However, We At C.A.I. Believe in Second Chances - Let's Play Miss Management!
Episode 10: Gameplay Update, "Cleansing Ain't Easy"
Video:
Well, here we are. Yet another 4-Day Mission, this time with a new relaxation point. Surely, we need to be close to losing our tempo enough to need 3 Days.
And you might think so, from this, but it turns out something that saves an insane amount of time in Miss Management is having a plan and not just letting people sit there while you think of one on the fly.
Oh, and there's a Brownie mission, I guess. That can be useful if you're doing some kind of Overdue Task strategy since the Morale Boost will have the Brownie effectively give Denise -50 Stress instead of -30.
In terms of the task load today, we're far more likely to have a 2-Task Burst come in than a 1-Task Burst this time, and the game will give us slightly more Writing Tasks than most. Thankfully, Luke is the least occupied of any of our Employees this Episode, generally speaking.
Here we stand, Tara kinda stressed and everyone else at their desks. This will soon change, and quite drastically at that.
We send Winston and Pearl to the Water Cooler to discuss the exact definitions of unauthorized equipment, while Luke hops into the Bathroom.
The Bathroom is quite special; while we can't control how long Luke spends in there, as it's a fixed 8 Seconds, he gets a -10 Moodifier for as long as he's on the toilet! Granted, that fixed time means you also need to manage the Stress of anyone who dislikes him being in there, such as the resident Stress Sink.
The way the Bathroom is implemented in the code for the sake of Goals is that every 7th Second of 8 spent in there, it ticks the counter. This means that if Luke's still on the toilet at the end of the day and doesn't leave, the counter's tick timing will be offset for the rest of the Episode. This has no practical purpose I can think of unless you're saving the Bathroom Goal for the very end and are on a time crunch for SOME reason, but it's neat and explains things that seem like desyncs.
Anyway, as for the plan here, we need Winston and Pearl to finish their talk before Mahavir and Tara get started because of the related Optional Goal, which can be completed on the morning of Day 2, before Mahavir and Tara start talking. I also turn on the AC here, but only for a few seconds; I'm trying to adjust the timing to send Winston to the Arcade Machine, since I want him to spend a very specific amount of time there today and it just so happens to be about as much as a full Stress bar's reduction takes.
With the AC now turned off, we can use Winston's Stress meter as a timer. Also, Luke will basically be playing revolving door with the Bathroom all day unless he needs to tackle some Tasks; we need his Optional Goal to be available first thing tomorrow, and that means he'll be spending roughly half the day in the Bathroom, once you account for travel time to and from his desk.
With Winston near-fully Stressed, he's sent to his Arcade Machine to calm down a bit while putting just enough time on his Goal for it to wrap up tomorrow. Tara and Mahavir head to the Water Cooler to avoid wasting any time, as we only have 50 Seconds we can go without people accomplishing Goals at the Water Cooler, and we need as many of those precious seconds as possible at the end of Day 2.
Oh, and I have no idea where to fit this in, but Pearl actually has a higher Movement Speed than other Employees at 6, compared to 5. For reference Denise's is 10. Pearl therefore has a 20% higher Movement Speed than most Employees. Is this really that helpful? Not that much, but I've updated her writeup with it anyway, and it can be a little bit helpful to keep in mind at least.
With those two talking and Winston calming himself down at around the rate Tara's getting Stressed, we have Pearl come back to her desk for some work Luke won't be able to handle in a timely manner. She'll be a walking bomb by the time she's done, but it'll work, and fulfilling Goals to lecture people tends to lower her own Stress significantly.
That lean towards Writing Tasks is helping, since Luke will be available for most of both Days to some extent. With Tara's time up, we shuffle everyone around again.
Our new positions for the next bit. Mahavir and Tara will be on standby to handle most of the Tasks besides Writing while Luke evicts his intestines from his body three more times. Pearl and Winston will talk for the rest of her Goal duration once Denise clicks the AC's power switch (noted by the check mark).
Mahavir's gonna be taking care of a lot of the Tasks while Luke's busy, and frankly, the issue of his Stress piling up due to few opportunities to stop working is already coming into play. This will only get harder to manage as we go on.
I decide to grab the Brownie and a couple of Deluxe Markers since we're near the end of the day. Here's its item blurb. This thing is still too pricey for what it does, but the problem is that if it were cheaper, buying them en masse would be a valid strategy and that'd be kinda boring.
Luke's finally done processing the effects of his tea, and I bring Tara one of her Deluxe Markers to save time tomorrow. We'll need it. I should've given her the other one, too, but wasn't thinking.
Considering it's Luke, and that's a Time-based Goal, he'll be drinking more of his tea. Figures he'd just repeat the process all over again.
With Pearl finally done, I send Winston to his Arcade Machine to log some time in it.
And of course, Pearl wants to set an example again. We'll need to take care of that quickly tomorrow, since it'll become much, much harder to finish once we get started on the final set of Goals we need to complete in tandem.
And with that, our final positions for the day. Managed to get 2 or 3 Seconds on Mahavir's Goal. Gotta shave those seconds somehow, after all.
Now, today'll be close. We need to talk care of both of those Water Cooler Goals today, which leaves 25 Seconds of travel time, which, again, we need as much of as possible for the end-of-day rush.
To stay efficient, we'll have Luke and Winston take care of their Goals first. There's one more Goal we need to unlock from Winston's Goal, which we can complete while Mahavir's talking to Tara, and will make their conversation less of a stress bomb.
