@BESW but at the same time, where are you going to put the raw supply of housing units that many metros desperately need these days? way-out-in-the-sticks is a problem from a service-extension and transport perspective...and building infill units even at base market rate is going to drive surrounding pricing up, no?

There are ways to improve and increasing housing conditions without de facto ejecting the existing tenants.

But it requires first assuming that the tenants aren't part of the problem.

@BESW yeah, the existing tenants normally are not part of the problem at all

(although that statement is qualified by the presence of NIMBYs and especially BANANAs re: dense residential developments)

NIMYs and BANANAs are, I think, usually the folks who move in as part of gentrification.

@BESW I think you're at least somewhat right on that one. I suspect most of the pre-gentrification folks would appreciate densification as long as they aren't being basically forced out of the area as a result of it

I think NIMBYs and BANANAS tend to gravitate toward the kinds of housing that are produced by gentrification; you just find lower concentrations of them elsewhere.

@BESW interesting point, actually

it's a good question: "how do you infill without gentrifying?"

Broadly speaking, the answer tends to be "collaborate with the existing residents rather than coming in with outside experts who already 'know what to do'."

@Shalvenay There's a LOT of research and thought going into that question, and I'm hardly an expert.

A quick google for "avoid gentrification" will bring up a lot of reading.

@BESW marketurbanism.com/2015/01/28/2-ways-fight-gentrification << interesting link here -- and it makes sense, exclusionary zoning is a major driver of the ills of the housing market as a whole

@BESW another issue I think is consumers in the housing market who are unaware of the distortions being placed on it

by things like 7,500 ft2 energy-hog McMansions

@Ash I just searched "banana nimby," figuring where one phrase was, the other one would be.

....This is why I get really mad at people who act like Googling something is minimal effort.

Googling is a skill like anything else, and it's even a skill that's changing under your feet as the algorithms adapt to the way people are searching.

and the steady push for MORE MORE MORE glitter in new construction

@BESW that's a great way to describe it yeah

@Sdjz I just saw your ping just now. Yeah, that is basically what I meant - or more generally suggesting that your answer point OP to the vision and light rules to understand what "an area of dim light or darkness" meant in general.

Anyway... how did this conversation turn to gentrification

My brain goes "!!!!!! that's on my birthday" every time I see August 7th, even though it was just a couple days ago. :v

Hehe, thanks.

happy post-post-birthday

Thanks as well.

Many happy returns of the day!

Thanks!

Now I just have to keep remembering my new age. By the time I do, it will change again.

@BESW Vocabulary item unlocked: BANANA. (Thanks!)

My friend and I sometimes send each other little emoji spells when we stop talking for the night. I usually send her ones with green things, plants, and reptiles. Tonight, I accidentally sent her an elaborate spell with a motorcycle in the middle because... it looked like a dragon from a distance. :v Good luck motorcycle spells work too, I suppose.

heh, by looking at the Doppelgreener qote I found a place that needed a quote from the Imperial Inquisition.

@NautArch Your opinion on the ToA question (AL) is solicited.

Lunch today: Misshapen pide with feta-spinach (or was it chard?) ‘filling’. The quotation marks because the misshape is precisely that the ‘filling’ didn't actually end up mostly inside the pide.

@MikeQ D&D 5e, sorry, was doing stuff and got sidetracked

@Anaphory My life got much less confusing when I realized you'd typed "pide"--which, if context is any guide, is some sort of food--rather than "pride."

Lol

@DavidCoffron [wave] Howdy

@MikeQ hey! I just dropped in for a second to see what's going on. I'm showing my girlfriend Washington DC this weekend.

We're doing museums today

@nitsua60 Yes! It's a type of bread. Apparently related to pita bread.

So, apparently the upcoming con in Leiden is planning to allocate people to games at random for Saturday evening. I get what they are trying to do, but has no-one stopped and thought that this may be a really bad idea?

Follow-up question: What game should I run in that slot? What game is awesome for any, any random RPG player, but difficult to pitch because it sounds peculiar?

@Anaphory Depends. How long is the time slot?

Ok, so short-duration games with unusual concepts: Maid, Monsterhearts, possibly Golden Sky Stories

Multiple games of Everyone is John

Monsterhearts I wouldn't want to play with people who didn't explicitly sign up for it, with all the explicit context in there. I'm sure someone will run EiJ at some point during the convention. The other two sound good (Golden Sky Stories was on my mind for this, even though I have no experience with it whatsoever), I'll have a look.

Other things I was considering: Lasers & Feelings, Crash Pandas, Fiasco. Decided against Microscope, Blackout, Lovecraftesque. Unsure about Masks, Lady Blackbird (I like them, and I expected them on their list already, but they aren't, and I have to see whether that's due to some reason.)

Honestly I just want two brothers, one's a demon and one's a daemon

‘Demon and Daemon’ would be a good title for a Laundry-Files-like Grant Howard game

Laundry Files?

Charles Stross' book series about (initially) an IT support worker in the British secret secret service that deals with Cthulhu and stuff.

The Laundry, which is named after its original location above a Chinese laundry in London, is that secret Secret Service.

Oh, cool

hey there @IsaacReefman

I need advice. We're playing a non "optimized" game that's 2/3 puzzle solving, 1/3 combat. We have a Moon Druid & Palidan playing as big stupid fighters, a Sorcerer as a Glass Cannon & Face, and me as a bard trying to cover scout (corpse!), controller, and know-it-all.

Ive always played martials, so I feel compelled to find my way into armor. Is this even necessary?

Via a Knowledge Cleric dip or Moderately armored feat.

I've haven't been attacked yet in combat, but it's because I put the villain to sleep during the first round. We're leveling up to two tomorrow night.

@HenryWLee1066: What's the question? Whether you need armor?

What subclass are you?

College of Swords gives medium armor and scimitar proficiency, and lets you use a proficient melee weapon as a spellcasting focus. College of Valor gives you proficiency in medium armor, shields, and martial weapons

benefit of light/medium/heavy varies depending on dex

since you're only level 1/soon to be 2, I guess I should ask "what subclass are you planning on"

@V2Blast great question. We're PHB only, and I want to do college of lore to focus on skills and spells. But I am nervous that going around with an AC of 14-15 will cause me to be hit a lot. Do you think I should find a way to get medium armor?

with college of lore, you probably won't be much of a melee type, so it shouldn't be as much of an issue. most of your abilities come from your spells

but as a Lore bard, you get Cutting Words, which is super-useful

mainly for making enemy attacks miss you or your allies

but once you hit level 5 you get Font of Inspiration which lets you regain all of your Bardic Inspiration die on a short rest

my DM will let me use the minor illusion cantrip to creat distractions and such. I may just need to be more tactical and keep out of harms way.

Yep, basically, use your allies to keep enemies distracted and beat on them

Ok. I'll use what I have and quit worrying. I'm trying to build a Sherlock Holmes type character, anyway.

bards have a lot of good spell options

Ill let the paladin wield a great sword & plate. I'll wield the paladin.

hahaha. basically.

bards have access to healing spells but you already have a druid and paladin in the party so those probably shouldn't be a priority. Tasha's Hideous Laughter and Thunderwave can be useful for battlefield control (and the latter for damage too). Dissonant Whispers is another phenomenal first-level spell because you force the target (if it fails the save) to use its reaction to move away, which means that movement provokes opportunity attacks.