#primary gripes with the game:

[taibhsearachd]

I haven't finished the main storyline of No Man's Sky yet (it's my second-most played game on Steam, after an idle game that I keep open for most of the day in the background; I started playing it in late July). But this feels like the thesis statement of the game, and I love it.

The world is ending in 16 minutes (16 weeks, years, lifetimes, millions of years, who's to say). Nothing here can be saved. What else matters?

Your experience of the world you have. What you make of it.

[vox-off]

i have to remind myself sometimes that totk is rated e for everyone and nintendo fully expected kids to be playing the game when i'm smashing B to get through aLL THE FUCKING DIALOGUE JESUS FUCKING CHRIST NINTENDO

BUYING A BUNDLE OF ARROWS TAKES FORTY FIVE MINUTES BECAUSE NO ONE IN THIS GAME CAN SHUT THE FUCK UP

[nuka-rockit]

unprompted rant, but I think its such a shame that we don't get a closer explanation of the red dragon & githyanki pact/bond in bg3, or at least more of an insight into the dragons. Becoming the rider of a red dragon is such a big dream for Lae'zel. She gets these huge sparkling eyes, and her tone becomes as full of reverence as it does when she speaks of Vlaakith (at least at the beginning) when she first mentions it. It's a symbol of Kithrak Voss' authority and seniority that the first time we meet him he comes flying on one. It's some thing that Vlaakith later offers to Lae'zel in an attempt to lure her away from the Prince of the Comet and back into her service. But bg3 does not make it clear at all that Dragons in DnD, and in this case specifically red dragons, are not just gorlified "mounts" as Lae'zel calls them. Dragons are not like big flying reptilian horses - dragons in DnD are fully sentient, extremely intelligent creatures who are often capable of speaking multiple languages, with unique personalities and motivations, who can form highly complex relationships with people. Dragons are basically their own fully developed society interacting with others. red dragons specifically are among some of the most cunning dragons in the world. In fact the only reason a creature as intelligent, proud and powerful as a red dragon would even tolerate being used as a mount by anyone is that this is part of a pact made by their primary goddess Tiamat with the githyanki. red dragons not as impressed by the covenant of their goddess are recruited through promises of treasure acquired during the githyanki raids they may participate in, most of which they get to keep after they leave (red dragons are notoriously greedy, and love to accumulate large hoards of gold and other valuables).

And yes, they do leave eventually, at least most of them do. the dragon mounts of the githyanki knights are mostly younger dragons, who cherish the violence and looting. When an older dragon leaves it is replaced by a new younger one. They're not livestock raised by the githyanki to become cool flying warhorses, they're more like mercenaries who have agreed to a mutually benefitial contract.

its such a minor gripe, but I was genuinely surprised I never found even like, idk, a book some lone bookshelf in the game explaining this distinction. its such an interesting aspect of their culture and I have always loved that DnD dragons aren't just big dangerous monsters that need to be vanquished, but rather complex inhabitants of the world that can be interacted with in a variety of ways - including forming an alliance.

[ectonurites]

why did cissie retire? would you want her to become a hero again?

Cissie retired because after seeing something very traumatic (her high school guidance counselor being shot and killed) her strong emotional reaction led to her attempting to kill the person responsible. She didn’t trust herself to be a hero anymore after nearly crossing that line, if Kon hadn’t intervened and caught the arrow then she would have taken the guy’s life.

(Young Justice Vol. 1 #16)

That’s the primary reason but two additional factors are the weight of the responsibility—when she pulls out some moves in a public setting she sees some children who seem to want to imitate her, which she finds concerning.

(Young Justice Vol. 1 #16)

And her motivations for being Arrowette in the first place. Initially she was just doing what her mother told her to—Bonnie King being basically a superhero stage mom living vicariously through her daughter:

(Secret Origins 80-Page Giant)

And then when child services had intervened and separated Cissie from her mom for child endangerment… after talking to her guidance counselor (yes the same one who was later shot) she decided to throw herself into being Arrowette on her own specifically to spite her mom:

(Secret Origins 80-Page Giant)

Her guidance counselor’s death and her reaction to it were reality checks about how life isn’t a… a game, actions have consequences, playing Superhero to get back at her mom isn’t a responsible choice.

So it’s sort of all those factors together which lead to her decision:

(Young Justice Vol. 1 #17)

Now, I love this story arc and think it’s very well done and that’s why Cissie being back in hero work is such a complicated subject for me. While the main YJ book had been running she got to live her life as a civilian that still had ties to the team/hung out with them all the time, and really that’s the ideal. But when there isn’t an ongoing YJ book, that’s just not a feasible status quo if you want her to show up.

