Bmw voluntary emissions recall campaign
Canadian companies adopt ‘stay interviews’ as workers rethink careers, needs
2023.06.04 18:58 moneymonster420 Canadian companies adopt ‘stay interviews’ as workers rethink careers, needs
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canadian-companies-adopt-stay-interviews-as-workers-rethink-careers/?utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links
When Tara Vanderloo’s employees are mulling leaving her enterprise software company, she wants to be one of the first people they tell – and to hear their unvarnished reasons why.
“I know people get called by recruiters, so I’ve asked the question: ‘who are you talking to or what type of organizations?”’ said the chief experience officer at Sensei Labs in Toronto.
Open this photo in gallery:
Chief experience officer for Sensei Labs Tara Vanderloo in an undated handout photo.
HO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
“Have you had any thoughts or are you questioning why you want to be here?”
Vanderloo poses the questions in one-on-one meetings she and other staff periodically have with the company’s work force of roughly 70.
The discussions, which some companies call “stay interviews,” are designed to collect feedback from employees and are aimed at learning what the company can do to retain valued team members and keep them happy.
Some companies have been hosting such meetings for years, but many more adopted the practice over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis caused workers to rethink their careers or seek more flexibility, advancement or support from their employers.
Sensei Labs adopted engagement interviews in late 2021, when companies saw millions of people worldwide leave their jobs in what economists and businesses branded “The Great Resignation.”
“It was substantial, and it was concerning for us because it’s hard to hire great people and we don’t want to lose them, so the first thing we did is we addressed it head on,” recalled Vanderloo.
A companywide meeting was called to discuss the labour market changes afoot, and team leads – Sensei Labs doesn’t use the term managers – followed up one-on-one to learn about employee happiness in more detail.
Despite a softening job market and suggestions that negotiating power has tipped back in favour of employers, Sensei Labs has kept up with the practice and a quarterly happiness survey.
The survey asks workers whether the company lives up to its values and “would you recommend Sensei as a place of employment to others?”
Sensei Labs has a near perfect score for people who would recommend it, but staff still have wants, particularly around flexibility.
That’s part of why Sensei Labs has eschewed formal return-to-office requirements. The company has space staff can use but no rules on how often staff must use it for work.
It also piloted a four-day work week that has been expanded because the happiness survey and chats with staff have shown it’s a hit.
“Their language was like, ‘this has changed my life,”’ said Vanderloo. “If you have kids, it just makes things easier to get all your chores done or doctors’ appointments or focus on your hobbies or whatever you want to do.”
Sensei won’t green light every ask, Vanderloo cautioned.
“It’s not like the sky is the limit,” she said.
“If it’s not something we can implement, we’re very open about it.”
Chief people and culture officer Michelle Brooks has done “engagement interviews” twice with the 200 staff at Toronto cybersecurity firm Security Compass.
They started the interviews a few years ago because they wanted to build on data they were already collecting by measuring engagement, which they thought would help indicate whether people intend to stick around.
The goal isn’t to prevent everyone from leaving but to ensure the company couldn’t have done something simple to prevent the departure of high performers.
“Some level of turnover is healthy,” said Brooks. “We only want them to stay as long as they want to be here and they’ve having their needs met just like in a relationship … We don’t want to lock people in.”
The interviews Brooks has done so far have yielded valuable insights. For example, she learned that some workers aren’t necessarily seeking a promotion. They just want more responsibilities, opportunities to learn and even the ability to go to a conference.
Jenna Hammond, an Ontario woman working for a Norwegian biotech company, used a stay interview, which her company calls a “touchpoint,” to ask for a better employment arrangement.
Hammond was hired as a sole proprietor on a six-month contract with no benefits. She took the job because it was a way back to working after 15 years raising kids.
“I really needed financial stability and financial independence and being on contract just wasn’t ideal,” she said.
When the chief executive of the company asked her what it would take to get her to stay in a touchpoint, she told him and ended up being made a full-time employee with benefits.
Her company repeats these meetings every quarter and does a more fulsome one each January that can last up to 3.5 hours.
In her last meeting, Hammond asked the company to cover cleaning services for her home, which she said would help with work-life balance. They declined but offered her Fridays off this summer to help her juggle responsibilities.
“The worst thing that they were going to say to me was no, but I found that if I didn’t ask, I wouldn’t receive,” she said.
Jennifer Hargreaves, who runs Tellent, an organization that helps women find flexible work opportunities, believes every company should be having open conversations to hear about employee needs on a regular basis, but warned the process can also be a “double-edged sword” for staff.
“The huge benefit to doing it is obviously you can get what you want” she said.
“But there’s this fear that if I ask them and they say no, they’re going to know I’m unhappy, so then I might get punished for it right down the road.”
She encourages employees asked to complete such interviews to step back and think about they want and what is most important to them before coming up with an ask that is focused, specific and realistic.
But even more important to the process, she said, is employers willing to be transparent with staff and make changes based on what they hear.
“Candidates and employees are getting really tired of a lot of talk with no action,” she said.
“People need to see things backed up. If not, they know how much opportunity is out there.”
submitted by moneymonster420 to PersonalFinanceCanada [link] [comments]
When Tara Vanderloo’s employees are mulling leaving her enterprise software company, she wants to be one of the first people they tell – and to hear their unvarnished reasons why.
“I know people get called by recruiters, so I’ve asked the question: ‘who are you talking to or what type of organizations?”’ said the chief experience officer at Sensei Labs in Toronto.
Open this photo in gallery:
Chief experience officer for Sensei Labs Tara Vanderloo in an undated handout photo.
HO/THE CANADIAN PRESS
“Have you had any thoughts or are you questioning why you want to be here?”
Vanderloo poses the questions in one-on-one meetings she and other staff periodically have with the company’s work force of roughly 70.
The discussions, which some companies call “stay interviews,” are designed to collect feedback from employees and are aimed at learning what the company can do to retain valued team members and keep them happy.
Some companies have been hosting such meetings for years, but many more adopted the practice over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic as the health crisis caused workers to rethink their careers or seek more flexibility, advancement or support from their employers.
Sensei Labs adopted engagement interviews in late 2021, when companies saw millions of people worldwide leave their jobs in what economists and businesses branded “The Great Resignation.”
“It was substantial, and it was concerning for us because it’s hard to hire great people and we don’t want to lose them, so the first thing we did is we addressed it head on,” recalled Vanderloo.
A companywide meeting was called to discuss the labour market changes afoot, and team leads – Sensei Labs doesn’t use the term managers – followed up one-on-one to learn about employee happiness in more detail.
Despite a softening job market and suggestions that negotiating power has tipped back in favour of employers, Sensei Labs has kept up with the practice and a quarterly happiness survey.
The survey asks workers whether the company lives up to its values and “would you recommend Sensei as a place of employment to others?”
Sensei Labs has a near perfect score for people who would recommend it, but staff still have wants, particularly around flexibility.
That’s part of why Sensei Labs has eschewed formal return-to-office requirements. The company has space staff can use but no rules on how often staff must use it for work.
It also piloted a four-day work week that has been expanded because the happiness survey and chats with staff have shown it’s a hit.
“Their language was like, ‘this has changed my life,”’ said Vanderloo. “If you have kids, it just makes things easier to get all your chores done or doctors’ appointments or focus on your hobbies or whatever you want to do.”
Sensei won’t green light every ask, Vanderloo cautioned.
“It’s not like the sky is the limit,” she said.
“If it’s not something we can implement, we’re very open about it.”
Chief people and culture officer Michelle Brooks has done “engagement interviews” twice with the 200 staff at Toronto cybersecurity firm Security Compass.
They started the interviews a few years ago because they wanted to build on data they were already collecting by measuring engagement, which they thought would help indicate whether people intend to stick around.
The goal isn’t to prevent everyone from leaving but to ensure the company couldn’t have done something simple to prevent the departure of high performers.
“Some level of turnover is healthy,” said Brooks. “We only want them to stay as long as they want to be here and they’ve having their needs met just like in a relationship … We don’t want to lock people in.”
The interviews Brooks has done so far have yielded valuable insights. For example, she learned that some workers aren’t necessarily seeking a promotion. They just want more responsibilities, opportunities to learn and even the ability to go to a conference.
Jenna Hammond, an Ontario woman working for a Norwegian biotech company, used a stay interview, which her company calls a “touchpoint,” to ask for a better employment arrangement.
Hammond was hired as a sole proprietor on a six-month contract with no benefits. She took the job because it was a way back to working after 15 years raising kids.
“I really needed financial stability and financial independence and being on contract just wasn’t ideal,” she said.
When the chief executive of the company asked her what it would take to get her to stay in a touchpoint, she told him and ended up being made a full-time employee with benefits.
Her company repeats these meetings every quarter and does a more fulsome one each January that can last up to 3.5 hours.
In her last meeting, Hammond asked the company to cover cleaning services for her home, which she said would help with work-life balance. They declined but offered her Fridays off this summer to help her juggle responsibilities.
“The worst thing that they were going to say to me was no, but I found that if I didn’t ask, I wouldn’t receive,” she said.
Jennifer Hargreaves, who runs Tellent, an organization that helps women find flexible work opportunities, believes every company should be having open conversations to hear about employee needs on a regular basis, but warned the process can also be a “double-edged sword” for staff.
“The huge benefit to doing it is obviously you can get what you want” she said.
“But there’s this fear that if I ask them and they say no, they’re going to know I’m unhappy, so then I might get punished for it right down the road.”
She encourages employees asked to complete such interviews to step back and think about they want and what is most important to them before coming up with an ask that is focused, specific and realistic.
But even more important to the process, she said, is employers willing to be transparent with staff and make changes based on what they hear.
“Candidates and employees are getting really tired of a lot of talk with no action,” she said.
“People need to see things backed up. If not, they know how much opportunity is out there.”
2023.06.04 18:54 ElodePilarre Things for a Psychic to do while Stupefied
Here's the Google Sheet I use to plan my build
Hi folks! I'm going to be playing a Gathered Lore/Infinite Eye Psychic in an upcoming AV into Stolen Fate campaign. I really like the build I've got going so far, but I was thinking about it and noticed I do not have much to be doing on my Stupefied turns. I mean, hopefully most combats don't last for much longer once my Psyche is no longer unleashed, but I know it will happen, and I would like to be prepared when it does.
For a Charisma Psychic, it is very easy to fill those turns with things like Intimidate, but as an Int Psychic, there's only so much Lore to be Recalled. Do you guys have any suggestions as to skills/feats/archetypes I can pick up to fill that out some? I get some stuff from Chronoskimmer, which I would like to keep for flavor reasons mostly lol, but it doesn't really really fill out much until Steal Time at level 10. Do some more experienced players have some ideas on what I can do with my build to get some other options going? Archetypes, changes to skills/skill feats, any suggestions are welcome!
My party consists of a Fighter who is wanting to do some Recall Knowledge stuff, a Mountain Monk, a Thief Rogue, and a Sarenrae Cleric who wants to be blasting as much as healing, so I will be mainly focusing on a support caster type of role.
submitted by ElodePilarre to Pathfinder2e [link] [comments]
Hi folks! I'm going to be playing a Gathered Lore/Infinite Eye Psychic in an upcoming AV into Stolen Fate campaign. I really like the build I've got going so far, but I was thinking about it and noticed I do not have much to be doing on my Stupefied turns. I mean, hopefully most combats don't last for much longer once my Psyche is no longer unleashed, but I know it will happen, and I would like to be prepared when it does.
For a Charisma Psychic, it is very easy to fill those turns with things like Intimidate, but as an Int Psychic, there's only so much Lore to be Recalled. Do you guys have any suggestions as to skills/feats/archetypes I can pick up to fill that out some? I get some stuff from Chronoskimmer, which I would like to keep for flavor reasons mostly lol, but it doesn't really really fill out much until Steal Time at level 10. Do some more experienced players have some ideas on what I can do with my build to get some other options going? Archetypes, changes to skills/skill feats, any suggestions are welcome!
My party consists of a Fighter who is wanting to do some Recall Knowledge stuff, a Mountain Monk, a Thief Rogue, and a Sarenrae Cleric who wants to be blasting as much as healing, so I will be mainly focusing on a support caster type of role.
2023.06.04 04:57 Robert_B_Marks Supplementing History Buffs on 1917...
So, I just finished watching Nick Hodges' video on 1917, which is very good, and which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpP5mRgsls
This is a post about the things he and his writeresearcher missed. To be clear, I agree with him that 1917 is a very good movie and worth watching (and, I DID add it to my movie collection), but as a specialist, some of the errors are just a bit more hard for me to miss (which does, at times, make it difficult to enjoy WW1 movies the way non-specialists can).
So, things Mr. Hodges missed:
submitted by Robert_B_Marks to badhistory [link] [comments]
This is a post about the things he and his writeresearcher missed. To be clear, I agree with him that 1917 is a very good movie and worth watching (and, I DID add it to my movie collection), but as a specialist, some of the errors are just a bit more hard for me to miss (which does, at times, make it difficult to enjoy WW1 movies the way non-specialists can).
So, things Mr. Hodges missed:
- The date (April 6, 1917). I've seen some hints that the original script was set in March, which would make much more sense for what appears on screen. But, the shift in month makes a few parts of the movie rather comical from a historical point of view. Among other things, you have speculation about the next big push coming up. The thing is that the preliminary bombardment for the Battle of Arras would have been going on for two days at this point (it started at 6:30 AM on April 4th). They would have been able to hear it from where they were in the line. (See Capt. Cyril Falls, Military Operations France & Belgium 1917 Volume 1.)
- The British trenches have a lot that's wrong. For one thing, you have telephone wire running into the front line trenches. This wasn't done by 1917 - the wire had to be buried to prevent it from being cut by artillery fire, and the Germans had technology that could listen into what was being said over buried telephone wires (which was discovered when they started greeting incoming units by name). So, by 1917 all of the telephones had been pulled out of the British front lines. (See E.E. Priestly, The Signal Service in the European War of 1914 to 1918 (France).) You also have a front-line unit having been in the line long enough to forget what day it was. This also didn't happen. The British were very good about not keeping units in the front lines for more than a few days per month, and most units only spent around 3-4 days in there. After that, they would be rotated out for leave, training, and manual labour in the rear. (See Gordon Corrigan, Mud, Blood and Poppycock for a good discussion of this.)
- The entry into the trenches of the 2nd Devons - trenches in movies are almost always wrong and do not have a proper traverse system (I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen them done right, and one was in a Doctor Who episode), but that's not the problem here (well, at least not the one I want to talk about). The problem here is that you have troops entering the trenches within sight of the front lines - this would get them shot. Now, everything in the movie is smaller than the real Western front would have been, since you can't spend an half an hour to an hour watching them walk through trenches just to get to a briefing, but this is particularly bad. The second wave entering the trench to queue up should have been mowed down as they approached.
- The attack is all wrong. By 1917 the British weren't using these sorts of human waves anymore. They were, in fact, using a platoon system. And, they would have been advancing behind a creeping barrage (which had become the standard tactic at the time). The irony here is that the military advisor they hired actually DID train the extras to do it properly, and then the director completely disregarded that for the shot - see the comment by Joseph Harris, who WAS one of these extras, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpP5mRgsls ). And, for a good source on this, see Paddy Griffith, Battle Tactics on the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18.
- There is one key point where I think Mr. Hodges is wrong, and that is where he suggests that the attack by the 2nd Devons is inspired by the Battle of Arras - and no, it really wasn't. The Battle of Arras was a major campaign that, among other things, saw the taking of Vimy Ridge by my countrymen in the Canadian Corps. It wasn't an improvised battle. What it was almost certainly inspired by were what were called "straightening the line" attacks. These could be ordered on a field commander's authority (EDIT: I'm referring to divisional commanders and the like here), and the point was to take the enemy line and add it to your own (hence, "straightening the line"). This happened a lot during WW1, particularly during battles like the Somme and Passchendaele (and as I recall both Peter Hart and Nick Lloyd have written about this in their respective books, The Somme and Passchendaele: The Lost Victory of World War I, on the subject). Another possible source of inspiration might be the mobile warfare in the last half of 1918, once the German spring offensives had been stopped and the British were driving the Germans back (and, in some cases, outrunning their artillery, and for this see Peter Hart, The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War). But, what you see in the movie really wasn't a thing that happened in 1917 - 1917 was a year of set-piece battles and bite-and-hold tactics.
2023.06.04 04:16 Notnailinpalin Paradise PD petition
I don’t recall where I found this petition from, but thought it was worth sharing. This is actually one of the reasons why I decided to cancel my Netflix membership along with all the talk about the password sharing let’s not forget the recent price increase.
https://www.change.org/p/renew-paradise-pd-for-a-5th-season?recruiter=1291304575&recruited_by_id=48248730-8ebd-11ed-9fba-d9f196ca566b&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink
submitted by Notnailinpalin to paradisepd [link] [comments]
https://www.change.org/p/renew-paradise-pd-for-a-5th-season?recruiter=1291304575&recruited_by_id=48248730-8ebd-11ed-9fba-d9f196ca566b&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink
2023.06.04 04:15 Arquitech Capcom ID Run Back Campaign problem
I played Street Fighter 5 on Steam, with my Capcom ID linked to it. However, when I started playing Street Fighter 6, I couldn't recall setting up my Capcom ID. Still, I am able to play all game modes, including online matches. When I visit the SF6 website, the game doesn't appear in my fighter ID, preventing me from claiming the prizes for the Runback Campaign.
After i searched online I discovered that when starting the game for the first time, there is a QR code to log in with Capcom ID. Unfortunately, I don't remember going through that process, and the prompt does not appear anymore, even after I reinstalled the game.
Has anyone else experienced a similar issue or know how to proceed in this situation?
submitted by Arquitech to StreetFighter [link] [comments]
After i searched online I discovered that when starting the game for the first time, there is a QR code to log in with Capcom ID. Unfortunately, I don't remember going through that process, and the prompt does not appear anymore, even after I reinstalled the game.
Has anyone else experienced a similar issue or know how to proceed in this situation?
2023.06.04 01:02 KyronXLK LONDON ULEZ/Certificate of Conformity - Any UK owners got info on this?
Apparently some of our e36 are ULEZ compliant as the ULEZ considers about euro 4 emissions but Nox only for petrol cars. Euro 4 Nox is 0.08g/km and from what I can find online (sadly this is the only I can find), 316i are at like 0.046g/km.. Apparently TFL just disqualify almost all petrol cars before 2005. e46 330ci before 2005 arent compliant but post 2005 ARE with the same engine because they both are under the nox levels.
Saw a post on Cars and Classic about a 328i wagon being ulez compliant because the guy sent the Certificate of Conformity off to TFL and it was under on Nox. Anyone seen anything about this? I'm almost sure my 318i is gonna be within the standards.. Saw a sad post about a bloke having to scrap his pride and joy because it won't be compliant come August when they expand it and someone commented to get the Cert from BMW. There are v12 Lambos and Aston Martin's that are within standards too...
submitted by KyronXLK to BMWE36 [link] [comments]
Saw a post on Cars and Classic about a 328i wagon being ulez compliant because the guy sent the Certificate of Conformity off to TFL and it was under on Nox. Anyone seen anything about this? I'm almost sure my 318i is gonna be within the standards.. Saw a sad post about a bloke having to scrap his pride and joy because it won't be compliant come August when they expand it and someone commented to get the Cert from BMW. There are v12 Lambos and Aston Martin's that are within standards too...
