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The Random Thread of Random Randomness

Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl said:
Hmm, near-unlimited power... but with that great power comes great responsibility. Do you use it only for the greater good, such as to obtain money to help friends or family who are hard up, or do you use it to become one of the most reviled but also successful villains on planet Earth? This ability doesn’t give you invulnerability to being caught by the police for stealing or any other crime that you could commit with this ability, so you’d still have to rely upon your own wits to get out of trouble alive. I feel as though I could avoid being tempted by the Dark Side with this power, some of the others are much more useful to me personally.
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Even if you give the money to your financially in need friend, you are still stealing that money from someone else. The greater good becomes a very slippery slope.
 
Definitely extra life (especially given that you can give it to someone else as needed) and the save points (which could also be used as extra lives).

The status screen in #1 is pointless in my opinion. In a game, we want health points, ammo, etc. Not so much in real life. There's nothing I'd want to be updated on that I didn't already know.

#2 is interesting but it doesn't have any lasting help to a person.

#3 is awesome! But literally I can only think of it in terms of recreation. It would be stunning to be able to skydive and land on your feet unharmed, but in reality not so useful. (unless you wanted to become a superstar by making it into an act, but I think it's a cheesy thing to be famous for)

#4 N/A

#5 is useful, but it's not an extra life.

#6 has so many potential BAD ramifications and (as mentioned) no matter what you did you would be stealing or trespassing or hacking. All things which you could be potentially incarcerated for.

#7 is nice, but it's not an extra life. Unless I had some real, hardcore physical issues that could be solved by this (cancer, luekemia, etc.) then I, like @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl , will pass on this one. Maybe I would have taken it when younger, but I'm happily married with a woman who loves me so I'm good without this one. Especially since I can use one of my choices to heal her death as needed.

#8 I'm taking

#9 is good for sleep or thinking over something, but otherwise it's a bit annoying that you can only see black when paused. Too many of it's details are annoying, so no thanks.

#10 I'm taking.
 
NIGHTBRINGER said:
View attachment 75821

Here are some additional rules/guidelines/clarifications for each ability (so we're all on the same page):
  1. You can access it via any of your computers (even mobile phones, tablets, etc.).
  2. Instead of seeing through your eyes as normal, it would be as if your eyes located above you or to the side of you, etc. You can shift back and forth at will. If for whatever reason you were blinded or visually impaired, you'd be equally blinded or visually impaired across all views.
  3. As presented.
  4. Let's skip this one because it is too ambiguous. How much does 5 exp improve each of those stats?
  5. You can carry 99 unique/different items in the bag and up to 99 multiples of each of your items. As stated, the item must be able to fit through the top of the bag. You can choose one bag size (you can't change it afterwards) ranging from the size of a small purse to garbage bag. Once the item is in the bag, it is weightless until you remove it. Your bag remains in good condition and does not wear out. You can choose any style of bag that is available to you.
  6. Your code works for life and acts as a master key for all electronic codes. It is a bypass of sorts. It would not allow you to open a purely mechanical device (i.e. one that requires a physical key). You can still get into trouble if you are caught using your code inappropriately/illegally.
  7. You can change your character within the realm of what is humanly possible (i.e. you can't be 100 feet tall etc.). Assume that your physical traits would change along with your cosmetic ones (so if you made yourself more muscular you'd be stronger). Your memories, skills, knowledge remain unchanged. You must use the ability now... you can't save it for later.
  8. As presented. One use only.
  9. Everything is paused besides you, including electronics, environment, time, etc. While paused, you can't interact with the world. You are able to stand up, sit down, lie down and change positions as long as you don't move from the spot where you paused the world... and when unpausing you always re-assume the exact same body position you had when you paused the world. You can sleep or think to yourself or sing to yourself. You can pause the world anytime you want, for as long as you want and as many times as you want.
  10. Let's assume that when you return to your save point, that save slot is used up. So you can only return to your save point twice (which can be the same save point twice, or two different save points once each). You can return to your save point for any reason, including death. You must set your save point before you can use this ability, and once set, it cannot be changed.

I have my two selected, but I'll let a few people weigh in before I do.
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If I got to choose two abilities, I'd go with #10 (save points) and #9 (pause button)

Here are my thoughts on the choices...

