site banner
PaperclipPerfector  11hr ago (text post)   580 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 16, 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.

Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Video game thread. What have you been playing?

Posting mine in a response to this because it's long and I don't want to derail everyone else.

I've been playing Star Wars Galactic Racer, the spiritual successor to both the Episode 1 podracer game for the n64 and the Burnout franchise (from which much of its dev team comes). I've never been a huge racing game person, but I'm a big Star Wars fan and have very fond memories of playing Episode 1 Podracer as a kid.

It's pretty great. The vehicles all feel really good to control, the maps are well designed, and the rogue-lite upgrades and abilities system allows for a lot of interesting (and surprisinglu balanced) playstyles. It's got a solid story mode that takes about 20 hours to work through. The NPCs are fairly fun and colorful from what I can tell, but I'm not really interested in story in my racing game, so I just skipped through most of the dialogue. I expect the online multiplayer will keep me coming back for another couple dozen hours or so before I get bored.

A couple major drawbacks: the podracing feels like it was kind of tacked on out of obligation. It's the best part of the game, but siloed off from both the main campaign and the main multiplayer mode, and there are no ways to customize your podracer, unlike the other vehicles. The lack of splitscreen and private multiplayer lobbies are also glaring oversights. For both issues, one can only assume they were discarded for time/budget constraints, with the intention of selling them to us later as DLCs. This sucks, and prevents me from having a fully positive impression of what is otherwise one of the best games I've played recently. It captures the feeling of extreme speed better than just about any other game I can think of.

the podracing feels like it was kind of tacked on out of obligation. It's the best part of the game, but siloed off from both the main campaign and the main multiplayer mode, and there are no ways to customize your podracer, unlike the other vehicles.

That seems like a massive own goal. I'd assume most people who hear "Star Wars" and "Racer" in a videogame would be in it for the podracing, even people who hated the prequels overall.

It really is bizarre, and makes me wonder if it started its life as a generic scifi racing game that only got a Star Wars coat of paint relatively late in development

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