I visited the bug/report/ideas pages of Arena many times over the years. Every time, I got the impression the design is either willingly neglected, or intentionally poor in user guidance. In one or two few occasions, I managed to find my way through to complete what I wanted, but more often I gave up in frustration after a while.
And while that is not pretty, I don't find it much surprising. The devs probably have a backlog of unfulfilled tasks well beyond next year, since there are always more ideas (and they turn out more work intensive than anticipated) than the devs can handle.
So there isn't really much incentive to make sure people can easily report and suggest a ton of additional stuff.
Speculations aside, your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I also noticed that list offers mostly irrelevant stuff, although in other situations they present a well behaved list, only showing relevant entries.
Ahh, I knew that proc must have some neat potential! That’s incredible lol, definitely have to mess with it more.
I had the same thoughts when I first encountered it (and I think it was the only time I saw it). I guess that explains why it's so rare. The potential is not too obvious. And maybe I have to add, not too easily unlocked. At least my approach resulted in a rather complicated deck with many points of failure. But I guess when you run so many copy spells yourself, you know these situations when you draw only copy spells but nothing to copy :D
For that reason, I currently run only 3 Estrid and only 2 Wingbright. I had Mirrormade in for a while - thought it would be neat to copy opponent enchantments with it, to further replicate them with Estrid, even after Mirrormade has been removed. But after a while I realized I never had a good opportunity to use it.
It’s really really amusing with oddball cards like Haphazard Bombardment
Man, that sounds good! That's 7 mana, right? And you get one of those for free in each upkeep, distributing aim markers on everything ^^
I guess you need to be more careful with the expiration, since that is harder to predict here than with sagas.
Haphazard Bombardment is too far from my current approach, so I won't try myself. But if you do, I'd love to hear about it!
Blown away by Estrid's Invocation (blue enchantment for 3 mana)
[[Estrid's Invocation]] enters as a copy of another enchantment you control. At your upkeep, you may re-enter it, allowing you to choose a different target.
Note that casting it without an eligible target will void the second part. It will just stay and sit there, not triggering on upkeep.
I tried to build a deck around this card with lots of non-legendary enchantments. And found out, Sagas are particularly interesting. The crazy interaction is that Estrid's re-enter triggers before Sagas tick up.
An example match start:
- turn 2: [[Omen of the Sea]] (1U, flash, scry 2, then draw 1)
- turn 3: [[Estrid's Invocation]] (2U), gaining another scry 2 + draw 1
- turn 4: [[Binding the old Gods]] (2BG, destroy nonland), Estrid re-entered before on the Omen to get a 3rd scry2+d1
- turn 5: Estrid re-enters as the Binding, which immediately lets you destroy a second nonland. Next but still in your upkeep, both Sagas tick up, letting you fetch two
basicforests. - turn 6: Estrid re-enters as the Binding before it's saga counter can tick up, letting you destroy a 3rd nonland, and fetching a 3rd forest, before the original Binding finally expires.
If you managed to get a 2nd Estrid out by that point, you can have both Estrid Sagas copy each other infinitely, without ever expiring.
Also nice: [[Elspeth conquers Death]] (3WW, exile mana 3+) and [[The Eldest Reborn]] (4B, sac creature, discard, return creature/PW from any GY)
Other non-saga enchantments which I found useful:
- [[Omen of the Hunt]] (2G, flash, fetch basic land)
- [[Wingbright Thief]] (more on that later)
- [[Smothering Tithe]] (3W, opponent chooses wether they have less mana or you gain more)
- [[Revenge of Ravens]] (3B, drain 1 life for each creature attacking you)
- and of course [[Triumphant Getaway]] (1UBR, flash, heist twice, drain 2 on casting heisted cards)
Some are useful because of their on-enter effects, some are useful to stack up a beneficial ability. A Smothering Tithe times 2 makes a significant difference in speed, no matter wether they choose to have less mana for themselves or give you more treasures.
[[Wingbright Thief]] (1WU, creature, on enter reveals opponents nonland hand cards, choose one which perpetually gains "opponent draws 1 and gains 3 life" when you cast this) ... is the only enchantment creature I found worthwhile (maybe aside from [[Overlord of the Hauntwoods]]). But it's a crazy good target for Estrid! Not only does it give you intel on their hand each round for free, you can also burden their most valuable spells with an advantage for you.
For some spells, like untargeted discard, this outright renders it useless. Sure, you can cast it and make me discard a card, but before that happens, I get to draw one and gain 3 life. Similarly, red face damage can be neutralized by this.
For most other spells, the question becomes "how many stacks of Wingbright Thief can this card endure, before casting it becomes more beneficial to your opponent than to you?", which is quite an interesting game mechanic if you ask me. Both sides have to weigh options and estimate value.
Some spells remain useful regardless of how many stacks they have. When a [[Haze of Pollen]] (1G prevent all combat damage) would prevent you from dying, it's still worth casting, even if your opponent draws 10 cards and gains 30 life.
Another poweful aspect of Estrid's Invocation is the flexibility it provides. On each upkeep, you can re-spec your toolkit, choosing wether you want more creatures, more sagas, or more passive abilities this turn.
Sometimes I even use it on [[Utopia Sprawl]] (G, forest makes extra mana) to have 1 more mana this round of a missing color, or on [[Valgavoth's Lair]] (a hexproof land of any color) to have more mana next round, and to flee an expected nonland destroy.
The more I play with it (Magic Arena Historic), the more I wonder why I see it so rarely. Have you played with or against it already? What are your thoughts?
Given how much noise exit parties, or generally anti EU sentiments can cause, I'd also prefer a higher bar. Be welcomed if you join, but please be sure about it.
in any ranked modes, winning is the point, so I feel like there isn’t really any room to complain about fast and efficient decks in ranked play.
