cjet79
Anarcho Capitalist on moral grounds
Libertarian Minarchist on economic grounds
User ID: 124
cjet79
1d ago
There are different types of advice, and some of the threads here bring up different criticisms of each thing, or ignore other things.
- A hard thing is worth doing. - "Tough Love"
- How to make a hard thing easier to do. - "Fun Facts"
- How to be better than others at a thing. -"Winning"
- A thing you might like to do or want to do is a bad idea - Warnings
Tough Love advice is something I only give heavily caveated as "this worked for me". If it isn't something I've done I avoid giving this kind of advice to anyone outside of family and very close friends. For dieting this would be me suggesting that people cut out sugar or go low carb. It's worked for me, but it wasn't easy and it may not work for everyone (see the caveats).
Fun facts might already be known, or too broad to be useful. If someone I don't know asks for advice this is generally what I'll try to give them. For dieting this would be me mentioning that hard liquor and bacon generally don't have much sugar or carbs (unless it is added).
Winning advice becomes worthless when adopted too widely. I generally offer this advice not as a personal experience but as an example of someone else I know doing well at it. If you offer this as personal experience it just sounds like bragging. "Yeah I did much better at dating after I started working out and getting a good haircut" vs "My friend saw his dating prospects improve after he started working out and getting a nice haircut".
Warnings need to have clear consequences laid out. And people need to believe you about those consequences. "Ingesting a large amount of cyanide will painfully kill you" Otherwise warnings just sound like threats. Sometimes warnings are just threats. "Trespassers will be shot". Warnings where you personally suffered the consequences are better than the alternative "I drank a lot of soda and ate tons of sugary food and got diabetes by age 30"
Giving good advice
There does seem to be a lot of blame going around for people not taking advice. But giving good advice is a skill too. I see it as an important life skill, because I'd like my friends and those I care about to do better. When giving advice you should consider why you feel the need to give the advice. Unsolicited advice is rarely received well. Advice that is just meant to put down the receiver or build up the giver isn't much help, and possibly doesn't even deserve the label of "advice".
There are only three people in the world that I think should definitely listen to all of my advice, and those three people are my kids. If I'm not making a warning/threat about defending myself then my advice is mostly informational, you can take it and account for it in your actions but I see no reason for you to be obligated to follow it, or even believe it is correct.
There are some people that treat advice as a full on gift giving process. They expect accolades for giving the gift. They expect the receiver to at least pretend that they liked the gift. And the gift they'd always like in return is for the receiver to act on their advice. This seems like a toxic approach to me.
cjet79
3d ago
Awesome videos. I'd seen the amazing cultivator simulator one. And it is part of what makes me think this genre has untapped potential.
I had not heard of The Matchless Kungfu. It does sound of potential interest.
cjet79
3d ago
I believe there is like some form of gamers depression, where a game that is too good can truly ruin a gamer. And its not too good in the sense of like "oh my god this is my dream game and the best thing ever".
But more that its like "oh wow this is the perfect feedback loop of addiction, skill up, and reward" and once you hit that game, or a few of them nothing ever scratches the itch quite right ever again. Kinda like a first hit of heroin it ruins everything else. My game was EVE online and Skyrim. The first burned me out on teamwork based online games, and the second burned me out on personal skill up type games. I've been chasing the dragon on both for a while. I think you got burned on Tarkov.
cjet79
3d ago
Dream game recently has been something I've thought about making.
A mix between the Wuxia genre and the Heroes of Might and Magic overworld mechanics. Instead of controlling a civilization and multiple heroes. Its just one hero, or not really a hero, but a cultivator. The cultivator you control is trying to advance in realms. An end goal of true immortality and full unkillability. Massive world to explore.
Thoughts on fun/cool features:
- World is only randomly generated once, and then hand populated with a bunch of cool features. World is large enough that a single playthrough would only let you see 1/100th of it. But online guides to cool spots, or the joy of finding your own cool spots could carry over in different playthroughs.
- Game is about cheating. I always love wuxia stories where they have cool "cheats". An absurd ability to make money, turn back time, or gain stats that no one else can. Difficulty mode at the start of a game is chosen entirely by how many "cheats" you want to turn on.
- Roguelite option. One of the cheats could be resurrecting with similar character stats in the same starting place (or stats that improve based on past lives).
- Areas or parts of the game are brutally and stupidly difficult. They are possible to avoid with knowledge about the world. Or possible to beat with some of the cheats. Or are endgame challenges.
- Reactive world. Over one very long life or multiple lives watch as the world evolves. Demon factions take over if not stopped. Cataclysmic beasts destroy wide swaths of land. Beast tides sweep through human cities. Humanity paves over and extracts the hell out of all available resources in their area.
I just have this feeling that the lore of such a game could be like Dwarf Fortress adventure mode. A kind of cool organic story telling. I've thought about making the game as a dwarf fortress mod rather than its own standalone thing.