Cassie’s Wonder Girl mini introduced the idea that after Cissie got some distance from hero work/after YJ as a team had dissolved, that she was willing to come out of retirement on occasion to help out her friends in need:

(Wonder Girl Vol. 1 #3)

and that’s more or less what also happened during YJ 2019:

(Young Justice Vol. 3 #14)

And even DC: YJ despite my gripes with Cissie’s portrayal especially in the first few issues feels relatively consistent with that:

(Dark Crisis: Young Justice #5)

Her being in this ‘mostly retired but because the DC Universe is an insane place, there are occasions where she’ll break out her bow and arrow to help the people she loves’ is what I consider my realistic ideal for the character. Because hoping for a 100% civilian Cissie basically means she’d almost never show up again.

And, considering she’s on the main cover in Arrowette garb for the upcoming Green Arrow mini:

(Cover for Green Arrow Vol. 7 #1)

It definitely looks like she’ll be hero-ing again, and honestly I’m just so happy that we’re maybe finally gonna get a connection between her and the Arrowfam that i’m willing to roll with it—opinions on her retirement be damned

[limeade-l3sbian]

Do you like Vi as a protagonist in Arcane? And do you have any thoughts or feelings on her and Caitlyn? I won’t be mad if any negative opinions occur, i’m just curious because I see you mainly talk about Sevika and I know that’s your bae, but I’m curious about tour take on the more focal point of the show, if that makes sense.

I think she is a well written character. I think that every action and word out of her mouth aligns well with what we have been told about her in regards to her trauma, her relationships, and her present conflict. In an objective and feminist sense, i have zero problems with Vi or her portrayal. I like how they adapted her character from the shitty game and I think Caitlyn is cool, as well.

On a completely personal level, I just don't really care about her lol. She's just not very interesting to me. The "you're hot, cupcake" thing cringed me the fuck out and she looks, to me, like a very stereotypical lesbian character and feels reminiscent of a gay-coded 2000s character that they can't outright call gay but is definitely gay. I'm not even saying that that's a bad thing. I'm just saying...yk lol.

I have zero reaction to their relationship. I am neither rooting for it or praying on its downfall. I am far more interested in the dynamics between Silco, Jinx, and Sevika. Like, directly how they all interacted as Jinx was growing up and the fact that despite Sevika's very vocal and outward dislike for Jinx, now we see that they are working together. Which to me, is very interesting! Because it seems like Sevika's primary gripes with Jinx were that she was a threat to the movement. But when Jinx is now standing as a figure of hope for them, she can put whatever personality conflicts there are aside and willingly work with her.

I just think their whole dynamic is more interesting. I think I just prefer their side of this story.

[eowynstwin]

u know my biggest gripe with reboot mw3?? the fact that both shepherd AND graves came back for literally no reason... the "jokes on you... i was never there to begin with!!!" trope they pulled with graves is already annoying but then he didn't really do anything LMAO (the most he did was create tension between farah and price and they didn't delve into that like at all other than one conversation that lasted all of three minutes if that)

at least shepherd had potential to be an interesting party in this game but then again they goofed up his part in the story too because he isn't integrated into anything worthwhile

just. man. they goofed this story up HARD there was so much potential for the story to be good but then they shoved three games worth of story into a 3 hour campaign

Yeah Graves and Shepherd were dummy grenades at best. Neither of them paid off as secondary antagonists. This game desperately needed to be two separate games, each twice the length, in which first Shepherd and the Shadows could be dealt with and then Makarov and the Ultranationalists.

IF I were rewriting mw3. Which I am not. But IF.

Makarov would show up once or twice as a prison transfer of some sort at most, MAYBE with a flashback mission to demonstrate what he was capable of at the height of his power. He was not alluded to enough in mw2 to present a credible threat—the reboot relies far too much on the original trilogy to foreshadow its plot. Why the fuck should I care about this squirrely frat bro I've never heard of? I know fuck all about the OG Makarov and I am not going to waste more of my precious time on this green earth watching three more games stuffed even more full of anti-Arab prejudice and pro-US imperialist propaganda.

I digress. Makarov's face would be shown in my mw3, but he would not be as active as he is in "canon". Instead, Shadow company, Graves, and Shepherd would take center stage as antagonists—I would utilize their alliance with the ULF to heighten the tension between Price and Farah. Shadow company would be taking advantage of the ULF's need for its support, perhaps, and meanwhile antagonizing Russian outfits on the outskirts of Urzikstan which are meant to serve as either surveillance or reconnaissance for a second invasion.

I imagine, coincidentally, those Russian outfits would be Ultranationalist in nature, because as mw3 suggests, Makarov has been scheming even in the gulag. Graves, of course, is poking the bear because war is good business for him. An Urzikstan at peace does not need a PMC for an ally. Shepherd will have been allowing it because, as has been established in 2 and 3, he's a glory-obsessed war dog whose primary priority is his own military legacy.

