I know that this has been discussed ad infinitum, but it seems like reemerges like herpes (not herpes shaming!).
Let's start from the book. The author specifically says that the vast majority of Godbound interaction will be with normal mortals.
For example: Even so, these minor foes need to exist in your world. If the only enemies the PCs ever face are parasite gods, furious angelic tyrants, and mighty theurge-Eldritch of yore, they're going to start to feel like very small fish in their particular pond. Regular encounters with foes that really aren't in the same league as even a novice Godbound will help give the proper sense of proportion to your world, and encourage the PCs to see themselves as the mighty heroes they are.
Clearly if you have a knucklehead, an especially easily bored PC who thinks it's fun to go chopping off the heads or incinerating town Magistrates or using their powers of emotion/mind control to have his/her way with the King/Queen's prince/princess. That PC is just asking to be paid a visit from a Eldritch, Tyrant or what have you, who may have a pact with them to protect the town, kingdom or whatever.
There dozens of D&D modules (preferably TSR), that you can use. They have a clear progression where modules will show that they are made for a number of players at a certain level. Tougher modules request higher level characters.
The modules typically have PC's defending against mundane threats or threats from another world. However, when they become higher level, they go meet these same menaces on their own turfs.
A few good D&D modules that I found both fun and challenging with no more than 3 or 4 Godbound or 5 or 6 Mortal Heroes:

1. The Tree of Life (more of Elven adventure)- High level
2. The Endless Stair (also good for high level Mortal Heroes as it offers demigod status).- High level
3. In Search of Adventure and Tales of the Outer Planes- Low level
4. Earth Shaker- Medium level
5. Twilight Calling- High level

Hi!
So! I was wondering how good I really am. :-) I would love to hear your answers for the following questions:
​
- What is your ranking in your league among all world players? (me: 41)
- How long have you been coaching your team? (me: FC Barcelona, 40 years) Or are you more of a roamer, coaching here and there...?
- Do you have (or have you ever had) a stadium named after you? (me: Finally, after 40 years in the club, The Camp Nou was replaced with The Amit Mish'an Arena, a 140,000 seater!)
- Do you feel you've achieved everything you wanted in the game? (me: about 20 years ago I was named best manager of all times. Since then I went on to win the league 40 times in a row, and the UCL 28 times in 40 years, winning it 13 times in a row in the last 13 years. The only thing I had left to achieve is to have a stadium named after me and play there with my team, and I just have. So I think I'm either pretty much done with the game or maybe it's time to move along to another team. Haven't decided yet.)
​
Anyway, just wanted to gauge myself in comparison to you guys.
Thanks!

It's been 7 years since Imaginators (and 12 since Skylands and Earth came into contact), and the rest of villains have decided to follow the villain senseis' down of path of good... or at least neutral. Here's what they're up to:
​
Sheep Creep is still leading the Sheep Rights Movement, but non-violently this time.
Gulper took up acting, and now plays Officer Gulper on Captain Happy's World of Learning, an absurdist parody of the Earth program Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
Tussle Sprout opened a flower shop thanks to the power of antihistamines.
Buzzer Beak retired to his home in Phoenix Psanctuary. His family welcomed him back with open arms.
Slobber Trap is now a professional wrestler for SWE (Skylands Wrestling Entertainment). People complained that he won too much, but then Vince McMage got ousted, and originality is starting to reign. That pun was unintended.
Bruiser Cruiser started his own mech-fighting league.
Broccoli Guy and Chill Bill have become beloved radio cohosts. Chill Bill even got to become the first troll to broadcast a professional scoreball (a Skylandic sport combining basketball and soccer) game.
Troll 1 and Troll 2, formerly of Shrednaught got hired by a construction company.
Cuckoo Clocker is now the lead singer of the ska-punk band The Songbirds.
Bomb Shell joined the Mabu Defense Force as a demolitions expert.
Chef Pepper Jack opened several legitimate restaurants, his most recent venture being a chicken sandwich shop called "Call of Poultry".
Brawlrus is a Brawlrus and a submarine repairman in Rainfish Riviera.
Masker Mind became a scientist at Telescope Towers. He's hard at work on proving his 118-element theory.
Brawl and Chain is now a deliveryman for the AIPS (Americ Isles Postal Service).
Chomp Chest became a professional eater and, according to Chef Pepper Jack, his best ten customers.
Eye Scream is a teacher at a Mabu school. Her students dare not chew gum in class.
Eye Five and Dreamcatcher, inspired by the former's experience with chongo, tried to bring the sport to reality, but failed spectacularly. Luckily, after Vince McMage was forced to sell his spring boomball (a football-esque Skylandic sport derived from the ancient Troll sport of boom) league, the VBL (Vernal Boomball League) to Auric, he let the two ex-villains on as co-owners.
Shield Shredder, Krankenstein, Fisticuffs, and Scrap Shooter formed a comedy troupe called the Sillykins. They actually got a show on NuTV.
Rage Mage opened an ice cream shop. He has often said that he hopes it'll last 10,000 years.
Cross Crow became a A/C repairman. His fan repairing skills are second to none.
Grinnade joined a Molekin mining company as a miner.
Threatpack is currently teaching physics at the prestigious Hartford College.
Bone Chompy now works as a medic for the Mabu Defense Force.
Smoke Scream now does search and rescue as a rubble-clearing flamethrower guy.
Trolling Thunder has taken up land racing for Pandergast.
Lob Goblin became a locksmith. In his spare time, he teaches other trolls to count past 7.
Chompy retired to his home in the Mirror of Mystery to bite things.
Mab Lobs went back to the Mirror of Mystery and became one of Master Ordar's first Skylanders.
Luminous took up stage acting, starring in a Skylandic production of Les Misérables, and is currently writing a play of his own about every single monarch the Earth nation of England has had since the Earth year of 1066.
Nightshade became a home alarm consultant.

Hey everyone! I'm in the process of building a Brago, King Eternal Deck and I could use some help. I've posted the link to my current Moxfield deck below. I'm aiming for a power level of 8-9 with a good amount of stax effects and a few infinite combos involving mana, pinging, and milling. If you have any suggestions on how to make this deck more efficient or any helpful additions, please let me know! Thanks in advance!
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/v1apg5zRmUWe2ETAn53vow

In my general experience as a six months solo queue player, the League of Legends Community is quite rude and mean to anyone who steps out of line with what is defined as "Meta", or to anyone who has any criticism of the game or even the multi-billion dollar company behind it.
​

In Game

In the game itself people will always flame at you. Even for the little mistakes, they will be unforgivable. If you as a support end up dying for a "stupid" reason (mistakes happen) your adc will throw the game. if your jungler dies in an invade, he will throw the game. If the toplaner dont receive the gank that he wants, he will also throw the game. People will just grief for the most stupid reasons. And the chat itself is a high level of toxicity (the in game one, the champion select one, and sometimes the post game one too).
Everyone there gets stressed easily, everyone has an overcompetitive mentality. The game revolves around the ranked system, where it is socially "unacceptable" for you to be a "lower elo". But this mentality carries over to unranked, so even in lighter game modes like ARAM or Normals, if you make a little mistake, people will flame at you.

The Off-Meta Problem

The situation gets worse if you try some build or play a champion in a role that he is not used to. Despite the game having 150+ champions, socially you can only choose those that the community finds acceptable. So, if you try to go something like Alistar Top, there will be a great chance that your team will report in champion select and during the game, that one of them will decide to do everything for you to lose. Simply because you took a champion in a non-traditional lane.
The same goes for items, runes and spells. If you don't get a common spell for that champion (get barrier instead of flash, for example) chances are this will happen. Or if you decide to make a non-meta build, or even test a new one, people will flame, will report you, and that maybe enough to they decide to lose the game.
So, although the game is a game, it's made to have fun, and it gives you a lot of freedom, players end up limiting and even spoiling someone's fun, simply because they didn't think it was "meta".
And it all comes down to the game's toxic competitive mindset. Players don't accept that others play for fun, everyone has to be in the same boat: Getting addicted to the ranked system, and if a teammate plays in a way you don't like, you have a pass to humiliate him.
​

Outside of the game

You might think that people would only keep all this negative when they are playing games. But you are wrong. Even here on Reddit, and many other online forums and discords, that mentality persists. An example of this was a post in one of the League Reddit's by a guy who now had a job and was having trouble making time to play. And he rant about how he wanted the game to have shorter matches. (For about 50% of players, those in "low elo", a match lasts between 30-40 minutes. A long time indeed!)
The comment session was just disgusting. People were saying things like, "If you don't have 40 minutes for a match, then you should not be here!" or "If you complain about 40 minutes, you can't imagine how it used to be with a 1 hour match". People were just being rude and mean for no reason, after all here was a fan of the game with a reasonable desire.
Toxicity remains on the internet, who knew?
I've been trashed a lot online for simply complaining about Riot, the game's company, maintaining various money-grab practices, how game content currently revolves around skins, or even complaining about bugs. One of the support role items, the ward stone, is simply unavailable for purchase, and is an important end-game item, it allows you to store wards you place for vision. But in the last patch it got bugged so they disabled it, and players accepted that.
But it's not surprising. Riot has already removed other game modes (with other maps) and players accepted it. So currently you only have two maps, one for normal/ranked play mode and one for ARAM. Which makes it a little boring sometimes.
​

Conclusion

If you work or go to college, or both, I don't recommend this game. There are other mobas that are more casual and light, and that are also more fun: Heroes of the Storm and Pokémon Unite. Or just play occasionally and with a group of friends.
At the end of the day the game is not fun. Its addicting. Losing makes you feel like crap and winning is unrewarding. But you keep trying again and again hoping something different will happen. You think it's your mechanics, or your misunderstanding of the "macro". And yes, you can get "good" at the game, but from what I've seen, that's after a year or two of dedicating a lot of time, and time is what ordinary people have the least to spend freely on something like League of Legends.

