Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[RobbyPants]

Well, duh. She didn't kill him and hide the body. You can't just skip over two-thirds of a process and expect to get the full result.

Yeah, she didn't think anyone saw. She probably should have killed everyone in the store.

[Prak]

Again with my apparently archaic etiquette... If you damage or break something that belongs to someone else, it is your responsibility to find a way to return it to at least its previous condition.

This means that when your husband knocks a shelf full of expensive glasses off the wall, you buy them new stemware. You can bitch all you want about how the shelf wouldn't have fallen if they'd screwed it properly to the braces it was resting on. You are free to find a discount outlet and pay as little as possible for the replacements. You are free to give them cash instead of buying anything. But if you break it, you [try to] fix it.

Likewise, if you damage the bumper of your friend's car in such a way that now it scrapes the ground every time he pulls into and out of his driveway, you make it stop. It doesn't matter if he was high or not - you got behind the wheel of someone else's car and your driving caused damage. Preventing damage to himself and his car was [probably] the exact reason why he asked you to drive to begin with.

And what do you do if the person whose thing you damaged in a meaningless, slightly annoying way is clearly so pissed off that saying anything will be met with a torrent of shouting, swearing, and general abuse from a friend?

No, he was high, he got me preoccupied enough with shit he should have known would irritate me that I lost track of how close we were to the curb, and he's the one reacting far beyond the proper response, so he can let me help him take care of it, calming down enough that I don't feel I have to walk on eggshells around his fragile little temper, or he can shut the fuck up. I may have been driving, but he's the one that told me to drive so he could smoke pot.

[Chamomile]

Well, duh. She didn't kill him and hide the body. You can't just skip over two-thirds of a process and expect to get the full result.

Yeah, she didn't think anyone saw. She probably should have killed everyone in the store.

Or nuked the whole site from orbit.

[Avoraciopoctules]

I'm modifying a character portrait in Photoshop / GIMP for a friend, and I'm trying to add scratches and old battle damage to the PC's armor. Anybody have tips for how to add it without making the picture's overall quality look much worse?

[Maj]

And what do you do if the person whose thing you damaged in a meaningless, slightly annoying way is clearly so pissed off that saying anything will be met with a torrent of shouting, swearing, and general abuse from a friend?

Why does your friend getting pissed change the fact that you damaged his car? Why does him getting high change the fact that you damaged his car?

You can make a ton of excuses - he wanted to get high, he's a whiny little bitch, he's an asshole, the scrape wasn't that bad, he's overreacting, he distracted you... But at the end of the day, you were placed in a position of temporary responsibility over someone else's property, and you screwed up. It wasn't his bad driving that led to his car getting scraped up; it was you.

You say you're sorry, you take pictures of the damage, you get your ass down to a body shop, and you get a ballpark figure of what it's going to take to fix it. If you can pay it all now, you make an appointment for the car. If you can't pay it all now, you make a payment plan.

But you sure as hell don't sit back and say that because he's not reacting all cool and calm like you want, you're not going to do fuck about it. Maybe in your world, friends don't scream and yell and get uptight over minor body damage, but in his world, you give your precious things to a friend because friends can be trusted not to damage them. You failed him just as much as he's failing you.

Get over yourself. You damaged his car. It's your responsibility - especially if he's actually the friend you claim - to fix it.

[Chamomile]

I beg to differ. Legally speaking there should never be a clause that says "but really, if that guy's a douche, we'll cut you some slack on a bit of property damage," but when it comes to favors among friends, being a prick burns through your credit.

[Neeeek]

I beg to differ. Legally speaking there should never be a clause that says "but really, if that guy's a douche, we'll cut you some slack on a bit of property damage," but when it comes to favors among friends, being a prick burns through your credit.

...Legally there is totally a "but really, if that guy was being a douche, we'll cut you some slack on a bit of property damage" clause. Depending on the situation, it's either unclean hands or the point of jury trials.

[Avoraciopoctules]

I'm modifying a character portrait in Photoshop / GIMP for a friend, and I'm trying to add scratches and old battle damage to the PC's armor. Anybody have tips for how to add it without making the picture's overall quality look much worse?

Here's the current before and after images. The player is looking for "more scratches like the one on the chest armor"

Old:

New:

[Chamomile]

I beg to differ. Legally speaking there should never be a clause that says "but really, if that guy's a douche, we'll cut you some slack on a bit of property damage," but when it comes to favors among friends, being a prick burns through your credit.

...Legally there is totally a "but really, if that guy was being a douche, we'll cut you some slack on a bit of property damage" clause. Depending on the situation, it's either unclean hands or the point of jury trials.

"Being a douche" being defined as "not treating you with the respect typically due between friends as per the standards of your culture."

[shadzar]

And what do you do if the person whose thing you damaged in a meaningless, slightly annoying way is clearly so pissed off that saying anything will be met with a torrent of shouting, swearing, and general abuse from a friend?

Why does your friend getting pissed change the fact that you damaged his car? Why does him getting high change the fact that you damaged his car?

