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PaperclipPerfector  11hr ago (text post)   476 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 31, 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.

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sci fi lasers and particle beams are boring if they don't create a more exotic experience than slugthrowers, and if they create a more exotic experience, that means they exploit different niches and so don't replace slugthrowers. Also, the AR15 is a reasonable guess at what a slugthrower will look like 300 years from now, odd as it may be to consider. The reasons are complicated and interesting, but the upshot is that there's a feedback loop running popularity > market share > stacking iterative improvements > excellence for purpose > popularity, such that the AR15 pattern is steadily outcompeting and driving to extinction all other designs, and it doesn't look like this will change so long as we're using chemical slugthrowers.

I will say, if I were doing far-future slugthrowers, I'd at least go electrothermal and try to drive design variation that way.

If the more exotic experience involves vastly outperforming slugthrowers, they can still displace ‘em.

  • no drop/windage
  • adjustable destructiveness
  • simplified logistics
  • lighter combat loadouts
  • answers some development in personal defenses

Pick one or more and roll with it.

I think you could make a good setup by expanding on the classic “kinetic barriers.” Have your psychics passively repel bullets and shrapnel but not lasers.

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