So I just finished Lego city undercover and it was phenomenal! Now I will probably be pretty long winded in this, so to save those that don’t have the time to listen to a ramble that is passionate but long, I will give my rating first
Story- 8/10 Gameplay 8/10 Open world 9/10
My rating is very high, but I think you will understand why, once I explain my history with this game and it’s predecessor
The first gaming console that I owned (meaning not shared with siblings) was the Nintendo 3ds. This system was amazing to me, allowing me to experience some games that still mean so much to me today.
Lego city under cover: the chase begins was one of those. If you play a decent amount of video games, then I’m sure you know that feeling of being so engrossed in the experience that you can’t put the game down until you finish it.
I would say this was my first or second time experiencing this, and of course it led to me seeking out more games that had this same effect, games like rdr2, the Spider-Man trilogy (soon to be) and the Arkham games.
This game found a way to make the most mundane tasks like picking up donuts for Dunby non-trivial and rather entertaining. Though I am still quite mad at him for the ending of the game. He kind of reminds me of a more lazy version of Jameson from Spider-Man. No matter what I do he seems to always find a way to hate me (though at least Jameson doesn’t send spidey away and take credit for his accomplishments)
It also had great mechanics for detective work like the magnifying glass. I don’t really remember what the combat was like for that game but I will assume it was similar to the newer one. It was just ok in my opinion. Definitely not my favorite Lego game combat.
Where the first game really excelled though was in the feeling the story gave you. You felt like a cop trying to take down the big bad that was Rex fury (though I suppose he really is more of a henchmen in the second game)
So all in all lego city undercover the chase begins was probably a 7 or 8.
This game cranked everything up a notch, improving the open world, possibly improving the combat I’m not to sure, and giving you better missions overall. Instead of a battle on the back of a truck, you get to fight Rex on a dinosaur while piloting a robot! Then you fight him again while falling from space!
The music is just as good as it was in the first game (that scene where your falling toward the rocket, beautiful!!!) The comedy was also amazing. Just wow I could go on forever about the jokes. They where genuinely hilarious
“How dare someone draw a beard on my mother, do you know how much I had to pay the artist to not paint it in the first place” 😂
Not a quote I don’t quite remember the exact phrasing.
I actually didn’t think I would end up liking this game more than the original. The campiness of it threw me off a bit, since I didn’t really remember to many specific lines from the original. It took me realizing that this game is the embodiment of a cheesy cop show to accept the corniness. It took several new save files for me to fully get into it, the newest one being on steam deck which game me 40 fps. So much better than any of the console counterparts that I had played on before!
I would say this game is a must play for anyone looking for a new Lego game to play or just a chill game to play in general.
Well that’s it for my thoughts on this game. I am interested to see what other people have to say about this game.
Thank you if you read through this :)

Tyler
Cassie had taken over the discussion from there on, entering the formal interview stage of the chat with Miu'Kin, as was her right as first wife. She was the arbiter in the end, and she had a veto that Miu'Kin needed to clear before she could get the thumbs up or down from Tyler to formally join the marriage. Cassie didn't give the other woman any slack either, she might not be a warrior, but a mother needed her own kind of spine, and even with Nara on hand, Cassie wanted to make sure the children were safe with Miu'Kin as a guardian too.
"What would you do if there was a threat to the children while the rest of us are away Miu'Kin?" Cassie asks, close to the end of her intended questions.
None of them had expected Miu'Kin's eyes to blaze.
"A threat? To the children! What kind? I might not be a battle princess but by the goddess's shell I won't-" Miu'Kin stops, a small jet of flame coming from her nostrils. "Err.. I uhm. I'm sorry. I get... passionate about protecting those who can't protect themselves. My first year working in a daycare, someone who claimed to be an Orega Girl tried to kidnap one of my charges, a sweet little boy... I uh. Killed her with my bare hands. I don't remember it. I saw red, forced her outside, sealed the nursery and triggered an alarm and then proceeded to beat her into a paste. I don't remember any of it, but I uh... apparently finished her off beating her with her own arm after ripping it off. No one's ever threatened the children of that nursery again and I haven't worked there in over a decade."
Matroika leans in. "...I want to call bullshit so badly, but you're such a sweetheart I actually believe you."
"It was in the news a whole bunch. My name was redacted because of the possible organized crime angle, to try to prevent retaliation, but you should be able to search Heart Shell Nursery kidnapping attempt or something similar and it'll pop up."
"I'm on it girls."
Tyler pulls out his communicator and does a little search, and sure enough, exactly as Miu'Kin had described it. He quickly passes his communicator around, letting the girls all look for themselves.
"Well I'll be damned!" Matroika looks up from Tyler's communicator, clearly reassessing the other woman. "For such a demure gal, seems like you can bring that Apuk fire when it counts. She's got my vote girls. Seems like a perfect fit to me!"
Cassie coughs delicately into her hand. "I didn't realize we were at the voting stage yet, but I suppose we can have the discussion now."
Miu'Kin moves to stand. "Would you like me to wait outside the privacy field?"
Cassie shakes her head and motions her to sit down. "No, unless one of the others would like to you, I don't think that's necessary. Nara?"
Nara makes a show of considering things for a few moments. "I say yes to welcoming Miu'Kin as our new sister."
Cassie looks to Elyria. "What about you Elyria?"
"I say yes! Miu'Kin's a sweetheart and she can protect the children with all that Apuk ferocity where it counts? Sounds perfect for us." Elyria beams over at the other woman.
Cassie nods. "Well I see no reason to dissent from my sisters, I say yes. I think Miu'Kin will be a fine addition to our family. Tyler?"
All eyes now focus on Tyler who strokes his chin for a moment before smiling over at the lovely redhead, putting a shiver down her spine.
"I don't see why not. Miu'Kin, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"
To her credit, Miu'Kin, clearly a bit over stimulated, manages to squeak out a "Yes!" before she passes out, thankfully being caught by Matroika before she can hit the table.
"Heh, guess she got a little overexcited, not that I can blame her, getting to marry our hubby should be exciting!"
Caring Conquests apparently had people pass out frequently enough that a nurse was kept on staff, and Miu'Kin's back on her feet before too long, the shy beauty boldly taking Tyler's hand and nearly passing out again as the Sarkins head down to Caring Conquests' legal office and sit through another intense round of paperwork. True to Bey'Tor's word, the second round of Miu'Kin's fees for the matchmaking service are waived, and in what felt like no time at all, the Sarkins, plus one redhead, are standing on the sidewalk in the warm sunshine of a late morning on Serbow.
Tyler stretches before taking Miu'Kin's hand again. He'd decided that since it was theoretically her wedding day, he'd be giving her some special attention above and beyond what he tried to normally give his wives. They'd do a ceremony with the skipper back on the Tear of course, but for now... he gives Miu'Kin's hand a squeeze, savoring the warmth radiating from her as she looks over at him with a shy smile, clearly doing her best to suppress just how giddy she is about the whole thing.
"So Miu'Kin, since you're local to the capital, care to give us the tour?"
"I... I can do that! Yes! I'd love to! Anywhere in particular that any of you would like to go?"
Tyler pulls his communicator out. "Well we have a list we can go through and you can tell us what you-"
"Hey sir!"
Tyler looks up at a distinctly male voice calling out to him and finds a small group of Marines and sailors, many of them with their spouses, disembarking off an airbus. The man who'd called out to him, one of the senior petty officers from the squadron, races up and visibly resists saluting Tyler since they're out of uniform for once.
"What's up Petty Officer Tywin? Seems like quite a crowd."
Petty Officer First Class Scott Tywin nods. "Some of it's intentional, some of it's happenstance... this ad for this matchmaking service got sent out across the comm net an hour ago and a lot of us had been talking about adding Apuk gals to the family... hard to beat Caring Conquest's reputation from checking their reviews, a discount's just icing on the cake. We're also here to support Mark."
Tywin points to a man that Tyler recognizes as Mark "Tiger" Ayako, a Marine NCO and naval aircrewman.
"Oh? What's going on with Staff Sergeant Ayako?"
Tywin grins just as wide as he can. "Mark fell in love with the Apuk at first sight. Hell, at first description. Then he did some research and that was it. So we're something of a bachelor party and escort to make some Apuk girls extremely happy today. Not sure if they can shake out a battle princess from this joint, but I'm sure Mark would make any Apuk gal they match him with feel like a queen regardless."
"Hah." Tyler can't hold the laugh back. "How many girls is he intending to marry?"
"As many matches as come back good really. Plus one or two. There's a couple gals back on the Tear waiting for the Apuk to soften Mark up a bit before making their move themselves. So what brings you out here si- Oh."
Tywin looks twice at Miu'Kin and realizes it's not Nara or one of the other Sarkin girls.
"I take it you're a happy customer sir?"
"Something like that Tywin. This is Miu'Kin, my new wife."
Tywin nods cordially to Miu'Kin. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am, and congratulations to both of you on your wedding."
Miu'Kin bows her head slightly to Tywin, but keeps her peace, trying to hide a sudden bout of shyness beneath demure good manners, something Tyler suspects is part of her normal coping strategies.
Tywin looks over his shoulder at the group heading towards Caring Conquests, there was a small group of women lagging behind who were clearly Tywin’s own wives.
"Alright, gotta get back to the family! Enjoy the rest of your day boss!"
And in a flash the last of the small mob of Marines and sailors are inside as Tyler grins like a maniac.
"Hell just off that crowd I bet I'm going to get a very happy text from Bey'Tor. Seems like you're not the only happy blushing bride in the Capital city today Miu'Kin... and seems like the Tear is going to be getting a strong Apuk expat population."
Cassie chuckles into her wing. "At the rate things are going, Apuk might even equal or out number the Horchka. An interesting development for sure. Now... where should we be off to? Perhaps we could do a little shopping as well, to help Miu'Kin prepare for her move up to the Tear?"
Miu'Kin nods eagerly. "Oh that would be really lovely of you! I would quite enjoy company as I shop... and I must say I've ah. Never been to space before. Never mind made an extended trip to deep space or anything like that. So any of your experience you'd be willing to share with me, I'd greatly appreciate it."
"Of course, that's what family's for!" Cassie answers for the group, flexing her wings a bit and letting herself stretch, unintentionally emphasizing her gravid stomach... which lets loose a growl worthy of a grizzly bear. A blushing Cassie rests a hand on her stomach. "Oh dear. Seems I'm a bit peckish. Please excuse me."
Tyler shakes his head. "We haven't eaten anything but some snacks since this morning and you're eating for three dear, maybe we should all get some lunch. Miu'Kin? Care to recommend a local place?"
"Of course! One of my favorite places is actually nearby!"
Miu'Kin happily trots along, hand in hand with Tyler, and eventually points over at a building in the distance.
"That's the place!"
"Huh!" Tyler peers a bit closer with an axiom boost to his vision. "Well I'll be damned, looks like a tavern straight out of a roleplaying game mixed with a greasy spoon diner from back home. I love the look, the Apuk really nail some aesthetics that really appeal to me. That said... I can't read Cindertongue, Miu'Kin, what's the name of this place?"
"Oh! Sorry! It's 'Flame Charred With Love: Apuk Family Style Dining'!"
That got everyone's attention.
Cassie's wings ruffle just a bit. "Apuk family style cuisine? Ooh! That sounds lovely. As a fellow carnivore I know I enjoy Apuk food."
"Hell I'm down for any kind of home cooking. Nara says she isn't much of a cook but I've devoured every Apuk dish she's made me." Tyler notes, remembering some excellent meals.
"Bit rich for us omnivores sometimes, but I suppose that's what making a salad back in orbit is for." Matroika chuckles.
"Four carnivores in the family does make life hard when you like vegetables as more than a garnish, you're not wrong, darling."
Miu'Kin nods. "Well I'm a pretty good cook! I even know how to cook with vegetables. Just give me your favorite recipes! Between Nara and I we'll keep everyone fed! I think you'll like this place though, it's Apuk home cooking just like Mama..."
Miu'Kin freezes dead in her tracks as she reaches for the door.
"...Oh no."
"What's wrong, honey?"
The term of endearment melts Miu'Kin just a bit as she tries to compose herself.
"I eat here so often that I kinda spaced why I eat here. My uh. My mother owns this place, she's usually on shift. Some of my sisters and other mothers work here too, you could call it a family business. Working at the diner as a waitress was my first job."
Tyler shrugs. "So? This is good, I was hoping to get a chance to meet your mother at least before we left the planet."
"Sure, but I just... it. Okay. If you're sure. It can. Family."
Miu'Kin looks into Tyler's eyes, and finding only reassurance and a smile there, takes a second to steel herself and pushes through the heavy wooden door to the jingle of a bell.
"Come on in folks, we got a table ready just for you!"
An older Apuk woman with silver in her red hair and smile lines carved into her caramel skin calls out from where she's tending a spit in the middle of the mostly open kitchen, a smile on her face big enough that you could probably see it from orbit if she went outside. Then she actually looks to see who had just come through her door.
"Oh! Hey sweetie! Who are your fri-" The woman, Miu'Kin's mother it seemed, eyes actually focus on Tyler properly now, and drop down to where Miu'Kin's still firmly holding Tyler's hand. "-riends?"
Miu'Kin swallows loudly. "Uhm, Mom. This is my new husband, Tyler, and his other wives."
For a second. One brief second. Every noise in the restaurant ceased.
The live fish in the tank, clearly marked as food, stopped moving.
A waitress nearly dropped a plate.
Diners looked up from the booths.
Deeper in the kitchen, a few other older Apuk women, presumably sister wives or sisters of Miu'Kin's mother, all stick their heads out to see what in the shell is happening.
Then all hell breaks loose in the way only a family with up to a hundred odd mothers-in-law can.
First Last

