Gustav

Holy shit your player is Pakistani! I just assumed India because I'm an idiot; I'm sorry. Consider it a Gustav moment

We shall provide lessons. Just not to America until after the tournament

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends! It's time to put the "World" in "World Cup!" It's also time to put the "Cup" in "World Cup"! Or even just the "World Cup" in "World Cup"! With emphasis on both words! You know why you're here, and that's because it's time to talk rosters! Who's playing for Team World? Who's going to represent the "everywhere else" of the league? Who's going to show everyone the principles of strength in unity and out-needing the other nerds? There's only one team that can do that, and it's THE WORLD--all 5.97219 x 10^24 kilograms (try to figure that one out, team USA!) of it. JOIN THE WORLD CUP SERVER HERE! Let's get right to it. First up, our FORWARDS! Let's move on to DEFENSE! Finally, it's time to talk GOALERS! Now, LET'S WIN US A TOURNAMENT!

It's actually not a permission thing, I just have my trade secrets

I'm a huge fan of the first one but I do think we should have the right to post about the oId boys club.

Due to the lack of a statement otherwise, member bashing WILL be tolerated in this thread.

Eh what the heck, I’ll apply. I think I’ve got what it takes.

I agree with this! The only thing is that we'd have to figure out how it would affect depreciation (which I don't think it should since the player has zero regular season time). It also gives teams a very good reason to pay attention to their prospects, which is something that I've seen neglected once or twice. In short, I like it. @BOG hi

Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, because I'm assuming I'm one of these "well-connected members" who supposedly get hired for everything. Honestly, beyond VHL GM/BoG, my resume doesn't look like much more than yours. I've applied to a lot of jobs that I didn't get--including fantasy, which you did get, and I've also been applying for every updater opening I've seen since before you were in the league and only just recently became one (it's also likely that that wouldn't have happened either if I were still GM or something else). I've been rejected for WJC GM, World Cup GM, World Cup/WJC Commish, VHL GM, Player Store Updater, recruitment, fantasy at least twice and at more than one level, and Updater probably 5 times at least. If there's some grand conspiracy to hire me for everything I apply for, I think I've missed it. And I've never once thought that I was passed over because of some personal vendetta I don't know about. I like to think I've earned the roles I've gotten by consistently putting myself out there in the community and showing that I'm capable of doing work that contributes to the enjoyment of other members. I'm sure you'd say the same about the jobs you've had as well. Maybe you can blame it on being "well-connected", but I'd encourage you to think about what that means and why people who are seen by the rest of the community as solid members are in that boat. I actually do think it's fair to some extent to label certain hirings as popularity contests, but to some extent that actually makes sense. Think about the amount of trust that comes with your VHLM GM role--you have to be really good at making a positive first impression on new members, really active and able to provide help whenever it's needed, and a solid representative of the league who can be counted on to make new players also solid representatives of the league. By being hired, you've earned the trust of the "higher-ups" already because they think you can do all of those things. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been hired! So I think it's a bit short-sighted to blame your situation on others and make the claim that the league hates you. They (we?) don't. At peak activity, you're just as good as any other member IMO. To address something else: if your goal is to get hired for things, then why make a thread accusing the people in charge of hiring you for things of hating you and then respond to someone with a personal shot? I can't imagine that it's going to do you any favors in the near future (though we should absolutely be able to forget this ever happened). There are certainly much more constructive ways to get your thoughts out there. Try doing what Spartan suggested and reach out to someone to ask what you could have done to get whatever job. Sometimes all it comes down to is a gut feeling, sometimes there's a hotshot rookie who hasn't had an opportunity yet, and sometimes there's an old vet with ten times the track record of you or me who's sitting there without a job. Ironically, the principle of spreading jobs around that you say you want might be holding you back--who's going to get hired into Fantasy Zone (for example), Active Member A who's running a team, or Active Member B who isn't? I've never had to make hires, but it's quite possible that someone's looked at you in a thread and said "well, they're already a GM, so let's hire someone without a job". I haven't kept track of the hirings you're talking about, but I wonder how many have gone to members without jobs--in those cases, the lack of a job is usually seen as a plus. Feel free to reach out if you sincerely believe that active members of the community hold a grudge against you. I can assure you that I do not. In the meantime, keep putting yourself out there and good things will come eventually

If you listen closely during the Master of Puppets scene you can hear both diegetic (aka music that's part of the scene that the characters can hear, in this case Eddie's playing) and non-diegetic (the studio recording) music happening at the same time. Little imperfections are added in to Eddie's playing to make it more real (and if you pay attention to the dates, he only had a couple weeks to learn the song after it was released!)