"good samaritan" laws exist in some states that state if you are "helping" someone then you are excused form property damage and personal damage done to them in the interest of "helping" them.

a police officer cannot be charged with ANYTHING or expected to pay anything if he pulls you from a car wreck because he "feels" or "thinks" it might explode, even if he breaks your back in the process and you end up in a wheelchair because of it. EVEN if you are conscious and able to tell him dont do it.

i dont remember where i read or saw it, but this happened once when a tree fell on and tapped someone in their car and the officer did injure the person greater by not waiting for proper rescue personnel. the officer was a bit high strung and let go later, but in the case of this tree falling on a car (ignition off and no key even in it), the officer wasnt accountable and the person that was trapped was basically screwed. what should have been minor injuries became major ones.

in the event you are driving with a passenger and it is there car...if this person is doing things that shouldnt be done in a car and causes the car to be damaged, it is not the fault of the driver. the law will charge the driver because that is how it is set up, even though it was the fault of a passenger causing problems for the driver. like kids playing around in a car and the driver having to turn around to say something or remove focus form the road to get them to stop, the driver is charged, but the kids causing the distraction was at fault.

the one holding the bat isnt at fault for the baseball going through a window, but the entire group of people playing there close enough to a window for a ball to be hit through it.

i dont recall which stadium but i remember one where lots of cars were constantly getting damaged for being where a ball could land on them..and the stadium just put up a sign in the parking lot "not responsible for damage caused by pop, fly, or other balls leaving the playing field. park at your own risk"

you have to look at the steps to see where the problem started rather than blame Bob for your car getting totaled because you lent it to him, and a freak dear jumped out in front of him in the middle of the city and he hit it.

its called extenuating circumstances. things outside of the common reasons thing could happen to cause harm to property or person.

not knowing the full original discussion, but still the general idea is the same.

@Photoshop/GIMP....

you need a new layer. with GIMP remember to make it alpha channel with opacity. make the armor damage a single color over the other layer(s). like adding a fake scar to someones face for halloween makeup. then change the opacity and blending options. this lets you get the shape and size right then blends the wear and tear on the armor to the image before exporting/saving as JPG/PNG.

you might want a layer between the damage and original image so that you can have scuff areas around the outside of the damage jsut a tiny bit larger than the original damage area to highlight the area of damage. you can cheat it with an outer glow on the highlight layer by copying the damage area and make the outer glow half way between the damage and original armor color.

damage (under 100% opacity)
highlight (over damage opacity, under 100%)
original

just mess with the blending options like multipy, saturation, darken, hard light, etc until you get the desired effect for the color of the damage layer you are making. start with the shape of the object in basic form that caused the damage before adding extra folds to the armor damage. mace would be a simple circle, club a rectange, sword a small diamond...etc. them put wrinkles in the armor around it until it looks natural.

hope this helps.

[shadzar]

I'm modifying a character portrait in Photoshop / GIMP for a friend, and I'm trying to add scratches and old battle damage to the PC's armor. Anybody have tips for how to add it without making the picture's overall quality look much worse?

Here's the current before and after images. The player is looking for "more scratches like the one on the chest armor"

you can clone that scratch as a new layer, and keep making more layers of the scratch and placing them over the image at the proper angles if the previous advice doesnt help.

[Neeeek]

Count your ex-wife sounds like a complete douche. It's probably a blessing that she's your EX-wife.

Just so you know, these sorts of statements are pretty funny for non-newbies of the Den. The Count's ex was a regular user on here for years before they got divorced. The Count might not be too fond of her, but she never did anything to us. Mostly we just considered a sad situation in general, really.

[Avoraciopoctules]

Thanks for the advice, shadzar, it is proving quite helpful.

[Prak]

And what do you do if the person whose thing you damaged in a meaningless, slightly annoying way is clearly so pissed off that saying anything will be met with a torrent of shouting, swearing, and general abuse from a friend?

Why does your friend getting pissed change the fact that you damaged his car? Why does him getting high change the fact that you damaged his car?

You can make a ton of excuses - he wanted to get high, he's a whiny little bitch, he's an asshole, the scrape wasn't that bad, he's overreacting, he distracted you... But at the end of the day, you were placed in a position of temporary responsibility over someone else's property, and you screwed up. It wasn't his bad driving that led to his car getting scraped up; it was you.

You say you're sorry, you take pictures of the damage, you get your ass down to a body shop, and you get a ballpark figure of what it's going to take to fix it. If you can pay it all now, you make an appointment for the car. If you can't pay it all now, you make a payment plan.

But you sure as hell don't sit back and say that because he's not reacting all cool and calm like you want, you're not going to do fuck about it. Maybe in your world, friends don't scream and yell and get uptight over minor body damage, but in his world, you give your precious things to a friend because friends can be trusted not to damage them. You failed him just as much as he's failing you.

Get over yourself. You damaged his car. It's your responsibility - especially if he's actually the friend you claim - to fix it.