I slightly disagree. I mean, mostly you're obviously right; playing to win is foremost at home in ranked. But I think other legit points exist simultaneously.
I want interesting matches. I want the matchmaking to give me an opponent which is neither too hard nor too easy. That's my main reason for playing ranked historic.
I want to test the deck I built, see how it fares against mature decks. I play unranked to check if I got the basics right (like land composition), and ranked to find out how viable certain ideas actually are in the current meta.
But sure, it is perfectly fine to play ranked to win (lol), and I don't blame those who do. I just feel we can and should expect more challenge required and less luck. I lose so often with only having played 1 land, that's just ridiculous. My deck has answers to all these threats, but asking wether I have the fitting solution against an unknown opponent in my first 8 cards puts a lot more weight on luck than on skill.
There's another thought, not sure how to put it. Maybe it's less about the individual match and more about different strategies competing in a shared environment. From that perspective, it's perfectly fine to have deck A which wins versus B, but loses against C and D. Then, player skill sits at the judgement how much B we currently have, and what exactly A is. However, the current client heavily emphasizes looking at individual matches (that's where you see that big VICTORY / DEFEATED), and I think you need 3rd party tools to get any information how good you're doing against certain types of opponents.
< cash spending >
Aw, that sounds horrible! I had no idea, I don't spend any money on this. WotC got enough from me back when I bought paper cards, and somehow I got along fine in Arena without money.
But I remember having a similar problem when we still played with paper cards. You're forced to keep spending to keep playing with your friends, or drop out at some point. For inhouse paper, at least we could "print" proxies.
Would be nice if they considered how much each player has spent on their current deck for the matchmaking. Like high spenders have to face other high spenders, and budget players are grouped with themselves.
Though of course, in both cases, the economic incentive for WotC is to create unfair situations.
< play patterns >
I don't know what words like Timeless, Standard or Pioneer mean, but yeah, seems we feel the same. Especially this sounds exactly like me: I like puzzles and board state and cards that do pretty much one thing, where through the combination of one-things you can create a complex game.
Take Glissa Sunslayer for example, a black/green creature for 3 mana with first strike and death touch (which alone makes it one of the best blockers imo), it has 3 additional abilities from which you can choose one on impact. Like, what, why? This would be totally playable without these extra abilities. FS DT in itself is an extremely powerful combo, and I think there is currently no other card which has that out of the box. It can even create nasty combos by repeatedly resetting Sagas. Binding of the old Gods for example, destroy one permanent each round for the sole cost of dealing player damage. Though strangely, I don't see it being played too often, so it seems to be fine.
I think the game would be more fun if the overall power level would be toned down a bit, but don't expect that to happen.
Fun fact, I just conceded to a Peddler before my 2nd turn. I tried my luck a dozen times or so against that deck, which rarely succeeded and was never enjoyable. Yeah, skip.
< brawl unplayable >
Yes, Nadu is shameless. Though it has little impact on my matches, I rarely see it. I suffer much more from Persist Reanimators, and Goblin Bombardment with Ajani. Or this silly deck which mills itself, with creatures automagically returning to the battlefield.
Baral ... can lead to hopeless situations, agreed. But I see Baral even less than Nadu. Could it be that counter decks came out of fashion, because aggro got too fast? Many players seem to play almost exclusively cards for 1 or max 2 mana.
Like I just lost after my first round to a Fireblade Charger with Sigarda's Aid and a Colossus Hammer. Arena asked me afterwards wether I had fun. Mhm. Next match: Scholar of the Lost Trove gets Persist in round 3. Cool. After that: Elves swinging lethal in round 3.
Can you elaborate on Rusko, Clockmaker? Admittedly, I've been playing 2 or 3 Ruskos for a year or more. Before, I liked using Underrealm Lich with this frog monster which lets you draw a card whenever a land is put into your graveyard. I like recycling decks and fear Ashiok, guess I'm loss averse.
Imagine managing a popular game where tons of your playerbase hates aspects of it so much that they just concede to take a loss when they see a set of cards you design to be fun. This is the opposite of fun to me, and again I think it non-trivially contributes to negative player mental health.
Well put, I agree. I heard something when learning about game design: A mechanic, which gives something in your game a new ability, should be fun for the player using it, and for the players trying to counter it. Like maybe your warrior can raise his shield to block attacks, bot others have their abilities to penetrate shields, hit your feet or whatever. We should not just make the warrior invulnerable, with no counterplay possible. It might be fun for one player, but you want both to enjoy your game.
this mostly just seems like complaints about Magic itself
You're right, I strayed from the title. Arena is where I experience MTG, I guess that's how both got mashed together from my view.
What I still could have mentioned: Ropers, and generally unsportsmanlike behaviour. Like being a dick with emotes, being quick when you win but sluggish when you lose, abusing 'Your Go', spamming 'Good Game' when I still have or might draw a solution. I've also done all that, so I try not to judge too hard. Sometimes I think the whole experience is an exercise in emotion regulation.
decks that are too fast and decks that are too slow simultaneously
What I meant with fast: Decks which can kill in the first few rounds (regardless of how much time has passed
What I meant with slow: Players who physically take a long time to play (like roping on every step)
It can be both, which is the worst. Like a player scaling up his Scurry Oak in one of the first few turns to 100+ counters, while frequently taking breaks to clown around with emotes or whatever. I can't really leave my desk, but also don't want to surrender since I might draw a solution. Though this could be in 5 seconds or 10 minutes, who knows. Sometimes I feel this just isn't worth my nerves and surrender anyway, even with a solution in hand.
