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simply-ivanka · 1 month ago

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My Long Road From Truman to Trump

I’ve been a Democrat since 1948, when I was 10. But I can no longer abide what my old party has become.

By Bartle Bull Sr. -- Wall Street Journal

I’ve been an outspoken Democrat since 1948, when I was the only student in my fifth-grade class to “vote” for Harry Truman. It’s been astonishingly difficult to disclose that next month I will vote for Donald Trump.

Like many, I will be doing so in the European way, voting for a party and its issues, rather than in the American way of supporting someone I like. When I have expressed my views—on economics, security and cultural matters—long-time liberal friends have said, “You sound like Trump, or some uneducated hillbilly.” Ignoring my schooling at Harvard, Oxford and the Sorbonne, these friends sound like well-meaning dilettantes, otherwise described as self-righteous, useful idiots or bien-pensant.

Such responses prompt me to compare my own liberal credentials with theirs. This makes me a difficult adversary, as I have long been an extremely useful idiot, overloaded with liberal credentials.

To name a few: In 1956 I helped coordinate Harvard Freshmen for Adlai Stevenson. Ten years later, I was arrested as a civil-rights lawyer in Hattiesburg, Miss., where Vernon Dahmer, the local head of the NAACP, had been burned alive in his house. In the same state, I later campaigned for Charles Evers for governor.

In 1968 I quit my job as a Wall Street lawyer to serve as Robert F. Kennedy’s New York campaign coordinator. In 1972, I organized the New York Citizens Committee for McGovern-Shriver. During this period, I was publisher of the Village Voice, a left-wing Manhattan newspaper. In 1976 I worked as Jimmy Carter’s New York state campaign manager, and in 1978 in South Carolina to support Charles Ravenel’s challenge to Sen. Strom Thurmond. My last Democratic Party campaign was in Harlem, backing Craig Schley, a young black reformer, in a primary against Rep. Charles Rangel. In 2008 I was chairman of New York Democrats for John McCain for President.

At the international level, in 1993-94, I volunteered in Bosnia with the International Rescue Committee to help Muslim refugees, spending Christmas Eve with Bosnian soldiers in a bunker in the mountains. In 2010, at 72, I worked in Afghanistan with the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women, going on foot patrols to girls’ schools. The Biden administration later abandoned these courageous women to the Taliban.

For a long time, like an old locomotive, I have been building steam inside when liberal friends, with the certitude and arrogance of the righteous, decry me as a “right-winger.” In a Harvard class-reunion speech many years ago, I said that “Harvard should stand up to the tyrannies of the left today the way it stood up to the tyrannies of the right in the days of Joe McCarthy.” But the progressive agenda doesn’t seem to include what Truman and John F. Kennedy considered liberal values, such as true political tolerance.

Now, as a lifelong Democrat, I am voting Republican for policy reasons, not because I like Mr. Trump. I believe my old party, as it abuses the powers of office and threatens to pack the Supreme Court and end the filibuster, now supports a government that is far too strong at home and far too weak abroad.

Mr. Bull is a writer living in upstate New York. His latest novel is “We’ll Meet Again.”

#trump #trump 2024 #president trump #ivanka #repost #america first #americans first #america #democrats #donald trump

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brookston · 3 months ago

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Holidays 8.24

Holidays

Bartholomew Fair (UK)

Day of Action for Tolerance & Respect Among Peoples (Argentina)

Flag Day (Liberia)

Flitting Appreciation Day

Gaura Parba (Nepal)

Go Topless Day [also Sunday nearest 8.26]

International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code (UN)

International Strange Music Day

Knife Day

Kobe Bryant Day (Los Angeles)

Love a Geek Day

Minerva Asteroid Day

National #IAM911 Day

National Danny Day

National Emory Day

National Hydropower Day

National Knife Day

National Maryland Day

National Parks Day (Costa Rica)

National SKAM Artist Day

National Waffle Iron Day

Nostalgia Night (Uruguay)

Osiris Nativity (Ancient Egypt)

Pluto Demotion Day

Sam Spade Day

Schaferlauf (Germany)

Shooting Star Day

Single-Parent Family Day

Television Day Indonesia)

Vesuvius Day

Waffle Iron Day

Waratambar (Thanksgiving; Papua New Guinea)

Wayzgoose (End-of-Summer Party)

Weather Complaint Day

We Love Memoirs Day

William Wilberforce Day

Winter Barley Day (French Republic)

World Catholic, Artificial Intelligence, & Robot Day

World Gujarati Language Day

World Nuclear Disaster Day

World Trainer’s Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Can-Opener Day

Indian Single Malt Day

National Peach Pie Day

National Waffle Day

Independence & Related Days

Russia (from USSR, 1991)

Ukraine (from USSR, 1991)

4th Saturday in August

Bartletide (a.k.a. Burning Bartle; UK) [Saturday closest to 24th]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Speak Kind Words Saturday [Saturday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 24 (3rd Full Week of August)

Giants of Ath Festival (De Ducasse; Belgium) [4th Saturday thru SUnday]

International Bat Nights (thru 8.25) [Last Full Weekend]

Festivals Beginning August 24, 2024

Around The World Cultural Food Festival (Alexandria, Virginia)

Balingup Medieval Carnivale (Balingup, Australia) [thru 8.25]

Banana Split Celebration (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) [thru 8.25]

Beertopia(Palmetto, Florida)

Bloemencorso Vollenhove (Vollenhove, Netherlands)

Boones Mill Apple Festival (Boones Mill, Virginia)

Boston’s Trinidad Style Carnival (Boston, Massachusetts)

Brew at the Zoo (Providence, Rhode Island)

Cleveland Garlic Festival (Cleveland, Ohio) [thru 8.25]

Coastal Craft Beer Festival (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Delaware Beer, Wine and Spirits Festival (Dover, Delaware)

Farm Fresh Uncorked (Hillsboro, Oregon)

Heirloom Tomato Festival (Sherman, Connecticut)

Independence BrewBQ (Independence, Iowa)

Lake Tahoe Brewfest (Lake Tahoe, California)

Long Night of Museums (Berlin, Germany)

Music City Brewer's Fest (Nashville, Tennessee)

National Championship Chuckwagon Race (Clinton, Arkansas) [thru 9.1]

Olathe Sweet Corn Festival (Olathe, Colorado)

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival (West Newton, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.28]

Potwin Watermelon Festival (Potwin, Kansas)

Prickly Pear Festival (Superior, Arizona)

Prosser Beer & Whiskey Festival (Prosser, Washington)

Sawtooth Salmon Festival (Stanley, Idaho)

Schubertiade Vorarlberg (Schwarzenberg, Austria) [thru 9.1]

ShakesBeer Fest (Stratford, Connecticut)

Smuttynose Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Hampton, New Hampshire)

Swine in the Pines (Macclenny, Florida)

Threshing Bee (Donnelly, Minnesota) [thru 8.25]

Washington County Fair (Pembroke, Maine) [thru 8.25]

Wells Chili-Fest (Wells, Maine)

West Virginia State Honey Festival (Parkersburg, West Virginia) [thru 8.25]

Windsor Fair (Windsor, Maine) [thru 9.2]

Wine Down Summer (West Deptford, New Jersey)

Feast Days

Abbán of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Alexander Milne Calder (Artology)

Alex Colville (Artology)

Arkwright (Positivist; Saint)

A.S. Byatt (Writerism)

Aubrey Beardsley Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Aurea of Ostia (Christian; Saint)

Bartholomew the Apostle (Roman Catholic, Anglican) [mead drinkers, cheese merchants] *

Day of Our Lady of Sanity (Pagan)

Festival of Mania (Ancient Rome)

Gartan (Celtic Book of Days)

The Great In-Betweeny (Muppetism)

Gunnlöð Festival (Norse)

Hannah Frank (Artology)

Irchard (a.k.a. Erthad) of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Jeanne-Antide Thouret (Christian; Saint)

Jorge Luis Borges (Writerism)

Lavinia Fontana (Artology)

Luna Festival (Ancient Rome)