There's a Dorktown in here somewhere.

I shall now make my well-being entirely dependent upon your forum activity to compensate. Literally 1984

Feel free to use any of mine as well, past or future. I'm sure I'll forget to say so outside of this thread because I've already forgotten once in it

And I get to remain "Captain Globehead Supreme" in the WC server! This is a win if I've ever seen one.

Major spoilers ahead, so if you were stupid enough to click into this thread not expecting that, please click out of it now. Things seemed to take a big turn feel-wise in Season 3. There's so much more brightness all-around and I really appreciated the character development from everyone. Season 4 seemed to take a step back in that regard...everyone is depressed again. I actually did like Season 4, but in a very Star Wars fan-type of way where there are a lot of things I don't like about it despite liking it as a whole and really wanting Season 5 to come along sooner. A collection of general thoughts... -Max should have just died. I don't need to see characters die to enjoy a show at all, but the way they chose to end the season with her was stupid. I think they're setting up some big spiritual moment where Eleven brings her back entirely (eventually) after everyone predictably wins next season, or she becomes some sort of key to winning by being like...half-dead and a bridge between two worlds or something? I mostly had an issue with the fact that they a) introduced a whole new power for Eleven out of nowhere that in a less flashy way arguably goes WAY beyond just moving stuff/astral projection, b) put a "well actually" on what would have been the most moving death scene of the season (yes, more so than Eddie IMO), and c) made it fairly clear that the main cast is fairly untouchable. Again, by no means do I NEED to see a main character die, but I also don't want to see the writers go to the most giant stretches of the imagination possible to make sure they don't. -Another point re: Max, Sadie Sink is the best actor out of any of the kids and had an incredible season overall. -I cringed HARD at pretty much any Mike/Eleven relationship stuff. Maybe that's the point because they're teenagers, but I didn't get any emotion that the writers may have been trying to get across. -Will needs a new haircut and he also needs like 5 seconds of screen time where he's not sad. It was nice to see him evolve as a character this season (and parts of that felt super real given what he's going through), but this kid needs even ONE thing in the entire series that makes him happy. -I'm tired of everything just ending with "Eleven just so happens to have the magical powers to solve the problem while everyone else just kind of runs around trying not to get killed". It's too powerful and I'd like to see the rest of the cast involved in doing whatever it ACTUALLY is that ends the season. I think this season did a good job in stepping away from that to a certain extent, but there was still enough of it that I'd count it as a negative and I'm actively hoping Season 5 ends a different way. -Re: supporting characters...Eddie is AMAZING and my favorite so far. I have some questions as to the logic of the way he died (did it really save that much time?) but I'm not opposed to the fact that it happened because it was powerful nonetheless. The fact that so many people want him back just says that he was written well. -I actually liked Argyle, contrary to what seems to be popular opinion. Yes, he was a little over-the-top sometimes, but most of the time I found it funny. I'm a bit hesitant to think about him next season, though, because what's currently funny to me could get pushed over the line into annoying territory fairly easily if he never changes and remains full-on "whoa dude" when in danger. -I also really appreciate how Jonathan was written (another unpopular opinion) because it really accurately portrayed what can happen to a good, smart, quiet kid who gets beat down by life. I know a Jonathan or two myself, so that was relatable. -Potentially as a consequence, I am 100% NOT in favor of Steve and Nancy getting back together because I feel too much for Jonathan. I've always loved Steve and watching him flirt with someone in a relationship was a bit disappointing. -Jamie Campbell Bower did a FANTASTIC job as 1/Henry/Vecna/whoever, particularly with his backstory in the lab. You can really feel how he goes from calm and quiet and maybe a little creepy to a monster in just a few minutes. I also like Papa as a character and think he's played well, but I'd agree with the writers that his time in the series is up and it's time to move on. -I never did care for the whole Russian story arc, and parts of Hopper's escape were super unrealistic, but I don't really have a problem with it despite it not really overlapping with any of the rest of the series. They've always gone with multiple plot lines at once and I think that's part of what I like about the show.

