site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2372 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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

new Path of exile one league. I started playing in earnest in delirium league and winter orb is for the first time strongly viable and I've decided to go for a build. it's worked pretty well but I'm holding off on the power stacking shift with ralekesh boots. I parked my wealth in a hinekora's lock and some mirror shards a few days back and they've since uncharacteristically declined ~20% in value to my chagrin. Currently farming 8 mod map drops because it is profitable with a quick map clear time so I'm building up a big supply of charts for the new mechanic.

I have a family member who plays a ton of PoE, and for a few weeks I tried to get into it too. Didn't grip me at all; just kinda felt like moving my dude around the screen spamming attacks with little to no meaningful variation or tactics. Boss fights were a little better. Some kind of event was running which helped me advance more quickly. Growing gardens or some such.

Anyway I know it's a very popular game and a lot of people -- including some with at least decent taste -- enjoy it. But I can't figure out what anyone sees in it. Unless you're a maximal autist you'll just be going with a build someone else developed (the overhead on figuring that out yourself is prohibitive) and the actual gameplay just seems... rote. Easily automatable.

So what do you like about it so much? Is the genre just not for me? It occurred to me that it would almost be more fun as a clicker game.

The appeal isn't quite the moment to moment mechanics of play, although I think they're better than a clicker would deliver. It's kind of like factorio in that you're building and improving an engine that turns map inputs into currency that can be spent improving your ability to turn map inputs into currency with a healthy dose of gambling dopamine hits. In live and recently refreshed trade leagues it's a very engaging puzzle to try and discover niches and farming strategies(which may be more or less synergistic with your build) where you can get more leverage on your time spent. The economy is very dynamic and responds to what builds are popular. If the biggest build of league is winter orb then some of the things that winter orb builds wants can be worth ten or a hundred times as much as they'd be worth in a different league so the inputs to get those items become valuable, the inputs needed to get the inputs needed to get those items become more valuable and so on.

In short it's a big puzzle box with a lot of different axis of skill expression from the ability to run maps more quickly to the knowledge of how to optimize a build and knowing what content to apply that build to. When it all comes together and you're earning absurd amounts of currency because some hunch about where the market would move it feels incredible. Also, its just satisfying to watch the stash tab fill up while you grind.

Thanks, that makes some sense to me. The experience of feeling like you've discovered a way to be extra-effective, and especially outpace others who aren't as clever, is a good one.

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