Maria Micaela Desmaisieres (Christian; Saint)

The Martyrs of Utica (Christian; Martyrs)

Massa Candida (Martyrs of Utica, a.k.a. The White Mass; Christian; Martyrs)

Magal de Touba (Pilgrimmage; Senegal)

Mundus Patet (Roman Harvest Feast)

Mundus Ritual of Ceres (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Nancy Spero (Artology)

Ouen (Audoin or Audoenus) of Rouen (Christian; Saint) [Innkeepers]

Paul Coelho (Writerism)

Pluto Demotion Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Stephen Fry (Humanism; Writerism)

Willka Raymi (Ancient Incan; Peru)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alice’s Restaurant (Film; 1969)

All Quiet on the Western Front (Film; 1930)

Buddy the Gee Man (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Chop Suey (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1930)

Chronic Town, by R.E.M. (EP; 1982)

The Facts of Life (TV Series; 1979)

Fantastic Voyage (Film; 1966)

The Fox and the Duck (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

Frank, by Squeeze (Album; 1989)

Get Together, recorded by The Youngbloods (Song; 1966)

Grace, by Jeff Buckley (Album; 1994)

Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil (Philosophical Thoughts; 1947)

They Happytime Murders (Film; 2018)

The Harp in the South, by Ruth Park (Novel; 1948)

Hi-Rise Wise Guys (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1970)

Jay and Silent Bob Stroke Back (Film; 2001)

Look What You Made Me Do, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2017)

Love Me Tender, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

Mess Production (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1945)

Mice in Council (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1934)

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins (Novel; 2010) [#3]

Oh! The Grandeur, by Andrew Bird with Bowl of Fire (Album; 1999)

Pump Up the Volume (Film; 1990)

Rock ’N’ Roll High School (Film; 1979)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1966)

Saludos Amigos (Disney Animated Film; 1942)

Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander [Chronicles of Prydain #4]

Tattoo You, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1981)

Teenage Dream, by Katy Perry (Album; 2010)

3 Ring Wing-Ding (WB LT Cartoon; 1968)

Tortilla Soup (Film; 2001)

Violin and Piano Sonata (K526), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sonata; 1787)

The Witches (Film; 1990)

Today’s Name Days

Bartholomäus, Isolde, Michaela (Austria)

Aurea, Bariša, Bartol, Bartolomej, Bartul, Zlata (Croatia)

Bartoloměj (Czech Republic)

Bartholomæus (Denmark)

Albert, Berta, Pärt, Pärtel (Estonia)

Bertta, Perttu (Finland)

Barthélémy (France)

Bartholomäus, Isolde, Michaela (Germany)

Aitolia, Eftihis (Greece)

Bertalan (Hungary)

Bartolomeo, Genesio, Giuliano (Italy)

Bertolds, Bertrams, Berts, Bertulis, Boleslavs (Latvia)

Alicija, Baltramiejus, Baltrus, Rasuolė, Viešvilas (Lithuania)

Belinda, Bertil (Norway)

Bartłomiej, Cieszymir, Jerzy, Joanna, Malina, Michalina (Poland)

Bartolomej (Slovakia)

Bartolomé, Emilia (Spain)

Bartolomeus (Sweden)

Baird, Bard, Bart, Barth, Bartholomew, Bowen, Evan, Ewan, Keon, Owen (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 237 of 2024; 129 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 34 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 21 (Geng-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 20 Av 5784

Islamic: 18 Safar 1446

J Cal: 27 Purple; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 11 August 2024

Moon: 68%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 12 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Arkwright]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 66 of 94)

Week: 3rd Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 3 of 32)

#calendar #Holidays

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brookstonalmanac · 3 months ago

Text

Holidays 8.24

Holidays

Bartholomew Fair (UK)

Day of Action for Tolerance & Respect Among Peoples (Argentina)

Flag Day (Liberia)

Flitting Appreciation Day

Gaura Parba (Nepal)

Go Topless Day [also Sunday nearest 8.26]

International Day Against Intolerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code (UN)

International Strange Music Day

Knife Day

Kobe Bryant Day (Los Angeles)

Love a Geek Day

Minerva Asteroid Day

National #IAM911 Day

National Danny Day

National Emory Day

National Hydropower Day

National Knife Day

National Maryland Day

National Parks Day (Costa Rica)

National SKAM Artist Day

National Waffle Iron Day

Nostalgia Night (Uruguay)

Osiris Nativity (Ancient Egypt)

Pluto Demotion Day

Sam Spade Day

Schaferlauf (Germany)

Shooting Star Day

Single-Parent Family Day

Television Day Indonesia)

Vesuvius Day

Waffle Iron Day

Waratambar (Thanksgiving; Papua New Guinea)

Wayzgoose (End-of-Summer Party)

Weather Complaint Day

We Love Memoirs Day

William Wilberforce Day

Winter Barley Day (French Republic)

World Catholic, Artificial Intelligence, & Robot Day

World Gujarati Language Day

World Nuclear Disaster Day

World Trainer’s Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Can-Opener Day

Indian Single Malt Day

National Peach Pie Day

National Waffle Day

Independence & Related Days

Russia (from USSR, 1991)

Ukraine (from USSR, 1991)

4th Saturday in August

Bartletide (a.k.a. Burning Bartle; UK) [Saturday closest to 24th]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Speak Kind Words Saturday [Saturday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 24 (3rd Full Week of August)

Giants of Ath Festival (De Ducasse; Belgium) [4th Saturday thru SUnday]

International Bat Nights (thru 8.25) [Last Full Weekend]

Festivals Beginning August 24, 2024

Around The World Cultural Food Festival (Alexandria, Virginia)

Balingup Medieval Carnivale (Balingup, Australia) [thru 8.25]

Banana Split Celebration (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) [thru 8.25]

Beertopia(Palmetto, Florida)

Bloemencorso Vollenhove (Vollenhove, Netherlands)

Boones Mill Apple Festival (Boones Mill, Virginia)

Boston’s Trinidad Style Carnival (Boston, Massachusetts)

Brew at the Zoo (Providence, Rhode Island)

Cleveland Garlic Festival (Cleveland, Ohio) [thru 8.25]

Coastal Craft Beer Festival (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Delaware Beer, Wine and Spirits Festival (Dover, Delaware)

Farm Fresh Uncorked (Hillsboro, Oregon)

Heirloom Tomato Festival (Sherman, Connecticut)

Independence BrewBQ (Independence, Iowa)

Lake Tahoe Brewfest (Lake Tahoe, California)

Long Night of Museums (Berlin, Germany)

Music City Brewer's Fest (Nashville, Tennessee)

National Championship Chuckwagon Race (Clinton, Arkansas) [thru 9.1]

Olathe Sweet Corn Festival (Olathe, Colorado)

Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival (West Newton, Pennsylvania) [thru 9.28]

Potwin Watermelon Festival (Potwin, Kansas)

Prickly Pear Festival (Superior, Arizona)

Prosser Beer & Whiskey Festival (Prosser, Washington)

Sawtooth Salmon Festival (Stanley, Idaho)

Schubertiade Vorarlberg (Schwarzenberg, Austria) [thru 9.1]

ShakesBeer Fest (Stratford, Connecticut)

Smuttynose Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival (Hampton, New Hampshire)

Swine in the Pines (Macclenny, Florida)

Threshing Bee (Donnelly, Minnesota) [thru 8.25]

Washington County Fair (Pembroke, Maine) [thru 8.25]

Wells Chili-Fest (Wells, Maine)

West Virginia State Honey Festival (Parkersburg, West Virginia) [thru 8.25]

Windsor Fair (Windsor, Maine) [thru 9.2]

Wine Down Summer (West Deptford, New Jersey)

Feast Days

Abbán of Ireland (Christian; Saint)

Alexander Milne Calder (Artology)

Alex Colville (Artology)

Arkwright (Positivist; Saint)

A.S. Byatt (Writerism)

Aubrey Beardsley Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Aurea of Ostia (Christian; Saint)