I heard about the slow wildcard economy, so I guess you're right. I have the opposite experience, but seen this point numerous times before; seems legit. I've been playing this game for many years (10?), sometimes almost all day. After some start phase, I could make whatever I needed from wildcards, without ever spending any real money. Currently, I have around 15 rare/mythic wildcards, which is a low count for me, since I just made another deck (with an accompanying post in this community). I guess it helps that I usually only play one deck, which rarely sees changes once it's settled. Only vaguely I remember grinding for missing cards, an adventure which I did occasionally miss since then.
Magic Arena: What do you hate most about it?
This post is meant to help me (and you, be welcome) vent some frustration, as well as help this community grow.
To make it interesting, try to explain at least a little bit why something bothers you.
---
- Noisy pets. I hate them.
I'm talking about the cackling goblin, the obnoxious horses, the dumb dogs, the intrusive mice and whatever repeatedly makes any sound.
I mean, it's a fun addition at first, but it gets old quickly. And whenever Someone gets some damage, or something else of minor importance happens, it gets commented by not more than 3 (?) sound reactions. I think I heard all of them a few thousand times by now. It's just annoying.
Sadly, the only way to mute them for good is to mute all opponent's text and image emotes, basically shutting off communication. Which has it's own merit, but it's a different thing. Why combine both in one control?
So sometimes I cruise on everything off to have more peace of mind. When I feel more open, I enable reactions again, but manually mute every opponent who has a pet which cannot behave. Sorry bros. If you want to be heard, make this useless thing shut up.
---
- Decks which require you to react on dozens of triggers per round. Like 0-cost artifact spam, lifegain frenzy, foodcat sacrificers.
It's just so tedious. And some people seem to do it just for the fun of it, without any impact on the game.
Like when the Scurry Oak starts growing, I have a Ritual of Soot in Hand, but still want to use my remaining mana in their end step. I may have to click through hundreds of triggers just to wipe it all away whenever they feel they spammed enough.
---
- One trick shows.
Talking about Dualcaster Mage, Minion of the Mighty, some decks around Colossal Hammer. I mean, it's nice you can make these decks which can kill you on round 2 or so (but fall apart instantly when they don't), just in principle. But in common play, it's just a boring waste of time. I know these decks exist, cool. I'm pretty sure you just copied it from someone else or the internet, wow. Okay, you won and the only thing good about it is that I don't have to shuffle physical cards afterwards. Now get lost.
---
- Fast decks in general.
I'm aware they are necessary to keep the lategame horrors in check, but meh. Why do I put 60 cards together if I only get to see 10, and to play 2?
To me, it smells like bad game design that some strategies revolve around making your opponent unable to play (also looking at discard, counter and other locks). Again, in principle it is amazing that MTG has this flexibility and variety. But does it make for interesting and fun matches for both sides? I much prefer games which have some back and forth, not one steamrolling the other.
---
- Uncreative decks.
Such wow, 4 copies of each elf/goblin/whatever, which everyone else plays too. Generic UR wizards, or Boros cats with Goblin Bombardment. Seen them a hundred times, mostly losing to them. I guess there's the crux; they are so strong you can hardly play anything else. Which ironically makes the aforementioned flexibility and variety of this originally amazing game self defeating, resulting in stale repetition.
---
- Overpowered / too cheap cards
Did the reanimators really need an upgrade in the form of a 2-mana Persist? Or lifegain the Ocelot Pride? Both were already strong and popular before these were added. I also consider Sheoldred's Edict one such culprit. Just a few years ago, I (and many others) were playing Fleshbag Marauder, a creature which has "on enter: each player sacrifices a creature" or something. Now it's a 2-mana instant with more flexibility and precision. I think it just leads to a race to the bottom, where games are decided by whoever drew their winning solution first (we give you 3 turns to make that happen). Again, I very much like that something like this is possible, but it should not be so common that it displaces other strategies, which could make for more interesting and more fun games, for both sides.
---
This got longer than I anticipated. Feel free to add your own thoughts independent from mine, or cheese to my whine.
Seen the card many times, but never appreciated the art. So thanks for highlighting it.
Would be hell to see it as a meter-wide sprayed street art in a punky hood, or a dark club. 🤘😈
I also hate whenever it comes up in matches. I hate when red players make any move. It kind of burns.
Opponent played Ocelot Pride, which boosted my Doppelgang to the moon. Match ended in a draw, too many triggers to compute.
At this point, I could make infinite mana and infinite copies of any permanent on the battlefield, and create flash copies of any card in my graveyard, all at instant speed. Doppelgang on Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer breaks the game.
Hehe, good point.
people need to read more code, play around with it, break it and fix it to become better programmers.
I think AI bots can help with that. It's easier now to play around with code which you could not write by yourself, and quickly explore different approaches. And while you might shy away from asking your colleagues a noob question, ChatGPT will happily elaborate.
In the end, it's just one more tool in the box. We need to learn when and how to use it wisely.
What's up with the wiggeling, is the camera dangling from a balloon?
I guess if drones can fly into doors on moving targets, an observation drone should be able to hold relatively still.
One obvious problem would be that some cards are good no matter the cost. I’m going to reanimate an Emrakul even if the card costs 40 mana. Manaless dredge will still be manaless.
Excellent point. Yeah, some things exist which are already kind of broken and could be exploited further. Maybe more generally, MTG uses CMC to balance cards, but also many other aspects (comes into play tapped, draw a card/gain life on enter, ...). So only changing mana cost affects the balancing of different cards differently.
Yes, Llanowar Elves. A silly result could be that people use equivalents (like Elvish Mystic) while the "original" is too expensive. But probably, all ramp cards would probably become more expensive as long as they do the job. Which makes ramp cards kind of pointless, as you point out.
