In elementary school, I and someone who wasn’t even really a good friend made a “dork list.” I cannot say I was a very conscious being at the time. And I know that it was not done maliciously. We weren’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings (in fact it wasn’t meant to even be shown to anyone.) It was just something that happened, for fun.
Also in elementary school, I had a period of using the phrase ‘suck my dick’. I 100% didn’t even know what it meant, but I knew it grossed out the girls. I don’t remember where I learned it. It was probably just part of the lingo that got passed around and picked up. I went to a private Christian elementary school, by the way.
In middle school, in the public schools for the first time in my life, I picked up juicier terms. I learned that in Korean, pepper was a homonym for penis, and I learned how to say ‘suck my dick’ again, this time in Korean.
Now I kind of did know what it meant, but I didn’t really get all the sexual implications of it. It was just funny, felt like a ‘skill’ almost in a way, and it got a reaction out of people. I still don’t think I was very conscious at the time. And by the way, I was always one of the more intelligent students. One of my nicknames in elementary school was “Einstein.”
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Some time in my adolescence, I discovered that most people don’t think before they speak. Being an introvert, often lost in my own thoughts, thinking before speaking kind of developed on its own for me.
If you look around the world, even presidents like Trump and Biden don’t think before they speak. To me, I don’t even begin to consider anyone intelligent until they have learned to think about what they say before saying it.
Most people are still deeply unconscious.
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A bonus story.
I once had a gay friend tell me not to use the word “dude” because it was “too straight”.
Last year, I went on a veggie biryani streak. I tried it at any restaurant near me that looked even potentially good. I wanted to understand it, and find the best one.
And then having understood it, and having found the best and favorite one, I never ate it again since…..
… what is this insanity? It’s like trying to complete quests irl, or finish achievements.
If I find something I like, and then keep enjoying it, that would make sense. But why do I go through these insane searches, and then when I find what I’m looking for, drop it?
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Counterfactual Regret Minimization
The good robot learns from mistakes. He is always trying to find the “best way” of doing something, in order to obtain the best possible result (or least bad result, which is the same thing).
If I eat a bad biryani, when I could’ve had a good one, this is a mistake. If I choose one drafting path, and after the fact regret it, then I could’ve “regretted less” by doing something differently.
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Loose Ends
A seeker in Eastern spirituality will come across the idea of “karma”. There is often a misguided goal of trying to finish and “dissolve” karma, because karma is seen as a bondage on your freedom.
Essentially, it’s like trying to “tie up loose ends.” Also, it’s trying not to create new karma, by doing things consciously.
In RD2L, I’ve experimented with ways of not creating more “karma.” For example, in my Hufflepuff Harem season, all season long I mostly forced my vision on my team, because I had a team that would let me. But at the end, when I saw that the time for losing has come, I listened to my team and picked something I knew was wrong, and I would never do (Wraith King into PL).
An ironic fact of life is that you rarely get credit for the mistakes you don’t make. Flashy players are visible to all, but a player who doesn’t make mistakes is appreciated by few.
Drafting is related. There can be a lot of thought that goes into it, that is not visible. As in the art of war: “All see the tactics I win with, but none can see the strategy.”
Since I saw that we were probably going to lose anyway, I wanted to let my teammate lose his way, instead of having the bitter taste of losing a tyrant’s way. Karma avoided.
…
But I’ve come to realize that life is all loose ends. Trying to plan everything doesn’t work. The only way is the path of Zen “let go.” Accept all that is. Whatever is, is good.
If you accept everything, and don’t choose “this is good, this is bad”. If you experience things consciously. Then I can say from experience that there is minimal “karma” to pick up. Any minor disturbances to the psyche linger briefly and then depart. I’m at peace most of the time. (By the way, sleeping enough is important everyone)
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Consider this. If you are sure about something, do you need to make a decision? If something is clearly bad, do you need to make a decision?
The only time you need to make a decision, is if you are unsure.