Bartholomew the Apostle (Roman Catholic, Anglican) [mead drinkers, cheese merchants] *

Day of Our Lady of Sanity (Pagan)

Festival of Mania (Ancient Rome)

Gartan (Celtic Book of Days)

The Great In-Betweeny (Muppetism)

Gunnlöð Festival (Norse)

Hannah Frank (Artology)

Irchard (a.k.a. Erthad) of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Jeanne-Antide Thouret (Christian; Saint)

Jorge Luis Borges (Writerism)

Lavinia Fontana (Artology)

Luna Festival (Ancient Rome)

Maria Micaela Desmaisieres (Christian; Saint)

The Martyrs of Utica (Christian; Martyrs)

Massa Candida (Martyrs of Utica, a.k.a. The White Mass; Christian; Martyrs)

Magal de Touba (Pilgrimmage; Senegal)

Mundus Patet (Roman Harvest Feast)

Mundus Ritual of Ceres (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Nancy Spero (Artology)

Ouen (Audoin or Audoenus) of Rouen (Christian; Saint) [Innkeepers]

Paul Coelho (Writerism)

Pluto Demotion Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Stephen Fry (Humanism; Writerism)

Willka Raymi (Ancient Incan; Peru)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alice’s Restaurant (Film; 1969)

All Quiet on the Western Front (Film; 1930)

Buddy the Gee Man (WB LT Cartoon; 1935)

Chop Suey (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1930)

Chronic Town, by R.E.M. (EP; 1982)

The Facts of Life (TV Series; 1979)

Fantastic Voyage (Film; 1966)

The Fox and the Duck (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

Frank, by Squeeze (Album; 1989)

Get Together, recorded by The Youngbloods (Song; 1966)

Grace, by Jeff Buckley (Album; 1994)

Gravity and Grace, by Simone Weil (Philosophical Thoughts; 1947)

They Happytime Murders (Film; 2018)

The Harp in the South, by Ruth Park (Novel; 1948)

Hi-Rise Wise Guys (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1970)

Jay and Silent Bob Stroke Back (Film; 2001)

Look What You Made Me Do, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2017)

Love Me Tender, recorded by Elvis Presley (Song; 1956)

Mess Production (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1945)

Mice in Council (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1934)

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins (Novel; 2010) [#3]

Oh! The Grandeur, by Andrew Bird with Bowl of Fire (Album; 1999)

Pump Up the Volume (Film; 1990)

Rock ’N’ Roll High School (Film; 1979)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1966)

Saludos Amigos (Disney Animated Film; 1942)

Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander [Chronicles of Prydain #4]

Tattoo You, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1981)

Teenage Dream, by Katy Perry (Album; 2010)

3 Ring Wing-Ding (WB LT Cartoon; 1968)

Tortilla Soup (Film; 2001)

Violin and Piano Sonata (K526), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sonata; 1787)

The Witches (Film; 1990)

Today’s Name Days

Bartholomäus, Isolde, Michaela (Austria)

Aurea, Bariša, Bartol, Bartolomej, Bartul, Zlata (Croatia)

Bartoloměj (Czech Republic)

Bartholomæus (Denmark)

Albert, Berta, Pärt, Pärtel (Estonia)

Bertta, Perttu (Finland)

Barthélémy (France)

Bartholomäus, Isolde, Michaela (Germany)

Aitolia, Eftihis (Greece)

Bertalan (Hungary)

Bartolomeo, Genesio, Giuliano (Italy)

Bertolds, Bertrams, Berts, Bertulis, Boleslavs (Latvia)

Alicija, Baltramiejus, Baltrus, Rasuolė, Viešvilas (Lithuania)

Belinda, Bertil (Norway)

Bartłomiej, Cieszymir, Jerzy, Joanna, Malina, Michalina (Poland)

Bartolomej (Slovakia)

Bartolomé, Emilia (Spain)

Bartolomeus (Sweden)

Baird, Bard, Bart, Barth, Bartholomew, Bowen, Evan, Ewan, Keon, Owen (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 237 of 2024; 129 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 34 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 21 (Geng-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 20 Av 5784

Islamic: 18 Safar 1446

J Cal: 27 Purple; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 11 August 2024

Moon: 68%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 12 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Arkwright]

Runic Half Month: Rad (Motion) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 66 of 94)

Week: 3rd Full Week of August

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 3 of 32)

#Holidays

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askagamedev · 3 years ago

Note

So with the "git gud" response isn't it dependent on the game genre? I mean if someone strolled into the Dark Souls forums and complained that the game was too hard, and the other players responded with "git gud," isn't that kind of the idea of the game? Maybe they could respond nicer, but the sentiment is the same. Game is hard on purpose, or am I missing something?

Allow me to quote from my original post:

"While these might be somewhat similar on external inspection, what the hardcore fan believes is intended and what is actually intended are typically not the same thing."

Difficulty is only one dimension of an intended multi-dimensional experience. Generalizing it down to that one facet ignores many of the different reasons that players play games. You may have heard of [Richard Bartle's taxonomy of gamer motivations] before - how players tend to fall into specific buckets of Explorer, Killer, Socializer, Achiever. You may have also heard of [Magic: The Gathering's psychographic player profiles] - Timmy, Johnny, and Spike (and Vorthos and Melvin). Personally, I like [Quantic Foundry's gamer motivation model] where they break down player motivation into six different independent categories for players who play games.

You can think about these categories like D&D character attributes - strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. The attributes are independent of each other. Some players have high stats in many of these numbers, while others have lower stats. Each player is different.

If we break down the Souls games across these categories, you should start to see how there is are far more to the Dark Souls experience than just the difficulty. For the immersion-lovers, the entire world of Lordran is lovingly and carefully crafted with environmental storytelling and lore everywhere. For those who crave action and excitement, there are highly scripted and varied boss fights against interesting and unique enemies. For creativity, there's an immense world with lots of little secrets to find. For achievers, there is the element of powering up and defeating all of the bosses. There’s even the added social element of ghosts and leaving messages for other players. These features and elements were not added by accident - they were all intended to be part of the complete experience.

The intended experience of Souls games is to tickle all of these aspects to varying degrees, not just difficulty. Make no mistake, difficulty and challenge is, for sure, an important part of the whole. But it is not the whole, and should not be considered as such. It is not impossible for good designers (such as the Dark Souls dev team) to tweak and adjust game elements to create content such that the game still imparts the intended overall experience without making required execution so exact that the many players who are motivated by the other major game elements are not excluded by default.

Those players who oversimplify the Dark Souls experience to one dimension like difficulty by saying "git gud" are ignoring a huge part of what makes Dark Souls Dark Souls, and that's most likely because they are extrapolating why they like Dark Souls out to why everyone should like Dark Souls. This clearly isn’t the universal case! If it were, the developers themselves would have done more to support it, rather than spend all of those resources to build out all of the extra elements that the gatekeeping players are ignoring with their oversimplified “git gud” mantra. As such, I consider the feedback from players who want to enjoy these clearly-important aspects of Souls games but cannot for execution reasons both valid and valuable.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

The FANTa Project is being rebooted. [What is the FANTa project?]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

#gatekeeping #player psychology #understanding fan mentality #brain stuff #game design principles #dealing with community

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pollylynn · 4 years ago

Photo

Title: Narc WC: 800

“Mind if I cut in?” — Kate Beckett, Smells Like Teen Spirit (6 x 15)

Someone has spiked the punch. It’s an entirely ludicrous cliché, but it’s true. The first sign is a pair of stumblers who not only disrupt their slow dance, the girl’s heel lands square in the middle of his foot, and no man’s footwear in the known universe is proof against that.

The stumblers have her whipping around to scan the gym, eyes narrowed. Next come the gigglers. Everyone, everywhere with a cut-crystal punch cup—because this is Faircroft Prep, where seventeen-year-olds warrant busting out the Waterford—is giggling over said punch cup.

She strikes out for the table near the enormous, rose be-decked portrait of Madison. He hobbles along in her wake. The fumes burn their eyes while they’re still a good distance away, and when he peers down into the gargantuan bowl, the alcohol-to-punch ratio is so high that the liquid inside is the palest of pinks.