Right, two good objections and a funny video. I like it, thanks.
I don't see it yet, please help me out. Maybe it helps if you can find a specific example.
Can you describe a scenario how an asshole could game that system?
Generally I think MTG is probably the most capitalism-ruined game. It annoyed me much when starting to play as a teenager. Whenever a friend upgraded their deck, others were kind of forced to spend money as well. Because the rich guy had access to all the powerful cards (= relatively low mana cost for their effect / strong effect for their CMC). Isn't that exactly what a balancing approach would alleviate? Everyone has access to all cards, and all cards receive a CMC which matches how much players value it.
You're right, this would be very unpractical for analogue play. I thought it has to be digital. But then another person in this post pointed out that Penny Dreadful is a thing, which seems to work with printed cards, although it has it's banlist change from season to season. Granted, checking what is banned/legal (and modifying your deck accordingly) is much simpler than checking each mana cost.
I'm not a fan of capitalism, it was just a metaphor to convey they mechanic. Now that I think closer about this, they even differ in that. I did not have "supply and demand" in mind, since the supply in a digital TCG is essentially infinite. It's more about rating cards based on their popularity, whereas popular items in capitalism can be dirt cheap (e.g. tap water). One of the other major differences is that in capitalism, people can reinvest their capital to gain more capital. I don't see how that could be a thing in 'my' idea. But the system would need some protection against deliberate manipulationg. Yet another person proposed a solution to this; only monitor tournament decks.
seasonal patches like a video game’s balance
That makes much more sense, yes.
Your other thoughts are also good and welcome. Yeah, tracking what cards tournament players include is probably sufficient!
Are you familiar with the MTGO format Penny Dreadful?
I was not, thanks! Haha, yes, that is a pretty good implementation of the core idea, with very little overhead. It was funny to read about the implications this can have on real world market prices.
Spending (the equivalent of) 0.942 of a mana on something isn’t functionally different in almost all cases from spending 1 mana on it.
You're right, it does not work so well with the current mana system. Because you still bring whole numbers of lands into play. When those lands produce 1000 mana, you still have either 1000 or 2000 mana, so the 0s are mostly redundant. It would still make a difference for carts which have a significant margin (so that you can play 3 unpopular cards for the cost of 2 regular, or 2 popular for the cost of 3 regular). But for small changes, as you say, it wouldn’t functionally change much.
I like the fine granularity of the cost-balancing approach. Though the binary ban/legalize mechanic of Penny Dreadful might be accurate enough.
What do you think about mana cost balanced by some stock market mechanism?
A shower thought which applies not specifically to MTG, as it would obviously be a different game.
What problem does this idea try to solve?
Balancing. It is hard to balance every card during design phase (or even impossible, as can be shown), which results in some overpowered cards which make the game less fair.
How?
Supply and demand. A card which is played often (by many players, in many games) has it's mana cost increased slightly. A card which is played rarely becomes cheaper.
Implications
This is probably not feasible with most mana costs sitting in the 1-digit-range. We can't make a 2-cost card "slightly" cheaper. So we would either need a mana system which works with decimals (e.g. 3.1415 CMC), or raise the integer system to a higher plateau (e.g. 314 CMC)
It's also only contemplable in digital versions, where a server can monitor every card drop, and adjust costs accordingly.
A big drawback is that your deck's costs can change over night (or even between consecutive games), forcing players to edit their decks more frequently. A partial solution could be a notification system, and/or scheduling the recalculations to a slower frequency, like once per week or once per month.
A big advantage is that we now have an impartial Big Brother watching the balancing. Humans can err, crowds and echo chambers even more so. When people complain about an imbalanced card, is their cause justified or is it just a small but loud minority? Monitoring the cold hard data seems like a better way, and automated problem solving likewise.
What are your thoughts on this idea? Do you know another TCG which applies something similar?
Update: Casting Doppelgang with Flash and Casualty 2 is fun :D
I removed [[Smogbelcher Chariot]] and [[Blooming Cactusfolk]], since they were too situational/slow. Still climbing the ladder ...
Alright, thanks! I think I understand where you're coming from, and can relate. I'm an ex-Christian, although I guess for ex-Muslims this process is a whole other beast.
And yes, I know exactly what you mean about culture and critique - as an leftwing, anti-theist leaning atheist, I often have to cringe about my peers. It feels like false romanticizing, like we did with native americans, or other falsly understood cultures. So many things which I despise in fascism are also present in strict Christianity and strict Islam. Although luckily, very few people take their religion seriously here. So our religious nutjobs are a fringe minority and can mostly be ignored.
Refugees welcome, but I hate it when they try to establish religio-fascist areas here, spewing hate and all their nonsense, occasionally killing someone. I mean, if you want to live like that, go back. If you like our way, be welcome.
Yeah, a sensitive topic which can easily trigger people. I try not to care about the boxes they try to put me in. And I absolutely love the freedom of speech we have here. I don't want that be ruined by migrants who think they speak for Allah, nor by leftists who think every minority shares their values. Like I was one of them. In my youth, with coloured hair and ragged clothes, I was regularly beaten up by (almost exclusively) migrants. Created quite some cognitive dissonance, some effort to justify their deeds, like worse socioeconomic status blabla. Truth is, many people are quite "conservative", naturally more so in less liberal countries of origin. And still, I vote and speak for open borders. Our society must find better ways than building walls. This issue is challenging European core values, with at least two ways to erode the values; we can lose them by allowing hostile subcultures to grow, or we can lose them by closing us off to the outside.
Good lord, 6 years. Poor Aisha. I guess my brain was happy to forget that detail.
So thanks again for this exchange. Stay safe.
Other person.