Having seen that you are the problem, excuse yourself! Give up decision-making. Or give up regretting the consequences that follow. Flow with the stream of life. All things bright and beautiful.
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Having concluded the psyops portion of the blog (or have I?), now I shall improv some rd2l-relevant material.
TheMantis
For a robot such as I, if I have loved you once, then I have loved you forever. For you, I can turn from a friend to an enemy; but for me, it makes no difference.
The Mantis had an idea of me in his head, which he liked. But I am not so two-dimensional. When I later betrayed the idea of me that he had, he turned. But have you considered that it is unfair to have ideas about people, and then expect them to fulfill your idea? This is the very way everyone is driving everyone mad in society.
But still, I love him for his autistic sincerity, and naivety. Sincerity has always been a very attractive personality trait to me, in a world where everyone is false.
Doofgod
You are responsible for everything in your life. It does not mean you caused it, but it means it is yours to respond to it. What you can change, change; what you cannot, accept.
Mooshack vs. Vuvu would be my pick for the final, but they are matching earlier in the bracket.
Think we all hope for Zewqew 3-peat, #1 because it’s bullshit, but acceptable and expected bullshit. #2 because vuvu/doomcow winning is just too insufferable. NGL after ultra excused himself, not having someone to bully doomcow has allowed him to grow out of control like a tumor.
I never fully joke, there is always part seriousness. When the blog is ready to cum, I allow it.
But with some things, I feel like an wound-up energizer bunny. Like with dota this season. I have to “start” the drive for dota. I remember how I got good at games before, and I can somewhat do it again now. But it is like going through the motions. The old passion is gone. Really I’m becoming more and more still and peaceful inside.
And I wish the same benediction for you. It is like you have heard of a treasure, and you want to share the good news, but there is no one to share it with.
What was the need to write so many blogs? I wanted to find people who might understand me. Stonks can appreciate my nerd-itry, and I thought you might appreciate the “psychology.”
May you, and I, continue becoming more and more conscious :pray:
On his way to conquer India, Alexander the Great paid a visit to Diogenes. He found Diogenes relaxing by the river, naked. Diogenes asked Alexander the Great why he wanted to conquer India, and the whole world. What is the point? Alexander the Great replied, after conquering India, he could rest.
Diogenes laughed and mocked him. If you want to rest, what is the need for conquering? Look at me, I am resting now.*
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I have known this story for a long time, and wholeheartedly agree with it. What is really the need for all the ambition, and desiring? It is all washed away in the end, like writings in sand.
My approach has been to consciously go through the “bucket list” of my desires, and either let go of items, or try to experience it, see that it’s “not it”, and then let it go.
For example, I’ve thought about photography my whole life. I finally bought a very nice camera, got a lightroom subscription, messed with it awhile, and then haven’t touched it much since.
I consider the $2,000+ I spent “worth,” as I’m trying to let go of as many burdens as I consciously can. And then through this experience, it helps me see that I don’t actually have to “do” everything else, in order to let it go. For example, bonsai. I can just let it go. It’s the same game.
By the way, if a child bounces from one interest to another, really this is absolutely normal. Aren’t we all doing the same thing?
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I realized a couple days ago, that I’m doing exactly what the conquerors were doing.
“Let me play one more season, give it a full effort, and then I can relax.”
This season was an experiment, to see if I could really be detached. To see if I am really moving beyond the ego, or if it’s just manifesting differently. The results of my experiment so far:
1) I have not arrived at “letting go” and letting whatever happens happen. I still want to put my influence on things, and have desired outcomes.
2) I still care how people view me. I thought it would be funny if I started at the lowest mmr on my team, and ended up at the highest. If it were just for the art of it, that would be fine, but part of me is caring about getting “credit.” As a practical matter, I also feel that climbing to the highest mmr would help me gain control over my team…
But anyway, I seem to have stalled at the Ancient bracket. So I guess that’s the level I’m playing at. The more you know.