“It doesn’t smell like cheap vodka,” he offers. The comment is noncommittal. He’s not sure what she is or is not going to want to do about this, but it’s probably no laughing matter. “Of course it wouldn’t be cheap. This is Faircroft Prep, after all.” He takes another sniff of the air “Oh, wait, though. Maybe it’s not vodka at all. Maybe it’s Everclear.”

“It’s Everclear,” she says as she gives him a sidelong, pitying look. The back of his neck goes hot. He suddenly feels like one of the early versions of little Ricky Rodgers suddenly colliding with a very late model Rebel Bex. Rebel Bex has almost certainly spiked a punch bowl or two in her day. Rebel Bex has probably passed around a flask with some of the cool young teachers. Little Ricky Rodgers got a three-day hangover from three sips of a Snow Creek Berry Bartles and Jaymes Wine Cooler.

“Aren’t there chaperones?” She rises up on her toes in a vain attempt to see over the heads of the giggling, stumbling, punch-swilling crowd. Neither question nor the move is all that Rebel Bexian.

He’s relieved. Little Ricky Rodgers has no idea what to even say to Rebel Bex, assuming he’d be able to say anything at all. He wouldn’t be all that sad to see her in the rear view mirror but then he feels guilty for that.

He feels guilty for being relieved that Rebel Bex `has all but left the building, because it’s clear—or kind of clear, anyway—that she has an unexpected opportunity here tonight. It’s clear, he thinks, that she’d like to be Rebel Bex for this stretch of hours. She would like to travel back in time and give the motorcycle-riding, tight black leather–wearing version of herself a chance at a couple of slow dances, and maybe a few sips of that punch, which is very pale pink indeed.

“Principal Dunan,” he says, taking up his supporting role as she ought to for better or worse, et cetera. “I could go get him.”

They share a look. Principal Dunan is the obvious solution. He’s the right solution, because place is chock full of hormones and teenage trauma, and punch that is mostly one-hundred-ninety-proof grain alcohol is a really terrible addition to that mix. So she does what she has to do. They do what they have to do.

She moves to take up a post near the punch bowl. Along the way, she snatches cups from unsuspecting hands until there’s an untidy spread crowding right up to the punch bowl itself, which none may approach. She has to raise her voice once—once only—to emphasize that the punch well has run dry.

He pauses for just a moment to watch her wrangle tipsy teenagers like she was born to it—although who would want to be born to such an avocation is a mystery. He pauses, and bleeding edge Richard Castle feels no more worthy to be in the orbit of present-day Detective Beckett than little Ricky Rodgers caught in the gravitational pull of Rebel Bex.

He pauses, then he goes. Principal Dunan, as predicted, has the punch bowl and cups wheeled away. He has phone calls in and paperwork for the discipline of the punch spiker and her accomplices; he has the situation under control, and it’s well past time they bowed ou to this mess.

She startles a little when he comes up behind her. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and feels the warmth on the back of her neck.

“Sometimes it sucks being the grown up.” She presses her face into his shoulder.

“Sometimes.” He kisses her temple. “But grown-ups have better booze. We have better booze at home.”

“We do have better booze.” She affirms. “Let’s go home.”

A/N: Rebel Bex and Cop Bex—the war between them is not a thing

images via homeofthenutty

#Castle #Caskett #Castle: Season 6 #Castle: Smells Like Teen Spirit #Kate Beckett #Richard Castle #Fic #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Fan Fic #Fan Fiction #Writing #Interrogatives?

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crossingplace · 4 years ago

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hydrangea

@astutior is not alone, neither is annie.

I tell her I love her like not killing or ten minutes of sleep beneath the low rooftop wall on which my rifle rests. I tell her in a letter that will stink, when she opens it, of bolt oil and burned powder and the things it says. I tell her how Private Bartle says, offhand, that war is just us making little pieces of metal pass through each other.

Kevin Powers, “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting”

What Annie recalled about Armin always startled her with the helpless clarity of insects to a flame.

She remembered the sudden drop of her stomach, the rush of blood to her head when he’d told her that the reason he went to see her fossil was what she’d heard Hitch tease him about. What she’d thought was his pity scoured her chest as she turned to leave, until he’d grabbed her wrist; and she let herself sit back down next to him, drawn back to him like he’d been drawn back to her, the four years she’d hibernated.

#|| rp: hydrangea #astutior #|| stories #I abstain. (annie)#fdjgbsdklfbgfdsklbgfd HERE

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glottia-arts · 5 years ago

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Sweet smells lead to sweet memories

What do you mean I can write for other fandoms?

This writing piece is just something based on this drawing that @emizel did, so it's a little short. Probably should have asked more about what Hilda was like, both alive and dead, but I guess I'll die in a volley of arrows.

Word Count: 2,526 _____

“W-we’ll be back! Lord Zarok’s wishes will be met!”

Turning tail with their leader slumped over their shoulders, the team of Boiler Guards fled from the battlefield created by their superior and would be hero of Gallowmere.

Said hero sighed in relief as he slumped to the ground, exhausted from the battle that had just taken place. Practically every one of Dan’s energy vials had been depleted from that attack. Taking out his last flask, it was clear how close he was to losing this fight. The remaining vial looked to be filled about twenty percent. Removing the cork, he toasted to his own self victory before downing the odd healing substance.

The commander of the Boiler Guard troops, Kesten, certainly was a wild card. At first, the metal menace faked him out with his standard rifle, before moving close. The attacks alternating between hitting the skeleton with said weapon or roundhouse kicking him where his gut used to be. Once Daniel began to use his crossbow and regular bow to keep the guard at a distance, he grew surprised.

Kesten tossed aside his rifle in favor of his newly displayed weapons, two knives. Chef knives at that. Daniel wasn’t one to judge, he used his arm as a weapon from time to time. Heck, he even received Chicken legs from the witch of the Enchanted Earth. So blades utilized for the culinary arts weren’t too odd of a thing.

Daniel’s long distance weapons were rendered useless once those came out. The Boiler Guard batted aside the projectiles and even sliced through a few of them. Kesten made short work of his health, it was practically laughable. Daniel almost didn’t have time to ingest one of his health vials, but with the interference of his companion, Hildegard, he seized his chance of recovering.

The mage’s distraction had worked, a little too well. Kesten’s sights turned on her and he rushed at the undead as quickly as he had Daniel. The skeleton attempted to follow, but the metal guard reached her first. It confused him that he did not strike her down as he feared, but had instead flung a knife towards her feet. Thrown off balance, the woman would have tumbled to the ground if not for the Boiler Guard grasping her arm with his free hand, hoisting her off the ground.

Kesten was a tall piece of work, even without the signature Boiler Guard hat adding to his stature, but as he raised Hilda with ease, it became glaringly so. As he lifted her, he still leaned down, a sense of foreboding rippling through Hilda’s body. She could feel the chill of his stare pierce through her, even before a set of burning green eyes flashed behind his visor.

“I believe this is a fight between Sir Fortesque and I, I do not tolerate interference. Especially by traitors.” The last word held venom and not wasting further time with the intrusion, Kesten tossed Hildegard a few feet away, ignoring her complaints.

Snapping his fingers, he pointed to the woman. “Don’t injure her, but make certain she doesn’t interfere again.”

“Yessir!” his lackeys saluted, focus shifting from their boss to the mage. Guns directed at her, they made sure she would remain complacent.

Discarded blade back in hand, Kesten charged towards Daniel, picking up where they had left off.

He started intense as prior, but something became apparent. He was slowing down. Daniel noted this after pulling out his magical sword, trying to apply its broadness for a more defensive advantage. Landing a blow to the guard with the weapon tipped Daniel off. Kesten had a weakness to magical items.

With this new revelation, Daniel did his best to use the newly acquired sword to combat against the metal man.

There was nevertheless a struggle to fight against Kesten, but in no time he was flat on his back, black and green steam emitting from his body.