2023.06.03 23:56 Moncurs_rightboot Season Review 22/23
 | Wow wow wow wow wow. Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming. Ow ow ow ow ow, stop pinching me, OK, I'm obviously not dreaming. submitted by Moncurs_rightboot to COYH [link] [comments] We actually did it. We managed to get promoted through the playoffs. It's absolute madness. I had watched us compete in 6 playoffs, and who would have thought that 7th time is the charm! Before I start you can read the 21/22 season review here from our season where we finished 6th and got dumped out the playoffs by Huddersfield. You can also read the 22/23 season preview here where I predicted a very optimistic top 8 finish. No one could have predicted the season we were about to have. I'm not going to discuss promotion in depth, because it was only a week ago and probably won't sink in until the fixtures are released on June 15th. In case you didn't know, this is what our away end looks like Overview and Pre season thoughtsAs mentioned above, I knew we would manage to keep the momentum going into this season. I just didn't expect us to gain this much momentum. Having finished 6th and on 75 points in the 21/22 season. Everything was kept steady in the off season, we recruited well, and only lost one significant player (discussed below). Throughout the off season though social media was awash with speculation that Luton Town would do a Barnsley (meaning losing in the playoffs and then battling relegation/getting relegated the following season, which Barnsley did in the 21/22 season), this was speculation was further fuelled by the signing of two of Barnsley's relegated front three (more on that later). However, one bright spark in the off season was the lads from the Second Tier Pod who went bold and predicted a solid season for Luton Town, with Ryan predicting 2nd and Justin predicting 3rd. These guys know ball. Nathan Jones was keen to kick on with the squad, and was 110% committed to the cause...Who left, and who did we sign?The most significant outgoing was that of Kal Naismith, who was the fans player of the season in 21/22. The manner in which he joined Bristol City left a sour taste in the mouth of the Hatters, with the club not knowing he had agreed terms, with the Welsh wannabes announcing him a whole 24 hours before Luton Town. Also the fact that he was chatting some boilerplate shite in his introduction interview, about being excited about getting to work with "the best manager in the league". A truly absurd statement that even Stevie Wonder could see was the dumbest thing that anyone could ever say in the history of mankind. Regardless, Hatters were annoyed and concerned, mostly because Kal was a good player, he made that LCB role his own, and was a vital cog in our 21/22 playoff machine, and scored a significant and wonderful goal against Bournemouth that pretty much kickstarted our playoff push after the long covid/midseason break - hey guys, remember covid?Less significant outgoings on the pitch were Peter "I should be starting every game" Kioso (to Rotherham) and Danny Hylton (to Northampton). With Kioso leaving, we were losing depth in the defensive unit, whereas with Danny Hylton, we were losing part of the furniture at the Kenny. Sure Danny had never hit the heights of his League 2 bagsman days after his nasty injury in League 1, but he scored some vital goals in 21/22 - grabbed the point at Bristol City and sealed the win against Derby with a wonderful strike. Also his head of hair is one of the greatest come back stories in modern times. We brought in some numbers in the off season, although as discussed on social media, these players seemed to be "for the future":
How did we do?I write this with a big smirk on my face. Because it still hasn't sunk in.Like the 21/22 season, it was a season of two halves (and two managers), unlike last season whereby there was a covid break, this season we had a conveniently placed World Cup. I always thought Winter World Cups were the greatest idea, and certainly never ever criticised FIFA, The Qatar WC bidding buddies, or the countless executives that have become incredibly wealthy from the previous World Cup who effortlessly and repeatedly moved not only the goal posts but mountains in order to give us what we all wanted, the first World Cup in the Middle East - in the middle of fucking winter. Anyway, I'm veering off topic. I'm not doing a monthly breakdown by the way, you can get that off wikipedia. I'm sure the 10 people who read this will be wildly disappointed. We can break the season down in two ways - Luton under Nathan Jones and Luton under Rob Edwards. I'll do the stats after this overview. Nathan Jones took us almost the whole way to the World Cup break, but he was just itching to move. Our start to the season was mediocre, we were struggling to win games. In fact we didn't win a game until our 5th game of the season against Swansea, with 2 draws and 2 losses to start the season, including the second worst performance of the season against Bristol City, leaving us 23rd in the table. After that we had a mini purple patch, completing the welsh double beating Cardiff and drawing with Sheffield United. Which took us up to 9th in the table. Before throwing the game away against Wigan "prompt wage payment" Athletic. Fortunately we then hit a 7 game unbeaten run, which shot us up to 4th in the table. Which took us into the match against them lot down the road. We were in great form, they were already on their second manager (more on that first manager in a bit), everything was aligned for us to go there and turn them over. But disaster struck, we were utter shit and lost 4 - 0. On the bright side it gave them a high point for the season. Post match, Nathan Jones had plenty of excuses, mentioning stomach bugs, he couldn't fill the bench etc, but the eventual reality was more concerning. We only picked up 1 win from the next 4 games, culminating in an abject display against his former side Stoke, where it all but confirmed that Jones would be leaving the club. This would take us to the end of Nathan Jones' tenure. Jones moved (amicably and with massive compensation) to Southampton - where he wouldn't stay for long, but reports surfaced after his move that Southampton had been in negotiations with him for 5 weeks prior. No surprise he didn't give a shit post match against Watford. Regardless, he moved in in better faith than when he did against Stoke, He left the club in 9th place, and paved the way for Mick Harford to coach for the last game before the World Cup break, a 1 - 1 draw against Rotherham. We entered the World Cup break in 10th place, and it gave us time to pick our manager properly. Nathan Jones stats P20 - W7 - D8 - L5 - GF 22 - GA 21 - Pts 29 - WinP 35% - PpG 1.45 Mick Harford stats P1 - W0 - D1 - L0 - GF 1 - GA 1 - Pts 1 - WinP 0% - PpG 1.0 At the end of last season (I know this narrative has been done to death, but keep with me here). Watford appointed Rob Edwards from Forest Green Rovers, a young up and coming manager, to take over from Roy Hodgson, a legend who got Watford relegated at Selhurst Park, and then had the balls to clap the Crystal Palace fans (as his last season there was behind closed doors), whilst ignoring the Watford fans who had travelled to South London, because they were too far away. This is made even funnier due to the fact that he returned to Palace, and absolutely turned their season around. Anyway, Rob Edwards was the man to replace the Hodge. Scott Duxbury, Watford CEO stated "Rob will be backed through hell and high water". It turned out that translated to 10 league matches, of which he had only lost 2, this included beating Burnley, who would go on to leave the Championship quivering in their wake. During the winter break, the Luton board were very impressed with Rob Edwards as a candidate, and made the bold decision to employ him. In addition to this our January window included the loss of James Bree, who moved to Southampton to join up with Nathan Jones and Harry Cornick to Bristol City, fair play to them, they signed our best striker. Cameron Jerome also left by mutual termination, as he wanted to move back up North to his family. We replaced Bree with Cody Drameh on loan from Leeds and replaced Cornick with Joe Taylor, an unproven striker who was yet to break into the first team at Peterborough. However, Big Mick swore by him, and has been tracking him for years. We also brought in Marvelous Nakamba on loan from Aston Villa (who would turn out to be the difference maker, more on him later). Although, the general consensus was that we were too threadbare at the back, and up top, as injury could expose our lack of depth. But in Rob we trust, and we haven't looked back since. Since his appointment, we have only lost 3 matches in the league, one of which was his first game in charge, and even in that game we played sensational stuff for the first 35 minutes against Middlesbrough, To cap off a totally wizard season, we then had the playoffs, and the rest as they say, is history. Rob Edwards stats P25 - W14 - D8 - L3 - GF 34 - GA 16 - Pts 50 - WinP 56% - PpG 2.0 *Excluding playoff results Time for some RAPID STATS
How did our players do?As per my writer idol Mister PDW, these ratings were picked on a whim, don't shoot the messenger. This shows appearances (sub appearances), minutes played, goals, assists and WhoScored rating. I'm using a letter grade system for the squad, this is down to a whim and may contain some bias, take the ratings with a pinch of salt. Stats from WhoScored - League stats only (including playoffs). Sorted by most minutes played.Ethan Horvath 47 appearances/4261 minutes 19 clean sheets - 6.48 B It was a steady enough season from the US Stopper. He did make some absolute howlers at some points during the season, but never went full 19/20 Sluga (look it up, his howlers were legendary). Although he finished with 19 clean sheets, a lot of his shortcomings were covered up by how the team defended as a whole, shown by our very low xG conceded. I appreciate his time at the club, but I wouldn't take him back here permanently. Amari'i Bell 46(1) appearances/4167 minutes 1G/1A - 6.78 A+ Amari'i is quite literally the unsung hero of the playoff winning campaign. Having played at left wing back last season, and filling in for Alfie Doughty when he was unavailable this season. He played the majority of the season at left centre back, the position vacated by Kal Naismith. He was spectacular and offered so much more from that position than Kal did. He could carry the ball infield, he had the athleticism to make penetrating underlaps into the box and after all the stick he got from Blackburn fans, he can now stick two fingers up at them, and show off his medal. Carlton Morris 44(3) appearances/3693 minutes 20G/7A - 7.21 A+ It was a slow start for Carlton as he bedded into the Luton lineup. He didn't make an impact until he scored his first goal of the season against Swansea, which was also our first win. But, after that goal he didn't look back. He also managed to kick on further under Rob Edwards. He is simply a player that has a bit of everything in his locker, able to score from 3 yards or 30 yards. Tom Lockyer 42 appearances/3638 minutes 4G/1A - 7.13 A+ Considering Locks couldn't buy a game at the beginning of the season, having only come in to the squad for the Carabao Cup game against Newport, where we lost. Swansea was also a watershed moment for him, just like Carlton. This season Hatters saw the finest defensive displays courtesy of Locks, and absolute colossus at the back. It was very concerning when he collapsed during the playoff final. However, we have been told that he is absolutely fine, and will be ready for pre season. Hopefully meaning we will tie him down with a longer contract. Elijah Adebayo 42(3) appearances/3523 minutes 8G/4A - 6.72 A Sure Elijah didn't hit the heights (goalwise) that he did last season. However, he formed a solid partnership up top with Morris. Fortunately it meant that the heavy burden didn't all sit on Elijah's shoulders. If anyone doubts what Elijah brings to the team, just watch his assist for Jordan Clark's goal in the playoff final. His run, his feet, his turning Kyle McFadzean inside out before his pass to find Clark, shows you what he brings to the team. Even playing a three at the back system, any defenders are going to have a shit day trying to stop Elijah and Carlton from executing their movement. Also, it was great to see him get a stab at the playoffs this season after cruelly missing out last season. Jordan Clark 37(4) appearances/3390 minutes 3G/4A - 6.83 A This season, we all saw what Clicker was about, his movement, intelligence and passing were fully on display. It's remarkable that he was signed as a right winger and has been reboxed as an attacking midfielders, he brings the attributes and movement of a winger and takes it between the lines, making him nigh on impossible to pick up for the opposition. Having a similar trajectory to Luton, having been playing for Hyde against Luton in our final conference match. He deserves a shot at the Premier League, and his journey is also remarkable. Just like Luton making it from conference to Premier League in 9 seasons. Allan Campbell 38(5) appearances/3273 minutes 3G/2A - 6.52 B+ I'm being incredibly tight with these scores. Sorry Wee Al. He had a good season, not as stellar as last season, but he brought the same attitude on the pitch, he runs and presses like he has 5 lungs. He also has an eye for goal from midfield with some spectacular hits, most importantly putting the cherry on top of the Watford game, and forever writing himself into Hatters folklore. Unfortunately, with Nakamba entering the fray in January, he was the unfortunate one to miss out on those two remaining midfield spots. Alfie Doughty 28(3) appearances/2438 minutes 2G/5A - 7.14 A+ What a player we have on our hands with Alfie, he will seamlessly move up to the Premier League like he's easing himself into a nice warm bath. Pace, trickery and a delivery to match, he has been a joy to watch play this season. Fans were concerned about the speed at which he was being eased in at the start of the season, but I guess when you have had the injury record that Alfie has, it just makes sense. Also, that goal against QPR was just spectacular. James Bree 27 appearances/2430 minutes 0G/4A - 6.99 A Football can be a cruel game, it can also be incredibly ironic, and that irony can be absolutely hilarious. James Bree was both promoted and relegated this season. He did well for the first half of the season, needing to fill in right centre back, which he did well, whilst also contributing many key passes to the Hatters cause. However, the simple fact is, when Osho came in to the right centre back role, we looked a lot better defensively, and that showed with our climb up the table. I'm still disgruntled about the fee being £750k, what with his contract expiring. But sometimes the grass isn't always greener, is it, James!? Well, at least he's getting a promotion medal. Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu 27(6) appearances/2394 minutes 3G/1A - 6.62 A This man is a modern Luton Legend. He gets better every season, and he has been worth every penny of the £50,000 that John Still paid for him as a 19 year old back in the Conference. Did you know if plays one minute in the Premier League, he would be the first player in history to have played in the top 5 levels of the English Pyramid for one club? Of course you did, it's been all over the news. He deserves everything he gets, and I'm delighted the club have offered him new terms, Pelly deserves the world. Gabe Osho 25(5) appearances/2273 minutes 3G/0A - 6.64 A The only reason this isn't an A+ is because of his first half of the season. He is the biggest beneficiary of Rob Edwards coming in at Luton. Under Nathan Jones he looked edgy and shit scared to make a mistake, however, under Edwards he was calmness personified with his big runs out of defence with the ball seemingly glued to his foot. He also scored some vital goals, the first against Watford, and then the goal against Sunderland in the away playoff leg to get us up and running. He is another that his currently being negotiated with for a new deal, and he deserves it. Dan Potts 24(2) appearances/2020 minutes 1G/0A - 6.84 B Another player who has been on a spectacular journey with Luton after being signed by John Still in League 2. He started as a left back, but with our formation change over the last two seasons has been re-engineered as a left centre back, which in my opinion is a much better position for him. He doesn't give you the athleticism that Bell gives, but if a ball comes into the box, he will get his absolutely beautiful head onto that ball. He had solid performances this season, however, the emergence of Bell as well as a pesky back injury kept him out for a good chunk of the season. He also scored what turned out to be the winning penalty in the playoff final. Marvelous Nakamba 19(1) appearances/1726 minutes 0G/0A - 6.93 A+ I remember saying on the Oak Road Hatter podcast when Marv came in, he was the difference between getting into the playoffs and not getting into the playoffs. How wrong I was. He was an instrumental cog in the machine that got us promoted. I hope Villa are sensible with their valuation for a player that they simply don't want, so we don't have to shoot our transfer load prematurely on a player that wants to be at Luton. Marv also stepped up in the playoff final shootout and cooly slotted away his pen, which was remarkable considering during games he would always pass the ball rather than shoot. Cody Drameh 19 appearances/1581 minutes 0G/2A - 7.19 A We were all very nervous when Bree left, because were losing a solid option at right wing back. However, enter Cody Drameh. Another bitten by the cruel irony of football, with Leeds being relegated as he makes the step up to Premier League. However, Cody will be alright, with Luton attempting to re-sign him as well as Burnley having a go too, he's got a Premier League move lined up. As he started with Luton you could see he had not played a lot of football, but he found his feet very quickly. Reece Burke 15(7) appearances/1417 minutes 2G/0A - 6.71 B+ At the start of the season, if you had asked me who our best centre back was, it would have been Reece Burke. However, he seemingly has hamstring issues that have prevented him from being a top defender. Remember Hull signed him for £2m as a highly rated 21 year old. Regardless, this season he has scored 2 sensational goals; the piledriver against Blackburn, and then the intricate passing play against Huddersfield where he was instrumental throughout the build up. It would have been a B, if it had not been for his display in the playoff final, where he came on much earlier than expected for Tom Lockyer. If we can stay injury free, we have a Premier League quality defender on our hands. Sonny Bradley 14(5) appearances/1219 minutes 0G/0A - 6.56 B- Sonny is leaving Luton Town at the end of his contract, and he has been a stellar figure for Luton Town. We won promotion to the Championship in his first season at the club, he was key in stabilising the club in the Championship, before pushing on up the league, and eventually winning this second promotion. However, it is known the personal issues he has been experiencing off the field, with his father Ray passing, suffering from long covid and issues with his child's health. No matter who you are, if you are hit with that many gut punches, you will stay down. But Bradley didn't because he's a hard bastard. The cherry on this cake was, a disgusting aerial challenge from Yakou Meite, from which Bradley landed horrendously, and it looked like a season ending injury. But Bradley being the hard bastard he is, he recovered, and plugged gaps in our defence towards the end of the season. Regardless, Sonny was getting exposed by some of the better strikers in the league, Gyokeres and then Archer had a lot of luck running beyond him, but in all fairness, they are both exceptional players. I'm delighted he's leaving us on a high, as he deserves it, and I hope he stays in the Championship and gets a move that works for him. Luke Freeman 10(16) appearances/988 minutes 2G/1A - 6.41 C+ I wasn't expecting Luke Freeman to pull up trees this season, we all know about his injury history that restricting his appearances at Sheffield United. He showed glimpses of what he could do, the goal against QPR was a highlight for me. However, a troublesome groin kept him out for the majority of the season. He does a good job of looking busy on the pitch, without he had a flurry of creating chances at the beginning of the season, but went off the boil fast as his groin caught up with him. The + is purely because he managed to bag some goals and an assist. Cauley Woodrow 5(22) appearances/741 minutes 2G/1A - 6.35 C+ I was expecting a lot from Cauley this season. Certainly more rotation with the front two, who ended up playing a tonne of games, because Cauley was picking up niggling injuries, with the last one keeping him out of the playoffs completely, he couldn't get any momentum during the season. He offers something completely different to our attack and his special touches can be seen at times. Regarding Nathan Jones deciding to play him as a 10, no. Just no. He is not a 10. Look at the goal against Norwich, what a strike. I hope he stays fit next season, because he has unfinished business in the Premier League. Harry Cornick 7(12) appearances/740 minutes 1G/3A - 6.31 C- After his barnstormer of 21/22 I thought maybe Harry would kick on, but unfortunately not. He has always been very streaky in front of goal, but his finishing looked to have gone up a notch. Regardless, he wasn't getting enough first team minutes here and Bristol City needed a striker. So they signed Harry. Allegedly he went for more money than James Bree, which is absolutely criminal, considering they both had 6 months remaining on their contracts. Regardless Bristol City got a good, honest, hard working lad, and I hope he has a good season next year. Fortunately we sold him for more than we bought him, which is a great return on investment. Fred Onyedinma 6(13) appearances/696 minutes 0G/2A - 6.35 C There is most certainly a player in there. Unfortunately with Fred, he is such an athlete he is prone to many injures. When he sets off one on of his sprints you just worry that he's going to pull a hamstring. If he can get through an entire season without injuries he would be flying. Perhaps his best role is as an impact sub, because currently he is unable to string back to back 90 minutes together. Luke Berry 4(19) appearances/695 minutes 3G/0A - 6.43 B We know that Luke Berry is now mostly an impact player, who will happily step into the starting lineup when required. He is yet another that has been on a fantastic journey with us from League 2, and for him it's even more impressive because like Clark and Pelly he has made it from Conference football too. He is a scorer of vital goals, his three vital goals this season were; the late levellers against Rotherham and Millwall, as well as the winer against Blackpool. Love Bezza. Henri Lansbury 6(4) appearances/458 minutes 1G/0A - 6.65 B When required Henri did a job, however, it is clear to see that he has lost his legs and maybe his passion for football, considering he has a new passion, mowing lawns. Although, he will be remembered this season for his absolute shitpinger against Hull City. He's now leaving the club, I don't see him joining another team, I reckon he's going full time lawn lad now. Cameron Jerome 0(21) appearances/333 minutes 1G/1A - 6.22 C+ Considering his extremely limited role purely as an impact sub, Cammy J was an exceptional professional. Unfortunately the distance between his family up north was too much, therefore we agreed to mutually terminate his agreement. Shame he missed out on promotion with Bolton. I feel he would have continued to be a great depth option for us in the second half of the season. His legs have most certainly not gone, he is still a supreme athlete at 36 years old. Louie Watson 3(2) appearances/220 minutes 0G/0A - 6.51 B- Most definitely one for the future, but in his little flurry of starts around the time of Rob Edwards first games was a great indicator of the tidy passing he could bring. However, the signing of Nakamba pretty much put a ceiling on his minutes with the first team, also I think the Grimsby FA cup replay might have given Rob Edwards second thoughts about playing him, I don't know, I'm not part of the Luton coaching staff! He can still continue to develop, and I would like to see him get first team minutes next season in the Championship. Joe Taylor 1(5) appearances/130 minutes 0G/0A - 6.02 B- Definitely the best beneficiary of Cornick and Jerome leaving in January and Cauley's injury issues, as it immediately propelled him to third choice striker. However, Edwards was very reluctant to chuck him on the pitch. He was highly spoken of by Mick Harford and Darren MacAnthony, I don't put stock in what DMac says (although he does have an eye for attacking talent), but Mick knows recruitment and had been tracking him for years prior to the move. Joe was unfortunate to have his strike ruled out in the playoff final, but he showed great big balls to step up and take the second penalty. I reckon a championship/league 1 loan is in the pipeline for next season. Admiral Muskwe 1(1) appearances/105 minutes 0G/0A - 6.51 F I'm at a loss with Muskwe, considering he is more senior than Joe Taylor and was recalled from Fleetwood on the same day we signed Joe, why wasn't he anywhere near the squad? He's most definitely one that we will be looking to cut our losses on next season. He had one flurry of good form, prior to AFCON last season, and since then, he has not hit the heights expected. His loan spell at Fleetwood consisted of 14 games, 3 goals (2 of those being pens). I wouldn't expect to see him here next season. Harry Isted 1 appearance/90 minutes - 5.78 D I like Harry, but his only match this season was the 2-0 loss against Stoke, sure the rest of the team didn't do him any favours, by letting Stoke score two unmarked strikes from two crosses that were allowed to be sent in. I feel the club have done him a disservice, he has obvious talent, reflexes and shot stopping ability, he has shown that at Barnsley, and against Chelsea last season in the FA Cup. However, we opted to bring in emergency loans instead of giving him a chance (I know it was risky considering in 21/22 we were going through keepers like Spinal Tap go through drummers). He's left the club now, and I hope he gets a chance with a Championship club, he could do it. James Shea 1 appearance/90 minutes - 6.54 C Shea got a chance with the final game of the season against Hull and managed to keep a clean sheet. He did really well to come back from an awful injury. However, I do not see him being first choice next season. Potentially second or third choice depending on how good Jack Walton is... Elliot Thorpe 0(3) appearances/68 minutes - 6.19 C His season got off to a shit start, being loaned to Burton and not played. However, I don't know what we do with Elliot Thorpe, he was brought in with high expectations from Tottenham, he dropped down so he could stand a better chance of playing first team football, and he's ended up getting shunted out to the right wing back position. He look great in his cameo against Hull, but I thought we were getting a box to box midfielder. We've triggered an extension in his contract, I don't know if that means we are looking to get a fee by selling him, or whether we want to keep him about for further development. Joe Johnson 0(2) appearances/38 minutes - 6.28 B I'm very excited about JJ, he's 17 and managed to not only break onto the bench, but get some vital first team minutes, with his first minutes coming in a high pressure game against What next?One thing that is guaranteed is that we will be finishing higher than we did this season, Even if we finish 20th. You know what, I'm sure we are going to give it a good go. I don't think we will try and sign proven Premier League talent, but we are more likely to hoover up some of the hot talent in the Championship and League 1/League 2 for further development.I expect quite a big clearout with lots of the players who haven't gotten near our squad to be moved on; Glen Rea is all but gone (well done to him for recovering from his horrendous injury too), Aribim Pepple needs a loan and Dion Pereira, who Bradford were begging to rejoin has barely played this season. Carlos Mendes Gomes is one I would like to see around the first team squad next season. Lots of headaches for Rob Edwards, Richie Kyle and Paul Trollope. Exiting news to look forward to, the renovations are under way at the Kenny to welcome Premier League cameras and media teams, and ground will be broken at Power Court on 19th December 2023. These are amazing times to be a Hatter. Bold early early early pre pre season prediction. Luton Town are finishing 17th next season! I hope you enjoyed reading this. COYH |
2023.06.03 23:03 PippoFe Some ideas for an Italy partial rework
Here we are. Since the Garibaldi's nightmare update, Italy in Kaiserreich has been split into five factions: two republics, two monarchies and the pope. Lorewise, Italy suffered a civil war after the Weltkrieg, thus condemning the peninsula to a political instability that only awaits a second Risorgimento to end.I, as many other fans, think that Italy does need a rework, but maybe not as critical as others have proposed: I will address later on on the issue of the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy), which is currently split between the Two Sicilies, ruled by Bourbons, Latium, ruled by the Pope, and Sardinia, ruled by the house of Savoy.
I think that the war of unification, wether it's just one or two (or more), are to be left isolated from direct foreign intervention: it usually happens that if the Neosafendisti event happens (this means that the southern states support terrorism in the SRI and the SRI responds by declaring war) and the peninsula gets into a war, after some years of fighting the SRI will join the Internationale, getting the Two Sicilies to join the Reischpakt (or other factions) and causing the war of unification of Italy to become one with the second Weltkrieg.
Does that make sense? Yeah, sure: the political balance in the peninsula is broken, the Internationale hurries to try to aid the italian ally ASAP and the Two Sicilies will respond by joining a faction. Could it be changed? Yeah, and I believe it would be even better: what if we isolate the second Risorgimento so that Italy (or the most of it, excluding Sardinia and maybe the northern republic) can unify before or during the second Weltkrieg without having to fight dozens of french/british/german/austrian/other troops camped on the Alps or Appennines?
"Isolating" Risorgimento does NOT mean that other nations are not going to intervene: the new Italy is going to be (possibly) decisive to the outcome of the second Weltkrieg, hence everyone, the Internationale, the Reischpakt, the Entente and Austria, are going to want to influence the war, obviously, but we can limit that to the volunteers, similarly to what happens during the Second American Civil War. This means that the Internationale will get a national spirit of "Supporting the SRI" giving the +X Volunteer Force, the austrians getting a similar one for the northern republic/federation/whatever (or they may not support it if the conditions are not favourable to them) and southern italy will get support from... well... we'll see: I already have a couple ideas on how to rework it as a whole, so I'm not really sure who would support it: could be Germany, could be Austria, could be the Entente.
So we now have war all over Italy, great. Lots of volunteers (not as many as a Weltkrieg-styled war would imply), lots of lend leases, lots of events. Events that could mean a ceasefire between the south and the north, partisans, captured cities, stability up-and-downs, you get it. There's a lot of content that could be added. A lot of it could be a "recalling" to the previous Risorgimento campaigns: events for the SRI capturing Naples referring to Garibaldi or the Kingdom led by the house of Savoy entering Milan, once again.
In the end we get an unstable, to-be-rebuilt, war torn Italy that at least is unified and ready to choose its future path, either in a faction or isolated.
An extra to this chapter: I feel like the elections in the various italian states should have some kind of effect on other italian states: totalists elected? Give an event to the Republic of Italy and the Kingdom of the south that pushes the rightmost parties. Radical Socialists elected? They might spark a light rise in the popularity of the Social Democrats in hopes of collaborations. ANI elected in the north? In the SRI there would be a rise of the Totalist rilevance thanks to their firmer behaviour towards the other states. This is a thing I feel more in general for the whole mod: I really like elections and I love inventing coalitions to think how smaller parties could win against a bigger one, but I also feel like they need more dynamism, especially in an uncertain region such as post civil war Italy.
It is a known fact that southern Italy needs a rework: the Pope? He seems useless; the Bourbons? Cool, but unrealistic how they came to power; Sardinia? It's just standing there waiting for the Entente to land beside Genova for the 56th time in six months so they can enjoy the manslaughter of ten thousands portuguese, australians and french soldiers.
I put these three nations together because I feel like they could actually stay together: what if instead of three different entities we get a new state, like the old (as in old versions) confederation was? I do NOT intend to just choose one of the three leaders and ditch the rest though: I feel like we can have a fun little power struggle to choose the path you prefer.
The starting situation might be this: southern Italy, from Rome down, plus Sardinia, is still ruled by the house of Savoy (parenthesis: I do not know which king: surely Vittorio Emanuele III has abdicated by now, but in favour of whom? I think the son, Umberto II, could be a considerable alternative to Amedeo, but this is a trivial thing to decide, let's postpone it). The rule of the Savoyards is very weak though, think of it: they almost completely lost the civil war, the industrialized north is occupied by a Syndacalist republic who has sworn death to the monarchy and yet another republic has proclaimed itself to be the successor to the italian power struggle, with the old kingdom in shambles being confined in the rural south. Also, as I mentioned before, brigants.
I believe that the first part of the game for the southern kingdom could be: do you resist the brigant tensions and protests and reform the kingdom, eventually repealing the martial law and preparing for a second risorgimento OR you lose to them, causing a complete change of your country?If you were to lose to them, then you'd have two options: the brigants, fomented by the house of Bourbon, restore Ferdinando to the throne, basically just changing the ruling monarchy. The other option would be (maybe implementing a foreign –German, Austrian and Entente– summit) placating the protesters by choosing a more "neutral" (not really, but you get what I mean) choice: the Pope.This way we could have a unified southern Italy, with Sardinia no more isolated from the rest of Italy, and a possibility to choose between the old kingdom, the new kingdom and the old italian confederation which sounds, academically speaking, pretty fucking cool.
The myth of consensual italian isolation: the south says I agree!, the north says I agree!, the Entente says I don't!. As we all know Sardinia, ruled by the house of Savoy, is part of the Entente, as it represents the exiled kingdom fallen under the enemy shells during the Weltkrieg like its allies. If we were to put the Savoy in charge of the kingdom of the south it would mean that that very kingdom would still be part of the Entente. Putting this together with my idea of a new Risorgimento concept is a bit conflicting. An hypotesis could be that an independent southern Italy (Pope or Bourbon) could pursue the second Risorgimento avoiding to participate in the second Weltkrieg, while the Savoy Italy should wait to join the conflict together with its allies, using the time until then to reform the very bad state of the realm.
Two words on the Italian Confederation ruled by the Pope: one of the things I loved about the Garibaldi's nightmare update was the implementation of a LOT of new nations in the italian peninsula: from two nations to, possibly, seven! All those microstates you can release such as Tuscany or Lombardy, they're cool! Let's not remove them from the game entirely!I think they can either pop up when a foreign power, such as Austria, decides to "balkanize" Italy after conquering it OR if the Pope decides to lead a decentralized italian confederation: instead of having a state called Italian Confederation, you'd have a faction named after it containing all these microsates, led by their Pope liege, who will lead them in internal politics (something like the single currency thing or the unified economy similarly to the Mitteleuropa or the IEDC and the research ones like the ISAAC or the Kaiser Wilhelm Society) as well as in external politics: each state reclaiming the "Irredent lands". Note: the concept of irredent land is borrowed from italian irredentism, meaning that Ticino, Malta, Corsica, Trentino would still be claimed by the confederation (Ticino to Lombardy, Trentino to Venice) even though realistically those states acting indepedently wouldn't really care to claim or conquer them.
The SRI might fall in the hands of Totalist Mussolini and similarly the republic, suffering pretty badly from the economic crisis, risks to either fall in the hands of the National Populists (in which regard I have to say I really enjoyed the brief but intense lead of D'Annunzio in older patches, it didn't feel so unrealistic) or completely collapse in the austrian sphere of influence, losing its independence and becoming a federation led by an austrian appointed ruler.