2b) On the other hand, I am quite detached from my outward “personality.” I can be absolutely silent (Mantis team), or I can spill all my thoughts in an egoistic way (this season). It really makes little difference to the “inner me.” The outward personalities are just actors’ masks.
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Actually, almost immediately in the beginning of the season, I asked myself “what am I doing” playing rd2l. I already feel relatively peaceful, and happy. What was the point of throwing myself back into this madness, of striving and competition.
Hopefully I’ll be able to let it all go after… 🙂
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Rulers of Omicron Persei 8
Seems to be a Futurama thing. The image is cool, but low effort. I don’t get the ‘implication’ of the name.
Execute Order 69
.ud: So it`s like order 66 except instead of the clone troopers hunting down and killing their Jedi generals, they rape them instead. I know, weird… pervert clones!
I think I get the ‘implication’? This verb phrase as a name seems to lack something, though. Maybe a pun on ‘order’, like a secret order of monks that like to 69 each other, would’ve given it some special something.
Hobo’s Little Helpers
I like it, has a classic-sounding ring.
Sexpertease
It’s ok… maybe the same puns on sexpert are getting old though. Redeemed by the tise/tease spelling.
Would like to see some Zombie-related team names in the future!
The AwfulCow Wedding Procession
Is there a backstory? Great effort on the logo.
YOU’RE GONNA DO OUR TAXES
I thought surely this was a reference to something, but google didn’t help.
I award it half an awkward wry forced smile.
The Pollowship of Grief
IDK how anyone thinks h for toth is fair, but no one seems to care, and I don’t really care that much either.
Also, I like how everyone be “rules say we can use +500 for a stand-in” to mean I’M GONNA GET MY 500 OF RULES-ALLOWED VALUE.
Sportsmanship is dead, along with chivalry, rip
I’ll be honest, I don’t get how polo turns into a pun for fellow. There used to be an Ira Gershwin joke… “if you can rhyme home and alone, you, too, can be a lyricist.”
And these days the cool kids just make up whatever words they need… XD ZAZA
Not that I am against it, I’m just observing it.
Riff: Do not Toth: Radioactive Polonium
idk
Kiss Our Neutrals
Again, it must be a reference to something, and I’m out of the loop. Mildly disturbing crop-job on the logo
Team Pottis Defense Force
I think pottis defense force is some community? idk
I don’t know what the logo is supposed to be either. bot game?
Why do you need to win? Why can’t you just enjoy a game for fun? You throw the cards in the air, they land randomly, and it’s all washed away. It isn’t significant.
If you want to win, remember well, the loss is inevitably coming.
I don’t care what the world thinks, but I want my friends/teammates to understand me
It’s most painful to be misunderstood by the ones you love.
1) If there is a “you” to be understood, this is still the existing ego. 2) Why still the need for the “other”? Can you not be sufficient unto yourself? Even with other people, you are still alone together. Together alone.
I’m emotionally affected by the environment around me
It’s funny. I’m a trained musician, but when there are poor musicians who can’t keep time, I find myself unable to ignore them. I lose my own beat.
I don’t know what to do about this except be aware of it. Any negative vibes/moods I pick up quickly dissipate these days. Recharging by the ocean and the trees helps too.
often, when I’m not playing dota, I just feel this love overflowing
is it too early for a team review?
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I love Timber Hearth. He’s like the perfect blend between Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor.
Hufflepuffs are my favorite, not wamen. They are the easiest to get along with. They LIKE getting along. A lot of people really just don’t like getting along, even if they think they do.
Ravenclaws have an analytical mind, but as the quintessential Ravenclaw, I find playing with other Ravenclaws unbearable.
Gryffindors are your “people persons.” My ideal composition is actually me + 3 hufflepuffs + one gryffindor for the team morale.
I’ve been joking (but my jokes are always serious), that I like people who don’t talk. I think this made Timber Hearth self-conscious and he asked if he was talking too much.
Bruv, you are perfect! You are so necessary for the team dynamic. Keep doing you.