His lackeys abandoned their duty the second they heard metal collide with earth. Scrambling to their leader, they examined the extent of his injuries. In the end, they concluded it was best to evacuate.

Daniel had been thankful for them choosing to pull out, gods knew if they came after him now, he might not make it to his next destination.

Hoping his friend was fine, he peeked in her direction. She showed to be in good condition, but she was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, deep in thought.

Shakily he rose to his feet, walking over to her.

“Hilda!”

No response.

Hovering over her, he tilted his head in confusion. “Hildy?”

Blinking, she looked up to the knight “Oh Dan… you’re ok. That’s good… that’s good.”

Frowning, he jabbed his sword into the ground, leaning against it. “Yes, but are you ok?”

It took her a bit to process his words. “Oh yes, yes just fine.”

“You sure?” A short delay before she nodded and turned her head to stare back at the ground. Lowering her knees slightly, she placed an elbow on one as her palm rested against her cheek. “Just.. thinking about something.”

Sitting down near her, he tiredly leaned against the glowing blade. “Like what?”

“... it’s just that.. I can tell Zarok’s done something to the guards. Or at least him. It was quick, but I saw there was that green glow the villagers had present in their eyes. Course, that could be Zarok’s magic flowing through the odd thing.”

Her eyebrows soon raised, now troubled. “Strangely enough, the scent coming from him smells oddly familiar to me…”

It smelled like.. A much better and different era…

__________

Castle Peregrin, the Kingdom of Gallowmere’s finest jewel. A castle that was acclaimed for good laughs, pleasant hospitality and a cut above the rest staff.

The Kingdom appealed to several people all across the realm. Many claim they traveled to Gallowmere for the gorgeous scenery, some appeared for the untold hopes of grandeur, and others? Well… some wished to live a quieter life.

Those who settled in the province had their reasons. With all the appealing things there was to offer, many interesting characters joined the populace of the vast kingdom. These folk often lived in hiding, though some were found and recruited to work secretly in or near the castle.

The ordinary staff had no clue where or why these new recruits entered their ranks in attending the King, but they tried not to ask questions. If they were there, they evidently belonged. Many of them established names for themselves, both good and bad.

“Hildegard!”

Speaking of..

“Hildegard von Bartles! Where are you!?”

The young woman in question was at her post, yes, but was she doing her duties? Not really.. She was alarmed at hearing the head of staff yelling for her, but as she continued swallowing her newly gained treats, she found she didn’t fully care.

“Hildegard there you are!” The head honcho came into her sight of view, marching right up to her. They were about to yell at her for her lack of progress, but paused as they noticed the treats entering her mouth. “ARE YOU EATING ON THE JOB HILDEGARD!?”

The blond shifted aside, continuing her consumption. A muffled ‘maybe’ escaping her lips.

Sighing, the head of faculty rubbed their temples. “You cannot be eating while on duty! I don’t care how delightful those pastries are, you have a duty first and foremost! King Peregrin is getting ready to host a banquet in honor of Sir Daniel Fortesque and his platoon’s promotion. You need to be on the ball!” They punctuated every word in their last sentence by smacking their hands together, hoping it emphasized how important this was.

Finishing her current treat, Hilda pouted “But these are so good…” she trailed off at the menacing glare shot her way. “Ok, ok! I’ll get back to it… promise!” She smiled as she set the basket down on an adjacent stand.

Staring at the girl for a few moments, her boss nodded their head once before spinning and making their way back down the corridor. Murmurs echoing something or another about the young blond.

Once they were out of sight, Hildegard exhaled and studied at her tools she was supposed to be using today with an uninterested expression. She was out of it today and working just seemed tiring. The little gifts she had found outside her doorstep this morning was the sole thing she had enjoyed about the day. Maybe if she ate another one, it would motivate her to continue working? That sounded like a solid plan.

Reaching for the basket as she smirked, the girl noticed after a moment only air met her grasp. Confused, she twisted her head to see the basket had disappeared.

Stunned, Hildegard patted the table, not understanding what she saw. It was here just a minute ago. Tapping the wooden surface several more times, she glanced around the top and near the floors, wondering where she put the thing. She was going mad trying to solve this mystery. About to lift the darn stand off from the floor and throw it, a tap to her shoulder almost made her scream aloud.

“Excuse me, are you looking for something?”

Stiffly, she turned her head to catch that someone had been behind her. What scared her more was that this individual towered over her. They were even taller than Sir Daniel. Eyes gliding higher to determine who it was precisely eased her nerves. She wasn’t all that familiar with the man, but she recognized him as the chef that often came on the request of the King. Hilda couldn’t quite recall his name, as the first time he introduced himself, she was… intoxicated.

Doing her best to offer a charming smile, Hilda patted her dress nervously as she spun to face him, waving her hands in front of her face. “Oh hello! Sorry, I.. Seemed to have misplaced something! Clumsy me!”

He raised a brow at this. “Oh? Well, that’s interesting.. I seemed to have found something. Is it perhaps yours?” holding a handle with just his pointer finger, the man lifted the basket filled with her pastries into sight.

Eyes widening, Hildegard jumped up and down in excitement. “Oh yes, yes! That is indeed it, now if you would just-”

As she reached for the basket, he raised it higher into the air. Blinking in confusion, she questioned this action. Had today been a different day, she might put up with this. But today wasn’t a different day and thus she wasn’t in the mood for games right now. Her tone was still friendly, but held a little more of an edge to it. “Haha yes yes, uh if you would, please hand over my basket.”

Glancing between the girl and the basket, the chef seemed to think about this. “... no.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“I said. No.” Flabbergasted, the woman pouted. Normally, she might have let this go. But those pastries, ones that are only as flavorful as ones she’s eaten from town festivals, are worth fighting for. She doesn’t care even if she had to fight the king himself, she would get those back even if it killed her!

Much to his surprise, Hilda jumped for the basket, fingertips grazing the underside as he hoisted it higher just in time. Smirking at her antics, he chuckled. “Well.. seems someone really wants this back.”

“Of course I want it back, that has breads and sweets in there given to me!”

“Hmm.. well my answer is still no-”

Getting a little fed up, Hildegard jumped for the basket again, provoking him to lift it higher above his head. Wholly focused on the task at hand, she didn’t even acknowledge how bad this could look to outsiders. She was essentially pressed against some man, fruitlessly reaching for baked goods.

“Give. It. Back!”

He seemed to mull it over, tapping his foot on the ground as he did so. After a moment, his free hand moved into view, displaying a portion of sweet bread. “Kind of rude to have all these baked goods and not share, don’t you think?”

Seeing the delicacy, Hildegard attempted to snatch it, but failed to do so as with the basket. At this point, she was glaring at him so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if he caught on fire. Her stare did little to nothing on affecting him.

“Don’t you dare!”

Smirking the man kept his eyes on the roll. “Well, I didn’t hear a please at throughout this, so… no.” The pastry never quite made it to his mouth as someone else interrupted their little moment.

“Pardon me, Orell, sir! I was wonder-” both the castle staff members spun their heads to the new voice, noticing a man from Sir Daniel’s group, Canny Tim. At both of their glances and observing their position, he anxiously chuckled. “Am I… interrupting sir?”

Chuckling, the man now known as Orell shook his head. “Of course not Tim. Just teasing one of the other staff members. Wanted to see where my assistants extra baked goods were running off to.”

Lowering his hands, he handed the basket back to Hildegard before rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry about that, I find it fun to tease at times. In truth, I get my fill of those pastries for the celebration periods, so your treats weren’t in any real danger.”

Hildegard never got the chance to reply as before she could utter a word, he stuffed the piece of bread he held into her mouth.

“Stay safe kid.” He ruffled her hair before making his way towards Canny Tim. Waving over his shoulder at her, both men departed from her sights.

Blushing, she chewed the pastry angrily. She might need to eat the remaining pastries to help her feel better… and pay Mr. Orell a visit in the kitchen later for a little payback.

