site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   876 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 30, 2026

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.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Video Game thread! What are you playing?

I've been replaying Terraria, this time with a bunch of friends and some light mods. It's a blast. We got five people on at once one time, and we may be able to do six this weekend. A great game for curling up by the fire while it's snowing and just gaming all day with friends on.

The Planet Crafter - Toxicity DLC. Basically an Open World Survival Craft game with a terraforming flavour.

Also Cast 'n Chill fishing game.

Finally TR-49 for a Return of the Obra Dinn style mystery.

I've done a couple Planet Crafter runs but find that they stop being interesting to me right around the point that I no longer need to worry about oxygen.

Up to then it's a race against time for stability; once stability is gained it just becomes a matter of wandering back and forth over the landscape looking for the story-related stuff you didn't find/tag earlier.

Needs monsters. Devs have said no monsters ever.

Also the DNA/creature-gen system is vastly more complex and onerous than it is interesting, which IMO is a bad dynamic.

I'll complain generally that the whole "You are indebted/convicted and must work your way out of this situation for an evil corporation that has the deck stacked against you" is a tremendously-overused trope at this point. Can't we just be pioneers motivated by our own enterprise? Please?

Still, I have ~150 hours in that game so it must be doing something right.

Yeah, I find it becomes too grindy in a way once you need to start mass production of vegetables to start cranking out Biolab recipes. Still, I keep playing it and just bought the new DLC (sigh).

If you like the genre, consider Survival:Fountain of Youth, which is kind of a combination of Green Hell/The Long Dark. You're a 16th century Conquistador trying to find the fabled fountain.

Its got its flaws, but at least has 'monsters' in the form of rabid animals. Combat can be a bit clunky, but finally progressing to the point of getting a high end crossbow is very satisfying.

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