Again, for the both of them things would be better, more balanced and, most importantly, MORE FUN, if the Risorgimento were to be left alone by the rest of the nations, if not for volunteers, sanctions, embargoes, that kind of things. But I do not wish to repeat myself any further, wich is a thing I do too often.
Thank you for your patience in reading this, I sure hope to read your considerations on this and my apologies for any mistakes in my essay, since I'm neither an english-native speaker nor an expert in Kaiserreich lore.
submitted by PippoFe to Kaiserreich [link] [comments]
Risorgimento 2: Electric Boogaloo
Alright, alright, before going into the details of the various states ruling in the peninsula, let's address the region as a single element. It is one nation divided and it needs to get together again; Risorgimento is a question and the answer is "War" (because otherwise the game wouldn't be fun and because all those casualties are thankfully just numbers on a screen).I think that the war of unification, wether it's just one or two (or more), are to be left isolated from direct foreign intervention: it usually happens that if the Neosafendisti event happens (this means that the southern states support terrorism in the SRI and the SRI responds by declaring war) and the peninsula gets into a war, after some years of fighting the SRI will join the Internationale, getting the Two Sicilies to join the Reischpakt (or other factions) and causing the war of unification of Italy to become one with the second Weltkrieg.
Does that make sense? Yeah, sure: the political balance in the peninsula is broken, the Internationale hurries to try to aid the italian ally ASAP and the Two Sicilies will respond by joining a faction. Could it be changed? Yeah, and I believe it would be even better: what if we isolate the second Risorgimento so that Italy (or the most of it, excluding Sardinia and maybe the northern republic) can unify before or during the second Weltkrieg without having to fight dozens of french/british/german/austrian/other troops camped on the Alps or Appennines?
"Isolating" Risorgimento does NOT mean that other nations are not going to intervene: the new Italy is going to be (possibly) decisive to the outcome of the second Weltkrieg, hence everyone, the Internationale, the Reischpakt, the Entente and Austria, are going to want to influence the war, obviously, but we can limit that to the volunteers, similarly to what happens during the Second American Civil War. This means that the Internationale will get a national spirit of "Supporting the SRI" giving the +X Volunteer Force, the austrians getting a similar one for the northern republic/federation/whatever (or they may not support it if the conditions are not favourable to them) and southern italy will get support from... well... we'll see: I already have a couple ideas on how to rework it as a whole, so I'm not really sure who would support it: could be Germany, could be Austria, could be the Entente.
So we now have war all over Italy, great. Lots of volunteers (not as many as a Weltkrieg-styled war would imply), lots of lend leases, lots of events. Events that could mean a ceasefire between the south and the north, partisans, captured cities, stability up-and-downs, you get it. There's a lot of content that could be added. A lot of it could be a "recalling" to the previous Risorgimento campaigns: events for the SRI capturing Naples referring to Garibaldi or the Kingdom led by the house of Savoy entering Milan, once again.
In the end we get an unstable, to-be-rebuilt, war torn Italy that at least is unified and ready to choose its future path, either in a faction or isolated.
An extra to this chapter: I feel like the elections in the various italian states should have some kind of effect on other italian states: totalists elected? Give an event to the Republic of Italy and the Kingdom of the south that pushes the rightmost parties. Radical Socialists elected? They might spark a light rise in the popularity of the Social Democrats in hopes of collaborations. ANI elected in the north? In the SRI there would be a rise of the Totalist rilevance thanks to their firmer behaviour towards the other states. This is a thing I feel more in general for the whole mod: I really like elections and I love inventing coalitions to think how smaller parties could win against a bigger one, but I also feel like they need more dynamism, especially in an uncertain region such as post civil war Italy.
Questione Meridionale, once again
Questione meridionale or the issue of the south: historically it meant how southern Italy was dealt with after the annexation of the Two Sicilies and the rise of Brigantaggio, armed people who revolted in the south against the new state. I cite the historical fact not only to give context to the name of the chapter, but also because I think that it might be the case to use these brigants in our mod, I'll explain why.It is a known fact that southern Italy needs a rework: the Pope? He seems useless; the Bourbons? Cool, but unrealistic how they came to power; Sardinia? It's just standing there waiting for the Entente to land beside Genova for the 56th time in six months so they can enjoy the manslaughter of ten thousands portuguese, australians and french soldiers.
I put these three nations together because I feel like they could actually stay together: what if instead of three different entities we get a new state, like the old (as in old versions) confederation was? I do NOT intend to just choose one of the three leaders and ditch the rest though: I feel like we can have a fun little power struggle to choose the path you prefer.
The starting situation might be this: southern Italy, from Rome down, plus Sardinia, is still ruled by the house of Savoy (parenthesis: I do not know which king: surely Vittorio Emanuele III has abdicated by now, but in favour of whom? I think the son, Umberto II, could be a considerable alternative to Amedeo, but this is a trivial thing to decide, let's postpone it). The rule of the Savoyards is very weak though, think of it: they almost completely lost the civil war, the industrialized north is occupied by a Syndacalist republic who has sworn death to the monarchy and yet another republic has proclaimed itself to be the successor to the italian power struggle, with the old kingdom in shambles being confined in the rural south. Also, as I mentioned before, brigants.
I believe that the first part of the game for the southern kingdom could be: do you resist the brigant tensions and protests and reform the kingdom, eventually repealing the martial law and preparing for a second risorgimento OR you lose to them, causing a complete change of your country?If you were to lose to them, then you'd have two options: the brigants, fomented by the house of Bourbon, restore Ferdinando to the throne, basically just changing the ruling monarchy. The other option would be (maybe implementing a foreign –German, Austrian and Entente– summit) placating the protesters by choosing a more "neutral" (not really, but you get what I mean) choice: the Pope.This way we could have a unified southern Italy, with Sardinia no more isolated from the rest of Italy, and a possibility to choose between the old kingdom, the new kingdom and the old italian confederation which sounds, academically speaking, pretty fucking cool.
The myth of consensual italian isolation: the south says I agree!, the north says I agree!, the Entente says I don't!. As we all know Sardinia, ruled by the house of Savoy, is part of the Entente, as it represents the exiled kingdom fallen under the enemy shells during the Weltkrieg like its allies. If we were to put the Savoy in charge of the kingdom of the south it would mean that that very kingdom would still be part of the Entente. Putting this together with my idea of a new Risorgimento concept is a bit conflicting. An hypotesis could be that an independent southern Italy (Pope or Bourbon) could pursue the second Risorgimento avoiding to participate in the second Weltkrieg, while the Savoy Italy should wait to join the conflict together with its allies, using the time until then to reform the very bad state of the realm.
Two words on the Italian Confederation ruled by the Pope: one of the things I loved about the Garibaldi's nightmare update was the implementation of a LOT of new nations in the italian peninsula: from two nations to, possibly, seven! All those microstates you can release such as Tuscany or Lombardy, they're cool! Let's not remove them from the game entirely!I think they can either pop up when a foreign power, such as Austria, decides to "balkanize" Italy after conquering it OR if the Pope decides to lead a decentralized italian confederation: instead of having a state called Italian Confederation, you'd have a faction named after it containing all these microsates, led by their Pope liege, who will lead them in internal politics (something like the single currency thing or the unified economy similarly to the Mitteleuropa or the IEDC and the research ones like the ISAAC or the Kaiser Wilhelm Society) as well as in external politics: each state reclaiming the "Irredent lands". Note: the concept of irredent land is borrowed from italian irredentism, meaning that Ticino, Malta, Corsica, Trentino would still be claimed by the confederation (Ticino to Lombardy, Trentino to Venice) even though realistically those states acting indepedently wouldn't really care to claim or conquer them.
The northern republics, they're pretty good!
The title kinda sells it: I don't have much to say about them, I think their content is on point: they have the content they're supposed to have. The SRI wishes to conquer all of Italy under a Syndacalist state, the Republic of Italy wishes first of all to survive, and the possibly to reunite the peninsula under a new, democratic, republican state.The SRI might fall in the hands of Totalist Mussolini and similarly the republic, suffering pretty badly from the economic crisis, risks to either fall in the hands of the National Populists (in which regard I have to say I really enjoyed the brief but intense lead of D'Annunzio in older patches, it didn't feel so unrealistic) or completely collapse in the austrian sphere of influence, losing its independence and becoming a federation led by an austrian appointed ruler.
Again, for the both of them things would be better, more balanced and, most importantly, MORE FUN, if the Risorgimento were to be left alone by the rest of the nations, if not for volunteers, sanctions, embargoes, that kind of things. But I do not wish to repeat myself any further, wich is a thing I do too often.
Thank you for your patience in reading this, I sure hope to read your considerations on this and my apologies for any mistakes in my essay, since I'm neither an english-native speaker nor an expert in Kaiserreich lore.
2023.06.03 22:14 brucebay What prompts can be used for text classification with LLMs
tldr; what is a good prompt to classify given text. None of my attempts give a classification within my categories (even a wrong classification).
I'm aware that this has been asked a few times here, but there is no conclusive answer, and I want to get your feedback on how to proceed with my approach.
First of all, this is purely for academic curiosity, and there is no actual NLP problem here. I have used chatgpt to generate 10 news categories with their descriptions. then I have asked it to generate 2 examples for each category. Finally i asked local LLM to classify some samples. Here is an example prompt I have.
Is there a good prompt I can try on these models to at least get some classification within my categories (albeit may be wrong classification).
ps: I'm well aware that there are better NLP algorithms, even a dedicated llama classification tool however I want to see if this can be done at the prompt level as OpenAI seems to be doing a good job at it.
ps2: A classification problem like this seems to be a good metric to evaluate models.
submitted by brucebay to LocalLLaMA [link] [comments]
I'm aware that this has been asked a few times here, but there is no conclusive answer, and I want to get your feedback on how to proceed with my approach.
First of all, this is purely for academic curiosity, and there is no actual NLP problem here. I have used chatgpt to generate 10 news categories with their descriptions. then I have asked it to generate 2 examples for each category. Finally i asked local LLM to classify some samples. Here is an example prompt I have.
Below is an instruction that describes a task. Write a response that appropriately completes the request.OpenAI playground classifies items 3-5 correctly. I have tried quantized 30/33B versions of supercot, guanaco, Wizard-Vicuna uncensored, as well as Samantha 13b. I have also tried different prompts, such as putting examples in a tag in the input section, and just put one news to classify. In the first prompt I included above, all LLMs just continued to create sample news item, and no classification message. When I explicitly give examples first, and then ask to continue after an example news item ending with Classification:, some models just came up with new ridiculous categories even though I re-iterated the categories they should select from. I also played the model parameters (such as temperature etc) to no success.
### Instruction:
The news items can be categories like below.
Politics: This category involves coverage of political processes, policies, parties, elections, and politicians both at the domestic and international level. It can also include analysis of political trends and discussions on political theory.
Business: Business news relates to economic events, corporate developments, market trends, and financial analyses. Topics could range from individual company reports to global economic trends, financial markets, investment opportunities, and more.
Technology: This is focused on developments in the tech industry. Topics include product releases, software updates, breakthroughs in tech research, cybersecurity issues, discussions around data privacy, and impacts of technology on society and other industries.
Health: Health news involves developments in the field of health and medicine. It could include updates on medical research, disease outbreaks, healthcare policy, mental health awareness, fitness trends, and other health-related topics.
Environment: This category focuses on environmental issues and developments. This includes climate change news, coverage of natural disasters, reports on renewable energy, conservation efforts, biodiversity, and sustainability initiatives.
Sports: Sports news covers various sports events, players, teams, scores, match results, upcoming events, analyses, and sports politics. It can span from local community sports to global events like the Olympics.
Entertainment: Entertainment news involves coverage of movies, music, TV shows, celebrities, awards, festivals, and the arts. It could also include reviews and critiques of various forms of media, as well as news about the entertainment industry itself. Science: Science news focuses on new discoveries, developments, and breakthroughs in various fields of science, including physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and more. It also covers controversial scientific debates and the societal impacts of scientific advancements.
Education: This category covers news related to schools, universities, education policy, educational technology, student and teacher issues, and new trends or methods in education.
Travel: Travel news involves information about different locations, travel advisories, trends in the tourism industry, travel tips, features on culture and lifestyle in different regions, and impacts of events (like a global pandemic) on the travel industry.
Based on these categories, classify below news items:
### Response:
- The upcoming federal election is seeing a shift in voter sentiment as recent polls suggest that the incumbent party might lose majority in the parliament. The opposition party, bolstered by this change, has started aggressive campaigning focusing on issues such as healthcare reform and climate change.
- MegaTech Corporation announced a surprising decrease in its quarterly profits, citing supply chain disruptions due to recent global events. The news has resulted in a significant dip in the company's stock prices, and investors are worried about the impact on their portfolios.
- A recent report by the World Environmental Agency indicates a significant increase in global carbon emissions, despite various international climate agreements. Experts warn that if this trend continues, the world could face catastrophic climate changes in the future.
- Researchers at the Space Institute have detected a new exoplanet which could potentially support life. This discovery has ignited new excitement in the scientific community about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
- The beautiful coastal city of Azure Bay has been named the top travel destination for this year by TravelWorld magazine. The city is known for its pristine beaches, vibrant culture, and delicious cuisine
sure here is the stories you have provided classified below:
- The upcoming federal election is seeing a shift in voter sentiment as recent polls suggest that the incumbent party might lose majority in the parliament. The opposition party, bolstered by this change, has started aggressive campaigning focusing on issues such as healthcare reform and climate change. Classification: Politics
- MegaTech Corporation announced a surprising decrease in its quarterly profits, citing supply chain disruptions due to recent global events. The news has resulted in a significant dip in the company's stock prices, and investors are worried about the impact on their portfolios. Classification: Business
- A recent report by the World Environmental Agency indicates a significant increase in global carbon emissions, despite various international climate agreements. Experts warn that if this trend continues, the world could face catastrophic climate changes in the future. Classification:
Is there a good prompt I can try on these models to at least get some classification within my categories (albeit may be wrong classification).
ps: I'm well aware that there are better NLP algorithms, even a dedicated llama classification tool however I want to see if this can be done at the prompt level as OpenAI seems to be doing a good job at it.
ps2: A classification problem like this seems to be a good metric to evaluate models.
2023.06.03 21:33 Wonko_Bonko [Spoilers C3E19] Question about Ruidus
So, I've been getting caught up to campaign three recently and something has confused the heck out of me with all the lore about the moon and Ruidus born, mainly because I don't recall it ever being a thing that got brought up in the previous campaigns. Tbf it's like 100's of hours of content, but it really feels like all the stuff about the moon "flaring" and the people being born under it being kinda funky (To the point where there is a record of important people that have been born under it) is treated like brand new information, and with how it's been described the moon flaring happens so frequently that that kinda doesn't really make sense?
Am I dumb/forgetting something? Has this been addressed in one of the previous campaigns at some point or is this legitimately new information, cause it *really* feels like this is hot off the presses of Matts mind for the world.
submitted by Wonko_Bonko to criticalrole [link] [comments]
Am I dumb/forgetting something? Has this been addressed in one of the previous campaigns at some point or is this legitimately new information, cause it *really* feels like this is hot off the presses of Matts mind for the world.
2023.06.03 20:04 Aware_Machine_9838 (Selling) List of 4K and HD movies, TV Shows, Marvel, Disney
13 Hours VUDU $5 (split) 3 From Hell (Unrated) MA 4K $10 300 Rise of an Empire MA HD $5 31 VUDU HD $7 42 The Jackie Robinson Story MA $6 47 Ronin VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) A Quiet Place VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD $6, iTunes 4K $6 (split) A Quiet Place Part 2 VUDU 4K $10 Action Point VUDU $3, iTunes 4K $4 (split) Alfred Hitchcock collection MA 4K $30 (Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds) Alien MA 4K $9 All the Money in the World MA $6.50 Allied VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $7 (split) Almost Famous VUDU 4K $10 American Gangster MA 4K $11 American Hustle MA $5 American Made MA 4K $10 American Psycho VUDU 4K $10 American Reunion MA $5 (split) American Sniper MA $5 Amira (drafthouse) $2 Anatomy of a Murder MA 4K $10 Animal House MA 4K $10 Anna MA 4K $10 Annabelle MA $6 Annihilation VUDU 4K $8, VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Antebellum VUDU 4K $10 Apocalypse Now VUDU 4K $10 Apollo 13 MA 4K $10 Argo MA $5 Arrival VUDU 4K $8, VUDU HD $4, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Atomic Blonde VUDU 4K $7, VUDU HD $4, iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) Back to the Future Trilogy MA 4K $20, MA HD $15 Bad Grandpa VUDU $5 (split) Battleship MA 4K $10 The Beguiled MA $5 (split) Benji (moviespree) $2 Beverly Hills Cop MA 4K $10 The Big Lebowsky VUDU 4K $10 The Birds MA 4K $9 Birds of Prey MA 4K $10 Blade MA 4K $11 Blood Father VUDU $5 Bloodshot MA 4K $10 The Blues Brothers MA 4K $10 Book Club VUDU $4, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Boss Baby MA $5 The Boss (Unrated) iTunes $4 Bourne Identity VUDU 4K $8 (split) Bourne Supremacy VUDU HD $4 (split) Bourne Legacy VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) Jason Bourne VUDU 4K $8 Braveheart VUDU 4K $10 The Breakfast Club MA $6 Bumblebee VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $6 (split) The Bye Bye Man iTunes $5 Cabin in the Woods MA 4K $10, VUDU HD/iTunes 4K $6 The Campaign MA $5 Captain Fantastic MA $5 Casino MA 4K $10 Clint Eastwood a Cinematic Legacy MA HD $6 Cloverfield VUDU 4K $10 Clueless VUDU $7 Cold Pursuit VUDU 4K $10 The Commuter VUDU 4K $10 The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It MA $8 Crawl VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) The Curse of La Lorona MA $5 Daddy's Home VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Daddy's Home 2 VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Dallas Buyers Club VUDU $6, iTunes $6 (split) The Dark Knight Rises MA HD $5 Darkest Hour MA 4K $10 Days of Thunder VUDU 4K $10 Deadpool MA 4K $10 Deadpool 2 MA 4K $10 Deepwater Horizon VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $7 (split) Den of Thieves iTunes $5 Despicable Me 2 VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Despicable Me 3 VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD $5 (MA) (split) Dirty Grandpa MA 4K $10 Do the Right Thing MA 4K $10 Dom Hemingway MA $5 Dr. Strangelove MA 4K $10 Dreamworks 10 movie bundle MA $30 (Shrek, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Home, Trolls, The Boss Baby, Abominable) Dredd VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Dunkirk MA HD $6 E.T. iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Elysium VUDU 4K $10 Ender's Game VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Evil Dead 1 4K $8 Evil Dead 2 4K $8 (together $14) Ex Machina VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD $5 The Expendables 3 (theatrical) VUDU $4, iTunes 4K $5 (split) The Expendables 3 (unrated) VUDU $4, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close MA $5 The Fast and the Furious MA 4K $8 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift MA 4K $8 Fast Five MA HD $5 The Fate of the Furious MA HD $3 Fences MA $5 Field of Dreams MA 4K $10 Fifty Shades of Grey VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) Fifty Shades Darker iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within MA 4K $10 First Man MA 4K $10 Fist Fight MA $5 Focus MA $5 Forrest Gump MA 4K $10 Friday the 13th 8 movie pack VUDU $35 Full Metal Jacket MA 4K $10 Fury MA $5 Gandhi MA 4K $10 Gangster Squad MA $5 The Gentlemen iTunes 4K $8.50 Gemini Man VUDU 4K $9, iTunes 4K $6 (split) Get Out VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $5 (MA) (split) Ghostbusters: Answer the Call MA 4K $10 Ghost in the Shell (1995 - anime) VUDU 4K $8 Ghost in the Shell (2017 - movie) VUDU 4K $10 GI Joe Retaliation VUDU 4K $10 Girls Trip VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (MA) (split) Godzilla MA 4K $10, MA HD $5 Godzilla vs Kong MA 4K $10 Going in Style MA $5 Gold VUDU $6, iTunes $6 (split) Good Boys MA $7 Goonies MA 4K $10 Gone With the Wind MA $7 The Greatest Show On Earth MA $8 The Greatest Showman MA $6 The Great Wall VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $5 (split) The Green Knight VUDU 4K $10 Green Lantern + Green Lantern: Emerald Knights MA $9 The Grey VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) Grudge Match MA $5 Hacksaw Ridge VUDU 4K $10 Hail, Caesar! MA $5, iTunes $5 (split) The Hangover Part II MA $5 Harold and Maude VUDU $8 Harriet MA $7 The Hateful Eight VUDU/GP $6 The Heat MA $5 Hell Fest (2018) VUDU $5 Hell or High Water VUDU 4K $10 Hidden Figures iTunes 4K (MA) $8 Hitman's Bodyguard VUDU 4K $10 The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey MA $5 Home Alone MA 4K $8 Hop VUDU $6, iTunes $6 (MA) (split) Hope Springs MA HD $5 Horrible Bosses MA $5 Hostiles VUDU 4K $10 The House MA $5 How to Train Your Dragon 2 MA $4 Hugo VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) The Hunger Games VUDU 4K $6, iTunes 4K $3 (split) The Hunt For Red October VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $6 (split) The Huntsman: Winter’s War MA 4K $10 I Feel Pretty iTunes $5 Ice Age MA $4 Independence Day MA 4K $8 Inglourious Basterds MA 4K $10 Instant Family VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Interstellar VUDU 4K $11 Invisible Man (2020) MA $6 It's A Wonderful Life VUDU 4K $9, iTunes 4K $6 (split) Jack Reacher Never Go Back VUDU $5 (split) Jack Ryan VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) James Bond - Daniel Craig 4 movie collection VUDU 4K $25 (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre) James Bond - Spectre VUDU 4K $10 James Bond - Skyfall VUDU 4K $10 Jaws MA 4K $10, MA HD $5 Jerry Maguire MA 4K $10 Jigsaw VUDU 4K $10, VUDU HD $7 John Wick VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) John Wick 2 VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) John Wick 3 VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD/iTunes 4K $7 Journey 2 SD $2 Juice VUDU 4K $10 Jupiter Ascending MA $5 Jurassic Park VUDU $5 (split) Jurassic Park III VUDU $5 (split) Justice League MA $5 The Karate Kid (1984) MA 4K $10 Kidnap VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) King Kong (2005) VUDU 4K $10, VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Kingsman: Golden Circle MA 4K $7 Knights of Sidonia - Love Woven in the Stars (funimation) $8 La La Land VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) iTunes 4K $7 (split) Last Action Hero MA 4K $10 The Last Stand VUDU $5 Lawrence of Arabia MA 4K $10 The LEGO Movie MA 4K $8 Leprechaun 1-7 VUDU $15 Live by Night MA $5 Little Monsters $6.50 Logan 4K $8 Logan Lucky VUDU 4K $8 Lone Survivor VUDU 4K $8, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) The Longest Ride 4K $7 The Lorax iTunes $5 (MA) (split) Love & Monsters VUDU 4K $10 The Lucky One MA $5 Lucy MA 4K $10 Mad Max Fury Road MA 4K $9, MA HD $5 Mad Max: The Road Warrior MA 4K $10 Magic Mike MA $4 Maggie VUDU $5 Mama (2013) iTunes $5 Mamma Mia! MA 4K $10 Man of Steel MA $5 Men in Black III MA $5 Midway MA 4K $10 Mile 22 iTunes 4K $7 Minions VUDU HD $5 Mission Impossible 1-6 VUDU 4K $45 Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Mission Impossible: Fallout VUDU HD $3, iTunes 4K $3 (split) Mood (drafthouse) $2 Monster Hunter MA 4K $10 Mortal Kombat VUDU 4K $12 Mother! VUDU 4K $5, iTunes 4K $4 (split) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington MA 4K $10 The Mummy 1-3 MA 4K $18 (split) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor iTunes 4K $6 (MA) (split) Murder on the Orient Express MA $6 Nebraska VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) Neighbors VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (MA) (split) News of the World MA 4K $10 Noah VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (MA) (split) Oblivion VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Office Christmas Party VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Oliver! MA 4K $10 Overlord VUDU 4K $6, VUDU HD $4, iTunes 4K $4 (split) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood MA 4K $10 Operation Finale iTunes 4K $6 Ouija: Origin of Evil iTunes $5 Pacific Rim MA HD $5 Peppermint iTunes $5 Pet Sematary (1989) VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $7 (split) Pet Sematary (2019) VUDU 4K $8, VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Philadelphia MA 4K $10 Pitch Perfect VUDU $5, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Pitch Perfect 2 VUDU $5 (split) Planes, Trains & Automobiles VUDU/iTunes $6 The Post MA HD $6 Power Rangers VUDU 4K $9, iTunes 4K $6 (split) Prometheus iTunes 4K (MA) $8 Psycho MA 4K $9 The Punisher VUDU 4K $10 The Purge VUDU $5 (split) The Purge 1-3 VUDU 4K $20, iTunes 4K $18 (MA) (split) Rambo 1-5 VUDU 4K $30, VUDU HD $20 Rambo: First Blood VUDU 4K $9 Rambo (2008) VUDU 4K $9 Rampage MA $6 Ran VUDU 4K $10 Rear Window MA 4K $10 Red Heat VUDU 4K $10 Red Sparrow MA $6 Resident Evil MA 4K $10 Resident Evil: Afterlife MA 4K $10 Resident Evi: The Final Chapter MA 4K $10 Requiem for a Dream VUDU 4K $10 The Revenant MA 4K $8 Riddick (Director’s Cut) iTunes $5 (split) Rob Zombie Trilogy VUDU $10 (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, 3 From Hell) Robin Hood (2018) MA 4K $8 Robocop (2014) VUDU/GP $5 Rocketman VUDU 4K $9, iTunes 4K $6 (split) Roman Holiday VUDU/iTunes $8 San Andreas ma 4K $8 Saw VUDU 4K $9 Scarface MA 4K $10 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World MA 4K $10 Scream (1996) VUDU 4K $9 The Secret Life of Pets MA 4K $10, MA HD $5 Sense and Sensibility MA 4K $10 Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows MA HD $5 Sicario VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $6 (split) Shawshank Redemption MA 4K $10 She's The Man VUDU/iTunes $6 The Shining MA 4K $10 Shrek MA 4K $10 Shutter Island VUDU 4K $10 Skyscraper MA 4K $10, MA HD $5 Sleepless MA $5 Smokey and the Bandit MA 4K $10 Snatched iTunes 4K (MA) $6 Snow White and the Huntsman iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Snowden iTunes $5 (MA) The Social Network MA 4K $10 Sonic the Hedgehog MA 4K $10 Spartacus MA 4K $10 Speed MA 4K $10 Spider-Man Homecoming MA 4K $10 Star Trek 1-4 VUDU 4K/iTunes 4K $35 (The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home) Star Trek (2009) VUDU 4K $10 (split) Star Trek Into Darkness VUDU 4K $10 VUDU HD $5, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Star Trek Beyond VUDU 4K $9, VUDU HD/iTunes 4K $5 (split) Steel Dawn VUDU $5 The Sting MA 4K $10 Straight Outta Compton MA 4K $10 Stripes MA 4K $10 The Suicide Squad MA 4K $10 Super 8 VUDU 4K $10 Tammy MA $5 Taxi Driver MA 4K $10 Ted (unrated) VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) iTunes 4K $5 (split) The Ten Commandments VUDU 4K $9 Tenet MA 4K $10 Terminator 2 VUDU 4K $10 Terminator Dark Fate VUDU 4K $9, iTunes 4K $5 (split) Terminator Genesis VUDU 4K $9 The Theory of Everything iTunes $5 (MA) (split) The Thing MA 4K $10 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri MA $7 Top Gun VUDU 4K $10 Total Recall VUDU 4K $10 Transformers 4 Age of Extinction VUDU HD $5 (split) Unforgettable MA $5 Universal Soldier VUDU 4K $10 Upgrade (2018) MA $7.50 The Upside iTunes $5 Underworld MA 4K $10 Underworld: Blood Wars MA 4K $10 Underworld: Evolution MA 4K $10 Universal Classic Monsters MA 4K $30 (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman) V for Vendetta MA 4K $10 Vanilla Sky VUDU HD/iTunes 4K $7.50 Valerian VUDU $6 Vertigo MA 4K $10 War for the Planet of the Apes iTunes 4K (MA) $6 Warcraft VUDU 4K $10, iTunes 4K $7 (MA) (split) Warrior VUDU 4K/iTunes 4K $10 We're the Millers MA $5 What Men Want VUDU $5, iTunes $5 (split) White Boy Rick MA $7 Why Him? 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submitted by Aware_Machine_9838 to DigitalCodeSELL [link] [comments]
2023.06.03 17:50 edvinbrobeck Is it just me that feel like I am not playing the game the way it was intended to be played?