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After my unrequited love, Ark, I think stonks is the next-closest candidate for someone I could play dota with without saying anything. Probably no more than the occasional pings, “back”, and “go” could be sufficient.
Someone in rd2l was talking about coordination the other day. His idea of coordination was someone making a call and the other people listening to it.
My ideal coordination is everyone seeing the same thing, and thinking the same thing, without saying anything.
It honestly feels wrong to say anything about how I feel about stonks. Because if you say it, it becomes awkward and unnatural. And words are pitifully inadequate to convey feelings, anyway. (The tao that is said is not the real tao.)
But I don’t believe in leaving things unsaid, or leaving things undone, anymore. Be open, do what you can, when the moment is there. Because once the moment is gone, it will not come back. #a new me
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For someone that didn’t actually want to play with me (bro you weren’t falling to gronaldo, get over it <3), Ryan has been more tolerant than what one could’ve hoped for. Usually if someone goes into something with an opinion/attitude, it’s very difficult to turn around from that negative influence.
But he’s been a great teammate. Sharing ideas, not negative in losing (very important to me. being able to lose = character, don’t @ me), and fun to play with.
Ryan, I appreciate your attitude, and hope that we will get closer and closer as the season goes on.
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Steil (Neil?) reminds me of when I used to play games for fun. Like when you’re young at an amusement park. You want to go on the rides, eat the food, see the fireworks.
It’s not that Steil is like that, but he’s like-that-adjacent. Playing games for so long, you start doing it out of habit, or as an intellectual exercise, or for some misplaced competitiveness/ambition. You forget that you’re supposed to be doing things for fun.
Admittedly, my main motivation is not fun, and I know it. This season, I’m really trying to break the bonds of “karma”, so to speak. I’m trying to consciously put my energy into dota/rd2l/this team, see what happens, and then drop it all at the end.
I’ve been playing games my whole life.. it’s time to break the pattern and move on 🙂
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My wish for Steil and team, is that the season will be enjoyable and fun, regardless of battlefield results. I wish that life, also, will be full of joy.
I’m really happy with my team. I had a couple possible “paths” I wanted to take with the draft, and this was one of them. I basically got exactly who I wanted. (The other path was getting polo.)
I knew that being too rigid in this auction format could backfire, so I was prepared to be a little flexible. Observers did see me (up)bidding on a variety of players, but also saw me waiting for my moment.
I’m going to touch on numerous points, and I think the best way to organize it is chronologically. (warning: long and rambling)
Here’s how I approached the draft.
I fully intend to be done with dota after this rd2l season. This emboldens me to share my thought process, whereas if I were to play future seasons, I might be reticent. It also informed my draft approach. I wanted to get people I wanted to play with. Drafting “correctly” for competitiveness, just isn’t “me” anymore. Ambition and strife seem so unnecessary, these days.
So if I wanted to play with polo, it was either now or never. I’ve been an admirer for many years. There are two “polos” in rd2l. The other one is one of the top bulldogs of the melvs. That group always liked to find conflicts with me. There are types who cannot understand, and mock what they cannot understand.
And then this polo is so gentle and radiant and beautiful. Like golden hour in the quiet mountain-side.
But still, there must be a limit to how much I can bid. Clearly, the right number was somewhere less than all of my money.
~~ Draft Prep~~
How to decide on the bidding limit for a player?
I decided to use something from game theory: The principle of indifference. The point where I am indifferent between my getting a player, and my opponent getting him, is the correct bidding limit.
How do you find the “intrinsic value” of a player?
Understand this deeply: Once captains are assigned money, all we care about is getting the most value out of that money. It does not matter who the captain is, and what formula is used to distribute the money.
Once the money is in hand, all that matters is what value (mmr) the money can get. It is BLIND to whoever the captain is, and howsoever the money was given.
So the total money available (all captain $ summed), corresponds to the total mmr (value) available to capture. The lowest mmr player is worth nothing, because he will be free.
With this, you can calculate the “intrinsic monetary value” of the players. This is the “greg” model used in the early auction seasons. It looks something like this:
It is this value that I’ve referred to in previous blogs. Each dollar $ corresponds to about 30 mmr.
