site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1982 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 5, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

What are you buying during the Steam summer sale? I picked up Persona 4, Noita, Witcher 3, Halo 3 collection, and the Prey Mooncrash DLC.

It's ending in a couple days so I'm considering picking up another couple games on sale like God of War, Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon, or Into the Breach.

Tell me what you're buying, or try to convince me to buy one of the games on my list!

I bought Expedition 33. It's really good, with a spectacular turn-based battle system and an even better system for upgrades and finding upgrades. But I am a little confused why people hold up E33 as why the FF7Rs are mot good enough, especially since there is universal agreement that the FF7 combat, especially Rebirth, is great. It seems to me like these are two obviously great rpgs with somewhat flawed storytelling and a few shortcomings in world design. (Rebirth has the excessive quest issue abd badly erred by saving too much story for part 3, while E33 is too empty.)

But I am a little confused why people hold up E33 as why the FF7Rs are mot good enough, especially since there is universal agreement that the FF7 combat, especially Rebirth, is great.

There's nowhere near universal agreement on that. I didn't play E33, but from the criticisms that I've seen, it's that E33 decided to keep the traditional turn-based RPG approach while adding the parry system to it, which proved that it was possible to make a turn-based RPG whose gameplay appealed to people. Which was in contrast to Square Enix's apparent approach with FF7R which was declaring that turn-based RPG systems like that of the original FF7 were dead and creating a real-time system that had aspects of the turn-based system stapled on. As someone who never enjoyed the original FF7 combat system - or any turn-based RPG - when I was playing FF7R, I often found myself wishing they'd just done that, since what they actually produced was the worst of both worlds, something that was unsatisfying in its real-time controls due to the reliance on ATB, while losing almost none of what made turn-based combat unfun with the heavy reliance on stats and gear/tactics.

Hmm, I found E33's parry system totally uninteresting, but that may be because it is too hard for me; I only dodge, and badly. On FF7R, I'm a sucker for teamup attacks, so the synergy attacks of Rebirth totally got me... I just wish FFs would have a better system for activating limit breaks than "get hit a lot".

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