Interspersed would be plenty of moments for the characters to comment on what the hell is going on. Farah could reckon with Price's grudge against Graves. Gaz could further develop as Price's right hand man. Soap and Ghost could make out nasty style with tongue. Alex could continue to be the simp we all know he is. (I'd love to shoehorn Alejandro and Rudy into the plot but let's be honest, there's no room for them here. RIP vaqueros, we love you.)

All of this would CULMINATE with Makarov's escape from prison. Probably after Soap finally gets to set Graves on fire for real he would roll up with his hundred dollar haircut, call everyone stupid, and then Urzikstan would go right back to war because that's how this shit works. Russia and the US get into constant pissing matches and the Middle East serves as the convenient battleground.

All of the antagonizing Graves and Shadow Company have done would serve to galvanize a Russian public against the US, positioning Makarov as its very own Churchill and imbuing him with phenomenal cosmic power. Bada bing, bada boom, WWIII. Perfect scene-setting for MW4.

I maintain that if anyone has to die it will be Price. Price is the only one with the charisma to go toe-to-toe with Makarov from a leadership standpoint, so he has to go if we really want the stakes to feel high. In the VERY end, after 4 and whatever games follow it, Gaz would be the only man left standing of the 141. Having finally learned the kind of price that must be paid when the gloves come off.

Again. Blizzard-Activision. Pay me eight billion dollars and I will fix your games.

[rad-hound]

Top five writer pet peeves you have. Hell, artist as well if you have any

TOP FIVE WRITER / ARTIST PET PEEVES

1. Overuse or repetition of tropes or stereotypes in fiction:

This includes, but is most certainly not limited to, tropes you may begrudgingly stumble across on fanfiction-housing websites like AO3, such as: borderline or unapologetically racist depictions of black and brown people. And especially upon the likes of AO3, if you know, you know. As well as fetishized depictions of trans men... of which is sadly common in the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance community, as well, in primary reference to how they write Raiden. And while I'm no stranger to trans headcanons of my own, a lot of the work on AO3 where Raiden is depicted as a trans man seems... tasteless. Seeing how most of these depictions I find myself irked by appear to have been written by people who aren't trans themselves. Or, at least, not to my own knowledge. (Typically, my know-how is whether or not they tag their work as, "Trans [redacted] written by a trans author." But of course, this is but a shallow assumption to be taken with a grain of salt.) Such other, lesser consequential and controversial repetitive (albeit, with a grain of salt) tropes I often see in writing are primarily some nitpicks of mine, such as how some people who clearly aren't Southern try to write or depict a Southern accent, without so much as speaking to, much less interacting with someone who may live in the U.S. South within an inch of their life. Or how Latino men in fiction are often treated as these... promiscuous, dangerous rebels who fruitlessly try to whisk their love interest away from their already-existing, usually white or eurocentric lover. I see this with how people write Jetstream Sam / Samuel Rodrigues in fanfiction, despite his base depiction not at all reflecting the odd fashion which fans always seem to write him within. Though, I wouldn't know, maybe such depictions are equally as controversial, or perhaps they cannot be compared. But these are ones that I notice right away that sort of make my brain itch. Not enough for me to gripe at a writer face-to-face about it, but... just a thought, since we're here. Don't burn me at the stake.

2. "Woobification" of antagonists & the morally ambiguous / exclusion & sanitization of moral ambiguity in fiction:

The same sentiment is equally applicable in the very opposite manner; the manner in which people who write fanfiction for some reason crank the edge factor up to 90, when the canonicity of aforementioned character's moral ambiguity is much more subtle and lesser obnoxious than they believe. Yet another phenomenon I see occur in characters like Raiden, where—while yes, at points, or a point, he is rather... unsavory—this lesser subtle, more violent side of him comes to surface even once, it feels as though fans completely disregard his other personality traits entirely. But if you were to ask these very same people to give the same treatment to the version of Raiden that is present in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, you will hear nothing but crickets, despite his history of being a child soldier being present and stable within both games. Because, with that version of Raiden, the forced feminization—infantalization—he already endures conflicts with his more violent, unapologetic nature that exists within the canon of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. However, the opposite sentiment was not what I wanted to bicker about, my primary focus being how fans have a tendency to not only water down, but entirely disregard a morally-dubious character's behaviors and history, all for the sake of... "making their favorite character easier to digest," so to speak, so that it may leave less of a bad taste in their mouth whenever they faun over them so restlessly. Or, rather, resorting to the quite popular, fandom-intersectional excuse of, "the writing was bad," to void and excuse the fact that they enjoy a morally dubious character, while also simultaneously voiding themselves of the reality that they—as a person who indulges in and digests media—may or may not indulge in a problematic piece of fiction. When, in reality, the fact that we as people are even able to witness this side of fiction—while potentially unsavory, and triggering, in which case one should browse carefully—should serve as a testament to encourage us to broaden our own palette, and to exit our own comfort zone. Because it isn't wrong to read, or even think about, such stories, and it doesn't make us horrible, irredeemable people for doing so. So long as one isn't glorifying or praising the events or actions which may be portrayed through said stories. Because, at the end of the day, simply reading or liking a piece of fiction does not equal endorsement of anything to occur within it. It NEVER has equalled or equated to endorsement, in any sense of the word. Unless you're very outspoken about your own moral ambiguity and problematic views, simply liking a problematic character whose own views do not equate to your own does not make you somehow equal to them on a scale of morality. No one is judging you for enjoying Sundowner from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, I assure you. Sincerely, a person whose current favorite Metal Gear character is, by far, the most unapologetically evil piece of shit in the entire series. And while it is not the hill I will die on, I've made myself clear.