I think there are stories in the Quran or the other important texts (Hadid?) about their prophet marrying a 9yo. Although I've witnessed controversy around her exact age amongst people in /r/DebateReligion. Like some said it wasn't too bad, she was almost 14 or so.
Now your turn, what do you think? And why did you want them not to google?
Right, I should have clarified that. No, not my measure, I agree with you on that. It was just some measure, which seemed better than "do the opposite of what others say". Because actions matter more than words, or so.
Having fun with a new deck, what do you think?
The deck (60 cards, Historic) is based around the 'perpetually' keyword. It also involves [[Rusko, Clockmaker]], because I simply love that guy.
Here's an overview of the most important general cards:
- [[Three Steps Ahead]] as a counterspell and to make copies of creatures or [[Midnight Clock]].
- [[Test of Talents]] to thin the forest.
- [[Saw It Coming]] because it stays when [[Midnight Clock]] cycles.
- [[Sheoldred's Assimilator]] to recast own spells, to exile or steal cards.
- [[Sheoldred's Edict]], because it's too good.
- [[Tear Asunder]], same reason.
- [[Ritual of Soot]], because why do so many people play with soot? :(
- [[The End]] is there still forest?
- [[Casualties of War]] to reduce biodiversity.
- [[Druid Class]] for life and ramp. Also a sweet target to make copies.
- [[Glarb, Calamity's Augur]] ramp and "draw", plus emergency deathtouch blocker.
- [[Primeval Titan]] for ramp, also helps fetch enhanced lands from [[Vigorous Farming]] which were shuffled.
- [[Doppelgang]] because we need a sink for our 50 mana.
And here are the perpetual stars:
- [[Antique Collector]] as a cheap drop for round 2, or to enhance creatures. Note, casting it twice does nothing extra.
- [[Absorb Energy]], another counterspell. Though I feel this is one of the weakest here.
- [[Smogbelcher Chariot]] because giving creatures lifelink, deathtouch and menace perpetually is pretty sweet! Love to use it on [[Hall of Giants]] or [[Primeval Titan]].
- [[Vigorous Farming]] this is a tough one. It needs some time, but boy can the rewards pile up! Today I had a single land producing 12 mana. Also a nice clone target.
- [[Nashi, Illusion Gadgeteer]] you need to have a nice creature or sorcery in grave, then Nashi conjures a copy to your hand and gives that copy flash! When using Doppelgang on Nashi, you can conjure a copy of DG back to your hand, lol.
- [[Blooming Cactusfolk]] we do have plenty of mana, now we need cheaper spells. It's nice to copy the cactus, and to have spells with X cost.
- [[Discover the Formula]] for the lulz.
The idea is to play defensively, build up manabase and reduce cost on spells, enhance spells with flash and creatures with extra abilities. Worst enemy is having things exiled. [[Farewell]] or [[Ugin, Spirit Dragon]] are the absolute worst to encounter.
I think the synergy between Rusko and 'perpetually' is pretty nice. Enhance stuff, drop it in grave, draw it again to enhance it further.
It's a bit sad players have only 20 health. This setup starts to shine when the game is already over.
I was happy to find a working deck (currently around 85% ladder) which uses Glarb and Nashi. Haven't seen them played by anyone else yet. Same for [[Vigorous Farming]] and [[Blooming Cactusfolk]], underrated cards imo.
So, what are your thoughts? Have you played something similar? Have we met online? What would you change?
When people say two things "cannot be compared", they had to compare them to come to this conclusion. Are 'dissimilar' or 'unequal' better words?
What they actually mean is rather "these two things are very dissimilar", or "these two things are unequal".
I guess in most situations "cannot be compared" could be replaced by "cannot be equated", with less lingual inaccuracy and still the same message conveyed.
To come to the conclusion that two things are very dissimilar, very unequal, one necessarily has to compare them. So it's rather odd to come up with "cannot be compared" after just literally comparing them.
For example, bikes and cars. We compare them by looking at each's details, and finding any dissimilarities. They have a different amount of wheels. Different propulsion methods. Different price, and so on.
When this list becomes very long, or some details have a major meaning which should not be equated, people say they cannot be compared.
An example with a major meaning difference: Some people say factory farming of animals and the Holocaust are very similar, or something alike. Others disagree, presumably because they feel wether it's humans or animals being treated, the motives or whatnot make a difference big enough that the two should not be compared equated.
Can you follow my thoughts? Are 'dissimilar' or 'unequal' better terms? I'd be especially interested in arguments in favor of 'compared'.
Moritz Neumeier plant nicht mit Rente | Em Ende ist eh egal
Kam unerwartet krass. Mach mal was!
https://piped.video/watch?v=i9Xlle9vogo
Keine Kürzung von Finanzmitteln für den Nahverkehr
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/15519217
> >Mit der Petition wird keine Kürzung von Finanzmitteln für den Nahverkehr gefordert. Im Zuge der Haushaltskrise nach dem Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom November 2023 wird nach schnellen Wegen gesucht, die Haushaltslücke zu stopfen. Es soll gespart werden. Dabei steht auch im Raum, die Mittel, die der Bund den Ländern jedes Jahr zur Verfügung stellt - die sogenannten Regionalisierungsmittel - zu kürzen. > > > > > >Begründung > > > >Die Bundesregierung hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, aus Klimaschutzgründen die Fahrgastzahlen im öffentlichen Nahverkehr bis 2030 zu verdoppeln. > >Die drohenden Kürzungen der Regionalisierungsmittel würden jedoch bedeuten, dass Züge gestrichen werden oder gar Strecken stillgelegt werden müssten. Fahrgäste würden von der Schiene aufs Auto umsteigen, was höheren CO2-Ausstoß bedeutet und das Klima geschädigt würde. Gerade im Verkehrsbereich droht eine Verfehlung der Klimaziele. Wir brauchen aber mehr statt weniger Klimaschutz und haben nur den einen Planeten zum bewohnen. > > > >Sinnvoller wäre es doch, klimafeindliche Subventionen wie das Dienstwagenprivileg zu kürzen, das den Staat 3,5-5.5, Mrd. Euro pro Jahr kostet. Hier ist ein viel größeres Sparpotential vorhanden - und das Klima könnte geschützt werden.