[Scene 1: The Adventure Squad Headquarters]
Narrator: With a brief respite from their heroic duties, the Adventure Squad enjoys a rare moment of relaxation at their headquarters. The team takes this opportunity to ask General Gallant about his past.
Captain Courage: (curious) General, we've never heard much about your time in Basic Training. General Gallant: (laughs) Well, that was quite some time ago, but I suppose I can share a few stories.
Narrator: The team gathers around, eager to hear the tale of General Gallant's journey through the rigors of Basic Training.
[Scene 2: Flashback to Basic Training]
Narrator: Many years ago, a young and ambitious recruit named Roger Gallant found himself struggling to keep up with the demands of Basic Training.
Recruit Gallant: (panting) I can do this. I have to do this. Narrator: Despite his determination, Recruit Gallant faced numerous challenges—physical trials, tactical exercises, and the relentless pressure to excel.
Drill Sergeant: (shouting) Gallant, pick up the pace! You're lagging behind!
[Scene 3: The Turning Point]
Narrator: Recruit Gallant persevered through the hardships, driven by his unwavering desire to protect and serve. His tenacity soon caught the attention of his superiors.
Commanding Officer: (nodding) That Gallant has potential.
Narrator: One day, during a grueling obstacle course, Recruit Gallant's true leadership qualities began to shine. When a fellow recruit found himself trapped under debris, Gallant didn't hesitate to come to his aid.
Recruit Gallant: (straining) Hang on, buddy. I've got you.
Narrator: With incredible strength and courage, Gallant freed his comrade and helped him complete the course.
Fellow Recruit: (grateful) Thanks, Gallant. I owe you one.
[Scene 4: The Rise of General Gallant]
Narrator: From that moment on, Recruit Gallant's progress was meteoric. He quickly rose through the ranks, earning the respect and admiration of his peers and superiors alike.
Narrator: His unwavering commitment to the greater good, exceptional tactical skills, and natural leadership abilities eventually led to his promotion to General. General Gallant: (saluting) I will serve with honor.
Narrator: And so, the story of General Gallant's trials in Basic Training is revealed—a tale of perseverance, camaraderie, and the indomitable human spirit. Narrator: What thrilling adventures and captivating stories await our heroes in the next action-packed episode of the Adventure Squad? Don't miss it!

Personally? I say the game is doing fine. I'm still able to find matches outside of peak hours. I've never had issues with Desync or ping spikes for whatever reason. Possibly because I'm on gigabit fiber with an Ethernet connection.
Customization is excellent and varied in my humble opinion and I've only bought maybe 3 or 4 things from the shop since launch (Excluding battle passes)
I've always thought of Infinite's sandbox and gameplay as the best since Reach.
Playlists, maps, and game modes are all good to me (Especially with Infection and PvE on the near horizon)
If the game had launched in the state it's currently in, I think it'd have been a hit.

I want someone who is decent at league of legends (gold or above) and would love to spam arams with me on a daily basis. We can play other games on steam (risk of rain 2, destiny 2, lost ark, gunfire reborn, etc). However, it would be sooo cool to kick ass at league together. As for the other games we can play, I'm willing to give almost anything a shot (as long as it's not scary or another mmo lol I'm a chicken for the 1st and I'm already invested into lost ark for the 2nd). Only thing is that I only play on a PC (I dont have any consoles - sorry <3).
The rest of it comes with just a genuine friendship - watch/talk about anime, listen to music, chill in discord, whatever. :)
Basically, I'm a kid at heart and I just wann a play some video games with someone whom I can call my friend. I think having a good friend or two whom you can rely on and they can rely on you is an important asset of life and it would make me happy to find that.
If what I have to offer resonates with you, feel free to reach out with your discord tag and let me know what you'd be interested in playing. In any case, thank you for reading through my post and have a wonderful rest of your day!