3. Erasure of key character / ethnic traits of fictional characters in official IP art & fanart:

While this may not necessarily be in regards to how some characters are portrayed within written works or fanfiction, I still believe there is a conversation to be had about how frequently characters—especially characters that are black, brown, indigenous, etc.—are regularly misrepresented through not just artwork created by an IP's fans, but a lot of the time by official works leased by the companies who hold ownership over said IPs. The very same can be said about overweight or fat characters, who may regularly be drawn slimmer or skinnier to better suit the artist's own "comfort level," however even when such artists may be tasked through commission to draw a person's character that may be fat, they somehow still miss the mark. And, truthfully—in both discussing fat erasure and the erasure of POC in fictional media—I find that to be utterly ridiculous, because several black artists across every art or fannish community under the Sun have taken it upon themselves to not only create brushes to better emulate black features in digital art programs, but have—with their God-like patience—taken it upon themselves to create tutorials on how to not only draw black features, but how to color and shade black and brown skin, as well. Unfortunately, official artwork leased by the companies that create these characters aren't all that great about ensuring that all of their customers and fans are well-represented, either, as the most prime examples of companies which come to mind typically have a tendency to either be openly racist, colorist, sexist, homophobic... the whole nine yards. A sort of prejudice that is also very much present in a game like Metal Gear, or more particularly, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, where several of the characters—either Costa Rican or Hispanic—are pasty pale, with very Eurocentric features. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) But, with situations such as these, I find myself feeling grateful for the fans of any IP that create artwork and fanart where these characters are given their proper, adequate features, either to make up for where the parent company of aforementioned IP failed them, or to make up for the already significant lack of representation that marginalized communities receive from aforementioned companies.

4. Usage of generative AI to create literature / fanfiction & for other intents & purposes:

This, in particular, applies to a more broad area than simply fanfiction alone, given people's tendency to resort to using artificial intelligence to pick up their slack in other areas, as well. Such as college essays—of which is already quite common, and often results in students being ruthlessly flunked from their courses for even considering such a course of action, and rightfully so, because most generative AI programs are trained on both accurate information AND misinformation—and roleplay. Where, at some point, I must beg the question: is this truly helping us? Now, don't get me wrong, artificial intelligence has already existed for decades, and has already helped humanity on a number of fronts; from the creation of the internet and its algorithms, to the aiding in the creation of modern medicine... but as we've seen again and again, generative AI really doesn't help anyone. And as we've seen again and again, those who shill and are the most vocal about this push to include generative AI in every facet of our lives have proven that, actually, they don't give two squats about the integrities or livelihoods of human artists. For instance, what we're seeing occur with the Glaze program, where artists are tainting their own art with cloaks in hopes that it would poison the already-vast dataset that exists within generative programs such as MidJourney and otherwise, likely already acquired by legally dubious means. But seeing the founder of Stability AI's willingness to break the law in order to scrape data, we already knew that. But, even when we put aside the very clear legal hurdles that the likes of generative AI present, there is also the very opaque matter of people using the likes of generative AI to not only generate pieces or the entirety of their fanfiction—of which is already a hot topic and very controversial within fandom and fanfiction spaces, particularly AO3—but also to fill in the gap for a roleplay partner which they might not have. Entirely defeating the purpose of roleplay at all; to make friends, connections, and to bond with those you roleplay with. In a manner no infinite amount of shallow AI could give you. And it pains me to see more and more young people finding themselves talking to an algorithm to get those experiences, or to fill in such an absence within their own online experience. To my roleplayers out there: roleplay forums do exist still, and there are thousands of them! Such examples include Forum Roleplay, RP Nation, RPG Initiative, RPGnet Forums... the list goes on and on forever! One that I personally reccommend from days of yore would be Chicken Smoothie, which doubles as a roleplay / art forum, and an animal adoption and trading game. Hell, there's a covert roleplaying community that is present here, on Tumblr! You don't have to resort to a shoddy AI to have a little bit of fun.