Die Ohrfeige von Beate Klarsfeld: Kraftvolle Zeichen setzen | Karambolage | ARTE
https://piped.video/watch?v=R9UezxjGnYY
Länge: 5:27
"Im Namen der 50 Millionen Toten und der künftigen Generationen in das abstoßende Gesicht der 10 Millionen Nazis zu schlagen"
Aus aktuellem Anlass. Video ist auch erst vier Tage alt.
Schwerpunkt: Demokratie feiern - Wie die Medien in anderen Ländern einen Rechtsruck verhindern
In Luxemburg und Wallonien konnten die Medien einen Rechtsruck verhindern, so die Politologin Léonie de Jonge. Was heißt das für Deutschland?
cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/8059485
> In Luxemburg und Südbelgien bieten die Medien Extremist:innen kein Forum – und konnten einen Rechtsruck damit bislang verhindern. Ganz anders in Deutschland. Plädoyer für ein Umdenken. > > Chassepierre ist ein kleiner Ort in der belgischen Region Wallonien, an der Grenze zu Frankreich. Die Champagne ist nur fünf Minuten entfernt. Man kennt sich – spricht französisch, macht zusammen Sport, geht vielleicht zur gleichen Bäckerei. Auf den ersten Blick trennt die Menschen wenig. Doch: Die Einen stimmen für eine rechtsextreme, die Anderen für eine sozialdemokratische Partei. Warum? Wegen der Medienberichterstattung, sagt die Politologin Léonie de Jonge. Dazu später mehr. > > [...] > > Während sich das Publikum in True-Crime-Manier aus sicherer Distanz gruselt, empören sich Teile der Medienwelt – kurz zumindest. Wird die Partei durch solche Auftritte aufgewertet, verharmlost und normalisiert? Oder ist es gerade mutig, sich der Bedrohung zu stellen, statt sie zu stigmatisieren und ignorieren? Kritik wird totgeschlagen mit immer gleichen Argumenten wie „Wir müssen die Vielfalt und politische Chancengleichheit wahren“ (Öffentlich-Rechtliche) und „Wir müssen ja mit allen reden“ (Stern). Müssen wir? Nur weil eine Partei demokratisch gewählt ist, heißt das nicht, dass sie demokratische Inhalte vertritt. „Nein, so sollten wir Medien nicht mit der AfD umgehen“, kritisierte etwa die Spiegel-Redakteurin Ann-Katrin Müller besagtes Stern-Interview. „Sie ist keine normale Partei, sondern eine, die in großen Teilen rechtsextrem ist. Sie will die Demokratie maßgeblich verändern, da haben nicht nur Parteien und Zivilgesellschaft eine Verantwortung, sondern auch wir Medien.“ > > Social Media mitdenken > > Diese Verantwortung schlägt sich nieder in Form und Wirkung. Form, weil Redaktionen frei entscheiden können, mit wem sie ein Gespräch führen und wie sie dieses anschließend für die Öffentlichkeit aufbereiten, und Wirkung, weil Massenmedien in Wechselwirkung stehen mit anderen Kanälen. Ein Interview, das clever aufgebaut ist und so die menschenfeindlichen Ideologien der Funktionär:innen, die inhaltliche Inkompetenz der Partei oder Lügen (Wissenschaftsfeindlichkeit) entblößt, ist dann nicht mehr viel Wert, wenn keine:r weiß, ob – und vor allem wie – diese Formate AfD-Sympathisant:innen erreichen. > > Auf Social Media schrumpfen die Diskussionen auf eine Schlagzeile zusammen. Was bei den Menschen hängen bleibt: AfD-Klimaleugner darf mit Klimaforscher diskutieren, wie etwa bei Markus Lanz im Mai 2023, als Steffen Kotré auf Mojib Latif traf. Das ist eine Form von Legitimierung, die nur Massenmedien als traditionelle Schleusenwärter von relevanten Informationen leisten können. Die Sozialpsychologin Pia Lamberty erinnerte Anfang August 2023 im Medienpodcast Quoted daran: Menschen lesen oder schauen Beiträge nicht mehr von Anfang bis Ende. „Wir sehen Headlines und Teaser auf Social Media und glauben, informierter zu sein als vorher.“ Und: „Was wir immer wieder hören, glauben wir irgendwann.“ Selbst wenn es faktisch oder moralisch falsch ist. > > Redaktionen befeuern diesen Mechanismus mit „False Balance“, wenn sie etwa den Konsens von 99 Prozent der Virolog:innen oder Klimaforscher:innen wiederholt der 1-Prozent-Meinung gegenüberstellen oder rechtsextreme Ansichten von Minderheiten zu Wort kommen lassen. Sichtbarkeit normalisiert. Journalist:innen überschätzen sich maßlos, wenn sie glauben, die „False Balance“ im Gespräch ausbalancieren zu können. Reicht Common Sense nicht, hilft vielleicht ein Blick ins Landesmediengesetz: Rundfunkprogramme haben nicht nur die Meinungsvielfalt, sondern die Würde des Menschen und die demokratische Grundordnung zu achten. > > [...] > > Angefangen hat die Diskursverschiebung laut Populismus-Forscherin Paula Diehl 2010 mit Thilo Sarrazins Buch Deutschland schafft sich ab. 2018 trug Alice Weidel seinen Begriff „Kopftuchmädchen“ ins Herz unserer Demokratie, ins Parlament. Und im Oktober 2023 bezog sich CDU-Chef Friedrich Merz im ZDF auf Sarrazin, als es um die Gefahren des politischen Islams ging. Im gleichen Monat zeigte der Spiegel einen grimmigen Olaf Scholz auf seinem Cover mit dem Zitat: „Wir müssen endlich in großem Stil abschieben.