Hey Guys
Zerotier, TailScale and VPNs are network technologies which I use often to connect to client's servers and some of the workstations which I manage on different sites in different countries.
I recently installed the Windows Admin Center (aka WAC) which seems like a good option for a GUI to manage a windows server or client machine via browser interface.
I mostly use RDP to access all of these machines and I don't need to expose any ports to the web since there part of my VPN or Overlay Network.
Previously I tried to install WAC on the Windows machine which I tried to connect to and then tried to access it via that IP on the LAN.
Interesting to point out:
Windows Server: Install WAC with a config to be accessed via port 443 (80) depending on the config. I managed to access that interface via the LAN.
Windows 10\11: Install WAC uses port 6515 (if I remember correctly) or a different port if so configured. I did not manage to access that via the LAN. Constantly got an error that I'm unauthorized to view this page....
So.... I installed WAC on my windows 11 machine and tried to add a client machine to my WAC. If I add a machine on the LAN, that isn't an issue at all. It find the machine and adds it which allows me to manage it via my WAC. HOWEVER..... When trying to add a client from the zerotier or VPN network it won't find it.... So for example: My machine: IPv4: 192.168.5.23/24 Gateway: 192.168.5.1
The Client on the VPN gets an IP of 10.10.0.45/24
I can ping and RDP into this client without any issues. However the WAC won't see nor recognise those machines.....
I'm pretty certain this must be a network setting within WAC...
Any answers are kindly appreciated!!

Went a couple weeks ago, first time in 9 years (was a kid then - older kid but still a kid) and I barely remembered the first time.
Just getting around to this but wanted to share anyway - these are my thoughts on the rides as a semi-first-timer!

DID NOT RIDE

1. Nighthawk - this was a total trainwreck when we were there. 2 FULL DAYS! FROM PARK OPEN TO PARK CLOSE! And we could not get on it. Showed up to it first thing on BOTH days. Even got in the restraints and everything. Had to turn us away as they couldn't get it running. THREE other separate times, we saw that it was running, raced to get in line, (got in restraints AGAIN on 1 of them lol), nope, broke down. Is it always that much of a disaster? I'd love to know how it's been running recently.
2. Vortex - has been under maintenance and seems like it will for a while.
3. Kiddy Hawk - seems it was scheduled to be down both days. Never saw it test run.
4. The Flying Cobras - seems like the same, but it wasn't on their closures list. I think it's been having some issues.
5. Electro-Spin - was scheduled to be down both days
6. Drop Tower - scheduled to be down. A shame! Drop towers are very much my thing.
7. Carolina Skytower - scheduled to be down
8. Wilderness Run - we couldn't really find it at first lol. But by the time we did, my party didn't want to do a kid ride and wanted to prioritize repeating the bigger ones, which was fine.

RIDE RANKINGS!

1. Fury 325 (10/10) - I honestly can't see how anyone would have anything else at #1 except if they... don't ride it? Was able to do it 5x over the 2 days. The experience didn't diminish 1 bit over each of the 5 times. Truly mindblowing. I can't decide if it or VelociCoaster is my all time fav.
2. Afterburn (9/10) - This one was difficult to place. Did it 5x also and on 4 of them, it was very solid, but I thought it was just one of the many B&M invert feet danglers that are at many major parks. Did one in the front row and WOW. I very much think these need to be front row for the best experience. Elevated it slightly because that one ride was so incredible.
3. Intimidator (8.5/10) - On one ride it brought tears out of me, the force I guess. But, rode 5x and it did a little less for me on the last 2. I do love the length of it, the whip-around at the parking lot, before diving toward the pond. Still a great one.
4. Copperhead Strike (8/10) - does a little less for me than some, but I did have a good time on it. Love the opening roll, and the launch with a little bit of story to go along with it. Just a little slow at times for me. Better in the back than front I thought. The lines for it were nothing at the beginning and end of the day which is when we rode :)
5. Gear Spin (8/10) - Is this ride... underrated? Maybe it's too new for there to be a consensus. But I loved this one. Second time maybe a little less since the surprise factor wears off, but I just love the air time. As an aside, they did a good job with Aeronautica Landing as a whole.
6. Hurler (8/10) - OK now for a... guilty pleasure? Haters, I'm sorry this one's a banger. Like, a literal banger, a head banger. Had a total blast on it though with the company I was with, laughing our eyes out at the madness. Love it.
7. The Airwalker (7.5/10) - we've all done these types of rides, but this is a great one and it being so new I'm sure helps.
8. Scream Weaver (7.5/10) - not much to say on this, but it's a pretty cool lil contraption!
9. Rock 'N' Roller (7/10) - these are always fun if you've got the ride people to ride it with. I like the music theme, and a nice speed to it.
10. Air Racers (7/10) - the "gimmick" is more notable than the ride itself, but you do get some decent forces out of it.
11. Carolina Cyclone (6.5/10) - this one opened up later on in our second day. I did like the loops, but I feel like it may be feeling its age, just my opinion...
12. Ricochet (6.5/10) - Decent wild mouse. Fun drop.
13. Scrambler (6/10) - Fun time, but they are at literally every park ever and this one is no different.
14. Carolina Goldrusher (6/10) - Also may be starting to feel its age. But it is a good starter coaster for the young ones.
15. WindSeeker (6/10) - a good one-and-done kind of experience, nice relaxing view of the park. But having done the SkyScreamer at SFoG, this pales in comparison.
16. Do-Si-Do (6/10) - fun for what it is. If a member of your party is in another unit, it is amusing to make funny faces at them :)
17. Woodstock Express (5.5/10) - literally a kid Hurler with kid sized drops so, it does the job I suppose
18. Mountain Gliders (5/10) - one of the rides at Carowinds
19. Zephyr (4.5/10) - one of the rides at Carowinds
20. Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (2/10) - Dear God, why. Not only comparing to other shooters I've done, like Justice League at SFoG or Men in Black at Universal - even comparing to something like Monster Mansion at SFoG which isn't even a shooter - this was a lame one. Something for the little little kids to dodge the heat... I guess

I'm a 6k driver proficient in open wheelers, prototypes and GT cars with wins in multiple 5k+ SoF endurance events and open wheel leagues who is looking to have a fun source of change.
I have spent time helping my friends improve and whenever I do I get positive feedback on how much my coaching helped them, and I want to offer that service to all of you. Since I'm new to it and don't know how good I am at coaching, I will happily do a free hour session with you, and if you feel like you got value out of it, you can feel free to pay me whatever you feel appropriate, or nothing at all! At this point what I would value the most is honest feedback on my teaching.
As I'm about 6k iR I'm not a world-beater but for newer or struggling drivers I can definitely help point out what is holding you back and help you to improve. Shoot me a message if you're interested! All you have to lose is an hour of your time!

It was a grey morning. Rain didn't fall so much as it misted across the world, immediately saturating anything unlucky enough to be out in it without seven layers of waterproofing. I was watching it through a window, from a warm, dry office, sipping at something that contained a multiple of the recommended daily intake of caffeine when my phone rang. I refreshed my queue and immediately saw the job.

ME: "Hey {Scheduler (S)}, you're ringing about the job at {nearby site}?"
S: "Yes, it's just come in as URGENT, can you go look?"

I looked at the unrelenting rain outside once again. Well... it is what they pay me for.

ME: "Yes, I'll go. However, as it's five to twelve, I'll have to work through my lunch, so please mark my end time for today as 3:30, not 4:00."
S: "Oh wait, {Other Tech (OT)} has just marked this job as OTHER CONTRACTOR with a note that it needs to be passed to another company."
ME: "{OT} is wrong, the fault description clearly indicates a total network failure, not a failure of the single unit that is OTHER CONTRACTOR's responsibility. Don't let him close it, send it directly to me instead - I'm already on my way."

I hung up the phone, pulled on my jacket and flipped up the hood. It was time to go to work.
The site, fortunately, was close by, and I was there in a matter of minutes. I hadn't been to the site in about six months or so, and when I walked in, it was to a sea of new faces. One of them, however, recognized the logo on my shirt, and approached me as soon as I got inside.

New Supervisor (NS): "Thank God you're here, I don't know what's wrong, we can still authorise {equipment} but none of the {other equipment} is working!"
ME: "Okay, let me run some tests here and we'll see wait I can figure out."

I approached the Point of Sale computer, and initiated a test. COMMS ERROR. Okay, I'll try a different test. TRANSMISSION ERRROR. What about a different POS? COMMS ERROR. Okay, time to move up the network tree.

ME: "Okay, I need to check in the office. Is it unlocked?"
NS: "Yes, sure. Dude, do whatever you need to, I don't care, just make it work!"
ME: "That's what I'm here for!"

So, into the office. Typical small independent store, there is a computer, a router, and one or two other pieces of equipment to make our systems actually work. A moment or two with that ping proved that all of our equipment was online and communicating with each other, but not the outside world. A router problem, perhaps? The site used a CISCO RV042, reasonably reliable - although if memory served, this one was about two years old, having replaced an identical predecessor when it completely failed. So, can I ping the upstream router? Can I even find an address for the upstream router? I managed to get access to the Cisco's web interface, but I had no luck - it was like the upstream router didn't exist, despite the cable showing link lights. In desperation, I returned to the outside world to get a known good network cable from my vehicle - but no joy, replacing the cable between the routers did not restore network traffic. I hadn't expected it to work, but it was worth ruling out. Reboot the Cisco. Reboot the upstream router.
Nothing.
W. T. F.
Well, there's an idiom that gets used when you find yourself looking at a Gordian knot of networking cables underneath a dusty desk in a dirty back office: when in doubt, tear it out! I disconnected everything from the upstream router (taking note so I could reconstruct it to the state it was in when I arrived, at least). I rebooted the Cisco, the upstream router, even the ONT, with nothing connected. Then I started rebuilding the network. ONT to upstream router, upstream to Cisco, and- we're back online, pings are pinging. Everything is working again!
So, rebuild the network. Find the offending unit. First cable connected - no change, everything continues working as normally. Pings are unaffected. Second cable - still no change. Wait, is everything going to continue to work and I'll have no idea why it failed? Last cable - total network failure, pings failed, everything offline! Disconnect the cable! What the hell is this, and why does it kill EVERYTHING when it gets connected?
Trace the cable, unravel the Gordian knot. The cable leads to a Power over Ethernet adapter, which then leads to a circular white disc. It reminds me of a Wireless Access Point that we installed for another customer a couple of years ago; that one was configured via the cloud, so someone somewhere needed to have the access to make changes.