__________

Recalling that moment ages ago was random but not unwelcome. She was certain if blood could rush to her cheeks it would happen. Wanting to smack her face for the second hand embarrassment, she wishes she could chastise her alive self for the awkward moment. Canny Tim never mentioned it, but did she ever feel self-conscious around him remembering that particular interaction with Orell.

Hilda now wondered why the scent of the Boiler Guard commander brought back such an old memory…

Tilting her head towards Daniel, her tone grew even more puzzled. “Dan… did that Boiler Guard remind you of anything?” Or anyone?

Pondering her question the skeleton shook his skull, a quiet “Nuh-uh” leaving him.

“Ah ok.. Guess I’m randomly recalling the good old days!”

Glancing to the sky, stars were noticeable among the sea of darkness.

“I think we should set up camp here. I’m sure you need the rest after fighting that mad contraption!”

Dan couldn’t agree more, the battle had left him exhausted. Hopefully, they wouldn’t encounter the Boiler Guard or his goons for some time. He could only pray that their paths never crossed again. But he’s never been so lucky, has he?

#MediEvil #Boiler Guard #Kesten #Hildegard von Bartles #original character #Sir Daniel Fortesque #glottia writes

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tiaochan · 5 years ago

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Kevin Powers, “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting”, Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting

#kevin powers #letter composed during a lull in the fighting #war poetry #modern poetry #contemporary poetry #poetry #quotes

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wirewitchviolet · 5 years ago

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I hate that I hate MMORPGs.

Yesterday, on kind of a whim, I installed an MMORPG and played it for a couple hours, and I had the exact same miserable experience I always do, for the exact same reasons. Basically, everyone who has ever designed one of these suckers (with maybe a few rare exceptions) just fundamentally does not understand and actively undermines the appeal.

I’m not going to sit down and go through Richard Bartle’s whole player classification system, but personally, here’s some things I look for in a game, in general, and an RPG in particular:

I want to engage with fun moment to moment game mechanics.

I want to hang out and socialize with some friends for a bit.

I want to get lost in a character.

I want to go on some cool heroic quest.

I want to explore a world.

That last one is the only one I’ve ever really gotten out of an MMO, and honestly I’m really being charitable and only listing it so I can’t say things fail on every level.

Really though, an RPG can mean one of several different sorts of games.

We’ve got the traditional pen and paper sort. Maybe the mechanics are neat? Rolling dice is kind of fun in and of itself, I can usually improvise cool stuff to do, that’s fun. I definitely get to hang out with friends, since the game really can’t happen without a consistent group meeting up once a week or so and all. The sky’s pretty much the limit on character creation and depending on the group I can go fully in character all night, great. There’s a one-off cool big quest we’re all going on that’s just for us, rad. Probably some interesting stuff going on setting wise, but that depends.

If I’m playing an old school console RPG... I definitely get my big epic quest on, probably in a cool setting, the basic gameplay.... I personally kinda tend to like in a comfort food sort of way, but really as video games go it’s pretty lacking. And there’s no real getting lost in a character or any socialization at all.

And then of course there’s big open world games where I can probably lose myself in a character even without socialization because such games usually put way more emphasis on customizing your character and personal style stuff than anything, and be pretty aimless.

Now, MMOs tend to suck at, again, basically all of this. The basic game mechanics always tend to suck because, well, it’s massively multiplayer. There’s a bunch of other people, likely on garbage internet connections, people coming and going, people playing once a week for an hour, people playing every waking moment. So anything timing dependent is kinda shot and anything really competitive won’t work, and I mean there’s room to innovate, but you’re always going to be less appealing than games that don’t have those concerns.

Hanging out with my friends... there’s a few issues here and I’m going to revisit this point, but I think it’s important to stress that I AM NEVER GOING TO BRING MY OWN FRIENDS IN. When I can get all my friends together to play a game, we’re going for traditional pen and paper RPGs. That’s hard enough to schedule and we aren’t going to double up. I want to make friends in the game and hang out with them. And I mean, one of the big barriers to that is how scattershot the scheduling is. There’s a few easy ways I can think of to either determine which players are on the same schedule or to just ask upfront in some preferences panel, and just kinda consistently throw people together, but, I’ve never seen anyone really try for it.

Now, getting lost in a character and going on a big epic quest are... kinda tied together here. There’s a trend I think started with WoW, where MMOs are written with stories that would work just fine in a singleplayer game. I’m the big chosen hero from this tiny little village that maybe burned down, and I need to go tour the world and eventually go confront a big evil villain or 10.

But the thing is, everyone else around me is also the chosen hero, from the same tiny little village, with the same tragic backstory, pursuing the same subquests, facing the same villlains... who repop after for the next person. That just... doesn’t work. I can’t get lost in my character when everything the game is giving me to work with is also being given to everyone else. We all canonically have the same backstory and goals...

... and that’s not even getting into the MMO loop! In literally every single one of these games I’ve ever played, you start in area A, you do a bunch of filler quests for the NPCs who live there, they reward you, piecemeal, with a new equipment set, you put that on, you get sent to area B, and you just kinda meander through the whole world like that.

So essentially what happens here is that not only is everyone running through the same story, but time and space are interconnected in such a way that at any given point, all the people you can see are on the same story beat you are. That can be handy if you’re really trying to encourage partying up I guess, but it really just exacerbates the issue of everyone playing essentially the same character. I came here on Farmer Brown from Easterdale’s suggestion and I’m helping kill these bees. Which Farmer Brown also suggested to these other dozen people. Who are all dressed exactly like me, with the clothes they got from everyone else in Easterdale (except all the guys get full outfits while me and all the other women are in a bikini variation).

What am I supposed to talk to these people about? There’s immediate mechanical issues like, well, “want to party up to grind these bees faster?” but that’s really about it. And if I do meet someone who seems cool and want to hang out, it’s inherently fleeting. Because unless we happen to be putting in the EXACT same amount of play time, we’re going to drift apart. If you go to dinner and I keep playing for another hour, I’m a town or two ahead of you on the treadmill, we’re never going to see each other again.

Plus I mean, “I want to walk through a progression of wide fields slaughtering the same monster 20 times to earn a pair of shoes” is decidedly NOT on the list of things I want to do.

One way to get around this, which I have fuzzy memories was actually done by D&D Online, is to really formalize adventures into these discrete events you enter as a member of a party and complete together in a sitting. Desyncing still happens, but for a given play session you at least have a proper social experience instead of the standard one where you’re just talking to the people ahead or behind you on the minigolf course as someone waits for a hole to clear.

Here’s my thing though. I don’t honestly particularly WANT the big epic world-spanning quest. I seriously have hundreds of single-player RPGs to scratch that itch, and trying to match pace with other people just makes it stressful or obligatory. I want to hang out with a character and bounce off people. I don’t want to be an eternal wanderer touring the world, really. I want to find a cool place, settle in, and be a local. Have some neighbors. We have our own stuff going on. It’s nice to stop at the tavern now and then and catch up. Or maybe I run the tavern. Maybe there’s some regulars, some people stopping by as they pass through.

Setting things up to encourage this sort of thing can even involve less work than the traditional route. If you want people to generally stick around the same areas and keep bumping into each other, for, you know, the whole social aspect of things, you inherently need less sprawling map and monster designs. Just a couple cool cities worth hanging out in and the roads between them.

Just... have different goals to pursue, with different mission chains. They don’t even have to be super unique. If someone wants to get the master beast hunter achievement, killing every monster in the world, they don’t need a lot of writing. If someone wants to just run a cool tavern, all you need are some gather rare ingredients quests, and some kind of simple archetectural/business management bit of gameplay to focus on instead of the crappy combat. Maybe organically encourage interactions like when I order all this rare spiced rum to put on my menu it generates a caravan escort quest for someone else to get it to me.

Also let everyone play dressup right form the start! Don’t force everyone with the same time on the clock to wear the exact same shirt/bikini top.