So if you buy players below their intrinsic value, you’re winning. If you pay more, you’re losing. Simple?
It’s complicated by many factors:
– You must draft exactly 4 players. This is consequentially the same as saying “leftover money isn’t worth anything,” but people who don’t understand only know how to mock. – Role distribution, as my last blog talked about – Higher mmrs may be worth more, cores may be worth more, etc.
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So with $550 to spend, as you can see, if I draft Timber Hearth (adjusted down to 4500 on the draft sheet), 1 or netflix second monitor, stonks, and 1 more, I’m getting close to around my rightful value. If everyone overpays for all the higher mmrs, and then I scoop up 4 players around that level, I can’t really be too unhappy.
One reason I blogged so much, and vibe checked people on discord, is to find people who might be compatible. The players I got were literally the ones I was targeting.
My other plan was if I got polo. Then I would’ve tried to get a value carry like george, fallen, or fulcrum, and played offlane myself. Or I would’ve tried to still get Timber Hearth or scrub, and fill with lower mmr supports like Buck.
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According to the intrinsic value model, how much mmr could each captain expect to capture?
Buck’s Scaled is the amount of starting money captains would have had, going by intrinsic mmr/greg’s model.
Crub Cents is the actual starting amounts this season
Implied Team Avg is the team average mmr that each captain could expect, if the auction runs according to intrinsic values.
Why does the auction deviate from the simple mmr model? 1. Higher mmrs rightfully go for more than the mmr model implies. This effect is, in my estimation, over-corrected for by captains. This creates “mistakes”, or “inefficiencies” 2. It is harder for low mmr captains to benefit from these drafting “mistakes,” because they have too much money, and are thus forced to also make the drafting mistakes, in order to spend out. 3. Higher mmr captains are in a position to capture more than their rightful value, and low mmr captains cannot capture their full value.
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Opinions
I think it’s correct to adjust the money, giving more to lower mmrs. I think it’s inequitably over-tuned.
Using previous season bidding, which you have no reason to believe is correct, is odd. If you inject more money into the system, why wouldn’t you just expect it to inflate the incorrect-ness? And then you want to, by fiat, set the order of the nominations, and display the “correct” values to draft players at, for which there is no solid game-theoretic reason to believe are correct. (Are you following? You derived the values from previous season behavior, and then you want to enforce that behavior on people in future seasons)
~~~ Draft Day ~~~
This is really long and rambling. If there are specific questions you’d like to address, please ask and I can answer in a follow-up.
So, I was actually planning to nominate stonks first, planning to take him. I thought that captains had a tendency to just overvalue high mmr players, and not necessarily all early players. I thought that captains would be reluctant to purchase a high mmr support, so early, because it would cripple their further purchasing ability. (Which I think is correct, by the way.) I might get stonks at a bargain.
But the draft, surprisingly, was jumping all over the place, and not starting at high mmrs. I saw that people were just overvaluing people across the board. So I didn’t nominate anyone I actually wanted, and just waited to scoop them later.
I was playing with fire. There were several possible problems.
All the high mmrs would be gone
I might not actually be able to get who I wanted, because two other low mmr captains, Nifuji and Mantis, and Waifu and Gronaldo, and Vuvu, and others, still had quite a lot of money.
Then, I would be stuck overpaying for people anyway, and having no one good left to spend money on.
If someone wanted to screw me (or was just dumb), they could outbid me using their money. For example, let’s say vuvu is hell-bent on taking a player from me, using all his money. He will be screwed, because he has no money left, but I will be screwed, because I needed that player. He screws us both.
It was a real possibility, that didn’t happen. Partially, I got lucky. It’s still safer to overpay earlier, and get rid of some money, when you are a low mmr captain.