Me running any forum game be like

So this is a long story because I grew up with food allergies and went most of my life having never tried the vast majority of fast food places. When I suddenly magically became un-allergic (it happens sometimes and I was one of the lucky ones) I used to like McDonald's. There was one right next to the store I worked at and I'd go there a lot. Then I started going to the OTHER fast food place next to my store (local chain) and realized how garbage McDonald's is. I've been to a good handful of others since and ALL have been higher quality for a comparable (sometimes) price. I'd rather spend like $1.50 extra and get more, better food than whatever they're passing off as a burger. "Community" is the sunshiney, fake answer and that's true to some extent. Realistically, I'd say it just takes "something to do" to a whole new level--I already obsess over sports, so why not do it in a place where that's appreciated? You don't know Buffalo wings until you've gone to a specific place in my hometown (I'd say which but I'd be doxxing myself). You'll never look at pizza place wings the same way again. 1. Town of Salem, Town of Pallet, when will it end? What's your idea for a fun game we can play on the forum, whether related to the VHL or not? 2. With the offseason coming up on us, what do you plan to do to keep things interesting? 3. You have a bad reaction to some medication and your skin turns bright green. What changes in the way you live your life?

FINAL TOURNAMENT STANDINGS 1ST PLACE (4 VP) @omgitshim 2ND PLACE (3 VP)* @JardyB10 3RD PLACE (3 VP)* @Doomsday HONORABLE MENTION (4TH-6TH; 2 VP) @OrbitingDeath @rory @Enorama PASSING MENTION (7TH-9TH; 1 VP) @dlamb** @Berocka @Lemorse7 JERRY GARCIA PARTICIPATION AWARD (10TH; 0 VP) @Ricer13 *tie broken with strength of schedule (total wins recorded by opponents) **tie broken with head-to-head matchups Our head mod will be joining us soon with a closing post! Until next forum game...all the best!

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... The battle that will determine FIRST PLACE in our final tournament. RED @omgitshim Gyarados lv 55 Venusaur lv 54 Poliwrath lv 52 BILL @OrbitingDeath Exeggutor lv 43 Gyarados lv 52 Raichu lv 45 Presented to you move-by-move by yours truly!

What's that? Some noises off in the distance? I think it's the sound of MORE BATTLES! PROFESSOR OAK @JardyB10 Rapidash lv 51 Gyarados lv 43 Machamp lv 43 KOGA @rory Rapidash lv 44 Venusaur lv 48 Gengar lv 45 BOTH of our trainers will start this battle with Rapidash! PROFESSOR OAK gets the first move, with his being at a higher level. ...This isn't very effective...

Time for the third fight of the day, this one featuring... ASH KETCHUM @dlamb Charizard lv 47 Venusaur lv 50 Gengar lv 40 GARY OAK @Lemorse7 Umbreon lv 29 Jolteon lv 47 Charizard lv 40 GARY starts at a bit of a disadvantage in levels as he will start with Umbreon, but it's possible he's counting on Jolteon, who's performed very well in this game, to make things happen later on. ASH chooses to lead with Charizard, who will get the first move with Fire Blast. Venusaur uses Earthquake... Charizard loads up a super effective Fire Blast...

You've seen one, now it's time for another! That's right, next up is a TEAM ROCKET SHOWDOWN! JESSIE @Enorama Gyarados lv 68 Espeon lv 37 Venusaur lv 39 JAMES @Ricer13 Raichu lv 38 Charizard lv 40 Alakazam lv 40 JESSIE has a Level 68 Pokemon, something I've somehow managed to miss entirely to this point while I've been talking up Berocka and his horribly underachieving Rhyhorn Rhydon. It's no contest--Gyarados will go first against JAMES and his Level 38 Raichu. With one shot, and with no multiplier to help, Raichu is knocked out by Hyper Beam! Thanks to the type difference, JESSIE should be very relieved that Raichu didn't get a chance to strike back as JAMES will gear up with Charizard and use Flamethrower...

It's my great pleasure to bring you the start of the final round! In our first battle, we've got: BROCK @Berocka Raichu lv 42 Golem lv 43 Rhydon lv 61 SABRINA @Doomsday Exeggutor lv 45 Alakazam lv 45 Espeon lv 43 SABRINA leads with Exeggutor, while BROCK will choose Raichu. SABRINA will get the first move! Exeggutor will lead with Solar Beam, which Raichu survives and will counter with Thunder... The first move will be Stone Edge... Alakazam will use Dynamic Punch to get the job done, and it's now 2 against 1...with the 1 being BROCK's Level 61 Rhydon (not Rhyhorn), this game's most powerful fighter.