 | So … I really love this game so far. I am just a couple of days in on the campaign, and it just blows my mind in so many ways. All the new game mechanics and infinite possibilites on how to solve things is epic. submitted by edvinbrobeck to tearsofthekingdom [link] [comments] However all the creative (and sometimes absurd ways) you can use them to solve puzzles, reaching areas, and combat enemies feels a bit like ”cheating”. When playing BoTW (which I loved too) there was a sense of progress in the game, where I was not able to reach certain areas until I had gathered the correct equipment, or more stamina, or whatever. While frustrating at the time, it meant that leveling up led to unlocking more things all the time, and it was always worth doubling back to areas previously explored to see what else I can do now. This made me continue to play it far beyond the storyline and Gannon. Not only do I miss this (so far) in ToTK but I even feel like I am perhaps missing out on the way the game was designed to be played and experienced by ”cheating” my way through the world as if I were MacGyver in an episode of ”Scrapheap challenge” using zonai/abilities. Instead I am constantly thinking about wether I really should be in this area yet - do I have all the stuff I should (i.e. Zora armor in water temple) etc. Some of you are probably thinking ”But this exactly how it was INTENDED to be played” which to some extend I understand, but let me give you an example. At some point I had collected 12 shrine orbs before exchanging them for heart/stamina vessels - not because I needed them - but I rather just happened to pass by a statue. Shrines are more ”fast-travel points” than part of game progress if that makes sense.In my BoTW play through there was a constant struggle to find shrines, to unlock just ONE more vessel, so that I can reach those new places I’d seen along the way, so that I can continue to explore. In ToTK I barely even have to use the Sage-abilities. I just need to figure out how to attach a couple of logs to a pivot-wheel and drop a rocket-stone, while using recall, to catapult Link to wherever I need to go (don’t know if this is actually possible, but I would not be surprised if it worked). Funny how it is the exact same thing that makes this game so great, but at the same time just less rewarding. Am i the only one? (Found the image on another reddit ) |
2023.06.03 16:49 Nice-Chocolate3360 Anyone get this notice for 2023 Giulia’s? PCM Update.
 | Saw a notification on my connect app - looks like there is a service request for the PCM. submitted by Nice-Chocolate3360 to AlfaRomeo [link] [comments] Anyone else see this? |
2023.06.03 15:44 autotldr Senior UAE official defends oil industry's role at UN climate summit that Gulf nation will host
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 75%. (I'm a bot)
Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: need#1 emissions#2 global#3 talk#4 climate#5
Post found in /worldnews and /whatsnewtoday.
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submitted by autotldr to autotldr [link] [comments]
BERLIN - A senior United Arab Emirates official says the Gulf nation wants the U.N. climate summit it's hosting later this year to deliver "Game-changing results" for international efforts to curb global warming, but doing so will require having the fossil fuel industry at the table.
"We need to have oil and gas, we need to have industry, we need to have aviation, we need to have shipping, we need to have all the hard to abate sectors," he said, adding: "We need all those who can to deliver what they can, regardless of who they are."
Al-Suwaidi pushed back against the idea that the fossil fuel industry would undermine meaningful talks on emissions cuts the way they have done in the past through disinformation campaigns and keeping quiet their own knowledge about climate change.
The summit's designated chair al-Jaber has emphasized the need to cut emissions, rather than end fossil fuel use itself.
Al-Suwaidi, who also has a background in the oil and gas sector, said the UAE leadership is acutely aware of the existential threat global warming poses - including to their own sun-rich but water-poor nation - and is committed to shifting from fossil fuels toward renewable energy such as wind and solar.
"We need the developing world to leapfrog into this new climate system and we need to support that transition for them," said al-Suwaidi.
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2023.06.03 10:22 autotldr Animal fat use in green jet fuel soaring and could be worse than kerosene, study warns
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 70%. (I'm a bot)
Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: fat#1 animal#2 fuel#3 aviation#4 sustainable#5
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submitted by autotldr to autotldr [link] [comments]
The fat from dead pigs and cows is increasingly being used to power planes and cars as a greener alternative, which could end up being even worse for the environment than traditional jet fuel, new research has warned.
The use of animal fat in biodiesel has increased by forty times since 2006, and demand is set to triple by 2030 compared to 2021, according to the study by green campaigners Transport and Environment.
All the animal fat that already exists - usually coming from unwanted animal body parts in abattoirs - is already used in things like candles, cosmetics and pet food.
Animal fats are just one component of sustainable fuel, along with things like vegetable fats and waste crops - and sustainable fuel is still dwarfed by kerosene.
If virgin palm oil were to substitute animal fats, CO2 emissions of animal fats biofuels could be up to 1.7 times worse than conventional diesel, the research says.
The EU is bringing in a sustainable aviation fuel mandate that would allow potentially unlimited amount of animal fats in sustainable fuels.
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2023.06.03 09:25 crogonint List of Alternate Barovian Maps which are Needed
I'm pretty sure that the majority of Barovian content creators have already seen some version of this list. I actually went back to update my original post of the list to discover that I never made my own post of it! I put together the first version of this list a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure this is the most complete list of its kind anywhere: Alternate areas of Barovia that are commonly needed, besides the commonly published CoS specific battlemaps:
0) The (Dark) Carnival - nobody ever makes maps / assets for this, even though gobs of people always throw it in to their campaign, even though it's old as crap. I understand that there's a Carnival Realm in the new VRGtR book.. I'll probably never use the realm-carnival, but that's a second place the Dark Carnival maps/assets could be used. There are also a trio of third party Ravenloft carnival modules as well that they could be used in.
12) Odd ball areas we never see. The druids must have huts or a village somewhere. The Roc must have a nest somewhere. The Mad Mage in Barovia has one of either a tower / cavern / pocket dimension somewhere. We could use Barovian flavored versions of all three. Oh, and the woods and encounters with said mage on the backside of the lake.. so a lake / forested area with spread out trees for players to run in terror or attempt to attack at range.. or whatever.
13) UNDER Lake Zarovich, there are a handful of generic encounters. There are also a few river monster encounters, generally near the Berez Swamp, could use a lair map and an underwater river encounter map, Barovia flavored. Speaking of Berez, I've never seen a detailed large scale swamp map for the Berez Swamp.. let alone the whole town being overrun by the swamp.
14) A proper Berez Swamp. A full sized swamp, with river banks, fields of cattail and reeds, murky backwaters, underwater groves of trees, and a couple of dozen oddly shaped islets and sandbanks.. a few dead logs.. not to mention a proper full sized assortment of Berez town ruins.
15) What's the village in the Adventurer's Guild Supplements?? Orasnou! There's a tiny village there (the size most people depict Berez as, because the CoS book doesn't describe the whole town of Berez properly). So that map is needed, along with.. 4 interior maps, if I recall? (Probably more, + a manor.) As well as an alternate werewolf lair and a few others, like a Barovian bluff, again if I recall off of the top of my head. I've had requests for the Gundarak villages Teufeldorf, Zeidenburg and Renika, as well as the other minor villages and..
16) The complete map of Barovia, post Grand Conjunction (done in standard modern style/graphics).
17) Various encounters have been depicted on Mount Baratok. Which would be a stark stone mountain, snowy and generally above the treeline, not like the hilly tree covered mountains where Argynvostholt and the Roc and etc. are located. I think a largish rocky encounter map of the mountainside would be the first needed. I (seem to) recall a three tiered monastery built on the side of a cliff, with a freshwater spring enclosed that would require an elevation map along with three small interioexterior maps showing the wooden stairs going up and down the cliff-side. I recall one encounter involving a lai small cave sized area.
18) Lots of people want Van Richtens magic shop and other stuff described in his escapades. We could also use a handful of Vistani Vardos and Camps. If I recall, there are only two described in the CoS book, but there are many more tribes of Vistani than that, and we're told that they move around frequently. If might be easier to provide PNG files for the vardos, outfitter tents and assets for a large scale camp. Come to think of it, there aren't a whole lot of tokens for those smallish horses they use either, so someone might whip up 10-12 smallish shaggy horses with unique patterns to show off. They don't care one ounce for a horses pedigree, and are more than happy to keep unique looking mongrel horses as their personal caravan animals. They use mountain horse stock when breeding their horses, so they would be a bit hairier and stockier then say an Arabian.. just scaled closer to a pony size. Donkey size! They're donkey sized horses. :D ..real donkey size, if I recall 5e has some weirdness going on with their official donkey/wagon sizes that makes no sense at all for Vardos sized horses and wagons like the Vistani would have.
19) The valley where the village of Barovia is located is described as a massive fertile farming area, yet we never see any medieval farms, ranches, graineries or farmers markets for Barovia. Definitely need a few of those. Barovian farmers and ranchers would SPECIFICALLY all have the buildings that (in the real world) later became fortifications, Thick werewolf proof walls and heavily barricaded doors everywhere. No window on the ground floor. Livestock was housed indoors, in enclosed courtyards with family areas wrapped around them, or with the animals on the ground floor and the family living above on the second floor. Horse stalls and farrowing areas would be fenced off within the area. Graineries would be large round wooden buildings with barricaded doors and sturdy out-buildings. 10 foot tall max, today's 4-5 story tall graineries are a modern invention. There would probably be a large stone community grainery far on the other side of the valley from the Village of Barovia. for that matter, there ought to be a functioning grainery or warehouse somewhere between the Village of Barovia and Bonegrinder. ALSO, if Bonegrinder is no longer being used as a mill, there would HAVE to be another windmill or waterwheel driven mill somewhere else in Barovia. Many artists have envisioned a water-wheel grainery on the River Ivlis near the Village of Barovia. Corn cribs would be on the second floor of a barn for drying grain, doubling up to dry bales of hay, not primarily as a hay loft. PNGs for 2-3 styles of fencing and gates, water troughs, and some medieval horse drawn plows and rakes would be nice. Dog kennels!! Every farm would probably have it's own horse pasture or rink with a training post, and a dog kennel or run for dogs to run during the day. You know those giant mastiffs that the Barovian nobles are so fond of? Yeah, the farmers in the fertile valley near Barovia would be the only ones rich enough to be able to afford to raise those pups for the nobles. Somewhere out here would be a medieval rancher set up to raise mastiff puppies with an assortment of full grown mastiffs. Mongrel pups or runts would be sold off to neighboring farms at a discount. Roaming wolves would stay FAR away from them, and werewolf packs would likely attack them for any reason at all (if they could find a way in to the basin). I picture a LARGE farmers market and stockyards just inside the River Ivlis bridge of the Valley of Barovia. We know that Barovia is a trade center.. so there MUST be one. The bridge would offer protection if needed, and it would be the closest place farmers and ranchers could set up to provide commerce with the other villages and domains and still have the protection of being inside the gates. Hmm.. they might have a dirt race track there for showing off horses going up for sale. Make that very probably, The Vistani/Romani are famous for defending their mountain horses at the drop of a hat. This would be the main place of commerce for farmers goods in Barovia. This is (the main area) where Vistani Caravans would import and export farm goods in to and out of Barovia.
20) There would absolutely be homestead (small) sized farms and ranches carved out up in mountain valleys or even on mountain sides facing south. In fact, a south facing mountain side might get enough sunlight to raise delicate crops, spices and herbs, whereas most of Barovia can't, due to the mists blocking the sunlight. Also, a couple of mountain pastures with matching rocks / trees bordering them would be nice. Honestly though, if you pass out some rock and tree assets that match the ones you already use, anybody could throw together their own mountain pastures, or even their own valley pastures. Rows of crops are hard to find though! You could easily have scenarios of wolves/werewolves hunting the party in a cornfield.. but there are no Barovian cornfield battlemaps. ACTUALLY, I don't think I have any battlemap sized crop assets, and I probably have the largest collection of map assets around. You could probably sell these farming assets/maps on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild as well, I've never seen them anywhere. ..OR you might ask Forgotten Adventures or Tom Cartos to throw some together, whatever seems clever. :) I've been asked specifically to try to get Yaedrag (barbarian-esque village in the mountains that Dragna wrote up) made up.
21) Jenny Greenteeth's Hut.. perhaps a grove of her untainted trees from the Quivering Forest? (Also the Glumpen Swamp and Vanishing Hills, various locations within these.) I picture the Quivering Forest loaded with fruit and nut trees and songbirds fighting for real estate (the text mentions angry squirrels).. surrounded by classic Svalitch Woods half-dead spooky trees. ;) I recall seeing a couple of versions that roughly followed the description given in DDAL04, but they're just a hut, not the whole barrow surrounding her hut as described. Additionally, many artists have upscaled her hut to be a small trading post, and put it on wooden poles, swamp style (never seen a battlemap of it, though). Lots of room for creative renditions there. :)
22) Another thing that I haven't seen ANYBODY making is small abbeys. The hills and mountains of Barovia are said to be littered with small abbeys. ..some of them abandoned, some not.
23) Abandoned mansions and manors. Strahd massacred the noble families of Barovia for their involvement in his father's murder. There is one legend of a nobleman possessed by a demon that Strahd left alive, as a curse 'worse than death'. At any rate, there ought to be a handful of abandoned / haunted mansions and manors dotting the Barovian countryside for the party to stumble in to (or check out due to a hook dropped by an informative villager).
24) There are currently NO mines in the CoS version of Barovia.. bizarre for a mountain country. It would suit that some of those decimated noble families ran some mines that have since been abandoned. Of course, it wouldn't do to host your standard monsters in a Barovian mine. I'm thinking Lair of the White Worm. Something more horrifying than dungeoneering.
25) It's been mentioned that instead of murdering the losers from the werewolf trials, they might be shipped off to be slaves in a mine, or to a plantation in the swamp. The plantation would be stick construction, as you would expect in a swamp, they would collect tubers and reeds that grow in the swamp, not traditional plantation type crops.
26) The various Barovian villages NOT included on Schleys map of (Central) Barovia usually have a town sized map plotted out and published somewhere, but no really decent overview maps or battlemap sized maps of them exist. (This need might easily be filled by a couple of handfuls of generic Barovian village buildings, field-stone and dirt street assets, and sundry village constructions.
27) Besides the Gates of Barovia, there are supposed to be watch-towers dotting the landscape as well. An operational watchtower and a couple of partially ruined ones would be awesome.
28) I didn't think of this one, because most modern cartographers are already including them.. the three Fanes! I believe they were first done in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, but they are definitely one of the best loved add in features for CoS. :)
Assets nobody has made like the Dark Carnival and lake/river encounters and the Mad Mages various lair options would be the most needed. I simply don't understand why EVERY CoS map developer doesn't provide matching roads, forests, rivers and generic shops with matching Barovian assets. The maps I mentioned which you could make money selling on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild (to me) would just be silly NOT to make. ...Van Richtens magic shop is requested a LOT. When the party first enters Barovia, I can picture them being chased in to a fortified farm by a pack of dire wolves / werewolves at dusk (perhaps the first couple of farms won't unbarricade their doors). I'm sure you can see the utility of the rest. Will everybody need a Roc nest on a cliff above the forest? No. Will DMs derail their campaign for a minute just for the opportunity to make the party loot a Roc nest? Yes. :
Finally, I would note that since I wrote this list, a few cartographers have added some of the above locations to their Library, but the vast majority of these are as of yet, untouched. :)
submitted by crogonint to CurseofStrahd [link] [comments]
0) The (Dark) Carnival - nobody ever makes maps / assets for this, even though gobs of people always throw it in to their campaign, even though it's old as crap. I understand that there's a Carnival Realm in the new VRGtR book.. I'll probably never use the realm-carnival, but that's a second place the Dark Carnival maps/assets could be used. There are also a trio of third party Ravenloft carnival modules as well that they could be used in.
- Battlemap sized maps of the towns. At LEAST a 5 foot per square / hex map for the tiger chase. (Obviously modern VTT platforms don't actually need the grid on the map. ;) )
- Random shops, stables, blacksmiths and generic places the party is likely to go anyway.
- Generic encounter locations.. country roads / rivers / bridges and combinations of the three. It sounds dumb because you can get generic encounter maps like that anywhere.. but it would be AWESOME to have matching Barovian roads and Svalitch woods on all of your encounter maps. Don't forget the specific crossroads with the gallows from CoS.. I don't recall if there were hanging cages mentioned, but you could throw in some PNG options for them.
- A covered bridge, including the roof, deck and under views. (To tack on to the Headless Horseman add-in.) The Woodcutters hut as well.
- Besides the Carnival, there are a few other old school modules that people like to bolt on to CoS (Adam, etc. etc.).
- DragnaCarta, MandysMod and Pyram King have all developed alternate encounters and a handful of setting that might be able to use an alternate map here and there. (Orphanage.) In particular, I recall battles in/near the bogs, on mountain sides with/without roads and watch towers. Military and outfitter style tent interiors and exteriors and camps placed.. you know what? Make those camps be PNG assets that could be dropped in a bog, next to a river or on a mountain side as needed. ;) I recall Lunch Break Heroes making an encounter for Borgia/Borca, but I don't recall if they made any scenarios / encounters for Barovia. I got a special request for Beneath the Abbey.
- The Interactive Tome of Strahd sends the party back in time and would be a PHENOMENAL set of maps to expand Barovia. Seriously, you could drop those on DMsGuild and make some bank. Some additionally pre-Strahd bright and shiny versions of the village of Barovia and other basic maps might be nice for some throw-back adventures.
- Retro Castle Ravenloft.. Castle Ravenloft fully restored to its former glory! (Castle Barovia? I picture it as more of a walled garrison, looking like a giant stone bubble from a distance, but it did have at least one tower overlooking the cliff.) We know that the old pre-Strahd castle had multiple floors located in roughly the same place as Castle Ravenloft, but with significantly different floor plans, as the ghosts walk staircases and pass through doorways that don't exist anymore. :D (Important side-note: Strahd did not grow up in Castle Ravenloft. I believe that there is one (1) painting of him looking out over Yesterhill, through the mists at a vision of the castle he grew up in, but I don't think anyone has ever tackled it.)
- The caverns and the alter area in and under the Pillarstone of Ravenloft (from Expedition to Ravenloft) are frequently added in to CoS. I've never seen a map of a hidden cavern entrance in the Svalitch woods, let alone a set of creepy Barovian caverns.. or the Castle side of the entrance, for that matter.
- Around a decade ago, some weirdo drew an artistic image of Castle Ravenloft with the foundation bedrock rotted away under it. I'd like to see a detailed elevation map of the curtain wall and gatehouse with the bedrock still under the curtain wall, because that irritates me to no end. NOBODY would build a massive curtain wall on a questionable foundation. Reference Vlads actual castle (which is admittedly ten times smaller than Ravenloft) for a rather specific example of a (THE) castle built on the side of a cliff. As I recall, if looking at the gatehouse, the left side and back left corner of Vlads actual castle are protected by a cliff, and that's where the inspiration for Castle Ravenloft came from.
12) Odd ball areas we never see. The druids must have huts or a village somewhere. The Roc must have a nest somewhere. The Mad Mage in Barovia has one of either a tower / cavern / pocket dimension somewhere. We could use Barovian flavored versions of all three. Oh, and the woods and encounters with said mage on the backside of the lake.. so a lake / forested area with spread out trees for players to run in terror or attempt to attack at range.. or whatever.
13) UNDER Lake Zarovich, there are a handful of generic encounters. There are also a few river monster encounters, generally near the Berez Swamp, could use a lair map and an underwater river encounter map, Barovia flavored. Speaking of Berez, I've never seen a detailed large scale swamp map for the Berez Swamp.. let alone the whole town being overrun by the swamp.
14) A proper Berez Swamp. A full sized swamp, with river banks, fields of cattail and reeds, murky backwaters, underwater groves of trees, and a couple of dozen oddly shaped islets and sandbanks.. a few dead logs.. not to mention a proper full sized assortment of Berez town ruins.
15) What's the village in the Adventurer's Guild Supplements?? Orasnou! There's a tiny village there (the size most people depict Berez as, because the CoS book doesn't describe the whole town of Berez properly). So that map is needed, along with.. 4 interior maps, if I recall? (Probably more, + a manor.) As well as an alternate werewolf lair and a few others, like a Barovian bluff, again if I recall off of the top of my head. I've had requests for the Gundarak villages Teufeldorf, Zeidenburg and Renika, as well as the other minor villages and..
16) The complete map of Barovia, post Grand Conjunction (done in standard modern style/graphics).
17) Various encounters have been depicted on Mount Baratok. Which would be a stark stone mountain, snowy and generally above the treeline, not like the hilly tree covered mountains where Argynvostholt and the Roc and etc. are located. I think a largish rocky encounter map of the mountainside would be the first needed. I (seem to) recall a three tiered monastery built on the side of a cliff, with a freshwater spring enclosed that would require an elevation map along with three small interioexterior maps showing the wooden stairs going up and down the cliff-side. I recall one encounter involving a lai small cave sized area.
18) Lots of people want Van Richtens magic shop and other stuff described in his escapades. We could also use a handful of Vistani Vardos and Camps. If I recall, there are only two described in the CoS book, but there are many more tribes of Vistani than that, and we're told that they move around frequently. If might be easier to provide PNG files for the vardos, outfitter tents and assets for a large scale camp. Come to think of it, there aren't a whole lot of tokens for those smallish horses they use either, so someone might whip up 10-12 smallish shaggy horses with unique patterns to show off. They don't care one ounce for a horses pedigree, and are more than happy to keep unique looking mongrel horses as their personal caravan animals. They use mountain horse stock when breeding their horses, so they would be a bit hairier and stockier then say an Arabian.. just scaled closer to a pony size. Donkey size! They're donkey sized horses. :D ..real donkey size, if I recall 5e has some weirdness going on with their official donkey/wagon sizes that makes no sense at all for Vardos sized horses and wagons like the Vistani would have.
