Quick warning, Kinematics' external vote-tally program and the built-in vote-tally tool have
very different handling of votes with the `Plan` keyword. Specifically, I believe that the built-in tallier doesn't do anything special with them at all, while the external vote-tally program only counts the very first post with the plan in it, which serves as a persistent definition of that plan. I don't know if you're expecting that special handling to be happening; you probably want to check the vote tally to make sure it's doing what you want.
[X] [Experiment] What is a Builder-made item if not a use of a cape's powers? Try to use Analysis on the materials in the room, starting with Cherub's crystals.
I don't think that it's necessary to reiterate the support. I think that Skye is more rational and logical and will react better to an explanation of why we seem like we're not supporting her. I think that it would also be useful to explain why we're changing our minds.
[x] If Skye wants to go to Paragon, you'll make that happen. You just want to make sure that the decision gets made right.
-[x] You think that the challenges presented by Dragon are right for you, but Skye is right that they might be a bit stressful for her.
-[x] You assume that Skye has looked into things with Precedent, but given how big a deal this decision is, it might be worth spending another couple of minutes to double-check the data.
--[x] Suggest useful statistical measures. Cohort survival rates, mental illness rates, happiness metrics, measures of influence and power, friend count, etc.
--[x] Make sure you're looking at data for an appropriate demographic. Students that are in the "learning to be human" tracks at various schools, that kind of thing.
-[x] Skye is aware that she'll be under significantly increased monitoring and scrutiny if she catches a PS designation, right? You don't know how comfortable she'll be with that kind of thing.
On the exploits: We
might be able to get more power out of concealing these upgrades and using them carefully over the course of the next few months, but I really don't think that that's a safe thing to do. Remember, no matter what we do, these exploits won't last forever. Someone will notice and nerf them
eventually. The question is how to have obtained maximum utility
when they're nerfed.
If we use them now, we have huge circumstantial bonuses. We already have a huge pile of high-quality materials. We get to use both of them at once, which multiplies their effectiveness instead of adding it. We have extra juice left from draining the upgrade-booster earlier. Finally, I don't get the impression that the Beyond will have much of a chance to nerf us before we're done (
@Alivaril?). Even more, the materials we'd be able to take home if we go this route are probably worth several months of upgrade-juice
all by themselves, so obtaining them is an extremely high-value proposition. All of these together mean that this option is
safe,
predictable, and
significant.
If we save them, we'd gain relative advantage so much more slowly that it would take
months to match the amount of advantage we'd be likely to gain with the immediate option. I do
not think that we would be able to keep the exploits open for months. Any increase in notoriety would increase our viewership and shorten the expected time to the exploits being noticed and patched. Any Beyond that does the math on our demonstrated use of upgrade-juice will figure it out and patch the exploits. Both of these mean that the chance of discovery increases as we use the exploits. Then throw in the part where we are
not going to be spending the next few months quietly tinkering with things; we have at least two major events already scheduled and crazy stuff like this will probably keep happening continuously. I think that it is
extremely unlikely that we'll be able to get more by going slow. In fact, judging by how things have been going historically, I think that we'll probably lose it within a matter of weeks and it'll be entirely wasted.
In short: Don't get greedy and roll the dice on keeping the exploits open for months. Use them now to gain a large, safe payoff.
[x] Use both exploits now, and be careful to make sure you do it right.
-[x] You don't think that you'd be able to keep them under wraps long enough to win in the long run, especially because using them now has the added benefit of starting you off with a huge pile of high-quality resources that you can use to improve your capabilities for the builder competition and other upcoming opportunities.
-[x] Confer with your powers to get their advice on hiding the exploits to get as much out of them as possible before they're nerfed. Maybe Authority could help obscure what you're doing?