Its one of those true dream game ideas where it just keeps growing way out of proportion and obviously its a pipe dream cuz I just keep stuffing so many features in it. I likely wouldn't even be able to enjoy it that much if I made it, because someone would have to know the secrets. But part of me wants to find a way to use AI in the creation of it, and have it modable enough that I could build the system of the game, and then just input an AI mod folder that makes everything new and fresh for me.
cjet79
10d ago
D. Rus - Russian author, has definitely been cheated on before or betrayed at least once by some woman in his life. https://www.amazon.com/stores/D.-Rus/author/B00LYQO4XI
warning: just because its not progressive doesn't mean its good.
Inadvisably Compelled - Saw multiple attempts to cancel him on reddit because he was "racist". I asked someone for evidence onetime. They posted a screen grab of the author being anti-immigration a couple of times and then what was maybe a joke that had clear racial tones. The stories don't really stand out to me as being filled with political opinions either way.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Inadvisably-Compelled/author/B09KMRDXY7
I thoroughly enjoyed his paranoid mage story. Blue core was mixed quality and a little too heavy on the sex and harem elements at times. System Delenda Est is on my to read list.
Terry Mancour - Spellmonger series https://www.amazon.com/stores/Terry-Mancour/author/B004QTNFOO
The main character is of the world that he is in. Which is a medieval world. He doesn't shy away from power and responsibility over others. MC is a former soldier. MC gets married and has kids within the story. It certainly doesn't feel like a progressive hero.
Those are some that stick out in my memory. Just about any translated Chinese Wuxia story will be filled with hollow characters. The MC in those stories will stack up dead bodies faster than sticks. And depending on the temperament of the author will either fuck his way through hordes of women, or constantly be betrayed by conniving bitches.
cjet79
10d ago
I agree with all of this. There are always tradeoffs in life, and in product consumption decisions.
cjet79
11d ago
I'm back at my computer. But not sober enough to put together the best recommendation list. Some additional thoughts:
- Read foreigners. Some of the LITRPG genre is famous for having Russian writers. Reading some of their stuff made me feel downright progressive at times. Where the average female character is a conniving bitch that will steal all your shit and stab you in the back, because she was dumb and got tricked by her father or boyfriend. Also the whole Wuxia genre that others have mentioned. Holy shit do they trash and burn progressive values. Sometimes with levels of psychopathy that would make Hitler blush.
- Read old stuff. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan, but also John Carter of Mars. The latter is out of copyright and cheap as shit. Disney made a movie of it and unintentionally made one of the greatest literature to movie conversions of all time (in the same league as the Lord of the Rings and Watership Down.
- Beware of published novels. I have some sense that Amazon and book publishers are more happy to publish the progressive values crap. Some of the more out there shit that I read on RoyalRoad is just not something that a publisher is going to attach their name to. Only the most persistent authors will end up self-published.
cjet79
11d ago
I have yet to see any of the modern Jurassic park type movies. Closest I got was playing the Jurassic World Evolution video game on steam. Which was basically a park management game, with a few fun sidebits with dinosaurs breaking out, and a photo mode that encouraged you to take cool pictures.
Its probably because of young kids. My own parents have a blindspot to 90's culture. Which is coincidentally when my two siblings and I grew up. I think I'll have the same blindspot.
My only redemption is in movie trailers. I do watch all of the movie trailers. I think some people might misinterpret that as "I watch a lot of movie trailers". No, I watch all of them. I'm subscribed to multiple channels that just show movie trailers on youtube. I would rate Jurassic World Rebirth trailers as top tier. Cool action shots, a general sense of the plot, and a diversity of shots displayed throughout different trailers.
cjet79
11d ago
That was a story I bounced off of early. I think I didn't get past the first encounter. Because it has that feeling. Yeah maybe D&D stories can be really fun and awesome, but most of them are trash. For good reason: part of the whole point of D&D is to get into fights that then utilize the mechanics of D&D. But if the mechanics suck or are boring in any way this whole strategy sucks. You are just gravitating towards a more sucky thing.
I can say I have tried to write at least progression fantasy, or form of litrpg lite. Its hard. I set out with a goal of keeping the blue boxes interesting and readable, but I think I failed even at that simple goal.
I do really love the genre though. I'd rather read awful LITRPG any day over most "good" fiction.
cjet79
11d ago
On mobile so I can't pull up a long list of recommendations. But the politics issue doesn't happen in all parts of the genre. Or at least not all web fiction.
My biggest personal grip with litrpg is when the story reads like a D&D campaign converted into a novel. The fights feel like a string of meaningless encounters. The MC bumbles their way into saving the world. The setting is nothing but a contrived excuse to bully the MC when he is young.
cjet79
12d ago
BP "beyond petroleum" Their logo of a sun exploding or expanding, which would be the end of the earth, and also the end of petroleum extraction on the planet.
cjet79
14d ago
I remember there was some controversy around Godot but I entirely forgot what it was. Censorship issues?
cjet79
17d ago
Ave Xia Rem Y (A Very Cliche Xianxia Harem Story!)
