Onceit became evident that the 2013 New York Yankees were not a particularly good team, my thoughts turned to the possibility that Mariano Rivera's last appearance in Major League Baseball would likely be a less consequential moment than he is probably used to. The last game of the regular season for a team, long since eliminated from postseason contention, perhaps. What a disappointing final bow for the greatest reliever all time. Surely he deserves better? I never actually considered that Rivera's personal performance might be what put a damper on the proceedings, but here we are. Three straight blown saves, the only such occurrence in his amazing career.
It's happened many times before, questions surfacing about Rivera being "done", if a man who has seemed more automaton than human being had actually given in to the ravages of time. Normally, you just ignore the silly notions of sportswriters and fans who always seem to be in a race to be the first to write the obituaries of aged sports greats, even if only a week before they were waxing poetic about how amazing they were. Normally I ignore such noise, but this year it's different because it's the last year. You wish for every appearance of Rivera to go absolutely perfectly. You want every single bat to shatter and the cutter to dance as though it were being moved by supernatural forces. You want nothing but positive memories of Mariano Rivera's last season as the closer of the New York Yankees. But it's not a play, and the opponents, even as they partake in the farewell festivities, are not there to gawk and strike out like actors in the final scene of a Disney movie.
So you take the good with the bad. I assume we all accepted that Mariano would not finish with a 0.00 ERA and convert every single save opportunity this season. And, after a decade and a half of being the greatest closer on Earth, I'll certainly be giving Rivera the benefit of the doubt in believing that this recent rough patch is not a sign of decline or imminent doom, because Rivera's sustained excellence dictates it. If one were to revisit the play analogy that I used before, this is the point in the final act where the protagonist must overcome adversity in order to triumph in the end. And even if it doesn't work out that way, it was better to have Mo's career end on his own two feet and on the mound as opposed to being laid out in agony in the outfield in Kansas City. It's not the perfect ending, but it's certainly an improvement.
While you once had to get the perfect ending in Mass Effect 3 through online multiplayer and other unorthodox steps, the process has been made easier in Mass Effect Legendary Edition. The Extend Cut of the game has been included in the collection containing all three games in the series. The updates made to the bundle's final title simplify the process it takes to reach the best ending possible.
Similar to keeping everyone alive in the Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2, the "perfect" ending for Mass Effect 3 is when Commander Shepard, every crew member on the Normandy, and those on Earth all survive. The only way to reach the best conclusion is to make some tough decisions and sacrifices. In addition, you'll need to collect as many War Assets as you can to unlock the best outcome.
The Perfect Ending in Mass Effect 3 is directly tied toTotal Military Strength, which once was the Galactic Readiness system in the original ME3. In the original version, you needed an exceptionally high Galactic Readiness and Effective Military Strength score to unlock the best ending, which required you to use the multiplayer mode and the tie-in applications.
Due to the changes made in Mass Effect Legendary Edition, War Assets and Military Strength have been updated to make them easier to gain without multiplayer in the series collection. Although the process is easier, you still need to collect more War Assets than normal from events throughout the story. You need to pay closer attention to side content and complete as many optional quests as you can to build Assets and Strength.
To get the Perfect Ending in Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition, you will need to amass at least7800 Military Strength. The Military Strength in the Legendary Edition is calculated based on all War Assets Shepard acquires during the events of each game's campaign. These War Assets can be acquired through choices made throughout the Mass Effect trilogy, whether they are Paragon or Renegade options.
Apart from the above tasks, Shepard can also gain War Assets by helping allies or inspiring them to join the fight. For example, if Shepard chooses not to kill the Zhu's Hope colonists on Feros, paralyzes them, and spares Shiala, these outcomes will be converted into War Assets later. Similarly, showing kindness to reporter Khalisa Bint Sinan al-Jilani across the trilogy and resisting the urge to use Mass Effect's Renegade interrupt and punch her instead comes with the perk of extra War Assets.
