site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3199 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 9, 2022

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What video games are people playing?

I just finished the Outer Wilds after picking it up on sale, and wow, that game was incredible. The ending actually made me cry, something I haven't experienced in a video game in almost a decade.

I usually don't go for narrative driven/mystery type games, but Outer Wilds is truly in a class of it's own. I've heard Return of Obra Dinn is similar quality, as well as Disco Elysium, so I'm curious to check those out.

Just finished XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. It fixed the gameplay issues I had with vanilla XCOM 2 + minor DLC, the voice actor selection was a fun surprise, and the additional story and gameplay elements were fantastic; my only complaint is that they should have tried to actually integrate the Alien Hunters DLC rather than just tossing its boss baddies into regular missions. My playthrough was longer than it should have been, but that was probably my fault for being too paranoid of the possibility of speedrunning myself into a corner. (In the first XCOM remake I made it to the final battle and then just couldn't beat it). It was also very clever of them to make the canon XCOM 1 ending "the player loses", not just because this made me feel better about being a loser, but because it gave them a good diagetic excuse for not going too wild with the story and gameplay changes.

(edit: strikethrough added for accuracy)

It was also very clever of them to make the canon XCOM 1 ending "the player loses"

I actually really hated this and it's one of the reasons I prefer the first game. When I finished the first game I was really interested to see where they would take the story. But then they threw out the intriguing foundation they laid! It was very disappointing to me.

If you like the first game, have you tried the Long War? I've heard great things, and I like the fatigue system + longer campaign, but never gotten around to setting it up.

I've never done Long War but have also heard great things. I actually never finished an Enemy Within campaign either! I'm a real slacker, lol.

Hah it's ok. Enemy Within was pretty lackluster imo.

That's quite fair. But did you have to say it out loud? Now I'm going to have to edit my comment accordingly...

They did foreshadow a "terror from the deep 2" sequel pretty hard with the ending cut scene, didn't they? But maybe they realized an asset swap cash-in like the first TFTD wasn't an option, and had to get creative.

Nah I agree with @SubstantialFrivolity. The plot of the first was fascinating - the humans are able to fight the aliens without getting immediately wiped out because the Ethereals (aliens) have noticed a dire threat, and are seeking to Uplift a race genetically, mechanically, and psionically, because their own genetic potential has failed to meet the threat. They think humanity is the last chance to defeat this unknown threat, so they've been training us by fighting us and allowing us to slowly receive their technology.

Then for the plot of XCOM 2, the aliens won and took over Earth, so they basically rehash the same plot again. You are a human commander fighting the aliens. And when the story ends, what do you know! The aliens say the exact same thing, "you shouldn't destroy us we are preparing you for a greater threat!."

It's just lazy writing in my opinion. They failed to execute on the great base they set up. (Not sure why I felt the need to spoiler tag, but they're great games if you haven't played them.)

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats