netstack
Texas is freedom land
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User ID: 647
netstack
Texas is freedom land
12hr ago
Is it a version of Bartle's 4 types of MUD players?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
Hey! Morrowind’s faces were…uh…they were definitely the best part of the character models.
Point taken. I agree that it’s plausible, I’m more like 70-30 against. Maybe 60-40, at this point.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
It’s possible. The elements are present, and I can’t say I’ll be surprised if there turns out to be a press release condemning the transphobic userbase, or whatever.
I find it more likely that this is a lazy solution to technical debt or to giving players “more” by reusing assets. That’s the kind of mundane blunder that happens all the time, San Fran or not.
I work for a defense contractor halfway across the country. We’ve got a DEI statement or three on our website! But if we ended up in the news for making ugly software, let alone an ugly plane, there would be a dozen reasons I’d suspect before asking if it was done to promote idpol. There’s just…so many other considerations.
That Twitter account says Niantic hired a DEI training company, and also that they’re in San Francisco. Neither of those things is enough to explain screwing up your flagship product! Perhaps there’s a simpler explanation?
But he’s also making it his job to piss people off. If there’s a reasonable explanation, you’re not going to hear it from him.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
1d ago
I’m placing my bets on incompetence. Is this really different than Oblivion’s potato faces? I understanding is that was an outsourcing problem. Something about FaceGen.
Really, this comes down to whether you think Niantic could culture-war their way out of a paper bag.
If what you say about locked accessories is true, this was probably seen as the cheapest way to double the number of custom options available to each player.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
2d ago
My naive guess would be mostly wages. None of the post-70s technology has really mitigated the need for a bunch of men to stand around in the sun and lift heavy objects. The same forces which push of cost of living up mean those guys won’t do it for $7.50/hr.
Is there a worker supply shock after fifteen years of collapsed demand? That is enough time for a good number to think about getting out of the business.
If an economist told me permitting or materials costs had ballooned since 2008, I’d believe that too, I suppose.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
2d ago
in a long time
Really? I get that it’s the U.K., but I’m skeptical that the state is getting too cozy with any particular religion.
This looks like the right decision.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
2d ago
That’s stupid. No, worse—it’s a bailey, an attempt to distance white nationalism from the poor optics of boots meeting necks.
Civic nationalism pretends race-blindness right until it comes time to judge whether someone is capable of meeting this nebulous standard. And what do you know, suddenly it’s time to fall back on population statistics and half-assed sociology. How convenient it is to use skin color as a proxy!
netstack
Texas is freedom land
2d ago
Russia chose this, thinking that Ukrainians would pay most of the human and financial cost. By supporting Ukraine, we are moving more of that cost onto Russia, the aggressor. I believe this is more moral than caving to threats.
This is mainly true insofar as Ukraine is willing to resist. If, as increased conscription suggests, they are losing their willingness to fight and die, we should defer. But for now, we have no moral duty to make the Ukrainian people surrender.
What explicit U.S. policy choices are you thinking about? Do any of them outweigh Russia’s explicit choice to invade? From where I’m standing, their right to respond to provocation is strictly weaker than Ukraine’s right to self-determination.
Ukraine loses at some point in the next couple years, leaving Russia with a pyrrhic victory, a poorer and less-stable country, and cemented as an explicit enemy of the US for the next few decades at least.
I think this is the most likely outcome, and it is a tragic one. I also don’t think it will be remembered as an Iraq-style Mistake. We’re not committing ourselves to nation-building or occupation; the check isn’t blank.
More importantly, I find this tragedy preferable to the one where Russia rolls in and shoots a few thousand Ukrainian troops before declaring “mission accomplished!” All the better options were taken off the table, and not by us.
If more people thought like me, it's entirely possible that this war would not have happened.
How do you mean? I expect Russia would have more incentive to invade, not less, if they foresaw no Western opposition.
blank check
If we were talking about Patriot Acts and boots on the ground, maybe. But spending money on munitions is like…our comparative advantage. It’s making a slightly larger fraction of GDP go towards geopolitical goals. I think we’re still getting a decent return on investment.
Yes, more people are dying than would if we washed our hands of it, and I wish they weren’t. But how much of the culpability falls on us rather than on the conscriptors, let alone the invaders?
