Your most pointless TV/movie/book nitpicks

[Paul Farquhar]

TV does go through phases of that - most recently in Picard season 3, where Starfleet seems to have taken a dislike to bright indirect lighting in favour of having just barely enough illumination to fall dramatically across characters' faces.

That's why the Enterprise-D was so much better. "Proper lights, we can see what we are doing!"

 

[pukunui]

If I can stretch the definition of "book" to include RPG books, I'd like to state my nitpicky dislike of vague secret door descriptions. I would love it if dungeon designers would put a bit more effort into describing how their secret doors work. Do they swing on hinges like a normal door or rotate around like the fireplace secret door in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or do they slide into a cavity in the wall or ceiling? Also, do they require a hidden button, or do you pull a latch disguised as a book on a shelf or twist a torch sconce or what?

Instead, it's more often just a DC to spot the thing and then it just "opens" to reveal the next room or passage or whatever. And then there will be a bit about how it "opens easily" from the other side.

Yeah, sure, I can fill in the details myself, but it would be nice if the designers would do it for me.

 

[Ryujin]

According to Shakespeare, writing about that time, everyone in Venice spoke English, mostly with a 16th Century London accent, apart from Shylock who had a Midlands accent.

The point is, there is no "correct" way to translate/dub accents. South Italy, North Italy, Liverpool, New York, all are equally valid, in that all are equally wrong.

As the 9th Doctor said, "Lots of planets have a North."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

As the 9th Doctor said, "Lots of planets have a North."

I've just been playing the WH40K: Rogue Trader CRPG, and the PC voice I selected has a Yorkshire accent!

 

[Dioltach]

I just saw this episode again. It wasn't 1 saving account being drained, it was passwords for dozens of accounts being hacked, and those were accounts of every kind. So it wasn't just that money was being drained, it was every form of wealth being transferred.

Also, from what I recall, his character wasn't happy about his wealth, and didn't live surrounded by non-cash wealth sources.

Still not probable, but this is the show Bones we are talking about.

It might work for portfolio investments, but those amounts would require multiple sign-offs, and any asset manager would get in touch with the account holder personally to verify instructions.

But the thing is, that's not how HNW people hold the bulk of their assets. I remember some mention that Hodgins's family owned several large corporations. That ownership isn't linked to an account anywhere. That's registered. There are transfer restrictions in place, supervisory directors and regulatory authorities whose approval is needed. In many countries, assuming they're multinationals, there are employee participation processes. Selling a substantial interest in a large company is a long and difficult process.

Even if the hacker could have forged instructions from Hodgins, I'd bet that the assets aren't held in his own name, but in the family's. The directors of the company would have him declared incompetent and then carry on as if nothing had happened.

Real estate, art, Hodgins's collection of cars (Zack used to live above his "garage", which was completely separate from the main house). Those don't just disappear.

But yes, I take your point that by this time Bones had long abandoned any pretensions of realism.

 

[Ferrousbones]

Even if the hacker could have forged instructions from Hodgins, I'd bet that the assets aren't held in his own name, but in the family's. The directors of the company would have him declared incompetent and then carry on as if nothing had happened.

As I recall, at this point in the series, Hodgins is the "last of the line" for that family lineage, so I'm not sure if he could be barred from access, since that would mean no-one in the family has access anymore, but I'm also not familiar with such legal management.

In general, though, the writers were determined to show the villain of the arc as absurdly smart and capable.

 

[payn]

That's why the Enterprise-D was so much better. "Proper lights, we can see what we are doing!"

Yeah dimmed lights means you are cloaked.

 

[payn]

If I can stretch the definition of "book" to include RPG books, I'd like to state my nitpicky dislike of vague secret door descriptions. I would love it if dungeon designers would put a bit more effort into describing how their secret doors work. Do they swing on hinges like a normal door or rotate around like the fireplace secret door in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or do they slide into a cavity in the wall or ceiling? Also, do they require a hidden button, or do you pull a latch disguised as a book on a shelf or twist a torch sconce or what?

Instead, it's more often just a DC to spot the thing and then it just "opens" to reveal the next room or passage or whatever. And then there will be a bit about how it "opens easily" from the other side.

Yeah, sure, I can fill in the details myself, but it would be nice if the designers would do it for me.

I think the necessity went away with skill play. Saves space in module I guess.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If I can stretch the definition of "book" to include RPG books, I'd like to state my nitpicky dislike of vague secret door descriptions. I would love it if dungeon designers would put a bit more effort into describing how their secret doors work. Do they swing on hinges like a normal door or rotate around like the fireplace secret door in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade or do they slide into a cavity in the wall or ceiling? Also, do they require a hidden button, or do you pull a latch disguised as a book on a shelf or twist a torch sconce or what?

Instead, it's more often just a DC to spot the thing and then it just "opens" to reveal the next room or passage or whatever. And then there will be a bit about how it "opens easily" from the other side.

Yeah, sure, I can fill in the details myself, but it would be nice if the designers would do it for me.

This sounds like a good opportunity for @philreed: A Dozen Secret Doors!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I've just been playing the WH40K: Rogue Trader CRPG, and the PC voice I selected has a Yorkshire accent!

I'm playing it also and enjoying the voices - Darktide, which is also WH40K has some fantastic regional and class voices too, including Yorkshire, Estuary, Wales, and so on.