“ AfD-Rhetorik ist auch in Medienberichten präsent, in denen es nicht um sie geht. Etwa wurden populistische Begriffe wie „Flüchtlingsstrom“, „Überfremdung“ und „Altparteien“ 2015/16 zuerst zitiert, doch irgendwann ohne Anführungszeichen übernommen. Alles beabsichtigt. Der damalige AfD-Parteivorsitzende Alexander Gauland sagte 2018 in einem FAZ-Interview, dass AfDler:innen „in der Tat versuchen, die Grenzen des Sagbaren auszuweiten“. > > Ein Blick ins Ausland zeigt: Es geht auch anders. Medienschaffende können sich durchaus als Hüter:innen dieser Grenzen verstehen – und den Rechtsruck damit verhindern. Untersucht hat das die Politikwissenschaftlerin Léonie de Jonge in ihrem 2021 veröffentlichten Buch The Success and Failure of Right-Wing Populist Parties in the Benelux Countries. Dass es Rechtspopulist:innen bislang nicht in die Parlamente Walloniens und Luxemburgs geschafft haben, in Flandern dagegen zweitstärkste und in den Niederlanden stärkste Kraft sind, liegt de Jonge zufolge nicht etwa daran, dass die Menschen dort finanziell abgesicherter, gebildeter oder weniger rassistisch wären. > > Tatsächlich war die Arbeitslosenrate 2020 in Wallonien doppelt so hoch wie in Flandern; die Einstellungen gegenüber Immigrant:innen unterscheiden sich kaum, so auch das Vertrauen in die Demokratie und politische Institutionen. Der Erfolg radikal rechter Parteien liegt, nach de Jonges Analyse, hauptsächlich daran, wie offen die Gatekeeper einer Demokratie mit ihnen umgehen. Demnach tragen die Medien und etablierten Parteien in Frankreich eine erhebliche Mitschuld am Aufstieg des Front National und in den Niederlanden an Wilders’ PVV. > > Zusammen gegen Rechtsaußen > > In Wallonien dagegen haben schon in den 1990er-Jahren alle Rundfunkanstalten einen Pakt geschlossen, den „cordon sanitaire médiatique“: Menschen, die rassistischen, demokratiefeindlichen Gruppen nahestehen, bekommen keine Plattform; Einladungen zu Live-Interviews und Talkshows sind tabu. Nach rechtlichen Streitigkeiten urteilte der Belgische Staatsrat 1999: Der öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk habe das Recht, undemokratischen Parteien den Zugang zu verwehren. Auch kommerzielle Sender und die meisten Printmedien in Wallonien halten die Prinzipien hoch. Das heißt nicht, dass wallonische Journalist:innen nie mit Rechtsextremen reden. Es heißt, dass sie nur dann zitiert werden, wenn die Zitate kontextualisiert werden und antidemokratische Inhalte als solche einordbar sind. Reden von rechtsradikalen Politiker:innen etwa werden nicht direkt übertragen, sondern von Reporter:innen zusammengefasst. In der Luxemburger Presse besteht zwar keine formelle Absprache, wohl aber ein informeller Konsens gegen das Abbilden rassistischer und übertrieben nationalistischer Stimmen. > > [...] > > Die Stoßrichtung der Berichterstattung muss sich ändern. Erstens: Mehr inhaltliche Schärfe. Was bedeuten die Vorhaben der AfD konkret für den Alltag ihrer Wähler:innen? Denn diese wären die Hauptleidtragenden des Parteiprogramms, wie zuletzt eine Studie des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung vom August 2023 zeigte. Obwohl die AfD eine äußerst neoliberale Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik verfolgt – etwa Bürgergeld und Mindestlohn kürzen will –, wählen sie überdurchschnittlich viele Arbeiter:innen und Arbeitslose. > > Zweitens: Mehr rote Linien und wallonische Weitsicht. Antidemokrat:innen haben kein Recht auf Sendezeit. Da tut sich was. 2022 tauchten AfDler:innen nur zweimal in fünf verschiedenen Talkshows auf, zeigt eine Erhebung des Branchendienstes Meedia. 2018/19 dagegen nahm Alexander Gauland selbst dann noch im ZDF-Sommerinterview und verschiedenen Talkrunden Platz, nachdem er „Hitler und die Nazis“ als „Vogelschiss“ in der Geschichte Deutschlands bezeichnet hatte. Nur eine Redaktion, hart aber fair, erteilte ihm Hausverbot. Die Begründung: „Wer die Verbrechen des Nationalsozialismus relativiert, kann kein Gast bei uns sein.“ > > Am Ende besteht eine Demokratie eben nicht nur aus politischen Vertreter:innen und Meinungen, sondern aus Werten und Menschenrechten, auf die wir uns als Gesellschaft geeinigt haben. Das, sagten viele US-Journalist:innen nach Donald Trumps Wahlsieg, hätten sie viel zu spät realisiert.