ME: "Hey NS, it looks like this is the source of your problems - whenever it's plugged into the network, we lose everything."
NS: "What even is that thing?"
ME: "I think it's a Wireless Access Point, it probably provides customer wifi?"
NS: "We don't do customer wifi here. Let me ask {Old Supervisor (OS)}."
ME: "I thought OS left?"
NS: "Yeah, but they still answer my calls when I have problems."

I hope that they're still being paid to be the on-call knowledge base, I thought loudly.
After a moment, the answer came back via text message: THAT WAS INSTALLED WITH THE NEW DIGITAL SIGNS BECAUSE THEY NEED INTERNET ACCESS. Okay, I think. If this IS a wifi access point, what could have happened? Could someone have configured this to distribute the same address range as our equipment? What happens when a DHCP distributed address clashes with one set by Static IP? Well the DHCP server would be advertising that it has a route to that specific address, right? Whereas the static IP has no such advertisement. So when the DHCP distributes the address, it would be... like... the device with the static IP couldn't communicate at all with anything upstream.
Exactly like the symptoms when I arrived.
So, how do we fix it?

ME: "Hey NS, has anyone reset the power to this?"
NS: "No, why would we? That wasn't having any issues..."

If I power cycle this AP, chances are that it will reset it's internal DHCP server, so the available addresses will be distributed from the start of the range again - and thus not include the address of the Cisco router. I turned it off. I turned it on again. I reconnected the network cable.
And everything continued to work, and all was right in the world. The rain stopped, the sun came out from behind the clouds, and a glorious rainbow smiled down from the skies. Well... the rain stopped, at least.

NS: "You know, I thought you weren't taking this seriously when you arrived, because you never stopped smiling."
ME: "NS, I started out in the Navy, fixing the combat systems that allow the ship to actually defend itself - if I was not fast enough, not good enough, then the whole ship could sink and hundreds of lives lost - not just my co-workers, but my close personal friends, my 'brothers from other mothers' - my family of choice, rather than coincidence."
ME: "Then I moved to the civilian world, and started working on fire alarms and life safety systems. My boss once screamed at me 'WHAT WILL YOU TELL THE CORONER WHEN IT DOESN'T WORK AND PEOPLE DIE?' He didn't appreciate my response of 'I told my boss that I needed more time, more training, and most importantly more people because we're chronically under-staffed, and YOU did nothing about it!'"
ME: "So yes, I was smiling, because at the end of the day? No one would die if we couldn't fix this. The only thing that was ever actually at risk here was someone else's money."

I climbed back into my vehicle and checked for any further messages. There was one, from OT.

OT: "Sorry, Gambatte is correct, I didn't read the fault description closely enough. Please send the job to him ASAP."

I hit reply, condensed the fault description to the barest of bare bones, and sent it back. My tablet pinged a response almost immediately.

OT: "WTF? I would never have found that!"

It's nice to have your skills recognized and acknowledged sometimes.

Shericka Jackson ran the second fastest time of 2023 over the 200m distance in a time of 21.98 on Sunday at the 2023 Rabat Diamond League meeting. Despite not getting a good start, at about 60-70 metres into the race she started to accelerate, gaining a few metres lead by the time she reached the
https://yardhype.com/shericka-jackson-celebrates-200m-win-and-meet-record-with-inspirational-message/

Hello! I'm new to Rocket League and I have had the same bug for 3 months... I can't choose anything from any menu, just keep pressing a a a a a a a until I'm in game... Luckily once I'm in Que i can press a a a a a a til I'm in practice mode. Once that loads, I can then cancel que (sometimes) and then change game mode / playlist. This is the ONLY way for me to navigate what I get to play on Rocket League.
Again, the issue is I cannot navigate the menu with D pad / Controller stick / Mouse. Screen is grayed too much. Starts out with everytime.
I thought this bug would be fixed a few months ago but I guess I'm the only one that has this issue? Hoping to find some resolve, thanks! (I have already uninstalled and reinstalled twice)

Derrick White has made a name for himself over the last year with the Boston Celtics, being an excellent complementary player in San Antonio for several years, then becoming a leading man with subsequent departures of DeRozan and Aldridge. He was a huge part of the Spurs' success as a swiss army knife, and he's gotten even better in Boston, becoming one of the league's best guard defenders, and shooting better than he ever has.
Colby Jones has a lot of similarities to Derrick White as prospects/young players. A good not elite athlete. Good but not great shooter but upside in that department. High level feel and IQ and connector abilities and strong defensive capabilities. They both averaged 4.4 assists their draft year. DWhite shot 39% from 3...Colby 38%. DWhite was more dynamic a slasher but that's not really his game in the pros and it won't be Colby's. Colby really moves his feet well defensively and functions well as a team defender.
I think he has the potential to be an awesome glue guy as we have seen Derrick White become for Boston. Colby Jones is a winning player who should contribute in a variety of ways to successful basketball for his team. What do you all think?

I’ve been using Angle Shooter w/ my Jet since launch, so I think I’ve gotten a good hang of it, and he’s some of the things I’d like people to know.

1 It’s not as bad as its reputation claims.

It used to be, but Angle Shooter has already gotten two big buffs. (and hopefully a third in a few days). And IMO the perception just hasn’t really caught up yet. Its still not great, but it is quite functional.

2 The most difficult part of learning angle shooter, is just remembering to use it.

It’s a low risk-low reward weapon. Without a good reward to keep you satisfied, its easy to slip into a pattern of not using it enough. You’ll never learn if you never use it, so if you’ve not used it before, er on the side of using it too much.

3 Angle Shooter’s Range

Its range is probably the best thing about angle shooter. Not only does it cross the stage, but it doesn’t require charging up like a sniper. You can react very fast to things very far away from you. Better than anyone else in the game.
You can almost treat Angle Shooter like pinging an enemy for your team like you would in Fortnite or Halo, or any of the other modern shooters.
Things to watch out for are:
Teammates who need help Somebody in a fight and in trouble, but you can’t get to them fast enough? Your angle shooter can. I’m always firing it off at teammates across the stage who are in a fight. If I’m lucky I snag a hit, and grab a kill from it. But really I’m just trying to mark the player they’re fighting so they can more easily hit them and are more likely to win.
Opponents who have broken through defenses You know those players who get past you, and you can’t catch up to them because they’re too fast and your gun can’t reach? Angle Shooter can get them. And once they’re marked an attentive team is now aware and can solve the problem.
Players who love their perches Eliters, splat chargers, hydras, etc. Keep these people marked. Its really easy to take just a second and send a shot their way from a safe distance. You’re not going to get kills doing this, but players really HATE being marked, and being down 35% damage. They feel totally insecure in trying to maintain their position, and they should when most weapons can now two shot them and they can’t hide. It’s a really effective way to hamstring backliners who are not capable enough to be evasive and mobile.
Eliters in general You out range Eliters. You have the best range in the game, and it is your solemn duty to remind Eliters that they cannot rely on outranging everybody else in the game any more, the true king is here. You really are uniquely suited in helping your team dealing with Eliters, and your team is relying on you to do that. Esp. if you’re lucky enough to have an Eliter on your team with you.

4 Finishing off opponents.

This is something very overlooked IMO. You’re in a fight, you get some shots off on somebody, there are about to die and they just BARELY slip away. How often does that happen? A lot, it happens so much. In a lot of situations when that happens you’re just SOL.
But angle shooter is particularly good in those situations, because while they have moved outside of the range of your main, they’re still easily in range of Angle Shooter, and even hiding around a corner may not be of any help. Try and get in the habit of following up with an angle shooter after people who have slipped out of your range. I get splats from angle shooter from this scenario nearly every day, and getting better at it still.

5 Marking opponents for yourself.

I think this is actually pretty tricky to do. If you’re taking advantage of the Angle Shooters range, which should be your primary goal with it, then you’re marking people that you have no chance of hitting with your main weapon, they’re too far away and won’t even be marked anymore by the time you chase them down.
Instead, if you’re marking for yourself you’re relying on its other unique advantage, bouncing off walls.
So if you are marking for yourself, what you’re doing is trying to mark people before an engagement starts. Bouncing around to somewhere they are likely to be, without you having to pop around the corner yourself. And then using your main weapon to take advantage of catching them by surprise.