5. The concept of competitive & "the academic" arts in school settings / educational environments:

This very much applies to high school and / or college courses, the likes of which encourage students to, for some reason, "replicate" famous artists and their staples from the past. For example, Pablo Picasso, whose style was not only abstract, but a landmark at the time... something the likes of which no one has ever seen before. And it was that... new, innovative way of creating art that drew people in, that still draws people in to this day. As do several other famous artists in this world's history; Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo... even pop artist Andy Warhol. But... that's just it. I understand if there is some deeper merit of experience or a notion of, "hey, I tried this," when it comes to the task of replicating—or attempting to replicate—the styles and staples of famous artists in the past... but the one thing that all these artists have in common was that their minds were new, their works innovative... so why shouldn't art students be tasked to reach within the very same depths of their own soul to bring out their inner innovative artist, as well? Instead of simply replicating art from the past, and putting it into a portfolio in the hopes that some lousy liberal arts college finds them interesting. Of course, learning the history of art, and of famous artists, is rivetting, and is very interesting in its own rite. However, I believe curriculums should be encouraging artists to think outside of the box, instead of restricting them to a singular prompt or already-existing art style to simply replicate. And I understand, while restriction can be quite good for innovation at points... it shouldn't be the entirety of the curriculum. Give student artists a sense of importance, embolden them to discover their own identity through their art! Encourage them to do as they please! I've learned my lesson, and never again will I consider the notion of either attending an art school, an art class, nor will I submit porfolios of my art to any sort of institution. For my written works, maybe... but with physical artwork... that is a very different ballpark.

Anyways, those are my top five artist / writer pet peeves! Sorry, it drones on forever, but I simply had to take advantage of this ask and let it alllll out. So thank you, @miz-orque, for this ask, as it gave me a good opportunity to reflect upon my vices. ^_^

[fleetwood-cheese]

Phantom Thief outfit breakdown: pt 4

This is a continuation of my previous post and series regarding my opinions on the phantom thieves' metaverse costumes, prompted by a poll by @waywardsalt. I will like all of these together as they're finished.

Akechi - Ann - Makoto - Futaba - Yusuke - Akechi 2

Next on the docket is Sumire, as her outfit is another I have very strong opinions on.

My main gripe with Sumire's outfit is that, by and large, its NOT her costume, as thus her idea of justice personified, its JOKER'S. The real-world reasoning for this is because she's the mascot and marketing character for Persona 5 Royal specifically and thus must match the promotional material, which is the thematic black and red, but it does drive me up the wall that this character, whose entire arc is learning to be and embrace herself and not cling to idealized versions of the people she loves as things to mimic and mold herself into, has a costume based entirely on another character's costume. This outfit tells me nothing about her except that she admires Joker and is probably romanceble.

Firstly, I would make efforts to incorporate an additional motif to her overall design inspiration. Her design is largely lacking them as it follows Joker's theme but lets go of many of his gentleman thief and Arsene Lupin inspirations in its desire to be more feminine. My preference is either for more fairytale/Cinderella motifs, to match her persona, or to add an element of the black swan from swan lake, as it would be a nice bit of foreshadowing to the way she's pretending to be Kasumi for confidence and validation, like how Odile impersonates Odette to charm the prince.

I would change up the leotard a bit. As it is, it's very basic, which I think is a disservice since we see her prettier leotards for competitions. I would add the skirt and some of the filigree decorations of her competition leotard, which only appears very briefly as Sumire mostly wears Kasumi's pink one instead of her own blue, and which provides some delicacy and a nod to her status as a gymnast to the outfit, as well as tying her to Cendrillon stylistically.

If you wanted to lean into the black swan motif, you could instead have the leotard incorporate feather embroidery or an edge that looks like primary feathers (the stiff ones, not loose like down).

I would also make the stockings a lighter color and make the ribbons on her shoes more obvious and climb higher on her legs. They are an interesting detail that gets lost against the similar color of the tights, which is really a shame, as they tie in nicely to her position as a rhythmic gymnastic specifically, which we can tell she is because her of her dance-like routines and the involvement of the ribbon over elements such as the bar or trampoline. Again, it would also play nicely into a ballet and specifically a swan lake theme. I also don't love the heels but I don't have anything specific in mind to replace them, so they can stay for now.