War Assets can also gain or lose points based on decisions made across the trilogy, especially in Mass Effect 3. For example, if Shepard secures Grunt's Loyalty in Mass Effect 2 but chooses to save the Rachni queen in "Attican Traverse: Krogan Team," Shepard gains 75 War Assets but loses 25, as Grunt's Aralakh company is slaughtered protecting the queen as she escapes.
Once you have gathered 7800 Total Military Strength or above and done every main story and DLC mission, you can get started with the Final mission - "Priority: Cerberus Headquarters." This will lead you into the final moments of the story and the last chapter, "Priority: Earth." To get the best ending in Mass Effect 3, you need to choose the Destroy Ending by activating the Crucible.
As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Fate, Earth and the Normandy Crew will all survive the blast caused by the Crucible's destruction. In the epilogue, Shepard's love interest, if they are a squadmate, will refuse to put the Commander's name on the Normandy's Memorial Wall. The final shot before the end credits will show the debris of the Crucible and Shepard taking a breath amid the rubble.
The Legendary Edition rewards more Military Strength and War Assets for completing content, so you don't have to complete the first two games to reach the best ending. While you could import your previous character into the third title, you can still reach 7800 Military Strength with a new character. You still have to be careful not to lose too many War Assets through your choices in Mass Effect 3 if you want to get the perfect ending.
But the four-year No. 1 singles player for the Raiders was able to find enough, completing a perfect season with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Bloomington North's Nicholas Shirley at Park Tudor on Saturday to win the IHSAA individual state singles championship.
"I had to keep the points shorter and if I lose a couple games, I lose a couple games," Gu said. "I've got to keep my mentality right and make sure I finish this match out strong because I knew I had it."
Gu entered the individual state finals as the No. 1 seed. After defeating previously unbeaten Isaiah Hostetler of Westview 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals, Gu completed an undefeated season with his 30th straight victory by fending off Shirley in straight sets.
Gu finished his senior year losing just one set all season, to Culver Academy's Tyler Li, who lost in the state semifinal to Shirley. Harrison finished the season as the state's No. 1-ranked team and last week lost to North Central in the state championship match 3-2.
"It wasn't just this year, it's been four years. I remember the first time I saw Aaron. He was playing out at Harrison and my son was playing tennis at the time, like eight years ago. He was just a little, tiny thing. To watch him grow up and have such an amazing year this year, winning the mental attitude, is great. He has been such a great leader for this team."
"There was a little bit (of jealousy), but Aidan is like my brother, so I was happy for him," Gu said. "I knew I was that close. I was a couple points away from beating him in sectionals. I knew if I played at that level, I could win it this year."
"It is absolutely massive winning those close games, like at 4-all, 3-all, to have that one-game advantage when your opponent is serving," Gu said. "I need to lock in for those games and I am really glad I won those games and put pressure on him."
"I couldn't have asked for a better senior season. 30-0. Second place as a team. Won the individual title," Gu said. "This is the stuff kids dream of when they are 5 years old and first watching high school sports - I want to be a state champion. I am still kind of in shock right now. This doesn't even feel real.
For our study, we used messages from mailing list archives of over twenty different online communities.1 These emails proved to be a great sample for looking at variations in response rate, as many entailed people asking for help or advice, hoping for a reply.
Not much of a surprise here: these eight closings are all common email sign-offs in general. As none of these endings seem specific to online communities, any trends we find should be relevant for anyone who emails. So now for the moment of truth: how did these closings correlate with response rate?
I just posted a response to a similar comment, but yes, we did a variation where we controlled for whether a question was asked. Thankful closings still came out well on top. Specifically, thanks in advance was still the best closing (with thanks coming in 2nd!)
How do you distinguish between cause and effect?
The article suggests that ending an email with thanks causes people to reply. Surely it might also be the case that people being on friendly terms with the recipient causes them to end the email with thanks?
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