The Causes of the War between Hamas and Israel (William Spaniel)
Piped: https://piped.video/watch?v=zMxHU34IgyY
> On October 7, 2023, Hamas initiated an offensive against Israel in a manner unseen for a half century. This video goes deep into the broader source of the conflict. Unlike traditional explanations, it highlights bargaining frictions as a key cause. It is not sufficient to simply point to the substantive issues in dispute between Hamas and Israel. As long as war is costly, both sides should prefer avoiding a war in principle. Thus, we must explain the conflict using bargaining frictions: first strike advantages, long-term shifts in the balance of power, uncertainty over the outcome of war, or leader biases. > > Hope you like some lines on maps, because there is going to be a heavy dose of them today! > > * 0:00 Hamas and Israel at War > * 2:25 The Substantive Conflict > * 5:53 War's Inefficiency Puzzle > * 10:37 First Strike Advantages and Preemptive War > * 13:04 Power Shifts, Preventive War, and Saudi Arabia > * 16:13 Information Problems and Turbulent Israeli Politics > * 17:36 Leader Benefits and Violence as Advertisement > * 19:02 Which One Caused the War? > * 20:40 Can You Get KFC in Gaza?
Warum Holz doch (nicht) klimaneutral ist (Joul)
Alternativ: https://piped.video/watch?v=KZNvClrM6Rw
> Ich gehe hier aus verschiedenen Perspektiven durch, was zu berücksichtigen ist, wenn man die Auswirkung von Heizen mit Holz bzw. Holz als Brennstoff aufs Klima bewerten will.
Das Video packt in die knapp 10 Minuten vier Detailstufen, bei denen die Schlussfolgerung mal "klimaneutral" lautet, mal "nicht":
- Stufe 1: Klimaneutral, weil nur CO2 freigesetzt wird, was vorher aufgenommen wurde.
- Stufe 2: Klimaschädlich, weil wachsen viel länger dauert als verbrennen
- Stufe 3: Kann klimaneutral sein, wenn viele Bedingungen beachtet werden
- Stufe 4: Klimaschädlich, weil Wald statt nur neutral eigentlich eine Senke sein könnte
Inside the HAMAS Operations Order from Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (Ryan McBeth)
Watch now (21 mins) | Analyzing the Highly Organized Military Operation Against Israel
YouTube Cut:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvYwfl7dgTY
- https://piped.video/watch?v=RvYwfl7dgTY
Based on documents and "pocket litter" recovered from HAMAS casualties, it appears that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was well in planning for over a year and had the assistance of Iran.
Work. (The History of Working Hours, by Historia Civilis)
https://piped.video/watch?v=hvk_XylEmLo
Sources: Juliet B. Schor, "The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure"
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David Rooney, "About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks" E. P. Thompson, "Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism" | https://www.jstor.org/stable/649749 James E. Thorold Rogers, "Six Centuries of Work and Wages: The History of English Labour" | https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/rogers/sixcenturies.pdf George Woodcock, "The Tyranny of the Clock," Published in "War Commentary - For Anarchism" in March, 1944
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GDP per capita in England, 1740 to 1840, via Our World in Data | https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-in-the-uk-since-1270 Nominal wages, consumer prices, and real wages in the UK, United Kingdom, 1750 to 1840, via Our World in Data | https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nominal-wages-consumer-prices-and-real-wages-in-the-uk-since-1750
Update: Petitition zur Prüfung eines AfD Verbots erreicht 240tsd Unterschriften in 2 Monaten
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/10792055
> cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/4310476
Update: Petitition zur Prüfung eines AfD Verbots erreicht 240tsd Unterschriften in 2 Monaten
cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/4310476
has resolved one of your map notes – how to do it yourself?
Running around with StreetComplete, the app sometimes tells me to leave a note instead, which I do. Short time later, I receive an email that another person has resolved my note. That's nice, but wouldn't it be better to do it all on my own?
I think I need a more powerful Editor for that, and installed Vespucci. Now I'm scared to break things. What are the next steps, how to proceed?
Rund 500.000 Fahrräder werden jedes Jahr gestohlen. Die Aufklärungsquote mickrig. Dabei ist das Fahrrad für viele das Hauptverkehrsmittel für Familie, Alltag und Beruf.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/4130830
> Quellen: https://m.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/fahrraddiebstahl-500-000-gestohlene-raeder-pro-jahr-19194030.html (€) > > https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/570624/umfrage/fahrraddiebstaehle-und-aufgeklaerte-faelle-in-deutschen-staedten/
PI is what
The volume of a cylinder is found using the formula V = πr2h. Using π = 5, r = 10 and h = 10. Find the volume V.
What are your favorite improv excercises for practice and warmup?
My group loves to play a game which we call "What are you doing there?". It goes like this:
Setup:
- A small stage, on which one or two people play
- The rest of the group watches them in a half circle
- People can enter the stage from one side of the circle. Another person then leaves the stage from the other side
So the whole group rotates in a circle through the stage.
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A person starts doing something on stage, for example playing the violin in pantomime.
Then the person next in line steps up from the audience, and asks the signature question: "What are you doing there?". Person A responds with something different, for example: "I'm reading a book.", and leaves the stage. Person B now reads a book in pantomime until asked by person C.
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As always, many variants are possible. Recently, we mostly played the group variant, where two (or three) people are on stage simultaneously, playing a scene including words.
Something changed about XP Boosts. Now, how can you tell which lesson activates a boost?
Before, completing the last lesson of a group (e.g. completing 5 of 5) activated a 15 minute boost. Which allowed me stop doing lessons at 4/5 and do practice instead. Later that day, I could complete lesson 5 to get a boost for a new session.
Now, these activation steps seem to be randomly scattered across lessons. Sometimes it's lesson 2, sometimes 5. Never the last one.
Did anyone else notice this? Any idea why? How do you deal with it?
It leads me to learn longer than I actually wanted (because I accidentally trigger boosts), or leads to me 'wasting' boosts, both of which feels bad.