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I did have scrub’s valuations in my draft sheet, as a reference. I knew that high mmr players should go for more than mmr-implied, and scrub values seemed like a reasonable sanity check. (Except it gets unreasonable at the top. 381 for hobo is mathematically ridiculous. Keep in mind the scrub model also values the lowest mmr players at negative money. It’s just a model.)
I did not “bid up” anyone just for the sake of gouging people. I bid up to the point where I was indifferent. If my opponent stopped bidding, I was fine with it.
I was fully intending to overpay for polo, justifying it with the Crub welfare money I got. But toth follows his heart more than I do, wcid.
By the time it got to Eli, I was really starting to feel like I had to spend money on anyone available. I probably could’ve gone higher, and zombies probably would’ve too. But I wasn’t bidding just to bid anyone up… I didn’t really want Eli for compatibility reasons.
If you think 315 for hobo was cheap… then why was I the only one bidding on him with redground? I also probably could’ve gone higher here, and redground probably would’ve too, but it was still relatively early and I thought I’d have other opportunities.
I found it useful to think about the possible money-player distributions. Like 350 on polo, 100 on stonks, leaving me with 100 for a value carry + low mmr support. It was kind of a sanity check on what I could possibly get.
Practically, if I did get polo, it would’ve been better for me to spend my remaining money on a 3rd core instead of putting it into supports.. but I really wanted stonks 🙂
For offlane, I was pretty set on either Timber Hearth or scrub. If one of the higher mmr players fell into my lap, it would be fine, but I wasn’t expecting it. I got the feeling scrub was kind of either/or on playing with me. He seems to be kind of an uncommittable person in general. So I didn’t really plan on bidding very much for him. Luckily, he was nominated before Timber Hearth.
On treebeard’s draft stream, scrub was saying how he “wouldn’t let [my] team win games” if he were on my team. /facepalm
If you would’ve loved me, I was prepared to love you!
GL HF with midorchen and smack.
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IDK there’s lots of other small details, but it seems disorganized and rambling. Ask me if you have specific questions.
Consider the distribution of roles among captains:
7 mids, 3 offlane, 2 carry, and 3 supports
Consider the distribution of ancients-or-higher in the pool:
Among divine+, there are 7 mids, 6 offlane, 4 carry, 3 support. Among ancient+, there are 8 mids, 8 offlane, 11 carry, 10 support.
Let’s say that polo plays carry, and jotatoe plays offlane. Then Ancient+ there are 6 mid, 9 offlane, 12 carry, 10 support
What can we learn? Most of the captains are mid players, and there are also lots of mids in the pool. Every captain should be able to get a decent mid-laner. While there are some really strong mids in the pool, there aren’t really any bad ones, in my opinion.
The carry situation is a little different. There are only a handful of top-tier carries, and then quite a few more ancient carries. The best carries are rightfully, hotly contested. Consider this: doomcow is one of the best carries available to draft.
The offlane situation is the most dire. There are 12 non-offlane captains, and only 9 ancient+ offlaners. The offlaner shortage is, in my opinion, one of the themes and “storylines” of the season.
Offlaner captains should have a good time. There are lots of mids and carries to pick from.
Therefore, in my opinion, it was strategically better for hobo to captain, but there are probably other reasons for not captaining.
I expect captains like waifu to already realize the (distribution) situation, and probably consider playing carry.
I debated posting this blog. It has the potential to harm me more than help me, but yolo
Blogging is like cumming. Do you put a lot of effort into your cumming, and have a long one?
And how do you know it’s low effort? In order to deliver a joke, the idea has to gestate. The idea of ‘iconic duos’ was on the backburner for weeks. The energy has to accumulate. You put your energy into cumming, and I put it into blogging. Should I evaluate your cumming?
Maybe you miss my jokes.
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DND list (do not draft):
Let’s see who else is brave enough to post the dnd list.
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So I think I’ll probably nominate big lou first. Someone pm’d me and told me to nominate zewqew. But that is too obvious and boring. Someone else can. Plus, who knows, maybe I want him. He can play carry.