#Game Design #MMOs

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444names · 2 years ago

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american surnames BUT excluding "h"

Abrickera Adolloynn Agney Alderr Aldwing Alenes Allan Almoodson Ankson Atery Auffer Avill Ayattson Balson Bancana Bardson Bareden Barez Barguyers Barke Barkson Barlass Barmas Barpennez Barre Barso Barsoltz Bartles Barvison Barza Bater Baugley Baxto Beadanton Beadarks Beckinean Beles Berance Beron Berson Birkson Bison Blank Bleald Bleyers Bonray Bootson Bortylerk Bowellip Boyley Bradd Brandowle Brankson Brans Bratts Brice Broberney Brose Browes Bruirk Bruiz Buckellon Buckney Bucks Burleeray Burne Burneter Burts Calketon Callemann Callous Camer Camiras Camorez Canson Carguez Carker Carlez Carmords Carna Carqueld Carrez Carsone Carts Castorks Clard Cleison Clett Clunder Cobbinne Cobley Cobramben Cocksont Coffitt Coffy Colestins Colls Colmarse Colton Comeld Comps Cooda Cooddell Cooks Cookson Coolmero Copkin Cotoneack Craffoley Crancens Crayer Crose Cruirell Cruiren Cruirr Crusen Curcis Dalderad Davilton Dejenn Denson Deranter Derry Dilkine Dillownig Doldson Dolfore Domean Dotts Dowes Doyce Dudson Dufmalton Durges Eallompow Edyert Elley Ellst Ester Faderson Fauld Fertes Fiellment Fielson Fient Fiers Fieverg Finglater Fison Fister Flynce Forne Forriguz Forty Frads Frake Fraver Frazquez Freiles Freld Frowman Galkin Gamarne Garan Garkellay Garting Gibsonty Giley Glagney Glard Gliamord Goffer Goffork Golder Gorrilan Goutle Gramorran Granco Greenson Grenson Grewalt Grewton Grinsoll Grobley Grood Groott Guirker Gusen Gutlens Irbenson Jampso Jeffmay Jeffy Jenzie Jesseley Jorixon Joyleens Juster Kayloa Kelartyrd Kemay Kenton Kerson Kesparber Kings Kinse Kinson Knidez Knixon Knolles Kravis Laing Lankel Learnez Letevey Leyer Linson Lovey Lowella Lucard Lucks Lynestiz Lynewton Mackeyes Madomay Madounner Maley Mander Mankeley Mannett Manten Mariggs Marley Marls Mastand Materris Mates Matking Matruing Maynes Maytonner Mcbray Mccallack Mccanaler Mccart Mccopez Mccrammer Mccurcard Mcdon Mcdounley Mcdownint Mcfad Mcfarks Mcfaulles Mcgeelan Mcger Mciam Mcian Mcine Mckburna Mcklivan Mclers Mcminn Mcner Meads Meadyerts Mejens Meldo Merge Mermoon Merson Micer Miders Millive Mirklan Mirrick Moles Monant Monson Moord Morel Morke Morkmate Mornore Morricer Mortiz Mortoker Mortonry Mosallis Mosan Multon Mungs Murns Myerger Nalton Nedensell Nelleon Nington Ninson Nixoneil Nolder Nonnerge Novannes Noves Ockso Oliff Ollairk Olmers Onnet Ornall Oslett Owles Pacer Pacrancer Padomps Patevez Pauez Paynnison Penrann Perterney Perwins Peton Pitne Polla Pooda Posane Potevas Potews Potton Powelle Prees Premast Pricke Pricks Prujim Puckman Quelton Rando Raters Ravid Rayer Raymons Reetero Rella Rettleros Ringstell Ristree Ritang Rober Roblanie Rocoydenn Rogales Rollo Rolon Rosan Rosbon Rosbotts Rowley Roycer Royenan Ruson Russen Russey Salbesta Sards Sarker Sarks Sarza Sayer Sexan Simmoss Sking Sonranter Sonza Spard Spennez Spetes Sters Stiam Stinson Sultowes Sumpton Swarge Swerker Sykeller Sykenn Syker Tarks Teriston Tinsey Tongs Truson Tuarpers Tuckman Valer Valla Valopecks Vanney Varson Varton Varzamps Velcomay Velder Velley Wadley Wadson Waleill Wallemer Wallin Wallintry Wannie Wardance Warkins Warkinsey Warrock Warsenza Warteld Wartyley Warver Watersont Watking Watrevan Webbis Welanerce Welcoll Welcop Wiguiters Wilans Wilkings Willes Willespie Wills Wilmaner Wingle Winson Wolarton Wolds Woonarvey Wooper Woorge Wrimell Wyates Wyendris Yorrice

#444 names #444names

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brookston · 1 year ago

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Holidays 8.26

Holidays

Alice Doesn’t Day

Animal Farm Day

Battle of Manzikert Anniversary Day (Turkey)

Congressional Startup Day

826 Day

First Thnork of the Year (Fairy)

Herero Day (a.k.a. Red Flag Day; Namibia)

Heroes’ Day (Namibia)

Horseshoe Day

International Content Creators Day

International Cosplay Day

International Day Against Dengue

International Hausa Day

Jamaat-e-Islami Foundation Day

Jay Report Anniversary Day (UK)

Kantanka Day (Ghana)

Liquorice Day (French Republic)

Make Your Own Luck Day

Musical Yoga Day

National Black Family Business Day

Namibia Day (a.k.a. Heroes’ Day; UN)

National Dog Day

National Got Checked Day

National Honey Bee Awareness Day

National Kelly Day

National Logan Day

National Ranboo Day

National Toilet Paper Day

National WebMistress Day

Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

Paul Anka Day (Ottawa, Canada)

Kneel in Protest Day

Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea)

Spark the World Day

StartUp Day

Toilet Paper Day

Tvimanuor (Double Month; Iceland)

Typewriter Day

Women's Equality Day

World Painted Dog Day

WTF (Wave to Friends) Day (Mini USA)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cherry Popsicle Day

National McChicken Day

4th & Last Saturday in August

Bartletide (a.k.a. Burning Bartle; UK) [Saturday closest to 24th]

Giants of Ath Festival begins (a.k.a. De Ducasse; Belgium) [4th Saturday]

International Bat Night [Last Saturday]

International Play Music on the Porch [Last Saturday]

Iroquois Indian Festival (Albany, NY) [Begins on Last Saturday]

Pony Express Day [Last Saturday]

Schemitzun begins (Green Corn Pow Wow; Mashantucket Pequot, Connecticut) [Last Saturday]

Speak Kind Words Saturday [Saturday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Independence Days

Official Recognition Day (Abkhazia)

Feast Days

Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Adrian of Nicomedia (Greek Feast Day) [brewers]

Alexander of Bergamo (Roman Catholic Church)

Ceferino Namuncurá (Christian; Saint)

David Lewis (Christian; Blessed)

Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

Gelasinus (Christian; Saint)

Genesius of Arles (Christian; Saint)

Genesius the Comedian (Christian; Saint)

Ilmater (Finnish Goddess of the Water Mother)

Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier des Ages (Christian; Saint)

Kirby and Jeffy (Muppetism)

Lizzie Borden Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Mariam Baouardy (Melkite Greek Catholic Church)

Melchizedek (Christian; Saint)

Ninian (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Częstochowa (Christian; Saint)

Rufino Tamayo (Artology)

Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus (Christian; Saints)

Teresa Jornet Ibars (Christian; Saint)

Teresa of Ávila (Christian; Saint)

Usuki Stone Buddhas Fire Festival (Japan)

Vancanson (Positivist; Saint)

Women’s Equality Day (Pastafarian)

Yoshida no Hi Matsuri (End of Mt. Fuji climbing season; Japan)

Zephyrinus (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [47 of 71]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Premieres

An American in Paris (Film; 1951)

Bodyguard (BBC TV Series; 2018)

Bosko’s Picture Show (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

Boy in Darkness, by Mervyn Peake (Novella; 1956) [Gormenghast #5]

Colombiana (Film; 2011)

Crossing Delancey (Film; 1988)

Cup of Gold, by John Steinbeck (Novel; 1929)

Detouring America (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Dog Gone South (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini (Novel; 2002)

