow
Cyris (Fri 3:05 PM): it's just more fun
Talraen (Fri 3:05 PM): It's like it's not fun, but it tricks you into thinking it is
Cyris (Fri 3:05 PM): I hate dredmore crafting
Cyris (Fri 3:05 PM): it sucks
Cyris (Fri 3:05 PM): the recepies are badly sorted
Cyris (Fri 3:06 PM): and convoluted
Cyris (Fri 3:06 PM): and there are a billion materials
Cyris (Fri 3:06 PM): basically, James, write me a plugin to make crafting fun
Cyris (Fri 3:06 PM): 
Talraen (Fri 3:06 PM): Heh I'd probably enjoy that in a vacuum
Talraen (Fri 3:07 PM): I wonder if I could come up with a crafting system I actually did like
Talraen (Fri 3:08 PM): I feel like with crafting, there are only two ways things are done: either craft whatever you happen to be able to make with the shit you found, or buy exactly what you need and make stuff out of it
Talraen (Fri 3:08 PM): I remember way early in FFXIV, it was like a sidequest trying to gather the materials I needed for a friggin' robe, and it was fun
Talraen (Fri 3:09 PM): I like that idea of deciding what you want to make, then questing to be able to do it
Talraen (Fri 3:18 PM): Come to think of it, a lot of issues I have with RPGs stem from a character's career being too long (gear iterations chief among them)
Talraen (Fri 3:19 PM): It could be fun to have a game where you have a stable of guys with short life spans, so rather than gearing up for a particular fight, you make a whole character for a particular fight (or whatever)
Talraen (Fri 3:19 PM): Hell, maybe even put some generational stuff in there... that would be interesting
Talraen (Sat 10:14 PM): Installing Diablo III... my battle tag is Talraen#1877
Talraen (Sat 10:14 PM): It also came with three guest passes, if anyone wants one
Featured Forum Post
Re: Perception vs. Reality in Competition (Pop Culture) posted by Talraen
The Capitals in particular were slightly above .500 before firing Boudreau, and exactly .500 (including the playoffs) under Hunter. Admittedly the Boudreau stat is misleading because it wasn't that many games, but the reason they fired him for being slightly above .500 was because in previous years the Caps were among the best teams in the league. Hunter didn't improve their record and didn't get any further in the playoffs than Boudreau, so there's no objective evidence that the team was any better (despite what the analysts like to claim).As for home team advantage, there is a lot that goes into it: having the home crowd, being in more familiar surroundings, sleeping in your own bed, rules advantages in some sports (last licks in baseball, last change in hockey, that sort of thing). For whatever reason, home team advantage has become less significant in recent years, at least in football and hockey (which are the sports I read about). There are a lot of theories as to why, such as the "real fans" being priced out of seats, but I don't know that I really buy that. It would be interesting to see actual statistical studies of this, but I don't know of any off the top of my head.