Maj, did I say I was going to do fuck all about it? No, I said he should calm the fuck down about some minor cosmetic damage that literally cannot be seen, unless some gets down on the ground and looks at the underside of the car. He was a prick about an honest mistake, twice. I will see if I can talk to him and take a look at his car, as it's entirely possible I can fix it for him, given what several people have said. He drives a honda civic. It's going to fucking happen that the front of the car goes over a parking bump every now and then. But he cares more about his fucking car, that if he'd bought something more practical wouldn't have had this issue, than the way he acts towards a friend.

[fbmf]

Count your ex-wife sounds like a complete douche. It's probably a blessing that she's your EX-wife.

Just so you know, these sorts of statements are pretty funny for non-newbies of the Den. The Count's ex was a regular user on here for years before they got divorced. The Count might not be too fond of her, but she never did anything to us. Mostly we just considered a sad situation in general, really.

My guess is that you're thinking of Nifty.

Amethyst Butterfly (Arioch's wife) was a regular poster on Nifty for years and still shows up there occasionally. Her total post count on TGDMB is less than 50. She was here briefly in 2006.

It is true that, while I didn't know her well, she always seemed nice enough to me the few times we interacted on Nifty or here. I even met her and Arioch in person once or twice at GENCON, though I was pretty drunk so I don't know if I could give reliable character testimony about either of them based on that.

Game On,
fbmf

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I'll grant her one thing: She was always better at behaving in public than I am. She could turn the charm on like a switch and as far as most people except my very closest friends and family knew, she was adorable.

[sabs]

She might be adorable. But withholding sex as a relationship leverage is lame. Withholding sex for giving your insurance information, when you hit a car with noone in it? That's douchebaggery.

You guys mighta liked her but I don't have that burden.

[fbmf]

She might be adorable. But withholding sex as a relationship leverage is lame. Withholding sex for giving your insurance information, when you hit a car with noone in it? That's douchebaggery.

You guys mighta liked her but I don't have that burden.

FWIW, I've had way more interaction with Arioch, and he and I have always gotten along fine.

Game On,
fbmf

[tzor]

I only had a few interactions with her, and the only one I can remember was one Gen Con (before they broke up) when he dressed as Black Mage and she as White Mage. (Just looked up the photos ... that was 2006)

[Count Arioch the 28th]

She might be adorable. But withholding sex as a relationship leverage is lame. Withholding sex for giving your insurance information, when you hit a car with noone in it? That's douchebaggery.

You guys mighta liked her but I don't have that burden.

FWIW, I've had way more interaction with Arioch, and he and I have always gotten along fine.

Game On,
fbmf

That's what YOU think, boogerface.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Alright, a serious question.

How can I prevent blisters? The outside part of both heels have been covered in one solid blister for months. New shoes aren't an option, I've blown through the shoe budget.

Is there any type of socks or something I could wear to help? Although they have stopped hurting two weeks ago (they mostly itch), I'm tired of lancing them so I can get my shoes on every couple of weeks.

[Doom]

I only had a few interactions with her, and the only one I can remember was one Gen Con (before they broke up) when he dressed as Black Mage and she as White Mage. (Just looked up the photos ... that was 2006)

Dayum, hard to believe I coulda met all you guys, I was there in 2006, too. Course, I spent my time in the merchant hall, especially the Kenzer booth.

[Wesley Street]

How can I prevent blisters?

Wear thicker socks (or double up) and tighten your shoe laces. Whatever you can do to keep your foot from moving in your shoe will help.

[Maj]

Do you get blisters because your shoes aren't flexible, or because the back of your shoes are too high?

If the backs of your shoes aren't flexible enough to keep from rubbing your heels raw, break them down - step on them, fold them back and forth, stretch them out... Soften up that part of the shoe so it conforms to your foot.

If the back of your shoes are too high, invest in insoles (either whole or half) that add lift so that the heels of your shoes fit where they are supposed to.

If it's something else entirely, I'm afraid I don't know how to help. Good luck.

[fectin]

Alright, a serious question.

How can I prevent blisters? The outside part of both heels have been covered in one solid blister for months. New shoes aren't an option, I've blown through the shoe budget.

Is there any type of socks or something I could wear to help? Although they have stopped hurting two weeks ago (they mostly itch), I'm tired of lancing them so I can get my shoes on every couple of weeks.

Short term, duct tape. Notice that said short term, like if you're on a several day hike, and don't have many options. It's really effective, but can also take your skin off and interferes with hygiene.

Good socks can make up for a lot. Bad socks can make things much worse. Unfortunately, the definitions there are tautological. Though, I had to buy some overpriced socks a while back (with the polo logo), and they turned out to be the most comfortable thing ever. If you're naturally not prone to overheating, try to get some CostCo socks. They're cheap and comfy, but very warm.

Ace bandages should fix it, if you wrap them well. The trick is getting them tight enough, and not losing circulation.

Moleskin is ideal, but most people don't have any lying around.

Make sure your feet are drying out. Wet skin is much more prone to blistering. If that's a problem, spend more time barefoot at home.

I've heard people recommend lancing them, and I've heard that can lead to really nasty infections.