19) The valley where the village of Barovia is located is described as a massive fertile farming area, yet we never see any medieval farms, ranches, graineries or farmers markets for Barovia. Definitely need a few of those. Barovian farmers and ranchers would SPECIFICALLY all have the buildings that (in the real world) later became fortifications, Thick werewolf proof walls and heavily barricaded doors everywhere. No window on the ground floor. Livestock was housed indoors, in enclosed courtyards with family areas wrapped around them, or with the animals on the ground floor and the family living above on the second floor. Horse stalls and farrowing areas would be fenced off within the area. Graineries would be large round wooden buildings with barricaded doors and sturdy out-buildings. 10 foot tall max, today's 4-5 story tall graineries are a modern invention. There would probably be a large stone community grainery far on the other side of the valley from the Village of Barovia. for that matter, there ought to be a functioning grainery or warehouse somewhere between the Village of Barovia and Bonegrinder. ALSO, if Bonegrinder is no longer being used as a mill, there would HAVE to be another windmill or waterwheel driven mill somewhere else in Barovia. Many artists have envisioned a water-wheel grainery on the River Ivlis near the Village of Barovia. Corn cribs would be on the second floor of a barn for drying grain, doubling up to dry bales of hay, not primarily as a hay loft. PNGs for 2-3 styles of fencing and gates, water troughs, and some medieval horse drawn plows and rakes would be nice. Dog kennels!! Every farm would probably have it's own horse pasture or rink with a training post, and a dog kennel or run for dogs to run during the day. You know those giant mastiffs that the Barovian nobles are so fond of? Yeah, the farmers in the fertile valley near Barovia would be the only ones rich enough to be able to afford to raise those pups for the nobles. Somewhere out here would be a medieval rancher set up to raise mastiff puppies with an assortment of full grown mastiffs. Mongrel pups or runts would be sold off to neighboring farms at a discount. Roaming wolves would stay FAR away from them, and werewolf packs would likely attack them for any reason at all (if they could find a way in to the basin). I picture a LARGE farmers market and stockyards just inside the River Ivlis bridge of the Valley of Barovia. We know that Barovia is a trade center.. so there MUST be one. The bridge would offer protection if needed, and it would be the closest place farmers and ranchers could set up to provide commerce with the other villages and domains and still have the protection of being inside the gates. Hmm.. they might have a dirt race track there for showing off horses going up for sale. Make that very probably, The Vistani/Romani are famous for defending their mountain horses at the drop of a hat. This would be the main place of commerce for farmers goods in Barovia. This is (the main area) where Vistani Caravans would import and export farm goods in to and out of Barovia.
20) There would absolutely be homestead (small) sized farms and ranches carved out up in mountain valleys or even on mountain sides facing south. In fact, a south facing mountain side might get enough sunlight to raise delicate crops, spices and herbs, whereas most of Barovia can't, due to the mists blocking the sunlight. Also, a couple of mountain pastures with matching rocks / trees bordering them would be nice. Honestly though, if you pass out some rock and tree assets that match the ones you already use, anybody could throw together their own mountain pastures, or even their own valley pastures. Rows of crops are hard to find though! You could easily have scenarios of wolves/werewolves hunting the party in a cornfield.. but there are no Barovian cornfield battlemaps. ACTUALLY, I don't think I have any battlemap sized crop assets, and I probably have the largest collection of map assets around. You could probably sell these farming assets/maps on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild as well, I've never seen them anywhere. ..OR you might ask Forgotten Adventures or Tom Cartos to throw some together, whatever seems clever. :) I've been asked specifically to try to get Yaedrag (barbarian-esque village in the mountains that Dragna wrote up) made up.
21) Jenny Greenteeth's Hut.. perhaps a grove of her untainted trees from the Quivering Forest? (Also the Glumpen Swamp and Vanishing Hills, various locations within these.) I picture the Quivering Forest loaded with fruit and nut trees and songbirds fighting for real estate (the text mentions angry squirrels).. surrounded by classic Svalitch Woods half-dead spooky trees. ;) I recall seeing a couple of versions that roughly followed the description given in DDAL04, but they're just a hut, not the whole barrow surrounding her hut as described. Additionally, many artists have upscaled her hut to be a small trading post, and put it on wooden poles, swamp style (never seen a battlemap of it, though). Lots of room for creative renditions there. :)
22) Another thing that I haven't seen ANYBODY making is small abbeys. The hills and mountains of Barovia are said to be littered with small abbeys. ..some of them abandoned, some not.
23) Abandoned mansions and manors. Strahd massacred the noble families of Barovia for their involvement in his father's murder. There is one legend of a nobleman possessed by a demon that Strahd left alive, as a curse 'worse than death'. At any rate, there ought to be a handful of abandoned / haunted mansions and manors dotting the Barovian countryside for the party to stumble in to (or check out due to a hook dropped by an informative villager).
24) There are currently NO mines in the CoS version of Barovia.. bizarre for a mountain country. It would suit that some of those decimated noble families ran some mines that have since been abandoned. Of course, it wouldn't do to host your standard monsters in a Barovian mine. I'm thinking Lair of the White Worm. Something more horrifying than dungeoneering.
25) It's been mentioned that instead of murdering the losers from the werewolf trials, they might be shipped off to be slaves in a mine, or to a plantation in the swamp. The plantation would be stick construction, as you would expect in a swamp, they would collect tubers and reeds that grow in the swamp, not traditional plantation type crops.
26) The various Barovian villages NOT included on Schleys map of (Central) Barovia usually have a town sized map plotted out and published somewhere, but no really decent overview maps or battlemap sized maps of them exist. (This need might easily be filled by a couple of handfuls of generic Barovian village buildings, field-stone and dirt street assets, and sundry village constructions.
27) Besides the Gates of Barovia, there are supposed to be watch-towers dotting the landscape as well. An operational watchtower and a couple of partially ruined ones would be awesome.
28) I didn't think of this one, because most modern cartographers are already including them.. the three Fanes! I believe they were first done in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, but they are definitely one of the best loved add in features for CoS. :)
Assets nobody has made like the Dark Carnival and lake/river encounters and the Mad Mages various lair options would be the most needed. I simply don't understand why EVERY CoS map developer doesn't provide matching roads, forests, rivers and generic shops with matching Barovian assets. The maps I mentioned which you could make money selling on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild (to me) would just be silly NOT to make. ...Van Richtens magic shop is requested a LOT. When the party first enters Barovia, I can picture them being chased in to a fortified farm by a pack of dire wolves / werewolves at dusk (perhaps the first couple of farms won't unbarricade their doors). I'm sure you can see the utility of the rest. Will everybody need a Roc nest on a cliff above the forest? No. Will DMs derail their campaign for a minute just for the opportunity to make the party loot a Roc nest? Yes. :
Finally, I would note that since I wrote this list, a few cartographers have added some of the above locations to their Library, but the vast majority of these are as of yet, untouched. :)
2023.06.03 06:29 bajie90 2023年5月22日，科学家在nature上发布了一项研究报告——人类在遭受强奸或者性侵时，70%会出现非自愿式的僵直和静止状态，其实这是一种为了生存而演化的非自愿反应➠人类面临性侵和其他某些威胁时，人体进行自主控制肢体运动的脑回路会被阻断，因此很多受害者会呈现为一动不动，心里想跑和挣脱，但是身体不听使唤，没办法，因为神经脑回路已经被阻断了。
 | 很多动物也有这种状态（一动不动的假死），大家都不得不进化出这种神经系统的生存模式——靠非自愿的僵直（降低天敌动态视野的捕猎范围）和非自愿的弃械投降来活命（避免激怒触发，诸如鳄鱼感知到猎物逃跑或者反击动作造成的振动波，就会下死手，直接触发死亡缠绕，拧掉猎物身体的一部分）。 submitted by bajie90 to douban_one [link] [comments] 这次科学家的研究也有力驳斥了很多强奸犯在法庭上的狡辩：“受害者并没有反抗和逃跑，说明她们是自愿的……” https://m.weibo.cn/status/N3nGXsnRA https://preview.redd.it/lv2t91ehdq3b1.jpg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0af3fa834e0afa4d13932630f67592d340f9e816 https://preview.redd.it/clm5pgghdq3b1.jpg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2399ccb895b2c85d4849ac684e54104d2ba55def https://preview.redd.it/1ekh0uihdq3b1.jpg?width=1027&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba370daa12189f8415048d0b8335a17de84a03fe https://preview.redd.it/1u18fykhdq3b1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3afff462b3491994b9113ad74144ff45780e2dcc |
2023.06.03 04:57 nimmoisa000 Open world crime game idea Cartel: Palm City.
Developed by Hangar 13, DICE, Ripple Effect Studios, EA Gothenburg, and Criterion Games and published by EA.
Additionally former EA Black Box and Ghost Games employees who would help access game assets and code from previous NFS titles to streamline the development)
Cartel (or alternatively as “Cartel: Palm City” or "Cartel: Miami" ) would be an open world title based on the Mafia Games, the GTA games and the Saints Row games, with elements of Battlefield: Hardline thrown in with an array of weapons and vehicles based on their real life counterparts.
Gameplay wise the driving would be like Need for Speed titles, and on foot and shooting mechanics like BF: Hardline and Saints Row. Plus you can customize your cars and weapons to the same extent in BF: 2042 and some cars would allow for mounted weapons,on foot you can execute people with your equipped weapon like in The Godfather games. On foot would be an FPS view (you can change to a third person view as well) same with having an FPS view in your car.
There would an single player experience point system (like in BF Hardline single player) you gain XP from killing gangsters, and cops blowing up or capturing enemy vehicles and completing main missions, side missions and activities also there will be 15 levels to achieve with each level up unlocking new weapons, vehicles and customization for your weapons and vehicles. As well as a New Game Plus (NG+) where everything you unlocked is carried over and you can also play on the higher difficulties through NG+.
Also there would be five wanted levels for police and five vendetta levels for the gangs should you reach level five gang vendetta you start a Gang War there are three ways to stop a Gang War either bribe the feds, blow up a gang stronghold, or hide out in a safe house. Police wanted levels one and two local units would come after the player, at police wanted level two or three the state police would come after the player. At wanted level four and five the feds would come after the player. The military will only come after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard
The Storyline
In Cartel: Palm City; in a different universe and timeline where there's a total prohibition of all narcotics in the United States in 2010; tells the story of Jack Rourke (the player character) a hardworking rideshare driver at day and a street racer at night who's scraping by in Palm City circa 2019. One fateful night, Jack Rourke has an inadvertent brush with the Blackwell Syndicate (mainly Carl Stoddard and that showcases a life of reward too big to ignore. As he joins the Blackwell Syndicate who are fighting for control of Palm City against five other criminal groups and take the city for the Blackwell Syndicate including recovering evidence that could not only convict the Blackwell Syndicate, as well as a network of crime lords in many countries, (including the other gang’s backers) including the Blackwell Syndicate's backers the Mob and it would also directly implicate the CIA in Palm City’s drug trade with Jack Rourke earning the nickname “El Sicario” for his efforts in driving the other gangs out of Palm City. When he learns how much the drugs were hurting the people of Palm City and all over the country as well as learning that the Blackwell Syndicate had gotten into the drug trade themselves, he contacts FBI agent Chase Linh who relays the story to her and offers the evidence and his testimony in exchange for full immunity for him and his associates, and the evidence on the computer was enough to convict everyone form all the five gangs, but also their crime lord backers from at least half a dozen countries, as well implicating the CIA in this as well as lobbying efforts to keep all narcotics prohibited, leading to a new administration repealing the Narcotics Prohibition law and legalizing low level cannabis. However six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by Russian Mafia hitmen, Dimitri "Dima '' Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Cast
Civilian
Key: Base weapon (special variant)
Mission Structure
Prolog (2019)
After the trial and the repeal of the Jack Rurke is placed in the Witness Protection Program in Lakeshore City but six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by members of the West Side Club, Dimitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Gangs of Palm City
L.S 16 (Los Salmos 16) - Also known as The Salmos. Backed by the most powerful Mexican drug lords and the most powerful arms traffickers in the world, L.S 16 once ruled all of Palm City In fear until The House stepped in. They’re also the strongest gang in the game with access to military grade weapons and vehicles and each gang kill from them awards 500-1,500 XP depending on the enemy type. They are led by Neil Roark.
The House - The House is a gambling gang with strong ties and backed by the Sicilian Mafia; they run the street scene and the casinos in Palm City. They’re pretty strong but weaker than L.S 16, and they have access to military grade weapons and vehicles each gang kills from them awards 250-800 XP depending on the enemy type. Headed by Lina Navarro.
The Volk - The Volk is a Chinese-Russian gang led by Roman Barkov with Niko Barkov as their enforcer backed by the Triads (Chan Wu), the Russian Mob (Dimitri Glebov), and GMAC's crew (Gregory "GMAC" MacDonald, Rose Largo) for cars who control the weapon smuggling and arms dealing in Palm City. With this backing and access to military grade weapons. They are a mid tier gang and each gang kill from them awards 200-600 XP depending on the enemy type. They are also the ones who go after the Blackwell Syndicate the most.
Palm Kings - The Palm Kings (PKs) is a Black gang made up of Black nationalists who controls Palm Harbor’s rackets and extorts store owners. Led by Benny King, they’re equipped with police-grade weaponry and has strong ties with the PCPD despite this, they are the second weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 150-500 XP depending if it's a regular to elite
Dixie Paladins - The Dixie Paladins are a white supremacy gang and a militarized version of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) who controls the Gold Coast Mountains in the mountainous regions of Palm City. they’re the weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 100-250 XP from regular to elite members. They are led by Tony Alpert
Blackwell Syndicate - The Blackwell Syndicate is a underground criminal organization based in Palm City and is led by Marcus Blackwell with Julian “Julius” Little as underboss, Hector Maio before "Code of Silence" and Zack Maio after "Code of Silence". Nick Mendoza. Khai Minh Dao and Carl Stoddard are caporegimes and Tyson Latchford, Tyler "Ty" Morgan, Sean "Mac" McAlister, Jessica "Jess" Miller as soldiers. Other members include Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry as the gang's car expert Rachel Teller as the gang's customization expert, Marcus “Boomer” Boone as the gang's weapon experts. The Blackwell Syndicate would be the gang that the player would join. In Act 1, they're an outside and fast tracked to soldier, but in Act 2 the player would be a capo until the end of the game. They are secretly backed by both The Mob and the CIA through Agent Dawes. Jonathan Cross and Mia Townsend are also on the gang's payroll until "Bon Appetit" where Marcus Blackwell executes him with a 870P Magnum to the head. Also Mia would also go with Jack Rourke as well
The police/military force
PCPD - the police force of Palm City/Miami if the player does hostile acts (killing civilians, firing unsuppressed weapons in public, etc) will attract police attention and each kill from them awards 50 XP for regular members and 100 XP for armored members, However the player can bribe the PCPD to look the other way or will even help the player fight the other gangs but would be the target of higher level police forces. (Sort of like it was in The Godfather game) The player can also buy favors from them as well. Also they’ll deploy stronger units at higher heat level alongside the FBI. The cars PCPD drives are the Ford Crown Victoria, Dodge Challenger, Pontiac GTO, and the Chevy Grand Sport
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) - The state police force and Only appears in wanted levels 3 and above, Each kill from them awards 75 XP for regular state troopers and 150 XP for tactical state troopers. Regular state troopers drives Ford Mustang GTs tactical state troopers drives Nissan GT-R
FBI - Only appears in wanted level 5 the FBI will be called in if the player continues to retaliate against the PCPD. Each kill from them awards 125 XP for regular agents, 250 XP for FBI SWAT and 375 XP for FBI HRT, Like the PCPD the player can bribe the FBI to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, or the PCPD but at the second highest price. The FBI also has the second widest array of favors the player can buy. regular agents drives the Nissan 350Z or Porsche 911 GT3 RS, FBI SWAT drives the - Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster or Ford F-150 SVT Raptor L.E. and FBI HRT drives the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X or Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR
Military - Only goes after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard. Each kill from them awards 200 XP for regs, 400 XP for experienced troops and 600 XP for elite troops. Like the PCPD, State Police and the FBI, the player can bribe the military to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, the PCPD, State Police or even the FBI but at the highest price and The military also has the widest array of favors the player can buy in large part due to Agent Dawes’ connections in Washington.
Multiplayer portion of the game would take place during the five cartels war where the Blackwell Syndicate, The Volk, Palm Kings, Dixie Paldines, Los Salmos 16, and The House (basically where Jack Rourke glosses over saying "It was non-stop chaos for weeks")
Also there would be a free ride mode where the player can explore the city at their leisure or pick a fight with either other cartels or the cops.
submitted by nimmoisa000 to gameideas [link] [comments]
Developed by Hangar 13, DICE, Ripple Effect Studios, EA Gothenburg, and Criterion Games and published by EA.
Additionally former EA Black Box and Ghost Games employees who would help access game assets and code from previous NFS titles to streamline the development)
Cartel (or alternatively as “Cartel: Palm City” or "Cartel: Miami" ) would be an open world title based on the Mafia Games, the GTA games and the Saints Row games, with elements of Battlefield: Hardline thrown in with an array of weapons and vehicles based on their real life counterparts.
Gameplay wise the driving would be like Need for Speed titles, and on foot and shooting mechanics like BF: Hardline and Saints Row. Plus you can customize your cars and weapons to the same extent in BF: 2042 and some cars would allow for mounted weapons,on foot you can execute people with your equipped weapon like in The Godfather games. On foot would be an FPS view (you can change to a third person view as well) same with having an FPS view in your car.
There would an single player experience point system (like in BF Hardline single player) you gain XP from killing gangsters, and cops blowing up or capturing enemy vehicles and completing main missions, side missions and activities also there will be 15 levels to achieve with each level up unlocking new weapons, vehicles and customization for your weapons and vehicles. As well as a New Game Plus (NG+) where everything you unlocked is carried over and you can also play on the higher difficulties through NG+.
Also there would be five wanted levels for police and five vendetta levels for the gangs should you reach level five gang vendetta you start a Gang War there are three ways to stop a Gang War either bribe the feds, blow up a gang stronghold, or hide out in a safe house. Police wanted levels one and two local units would come after the player, at police wanted level two or three the state police would come after the player. At wanted level four and five the feds would come after the player. The military will only come after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard
The Storyline
In Cartel: Palm City; in a different universe and timeline where there's a total prohibition of all narcotics in the United States in 2010; tells the story of Jack Rourke (the player character) a hardworking rideshare driver at day and a street racer at night who's scraping by in Palm City circa 2019. One fateful night, Jack Rourke has an inadvertent brush with the Blackwell Syndicate (mainly Carl Stoddard and that showcases a life of reward too big to ignore. As he joins the Blackwell Syndicate who are fighting for control of Palm City against five other criminal groups and take the city for the Blackwell Syndicate including recovering evidence that could not only convict the Blackwell Syndicate, as well as a network of crime lords in many countries, (including the other gang’s backers) including the Blackwell Syndicate's backers the Mob and it would also directly implicate the CIA in Palm City’s drug trade with Jack Rourke earning the nickname “El Sicario” for his efforts in driving the other gangs out of Palm City. When he learns how much the drugs were hurting the people of Palm City and all over the country as well as learning that the Blackwell Syndicate had gotten into the drug trade themselves, he contacts FBI agent Chase Linh who relays the story to her and offers the evidence and his testimony in exchange for full immunity for him and his associates, and the evidence on the computer was enough to convict everyone form all the five gangs, but also their crime lord backers from at least half a dozen countries, as well implicating the CIA in this as well as lobbying efforts to keep all narcotics prohibited, leading to a new administration repealing the Narcotics Prohibition law and legalizing low level cannabis. However six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by Russian Mafia hitmen, Dimitri "Dima '' Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Cast
- Sean Faris - Jack Rourke
- Erik Armando Alvarez - Marcus Blackwell
- Kieth David - Julian “Julius” Little
- Philip Anthony-Rodriguez - Nick Mendoza
- Kelly Hu - Khai Minh Dao
- Travis Willingham - Carl Stoddard
- Eugene Byrd - Marcus “Boomer” Boone
- Adam J. Harrington - Tyson Latchford
- Jack Derges - Tyler "Ty" Morgan
- David Ajala - Sean "Mac" McAlister
- Jessica Madsen - Jessica "Jess" Miller
- Ramon Tikaram - Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry
- Brooke Burke - Rachel Teller
- Josie Maran - Mia Townsend
- Jonny Cruz - Lucas Rivera
- Ana Marte - Ana Rivera
- Maggie Q - FBI Agent Chase Linh
- Bentino Martinez - CIA Agent Julian Dawes
- Coolie Ranx - Benny King
- Jason Michael Zumwalt - Roman Barkov
- Michael Andrew Hollick - Niko Barkov
- Fred Tatasciore - Tony Alpert
- Josh Coxx - Frank Mercer
- Shontae Saldana - Eva Torres
- Josh Collins - Danny Shaw
- Moti Margolin - Dimitri Glebov
- Jack Yang - Chan Wu
- Graham Shiels - Leo Ray
- Mark Rolston - Neil Roark
- Dean McKenzie - Jonathan Cross
- David Rees Snell - Gregory "GMAC" MacDonald
- Heather Fox - Rose Largo
- Joshua Alba - Zack Maio
- Kurt Caceres - Hector Maio
- Lawrence B. Adisa - Brad Rogers
- Dominique Tipper - Lina Navarro
- David Palffy - Caleb Reece
- David Menkin - Hector "Ming" Domingo
- Bruce Johnson - Wes "Webster" Allen
- William Roberts - Joe "JV" Vega
- Jun-Yamazaki - Toru "Bull" Sato
- Derek Hamilton - Clarence "Razor" Callahan
- Chuck Norris - Chief Norris
- Paul Pape - Jack Keller
- Christina Hendricks - Sam Harper
- Story Mission: Missions that advance the plot
- Side Mission: Missions that do not advance the plot but earns extra experience/money
- Street Race: Just like it is in Need for Speed, finish first.
- Combat Race: Just like Street Race, but weapon use is allowed.
- Mayhem: Cause as much destruction as possible and get the highest Cost to State score.
- Car Snatch: Steal a car from the cops or one of the four gangs and bring it to a chop shop and also unlock the car you stole for free.
- Drug/CigaWeapon Trafficking: Deliver drugs/military-grade weapons/Cuban cigars to dealers and avoid the cops and rival gangs.
- Car Delivery: Deliver a load of high-end cars to car dealers.
- Assassination: Find and kill a named character, bonus if you fulfill a special condition
Civilian
- Acura NSX '17, Acura RSX-S '04,
- Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio '16,
- Aston Martin DB5 '64, Aston Martin DB11 '17, Aston Martin DB11 Volante '19, Aston Martin Vulcan '16,
- Audi R8 V10 Performance '19, Audi S5 Sportback '17,
- BMW i8 Coupé '18, BMW i8 Coupé K.S. '18, BMW i8 Roadster '18, BMW M2 Competition '19, BMW M3 '06, BMW M3 '10, BMW M3 Evolution II '88, BMW M3 GTR L.E. '06, BMW M4 '18, BMW M4 Convertible '17, BMW M4 GTS '16, BMW M5 '18, BMW X6 M '16, BMW Z4 M40i '19,
- Buick Grand National '87, Buick Cascada '16
- Chevrolet Bel Air '55, Chevrolet C10 Sidestep Pickup '65, Chevrolet Camaro SS '67, Chevrolet Camaro Z28 '14, Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 '17, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport '17, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 '13, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 '19, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (2020), Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (2020), Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 (Cross’ ZO6)
- Dodge Challenger SRT8 '14, Dodge Charger '69, Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat ‘18
- Ferrari 458 Italia '09, Ferrari 458 Spider '11, Ferrari 488 GTB '15, Ferrari 488 Pista '19, Ferrari F40 '87, Ferrari FXX-K Evo '18, Ferrari LaFerrari '13, Ferrari Testarossa Coupé '84,
- Ford F-150 Raptor '17, Ford F-150 SVT Raptor L.E. '17, Ford Focus RS '16, Ford GT '17, Ford Mustang '65, Ford Mustang BOSS 302 '69, Ford Mustang Foxbody '90, Ford Mustang GT '15, Ford Crown Victoria ‘08
- Honda Civic Type-R '00, Honda Civic Type-R '15, Honda NSX Type-R '92, Honda S2000 '09,
- Infiniti Q60 S '17,
- Jaguar F-Type R Convertible '19, Jaguar F-Type R Coupé '16,
- Koenigsegg Regera '16 (Roman’s Regera)
- Lamborghini Aventador S '18, Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster '17, Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Coupe '19, Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster '19, Lamborghini Countach '89, Lamborghini Diablo SV '95, Lamborghini Huracán '18, Lamborghini Huracán Performante '18, Lamborghini Huracán Performante Spyder '18, Lamborghini Huracán Spyder '18, Lamborghini Murciélago SV '10, Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 '08
- Land Rover Defender 110 '15, Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR '15,
- Lotus Exige S '06,
- Mazda MX-5 '15, Mazda MX-5 '96, Mazda RX-7 Spirit R '02,
- McLaren 570S '15, McLaren 570S Spider '18, McLaren 600LT '18, McLaren F1 '93, McLaren P1 '14, McLaren P1 GTR '15
- Mercedes-AMG A 45 '16, Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé '18, Unlocked at REP LVL 18, Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupé K.S. '18, Mercedes-AMG G 63 '17, Mercedes-AMG GT '15, Mercedes-AMG GT R '17, Mercedes-AMG GT S Roadster '19
- Mercury Cougar '67
- Mini JCW Countryman '17
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX '07, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X '08, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X K.S. '08
- Nissan 180SX Type X '96, Nissan 240SX '98, Nissan 350Z ‘03, Nissan 370Z ‘09, Nissan GT-R ‘07, Nissan Fairlady 240ZG '71, Nissan GT-R '17, Nissan Silvia Spec-R Aero '02, Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R '71, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '93, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '99, Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec '02,
- Opel Astra '09
- Pagani Huayra BC '17
- Plymouth Barracuda '70
- Polestar 1 '20
- Pontiac Firebird '77, Pontiac Firebird '99, Pontiac GTO '05, Pontiac G8 '08
- Porsche 718 Cayman GTS '18, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS '18, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet '18, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 '73, Porsche 911 Carrera S '97, Porsche 911 GT2 RS '18, Porsche 911 GT3 RS '19, Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS '18, Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet Ex '18, Porsche 911 Turbo S Exclusive '18, Porsche 918 Spyder '15, Porsche Cayman GT4 '15, Porsche Panamera Turbo '17, Porsche 911 Carrera S (991) '12
- SRT Viper GTS '14
- Subaru BRZ Premium '14, Subaru Impreza WRX STI '06, Subaru Impreza WRX STI '10,
- Volkswagen Beetle '63, Volkswagen Golf GTI '76, Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport '16,
- Volvo 242 DL '75, Volvo Amazon P130 '70
- Light Vehicles: M1161 ITV, VDV Buggy, LYT2021, MRAP, SPM-3, ZFB-05, Quad Bike, Dirt Bike. Desert Patrol Vehicle. Skid Loader
- Infantry Fighting Vehicles: LAV-25, BTR-90, ZBD-09, AAV-7A1. AMTRAC
- Main Battle Tanks: M1 Abrams, T-90A, Type 99 MBT, HT-95 Levkov
- Anti-Aircraft Vehicles: LAV-AD, 9K22 Tunguska-M, Type 95 AA
- Mobile Artillery: HIMARS
- Helicopters: AH-1Z Viper, Mi-28 Havoc, Z-10W, AH-6 Little Bird, Z-11W, KA-60 Kasatka, UH-1Y Venom, Z-9 Haitun
- Naval Craft: DV-15 Interceptor, RCB-90, RHIB Boat, PWC, ACV
- Emplacements: .50 Cal, M220 TOW Launcher, 9M133 Kornet Launcher, HJ-8 Launcher, Centurion C-RAM, Pantsir-S1, LD-2000 AA, Schipunov 42. Launch Pod
- Optics (Pistols): Iron Sights, Improved Iron Sights, Ghost Ring, Mini (RDS), Deltapoint (RDS), Comp M4S (1X) Magnum Scope (2x)
- Optics (Rifles): Short Range; Barska Reflex (RDS), Kobra (RDS), Coyote (RDS), EOTech Sight (1x), PKA-S (1x), HD-33 (1x), F2000 (1.6x) (F2000 only). Medium Range; M145 (3.4x), PK-A (3.4x), PRISMA (3.4x), Mark 4 HAMR (3.5x) ACOG (4x), PSO-1 (4x), JGM-4 (4x). Long Range: CL6x (6x), PKS-07 (7x), Rifle Scope (8x), Hunter (20x), Ballistic (40x), IRNV (1x), FLIR (2x)
- Accessories: Canted Iron Sights, Magnifier (2x), Variable Zoom (2x-14x), Flash Light, Tactical Light, Laser Sight, Tri Beam Laser, Green Laser Sight, LaseLight Combo, Range Finder, Target Detector, Stabilizer.