6 Some limitations and hints.

Because angle shooter bounces, you want to be throwing it slightly downwards. So you would much rather have the high ground when using it. If you shoot up, there’s not a ceiling for it to bounce down from, but if you shoot slightly downward it will hit the floor and come back up.
This I think puts it at odds with Rollers & Blasters in some ways, and so is very important to acknowledge.
If you’re going to put yourself in a position where you’re down behind a drop down or a wall and shooting up at opponents, you’re not in a position to take advantage of Angle Shooter.
But that doesn’t mean you have to stay back and not put yourself down in those positions, but if you can find ways to have used Angle Shooter prior to those situations, then you’ll be able to better take advantage of marking people and using cover.

7 Some places where I like to use angle shooter.

Bouncing off these crates in Scorch Gorge.
Straight across the center in Wahoo World. People just strafe right into it and get marked. And there's often a lot going on and poor visibility in the center.
Off the back wall and around the center pillar in Inkblot Art Academy.
Around this corner and off this block in Eeltail Alley.
And in Museum d'Alfonsino, Probably the best spot to abuse angle shooter in the game, when your team is in advantage and the opponents are struggling to get out of base, you can mark EVERYBODY who leaves base via the main route by standing on the center platform. And its also really good at flushing out players who’re hiding down the wing on their side of the stage.

Hello fellow Rocket League enthusiasts, I have been facing a new challenge as of late. I've recently been experiencing a slump, going down from C3 to D2 Div 3 (3s), C2 to D3 (2s), and D1 to Plat 2 (1s). I haven’t made the error of going ballistic and blaming everyone but myself, yet it seems a little odd still. I play on Series X with a 144 hz AOC monitor and a DS4 controller through a Brooks converter (wired). I play with a wired connection (ethernet) with about 800mbps download and 90mbps upload (granted these values are a lot higher on my Xbox because these are taken from googles speed test on my Mac which is not wired). I really want to know if anyone else has experienced this. I'm typically a very safe player that can whip out flashy mechanics at the right moments but generally, my rank progression has been due to game sense and positioning or filling in for a wide-open goal when my team double-commits the whole game. Needless to say, I feel like I can even hit the ball. One of my warmup routines is to go into free play and hit the ball around for about 10 mins then switch to 50% game speed and play for another 10 then back to normal speed for a total of 30 minutes yet the "heavy car bug" isn't the problem. Recently I have just felt very slow. I’m not really looking for a fix but just wondering, anyone else experience this?

So, as a lot of us expected, a recent report says that the Spurs have interest in making a rather unusual move by their standards to pick up a second first-rounder in the draft next month, presumably to acquire a PG that they hope can start next to Victor Wembanyama for the next decade-plus. It’s an idea that had been gaining traction with fans even before the real whispers started because of how much sense it seemed to make - this is seen as a relatively deep draft, with a lot of intriguing options at a position of need that are currently being mocked in the mid-to-late lottery. I'm sure most people have seen plenty of discussion about it on this sub over the past few days, and in every thread, people are asking the smart first question: "Okay, but what would it take?"
There's a lot of things that factor into that answer, and I'm just some internet dork who watches and reads about and talks about and thinks about basketball too much so I obviously have no idea what kind of discussions GMs are actually having on that front. But I thought it would at least help to look at what the positions we'd presumably be targeting have brought back in trade in the past decade, and then try to approximate value with the Spurs' assets. Firstly, though...
Why would San Antonio do this?
There's two ways to answer that question, and the first is to look at it from the perspective of what the Spurs don't have: a long-term starting Point Guard. I like Tre Jones a lot - he's everything we could've hoped for as a second-round pick and then some - but he's not a player that's going to feasibly run the offense for a contending team. He'd make a fantastic backup, and the Spurs are obviously hoping that Sochan and Victor and to a lesser extent Branham evolve into above-average playmakers, especially as the organization makes strides to get closer to their positionless basketball philosophy. But I don't think any of that is going to supersede a desire to bring a more traditional lead guard into the fold, especially considering what the team does have.
And what San Antonio has right now is a lot of picks. Maybe not as many as OKC or Utah, but a lot nonetheless. Six first-rounders that aren't our own, to be exact, plus the swap rights to Atlanta's 2026 first-rounder and over twenty second-rounders. Simply put, I can guarantee you that the team won't be making all of those picks, because it's not smart roster building to be quite so overloaded with very young players when the idea is to start being competitive again. Having a lot of young talent with promise is a good problem to have until you hit the point of having so many mouths to feed that it starts stunting their development, and we're already looking at a potential slight roster crunch this year. As an example, the Pacers, who are arguably behind us in terms of the rebuilding process now since we won the Wemby sweepstakes, have 5 picks in this year's draft, 3 of them first-rounders, and Kevin Pritchard has already come out and said they're not making all of them. The Spurs, by comparison, could potentially have FIVE first-rounders in 2025 depending on league standings over the next couple years. Eventually, some of these picks will be used as a package to get one better pick or a star player. And there's a good argument that, if it's going to be the former, now is the time, because again, this is a strong draft.
So what specific assets do we have?
I'll go ahead and rank them in descending order by my perception of their value, excluding Wemby because he's obviously the most untouchable of untouchables.

• Sochan and Vassell: Very clearly big parts of this team moving forward and likely starters when our theoretical championship window opens
• Atlanta 2027 unprotected FRP: The Hawks are such a dumpster fire right now in some ways that this could easily end up being a Top 5 pick - notably, the last year of Trae's current contract is 2026-27
• Keldon Johnson: Anyone else tired of talking about him? I'll have a more in-depth look at why trading him might make sense later in this post, but he's still just 23 years old with room to grow and even with his deficiencies, he's got a lot of attractive qualities even if his long-term ceiling might be "good sixth man."
• Atlanta 2025 unprotected FRP
• Atlanta 2026 pick swap: There's an argument that this should be above the 2025 unprotected pick because the 2025 class is looking kinda rough and 2026 includes Cameron Boozer and Cooper Flagg, but ultimately having an extra pick in an individual future draft is, I think, more valuable than a swap because it allows for a move-up package
• Toronto 2024 FRP protected 1-6: Masai Ujiri and the Raptors are a little hard to read right now, even more than usual, but I think there's a good chance this could convey next year and still be in the top 10 somewhere.
• Zach Collins: A good starting center on a bad team or a very good backup center on a better team. He's got the Pop endorsement and trading him would leave our C rotation very light unless we've got something else cooking (not a good thing with Victor coming in), but I wouldn't want him to be the sticking point that holds up a potential good deal. *Malaki Branham: I might be overrating him a bit here because I'm personally very high on Branham, but I think it's close enough. He's shown very promising flashes at the NBA level already, and if he can get more consistent from 3 it'll be very hard to stop him from scoring. Becoming even a passable defender on top of it would give him 6MOTY-level upside.
• Chicago 2025 FRP protected 1-10: I think Chicago's gonna be forced to blow it up soon. Multiple teams below them in the standings last year should be markedly improved already this season and they might even lose Vooch. So this may not convey for a while, if at all.
• Boston 2028 pick swap, protected for 1st overall: This is probably about even with the Chicago pick, really. Things can change quick in the NBA but I don't expect Boston to be bad for a while, and again, it's just a swap.
• Charlotte 2024 pick, lottery protected: This will almost definitely not convey next year. Maaaaybe in 2025, but I'm really starting to doubt LaMelo's ability to stay on the floor. And a pick outside of the lottery in a bad draft class won't be worth all that much.
• Blake Wesley: I've never been a Wesley believer and he didn't show anything last year to convince me I might be wrong, but maybe some team likes his upside enough that he could work as a sweetener.
• Doug McDermott: A knockdown perimeter movement shooter who isn't worth much on his own, but could be attractive as a veteran piece for a team that can't otherwise hit 3s.
• All of our 20+ SRPs

We also, again, have all of our own FRPs, but there's too many unknowns across the next couple years for me to try and predict their value. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't trade next year's under any circumstances, would only let go of 2025's if it was protected for the lottery, and would probably be willing to have talks about any of them in or after 2026.
Potential Trade Analysis
Before anything else, I want to be clear that I'm not advocating for all or even most of these trades. I'm simply doing my best to demonstrate what we might have to give up based on history.
And again, there are a lot of mitigating factors to these other recent trades. Draft class strength, roster makeup, financial situation, etc. - it's impossible to ever get 1-to-1 comparisons for something like this. But I think they work pretty well as rough examples.
Oh, and here's an aggregation of the current "professional" mock drafts out there in case anyone wants an idea of what prospects we'd be talking about in each position.
One last thing: When I'm talking about trades that have been made for these picks historically, I'm only including ones that were made between the lottery and draft day or on draft night specifically, since obviously the slots for future picks in other trades wouldn't have been known at the time of the deal.
Pick #5 (Detroit)

• 2018: DAL trades w/lightly-protected 2019 1st for pick 3 (the now-famous Luka/Trae trade)

PROPOSAL: This.
We don't have a great comparison point to open with here, but this feels about right to me. No one, media or fans, can agree on Keldon's trade value, and there's some teams I think he very much would not fit on, but I think it makes a lot of sense on Detroit’s end for the reasons Edwards laid out - he opens up a ton of options for the Pistons to experiment with assuming that they actually get a full year of Cade this season and, in the best-case scenario, can become a very good sixth man for them long-term. They really need a young wing, and after the gut punch of falling to #5 where they’re in the unenviable position of having to decide between a bunch of low-floor, high-ceiling guys, they might be tempted to take out the guesswork and go with someone who’s already shown what he can do for a couple years. I'll return to this comparison later, but if Detroit takes Cam Whitmore in this spot, for example, and he becomes what Keldon is now, I think they'd call it a successful pick.
MY EVALUATION: Spurs say no. I think Keldon has more value to SAS than anyone they could be targeting in this spot unless Amen Thompson is still there and the FO is supremely confident in him becoming a decent off-ball player.
Pick #6 (Orlando)