Fire and Ice (Animated Film; 1983)

Hey Jude, by The Beatles (Song; 1968)

Lamb in His Bosom, by Caroline Miller (Novel; 1933)

Leisure, by Blur (Album; 1991)

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Film; 1983)

Natural Born Killers (Film; 1994)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Our Idiot Brother (Film; 2011)

Strange Brew (Film; 1983)

Sunshine Superman, by Donovan (Album; 1966)

Tennis Racquet (Disney Cartoon; 1949)

Those Were the Days, by Mary Hopkin (Song; 1968)

Three Thousand Years of Longing (Film; 2022)

We’re in the Money (WB MM Cartoon; 1933)

Your Name (Anime Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

Gregor, Margareta, Mirian, Teresa (Austria)

Adrian, Adriana, Adriyan, Adriyana, Natali, Nataliya (Bulgaria)

Aleksandar, Branimir, Melkisedek (Croatia)

Luděk (Czech Republic)

Ienæus (Denmark)

Hilma, Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilme, Ilmi (Estonia)

Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilmi (Finland)

Natacha (France)

Margarita, Miriam, Patricia, Teresa (Germany)

Adrianos, Natalia (Greece)

Izsó (Hungary)

Alessandro, Oronzo (Italy)

Broņislava, Broņislavs, Glauda, Natālija, Nate (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Algintė, Gailius, Zefirinas (Lithuania)

Eivind, Even, Øyvind (Norway)

Dobroniega, Joanna, Konstanty, Maksym, Maria, Wiktorian, Zefir, Zefiryn, Zefiryna (Poland)

Samuel (Slovakia)

Teresa (Spain)

Östen (Sweden)

Andrian, Andriana, Natalia (Ukraine)

Percival, Percy, Travis, Trevis, Trevon, Trevor (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 238 of 2024; 127 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 34 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 11 (Bing-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 9 Elul 5783

Islamic: 9 Safar 1445

J Cal: 28 Hasa; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 13 August 2023

Moon: 72%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 14 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Vaucanson]

Runic Half Month: As (Gods) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 66 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 5 of 32)

#calendar #Holidays

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brookstonalmanac · 1 year ago

Text

Holidays 8.26

Holidays

Alice Doesn’t Day

Animal Farm Day

Battle of Manzikert Anniversary Day (Turkey)

Congressional Startup Day

826 Day

First Thnork of the Year (Fairy)

Herero Day (a.k.a. Red Flag Day; Namibia)

Heroes’ Day (Namibia)

Horseshoe Day

International Content Creators Day

International Cosplay Day

International Day Against Dengue

International Hausa Day

Jamaat-e-Islami Foundation Day

Jay Report Anniversary Day (UK)

Kantanka Day (Ghana)

Liquorice Day (French Republic)

Make Your Own Luck Day

Musical Yoga Day

National Black Family Business Day

Namibia Day (a.k.a. Heroes’ Day; UN)

National Dog Day

National Got Checked Day

National Honey Bee Awareness Day

National Kelly Day

National Logan Day

National Ranboo Day

National Toilet Paper Day

National WebMistress Day

Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

Paul Anka Day (Ottawa, Canada)

Kneel in Protest Day

Repentance Day (Papua New Guinea)

Spark the World Day

StartUp Day

Toilet Paper Day

Tvimanuor (Double Month; Iceland)

Typewriter Day

Women's Equality Day

World Painted Dog Day

WTF (Wave to Friends) Day (Mini USA)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Cherry Popsicle Day

National McChicken Day

4th & Last Saturday in August

Bartletide (a.k.a. Burning Bartle; UK) [Saturday closest to 24th]

Giants of Ath Festival begins (a.k.a. De Ducasse; Belgium) [4th Saturday]

International Bat Night [Last Saturday]

International Play Music on the Porch [Last Saturday]

Iroquois Indian Festival (Albany, NY) [Begins on Last Saturday]

Pony Express Day [Last Saturday]

Schemitzun begins (Green Corn Pow Wow; Mashantucket Pequot, Connecticut) [Last Saturday]

Speak Kind Words Saturday [Saturday of Be Kind to Humankind Week]

Independence Days

Official Recognition Day (Abkhazia)

Feast Days

Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Adrian of Nicomedia (Greek Feast Day) [brewers]

Alexander of Bergamo (Roman Catholic Church)

Ceferino Namuncurá (Christian; Saint)

David Lewis (Christian; Blessed)

Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)

Gelasinus (Christian; Saint)

Genesius of Arles (Christian; Saint)

Genesius the Comedian (Christian; Saint)

Ilmater (Finnish Goddess of the Water Mother)

Jeanne-Elisabeth Bichier des Ages (Christian; Saint)

Kirby and Jeffy (Muppetism)

Lizzie Borden Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Mariam Baouardy (Melkite Greek Catholic Church)

Melchizedek (Christian; Saint)

Ninian (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Częstochowa (Christian; Saint)

Rufino Tamayo (Artology)

Simplicius, Constantius and Victorinus (Christian; Saints)

Teresa Jornet Ibars (Christian; Saint)

Teresa of Ávila (Christian; Saint)

Usuki Stone Buddhas Fire Festival (Japan)

Vancanson (Positivist; Saint)

Women’s Equality Day (Pastafarian)

Yoshida no Hi Matsuri (End of Mt. Fuji climbing season; Japan)

Zephyrinus (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [47 of 71]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Premieres

An American in Paris (Film; 1951)

Bodyguard (BBC TV Series; 2018)

Bosko’s Picture Show (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

Boy in Darkness, by Mervyn Peake (Novella; 1956) [Gormenghast #5]

Colombiana (Film; 2011)

Crossing Delancey (Film; 1988)

Cup of Gold, by John Steinbeck (Novel; 1929)

Detouring America (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Dog Gone South (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Eragon, by Christopher Paolini (Novel; 2002)

Fire and Ice (Animated Film; 1983)

Hey Jude, by The Beatles (Song; 1968)

Lamb in His Bosom, by Caroline Miller (Novel; 1933)

Leisure, by Blur (Album; 1991)

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Film; 1983)

Natural Born Killers (Film; 1994)

The New Mutants (Film; 2020)

Our Idiot Brother (Film; 2011)

Strange Brew (Film; 1983)

Sunshine Superman, by Donovan (Album; 1966)

Tennis Racquet (Disney Cartoon; 1949)

Those Were the Days, by Mary Hopkin (Song; 1968)

Three Thousand Years of Longing (Film; 2022)

We’re in the Money (WB MM Cartoon; 1933)

Your Name (Anime Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

Gregor, Margareta, Mirian, Teresa (Austria)

Adrian, Adriana, Adriyan, Adriyana, Natali, Nataliya (Bulgaria)

Aleksandar, Branimir, Melkisedek (Croatia)

Luděk (Czech Republic)

Ienæus (Denmark)

Hilma, Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilme, Ilmi (Estonia)

Ilma, Ilmatar, Ilmi (Finland)

Natacha (France)

Margarita, Miriam, Patricia, Teresa (Germany)

Adrianos, Natalia (Greece)

Izsó (Hungary)

Alessandro, Oronzo (Italy)

Broņislava, Broņislavs, Glauda, Natālija, Nate (Latvia)

Aleksandras, Algintė, Gailius, Zefirinas (Lithuania)

Eivind, Even, Øyvind (Norway)

Dobroniega, Joanna, Konstanty, Maksym, Maria, Wiktorian, Zefir, Zefiryn, Zefiryna (Poland)

Samuel (Slovakia)

Teresa (Spain)

Östen (Sweden)

Andrian, Andriana, Natalia (Ukraine)

Percival, Percy, Travis, Trevis, Trevon, Trevor (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 238 of 2024; 127 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 34 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Geng-Shen), Day 11 (Bing-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 9 Elul 5783

Islamic: 9 Safar 1445

J Cal: 28 Hasa; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 13 August 2023

Moon: 72%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 14 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Vaucanson]

Runic Half Month: As (Gods) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 66 of 94)

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 5 of 32)

#Holidays

0 notes