Once all that's over, it'll be a matter of racing against the clock for the final Goal, Tara's Deluxe Markers. ...which, again, I could've gotten some progress on in the morning, but whoops~
Our starting positions and Goal progress. Prepare for a close day.
Mahavir and Tara are busy whittling down Tasks for Pearl so she can complete most of her Goal of 10 Tasks before it becomes even harder to do so later. We'll need all the shortcuts we can get to wrap these up before Winston and Luke finish in about 40 Seconds from now.
Like so. For clarity, Pearl's Stress gained from Luke and Winston doing their things puts her at a +5 total Moodifier while working, meaning she can only do work for 20 Seconds before reaching a Burn Out (and frankly, it's actually less because she gains Stress while walking back to her desk).
Nearly there. We'll need to rely on the Morale Boosts from Winston and Luke finishing up to let Pearl finish the last of her Tasks before it becomes nigh impossible to do so without Donuts.
Here we are. Two Goals complete, the AC turned on, and Mahavir and Tara heading to the Water Cooler. Pearl needs to be sent back right now or she won't get another opportunity to work properly.
And that there is the reason we need to complete this Goal at about the same time as our last Optional Goal: the AC needs to be on, and we don't get a bug to help us this time.
Thankfully, Pearl managed to complete the last of her work before a total +8 Moodifier (+3 from Work, +2 from AC, +3 from two Employees being at the Water Cooler and talking) completely demolishes her. This'll be what the place looks like for most of the remainder of the Day, but we need to prepare...
...because Tara still needs her Deluxe Markers delivered to her once this is all over. That's gonna be rough.
I grab the Brownie right about now because it's not gonna get any more useful later and we need to complete the Goal anyway, and I head off to grab one last thing we need for the end of the Day.
That thing we need is a Diet Soda. We haven't had a chance to show how important these things are yet, and today's the perfect time.
There's Winston's Goal done, and I'm sure Luke appreciates the Morale Boost. Just a bit longer, and we'll have to race against the clock.
They're done. At last. And of the 50 Seconds we had available to us, we have 7 Seconds remaining. All we can do is chug that Diet Soda, and...
Such speed, such grace in delivering single markers at a time
So, uh, yeah, that's how close it can get in order to have Episode 10's Results screen look like:
Things are heating up a lot now. It won't be long before we'll have to consider 3 Days as an option, but I assure you we'll do all we can to keep that day away as long as possible, by the power of game knowledge and time budgeting.
Next time, we... return to business as usual, even if that's far from desirable for this office.Oh, and today marks the sixth time Mahavir had a chatting Goal with Tara. See you then.
Goal Writeup
Time Per Day: 140 Seconds
Task Types
Connecting...
Checking Status: Online
Chatroom Created
You ever notice no one really uses the bathroom in this office besides Luke? It's like they pretend it isn't there.
Well, even if they noticed after he started using it, they're sure not gonna be using it now. I feel like no one wants to see whatever the after-effects of that tea do to a bathroom.
Yeesh, if he wants to take care of his body, he might wanna start listening to it for once and go for a jog instead of downing a water cooler jug's worth of that stuff. Maybe hit the gym every once in a while, or jog to and from his desk. Anything besides blaming it all on anything but the tea.
Just makes me glad that Tara got a break for once, for the most part. Mahavir aside, anyways.
Yeah, Pearl does seem to get tunnel-visioned on one person if she's got something over them... or thinks she does, anyway. I'd more than bet those new policies don't hold much back unless you don't know they exist, which she was more than happy to go over in painstaking detail.
Kinda ruins her leverage. Loopholes exist in everything, and the biggest weakness of office policies is knowing where to find them. She can dish out micromanaging, but she can't seem to comprehend it being shoved back in her face, which'll make this easy to deal with.
Tara's still gonna have it rough when she's done. No amount of office policy details will get in the way of her nagging about being more productive and this weird obsession with getting people to branch out on their Task types.
Granted, a decent chunk of people in the office are multicompetent, even Tara to an extent when she can keep herself calm, but getting on her case about all of this is just making it harder for her to keep a level head while doing it.
Mm. Do you get the feeling Tara won't take this much longer? I mean, how long has it been going on by now? She's been getting more and more distressed about it, and we all saw what happened with Timothy.
Yeah, but I dunno what Denise can do on her own. We saw how it went last time. Tara needs to bring something to the conversation to give a topic they can work with and approach it. That's how it worked with Timothy last time, yes?
Now that you mention it... yeah, he did kinda go on and on about work while he was an utter wreck. Gave Denise an opening. At the very least, it was more approachable for her than the metaphors.
Yeah, I'm not sure anyone else at the office fully gets that, but the general sentiment gets across, at least. Really vexed Denise, though.
Well then. See you when things take a turn in here?
Of course. See you then.
Chatroom Closed
Video:Well, here we are. Yet another 4-Day Mission, this time with a new relaxation point. Surely, we need to be close to losing our tempo enough to need 3 Days.
And you might think so, from this, but it turns out something that saves an insane amount of time in Miss Management is having a plan and not just letting people sit there while you think of one on the fly.
Oh, and there's a Brownie mission, I guess. That can be useful if you're doing some kind of Overdue Task strategy since the Morale Boost will have the Brownie effectively give Denise -50 Stress instead of -30.
In terms of the task load today, we're far more likely to have a 2-Task Burst come in than a 1-Task Burst this time, and the game will give us slightly more Writing Tasks than most. Thankfully, Luke is the least occupied of any of our Employees this Episode, generally speaking.
Here we stand, Tara kinda stressed and everyone else at their desks. This will soon change, and quite drastically at that.