- Barrel: Standard Barrel, Heavy Barrel, Light Barrel
- Muzzle (ARs/Carbines, DMRs, LMGs, PDWs, and Sidearms): Muzzle Brake, Compensator, Suppressor, Flash Hider, Flash Enhancer.
- Muzzle (shotgun): Duckbill, Full Choke, Modified Choke
- Underbarrel: Underslung Rail (M320, GP-30, M26 MASS), Bipod, Ergo Grip, Angled Grip, Stubby Grip, Vertical Grip, Folding Grip, Potato Grip
- Auxiliary: Straight Pull Bolt, Bipod
- Ammunition: Shotshells, 12 Gauge Buckshot, 12 Gauge Dart, 12 Gauge Frag, 12 Gauge Slug
- 25mm Grenades - 25mm Airburst, 25mm Dart, 25mm Smoke.
- Arrows - Broadhead Arrow, Bullet Point Arrow, Explosive Tipped Arrow (Tek Arrows), Poison Arrow
Key: Base weapon (special variant)
- Melee Weapons: Blunt Weapons, Knives, Collapsible Baton, Machete (L.S 16 Machete), Breaching Hammer, Sledge Hammer, Axe, Inquisition Sword, Shovel, Bayonet, ACB-90, Shank, Machete, Bowie, Carbon Fiber, Scout, Survival, Trench, Boot, SEAL, Dive, Tactical, BJ-2, Precision, Baseball Bat, 2x4, Lead Pipe
- Light Pistols; P226, M9, QSZ-92, MP443, G17 (Street Racer Special), FN57. Machine Pistols; CZ-75. G18, TEC-9, MAC-10, MP9, 93R.
- Heavy Pistols: M1911, Compact 45, SW40, DEagle .38, DEagle .357, DEagle .44, DEagle .50, DEagle .501, DEagle .700, 45T (Mercer’s 45T), .40
- Revolvers; Unica 6 .38, Unica 6 .357, Unica 6 .44, Unica 6 .50, Unica 6 .501, Unica 6 .700, .38 Snub, .38 Special, .357 RS, MP412 REX, .44 Magnum (.44 Magnum Force), .501 Magnum Enforcer, .700 Magnum
- Short Rifles/Shotguns; Mare's Leg, Lupara, Shorty 12G (Modern Lupara)
- Personal Defense Weapons/SMGs: MP5, MX4, PP-2000, UMP-45, CBJ-MS, PDW-R, CZ-3A1, JS2, P90, UMP-9, MP7 (Combine MP7) , AS VAL, SR-2, MPX, Groza-4, K10 (Dillinger II), M1A1, M1928 (Dillinger), MP5SD
- Shotguns: QBS-09, 870 MCS, M1014, Hawk 12G, Saiga 12K, SPAS-12, UTS-15, DBV-12, DAO-12, USAS-12, AA-12, 870P Magnum, 37 Stakeout (Cross’ 37 Stakeout), Double-Barrel Shotgun, KSG12, M26 MASS
- Carbines: AK5C, ACW-R, SG553, AKU-12, A-91, ACE 52 CQB, G36C, M4, ACE 21 CQB, Type-95B-1, MTAR-21, Phantom, Groza-1, RO933, AKS-74U, CAR-556, ACWR.
- Assault Rifles: AK-12 (Shovak AK-12), SCAR-L, SCAR-H, M416, SAR-21, AEK-971 (Russian Dillinger), FAMAS, AUG A3, CZ-805, QBZ-95-1, ACE 23, L85A2, F2000 (SC-20K), ARX-160, Bulldog, AN-94, M16A3, M16A4, AKM, L85A2, ARM, MDC, SAR-21, AUG A3, HCAR, SA-58 OSW, HK51, FN FAL, SG510.
- Light Machine Guns: U-100 MK5 (Modern Dillinger), Type 88 LMG, LSAT, PKP Pecheneg, QBB-95-1, M240B, MG4, M249, M60-E4 (M60-ULT), AWS, L86A2, RPK, RPK-74, RPK-12,
- Designated Marksman Rifles: RFB, Mk11 Mod 0, SKS, SVD-12, QBU-88, M39 EMR, ACE 53 SV, SCAR-H SV, M39 EMR
- Sniper Rifles: R700PPS, TRG-42P, CS-LR4, M40A5, Scout Elite, SV-98, JNG-90, 338-Recon, M98B, SRR-61, FY-JS, Dragunov SVD, L115, GOL Magnum, SR338, CS5, .300 Knockout, M200 Intervention, M82A3 .416, M82A3 .50, M82A3 .501, M82A3 .700, M82A3 .900, M82A3 20mm Vulcan, AMR-2 .416, AMR-2 .50, AMR-2 .501, AMR-2 .700, AMR-2 .900 AMR-2 20mm Vulcan, HVM-II, M136 CS, Vidhwansak, Rorsch Mk-1, Rorsch Mk-4, 20mm Vulcan Grenares: M67 Frag, V40 Mini, RGO Impact, M34 Incendiary, M18 Smoke, M84 Flashbang, Hand Flare, CS Gas Grenade, Molotov, AA Mine, AT Mine, SLAM, C4 Explosive, M18 Claymore
- Launchers: M32 MGL, M203, M320, GP-30, M26 MASS, RPG,MBT LAW, FIM-92 Stinger, RPG-7V2, SA-18 Igla, Mk153 SMAW, FGM-148 Javelin, FGM-172 SRAW, XM-25
- Gadgets: Defibrillator, First Aid Pack, Medic Bag, Repair Tool, Ammo Box, Ammo Pack, M224 Mortar, MP-APS, XM25, UCAV, Ballistic Shield, MAV, Motion Sensor, PLD, Radio Beacon, SOFLAM, T-UGS, SUAV, RAWR M240B, RAWR M203, XD-1 Accipiter
Mission Structure
Prolog (2019)
- The Birth of Art - After winning a big race, Jack Rourke collects the winnings at the Palm City Historical Museum
- An Offer you Can't Refuse - Jack Rourke must evade Volk sicarios with Tyson Lachford and Carl Stoddard members of the Blackwell Syndicate
- Race Day - After the events of the last mission, Jack Rourke partakes in a race day event and wins three events with his Porsche 911 Carrera S (991) '12
- Running Man - Volk sicarios Niko and Dimitri crashes the race day and Jack must get to the Blackwell Garage
- M34 Party - Jack Rourke joins the Blackwell Syndicate and gets acquainted with everyone before going with Tyson in a Pontiac GTO '05 to burn the Volk's cars with M34 Incendiary Grenades as well as stealing GMAC's Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4
- Standard Routine - Jack Rourke rolls with Tyson, Stoddard and Jonathan Cross to collect protection money but things go south when they collect from a hotel out of town and Jack Rourke chases after the hotel owner in Cross' car.
- Fair Play - Jack Rourke is tasked with stealing Ryan Cooper's Nissan 240SX and sabotaging it on the eve of the biggest Speedhunter race of the year, the SpeedHunter Championship Finals and in a last minute swap Jack Rourke has to race in place of Tyler Morgan
- Mia Townsend - Jack Rourke is tasked with taking Mia Townsend out for a night at the city... until a gang of Wraith street racers led by Caleb Reece hassles her and Jack Rourke takes them on in a fight
- Get Used To It - After the events of the previous mission Jack Rourke and Tyson Latchford are sent to teach the Wraiths a lesson But Caleb Reece makes it serious and Caleb Reece is wound up being killed by Tyson after a chase around the city alongside Danny Shaw.
- The Saint and The Sinner - It's revealed thtat Caleb Reece was Chief Norris' best friend, and Danny Shaw survives the crash however Stoddard would handle Shaw as Jack Rourke is tasked with infiltrating the Elmore Plaza Hotel and has to kill the manager, Nikki Morris and bomb the hotel before escaping to a funeral and confronts, Danny Shaw and Frank Mercer who are also in attendance. Jack Rourke kills Shaw and nearly kills Frank as well. But Frank tasers Rourke and escapes. It would be revealed that some of the Volk sicarios recognized Sotddard and had to deal with them, then the two escaped in a hearse.
- A Trip to the Countryside - In order to get a large supply of cannabis from Mexico, Jack Rourke takes a team to retrieve the Mexican from Mexican smugglers only to be ambushed by Los Zetas L.S 16 and Volk sicarios, then it's revealed that Roman had paid off the FBI to go after Rourke and his teammates then they came off with the cannabis killing their pursuers in the process.
- Code of Silence - The evidence that Tyson and Stoddard had ripped from the Volk had fallen in the hands of Hector Maio who cut a deal with the FBI, total immunity for the evidence and Jack Rouke is tasked with killing him and retrieving the evidence
- Visiting Rich People - Jack Rourke is tasked with sabotaging a federal proscutor's case against The Mob, the Blackwell Syndicate's backers as well as killing the federal prosecutor in charge of the case.
- Visiting Powerful People - Jack Rourke is tasked with meeting and protecting a powerful member of Palm City's elite, the owner of Prefered Outcomes Julian Daws... though he more than meets the eyes of Jack Rourke
- Agent Dawes - Julian Daws is revealed to be a CIA agent who is tasked with keeping the flow of drugs to Jack's surprise and that he is backing the Blackwell Syndicate through Prefered Outcomes.
- The Drug Trade - Julian Daws walks Jack Rourke through Palm City's drug trade and how the illicit street racing scene is used as a cover to smuggle drugs.
- Great Deal - Tyson Lachford scores a major deal with a drug farm in Georgia who promises to supply them with large amounts of drugs in exchange for access to databases concerning highway patrol routes; however when the deal goes down at a parking garage, the Volk and L.S 16 ambush them.
- Bon Appetit - Jack Rourke drives Eva Torrez, Marcus Blackwell and Julian Daws to the rebuilt Elmore Plaza Hotel for brunch only for Niko and Dimirti with a Volk hit squad to blast the entire lobby with gunfire and C4 explosives, Jack Rourke vaults over with Eva Torrez, Marcus Blackwell and Julian Daws, there Jack Rourke and Eva Torrez rush out through the side entrance and confronts the hit squad with Jack Rourke killing both Niko and Dimirti. However Blackwell wants Jack to confront Jonathan Cross at a doughnut store and reveals that the Volk threatened to turn him over to IAD and is chased throughout the city with Marcus Blackwell putting Cross on permanent retirement by killing him with a Lupara.
- Happy Anniversary - Jack Rourke is tasked with completing a contract hit against Frank Mercer at the fifth anniversary of the formation of the High-Speed Task Force by firing a sniper rifle stashed in a bathroom
- You Lucky Bastard - After a failed attempt to kill Razor; Roman's personal driver and #2 of the Volk, Jack Rourke is given the contract to kill Razor, first by car bomb but ends up killing Deputy Chief Jack Keller. instead of Razor. Jack Rourke, Tyson and Stoddard would later find Razer at a Burger King. In this Rourke can choose to kill or spare Razor. Rourke would spare him after he tells him that the CIA is deeper in Palm City's drug trade than Jack Rourke is led to believe
- Creme de la Creme - Marcus Blackwell plans to kill Roman, Niko, Demintri and Chan Wu in front of the city's Creme de la Creme, the mayor, the police chief, the FBI director and even the city's richest elite. However things go south and Jack Rourke chases Roman and Niko at the airport where they get to a private jet but is shot down and crash lands on the Cross Mermeroral Bridge Chan Wu is still alive and Jack Rourke executes him and leaves before the cops show up.
- Plugging the Chief - After the events of Creme de la Creme; Chief Norris places to take on the Blackwell Syndicate and to dismantle them, and a contract hit is placed on him where Jack Rourke accepts the contract and kills Chief Norris.
- Election Campaign - The State Governor had launched his reelection bid with the promise get tough on the cartels that had plagued Palm City and like Chief Norris has a contract hit out on him which Jack Rourke is tasked with taking, using a sniper rifle
- Just for Relaxation - Marcus Blackwell tells Jack Rourke about a shipment of Cuban cigars as well as a hidden shipment of diamonds (hot ice) straight from Africa however and Jack Rourke takes a crew to retrieve the shipment from federal customs however it's revealed that instead of diamonds it's Cold Shot... the same drug being pushed by the other gangs.
- The Truth - Jack Rourke and Kahi Minh Dao eavesdrop on Marcus Blackwell and Julain Daws and they learn the truth.
- Moonlighting - Jack Rourke after knowing about the truth takes Tyson to rob the Palm CIty First National in order to retire from the sicario lifestyle and gets into a massive shootout with the PCPD Heat-style.
- The Death of Art - After the heist of Palm City First National Jack Rourke finds Tyson dead and meets Stoddard at the museum only to find out that Stoddard knew about the heist, and used his share of the drug money and clout at Prefered Outcomes to buy out The7 as his personal hit squad, however Jack Rourke manages to kill every member of The7 but spares Stoddard (the player can also kill him but canonically Jack Rourke spares him)
After the trial and the repeal of the Jack Rurke is placed in the Witness Protection Program in Lakeshore City but six months later after the repeal of the Narcotics Prohibition Jack Rourke would be gunned down by members of the West Side Club, Dimitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and Henry "Black" Blackburn.
The Gangs of Palm City
L.S 16 (Los Salmos 16) - Also known as The Salmos. Backed by the most powerful Mexican drug lords and the most powerful arms traffickers in the world, L.S 16 once ruled all of Palm City In fear until The House stepped in. They’re also the strongest gang in the game with access to military grade weapons and vehicles and each gang kill from them awards 500-1,500 XP depending on the enemy type. They are led by Neil Roark.
The House - The House is a gambling gang with strong ties and backed by the Sicilian Mafia; they run the street scene and the casinos in Palm City. They’re pretty strong but weaker than L.S 16, and they have access to military grade weapons and vehicles each gang kills from them awards 250-800 XP depending on the enemy type. Headed by Lina Navarro.
The Volk - The Volk is a Chinese-Russian gang led by Roman Barkov with Niko Barkov as their enforcer backed by the Triads (Chan Wu), the Russian Mob (Dimitri Glebov), and GMAC's crew (Gregory "GMAC" MacDonald, Rose Largo) for cars who control the weapon smuggling and arms dealing in Palm City. With this backing and access to military grade weapons. They are a mid tier gang and each gang kill from them awards 200-600 XP depending on the enemy type. They are also the ones who go after the Blackwell Syndicate the most.
Palm Kings - The Palm Kings (PKs) is a Black gang made up of Black nationalists who controls Palm Harbor’s rackets and extorts store owners. Led by Benny King, they’re equipped with police-grade weaponry and has strong ties with the PCPD despite this, they are the second weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 150-500 XP depending if it's a regular to elite
Dixie Paladins - The Dixie Paladins are a white supremacy gang and a militarized version of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) who controls the Gold Coast Mountains in the mountainous regions of Palm City. they’re the weakest gang in the game and each gang kill from them awards 100-250 XP from regular to elite members. They are led by Tony Alpert
Blackwell Syndicate - The Blackwell Syndicate is a underground criminal organization based in Palm City and is led by Marcus Blackwell with Julian “Julius” Little as underboss, Hector Maio before "Code of Silence" and Zack Maio after "Code of Silence". Nick Mendoza. Khai Minh Dao and Carl Stoddard are caporegimes and Tyson Latchford, Tyler "Ty" Morgan, Sean "Mac" McAlister, Jessica "Jess" Miller as soldiers. Other members include Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry as the gang's car expert Rachel Teller as the gang's customization expert, Marcus “Boomer” Boone as the gang's weapon experts. The Blackwell Syndicate would be the gang that the player would join. In Act 1, they're an outside and fast tracked to soldier, but in Act 2 the player would be a capo until the end of the game. They are secretly backed by both The Mob and the CIA through Agent Dawes. Jonathan Cross and Mia Townsend are also on the gang's payroll until "Bon Appetit" where Marcus Blackwell executes him with a 870P Magnum to the head. Also Mia would also go with Jack Rourke as well
The police/military force
PCPD - the police force of Palm City/Miami if the player does hostile acts (killing civilians, firing unsuppressed weapons in public, etc) will attract police attention and each kill from them awards 50 XP for regular members and 100 XP for armored members, However the player can bribe the PCPD to look the other way or will even help the player fight the other gangs but would be the target of higher level police forces. (Sort of like it was in The Godfather game) The player can also buy favors from them as well. Also they’ll deploy stronger units at higher heat level alongside the FBI. The cars PCPD drives are the Ford Crown Victoria, Dodge Challenger, Pontiac GTO, and the Chevy Grand Sport
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) - The state police force and Only appears in wanted levels 3 and above, Each kill from them awards 75 XP for regular state troopers and 150 XP for tactical state troopers. Regular state troopers drives Ford Mustang GTs tactical state troopers drives Nissan GT-R
FBI - Only appears in wanted level 5 the FBI will be called in if the player continues to retaliate against the PCPD. Each kill from them awards 125 XP for regular agents, 250 XP for FBI SWAT and 375 XP for FBI HRT, Like the PCPD the player can bribe the FBI to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, or the PCPD but at the second highest price. The FBI also has the second widest array of favors the player can buy. regular agents drives the Nissan 350Z or Porsche 911 GT3 RS, FBI SWAT drives the - Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster or Ford F-150 SVT Raptor L.E. and FBI HRT drives the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X or Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR
Military - Only goes after the player if they trespass in Fort Rockport or the Palmount Naval Shipyard. Each kill from them awards 200 XP for regs, 400 XP for experienced troops and 600 XP for elite troops. Like the PCPD, State Police and the FBI, the player can bribe the military to look the other way, or even help the player fight gangs, the PCPD, State Police or even the FBI but at the highest price and The military also has the widest array of favors the player can buy in large part due to Agent Dawes’ connections in Washington.
Multiplayer portion of the game would take place during the five cartels war where the Blackwell Syndicate, The Volk, Palm Kings, Dixie Paldines, Los Salmos 16, and The House (basically where Jack Rourke glosses over saying "It was non-stop chaos for weeks")
Also there would be a free ride mode where the player can explore the city at their leisure or pick a fight with either other cartels or the cops.
2023.06.03 04:20 NascentAscent Good Intentions Lead to Massive Regrets for Healer
Greetings, fellow adventurers. Looking for some advice, insights, or someone to cast Guidance -- I fear I've messed up in a big, BIG way.
For context:
I'm a player in a homebrew campaign that uses the Strixhaven setting, with a hefty dose of world-hopping for various missions. Our band of first-year lv4 students was tasked with traveling through a portal and dealing with a group of hobgoblins on the other side who've been harrying a village by releasing snakes. Cue up a tangled scenario involving a cult, cursed meat products, a collapsing building, and near-certain mass mind control shenanigans, and we finally find the hobgoblins. Six of their group have been defeated and taken captive, and their commander is in the process of storming the prison where they're being held. Knowing that the villagers aren't acting on their free wills our group tries to hash out a diplomatic solution (we were asked to bring the Hobgoblins back alive, if possible), and we make decent headway before we run into a problem.
The hobgoblin prisoners don't want to be set free -- they want to be killed as punishment for the shame of being captured. My character (firbolg Druid / Monk with a strong healer focus) assumes it's just a warrior's pride thing. I'd heard about hobgoblin beliefs and general lore before, but in this instance I'm not recalling any of it. We manage to convince the hobgoblins that their commander has come to free them and that we're going to take them to safety, but there's a catch: the guards won't let them go without an apology. These hobgoblins are LIVID at the very notion. We bring the commander in to try and talk some sense into them, but when he hears what's being demanded for their release he quite nearly starts butchering right then and there (not sure if he was gonna go for the guards or the captives, honestly).
Here's where I messed up. To try and save lives and avert a bloodbath, my character makes an Improvised Heroic Speech™ about how acts of falsehood (like the apology) can be noble, even brave, comparing it to the patients my healer has tried to give comfort to in their final moments ("it's going to be all right" when it definitely isn't, etc). This is big character-wise -- firbolgs are GARBAGE at lying, but to be an effective medical practitioner my character learned to overcome that when the well-being of others is on the line, so a bit of a character development reveal. I roll 3 on Persuasion, no bonus... and the commander starts ordering his captive men to apologize. For a brief moment I thought the DM was giving me a mercy success -- I was only half right.
After the apologies are made, the commander lines up the now-freed captives, and I began to realize I'd made a Big Damn Error™. He asks me to confirm that I'm a healer, and when I say I am he raises his blade. Weapon hands start coming off, one hobgoblin at a time. The enormity of my mistake begins to hit home. The hobgoblin commander then exiles the former captives and says they are under my character's authority. Come to find out, the reason they wanted death over disgrace was religious -- the shame of capture was bad, but the shame of what my character put them through to save their lives formally and utterly cost them any remote chance of entering into their god's afterlife. My well-intentioned idiotic ass saved their lives but damned their souls in the process.
Not gonna lie, I'm a bit horrified both in and out of character. On the one hand it's a success for the mission... on the other hand (or in the hobgoblins' case, the stump of one) I'm now a sympathy-prone firbolg who has six dejected, exiled, one-handed, afterlife-bereft hobgoblins in his care while also trying to study at Major Magic School™. I can't help but think this was the polar opposite of the Hippocratic Oath, and my character's self-confidence is gonna be hella shaken for a while.
Fellow adventurers... what the heck do I do now?!?!
submitted by NascentAscent to DnD [link] [comments]
For context:
I'm a player in a homebrew campaign that uses the Strixhaven setting, with a hefty dose of world-hopping for various missions. Our band of first-year lv4 students was tasked with traveling through a portal and dealing with a group of hobgoblins on the other side who've been harrying a village by releasing snakes. Cue up a tangled scenario involving a cult, cursed meat products, a collapsing building, and near-certain mass mind control shenanigans, and we finally find the hobgoblins. Six of their group have been defeated and taken captive, and their commander is in the process of storming the prison where they're being held. Knowing that the villagers aren't acting on their free wills our group tries to hash out a diplomatic solution (we were asked to bring the Hobgoblins back alive, if possible), and we make decent headway before we run into a problem.