If you want a really big change, I would go with a color palette overhaul. If you incorporate more blues or pinks over the red, or the violet that's her literally code name, I think it would freshen her up and make her stand out a little more. Maybe you could even lighten her base color to a grey or a very dark purple if you really want to drift from game colors. I'd say go all the way and make the black elements white, but that wouldn't contrast well enough against Maruki's palace enough to stand out and would make her monochromatic in a way equally bad to the monochromatic she is now.

Overall, most of my problems with this outfit stem from the fact that it has so little of her personality (or even Kasumi's) and so much of Joker's for branding reasons, and think that the incorporation of another theme or a change in color palette would really do it some justice. If they had acknowledged that her outfit was modeled after Joker's and tweaked it during her second (true) awakening, I would have been happy with that, but they didn't. I rank her 9th place out of 10 outfits and a score of 2/10 overall.

[utilitycaster]

you NAILED it when you said a lot of indie ttrpgs are "rigid when i need openness and open where i need structure" like there is an art (and science) to deciding which mechanics fit the tone and intent of a game (and, frankly, and art/science to which mechanics even allow for fun) and I feel like that often gets glossed over in indie spaces.

Thanks! As a caveat, I am someone who primarily plays D&D, and a lot of my indie game knowledge beyond one-pagers is purely academic: it comes from a combination of watching actual play that uses different systems; discussions with friends who play different systems; and for lack of a better term informal research (following game designers, reading rule books).

This also means, frankly, that my primary experience with indie spaces (rather than games) has been through their absolute dregs: the specific sort of person who lurks in social media spaces searching for people mentioning either the games they Don't Like in a positive manner or the games they Do Like in a negative one, and then getting smarmy in the comments before the OP beats them with a spiked bat and blocks them and then they go off and make 2003 Nerd Media Forum Man comments of "oh...if only they would listen to my Logic and see the Truth" on their own blogs.

Most of the indie discourse has absolutely nothing to do with game mechanics, let alone setting or tone of the game, even though those are all crucial. People say the words "player agency" a lot but they don't actually mean it, since I guarantee if their players all unionized and said "hey instead of Crispy Dino Tender Knights, the d12 system for which your old roommate ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, could we play D&D?" they would tell those players to fuck off. Most of it is part of the general culture of identity through consumption, in which, in this space, you are not best described as a person who loves or plays horror or adventure or high fantasy (what you like and do) or even as someone with an interest in specific mechanics (a d20 system, a dice pool system, games based on tarot/oracle/playing cards, drawing/journaling games, GM-less games) but rather simply as someone who follows the arbitrarily correct companies. This is why Paizo (established in 2009; at one point was publishing the most popular TTRPG in the world; documented history of underpayment of artists and mistreatment of employees) is inexplicably treated, in many of these spaces, as more of an indie darling than Darrington Press.

(Sidebar: I think it's valid to not purchase from companies with values you find problematic and my point in bringing up Paizo is to point out that it's the second-largest name in the space and far from innocent, as well as to note that Hasbro has done some unbelievably awful stuff as of late. My problem is that indie spaces seem to overwhelmingly treat the two very separate and independently potentially true statements of "I don't like this company's practices, either for valid reasons of exploitative capitalism or for various personal gripes" and "the game system put out by this company is thoughtful, well-designed, and fits many people's needs, even if it does not fit mine" as entirely dependent on each other.)

A much shorter way to put it is how a number of smart people in the space have put it: when you ask for game recs and provide clear guidance on what you're interested in, the vast majority of people do not listen to you at all but instead bring up their favorite game even if said game is out of print, is prohibitively costly, and/or is truly unsuited for what you are intending to do. Because many, many people in the indie space, particularly the ones who engage with posts coming from those newer to it, seem to have defined themselves by their favorite game and then retroactively come up with reasons why it's the best and why everyone who plays something else, especially D&D, is stupid. This general second-banana mentality, of course, permanently cements them in that place, because they're so busy bashing everything they see as more popular that they define their favorites as games that are less popular and forget to explain why their favorites are actually good and back themselves into the corner we're seeing, in which people who champion one game will endlessly bash games that are remarkably similar and in doing so underline that this was never about gameplay or mechanics. (This is also really true in actual play spaces, and honestly a lot of nerdy media spaces.)

