Uhh after a really long russia investigation and imaginary impeachment charges i dont know what conspiracy theory or lie means anymore.   The real problem is the USA has a very bipartisan worship of GDP, rather than a true interest in the well being of its citizens.  Maybe a good hard shake up changes that and we can all schedule our games normally after the amicable split.

If you think about it, all of these feverish conspiracy theories work really well for ideas for playing modern RPGs, Cthulhu/Delta Green or Walking Dead games.

I would put internet money on the Zombie Fever coming out of a tent city in California.

Quote from: estar;1124623From
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e2.htm#F1_down
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Those will be % of reported corona cases that are hospitalised. Not a randomised sample of the general population. You need to start with a sample population where everyone is tested, then go from there. Otherwise you have a bias towards people obviously sick enough to test - which is a standard that is varying a lot by time and place.

Quote from: Shasarak;1124651If you think about it, all of these feverish conspiracy theories work really well for ideas for playing modern RPGs, Cthulhu/Delta Green or Walking Dead games.

I would put internet money on the Zombie Fever coming out of a tent city in California.

You're close but here whats really happening. The Chinese were right.....

It all started when Donald Trump became worried about his reelection chances against Joe Biden. So went to his good friend Alexander Putin for a solution. Putin gave him the covid-19 virus as a solution to generate a world wide calamity in which Trump could find a solution to, and thereby become the Hero of America (TM) and be appointed 'President in Perpetuity'. In order to avoid suspicion he released the virus in China using a secret service agent pangolin (posthumously awarded the medal of honor, the only pangolin ever to receive such an award). So the Chinese were wrong on this point.

Unfortunately what Putin had provided was Russia's failed super-soldier serum, that just seemed to kill everyone, and that Russia didn't have a solution to. All it did was close its borders to avoid infection. Little to we know that on Victory Day (May 9th) all of the apparently 'recovered' infectees will become the walking dead and the zombie apocalypse will begin.....

It has nothing to do with 'politics'!
My response was how it actually is impacting a game store and the regulars that go there.

All the conspiracy theories are bullshit.
A Virus does not have a mind of its own - it doesn't care if you are left wing or right wing, it just kills.

- Ed c.

Quote from: R. Talsorian GamesStarting tomorrow, all our digital content is 50% off for the next month.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/13/R-Talsorian-Games-Inc

Stay safe, choombas.

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Now THIS is what we need to see more of.

Quote from: Koltar;1124668It has nothing to do with 'politics'!
My response was how it actually is impacting a game store and the regulars that go there.

All the conspiracy theories are bullshit.
A Virus does not have a mind of its own - it doesn't care if you are left wing or right wing, it just kills.

- Ed c.

Your game store is bullshit.

This is how a local game store with a spine operates.

Quote from: The Dented MugTHE SHORT VERSION: We're officially open tomorrow, social gathering hubs were ordered to shut their doors, we will provide walkup service between 12pm and 8pm until the order is lifted! Read on for the full details...

THE LONG VERSION:
We are officially ready to roll! Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to come in and make purchases!

That said... Mayor Kincannon did announce an Executive Order today ordering all bars, restaurants, and social gathering hubs to shut down for 2 weeks. Pickup service is available, however, and that's what we intend to do!

During the duration of the Executive Order, we will be open and prepared to supply you with all your hobby needs during the self-quarantine. Need a new board game for your family? Paints for miniatures in your backlog? Some miniatures to add to your backlog? Come see me and we'll send you back to isolation busy and smiling.

Because of the nature of this shutdown, all events will be suspended temporarily and we won't be allowing play within the storefront. We will also be operating on a temporary alternate schedule until the Order is lifted. For the next 2 weeks (starting tomorrow!) you'll be able to come say hi and pick up your goods between the hours of 12pm - 8pm.

If for whatever reason that doesn't jive with your schedule and you'd like to come grab something later than 8pm, send me a message on the Facebook page and I will meet you to get you what you need any time during our normal operating hours!

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Quote from: Bren;1124632Statistician complains about making decisions without better data. He then goes on to speculate wildly without any data. Yeah, we should definitely pay attention to that guy. :rolleyes:

Dr. Ioannidis is not just a statistician. He pioneered the field of meta-research, proving that most published research is actually false. As Stanford's biodata professors have access to the most cutting edge machine learning tools on Earth, I'm definitely paying attention to THAT guy.

Quote from: Koltar;1124668A Virus does not have a mind of its own - it doesn't care if you are left wing or right wing, it just kills.

Koltar, it's not ebola. It doesn't "just kill". It mostly just gives you the sniffles and you recover.

Unless you are in the high risk population (elderly, immuno compromised, suffering underlying health issues), the Chinese virus rarely kills you. That's why the worldwide death toll is so low. Americans should be FAR more concerned about heart disease.