The hobgoblin prisoners don't want to be set free -- they want to be killed as punishment for the shame of being captured. My character (firbolg Druid / Monk with a strong healer focus) assumes it's just a warrior's pride thing. I'd heard about hobgoblin beliefs and general lore before, but in this instance I'm not recalling any of it. We manage to convince the hobgoblins that their commander has come to free them and that we're going to take them to safety, but there's a catch: the guards won't let them go without an apology. These hobgoblins are LIVID at the very notion. We bring the commander in to try and talk some sense into them, but when he hears what's being demanded for their release he quite nearly starts butchering right then and there (not sure if he was gonna go for the guards or the captives, honestly).
Here's where I messed up. To try and save lives and avert a bloodbath, my character makes an Improvised Heroic Speech™ about how acts of falsehood (like the apology) can be noble, even brave, comparing it to the patients my healer has tried to give comfort to in their final moments ("it's going to be all right" when it definitely isn't, etc). This is big character-wise -- firbolgs are GARBAGE at lying, but to be an effective medical practitioner my character learned to overcome that when the well-being of others is on the line, so a bit of a character development reveal. I roll 3 on Persuasion, no bonus... and the commander starts ordering his captive men to apologize. For a brief moment I thought the DM was giving me a mercy success -- I was only half right.
After the apologies are made, the commander lines up the now-freed captives, and I began to realize I'd made a Big Damn Error™. He asks me to confirm that I'm a healer, and when I say I am he raises his blade. Weapon hands start coming off, one hobgoblin at a time. The enormity of my mistake begins to hit home. The hobgoblin commander then exiles the former captives and says they are under my character's authority. Come to find out, the reason they wanted death over disgrace was religious -- the shame of capture was bad, but the shame of what my character put them through to save their lives formally and utterly cost them any remote chance of entering into their god's afterlife. My well-intentioned idiotic ass saved their lives but damned their souls in the process.
Not gonna lie, I'm a bit horrified both in and out of character. On the one hand it's a success for the mission... on the other hand (or in the hobgoblins' case, the stump of one) I'm now a sympathy-prone firbolg who has six dejected, exiled, one-handed, afterlife-bereft hobgoblins in his care while also trying to study at Major Magic School™. I can't help but think this was the polar opposite of the Hippocratic Oath, and my character's self-confidence is gonna be hella shaken for a while.
Fellow adventurers... what the heck do I do now?!?!
2023.06.03 03:37 Beanie_Inki The 1800 United States Assembly Elections The Hamiltonian Way
 | SUMMARY OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON’S GOVERNORSHIP (1798-1800) submitted by Beanie_Inki to Presidentialpoll [link] [comments] Cabinet Attorney General: Charles Lee (1798-1800) Secretary of Foreign Affairs: John Jay (1798-1800) Secretary of Finance: Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1798-1800) Secretary of War: James McHenry (1798-1800) Preparation With the grand success of the National Party in the Assembly, Hamilton got to work with waging his war against France. Securing an alliance with Britain through the Treaty of London, America would soon find itself at war with France and its ally Spain. Through a combination of France and Spain being stretched too thin to fight effectively, and America possessing a gargantuan military thanks to its levée en masse policy, the Gulf of Mexico was successfully blockaded, and the colonial forces starved. America would then conquer its way through Louisiana, Florida, and the Caribbean until it stood as a champion. However, instead of making peace and consolidating the new territories, Hamilton had committed to a great gamble by, with the approval of the British, sending American troops directly to Europe to help put down the French Revolution for Good. Stability The American Revolution was a revolution of intellectuals; elites coming together to organize an overthrow of British rule, guiding the people along the way. The end result was initially instability, under the mob rule provided by the Articles of Confederation, but when the new Constitution came into effect, stability came and America prospered. The same could not be said for France. The French Revolution was a revolution of the mob; angry men coming out to vent themselves by storming buildings, ransacking cities, and plunging the nation into a sea of blood. Royals, nobles, religious figures, anyone suspected of being an opponent of the revolution was sent to the guillotine. It was one thing to throw off the shackles of tyranny; it was another thing altogether to frenziedly execute anyone associated with the old order. Though the Jacobin Club had been dissolved long ago, its ideals have not. There are still many radicals in the world who continue to unwaveringly support such ideals even in the face of the French themselves rejecting it; the Committee of Public Safety had been overthrown many years ago in favor of the more moderate Directorate. Chief among these remaining Jacobins was Thomas Paine, the head of the Country Party’s radicals. It was one thing to be a Jacobin; it was another thing entirely to be a Hébertist like him. With the damage done by Jacobinism as clear as day, Hamilton knew what he had to do. For the sake of not just America, for the sake of not just Europe, but for the sake of the world, the French Revolution had to be stamped out for good. McHenry was shortsighted. It was too risky to just indirectly assist the British. As Jay had prescribed, America had to go to Europe and take the fight directly to France’s shores. This would be a watershed moment in American history; Alexander Hamilton, the first governor of the United States, had held the burden of every one of his actions setting a precedent for future governors to follow, yet none would be quite like this one. America was destined to be actively involved in the world, and for sure every governor following Hamilton would look back to him to deal with their foreign policy. God save America, for there was no turning back now. Outrage Just as Charles Lee was about to strike at the heart of the Friendly Tribune and make an example of their leaders, Hamilton requested a meeting with him. Happy to finally be in contact with someone else in the executive branch, he complied and met with the governor. Hamilton met with Lee regarding public order; sending troops abroad was highly unpopular. Even the newspapers which usually backed Hamilton even in his darkest times were questioning the wisdom of sending troops across the sea. What business would America have fighting in Europe? It made sense to punish the French and their allies in Madrid for their misdeeds and to seize their North American holdings, but there was no land to gain in Europe. The land there was not to colonize, for it was the homeland of colonizers. Hamilton had a simple request for Lee: don’t let the newspapers know a thing about the war in Europe. If anything bad happened, even if it was small, the newspapers would go nuts over it, and the people would follow. Hamilton specifically requested that the Security Act be invoked as soon as any newspaper started speaking up, and that the use of National Marshals against such papers be liberal. “The papers are your enemy, the papers are your enemy. The isolationists are your enemy, the pacifists are your enemy, the pacifists are your enemy. Write that in your journal 100 times.” was what Lee was told by Hamilton. So, with gusto, he got to work keeping every goddamn paper in-line. Unfortunately for Hamilton, it wasn’t just the public he had to worry about, as he had to now contend with the sole cabinet member who opposed his decision: Secretary of War James McHenry. This was inevitable. If he sided with McHenry, he’d have to confront Jay. Regardless, he had to get McHenry to support this since waging a war was going to be difficult without the secretary of war supporting said war. The meeting was brief, as McHenry’s opposition stemmed less from the idea of sending troops to Europe and more so because he believed that it wasn’t winnable and also that the troops would be better off pacifying the newly-occupied territories. Hamilton reassured him of victory being possible, citing the army’s size swelling to almost 6-digits from its already massive size of 80,000 at the war’s start. Furthermore, Hamilton reminded McHenry of the Security Act’s potency in dealing with uppity non-citizens and Attorney General Lee’s efficiency in enforcing the act. National Marshals would be fine enough to secure the territories while the bulk of the army was in Europe, though a small force would be left behind to deal with it. It seemed the meeting was over, but McHenry had one last concern to mention, on behalf of Secretary of Finance Wolcott, who had been frequently absent for “personal reasons” since the passage of the Fourteen Points. The problem was that of funding such an operation. Funding was generally fine for most of the war due to the Economic Reorganization Act, but fighting such a war in Europe was risky from a fiscal perspective. Hamilton reassured McHenry that he had a plan in mind just in case the money ran dry, though he wouldn’t elaborate. Satisfied, the meeting ended, and Hamilton got to speaking with Britain over the Jay Plan. Cooperation For once, William Grenville would see the governor himself, as opposed to John Jay. He could only hope that whatever happened here would leave a good impression; he had high expectations for such a man like Hamilton. Though, he knew little about why this meeting was called on such short notice, and why Hamilton himself was even there to begin with. So, the meeting began. Hamilton first began to ask questions about what was going on regarding the European theater. Grenville answered by bringing up the two main campaigns: the slightly successful campaign in Holland, and the stalemating campaign in Italy and Switzerland. The former was only successful due to the arrival of Prussian forces, which had been turning the tide of war, while the latter was a stalemate due to mountainous terrain making offensives nearly impossible against the might of the French Army. The Battle of Novi, which resulted in a victory for Austro-Prussian forces in Italy. With that now known, Hamilton informed Grenville of his intention to send American troops over to Europe in order to assist in putting down the French Republic. Furthermore, to surely get Grenville’s approval, he even claimed he intended to go himself. This completely stunned Grenville. Though he knew that Hamilton had a preference for Britain over France, he was still a revolutionary, and him outright planning to send troops across the Atlantic to put one down seemed completely backwards. Still, help was help, and so he happily informed Hamilton that such action would be appreciated. Of course, the devil was always in the details. The American Army was an extremely large army. If there was one similarity between America and France, it was that they both practiced levée en masse. With all of those troops, lots of food, ammunition, and other supplies were going to be needed to keep them supplied enough to fight. Hamilton acknowledged that he could only give them so many supplies. The bulk of their supplies once they arrived would have to be from Britain and other nations in the Coalition. Wanting nothing more than the final destruction of the French Revolution, Grenville promised logistical support for the troops. Viewing the meeting as successful, the two ended it there. Hamilton was set to take an unprecedented action; America was going to fight across the sea. Such an action had untold rewards, but doing so possessed unbelievable risks. If anyone could prevail, however, it would be Hamilton. Leaked American troops had landed in Europe, ready to fight. The journey took a bit longer than expected; the seas were rougher than usual, but they still made it. This was it. This was the twilight of the French Revolution. Unfortunately, back at home, the press caught wind of the staggering number of America’s men landing in Europe. While nothing bad had happened to them yet, Hamilton had underestimated just how much the public opposed any action in Europe. Despite the best efforts of Attorney General Lee, the press was able to make hay with this. Particularly, that damned Friendly Tribune, right before its final shutdown after Lee had discovered its headquarters in the basement of a building that was supposed to be for textile manufacturing. The whole damn place was run by Quakers. Lee felt incredibly stupid for not making the blatantly obvious connection earlier. Regardless, the newspaper was destroyed in one fell swoop, and those who worked for it were subsequently arrested and convicted. But this wasn’t going to be the end of it. Absolutely not. The news was out there. Shutting down the papers wouldn’t make that any less true. Already, people were visibly angry about it. Protests began popping up in Philadelphia, and Quakers were running amok denouncing the intervention in Europe. Lee had failed his one job, God help him. Timing What a disaster. Hamilton was all the way in Europe fighting, the people had just gotten wind of the highly unpopular direct intervention, and worst of all, it was election season. Whether Hamilton forgot or simply didn’t care was up in the air. Regardless, for the first time since the Whiskey Rebellion, Hamilton’s allies felt like they would lose. The National Party was very divided on the direct intervention. They were already divided on the matter of war to begin with; passing the Mobilization Act was no easy feat. But taking the fight to Europe? Many in the party had privately found Hamilton to be insufferable, and a small few in the Assembly began to openly criticize the war. Senate President Pinckney, who acted as governor in Hamilton’s absence, could only thank God that the Senate Nationals had more party discipline. The Country Party, on the other hand, was vehemently opposed to the war from day one. They saw it as completely ridiculous and counterproductive considering they were a revolutionary nation; what kind of revolutionary nation fights other revolutionary nations? The initial war in North America swayed some of them and the anti-war public into supporting it due to the successes, but war in Europe was insane. Yet this war was so controversial, that it broke the two-party system. The Quakers, who found no home in either party due to their opposition to mobilization and war as a whole, which made the National Party unfit for them, and their opposition to slavery and Revolutionary France’s worst excesses made the Country Party unfit for them. So, under the leadership of famed abolitionist Elias Hicks, a new party was born from the ideals of the Quakers: the Friendship Party. Elias Hicks, Quaker, abolitionist, and founder of the Friendship Party. THE 1800 UNITED STATES ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS National Party The cockade of the National Party. The National Party stands as the nation’s dominant party. With a supermajority in the Assembly and a working supermajority in the Senate, the nation bows to the whims of the party; more often than not the wishes of Governor Hamilton. The Nationals support Hamilton’s entire domestic program of the Fourteen Points, high tariffs, internal improvements, and defending the Bank. The party, however, stands in its most divided state since the Whiskey Rebellion. With many members already skeptical of the Mobilization Act and the prospect of war with France, Hamilton’s decision to personally lead American troops into Europe has caused factionalism to once more present itself in the party, with a noticeable chunk of the party opposing such action. The Louisianans are the less dominant, more moderate faction of the party, headed by Massachusetts Governor John Adams. While still remaining mostly loyal to Governor Hamilton, they do hold some opposition to his domestic policies, most notably the levée en masse provision of the Mobilization Act. Most notably, however, is their opposition to Hamilton’s current foreign policy. The Louisianans are highly opposed to directly intervening in Europe, believing that consolidating the newly conquered territories, most notably Louisiana, is much more beneficial to the nation than recklessly sending American troops overseas, instead favoring indirectly supporting the Coalition through giving arms and loans. The Rejuvenationists are the current dominant faction of the party, and are obstinately loyal to Governor Hamilton. Headed by Senate President Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, they dance to the tune of Hamilton’s every word as they lend their support towards his complete domestic agenda alongside supporting rigorous enforcement of the Mobilization Act’s levée en masse provision. On foreign policy, they believe in continuing the war until the French Revolution is fully stamped out, in order to destroy the threat of Jacobinism one and for all and rejuvenate America’s standing in the global community. Most controversially, some radicals in the faction have even proposed a postwar military alliance with Britain in order to ensure a maintenance of the postwar order. Country Party The cockade of the Country Party. The Country Party has, for most of its history so far, been a joke of a party. Opposing Hamilton’s popular agenda and being dominated by radicals alienated many voters, resulting in it never finding a true mandate in the Assembly. However, with Hamilton’s direct intervention in Europe causing the greatest uproar against the governor since the Whiskey Rebellion, the party may finally find a chance to win. Opposing Hamilton’s domestic agenda, the party calls for a reduction in tariffs, an end to the whiskey tax, and an exit from the war paired with an immediate repeal of the Mobilization Act. However, the party still holds factions, with radicals calling for an end to national internal improvement programs, the bank, and even the standing army, while moderates wish to see a continuation of internal improvements, a reduction in the power of the bank, and the maintenance of a voluntary standing army. The Normalists are the moderates, headed by Assembly Minority Leader DeWitt Clinton. Calling for a return to normalcy from the turbulent rule of the National Party, the Normalists call for an immediate peace, a repeal of the Security Act, a reduction in tariffs and the whiskey tax, and the pursuit of American neutrality. However, unlike their more radical counterparts, they still believe in national internal improvement programs and only weakening the Bank. Furthermore, they don’t believe in abolishing the standing army, viewing it to be necessary to fight both domestic and foreign threats to national sovereignty. The Brumaireians are the radicals, headed by former Assembly Minority Leader Thomas Paine. The Brumaireians support a peace treaty with France and Spain containing compensation for the conquered territories, and an issuing of arms shipments and loans to Revolutionary France, viewing them as fellow revolutionaries fighting a fight not so different from America’s own decades prior. On domestic affairs, they favor a complete repeal of the entire Fourteen Points and the Mobilization Act, alongside abolishing the Bank, national internal improvements, the whiskey tax, all protective tariffs, and the standing army, viewing them all as threats to liberty and proof of the urban class conspiring to dominate the common farmer. Friendship Party *Note: This is a write-in option only.* The cockade of the Friendship Party. The newest party to join the American political scene, the oddly named Friendship Party seeks to further the interests of the Quaker cause, and especially the cause of pacifism. Headed by famed abolitionist Elias Hicks, the party seeks to combine various ideas from both parties paired with abolitionism. They take from the National Party’s disdain for Revolutionary France and their high support for merchants. They take from the Country Party’s support for peace and their opposition to the Mobilization Act, the Security Act, and the standing army. Their syncretic ideals are further represented by their notable members, with Moses Brown representing the merchants, William Savery representing the pro-Indian rights activists, and Robert Pleasants representing the rural folk. However, due to the party’s affiliation with a small religious group, their hardline pacifism and abolitionism, and the fact that they’ve only just formed, the party is not even known to most voters, and is not projected to get many, if any seats. Furthermore, Quakers are mostly based in the Mid-Atlantic, and consequently, the Friendship Party is only able to run candidates in that area, with all of the candidates requiring write-ins due to not being included on the ballot. Who are you voting for in this election? View Poll |
2023.06.03 01:59 K_Rocc Theory about BB's and DOOMS (Spoilers)
So i've been playing the Directors Cut and just finished the Ruined Factory questline. At the end you find Fragile's "mom" and she basically says that she started the whole "terrorist" army to fight bridges to stop their evil campaign of using child sacrifices to build their network. Makes sense, she is fighting for the innocent who are being sacrificed and pull from their mother's wombs to be made into weapons. Yet she mentions how she took one baby out of the pod her "daughter" which she basically says is Fragile and even asks if she still has the other bracelet. So far the only people i know who have DOOMS are Her, you and Higgs (maybe im not remembering enough, can't recall if Heartman or Mama also have them?) but since you and Fragile are both BB's maybe only BB's have DOOMS. So anyone who has DOOMS was a BB that was taken out of the pod but doesn't remember. This could also be why Deadman said people with DOOMS and BB's dont mix, which would make sense because its basically a grown up BB hooked up to a BB, and that would make sense why they produce the feedback loop.
submitted by K_Rocc to DeathStranding [link] [comments]
2023.06.02 22:54 Pavel_Sergievsky Ukraine vs. Russia: Russian perspective.
Dear Professor Peterson,
I realize that your schedule probably won’t allow you to read this letter, least to reply. I am not expecting either of these and will not be offended. Why do I write it, then? Well, most probably because in the past several years you have been for me the voice of reason from abroad. Too many things are going in a crazy and disastrous direction, and listening to your lectures and videos have been very inspiring. It always amazes me how deeply you investigate the problem and how thoroughly you analyze it. In many cases listening to what you say have been like hearing what I always felt was true, but could not formulate and justify it myself. Thank you for that experience.
During the past year, which not only attracted the whole world’s attention to a conflict in Ukraine (at last, I’d say, war started there in 2014), but also demonstrated the unwillingness of countries and people to hear each other, I felt the growing urge to share Russian understanding of current situation and of the events that lead to it with someone who could probably be able to hear. Your name was the first to come to my mind. I hesitated until some time ago I came across the interview that you have recorded – “Israel, Russia, China, Iran: The World in Conflict” and it actually triggered me into writing. It occurred to me that, objective as you are, you may be unaware of some facts and interpretations, partly because modern media have mastered the art of being silent about some facts while shouting about the others, partly because you were born and raised in Anglo-Saxon civilization, with all embedded ideas and principles.
A bit about my background. Master’s degree in English language and literature, spent one year as a student in Connecticut, worked in American-owned companies for 17 years. That allows me to a certain degree to understand both sets of values.
I wanted to offer for your attention the view from the other side on what’s happening now between Russia and Western European civilization. I don't say that it is correct, I just say how Russians see it.
Very briefly, just point by point:
Looking at the international events of past 30-40 years, we may see 3 basic principles of international policy that the West is utilizing.
b) After the ancient Rome fell, and Europe lived through the Dark Ages, Arabian countries preserved much of knowledge and science. At that time Arabian East was much more cultural and civilized than Europe. What happened to them later, why they stopped developing science, how could Europe overtake them? One of the explanations is that at some point of time Muslim theologians declared that “Koran has everything”, so scientific research stopped. The legend says that under this slogan the Library of Alexandria has been burnt by Arabian conquerors.
c) There is an interesting correlation between the agricultural conditions in a certain territory and some national traits of character. That’s more than a coincidence. For example, wheat was the main crop in Europe. It doesn’t require any special irrigation, so you can well grow and harvest it alone. That means you are less dependent on other people. Hence smaller states (Germany before mid-XIX century consisted of dozens independent states), hence more independent opinions. Compare it to China. Rice requires serious irrigation works, you’ll never do it alone. In order to harvest rice, you need to organize a fairly large group of people to do a job together. And as the population grows, you need to perform those works at a larger scale, also because the easiest-to-work fields are already busy. As a result, we see that Chinese value the society more than they value an individual. A single person sacrificing his wishes for the good of the others is more acceptable for them than for Europeans.
This idea needs further thinking but it is quite possible that the liberalism and human rights developed in Western Europe to the extent we see due to a unique combination of religion, natural conditions and other factors. And it can’t be copied in other parts of the world. It can be brought to other parts of the world by immigration of people with European mentality, of course. But otherwise it can be done only by complete mentality change of local inhabitants. Not an easy task, could take generations and mean death of local culture.
In some part such understanding is based on the theory that appeared in history (history as a science!) in the UK in 18th century. This theory states that the process of human society development over time is a) linear and b) goes through the same stages in every society of the planet. One of the consequences of this theory was the statement that every society started from matriarchate – researchers came across some primitive society, ruled by women, and made their conclusion. This theory has long been proved wrong, but its influence is still alive.
Even if we accept that all countries, all societies are aiming at maximizing human rights, how justified will interference be? Good intentions are the pathway to hell. How long it took Anglo-Saxon civilization to reach modern state of human rights? Setting the Magna Carts as the starting point, it is a bit over 800 years, roughly 30 generations. Looking at the world history, we see how slowly societies change their organizational forms, evolving one into another. And you can’t forcefully speed it up. Imagine that our modern “crusaders of democracy” take time machine and show up at Hastings early in the morning on October 14th, 1066. “William, Harold, there is no need to fight. You need to run democratic elections, and everything will be ok…” Will they even understand the idea??? And what will happen the next day after they are left alone?
You have shown significant interest in Russian culture. If you care spending some more time on Russian books, I’d recommend you brothers Strugatsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky). The form of what they have written is science fiction, but the contents is all about ethics, morale, responsibility, conscience. Try «Escape Attempt», «Hard to be a God», «Overburdened with Evil».
Why I am mentioning them now is because among others they are exploring the topic of “progressors” – people from Earth of XXII century who try to speed up the history of other planets, to solve their problems, stop wars, etc. And it doesn’t end well. As one of their heroes says, “You can’t break up the natural course of history without breaking the spine of humanity.”
It’s hard to find examples of good revolutions when they are initiated from abroad. Change of regime should be supported by majority within the country – it is the guarantee that society is ready for it. What Anglo-Saxons and NATO frequently do is supporting the angry minority in its aspirations for power. And instead of peace, freedom and prosperity it brings chaos. The classic example is Libya. Over 10 years ago the country was “spared of Gaddafi’s tyrannical rule”… How do they live now? The GDP is still around 50% of what it used to be, the country is still not at peace, there are two major forces each claiming to be the legal power. How many lives it did cost already and how much time it will take free Libya to recover? Can such liberation be called anything but a disservice? In Russia we call it “bear’s help”. I don’t say that everything was good in the country when Gaddafi was alive, but aren’t they in the worse situation now?
The whole series of Arabian spring looks like a great mess, not a great success. I rely on the opinion of an expert – below is the brief translation of an article published in 2015-2016 by Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli scholar of Arab culture and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. I can’t find the original, unfortunately.
December 2015 was the fifth anniversary of the events known as an ‘Arabian spring’. The world applauded the heroes of the streets in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain. Now, five years ago, those countries are still battlefields, with no light ahead. What problems have prevented them from positive development? Most of them have developed over centuries and they still prevail in mentality, remaining the dangerous rudiment.
Here’s an article by the same author on the same topic – https://fathomjournal.org/why-we-keep-getting-the-middle-east-wrong/
Here’s an interview with him – https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2015/07/28/americans-still-dont-understand-the-middle-east-this-man-wants-to-help/
In one of your interviews you discussed the competition between China and the US for influence in Africa. And your opinion was that China wins due to corruption of local elites. Let me offer another reason for your consideration. It is the same reason that allows Russia to gain influence in Middle East, Africa, South America. When China or Russia come to some country to cooperate, they come to cooperate, not to teach, not to judge, not to interfere into the internal affairs of the state. And people appreciate this.
De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.
One of the principles of democracy is separation of three powers – legislative, judicial and executive. So why then countries that consider themselves “leaders of democratic world” forget about this principle in international relations. They make the rules, they judge and they punish.
One of American diplomats said recently that USA supports international rules-based order. Sounds good, sounds undoubtedly right. But why USA and NATO forget about the rules when it is convenient? Or is it “We support international rules-based order, but our own actions should not be limited by these rules”? What immediately comes to my mind without web search:
Speaking more about the rules… We are tired of seeing double standards. As an illustration, I will use just one aspect – the principle of integrity of the state vs the principle of the right of nations to self-determination. It looks like the West supports integrity of the state, when this state is allied or friendly to the West, and supports nation’s self-determination when the state is not. Let’s go through some examples.
- Chechnya (an autonomous republic within Soviet Union) wanted to become independent after 1991. It quickly started to use terrorism to achieve this goal. It took a lot of effort to stop the war and bring the region back to safety. Reaction of the West – support of chechens, their leader fled to London and was not deported to Russia despite all requests.
- Abkhazia (an autonomous republic within Georgian republic which was part of Soviet Union) wanted to become independent from Georgia when Georgia became independent from Russia. Resulted in a war. The conflict is still not solved. Abkhazia now is an independent state which is acknowledged by very few countries in the world. Reaction of the West – they still consider Abkhazia as a rebellious part of Georgia. Same situation about South Osetia – another region, that was an administrative part of Georgia until 1991 and that also seeks independence.