We send Winston and Pearl to the Water Cooler to discuss the exact definitions of unauthorized equipment, while Luke hops into the Bathroom.
The Bathroom is quite special; while we can't control how long Luke spends in there, as it's a fixed 8 Seconds, he gets a -10 Moodifier for as long as he's on the toilet! Granted, that fixed time means you also need to manage the Stress of anyone who dislikes him being in there, such as the resident Stress Sink.
The way the Bathroom is implemented in the code for the sake of Goals is that every 7th Second of 8 spent in there, it ticks the counter. This means that if Luke's still on the toilet at the end of the day and doesn't leave, the counter's tick timing will be offset for the rest of the Episode. This has no practical purpose I can think of unless you're saving the Bathroom Goal for the very end and are on a time crunch for SOME reason, but it's neat and explains things that seem like desyncs.
Anyway, as for the plan here, we need Winston and Pearl to finish their talk before Mahavir and Tara get started because of the related Optional Goal, which can be completed on the morning of Day 2, before Mahavir and Tara start talking. I also turn on the AC here, but only for a few seconds; I'm trying to adjust the timing to send Winston to the Arcade Machine, since I want him to spend a very specific amount of time there today and it just so happens to be about as much as a full Stress bar's reduction takes.
With the AC now turned off, we can use Winston's Stress meter as a timer. Also, Luke will basically be playing revolving door with the Bathroom all day unless he needs to tackle some Tasks; we need his Optional Goal to be available first thing tomorrow, and that means he'll be spending roughly half the day in the Bathroom, once you account for travel time to and from his desk.
With Winston near-fully Stressed, he's sent to his Arcade Machine to calm down a bit while putting just enough time on his Goal for it to wrap up tomorrow. Tara and Mahavir head to the Water Cooler to avoid wasting any time, as we only have 50 Seconds we can go without people accomplishing Goals at the Water Cooler, and we need as many of those precious seconds as possible at the end of Day 2.
Oh, and I have no idea where to fit this in, but Pearl actually has a higher Movement Speed than other Employees at 6, compared to 5. For reference Denise's is 10. Pearl therefore has a 20% higher Movement Speed than most Employees. Is this really that helpful? Not that much, but I've updated her writeup with it anyway, and it can be a little bit helpful to keep in mind at least.
With those two talking and Winston calming himself down at around the rate Tara's getting Stressed, we have Pearl come back to her desk for some work Luke won't be able to handle in a timely manner. She'll be a walking bomb by the time she's done, but it'll work, and fulfilling Goals to lecture people tends to lower her own Stress significantly.
That lean towards Writing Tasks is helping, since Luke will be available for most of both Days to some extent. With Tara's time up, we shuffle everyone around again.
Our new positions for the next bit. Mahavir and Tara will be on standby to handle most of the Tasks besides Writing while Luke evicts his intestines from his body three more times. Pearl and Winston will talk for the rest of her Goal duration once Denise clicks the AC's power switch (noted by the check mark).
Mahavir's gonna be taking care of a lot of the Tasks while Luke's busy, and frankly, the issue of his Stress piling up due to few opportunities to stop working is already coming into play. This will only get harder to manage as we go on.
I decide to grab the Brownie and a couple of Deluxe Markers since we're near the end of the day. Here's its item blurb. This thing is still too pricey for what it does, but the problem is that if it were cheaper, buying them en masse would be a valid strategy and that'd be kinda boring.
Luke's finally done processing the effects of his tea, and I bring Tara one of her Deluxe Markers to save time tomorrow. We'll need it. I should've given her the other one, too, but wasn't thinking.
Considering it's Luke, and that's a Time-based Goal, he'll be drinking more of his tea. Figures he'd just repeat the process all over again.
With Pearl finally done, I send Winston to his Arcade Machine to log some time in it.
And of course, Pearl wants to set an example again. We'll need to take care of that quickly tomorrow, since it'll become much, much harder to finish once we get started on the final set of Goals we need to complete in tandem.
And with that, our final positions for the day. Managed to get 2 or 3 Seconds on Mahavir's Goal. Gotta shave those seconds somehow, after all.
Now, today'll be close. We need to talk care of both of those Water Cooler Goals today, which leaves 25 Seconds of travel time, which, again, we need as much of as possible for the end-of-day rush.
To stay efficient, we'll have Luke and Winston take care of their Goals first. There's one more Goal we need to unlock from Winston's Goal, which we can complete while Mahavir's talking to Tara, and will make their conversation less of a stress bomb.
Once all that's over, it'll be a matter of racing against the clock for the final Goal, Tara's Deluxe Markers. ...which, again, I could've gotten some progress on in the morning, but whoops~
Our starting positions and Goal progress. Prepare for a close day.
Mahavir and Tara are busy whittling down Tasks for Pearl so she can complete most of her Goal of 10 Tasks before it becomes even harder to do so later. We'll need all the shortcuts we can get to wrap these up before Winston and Luke finish in about 40 Seconds from now.
Like so. For clarity, Pearl's Stress gained from Luke and Winston doing their things puts her at a +5 total Moodifier while working, meaning she can only do work for 20 Seconds before reaching a Burn Out (and frankly, it's actually less because she gains Stress while walking back to her desk).
Nearly there. We'll need to rely on the Morale Boosts from Winston and Luke finishing up to let Pearl finish the last of her Tasks before it becomes nigh impossible to do so without Donuts.
Here we are. Two Goals complete, the AC turned on, and Mahavir and Tara heading to the Water Cooler. Pearl needs to be sent back right now or she won't get another opportunity to work properly.