ANYWAY I think there absolutely should be a wide variety of games, and I even think it's good to have games with pretty strong similarities that are different enough to support different genres! I think more choice is great! But yeah, I think a lot of people who disparage specific mechanics (like a d20 system) on the whole do not actually think about what the game that uses those mechanics are trying to achieve. Again, I think PbtA as an engine does sound pretty fitting for its original use as Apocalypse World, but, not gonna lie, Monsterhearts is never going to be my thing and while I'm not sure it ever would, I think it could have been closer to my thing had the mechanics been customized to the setting more. I think games that put most of the rules onto RP segment of gameplay have a place, but it's really genre dependent! D&D does not support the same type of story as Good Society, and it's just as stupid to try to run the heroic fantasy system in the comedy of manners system as vice versa - and a lot of people do not understand that. Mechanics that make it easy to succeed (D&D) and mechanics that make it much harder (Blades in the Dark) and mechanics that ensure eventual failure (Dread, 10 Candles) all have their place, and both players and designers should be prepared to speak to their choices.

[kyliafanfiction]

What's the gripe with the Templin people? I tried watching their videos once but they seemed very boring so I don't really know anything about their content

(Full disclosure, it's been years since I watched any of their videos, so while I remember generally what they've said that pissed me off, I don't remember the specifics and I don't care to. Unlike say, Craptain America Steve "I am Drone Strikes In Human Form" Rogers, the Templin Institute does not live rent free in my head all the time, they just sublet some space every few months for a day or two) Well, My gripe is that their opinions on worldbuilding in sci-fi are very, very wrong. There's a lot of little things I didn't like or didn't agree with, like opposing the idea of a single government governing an entire world even if that world is part of (or even the capital of) a multistellar state, or saying that monarchies couldn't possibly ever function in the future because western democracies are so much more effective and efficient (*points to the United States* Not to say Monarchies are *good*, but monarchies are as capable of being effective at governing as democracies, because a monarchy is just a dictatorship where you call the dictator King, and we have a lot of functioning, for varying values of the word, dictatorships right now on earth), to saying that an Empire shouldn't call itself an Empire because it's too 'on the nose' or something to that effect, etc

But the thing that was the 'fuck this shit I'm out' for ever watching their videos again and soured me anytime anyone else links their videos and calls them "great worldbuilding advice" (seeing someone do that on a forum thread is what prompted my bitchpost) was one about sci-fi ships, and basically asserting all sorts of nonsense about what kinds of ships did and did not work/make sense (Dreadnoughts apparently are Bad™ and no serious writer should have them), ignoring that

1.) In most sci-fi settings that serve as settings for stories, games, TTRPGs, etc the classes/kinds of ships are there for narrative reasons first (in general, Templin's narrative-neutral approach to worldbuilding, while in theory sound, creates a lot of problems very quickly)

2.) The author is responsible for the space physics/etc of the universe. It's not hard to construct a universe where Dreadnoughts are the only viable form of warship for some reason. Or one where carriers rule the day, or one where carriers are actually a terrible, terrible idea, etc, etc, etc. Templin has this tendency, in their worldbuilding advice videos, to ignore that writers are gods of their own universes. Or so is my impression. They also speak authoritatively without basis, but that's kind of a me hangup, because ultimately it should be obvious it's all their opinion (I just think their opinions are bad) So I don't like them, get annoyed when I see people rec their worldbuilding stuff and can't believe I'm the only person who thinks their worldbuilding 'advice' is barely above useless half the time.

As for why right-wing neckbeard basement dwelling pissbaby shitheel fuckface morons hate them, it's that Templin Institute has "Gone Woke". The primary source of complaint for them seems to be that the Templin Institute asserted, accurately (if pointlessly, IMO) that Female Space Marines are entirely possible, if Games Workshop (the people who own Warhammer 40k) really wanted them, they could just change the lore. Under the cut for more details and context on that hot mess.

For those of you not familiar with this bit of interminable nonsense, in the Wargame (and associated setting that contains books, video games, TTRPGs and I believe at least one board game) Warhammer 40k, there exists a class of unit called a "Space Marine" which are genetically enhanced supersoldiers that are the flagship characters of the 40k universe. They get the most models made for them, the most narrative focus, etc.

Space Marines are, generally, made by taking candidates who pass a pretty grueling battery of tests, and grafting all sorts of extra organs into them that, if they survive, turns them into transhuman superpeople that are like ten feet tall, super strong/fast/etc and then gives them a pretty long lifespan. Space Marines are very, very. very, very skilled warriors and often deploy in 100-man companies that are often capable of turning the tide of planetary wars all on their own.

In-universe, the reason that Space Marines are all dudes isn't that the Imperium doesn't think women can't fight (the Imperium, as a whole, just cares if you hate the alien, the mutant and the heretic and can hold a lasgun when they conscript you into the Imperial Guard, and yes I'm oversimplifying) but that the process to create the Space Marines was made by the God-Emperor thousands of years ago using his own genes (or something like that) so they didn't work on women at the time - and the big E is on life support and has been for most of those thousands of years, and science and technology don't really advance much in-universe because it's a crapsack world setting (40k's fandom invented the word Grimdark, for reference), so even if someone was inclined to try and improve on the God Emperor's work, it would be hard to.

