Message Board...(continued...again)

[Zaleramancer]

Did you read it?

I wasn't impressed til I looked at the comments and it suddenly clicked.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Zaleramancer wrote

Did you read it?

I wasn't impressed til I looked at the comments and it suddenly clicked.

 I'm pretty sure that's what I think it is.

Interesting take.

[Whd]

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[Celadon's Penultimate]

 I think it's a good idea, personally.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Did the profile pictures vanish for anyone else? I can not see them anymore.

[Smackgiver]

Nor can I.  Is that a new feature or is it unintentional?

[WonderDrow]

They vanished a few days ago.

Maybe one of the admins fiddled with the forum settings?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

After a brief check, I determined that you are correct. One of the settings had been unchecked.

I've rechecked it and Avatars should now be visible again on the main page.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

It happened for me, as well, but I assure you, it wasn't my doing.

At least, I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

I don't have perfect recall, but I'm pretty sure I haven't made any changes to the Forum, in the last few weeks...

[Marvelous Miscreant]

I'm headed to Missouri tomorrow and will be there until Saturday evening. These means I will probably be even less active then I've been the past few weeks.

Sorry.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

 I hope all goes well for you, and that you see a safe return.

[Smackgiver]

Have a blast on your Spring Break, Marv.  Stay safe.  

[Smackgiver]

Did any of you guys get snookered by Justin's April Fool's prank?  He got me... good.  I actually experienced minor heart palpitations when I read it.

[Whd]

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[Smackgiver]

He definitely snagged the noob with that one.  

Well played, sir.  Well played.

[Zaleramancer]

I'm worried that one of my answers to a online homework question will make me sound like a an evil overlord.

[Smackgiver]

You can't leave us hanging with just that....

Do tell!

[Philote]

I remembered both it and Wulf's prank from last year so I was immune this time

[Smackgiver]

Wulf's prank?  What did he do?

EDIT - never mind.  I found it.   Easily.

[Zaleramancer]

Homework Question: What could the Emperor's have done to stop the fall of the Western Empire?

At the point in time of falling the Empire was a disaster. A terrible, terrible political and economic mess. There’s not an easy one shot solution to that problem. You’ve got government instability and corruption to the left, screaming economic disaster to the right, barbarians coming in from the north. Fixing it at that point is just impossible. This is not just the result of a sudden change in things, it’s the slow result of many little problems finally coming to heel at once.
But if you backed up a bit, a good bit of the economic problems could have been solved by slowly weening the empire off slavery. Suddenly banning it would have been political suicide, of course, but if it was done slowly enough you could win a great deal of support from the unemployed masses. This would have strengthened the economy and made the horrid financial issues of the later empire fade a bit. Any further issues could have been mitigated with a stronger military force, which would have been so much easier if the government had money. Even better, you could focus on recruiting the newly emancipated slaves and people without jobs. Give someone money and/or freedom and you get loyalty in return. Of course, you still have the issues of political corruption, which could be solved by means of military action. After all, if the support of the masses is on your side, it’d be hard for the politicians to resist. Especially if you can fall back on the whole “I control the army” thing. After that, it merely becomes a matter of keeping the barbarians from marching in and killing you. It’s likely you’d loose a good bit of territory, but that’s alright, especially if you lack the men to defend the larger area anyway. Perhaps offer them land or try to find out what they want and give it to them.

Of course, there are probably other issues that would contribute to the decline of what was left, but at least you’d preserve some of your power as an Emperor. You may not be a nice person, but hey, most rulers aren’t. Good people sometimes, but not always nice.

Do I sound like an evil overlord?