And that there is the reason we need to complete this Goal at about the same time as our last Optional Goal: the AC needs to be on, and we don't get a bug to help us this time.
Thankfully, Pearl managed to complete the last of her work before a total +8 Moodifier (+3 from Work, +2 from AC, +3 from two Employees being at the Water Cooler and talking) completely demolishes her. This'll be what the place looks like for most of the remainder of the Day, but we need to prepare...
...because Tara still needs her Deluxe Markers delivered to her once this is all over. That's gonna be rough.
I grab the Brownie right about now because it's not gonna get any more useful later and we need to complete the Goal anyway, and I head off to grab one last thing we need for the end of the Day.
That thing we need is a Diet Soda. We haven't had a chance to show how important these things are yet, and today's the perfect time.
There's Winston's Goal done, and I'm sure Luke appreciates the Morale Boost. Just a bit longer, and we'll have to race against the clock.
They're done. At last. And of the 50 Seconds we had available to us, we have 7 Seconds remaining. All we can do is chug that Diet Soda, and...
Such speed, such grace in delivering single markers at a time
So, uh, yeah, that's how close it can get in order to have Episode 10's Results screen look like:
Things are heating up a lot now. It won't be long before we'll have to consider 3 Days as an option, but I assure you we'll do all we can to keep that day away as long as possible, by the power of game knowledge and time budgeting.
Next time, we... return to business as usual, even if that's far from desirable for this office.
Goal Writeup
Time Per Day: 140 Seconds
Task Types
Art Tasks: 20%
Financial Tasks: 20%
Technical Tasks: 20%
Writing Tasks: 40%
- 2-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 8-10 Seconds: 66.6%
- 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 5-8 Seconds: 33.3%
2-Bar Tasks: 50%
3-Bar Tasks: 50%
"Chat Tara up at the water cooler. (90 Seconds)"
"Get four deluxe markers from OfficeTown. (4 Deluxe Markers)"
"Tell Winston about new company policies at the water cooler. (90 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
"Visit the bathroom eight times. (8 Bathroom Visits; 64 Seconds)
"Play on the arcade machine. (90 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #3
"Try a delicious brownie from OfficeTown. (1 Brownie)"
- "Complete at least ten tasks (of any kind) to set a good example. (10 Tasks)"
- "Relax at the water cooler with a mug of medicinal herb tea. (50 Seconds)"
- "Keep the AC running for a while. (60 Seconds)"
Connecting...
Checking Status: Online
Chatroom Created
You ever notice no one really uses the bathroom in this office besides Luke? It's like they pretend it isn't there. Well, even if they noticed after he started using it, they're sure not gonna be using it now. I feel like no one wants to see whatever the after-effects of that tea do to a bathroom. Yeesh, if he wants to take care of his body, he might wanna start listening to it for once and go for a jog instead of downing a water cooler jug's worth of that stuff. Maybe hit the gym every once in a while, or jog to and from his desk. Anything besides blaming it all on anything but the tea. Just makes me glad that Tara got a break for once, for the most part. Mahavir aside, anyways. Yeah, Pearl does seem to get tunnel-visioned on one person if she's got something over them... or thinks she does, anyway. I'd more than bet those new policies don't hold much back unless you don't know they exist, which she was more than happy to go over in painstaking detail. Kinda ruins her leverage. Loopholes exist in everything, and the biggest weakness of office policies is knowing where to find them. She can dish out micromanaging, but she can't seem to comprehend it being shoved back in her face, which'll make this easy to deal with. Tara's still gonna have it rough when she's done. No amount of office policy details will get in the way of her nagging about being more productive and this weird obsession with getting people to branch out on their Task types. Granted, a decent chunk of people in the office are multicompetent, even Tara to an extent when she can keep herself calm, but getting on her case about all of this is just making it harder for her to keep a level head while doing it. Mm. Do you get the feeling Tara won't take this much longer? I mean, how long has it been going on by now? She's been getting more and more distressed about it, and we all saw what happened with Timothy. Yeah, but I dunno what Denise can do on her own. We saw how it went last time. Tara needs to bring something to the conversation to give a topic they can work with and approach it. That's how it worked with Timothy last time, yes? Now that you mention it... yeah, he did kinda go on and on about work while he was an utter wreck. Gave Denise an opening. At the very least, it was more approachable for her than the metaphors. Yeah, I'm not sure anyone else at the office fully gets that, but the general sentiment gets across, at least. Really vexed Denise, though. Well then. See you when things take a turn in here? Of course. See you then.Chatroom Closed
Last edited by LPFinale on Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yeah, it can get pretty noticeable in retrospect. I'll probably discuss this in more detail at some point, but in general:
- Art Tasks are extremely polarizing; a Dot for them is rare.
- Financial Tasks are pretty low-risk, as not a lot of people are outright bad at them.
- Technical Tasks are similar, but have fewer people actually proficient in them and many Dots with them have high Moodifiers.
- Writing Tasks can be done by most anyone, but at the cost of heavy Stress gains for not much speed, except in a few cases.
I'm like Winston; best at Technical, worst at Art. Won't necessarily say that I'm point-for-point identical, though; I probably have worse Work Rates on most task types.
Up for technical, dots for financial and writing, down for art.
for you Finale, for knocking that out of the park.
If I had to say, I'd probably have an up in Technical, dots in Financial and Art, and a down in Writing.
Down in art , up for financial, dot for writing, and up for technical with the caviet of probably causing anyone else who actively knows their shit to freak out. (things I touch are cursed in ways I can't even begin to understand sometimes. Even if sometimes it winds up being magical for everyone involved.)