  1. menu and stats - This one is a bit of fun, but largely useless. Any major important stat in your life you're likely to remember anyways. So this one boils down to interesting but largely trivial items. How many blueberries have I eaten in my life? How much time have I spent reading? What is the longest period of time I've been consecutively awake for? What was my peak heart rate? etc. Useless, but fun. Not a great choice overall though.
  2. view shift - I'm not particularly fond of this one. I suppose it could be useful in rare situations, such as if an intruder was in your home (as you could see them from above, without giving away your position). Also, since you can zoom in and out, you could very quickly survey your area. Useful for navigation, threat detection or trying to find something. Overall it would be strange and possibly disorientating at first, practice would be important.
  3. jumping/landing - this is one my favorites, just outside of my top 3. First off, you're now the most dominant NBA player in the world. You'd be unstoppable with that type of jumping prowess; fame and fortune would follow. The Olympic gold medal for high jump (and long jump) is guaranteed. Next, the world would be your parkour course. Imagine being able to do all sorts of crazy things on mountain tops or buildings with no fear of falling (just make sure you don't land on anybody). It would be fun to live in a world where a fear of falling is of absolutely no concern.
  4. *skipped*
  5. pockets - quite useful, but not game changing. More convenient than anything.
  6. cheat code - this one is the most likely to lead you down an unethical path. Most of the things it allows you to do are morally wrong. Plus, there would always be a sense of having to look over your shoulder. Take it too far and it is not a matter of if they catch you, but when they catch you.
  7. character creator - In most games you can't actually change the real age of your character, so I'm going under that assumption. You can make yourself look much younger though, so that is a plus. This choice sits somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. I don't have a huge desire to change a great many things about myself, but it could still be fun/useful.
  8. extra life - this one is obviously fantastic. On its own, this is my second favourite choice and the only reason this isn't in my two selections is because of its somewhat overlap with the save points. It does have some advantages over the save points, but overall I like the save points better. One of its advantages would be a situation where going back to a save point would result in the exact same death. For instance, if you had some serious and terminal underlying condition/disease (that you may not even know about) that manifests a year from now, going back to your save point would still put you in an unavoidable position. The free life on the other hand clears you of the disease. However, barring that, the two save points seem better in my eyes.
  9. pause button - this is a hidden gem and my second selection after save points. First off, it extends your life by at least 33% as it would make sense to get all your sleep (typically 7-8 hours out of a 24 hour day) while paused... where you don't age. This would afford you an overwhelming amount of free time (even I might get a few models painted!). Next, if at any point in the day you are tired, just pause and have a nap. Tired at work?... pause and nap. You'd never have to endure a moment of tiredness, you could be fresh and alert all the time. I'm one of those people that likes to think about ideas, it makes sense to do this while paused. It would be extra beneficial to learn some meditation techniques as you would always have time for it. Depending on how much you can make use of this, it can extend your life well beyond the 33% I mentioned earlier. Lastly, as others have mentioned, you could always have the time to compose yourself and react optimally in social situations. As a bonus, it effectively makes you the most powerful entity in the universe, as you are able to pause the entire universe... not especially important... but kind of cool.
  10. save point - By far the best choice in my opinion. As with a video game this allows you to go back twice and undo any major mistakes. Died in a plane crash... no problem, don't take that plane a second time around. It would also allow you to save loved ones from avoidable deaths. Loved one got hit by a bus, go back and prevent it. If nothing bad happens it triples your remaining lifespan. As you are about to die of old age (something the extra life does not protect you from) go back to your save point and do it all over again (and change things, based on what you have learned). I'll bet you that the second time around, I'll be winning a few lottery draws! If you had only 1 save point, it would be a tough decision between this and the extra life (because the save point can't cure you of a condition that you already have at the time of making the save point or something that is unavoidable). However with 2 save points, it is no contest.


This is the order in which I would make my selections:
  1. save point
  2. pause button
  3. extra life (this would move to #1 if save point did was unavailable)
  4. jumping/landing
  5. cheat code
  6. character creator
  7. pockets
  8. view shift
  9. menu and stats
 
Lizards of Renown said:
no matter what you did you would be stealing or trespassing or hacking. All things which you could be potentially incarcerated for.
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Unless you are working for the government (if you trust your country's government). You could be the top military intelligence officer in your country, breaking the databases of foreign governments and delivering their secrets/plans. Will it make things better... or worse?
 
NIGHTBRINGER said:
Unless you are working for the government (if you trust your country's government). You could be the top military intelligence officer in your country, breaking the databases of foreign governments and delivering their secrets/plans. Will it make things better... or worse?
Click to expand...

Almost certainly worse given those in government currently.
 
Lizards of Renown said:
Definitely extra life (especially given that you can give it to someone else as needed) and the save points (which could also be used as extra lives).

The status screen in #1 is pointless in my opinion. In a game, we want health points, ammo, etc. Not so much in real life. There's nothing I'd want to be updated on that I didn't already know.

#2 is interesting but it doesn't have any lasting help to a person.