I would take your “Mistakes were Made” bet, because I don’t expect this to escalate in the ways you’re thinking. Russia is probably going to win out as Ukraine collapses. I will admit that I was wrong—and lobby my Congressman against it, etc.—if America considers more direct intervention.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
I don’t believe we’ve modded anyone for the reverse sentiment, though it’s possible I missed something.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
And that’s what the Fun Thread is all about.
Re: Fremen hideouts, yeah, the people of the future hate recon. Or rather they rely on satellites, which the planetologist subverted by bribing the Spacing Guild. Everything on the north half had to be camouflaged, but the south definitely had open-air operations.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
Jessica’s internal monologue definitely says she did it for Leto in the book. Weird change to make.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
There are a few users who really jump on any news from Ukraine to defend Russia. Jeroboam has been consistent, but I wouldn’t say he’s framed it as anti-woke. I don’t know the prevalence, nor do I know how much pushback they receive on average. But this forum really attracts contrarians, and there’s not much alpha in saying Russia Bad.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
Do you have recommendations for ME fic? I feel like it doesn’t get that much, considering its popularity.
And I’m sure I can find mainstream het romance from a male perspective! It has to exist! Has to!
Sapkowski: too cringe. Rothfuss: same too fantastical. Banks: too inhuman, even those who are Culture-standard. Mieville and Bakker: too fucked up. Cook: whatever Croaker and the Lady have going on, it sure ain’t wholesome. Sanderson: don’t get me started.
deep breath
Yeah, I’m coming up blank, and I’m ashamed of it. I’m sure it’s out there, and I’ll check my shelves when I get home, but this is pathetic. So I’ll take any recs you’ve got.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
I guess I should be thankful that Twitter doesn’t display replies to us accountless peasants.
Anyway, this feels like a bit of a non sequitur. What’s Dase got to do with Great Value brand Klansmen?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
I really liked your breakdowns of the characterization. I agree that blockbusters are absolutely willing to toss in stock characters and skimp on realistic human dialogue.
Thing is, stock characters have worked since at least the commedia dell’arte. They’re a very efficient way to skip exposition and set expectations for a character. Anime examples abound. Clearly, a script can have familiar archetypes alongside human dialogue…Can.
My working theory is that the ability of western writers to model other human beings seems stunted. The current crop are narcissists, incompetent, or incapable of basic human empathy.
This feels Too Good To Check. It would be convenient if we could write off the people who produce bad entertainment as moral mutants, but is it likely?
Either that, or whatever they put down doesn't survive peer and funding review.
Now this is probably true. No matter the capabilities of individual writers, there’s got to be some mechanism keeping blockbusters from having good characters. Here’s a few possibilities.
- Scriptwriting is democratic, and the narcissism/incompetence/bias of the modal writers means most scripts end up with bad characterization.
- It’s totalitarian, and the n/i/b of the leading writers blocks off any quality contributions from the proles.
- It doesn’t matter how it’s governed, because everyone involved wants the same thing, but that thing isn’t “good characters.” It’s money, and what looks like n/i/b is actually more cost-effective.
- As any of the above, but laggy: decision-makers still haven’t figured out that their decisions are actually n/i/b. If they knew, they’d choose something else.
I lean towards 3 or 4. It would suck if quality (as we understand it) was different than quality (as the market understands it), but…it also wouldn’t really be unique. If you can’t put a price on it, the market isn’t going to take it into account. Option 4 is more optimistic; maybe that makes it cope? Still, I can’t rule out the idea that these people really want to make something good, and are only temporarily barking up the wrong tree.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
3d ago
I appreciated the tags.
There are two English translations. I read this one, which was completely a volunteer effort. The other one was commissioned by fans; I’m not sure how the two differ.
It’s brilliantly written. If you enjoyed the prose stylings, the setting, the grotesque cast of DE, you will find more of that. Naturally, it’s also hilarious in that understated way.
There’s also excellent thematic cohesion. I hesitate to call it “commentary,” but…there’s a setting, and a plot, and these characters, and they all come together in service of a very specific feeling, sensation, zeitgeist.