- Donetsk and Lugansk wanted to become independent from Ukraine after 2014 coup. Ukraine tried to subdue them by force and failed. Then the workplan has been signed in Minsk – what the parties of the conflict agree to do to settle. The result should have been – Donetsk and Lugansk return to Ukraine but have extended political rights, etc. Ukraine did nothing of its promises. Reaction of the West – support of Ukraine.
- Catalonia is seeking independence. And I remember that leaders of independence movement have been under political and criminal pressure.
- Scotland had a referendum about independence. And even though results were in favour of the UK, I remember how nervously London reacted.
Russia – NATO relations after 1991
This is best said by Vladimir Pozner, a journalist who spent years of his work in the USA, Russia, Europe and is one of the most known journalists of the old school (comparing to modern propagandists). Here’s the link to his speech in Yale University on September 27, 2018 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7Ng75e5gQ&t=2556s.
His speech takes around forty minutes, the rest is the Q&A. To save you time, I’d summarize it here in just a couple of phrases. After Soviet Union collapsed, there was an illusion that we aren’t enemies anymore, that the world is open now, and that we will be partners or even friends. Russia dismissed the Warsaw Treaty union and agreed for Germany to unite, that looked just right – why keep a military union when we aren’t enemies anymore? Sometime later Russia made an offer to join NATO to provide world security together and was denied. Russia offered to join the EU, and was denied. Russia was promised that NATO would not expand eastward and less than 10 years later this promise was broken. Since then, we’ve been witnessing NATO getting closer and closer to our borders, inviting countries that are our neighbours and aggressively supporting those candidates to country leadership in East Europe who declared anti-Russia views. So now the illusion is over. We are enemies. And what’s worse – we don’t trust US anymore, so negotiating some new principles of coexistence will be problematic.
Ukraine.
Briefly about history, in more details about recent times and present situation.
In 16-17th century the territory of modern Ukraine was controlled by two forces with no clear border between them. Northwest (where the city of Lvov is now) was under Polish rule, center and the region along river Dnepr – under control of “kazak military democracies” – gatherings of all people, who fled from Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Crimea and who with time formed Ukrainians as a nation. They were ruled by elected chieftains and made their living largely by either joining some military campaign for money and loot, or by robbery raids to Poland, Crimea, Turkey. They were allied to Russia due to same religion – Orthodox Christianity.
As Poland grew stronger, its pressure on the territory grew, which led to periodic rebellions. Poland is a Catholic state, and people of Orthodox Ukraine were severely oppressed. Seeking protection, Ukrainian chieftains asked Russia to include those territories into Russian state. First request came in 1591. Russia rejected this request and several others. Only in 1654 part of Ukraine, controlled by kazaks, was included into Russia. Consequences – war with Poland and tens of thousands orthodox people fleeing from Polish-controlled lands into Russian-controlled lands.
From then on Russians and Ukrainians were really ‘brother nations’. Well, it was not heaven, but it was the best available option. Same religion, very close language and mentality. And forget about oppression. Ukrainians were oppressed as much as Russians themselves.
When the WW I started, Germany and Austria-Hungary were looking for collaborators in occupied territories of Russian Empire. They promised independence to nationalists in Western Ukraine, and found people who bought the idea. Not surprisingly, the most dedicated nationalists came from the least developed region of the country. Ukraine did not become independent at that moment, but the ideas stayed and gave their fruit during WW II, when Ukrainian collaborators actively participated in Nazis’ crimes. In one of your videos you described what Unit 731 of Japanese army was doing and you warned your listeners that they will never forget it. If you will find and read witnesses’ accounts of Volhynia massacre, you will never forget it either. I read it once long ago and I never want to read it again. It was a shock to me that people are capable of such things.
In the period between 1945 and 1991 Ukraine had the same rights as any other republic. There were no impediments to preserving and developing local culture. If you lived in any republic, you learned two languages – Russian and local. National literature was actively translated into other national languages of the Soviet Union, there were no impediments to education. Soviet Union with all its flaws, really tried to unite all of its nations into one big family. (What surprises me though is why antisemitism remained. You could come from Georgia, Uzbekistan or Yakutia and pass exams to Moscow university, no problem if you are smart enough. But it could be problematic for a Jew…)
After 1991 Russia and Ukraine remained friendly states, tightly bound by economic, cultural and even family ties. Ukraine tried to get the most out of relations both with Russia and with the West and it worked fairly well for 30 years. But with time attempts to elevate significance of their own nation led Ukrainians down a dangerous path. They started to slowly eliminate all other cultures that were present in the country. This process sped up dramatically in 2014, when after a coup the nationalist forces gained influence on the government.
Official Kiev denies being nationalistic, but don’t trust what the person is saying, see what he is doing.
We see those nationalistic ideas demonstrating themselves in a number of ways, and we have seen them before and we know what threat they can bring if left unattended. Pay attention to a dragon when it is small, you may be unable to win when it grows up.
I don’t say that our perception is correct, I just say how we see it. And to us modern Ukraine is like a younger brother who joined a bad company and who is becoming dangerous.
Now combine these two. Ukrainian nationalism plus NATO. Two threats, one well known historically, another the most dangerous rival of the past 70 years. We see them uniting and it is really an existential threat to us. In such circumstances could we afford being blind to it, just sitting and waiting what comes next? We tried to settle it peacefully. Many times Russia said that we are worried by NATO expansion, that we are worried by Western support of nationalistic movements in our neigbour countries. No effect. The last attempt was made in autumn of 2021, when Putin offered a negotiation that should have resulted in guaranteed safety. No reply.
If there is a conflict and your rival refuses to talk, he is asking for a fight. I don’t say that war in Ukraine is the right way to solve the conflict, but who can say that we did not try to set it by negotiations?
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I realize that your schedule probably won’t allow you to read this letter, least to reply. I am not expecting either of these and will not be offended. Why do I write it, then? Well, most probably because in the past several years you have been for me the voice of reason from abroad. Too many things are going in a crazy and disastrous direction, and listening to your lectures and videos have been very inspiring. It always amazes me how deeply you investigate the problem and how thoroughly you analyze it. In many cases listening to what you say have been like hearing what I always felt was true, but could not formulate and justify it myself. Thank you for that experience.
During the past year, which not only attracted the whole world’s attention to a conflict in Ukraine (at last, I’d say, war started there in 2014), but also demonstrated the unwillingness of countries and people to hear each other, I felt the growing urge to share Russian understanding of current situation and of the events that lead to it with someone who could probably be able to hear. Your name was the first to come to my mind. I hesitated until some time ago I came across the interview that you have recorded – “Israel, Russia, China, Iran: The World in Conflict” and it actually triggered me into writing. It occurred to me that, objective as you are, you may be unaware of some facts and interpretations, partly because modern media have mastered the art of being silent about some facts while shouting about the others, partly because you were born and raised in Anglo-Saxon civilization, with all embedded ideas and principles.
A bit about my background. Master’s degree in English language and literature, spent one year as a student in Connecticut, worked in American-owned companies for 17 years. That allows me to a certain degree to understand both sets of values.
I wanted to offer for your attention the view from the other side on what’s happening now between Russia and Western European civilization. I don't say that it is correct, I just say how Russians see it.
Very briefly, just point by point:
- Currently many people in the West are speaking about Russia as about a threat. But what makes you think that we see you differently? We see you as a growing threat. We don’t trust you. And we have plenty of reason for feeling this way.
- We see the West is regularly breaking its own rules and demonstrating double standards, so we can’t rely on its words.
- It has been clearly shown to us, that we will never be accepted by the West as an equal partner, so to us the West is neither a friend, nor a partner, but a competitor at best, an enemy at worst.
- We have seen what the West does to regimes that don’t obey and how the West does it, so West is a serious threat. Don’t come any closer.
Looking at the international events of past 30-40 years, we may see 3 basic principles of international policy that the West is utilizing.
- Democracy is the best possible society model.
- Pure democracy is limited to small communities, and is impossible in big countries. Once a certain threshold is passed, democracy is either a burden to every decision made, or is executed via representatives. And representatives, being people with all their imperfections, gradually start spoiling and corrupting the idea.
- Democracy tends to evolve, or, I’d rather say, degrade into oligarchy. Examples are numerous. Ancient Greece and Rome, Novgorod Republic (XII-XV cc), medieval Poland, etc. Even now – with all our experience, we keep hitting the same wall. Legal practice of lobbying in USA is the desire of big money (oligarchs) to have more influence on country policy. In Russia lobbying is illegal, so the same goal is achieved by other means, but without digging deep into details, it is the same – democratic form of power, spoiled by natural human desire to grab more for oneself on the expense of others.
- The most prosperous regions now (North America, Western Europe, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia) are the ones where capitalism appeared and developed earlier than in other parts of the world. That boosted production, country strength and wealth and eventually allowed them to have colonies in other parts of the world. Owning some overseas land gave enormous economic advantages. Remember “British East India Company”, which at its peak of wealth had an army of 160 thousand soldiers (more than some counties had!). The importance of having colonies can be best illustrated by the simple fact – one of the core reasons of the WW I was the desire of Germany, who was late to the table, to have its share of a pie. And even though political power of metropolises over colonies seized in mid-XXth century, economic bounds stayed much longer. If, let’s say, a uranium mine in Uganda belongs to French company, then which country benefits more from it? And to what extent the modern wealth of Europe and North America is due to other parts of the world?
- I doubt that democracy and human rights priority are possible in every country of the world. This idea just occurred to me, so I did not dig deep into finding the proof, but mentality (to put it narrower – religion) could prevent the society from accepting ideas that are just natural for another society. There are some facts I immediately recall that support this idea.
b) After the ancient Rome fell, and Europe lived through the Dark Ages, Arabian countries preserved much of knowledge and science. At that time Arabian East was much more cultural and civilized than Europe. What happened to them later, why they stopped developing science, how could Europe overtake them? One of the explanations is that at some point of time Muslim theologians declared that “Koran has everything”, so scientific research stopped. The legend says that under this slogan the Library of Alexandria has been burnt by Arabian conquerors.
c) There is an interesting correlation between the agricultural conditions in a certain territory and some national traits of character. That’s more than a coincidence. For example, wheat was the main crop in Europe. It doesn’t require any special irrigation, so you can well grow and harvest it alone. That means you are less dependent on other people. Hence smaller states (Germany before mid-XIX century consisted of dozens independent states), hence more independent opinions. Compare it to China. Rice requires serious irrigation works, you’ll never do it alone. In order to harvest rice, you need to organize a fairly large group of people to do a job together. And as the population grows, you need to perform those works at a larger scale, also because the easiest-to-work fields are already busy. As a result, we see that Chinese value the society more than they value an individual. A single person sacrificing his wishes for the good of the others is more acceptable for them than for Europeans.
This idea needs further thinking but it is quite possible that the liberalism and human rights developed in Western Europe to the extent we see due to a unique combination of religion, natural conditions and other factors. And it can’t be copied in other parts of the world. It can be brought to other parts of the world by immigration of people with European mentality, of course. But otherwise it can be done only by complete mentality change of local inhabitants. Not an easy task, could take generations and mean death of local culture.
- All people are seeking freedom and democracy, so it is our duty to help them achieve this goal. If some part of the society resists this help, it is the tyrannical part and it should be eliminated.
In some part such understanding is based on the theory that appeared in history (history as a science!) in the UK in 18th century. This theory states that the process of human society development over time is a) linear and b) goes through the same stages in every society of the planet. One of the consequences of this theory was the statement that every society started from matriarchate – researchers came across some primitive society, ruled by women, and made their conclusion. This theory has long been proved wrong, but its influence is still alive.
Even if we accept that all countries, all societies are aiming at maximizing human rights, how justified will interference be? Good intentions are the pathway to hell. How long it took Anglo-Saxon civilization to reach modern state of human rights? Setting the Magna Carts as the starting point, it is a bit over 800 years, roughly 30 generations. Looking at the world history, we see how slowly societies change their organizational forms, evolving one into another. And you can’t forcefully speed it up. Imagine that our modern “crusaders of democracy” take time machine and show up at Hastings early in the morning on October 14th, 1066. “William, Harold, there is no need to fight. You need to run democratic elections, and everything will be ok…” Will they even understand the idea??? And what will happen the next day after they are left alone?
You have shown significant interest in Russian culture. If you care spending some more time on Russian books, I’d recommend you brothers Strugatsky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkady_and_Boris_Strugatsky). The form of what they have written is science fiction, but the contents is all about ethics, morale, responsibility, conscience. Try «Escape Attempt», «Hard to be a God», «Overburdened with Evil».
Why I am mentioning them now is because among others they are exploring the topic of “progressors” – people from Earth of XXII century who try to speed up the history of other planets, to solve their problems, stop wars, etc. And it doesn’t end well. As one of their heroes says, “You can’t break up the natural course of history without breaking the spine of humanity.”
It’s hard to find examples of good revolutions when they are initiated from abroad. Change of regime should be supported by majority within the country – it is the guarantee that society is ready for it. What Anglo-Saxons and NATO frequently do is supporting the angry minority in its aspirations for power. And instead of peace, freedom and prosperity it brings chaos. The classic example is Libya. Over 10 years ago the country was “spared of Gaddafi’s tyrannical rule”… How do they live now? The GDP is still around 50% of what it used to be, the country is still not at peace, there are two major forces each claiming to be the legal power. How many lives it did cost already and how much time it will take free Libya to recover? Can such liberation be called anything but a disservice? In Russia we call it “bear’s help”. I don’t say that everything was good in the country when Gaddafi was alive, but aren’t they in the worse situation now?
The whole series of Arabian spring looks like a great mess, not a great success. I rely on the opinion of an expert – below is the brief translation of an article published in 2015-2016 by Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli scholar of Arab culture and a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. I can’t find the original, unfortunately.
December 2015 was the fifth anniversary of the events known as an ‘Arabian spring’. The world applauded the heroes of the streets in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain. Now, five years ago, those countries are still battlefields, with no light ahead. What problems have prevented them from positive development? Most of them have developed over centuries and they still prevail in mentality, remaining the dangerous rudiment.
- Tribalism*, that was always a survival factor in harsh natural conditions of the region. Now the conditions are different but mentality is still the same, when each person thinks of himself as a member of the clan first (family, tribe, tape, whatever…), not the citizen of the country.*
- Violence*. Resources are scarce, so anyone who is not the member of my clan, is a deadly threat. And the first reaction to a threat is violence.*
- Honour*, understood very specifically. Dishonoured person will seek revenge. It is not uncommon for a person to kill members of his own family if they dishonoured him. Honour is of primary importance in relations between countries and nations, sometimes more important than economics and healthcare.*
- Nepotism*, which has its roots in tribalism. Promoting your relatives to administrative positions is illegal in the West, but is part of normal practice in the East.*
- Corruption*. An office holder will invest in projects and regions where his tribe and supporters live, not otherwise. He feels financially responsible to his family, not to the country.*
- Multiple ethnic groups*, which protect their own languages and traditions. Marriages outside of a group are rare, coexistence with other groups is tense and hostile.*
- Islam*. Islamic extremists are sure that people who believe otherwise, are deserved to be killed.*
- Sunnites vs*.* shiites*. This conflict started back in 7th century as a conflict for control over Islam. Non-Islamic people see them analogous to Catholicism vs. Orthodox church, but in reality now, after centuries of religious wars, these are two separate religions, and the dialogue between them is very difficult.*
- Predominant culture*. Three main groups are Bedouins who live in deserts, fellahs who are the peasants, and inhabitants of the cities. Each group thinks stereotypically of other two, cross-marriages are rare.*
- Country borders*. British, French and Italian administration have been drawn the borders straight, just by a ruler and a pencil, paying no attention to the real borders between various groups which differ by religion and ethnicity. People who never thought about themselves as about having anything in common, are now the citizens of one country. And they don’t feel it this way.*
- Power change*. This is something which never happens peacefully in Arabic countries. The ethnic or religious group at power holds to it by all means.*
- Israel*. Arabs and Muslims don’t acknowledge Judaism as a live religion, Jewish people as a people. So for them the very existence of Israel is illegal. Plus Israel is very convenient as an external enemy, a good target for the aggression of the masses.*
- Oil has turned the countries of the Gulf into societies which don’t produce, but do consume without limits. The difference between wealth of the Gulf and poverty of other Arabian countries is shocking.
- West that interferes into the region to solve its own problems. Oil, gas, weapons – all is targeted to use natural resources of Middle East.
- Al Jazeera as a catalyst of social and religious unrest.
Here’s an article by the same author on the same topic – https://fathomjournal.org/why-we-keep-getting-the-middle-east-wrong/
Here’s an interview with him – https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2015/07/28/americans-still-dont-understand-the-middle-east-this-man-wants-to-help/
In one of your interviews you discussed the competition between China and the US for influence in Africa. And your opinion was that China wins due to corruption of local elites. Let me offer another reason for your consideration. It is the same reason that allows Russia to gain influence in Middle East, Africa, South America. When China or Russia come to some country to cooperate, they come to cooperate, not to teach, not to judge, not to interfere into the internal affairs of the state. And people appreciate this.
- We have the right to decide who is democratic and who is not.
De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.
One of the principles of democracy is separation of three powers – legislative, judicial and executive. So why then countries that consider themselves “leaders of democratic world” forget about this principle in international relations. They make the rules, they judge and they punish.
One of American diplomats said recently that USA supports international rules-based order. Sounds good, sounds undoubtedly right. But why USA and NATO forget about the rules when it is convenient? Or is it “We support international rules-based order, but our own actions should not be limited by these rules”? What immediately comes to my mind without web search:
- Kosovo, 1999. Civil war or genocide or whatever it may be called. How it should have been handled according to the rules? UN Security Council makes the decision, ‘blue helmets’ move in and stop the hot phase of the conflict. How it was done? NATO forces moved in without UNSC mandate. Forget the rules.
- Iraq, 2003. USA and its allies invaded Iraq based on false claims that Saddam had mass destruction weapons. The Center for Public Integrity stated that the Bush administration made a total of 935 false statements between 2001 and 2003 about Iraq's alleged threat to the United States. International lies-based order?
Speaking more about the rules… We are tired of seeing double standards. As an illustration, I will use just one aspect – the principle of integrity of the state vs the principle of the right of nations to self-determination. It looks like the West supports integrity of the state, when this state is allied or friendly to the West, and supports nation’s self-determination when the state is not. Let’s go through some examples.
- Chechnya (an autonomous republic within Soviet Union) wanted to become independent after 1991. It quickly started to use terrorism to achieve this goal. It took a lot of effort to stop the war and bring the region back to safety. Reaction of the West – support of chechens, their leader fled to London and was not deported to Russia despite all requests.
- Abkhazia (an autonomous republic within Georgian republic which was part of Soviet Union) wanted to become independent from Georgia when Georgia became independent from Russia. Resulted in a war. The conflict is still not solved. Abkhazia now is an independent state which is acknowledged by very few countries in the world. Reaction of the West – they still consider Abkhazia as a rebellious part of Georgia. Same situation about South Osetia – another region, that was an administrative part of Georgia until 1991 and that also seeks independence.
- Donetsk and Lugansk wanted to become independent from Ukraine after 2014 coup. Ukraine tried to subdue them by force and failed. Then the workplan has been signed in Minsk – what the parties of the conflict agree to do to settle. The result should have been – Donetsk and Lugansk return to Ukraine but have extended political rights, etc. Ukraine did nothing of its promises. Reaction of the West – support of Ukraine.
- Catalonia is seeking independence. And I remember that leaders of independence movement have been under political and criminal pressure.
- Scotland had a referendum about independence. And even though results were in favour of the UK, I remember how nervously London reacted.
Russia – NATO relations after 1991
This is best said by Vladimir Pozner, a journalist who spent years of his work in the USA, Russia, Europe and is one of the most known journalists of the old school (comparing to modern propagandists). Here’s the link to his speech in Yale University on September 27, 2018 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X7Ng75e5gQ&t=2556s.
His speech takes around forty minutes, the rest is the Q&A. To save you time, I’d summarize it here in just a couple of phrases. After Soviet Union collapsed, there was an illusion that we aren’t enemies anymore, that the world is open now, and that we will be partners or even friends. Russia dismissed the Warsaw Treaty union and agreed for Germany to unite, that looked just right – why keep a military union when we aren’t enemies anymore? Sometime later Russia made an offer to join NATO to provide world security together and was denied. Russia offered to join the EU, and was denied. Russia was promised that NATO would not expand eastward and less than 10 years later this promise was broken. Since then, we’ve been witnessing NATO getting closer and closer to our borders, inviting countries that are our neighbours and aggressively supporting those candidates to country leadership in East Europe who declared anti-Russia views. So now the illusion is over. We are enemies. And what’s worse – we don’t trust US anymore, so negotiating some new principles of coexistence will be problematic.
Ukraine.
Briefly about history, in more details about recent times and present situation.
In 16-17th century the territory of modern Ukraine was controlled by two forces with no clear border between them. Northwest (where the city of Lvov is now) was under Polish rule, center and the region along river Dnepr – under control of “kazak military democracies” – gatherings of all people, who fled from Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Crimea and who with time formed Ukrainians as a nation. They were ruled by elected chieftains and made their living largely by either joining some military campaign for money and loot, or by robbery raids to Poland, Crimea, Turkey. They were allied to Russia due to same religion – Orthodox Christianity.
As Poland grew stronger, its pressure on the territory grew, which led to periodic rebellions. Poland is a Catholic state, and people of Orthodox Ukraine were severely oppressed. Seeking protection, Ukrainian chieftains asked Russia to include those territories into Russian state. First request came in 1591. Russia rejected this request and several others. Only in 1654 part of Ukraine, controlled by kazaks, was included into Russia. Consequences – war with Poland and tens of thousands orthodox people fleeing from Polish-controlled lands into Russian-controlled lands.
From then on Russians and Ukrainians were really ‘brother nations’. Well, it was not heaven, but it was the best available option. Same religion, very close language and mentality. And forget about oppression. Ukrainians were oppressed as much as Russians themselves.
When the WW I started, Germany and Austria-Hungary were looking for collaborators in occupied territories of Russian Empire. They promised independence to nationalists in Western Ukraine, and found people who bought the idea. Not surprisingly, the most dedicated nationalists came from the least developed region of the country. Ukraine did not become independent at that moment, but the ideas stayed and gave their fruit during WW II, when Ukrainian collaborators actively participated in Nazis’ crimes. In one of your videos you described what Unit 731 of Japanese army was doing and you warned your listeners that they will never forget it. If you will find and read witnesses’ accounts of Volhynia massacre, you will never forget it either. I read it once long ago and I never want to read it again. It was a shock to me that people are capable of such things.
In the period between 1945 and 1991 Ukraine had the same rights as any other republic. There were no impediments to preserving and developing local culture. If you lived in any republic, you learned two languages – Russian and local. National literature was actively translated into other national languages of the Soviet Union, there were no impediments to education. Soviet Union with all its flaws, really tried to unite all of its nations into one big family. (What surprises me though is why antisemitism remained. You could come from Georgia, Uzbekistan or Yakutia and pass exams to Moscow university, no problem if you are smart enough. But it could be problematic for a Jew…)
After 1991 Russia and Ukraine remained friendly states, tightly bound by economic, cultural and even family ties. Ukraine tried to get the most out of relations both with Russia and with the West and it worked fairly well for 30 years. But with time attempts to elevate significance of their own nation led Ukrainians down a dangerous path. They started to slowly eliminate all other cultures that were present in the country. This process sped up dramatically in 2014, when after a coup the nationalist forces gained influence on the government.
Official Kiev denies being nationalistic, but don’t trust what the person is saying, see what he is doing.
- Open Kiev map and you will find two prospects – one named after Bandera, another after Shukhevich. Those two stand behind Volhynia massacre and numerous other crimes. Now they are heroes.
- During WW II Ukrainian nationalists were gathered by Nazis into the division “Galicia”. Collaborators and traitors, they did not show much on the battlefield, but were always victorious in the punitive raids against civilians. Now they are heroes.
- Ukraine is banning and denying Russian language and Russian culture. And it did not start last year. It started much earlier, when bit by bit Russian-speaking people had more and more difficulties teaching their children in Russian, buying books in Russian. It even shows itself historically – famous writers, artists, musicians, etc. of the past are proclaimed Ukrainians if they were born or lived on the territory of modern Ukraine. Aivazovskiy was Armenian by nation, lived in Crimea which was Russian at the time. Repin was Russian, Kuingi was Greek. Gogol and Bulgakov called themselves Russian and wrote in Russian. Shevchenko wrote in Russian, and now his books in Ukraine are translated from Russian.
We see those nationalistic ideas demonstrating themselves in a number of ways, and we have seen them before and we know what threat they can bring if left unattended. Pay attention to a dragon when it is small, you may be unable to win when it grows up.
I don’t say that our perception is correct, I just say how we see it. And to us modern Ukraine is like a younger brother who joined a bad company and who is becoming dangerous.
Now combine these two. Ukrainian nationalism plus NATO. Two threats, one well known historically, another the most dangerous rival of the past 70 years. We see them uniting and it is really an existential threat to us. In such circumstances could we afford being blind to it, just sitting and waiting what comes next? We tried to settle it peacefully. Many times Russia said that we are worried by NATO expansion, that we are worried by Western support of nationalistic movements in our neigbour countries. No effect. The last attempt was made in autumn of 2021, when Putin offered a negotiation that should have resulted in guaranteed safety. No reply.
If there is a conflict and your rival refuses to talk, he is asking for a fight. I don’t say that war in Ukraine is the right way to solve the conflict, but who can say that we did not try to set it by negotiations?