#3 is awesome! But literally I can only think of it in terms of recreation. It would be stunning to be able to skydive and land on your feet unharmed, but in reality not so useful. (unless you wanted to become a superstar by making it into an act, but I think it's a cheesy thing to be famous for)

#4 N/A

#5 is useful, but it's not an extra life.

#6 has so many potential BAD ramifications and (as mentioned) no matter what you did you would be stealing or trespassing or hacking. All things which you could be potentially incarcerated for.

#7 is nice, but it's not an extra life. Unless I had some real, hardcore physical issues that could be solved by this (cancer, luekemia, etc.) then I, like @Lord Agragax of Lunaxoatl , will pass on this one. Maybe I would have taken it when younger, but I'm happily married with a woman who loves me so I'm good without this one. Especially since I can use one of my choices to heal her death as needed.

#8 I'm taking

#9 is good for sleep or thinking over something, but otherwise it's a bit annoying that you can only see black when paused. Too many of it's details are annoying, so no thanks.

#10 I'm taking.
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I did think of possibly using number 7 to make myself more attractive to the opposite gender, but I still pass on it for three reasons:
  1. Probably the main reason why I haven’t actually is because I had to spend pretty much all my school, college and university life working, mainly because I just wanted to get as good grades as possible so I would never need to do any GCSEs, A-Levels or degree modules again, and it worked - I passed everything first time. Previously I just never had much time to talk to young ladies much, so I never really had the chance to fully concentrate on my love life. I did meet two girls on different occasions who I developed deep bonds with, but in the case of one Fate stopped me from seeing her again, and in the case of the other I was too busy with my work to do anything more than befriend her before we parted ways. I sometimes wonder what could have happened if Fate had allowed me to be with either of them, but I can't live in the past (if nothing else happened in my life that required those save points, perhaps I could use those to find out ;)). Still, it's given me a good idea of what sort of girl is most attracted to me (funnily enough the sort of girl I was always attracted to in the first place), so none of it was wasted. It's only now that I've actually got some time to really put all my effort into improving my love life (once all of this Coronavirus business is over of course :mad:), so I'm interested to see what will happen when I focus upon radiating my most attractive qualities to the fullest extent.
  2. If I did take option 7 to make myself more handsome and manly-looking, who’s to say that any girl that decided to fancy me really liked me for who I was, and not just for those augmented looks? I want a girl who loves the real me, 'warts and all' as Oliver Cromwell once said, one who wouldn't ditch me at the drop of a hat as soon as she found out what I originally looked like (I'm not saying all girls are like that, far from it, but it's still best to sort the wheat from the chaff as it were to avoid any mess in the relationship).
  3. When you've got save points and an extra life dominating your top two choices, there's no room for any of the others! :p

NIGHTBRINGER said:
Unless you are working for the government (if you trust your country's government). You could be the top military intelligence officer in your country, breaking the databases of foreign governments and delivering their secrets/plans. Will it make things better... or worse?
Click to expand...

Lizards of Renown said:
Almost certainly worse given those in government currently.
Click to expand...

Also, once again you have to avoid temptation to the Dark Side and resist the urge to use the skills your government have taught you for your own gain. It's a slippery slope, and I agree with the rest of you that taking that ability could only ultimately lead you to an unethical path.
 
here we are, let's analyze this and explain my choices.

1. seems stupid at first, but could potentially be useful, depending on the degree of precision. It could basically works as perfect health screening, identifying problems before the first symptoms could manifest.

2. vision. I'm not able to imagine a tangible and significative improvement for my life.

3. jump. If i don't push it to the limit (thus creating different problems for the fact that i possess a clearly supernatural ability), i would become the world recordman of jump, winning gold medals at the olympic games, gaining fame and some decent money from commercials. Could be nice.

4. NA

5. bag of holding. Very nice utility, good for travel, hiking and so on. Not enough good to be picked instead of something else.

6. cheatcode. so good… but so many potential problems that it's better to let it go.

7. i don't need to change my appearance.

8. save myself once from death, or a beloved one. this is the WINNER n. 1

9. pause. This is WINNER n. 2. i will use it almost only for sleeping, just pretending to be one of those peoples that only need to sleep a couple of hours a day. I will basically gain 6-7 hours of life each day, that i could employ for hobby, self-education, extra-work when needed… it would be a HUGE boost to my life. And then there are all the other possible uses: Need a nap? done. Need to think about something in a conversation before answering? done. Need to take a breath during a physical activity that is not yet over? done (heck, i could run a marathon with it, keeping an olympic pace)

10. save points. Easily my best third option. But life-saving is already covered, and the pause option gives me an everyday boost.
 
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