?So far we have:
Art UP - 1
Art DOT - 2
Art DOWN - 7
Financial UP - 3
Financial DOT - 4
Financial DOWN - 2
Technical UP - 5
Technical DOT - 2
Technical DOWN - 2
Writing UP - 4
Writing DOT - 2
Writing DOWN - 2
...you weren't kidding about art being a polarizing task. Apparently I'm the only one so far that has an UP in Art!
Art UP - 1
Art DOT - 2
Art DOWN - 7
Financial UP - 3
Financial DOT - 4
Financial DOWN - 2
Technical UP - 5
Technical DOT - 2
Technical DOWN - 2
Writing UP - 4
Writing DOT - 2
Writing DOWN - 2
...you weren't kidding about art being a polarizing task. Apparently I'm the only one so far that has an UP in Art!
I mean, perhaps a forum centered on video games might be a bit of a biased selection. The task the most people report up arrows in is Technical, after all. And fitting the LP focus, we've got a fair number of writers as well.
Fair enough. I was just surprised, that's all.Commander Keene wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:20 amI mean, perhaps a forum centered on video games might be a bit of a biased selection. The task the most people report up arrows in is Technical, after all. And fitting the LP focus, we've got a fair number of writers as well.
It'd depend on exactly what the tasks are, in all four categories (for example, technical tasks probably span from "upgrade the server" to "why isn't the printer working?"), but probably financial/technical up, writing down, art dot/down.
I think I'd be one of those weird cases where somebody's fast at something but also dislikes it, or vice versa.
I think I'd be one of those weird cases where somebody's fast at something but also dislikes it, or vice versa.
True. Using that context I'd have really high work rates and moodifiers with Financial and Technical tasks because I'd be absolutely livid that they decided to give me something I'm not good at at all and I just want to get them out of the door ASAP.Quantum Toast wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:46 amI think I'd be one of those weird cases where somebody's fast at something but also dislikes it, or vice versa.
Episode 11: Story Update
Video:
Last time, we had a breather from Tara's eternal torment. This time...
We're back to business as usual.
Also I see what you did there, 5th Episode of Season 2, she "Strikes Back," huh?
Better. A little better.
Now that you've got all that tea out of your system, anyway.
It's all thanks to Chinese herbal medicine!
Neeeeeevermind, he's gonna do it again.
Really? That stuff always tastes like grass clippings to me.
Sometimes I'm too busy dealing with the fact of what Luke's drinking; other times I lose my mind laughing at stuff like this.
I have to keep it finely tuned... not too much yin, not too much yang!
What will you dabble in next, t'ai chi gardening?
Hey, good idea, man!
Great, much better, now we just have to keep him focused on-
...oh. Oh god. Um. So I didn't look up what all those words meant when I was little. I decided to for the sake of this update.
Luke's drink consists of:
Are you sure that's not just going to make you worse?
See, even Mahavir gets it!
It sounds like it would eat out your insides.
I think that's the cayenne, Luke, which you'll very much notice later like the first time I had spicy barbeque.
How are you today?
...
Oh, all right.
Pearl was really chewing your ear off the other day, huh?
...oh?
Yes? Just let me know if there's anything I can do!
That's... that's probably for the best, honestly.
Oh... Oh, all right.
Tara!
Not agaaaaaaaaaain
You need to organize your work more efficiently.
Oh...
Tara, my delicate orchid! Don't listen to that old shrew!
Well, a bit more against Pearl than I was expecting, but somehow I feel like she won't let that stop her favoritism.
Come talk to me instead, and I'll tell you fabulous tales...
Mahavir...
Yes, my sweet?
Now there's one we've been waiting to hear for a while.
Um... I must fly for now, but only to await our next rendezvous!
Nailed it
Oh right, Denise seemed like she was leading up to something...
Good time for what?
And I was going to warn Tara... but I don't think I can give her bad news when she's so down!
Yeah, that uh... that might've been good for her to know. Unless we can arrange it so she doesn't need to work at all this Episode... hmmmmmmmm...
What a waste of her beauty it is to see her sitting there so alone. I can hardly bear it.
Your flowery prose is doing little but remind me that you're an exceptional writer with no work ethic and that you really do have no idea when to stop talking sometimes.
...oh. Oh, god. His desk is gone. That's bad. That's really, really bad.
And as if ON CUE, a Technical Task shows up on Denise's desk.
Oh dear, we'd better get to work!
Well then. Next time, we juggle Tara around the entire office and see if we can at least keep her from needing to work.
Oh, and the Day requirement for 3 Stars says 5 Days now. I'm slappin' my knee at that one, seriously. See you then~
Video:
Last time, we had a breather from Tara's eternal torment. This time...
We're back to business as usual.
Better. A little better.Now that you've got all that tea out of your system, anyway.
It's all thanks to Chinese herbal medicine!Neeeeeevermind, he's gonna do it again.
Really? That stuff always tastes like grass clippings to me.Sometimes I'm too busy dealing with the fact of what Luke's drinking; other times I lose my mind laughing at stuff like this.
I have to keep it finely tuned... not too much yin, not too much yang! What will you dabble in next, t'ai chi gardening? Hey, good idea, man!Great, much better, now we just have to keep him focused on-
...oh. Oh god. Um. So I didn't look up what all those words meant when I was little. I decided to for the sake of this update.
Luke's drink consists of:
- Kombucha: A fermented, bubbly, and sweet green or black tea drink commonly consumed for its supposed health benefits, and is nicknamed "tea fungus." Oh boy.