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/15193/ave-xia-rem-y
The title doesn't do it justice. It is very cliche in many ways, but it does the tropes honestly. And it can also subvert the tropes in fun ways. Angry young masters have been converted to friends and allies. The powerful masters that rule over everyone can be all too human in their flaws and prejudices. Characters in the story grow and have motivations separate from the main character.
Its a great rationalist story in the sense of having rational characters. Idiot ball plot points are rare. The main character is absolutely not a murder hobo, but instead a doctor and one of the kinder cultivators around. It's easy to like him and want him to succeed.
cjet79
18d ago
Firing squad is the way to go. That or ground zero of an explosive with enough force to instantly destroy your brain.
cjet79
18d ago
I don't know if I've ever seen double white lines outside of an airport runway.
I recently just went on an 11.5 hour road trip.
cjet79
18d ago
You joke, but the underwater rugby team is much more successful at recruiting and in that sport you can hold people underwater.
cjet79
18d ago
Going out after practice is difficult, but I try to make it happen. The main options are Hooters or Denny's.
My own charisma as a coach is hard to judge. People thank me for the coaching and give me compliments, but that could just be politeness.
The people that play are often eclectic. Usually smart people, it's an interesting team sport because you can't easily communicate underwater, but it's absolutely essential that you help your teammates.
Being in shape and able to swim well helps a lot. If you can't do those things but keep playing you will become a good swimmer and at least a little in shape. I've seen and coached people up from 'cant reach the bottom of a 7foot pool with flippers' to 'can swim most of the pool length underwater on the bottom'.
There are three different learning curves for the sport:
- Fitness and water agility. Being an athlete and good swimmer helps this, but coming out to practice consistently also helps
- Positioning and team play. Being in the right spot for passes or stealing the puck from others. People that have played other team sports like basketball, or soccer pick up on this stuff better. But just being smart helps a lot.
- Stick/puck handling. It's possible to do drills and rush to get much better at this. It is very satisfying when you have these skills. They are the least important of the skills though. You can be pretty bad at these and still be a great player. If you are good at these skills you can be a lazier player. They allow you to maximize the benefits of the other two skills.
With a new player I teach them these things:
- How to get down to the bottom easily
- Pushing the puck along in a straight line
- Turning around with the puck
- A simple push pass.
There are usually a few things to correct with each of those. If someone can get to the bottom easily the other items are pretty simple to teach.
We are short on players so just last week we had a brand new player being legitimately useful and scoring a goal against people that were trying to stop him. He is somewhat of an exception. Almost like a track star that played soccer for the first time in a rec league and just ran past everyone even while they sucked at dribbling.
A good athlete or swimmer can be ok at the sport within a few practices. They can be good at it in a year. A person could find the sport their freshman year of college and be selected for an international U23 team by their senior year. That is not an outlandish tale, that is one of the guys I play with.
The learning curves are there. It can take time to get good at the sport. As much time as it takes to get good at any sport, and in some cases less time, because there is less competition. But no one has ever heard of the sport or played it. Meanwhile everyone learns other sports in elementary school. Where they can get the boring basic stuff out of the way. By the time they get to highschool they can choose to play on a team where everyone has a minimal level of good fitness, understanding of the sport, and a basic to intermediate level of experience in the specialized skills of that sport.
cjet79
18d ago
Northern Virginia, USA.
But the sport is international. Best place to be is New Zealand, where its a high school sport. Best place to be in US is Lake Tahoe where Elon Musks' billionaire cousin is building a super team and paying people to live and play there. That last part might sound like a joke, it's not.
cjet79
19d ago
People are not allowed to express an interest in committing suicide without being subject to a whole of oversight and interruption to their life. This can be a good thing to prevent suicide, but it makes all survey data about suicidal willingness a little suspect.
I'd also say that every suicide that happens via someone torturing themselves to death via one of the harder methods is something that could have been prevented with more painless methods being available. At least they could have had a more peaceful death.
cjet79
19d ago
What is it gonna take for you play underwater hockey?
I need help getting new recruits and keeping them around.
cjet79
19d ago
Knew an East Asian looking woman with a Hispanic looking last name, but an accent that only sort of seemed like a Spanish accent. Then met her white friends that she went to college with that all had the same accent.
Felt more comfortable asking them and finally got the obvious answer to her origins I should have realized sooner: Brazil.
I'm not willing to say it's an all around bad practice with gift giving.
As corvos points out quite a few cultures adopt a more transactional nature for gifts. I feel that even the standard American culture has some aspects of gift giving that feel more transactional in nature. Wedding gifts are often basically a ticket price for attending the wedding. I currently have young kids everyone buys cheap crap for each other's kids, and then gives out gift baggies of cheap crap for the party. The kids barely know each other well enough to buy meaningful gifts. They certainly don't have some idealized understanding of gift giving. Tipping at restaurants which is supposed to be a gift is often just an assumed revenue stream for servers.
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