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.
- 78
- 1
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
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule

Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
You should include a disclaimer that you played with mouse and keyboard rather than with controller, so your experience may be highly unreflective of others'.
Well, I have always assumed most PC gamers play with KB&M.
As ToaKraka said, most PC gamers do until they don't. Something like Devil May Cry is a special kind of masochism to play on the text input device.
More options
Context Copy link
According to Steam's statistics, the proportion of PC gamers who use controllers varies widely based on the genre of game that is being played.
Overall: 10 percent
Real-time strategy games: Less than 1 percent
First-person shooter games: 7 to 8 percent
Third-person adventure games: 40 to 50 percent
Sports and fighting games: More than 70 percent
Racing and skating games: More than 90 percent
Those numbers are from year 2021. As of 2024, the "overall" figure has increased from 10 percent to 15 percent, but Steam has not seen fit to provide per-genre numbers again.
I personally played Death Stranding 1 with a controller. And I have seen several 4chan threads laughing at people who try to play action RPGs like Dark Souls and Nioh with mouse and keyboard, fail, and leave bad reviews on that basis.
I actually like the left part of the gamepad with its thumbstick. It's the right part that I hate. I have five fingers, and you expect me to press four buttons with my thumb, including buttons like jump/dodge and attack that I might want to press in very rapid succession?
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link