raymond padilla, Author at RPad.TV

The Best Game of Thrones Season

With the final season of Game of Thrones nearly here, I’ve been rewatching the first seven as a refresher. It’s been fun examining how characters have developed, remembering departed heroes and villains, seeing glorious battles, and chuckling at comedic lines. Out of the first seven seasons, one stood out as my favorite — season four.

Sure, the battle at Castle Black wasn’t as grand as Blackwater or The Battle of the Bastards, but it was still pretty damn entertaining. More importantly, Game of Thrones season four had some of the best moments in the show — both comedic and dramatic — and introduced one of my favorite characters.

Out of curiosity, I’d love to learn which Game of Thrones season is your favorite and why. Kindly share your thoughts in the comments section. Below are three reasons why Game of Thrones season four is my favorite.

Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Understanding Breakpoints

With Rayquaza raids coming back to Pokemon Go, some local trainers have been wondering what counters to use. Thankfully, the recent Swinub Community Day gave trainers access to the best Rayquaza counter — Mamoswine with powder snow and avalanche. Having the right Pokemon is essential, but how much should it be powered up? Enter breakpoints.

What Are Pokemon Go Breakpoints?

A breakpoint is the level required for a Pokemon to do additional damage. Damage calculation in Pokemon Go is rounded and doesn’t scale linearly. For example, a 15-attack Mamoswine at level 26 does the same damage against Rayquaza as a 15-attack level 28 Mamoswine. Powering up a 15-attack Mamoswine to level 29 allows it to inflict more damage than its level 26 or level 28 counterparts.

Trainers can optimize a team by seeing the amount of damage their Pokemon will do against a specific boss using handy tools like Dominkzen.com. This allows trainers to efficiently use stardust and candy. To help you understand breakpoints a little bit better, let’s stick with the Mamoswine vs. Rayquaza matchup.

Your Game of Thrones Season 8 Predictions

The latest trailer for Game of Thrones season 8 has dropped. It’s full of excitement, drama, intrigue, and (pending) death. RPadholic smartguy suggested that it would be a great time for us to make our predictions on the final season of Game of Thrones. As you’d expected from him, that’s a fine idea.

Below are the trailer and a bunch of questions about Game of Thrones season 8. Kindly answer the questions when you have a chance, but don’t let them limit your thoughts. If you have any theories and musings that aren’t covered by the questions, I’d love to hear them.

(Some) Tesla Fans Are the Worst

Tesla is an amazing company that’s attempting to do some truly remarkable things. That said, some Tesla fans are insufferable. The company and its CEO Elon Musk have created a cult of zealots that are incapable of criticizing the company. These fanboys dismiss every mistake Tesla makes (and it has made several) and vapidly attack any opinion on the company that’s not 100-percent complimentary. As a prospective customer that has been annoyed and disappointed by the numerous “hells” Tesla has encountered (production, painting, delivery, etc.), the zealots make supporting the company…challenging.

As several of you RPadholics know, I reserved a Tesla Model 3 in April 2016. My first estimated delivery date showed that I could expect my configuration (standard battery) some time between April and June 2018. I received an email from Tesla on November 1, 2017 that said, “your estimated delivery timing will now be slightly later than we originally expected.” I received another on February 7, 2018 that said, “your estimated delivery timing has been adjusted to a slightly later window.” My account currently states, “Standard Battery available in 4-7 months.”

After leasing a Ford Focus Electric for three years, I did a lease takeover on a BMW i3, planned around my April-June 2018 estimate. That lease expired at the end of July 2018. As you can imagine, waiting for the Model 3 Standard Battery has been aggravating. I’ve shared my story in the comments section of Electrek (great EV enthusiast site that’s in dire need of moderation). Some of the attacks I’ve received were so pathetic that it’s funny.

Let’s start with some replies from a person that goes by Oneb.

Continue reading “(Some) Tesla Fans Are the Worst”

Random Thoughts on Iron Fist Season Two

Iron Fist season two reminded me of how we used to make fun of the “Most Improved” award in high-school sports. My friends and I would joke, “Most improved just means that you used to suck.” The first season of Iron Fist was easily the worst show in the Marvel Netflix universe, but the sophomore season is worth watching. It’s not among the best Marvel Netflix shows and it still has the same core problem that the first season had, but numerous improvements have taken Iron Fist from “used to suck” to “reasonably enjoyable.”

Here’s a breakdown of Iron Fist season two in the traditional RPadTV binary style. Be sure to summon your chi and make a spoiler ~~shield~~ fist.

Continue reading “Random Thoughts on Iron Fist Season Two”

Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Stupid Trainers Am Stupid

If you’ve been playing Pokemon Go for a long time then you’ve surely encountered stupid Pokemon Go trainers. Most of the time they’re harmless — village idiots that can easily be ignored. However, when they complain loudly, stupid Pokemon Go trainers can be a genuine nuissance.

Recently, I had to suffer the presence of a stupid Pokemon Go trainer. As part of the Celebi quest, two of the tasks required trainers to evolve an Eevee into an Espeon and an Umbreon. This requires walking Eevee for 10 kilometers and evolving it during the day (Espeon) or night (Umbreon). The important thing is that you have to evolve Eevee while it’s still your buddy. This particular trainer didn’t do that.

Continue reading “Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Stupid Trainers Am Stupid”

RPadTV Invitational Miami 2018 (Man City, Medianoche)

The first ever IRL RPadTV Invitational was this past weekend. It featured copious amounts of Johnny Walker Blue, a thrilling victory by Manchester City, ~~medianachos~~ medianoches, a silly amount of Pokemon Go, and so much more. It was one of the best weekends I’ve had in years and even better than I was expecting, all thanks to you RPadholics.

You’d think that seeing Man City live for the first time, watching my second-favorite player Bernardo Silva (the second-best Silva on the team!) score two goals, and experiencing a come-from-behind victory over the evil Bayern Munich would’ve been the highlights of the trip, but they weren’t. The game was phenomenal, don’t get me wrong, but my favorite part of the trip was spending time with RPadholics Iceman, Tokz, and BSUkenyan. As far as I know, this was the first time that more than two of us have met up…and it was frickin’ awesome!

Continue reading “RPadTV Invitational Miami 2018 (Man City, Medianoche)”

Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Splitting Into Teams For Raids

There’s a person in my local Pokemon Go community that complains — loudly and annoyingly — whenever people split into teams for raids. She doesn’t understand why people take the time to set up private raids based on teams. The reasons have been explained to her multiple times by multiple people. Hopefully, you don’t have to suffer similar idiocy in your Pokemon Go community…but just in case you do, here’s some explanation ammo.

It’s All About Bonus Balls

After a successful raid, bonus premiere balls are awarded (partially discussed here). There are three ways to acquire bonus balls. The team that controls the gym gets extra balls. Players that inflict the most damage on a raid boss gets extra balls. And the team that does the most damage gets extra balls. The bonus balls can be anywhere from one to three, depending on the percentage of damage dealt to the raid boss.

Continue reading “Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Splitting Into Teams For Raids”

Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Recommended Teams & Bonus Balls

Pokemon Go recommends some truly questionable teams for battles and raids. The suggestions are especially problematic for the latter. The game seems to favor survivability over damage output, which…isn’t the best. Recently, I’ve done a few four-person raids against Latios and have seen fellow trainers achieve suboptimal results thanks to Pokemon Go’s team recommendations.

One trainer I bumped into was perfectly happy with his recommended team, which was full of steel pokemon. He was content to battle Latios with a team full of Aggrons and Steelix. Those pokemon are great for enduring a battle and saving some healing items, but they’re poor at damaging Latios. In fact, I wouldn’t even put them in the top 20 pokemon to use against Latios.

Continue reading “Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Recommended Teams & Bonus Balls”

10 Thoughts on Avengers Infinity War

Avengers Infinity War is a brilliant movie…if you’ve been keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for the last decade. If you’re one of those ~~nerds~~ moviegoers then you’ll be enthralled by the film’s action, snappy dialogue, and complexity. If not then you’ll find it to be a strange and confusing mess. Since you’re reading this article then you probably fall into the former category. With your geekdom established, I humbly present you with 10 thoughts on Avengers Infinity War.

[If you don’t want spoilers then stop reading now.]

Continue reading “10 Thoughts on Avengers Infinity War”