- Cayenne: Pretty blatantly the pepper of the same name, and it's considered "moderately hot," but considering the kind of monstrosities humanity has brought upon this land, that's a relative term. It sits at 30k-50k Scoville Units, for those of you who know what those are.
- Chai: A pretty normal tea nowadays, but since it's Luke, he's probably considering it medicinal; typically a decoction of green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger, black peppercorn, and black tea, all prepared STRONG.
- Senna: In studies of varying legitimacy, this group of plants and their extracted "sennosides" are loosely considered to be... a natural laxative, godDAMMIT, Luke!
Are you sure that's not just going to make you worse?See, even Mahavir gets it!
It sounds like it would eat out your insides....'kay then. Now to let the inevitable poisoning commence.Grok /ˈɡrɒk/ is a neologism coined by American writer Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. While the Oxford English Dictionary summarizes the meaning of grok as "to understand intuitively or by empathy, to establish rapport with" and "to empathize or communicate sympathetically (with); also, to experience enjoyment",[1] Heinlein's concept is far more nuanced, with critic Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr. observing that "the book's major theme can be seen as an extended definition of the term".[2]
I think that's the cayenne, Luke, which you'll very much notice later like the first time I had spicy barbeque.
How are you today? ... Oh, all right. Pearl was really chewing your ear off the other day, huh?...oh?
Yes? Just let me know if there's anything I can do!That's... that's probably for the best, honestly.
Oh... Oh, all right. Tara!Not agaaaaaaaaaain
You need to organize your work more efficiently. Oh... Tara, my delicate orchid! Don't listen to that old shrew!Well, a bit more against Pearl than I was expecting, but somehow I feel like she won't let that stop her favoritism.
Come talk to me instead, and I'll tell you fabulous tales... Mahavir... Yes, my sweet?Now there's one we've been waiting to hear for a while.
Um... I must fly for now, but only to await our next rendezvous!Nailed it
Oh right, Denise seemed like she was leading up to something...
Good time for what? And I was going to warn Tara... but I don't think I can give her bad news when she's so down! Yeah, that uh... that might've been good for her to know. Unless we can arrange it so she doesn't need to work at all this Episode... hmmmmmmmm... What a waste of her beauty it is to see her sitting there so alone. I can hardly bear it.Your flowery prose is doing little but remind me that you're an exceptional writer with no work ethic and that you really do have no idea when to stop talking sometimes.
...oh. Oh, god. His desk is gone. That's bad. That's really, really bad.
And as if ON CUE, a Technical Task shows up on Denise's desk.
Oh dear, we'd better get to work!Well then. Next time, we juggle Tara around the entire office and see if we can at least keep her from needing to work.
Oh, and the Day requirement for 3 Stars says 5 Days now. I'm slappin' my knee at that one, seriously. See you then~
Last edited by LPFinale on Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The convenience store I work at sells kombucha nowadays. I haven't tried it though, because it's like twice what the other drinks cost. Probably hard to find outside specialty stores back in 2007 or whatever, though.
He left because he's the sensible one.
Taos isn't just any city in New Mexico, it's an "art colony" and a place Luke would sure feel at home in. It's also just next door to the main Earthship community, a large community of entirely off-grid buildings made with a large amount of recycled materials, like old tires and glass bottles!LPFinale wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 8:38 pm...oh. Oh god. Um. So I didn't look up what all those words meant when I was little. I decided to for the sake of this update.
Luke's drink consists of:Also Taos is a city in New Mexico, if that means anything.
- Kombucha: A fermented, bubbly, and sweet green or black tea drink commonly consumed for its supposed health benefits, and is nicknamed "tea fungus." Oh boy.
- Cayenne: Pretty blatantly the pepper of the same name, and it's considered "moderately hot," but considering the kind of monstrosities humanity has brought upon this land, that's a relative term. It sits at 30k-50k Scoville Units, for those of you who know what those are.
- Chai: A pretty normal tea nowadays, but since it's Luke, he's probably considering it medicinal; typically a decoction of green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger, black peppercorn, and black tea, all prepared STRONG.
- Senna: In studies of varying legitimacy, this group of plants and their extracted "sennosides" are loosely considered to be... a natural laxative, godDAMMIT, Luke!
(Earthships can look extremely quirky and also extremely cool, just google them and you'll find a lot of neat example pictures)
Episode 11: Gameplay Update, "Pearl Strikes Back"
Video:
Right, then. Tara's going to have a terrible, no-good, very bad day. The least we can do is try to cushion it.
And with a Goal list like this, we'll need to. Tara's gonna be at the Water Cooler all day today, dealing with both Pearl and Mahavir.
We'll handle Luke and Tara's personal Goals tomorrow. Seems like a cut-and-dry time frame we can work with.
Lastly, this makes the lucky number 7th time Mahavir has had a Goal to talk with Tara.
Our starting positions, with Tara starting with a bit of Stress. That's gonna be a problem.
Luckily, we can have Mahavir turn on the AC so some of it burns off by the time those two reach the Water Cooler to begin talking. Get used to this sight, by the way; it's gonna be the vast majority of our day.
Oh, and you might notice that despite Winston being gone, his Arcade Machine is still here. This seems like a no-brainer, but things typically don't exist in a Miss Management office layout if they're going to go completely unused...
...which is why Mahavir gets to play on it for this Episode! It only works as well as the Water Cooler for him, but since any additional Stress on Tara from his naps will render our efforts much, much more difficult, and the Water Cooler's taken, this gives us a way to burn some Stress with him more efficiently while he does some work.
I really don't think I need to point out that there'll be an Optional Goal for him to be here, too.