It was a popular vacation area just outside of Vaasa that swallowed the four Lund girls. Along with their little bones and tan-lined skin, an entire era vanished. Six kilometres of winding coastline, a swimming spot popular in the fifties; rows of changing cabins, reeds rustling in the wind. Go there and find the age that conservatives long for. When parents could send children to the beach unsupervised, two reál for ice cream and bus fare in the pockets of their summer pants. Mum and dad would shake their heads in worry, keeping their children hidden from the news from Messina, from Graad, from Gottwald, where every week—it seemed to them—someone’s wee skeleton was found buried inside a stove wall. There, every week, someone’s daughter escaped onto the street after thirty years of captivity in a cellar and cried for help.
But not here.
Here we have a social democracy. And the soft peach blossoms of social democracy, innocuous social programs; these progressive things make a broken human soul feel better. The uncanny technical urge to construct a subterranean secret room—with a ventilation system where the air ducts on the front lawn are disguised as clay miniature windmills—will never reach these outskirts. Those dark, raging fevers of the mind simmer down in the cool mist here; the breath of distant blue glaciers freezes the sick thoughts that reside in a man’s head. Vaasa. A better place to live.
Perhaps you can see what kind of Mottizen I meant. The people who catch a glimpse of this feeling, but don’t just latch on to it unexamined. The ones who want to really interrogate their longing. I can’t stress enough how rare it is, the way SaTA engages with this.
There’s so much more I want to say, though I need to finish DE before I risk further commentary. Suffice to say I found the book very, very technically impressive.
But there’s a catch.
My understanding is that one or two sequels were intended. With the collapse of ZAUM, it’s hard to imagine that we’ll ever get them. And SaTA cries out for just a bit more. It comes to a halt at a bizarre point in both plot and setting. Not rushed, but abrupt. I would describe it as two-thirds of an amazing book.
Depending on which parts of this review line up with your experience of DE, you may find SaTA fascinating or disappointing. Either way, there will probably be some frustration. I feel that, but I don’t regret reading it at all.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
I’m aiming to finish the game this weekend, so I won’t get to your spoilers yet. I got up to
It’s been on my mind recently after reading Sacred and Terrible Air, which…wow, that’s a book for a certain kind of Mottizen.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
I assumed you were being facetious, and I started to write a response about the elite college mission. But it’s possible you’re dead serious, and have some alternative structure in mind. This is why we have a rule about speaking plainly.
In the interest of not misrepresenting you—do you believe elite colleges spend more or less time teaching people things than they did in the 1950s? And do you think that should actually change?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
Deus Ex released in May 2000 with memorable writing, interesting choices, and a deliriously complicated setting. Between the cool factor and the memes, it’s remained relevant for decades.
Daikatana also released in May 2000, featuring…none of these things. It’s best known today for its questionable marketing.
I don’t take this as evidence of a trend in game writing or production. Our impressions are formed by outliers rather than the mean or median or even modal game for a year. We still get vivid, cohesive experiences from developers with a vision. Have you played Disco Elysium yet?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
For EM, straight-line propagation was a null hypothesis. Practical experiments rejected it, so the theory had to adapt. Science worked as intended.
For medicine, it’s a little trickier, because the category is defined by passing RCTs. The null hypothesis for any given treatment is that it doesn’t work; only those which can reject that are allowed into the category. Then anything which gets counted as effective must have some practical experiments behind it.
Flat Earthers object to the null hypothesis of, uh, Round Earth. In 2018, there was a documentary going around where one of them set up a practical experiment. Predictably for the rest of us, he failed to reject the hypothesis.
What’s the null hypothesis for climate skepticism?
The situation is different from EM or medicine because skeptics are unable to provide practical evidence of their own. After all, they’ve got all the same constraints as the IPCC—preexisting data, lack of a control group—but with less funding and less experience. Until they can move up a level and cite a practical experiment, they’re going to be stuck with the same kind of arguments as their opponents.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
Sure, it’s an observation, rather than a prediction. That’s fine for a control group, but insufficient. At least it lets us rule other theories out.
So…what would constitute experimental demonstration? What could I do to convince you that the greenhouse effect can, in fact, trap some amount of heat?
For that matter, I don’t see you providing any experiments yourself! Why should I privilege your bench-top reasoning over the IPCC’s?
netstack
Texas is freedom land
4d ago
If “more socialism” is a good descriptor for most climate interventions, it’d apply just as well to spraying calcite. Or to building highways, or to national defense, or any number of other collective-action problems. Clearly some of these are judged to be legitimate.
One could flip the argument by observing that communists just love their mass ecological interventions.
Anyone else going to be at the Dallas SSC meetup this weekend?
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