• 2013: NOP trades to PHI with protected 2014 first for Jrue Holiday and pick 42

PROPOSAL: SAS trades Devin Vassell, CHI 1st and pick 33 for picks 6 and 36
I’ve seen rumors that ORL might want to package this and their #11 pick to move up, but I don’t know where that comes from. Can’t see Charlotte taking a deal like that, Portland and allegedly Houston want immediate help instead of two more rookies, and the #5 from Detroit wouldn’t really be worth it from the Magic’s standpoint. Maybe they can send #6 and #11 plus Suggs to the Rockets? Either way, the Magic are another of those teams I was talking about earlier that already has a lot of young players that they want to get touches, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they move one of their two picks for something else.
Holiday was coming off an all-star season, and though Vassell is obviously not an all-star (at least not yet), I do think he's a pretty decent approximation of 2013 Jrue Holiday. Same age, and the best players on their respective teams. Good defense, good outside shot and still some room to grow as a self-creator. I think he was probably looking at some MIP votes last year if he hadn’t gotten hurt.
MY EVALUATION: Spurs say no, obviously. They're not trading Devin. I think they could theoretically get this slot just by giving up a big package of picks, but at that point the evaluation becomes too difficult to really be worth it for this exercise IMO.
Pick #7 (Indiana)

• 2017: MIN trades pick 7 with Kris Dunn and LaVine to CHI for Jimmy Butler and pick 16

Obviously there’s no real similar deal to be found here - if we had a Jimmy Butler we’d be in a wildly different situation in the first place. I could try to put together a big picks package, but IND is guaranteed a very promising prospect at this spot and, in my opinion, they have too many holes in their team right now (or at least a very large defense-shaped hole) to move it for futures when they're already looking at more picks than they want to make.
MY EVAULATION: They'd ask for Vassell and they won't get him; this pick won't be ours. Moving on.
Pick #8 (Washington)

• 2016: SAC trades to PHX for picks 13 and 28, a future 2, and rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic

PROPOSAL: SAS trades Malaki Branham, Tre Jones, TOR 1st, CHA 1st for pick 8 and Delon Wright
Here’s where things start getting a little interesting, because this is the first slot where I can see one of the presumptive primary targets for the Spurs enter the mix in Anthony Black. Indiana might give him a look if they really value his defense and versatility, but I think Walker and Hendricks are more likely directions. So that brings us to Washington. That organization makes my head hurt but I have a hard time seeing a universe where they don’t make this pick. Either they keep smashing their head against the wall of irrelevance or they finally decide to tear it down, and either way it doesn’t make much sense for this pick to find its way to us.
But if the Wizards were to trade this pick, I imagine it'd be because they’re getting a young and high-upside prospect who’s already shown legit NBA flashes in Branham, which they’re sorely lacking and could reasonably be thought of as equivalent to or probably even a little bit better than Bogdanovic in 2016. This also gets them an uber-reliable young backup PG that can be had for a few cheap years (something you'd be pretty happy to get with a #28 pick) and the Spurs take back Wright for salary purposes and to have a veteran PG option of their own, though it’s entirely possible WAS values Wright more highly anyway for defensive purposes.
MY EVALUATION: Both teams say no, although if we put Wesley in there instead of Branham I think things get interesting from the Spurs' point of view. You can never predict the Wizards, but I think Michael Winger would have to be given an offer they can’t refuse to tempt them not to just stay here and pick Black or Hendricks or Whitmore or whoever else has fallen to them. Reportedly, he has the blessing to finally rebuild if he so chooses, and it’s hard to see them not starting the process off here. Not for nothing, but Winger used to work under Presti.
I do wonder what would happen if the Spurs offered Keldon for this pick straight-up, though. If Kuzma leaves, the Washington wing situation suddenly looks completely ghastly. Returning to the "Whitmore-Johnson test," if the Wizards picked Cam up here and he turned into Keldon, I think they'd be quite pleased. Not "all-time draft victory" pleased, but a huge win for a team that's mangled their draft a couple times recently.
Pick #9 (Utah)

• 2013: MIN trades to UTA for picks 14 and 21

PROPOSAL: SAS trades CHA 1st and CHI 1st for pick 9
Pretty simple here. If a team thinks that Chicago pick will convey, late lottery seems like a reasonable place to expect it to land. If the Charlotte pick conveys, it'll be in that 15-20 range.
MY EVALUATION: Utah says no because there's a good chance those picks don't convey, because picks in future drafts are always treated as less valuable than those in the same draft, and because Ainge doesn't make trades when he's not fleecing the other team for all their worth. Also, Utah doesn't really need more future picks either.
You know what? That was boring. How about another option?
PROPOSAL: SAS trades Keldon for pick 9
The Ainge factor remains, but in a vacuum I do think this is pretty fair value straight up. Let’s talk about the SAS rotation for a minute assuming they do indeed make SOME trade for a PG prospect. Wemby and Vassell are starting, no question. Collins got the Pop endorsement at the end of last season, so he’s in there too. That leaves four players fighting for two starting spots: Keldon, Sochan, Tre Jones, and the newly drafted PG. Sochan started 53 of the 56 games he played last year, and with the excellent upside he has, I have a hard time imagining he’s not getting the nod at the 3; even if he’s not, he’ll be getting tons of minutes. I and others have supported the Point Sochan experiment, but if we’re bringing in a real PG, I doubt we’ll see a whole lot more of that and they certainly won’t start a Sochan/Vassell/Keldon/Wemby/Collins lineup. So Keldon’s probably sliding to the sixth man role. And that’s fine - if he has a role on this team when they’re ready to contend again, it’ll be that one - but trading a sixth man for the right to select the guy you theoretically think can be Victor’s running mate for a decade, especially when there’s plenty of other guys off the bench that you want to keep giving minutes to, is more than reasonable all things considered.
As far as UTA goes, they need a PG prospect all on their own but I think they can get Kobe Bufkin with their #16 pick and I kinda love the fit there for him. If you’re the Jazz, would you rather have Keldon and Bufkin or, say, Wallace and Leonard Miller? I don’t know the answer to that, but I think there’s at least a chance they’d prefer the latter, as even with a pretty lean roster I don’t know how badly they want to find playing time for three first rounders this year. Keldon and Markkanen don’t even step on each other’s toes in the UTA system, and though they’ll definitely continue the tank this year to avoid losing their 2024 pick, Keldon could easily still be around on a very team-friendly deal by the time they’re ready to start pushing for the playoffs again.
MY EVALUATION: Utah says no strictly because Ainge gonna Ainge. I'm not sure I'd do it if I was the Spurs, either, because injuries will happen and Victor might get more DNPs for load management this year than any of us want to see. But it’s a conversation worth having and I can’t say I’d be falling to my knees in an HEB if it happened on draft night.
Pick #10 (Dallas)

• 2018: PHI trades to PHX for pick 16 and a Miami first in 2021
• 2017: SAC trades to POR for picks 15 and 20
• 2014: PHI trades to ORL for pick 12, 2015 second, and 2017 first*

Strap in, this is a fun one.
PROPOSAL: This.
This is the pick in the lottery that I think is most likely to move, outside of maaaybe #3. That’s kind of awkward, because Dallas wants (needs) talent to help them win now and we don’t have much of that. Specifically, they need defense and a real starting center - if they can get both of those in one guy, so much the better. Keldon doesn’t move the needle for them IMO and we’re obviously not gonna give up Vassell at this slot. The OTHER thing Dallas needs, though, is something we do have in spades: cap room. Our old friend Davis Bertans has one of the worst contracts in the league for next season - $17m for a guy whose defense deficiencies make him unplayable - and while he only has $5m guaranteed in 2024, I think Dallas needs help right now to keep from running a real risk of fracturing their relationship with their best player since Dirk.
I think it’s POSSIBLE Dallas just trades this pick with Bertans and, say, McGee for, the TOR 1st + CHA 1st + a bucket of SRPs or something, then tries their luck in free agency (to go for Jakob or Brook etc.) before using their new draft capital to seek another trade if need be, but I think it’s more likely that we’d be looking at a full-on three-teamer here. There’s a lot of options there depending on which teams are panicking or not, and most of them I don’t find overly likely. Does Boston overreact and give up Robert Williams in a psychotic episode? Does Atlanta move Capela? Eh. Maybe, I guess, but I doubt it. How about Cleveland, though?
This is a pretty skeletal framework of what a deal could look like so don’t take it as absolute gospel. Three-team trades are often complicated enough that there could easily be a few more moving pieces were such a trade to happen.
MY EVALUATION: This could be a winner. I don’t think CLE has to trade Allen yet, but if they’re not exploring the option and asking themselves some tough questions about whether the pairing with Mobley is the real long-term answer after what happened against the Knicks, they’re not doing their job. THJ shot almost the same percentage on 3s as Caris Levert did last year on over three more attempts per game, and his defense, while not amazing by any means, is better than it gets credit for. Getting rid of Rubio also gives them a little extra salary to play with in free agency - it’s not much, and it’s not a great class, but I think there’s enough there for Cleveland to find a way to make themselves a better playoff team than they were last year. This also lets them recoup some draft capital that is basically nonexistent for them right now after the Mitchell trade.
On the Spurs side, even if Rubio is basically washed, he’s an incredibly smart and experienced PG who could do a lot to mentor the young guy that we’d be bringing in at the position, and if he needs to come in for a few minutes here and there to hold down the fort, that’s fine too - we’re not trying to be good yet. I’d be surprised if we don’t bring in a vet guard in some fashion this offseason regardless. Plus, we have to get to the salary floor before the season starts anyway; why not kill three birds with one stone on this trade?
Cleveland probably still says no. I don't know if they're quite ready to pull the plug on Allen. But I don't think it's that far off.
Pick #11 (Orlando)