Denise wasn't kidding about the Art Tasks coming in. Thankfully, we'll be able to keep them out of Tara's hands so she can focus on either the one-sided conversations or relaxing alone. In addition to the Art Tasks, this Episode also has a slight lean towards Writing Tasks, which is rather fortunate since Luke will be the least occupied of anyone here.
Much, much later, Pearl's finally done. Mahavir will be heading down to the Water Cooler once Tara's allowed to calm down a bit, which should be pretty darn quick thanks to the combined power of the Water Cooler and the AC.
Each of the Water Cooler Goals will unlock a new Optional Goal this Episode, all for relaxing at various locations. In Pearl's case, there's only one spot she wants to be at, and it's right here at the Microwave.
For the record, all these Technical Tasks coming in are just pure luck; they're tied with Financial Tasks for the least common Task Types this Episode, but I'm not gonna say no to work Luke can do on his own with the help of the Bathroom.
We do need to get Pearl involved once Art and Financial Tasks roll in, though, and she'll get worked up pretty darn fast like this. Thankfully, there's a quirk to this Episode that makes this so much more manageable, as we can see once she heads back to the Microwave afterwards.
Notice how she's calming down so fast, despite being on the receiving end of roughly a +4 Total Moodifier? Well, Pearl's Microwave has an additional -4 Moodifier this Episode, bringing it to a grand total of a -8 Moodifier! This is basically flat-out necessary to do this Episode in a timely manner without causing Pearl to Burn Out, since we can't afford a baker's dozen of Donuts due to saving up for Tara's Deluxe Markers, so I'm glad they added it in.
Nearing the end of the day uneventfully, we can see that Pearl also has a bit more distaste for Luke using the Bathroom than usual; at a +2 Moodifier for it this Episode, not even the global bonus of -1 for being idle can keep her from being huffy about the situation.
Mahavir's finally done with his tales of a pretty alright French restaurant. ...well, I assume. I honestly have no idea what 3 and a half stars means beyond the context of online reviews. I couldn't find any official criteria for a 5-Star restaurant rating system, just the 3-Star Michelin system, and getting even one of those stars is an incredible feat.
Anyways, Day's over, and Mahavir has his Goal to go fiddle with the Arcade Machine. Pretty simple day.
These are all honestly pretty exclusive to each other, and can be completed all at once. And the last one we need to unlock will be fine, I assure you.
Starting positions, where we immediately send Tara to go chill on the couch and get everyone else to their spots.
Well, except Pearl. She did most of her Goal yesterday, and we need someone to finish the Tasks, so she'll just get her Goal done when she needs to burn off Stress.
Like so. This little change to Pearl's relaxation point makes this rotation kind of amazing.
Managed to get her away from the Microwave with roughly a Second remaining. That way, we can send her back the moment we need a Morale Boost.
Took this one a bit late, it seems, but you can still see the Goal fading out. Perfect time to get this Overdue Writing Task off of Luke's desk to have Pearl do it; I tried keeping these on Luke's desk for when he got back since Pearl doesn't handle them well, but she'll need to since Luke won't be back for a while.
Luckily, he finishes up in time to keep Denise from getting too worked up about it. He's back on board, and ready to keep the Writing Tasks off our backs.
Oh right, and we actually got two Morale Boosts from it since he has a bugged Optional Goal for the Bathroom
Mahavir finished his Goal to be at the Arcade, but since Tara's alone time will stress him out enough to gain Stress, he'll be staying at the Arcade Machine. In retrospect, I could've sent him to the Water Cooler since that's the same Moodifier for him with less Stress put on Pearl, but hey, hindsight's 20-20.
Closing time's approaching, and we're in a very similar situation to yesterday; you know what's about to happen.
Especially now that I've bought all of these things.
Since this lasts 20 Seconds, we might as well drink it now.
Well, I think we all know what's about to happen here.
...and it's not quite as close as yesterday, but still scraping by.
I would like to once again remind all of you that they allowed 5 Days for this 3-Star Rating.
Next time, we have our obligatory 5th Episode Outro. See you then.
Goal Writeup
Time Per Day: 140 Seconds
Task Types
Video:Right, then. Tara's going to have a terrible, no-good, very bad day. The least we can do is try to cushion it.
And with a Goal list like this, we'll need to. Tara's gonna be at the Water Cooler all day today, dealing with both Pearl and Mahavir.
We'll handle Luke and Tara's personal Goals tomorrow. Seems like a cut-and-dry time frame we can work with.
Lastly, this makes the lucky number 7th time Mahavir has had a Goal to talk with Tara.
Our starting positions, with Tara starting with a bit of Stress. That's gonna be a problem.
Luckily, we can have Mahavir turn on the AC so some of it burns off by the time those two reach the Water Cooler to begin talking. Get used to this sight, by the way; it's gonna be the vast majority of our day.
Oh, and you might notice that despite Winston being gone, his Arcade Machine is still here. This seems like a no-brainer, but things typically don't exist in a Miss Management office layout if they're going to go completely unused...
...which is why Mahavir gets to play on it for this Episode! It only works as well as the Water Cooler for him, but since any additional Stress on Tara from his naps will render our efforts much, much more difficult, and the Water Cooler's taken, this gives us a way to burn some Stress with him more efficiently while he does some work.
I really don't think I need to point out that there'll be an Optional Goal for him to be here, too.
Denise wasn't kidding about the Art Tasks coming in. Thankfully, we'll be able to keep them out of Tara's hands so she can focus on either the one-sided conversations or relaxing alone. In addition to the Art Tasks, this Episode also has a slight lean towards Writing Tasks, which is rather fortunate since Luke will be the least occupied of anyone here.