BTW, I was thinking about your situation and I wondered if the store should host online gaming. If your player base is much larger than your GM base, I wonder if players would pay for YOU to GM events online. Or the store pays you to GM, and in exchange the players have to buy X dollars of merchandise. Or maybe just as a goodwill gesture to the store's most loyal customers.

Regardless, your store does need to shift dynamically to remain viable during Corona Chan.

Quote from: jeff37923;1124672This is how a local game store with a spine operates.

If their governor announces a shutdown of non-essential businesses, that "take out for games" won't work.

But perhaps a delivery model would work, and the staff could be the delivery drivers.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1124684If their governor announces a shutdown of non-essential businesses, that "take out for games" won't work.

But perhaps a delivery model would work, and the staff could be the delivery drivers.

The Dented Mug is a gaming space that serves alcohol and food, so gaming take out comes along with that as a nice loophole.

So, they shut the swimming pools yesterday, dooming me to pain and misery (bastards!) but I am undaunted and am looking to restart some or all of my online games - 2 OSR play by posts (White Star & 1e/OSRIC Faerun Adventures) plus a text chat 5e D&D game (Runelords).

Quote from: Bren;1124632It's not a news flash that we lack essential data. That's a direct result of the extremely low levels of testing here in the US. Which is a result of two things. First, the administration's failure to use the time in January, February, and early March to provide the means to do testing in the US. We could have been testing in January, but the administration decided to wait to develop a different test here.

The administration didn't decide to develop  a new test the CDC, you know the supposed experts, did.

QuoteIn the case of SARS-CoV-2, as the virus causing COVID-19 is officially known, CDC’s sluggishness was apparent 1 month ago. On 26 January, the agency held an unusual Sunday teleconference for the media to provide an update about the rapidly growing outbreak. There were then five cases in the United States, but the CDC lab in Atlanta was still the only one in the country able to test for the virus, and it repeatedly had backlogs. Asked why more labs weren’t able to do the tests, Nancy Messonnier, who then was leading CDC’s response, said it was a quality issue. “We hold ourselves to an incredibly high standard of precision in terms of laboratory testing,” Messonnier said. “We wouldn’t want to inadvertently make a mistake in patient care.”

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/united-states-badly-bungled-coronavirus-testing-things-may-soon-improve

Quote from: Spinachcat;1124684Dr. Ioannidis is not just a statistician. He pioneered the field of meta-research, proving that most published research is actually false. As Stanford's biodata professors have access to the most cutting edge machine learning tools on Earth, I'm definitely paying attention to THAT guy.

Not when he's talking out of his ass. His point was that people are drawing conclusions based on poor data. Which they are. Then he drew conclusions with no data. Which is worse. The tone and tenor of his piece makes me suspicious that he has some axe to grind.

Quote from: Gagarth;1124702The administration didn't decide to develop  a new test the CDC, you know the supposed experts, did.

Experts are sometimes wrong. I don't know what caused the CDC's sluggish response or their conservative 'not-invented-here' approach to assays.*  But as Harry Truman once said, "The buck stops here." The President said this was a hoax, not a threat, and that he believed his friend the Premier that China had the situation well in hand. That attitude isn't going to convey much urgency to the CDC, the FDA, NIH, private industry, or the American people. Fortunately Trump seems to be taking COVID-19 more seriously now.


* Once we get through this pandemic, I there will be a thorough and unbiased failure modes analysis of the US (lack of) response that finds and fixes the root causes.

If you think anything gets fixed from this, you dont pay atrention to american history.  Same people who have not got it done for 30 plus years will still be in charge.  The only thing that fixes the mess at this point is a big ol fire in DC.

Funny things is, you're both right. It looks like IF you shut down real quick and have a good health strategy that tests everyone who might be infected, you seem to get a much lower proportion of deaths per infected person (Germany and S. Korea seem to be in this category), whereas if you didn't shut down and your health service is (locally) overwhelmed you seem to have many more deaths (Italy, France, looks like UK too). But there could be a large number of undiagnosed cases - because testing is so lax.
So it's right that we are basing our projections on bad data, but there are a lot of people dying, and hospitals are getting overwhelmed - with health worker falling sick. And young people aren't immune - of the "confirmed" cases in those below 40, about a fifth need hospital treatment. Note that is "confirmed" cases, not all cases. So if you are young and get sick, it can be really nasty.
I don't think we're overdoing the precautions, I think we need to do more - more testing, more respirators, more research on a vaccine, but if this virus can shut the world down as it has, just imagine one that was truly lethal (50%+ infected cases dying) could do to the world.

However, on a lighter note, I'm using discord & roll20 to game while I'm stuck at home. There's food and beer, and dragons to slay!