• 2022: NYK trades to OKC for 3 protected first-rounders (DET (protected), WAS (protected), DEN, all 2023)
• 2018: CHA trades to LAC for pick 12 and two 2s
• 2016: ORL trades with Oladipo and Ilyasova to OKC in return for Ibaka

PROPOSAL: SAS trades TOR 1st, CHI 1st, and Doug McDermott for pick 11
Last year's trade is the easiest comparison to make on this list. Not perfect, still, but with the added context of what other trades in this range have brought back, I think it still works. The DET and WAS picks were fairly heavily protected (top 18 and lottery, respectively) and I don’t think it surprised anyone that the Nuggets pick is as late as it is, so despite it being three first rounders the overall value OKC traded wasn’t huge. Even with the Knicks having financial incentive to move off the pick, the package was pretty well in line with historical trades in this range. That said, I think people are viewing the talent around this slot higher than 2022’s at the time, so the offer might need to still be a tiny bit stronger. But one could reasonably argue the TOR pick alone is more valuable than anything else that's been given for this slot in the last 10 years.
Let's talk about the Magic a little more. Let’s say Orlando is pretty happy with what they’ve got right now, which I think they should be. Banchero was a very deserving ROTY, Franz is a bucket, and they’ve got a lot of promising supplemental pieces. They looked pretty dangerous at times last year, especially in the second half of the season when they were healthy. What they DON’T have is a lot of excess draft capital. They own Denver’s pick in 2025 which isn’t likely to be very valuable, and other than that they have only their own firsts. A trade like this allows them the chance to keep adding lottery talent into the future even if they expectedly become a consistent playoff team, and since they also have #6 this year they don’t even have to completely go without a shiny new rookie to do it. Doug is included because the return still felt a tad light to me and because Orlando was 25th in the league in 3PT% last year - it’ll help if they get a full season of Gary Harris, but if they want to make a strong run at the play-in, they might need a little more. Lots of mocks like them to take Gradey Dick here, and while McDermott obviously wouldn’t figure into their long term plans, if they’re making to look a little noise this year, McDermott is almost definitely giving them more than what Dick would as a rookie.
MY EVALUATION: This is my favorite slot to target and I think it's a fair trade for both teams. Orlando doesn't necessarily need to add two more lottery guys to their roster this year when they can conceivably make a push for the play-in with what they already have, even while still getting touches for their foundational pieces. The Spurs like McDermott and I'm sure would love to keep him around all else being equal, but I don't think they'd let him stand in the way of getting their PG of the future. It might take the CHA pick as well or maybe a bunch of seconds or something, but I think we have something here all things considered.
Pick #12 (Oklahoma City)

• 2016: ATL acquires from UTA in three-team trade (sends Jeff Teague to IND who sends George Hill to UTA)

Now this spot on the other hand... There's nothing to be done here. There’s nothing to be done here. Teague averaged 15pts and 6ast per game as a starter for 5 years in ATL with an all-star season in ‘15. Hill had slightly worse stats in 4 years as a starter in Indiana. Tre Jones plus the TOR 1st might be comparable value, but OKC doesn’t need a PG even at the backup position and they already have more future picks than they know what to do with. The scuttlebutt seems to be saying OKC will trade up if anything, which makes sense, and they certainly don’t need to do anything drastic after the improvement they showed last year and Holmgren still waiting in the wings. I’ve done plenty of looking for an angle on this pick and I just don’t see one. They’ve even got plenty of cap room and no bad salary to begin with. We’ll just move on.
Pick #13 (Toronto)

• 2022: CHA trades to NYK for a Denver 1st and four 2nds, who then trade to DET after the draft with Kemba for a Milwaukee 1st in 2025
• 2017: DEN trades to UTA for pick 24 and Trey Lyles
• 2013: DAL trades to BOS for pick 16 and two future seconds

This one needs some intro first. I have no idea what the Raps are planning to do and allegedly the team doesn’t either. Reportedly, Masai still thinks they have the ability to win now - I don’t know if that means actually winning a championship or just getting to the playoffs, but I think he’s wrong either way. Regardless, he’s such a bizarre trader that it feels impossible to predict what may or may not get a deal done. He overvalues his own players to an absurd degree, but he seems to do the same with Spurs players too. How we ever got a first rounder (that became Branham) for Thad Young and Drew Eubanks I’ll never know. So yeah, there’s certainly a recent history of swaps between us and them, one of which famously worked out amazingly and a couple others that very much didn’t.
Whatever direction Toronto does decide to go in, I think they’d be best served just making this pick. Keldon doesn’t make sense for them and we’re way past the part of the lottery where we’d even consider trading him anyway. But how about another direction?
PROPOSAL: SAS trades CHA 1st and pick 44, plus more future SRPs, and extends protection on 2024 TOR 1st to top-12 in 2024, top 10 in 2025. In return, SAS receives pick 13.
I wonder if something this simple gets it done. Maybe what we can best offer Toronto is flexibility. Maybe they carry this whole “I dunno” mentality into the season and then they’re a completely mediocre team at the trade deadline again staring down the barrel of a lost season where they probably still have to give up a pick to us that could easily fall into the 7-10 range. Would they give up #13 this year to ensure they can’t lose, say, pick #8 next year if their season falls apart? I don’t know, but maybe. With this offer, they even still get to make a couple other picks this year, and they’ve had success with late firsts and early seconds recently on drafts that looked a good deal thinner. Hell, looking at recent swaps for this slot, this even feels almost like an overpay - I think PATFO would have to be very sure about the guy they’re picking to give up a top-6 protected selection from a team in TOR’s current position.
This is the pick right now that I think is the most up in the air as far as availability - it could change dramatically over the next month depending on what sorts of conversations are happening in Raptors HQ. They could move up, they could move down, they could stand pat. I have no idea. It’s also the deal that I think has the most potential to come together extremely quickly on draft night; I could see Toronto having a couple specific guys in mind here and then scrambling to make a deal if they’re suddenly off the board.
MY EVALUATION: Raptors say no, but they think long and hard about it first.
Pick #14 (New Orleans)
Has not been traded in the last decade.
Sorry to end with a whimper, but yeah, I don’t see a deal to be made here. If they’re healthy they’ll be a team no one wants to see in the playoffs, and if they’re not, there’s nothing much they can do about it at this juncture. They’ve got plenty of future picks, they won’t want anyone on the SAS squad that we’d give up for pick 14, and there will absolutely be talent here that can help them immediately; they’re keeping this. I GUESS they might look for someone to dump Valanciunas in favor of one of the free agent Centers, but that would be kinda risky on their part and they’d probably want a return that’s less abstract than just the cap room and a few second rounders or whatever.
JUST-FOR-FUN PROPOSAL: This hilariousness.
I expect PHX to have better offers on the table for Ayton, but after his disappearing act in the playoffs I wouldn’t say it’s a certainty. Maybe they’re so tired of him that this feels like an okay return, and maybe New Orleans thinks they can unlock whatever potential might be left. This also gets the Spurs the veteran C they reportedly want; JoVal isn’t exactly an elite rim protector but he’s a heck of a rebounder and can stretch the floor on the other end.
Like I said, though, this is just for kicks anyway for the people who want a wild idea; I don’t think the Pels want Ayton and I don’t think they should.
MY EVALUATION: New Orleans says no because they're not insane and Phoenix probably does too. But it was a fun time in the trade machine.
So, just to recap...

• Picks I can’t see us getting: 6-8, 12, 14
• Probably not, but I could believe it: 5, 9, 13
• Sweet spot: 10 and 11

Pick #11 is the one I’d spend most of my time going after on the phone if I was an executive. #10 has its merits, especially because I personally like the Rubio idea a lot, but we can get a Cory Joseph or George Hill in free agency just as easily to fill that role, and the larger problem is that we’re already going to be dealing with a roster crunch that Bertans and/or McGee would exacerbate. #11 could end up costing nothing but picks that we have an excess, plus maybe McDermott, who we were perfectly willing to move at the deadline anyway and who would actually open up one of those valuable roster spots as well. I also don’t think there’s much danger in Dallas taking the guy we want if he is still on the board at 10.
Again, don’t take my proposals as any kind of hard offers; several of them I wouldn’t even support myself, as you can see. This is just meant as a quick-and-dirty (well, at least dirty) reference for what kind of value we might be looking at in these discussions.