Much, much later, Pearl's finally done. Mahavir will be heading down to the Water Cooler once Tara's allowed to calm down a bit, which should be pretty darn quick thanks to the combined power of the Water Cooler and the AC.
Each of the Water Cooler Goals will unlock a new Optional Goal this Episode, all for relaxing at various locations. In Pearl's case, there's only one spot she wants to be at, and it's right here at the Microwave.
For the record, all these Technical Tasks coming in are just pure luck; they're tied with Financial Tasks for the least common Task Types this Episode, but I'm not gonna say no to work Luke can do on his own with the help of the Bathroom.
We do need to get Pearl involved once Art and Financial Tasks roll in, though, and she'll get worked up pretty darn fast like this. Thankfully, there's a quirk to this Episode that makes this so much more manageable, as we can see once she heads back to the Microwave afterwards.
Notice how she's calming down so fast, despite being on the receiving end of roughly a +4 Total Moodifier? Well, Pearl's Microwave has an additional -4 Moodifier this Episode, bringing it to a grand total of a -8 Moodifier! This is basically flat-out necessary to do this Episode in a timely manner without causing Pearl to Burn Out, since we can't afford a baker's dozen of Donuts due to saving up for Tara's Deluxe Markers, so I'm glad they added it in.
Nearing the end of the day uneventfully, we can see that Pearl also has a bit more distaste for Luke using the Bathroom than usual; at a +2 Moodifier for it this Episode, not even the global bonus of -1 for being idle can keep her from being huffy about the situation.
Mahavir's finally done with his tales of a pretty alright French restaurant. ...well, I assume. I honestly have no idea what 3 and a half stars means beyond the context of online reviews. I couldn't find any official criteria for a 5-Star restaurant rating system, just the 3-Star Michelin system, and getting even one of those stars is an incredible feat.
Anyways, Day's over, and Mahavir has his Goal to go fiddle with the Arcade Machine. Pretty simple day.
These are all honestly pretty exclusive to each other, and can be completed all at once. And the last one we need to unlock will be fine, I assure you.
Starting positions, where we immediately send Tara to go chill on the couch and get everyone else to their spots.
Well, except Pearl. She did most of her Goal yesterday, and we need someone to finish the Tasks, so she'll just get her Goal done when she needs to burn off Stress.
Like so. This little change to Pearl's relaxation point makes this rotation kind of amazing.
Managed to get her away from the Microwave with roughly a Second remaining. That way, we can send her back the moment we need a Morale Boost.
Took this one a bit late, it seems, but you can still see the Goal fading out. Perfect time to get this Overdue Writing Task off of Luke's desk to have Pearl do it; I tried keeping these on Luke's desk for when he got back since Pearl doesn't handle them well, but she'll need to since Luke won't be back for a while.
Luckily, he finishes up in time to keep Denise from getting too worked up about it. He's back on board, and ready to keep the Writing Tasks off our backs.
Oh right, and we actually got two Morale Boosts from it since he has a bugged Optional Goal for the Bathroom
Mahavir finished his Goal to be at the Arcade, but since Tara's alone time will stress him out enough to gain Stress, he'll be staying at the Arcade Machine. In retrospect, I could've sent him to the Water Cooler since that's the same Moodifier for him with less Stress put on Pearl, but hey, hindsight's 20-20.
Closing time's approaching, and we're in a very similar situation to yesterday; you know what's about to happen.
Especially now that I've bought all of these things.
Since this lasts 20 Seconds, we might as well drink it now.
Well, I think we all know what's about to happen here.
...and it's not quite as close as yesterday, but still scraping by.
I would like to once again remind all of you that they allowed 5 Days for this 3-Star Rating.
Next time, we have our obligatory 5th Episode Outro. See you then.
Goal Writeup
Time Per Day: 140 Seconds
Task Types
- Art Tasks: 43%
- Financial Tasks: 14%
- Technical Tasks: 14%
- Writing Tasks: 29%
- 2-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 10-13 Seconds: 50%
- 1-Task Burst, Applies Delay of 8-10 Seconds: 50%
- 3-Bar Tasks: 100%
- "Avoid everyone and sit alone on the couch. (120 Seconds)"
- "Get five deluxe markers from OfficeTown. (5 Deluxe Markers)"
- "Lecture Tara at the water cooler about organizing her work efficiently. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #2
- "Chat Tara up at the water cooler. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #3
- "Relax at the water cooler with a mug of medicinal herb tea. (60 Seconds)" Unlocks Optional Goal #1
- "Visit to the bathroom [sic] four times. (4 Bathroom Visits; 32 Seconds, Always Active Bug)"
- "Relax in the kitchen snacking on microwave popcorn. (70 Seconds)"
- "Investigate the arcade machine, just to annoy Winston. (70 Seconds)"
Last edited by LPFinale on Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ah right, forgot to go into specifics on that. The code says it's just +1, unable to break beyond 0 with the global bonus, but he actively gains Stress in this Episode and any other with a Couch Goal, albeit slowly, despite no mention of an increased Moodifier in the Episode-specific code; the -2 from the Water Cooler or Arcade Machine are enough to stall his Moodifier at 0.
I'd assume the global setting or each individual Episode were changed at some point to make the total Moodifier greater than +1 for the sake of a challenge, because really, nothing else bothers the guy unless he's being lectured or sitting next to Timothy's latest creation; having to deal with that is kind of a refreshing change of pace.
Kombucha is actually really good (...and expensive where I live). Definitely doesn't taste like fungus!
e: Welp, there was another page.
e: Welp, there was another page.