I could nominate tree, for the memes, out of spite. But who has energy for spite. If you have enemies, then you have to spend energy on keeping them, etc. Better to spend your energy on friends. Think about it.
Watch this spot guys. I’m not sure how good or not good robdawg is, but I’m pretty certain big lou is pretty good….
Don’t miss out.
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I have a few different draft “strats” I’m thinking about. Honestly not sure which one to employ. Might have to play by ear on draft day.
“Ignore Immortals, Acquire Ancients”
So I could ignore the highest mmr players, even though I pine for polo, and try to assemble a balanced team of divines and ancients. I don’t really feel like “wrangling” crusaders (although crusaders who toe-the-line themselves are welcome). There are quite a few players in divine-ancient to choose from, and I could see an evenly-distributed stack being quite enjoyable.
“Assemble a strong tri-core”
Being a low mmr captain with more money does mean that theoretically, if I want someone, I should be able to get him. I could just try to get a strong triple-threat (I am a threat, ty), and see what crusader supports befall me at the end.
“Max Bid Polo, and try to value-town with the remaining money”
Seems like a considerable option.
“Value town, aka the vuvu”
Another season, another life, just playing the auction for value is probably “correct.”
“Draft some cool supports, and value town the rest. aka the mantis”
Pick up clare, miyu, or even stonks. Tree if you’re into it. Value draft scrub and smashe as cores. What could go wrong.
“Draft Clare, and let him draft rig the rest for me”
What could go right.
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Happy new year, I’m out of town for a few days. No more bloggo for awhile 🙂
I wish you good luck in captaining, Toth! I’m skeptical about your off-lane ability. Let’s see it!
The waters are shark-infested. Even mooshack, at legend, who looks so innocent, who lets Mantis trash talk him, has a private dotabuff. If you look at some of his games last season, he actually performed quite well.
There are hidden dragons, lurking! Your innocence, and guilelessness, and naivety… I worry for you! There’s no more AR or itachi to hide behind. I know you’ve captained before, and I’ve heard from yourself and others that you’re quite opinionated. So you want to grow up and join the big boys..?
Even Vuvu, that numbskull (<3), has some tricks. Have you ever imagined an admin adjusting his own draft mmr down, while adjusting others up? How ludicrous! (And see his results this season, and the last few. His only bad season was the one with you, makes you :thinking:)
And look who you choose as enemies… Charkhil !! …who is so harmless, like a chihuahua puppy.
Good luck sir!
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So I always debate on how much of my thinking to share, and what to keep to myself. In my earliest days, I didn’t even tell anything to my team. I would draft silently, and the others would awkwardly talk among themselves. But I had the rank and skill back then, and the right teammates for it.
I really enjoy blogging. If you don’t enjoy reading it, then who is making you? Just move on. Anything useful I share (in the present case, with respect to auction draft), I figure will only be understood and used by few (who probably already knew it anyway), and only a few are in a position to potentially harm me. The enjoyment I get is greater. The potential effects are possibly beneficial (for example, on low mmr captain behavior). Plus, I don’t really care about winning anymore.
(If you think I’m being vague, it’s on purpose. The reader fills in the blanks, thanks.)*
* High mmr captains probably figured out not to spend all their money on polo, by now. If low mmr (weaker strength) captains, understand my emphasis on spending out, this can only help them and help me. The captains like FTS and itachi, etc., were already value-fishing in the divine-ancient waters anyway.
I have another important motivation to blog a lot, and talk a lot in discord, ahead of the draft. I’m trying to suss out who will potentially be with me, or at least able to work with me. I’m not interested in playing with people who don’t want to play with me. So do both of us a favor and hint it at me! You don’t have to tell me explicitly.
I’m planning on doing things differently. I want every teammate to take turns drafting, at least in the early weeks. I’m going to play week 1 from Mexico, if I can find a suitable place to play. I’m going to from the beginning, try to assure my teammates that I don’t care about winning, and there is no need for anyone to put pressure on himself, and leak it out on others.
But we still have to see who we can get, on draft day.
Public Notice 