All of this is of course, arbitrary, because Games Workshop writes the lore. They've retconned things before, and these days their official position on 'canon' is that all published materials are from nominally in-universe sources and thus potentially biased or inaccurate. And they have had a guy named Cawl create an improved 'Primaris Space Marine' after thousands of years of work (though to be fair, in some quarters, the Primaris Space Marines went over like a lead balloon), so Templin Institute's point was that Games Workshop could say 'actually female space marines are possible because no one realized it before' or 'someone invented a way to make them possible' which is true.

This comment pissed off a bunch of idiots, most of whom are the sort of crypto/quasi/open (it does vary) fascists (or their technically apolitical buddies that give them cover) that give the rest of 40k's player base a bad name. And so they whined that Templin Institute 'went woke'.

Personally, I agree with Templin on this, but I also think this is a stupid argument and people who really want female space marines should just stop engaging with 40k and find a better game/setting to be into, because the Warhammer 40k game and setting is a horrible, terrible, noxious steaming pile of incoherent trash that should have been left on the ash heap of gaming decades ago to be replaced by better stuff.

And I say this as someone who has bought several Warhammer 40k video games, would like to buy at least one more, played some 40k-set TTRPGs a few times, reads some of the 40k novels and spends more time than she'd like to admit (that is, any) reading the 40k Lexicanum (a fan wiki). I will fully concede that the 40k game/setting is a compelling pile of trash, but it still is a pile of trash.

[greenhousethree]

1 and 17 for Mr Harry James Potter

Thanks for the ask, @takearisk-ao3!

(Ask game here)

Canon I outright reject:

Ugh ugh ugh okay so I've belabored this gripe to some who won't find it even slightly surprising, but I find the name Albus Severus to be, frankly, a complete departure of character for Harry. Even if we ignore the fact that Ginny would need to be out of her mind to concede, Harry's choice to name his son after the two most controversial characters in his life is still baffling. I just don't think, after everything we learn about him, that Harry would choose the name Severus over so many other influential figures in his life (Neville? Arthur? William? Fleamont? etc...).

As a canon-compliant writer, canon to me means anything that's directly and explicitly dictated by the primary seven novels. I don't leave a lot of room to actually reject any canons, but this bit in the epilogue is the closest thing that I really, really struggle with.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. I associate with Harry:

For a song, it would 100% be For No One by Houndmouth. Through a really raw, solo performance, this one depicts the apathy and rejection of heroism that he's wrangling with in my current fics. As far as poetry goes, I know this one is extremely cliche but I've always read Mary Oliver's "The Journey" through a very Harry/Deathly Hallows lens, carrying forward themes of autonomy and coming-of-age:

"You knew what you had to do, / though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, / though their melancholy was terrible. / It was already late enough, and a wild night, / and the road full of fallen branches and stones. / But little by little, as you left their voice behind, / the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, / and there was a new voice / which you slowly recognized as your own..."

[posallys]

my biggest gripe with US higher education is the fact that it's classist. like it's really just a money game. do you want to go to a top 50? yeah? okay, well do your parents make 300k+ a year and are going to pay for your tuition outright? great, welcome to the ivies!!! do your parents fall right at or slightly above the poverty line? also great, we're going to give you a lot of aid and use the three poverty-ridden students that lucked out and got a good primary education to claim that we're diverse and accept students from every socioeconomic group. are your parents middle class? yes? how about middle class making ~120k? yeah? great, you got a good education and got into this top school, but because your parents make decent money, we're not going to give you financial aid!!!! oh, they're not helping you pay for college? that's a bummer :( unfortunately we can't give you any aid to help with the 75k/year tuition that we don't actually use to better the school because your parents make money. yes we know you said that they're not helping you, but they have the money so they could pay for it. yeah we know they're not. yeah we know they have several other kids and can't afford to pay your tuition. yeah, yeah. yeah, sorry, you still have to pay the 75k a year. yeah, we're sorry, there's nothing we can do. you're going to have to go to a state school :( sorry :(

[beevean]

My biggest gripe with Prime so far is it's narrative insisting that Sonic is somehow a person who took his friends for granted and that he needs to go on some kind of self-discovering journey because of it, despite nothing Sonic has really done so far actually reflecting it. The catalyst for the show happening in the first place is Sonic getting pissed at Eggman shit talking Tails; doesn't seem like someone who took his friends for granted. Hell, if anything, Sonic won't shut the hell about the Powar of Friendship. The show's synopsis made it sound like he's his Fleetway counterpart, when at worst he's just kinda dumb because there wouldn't be a conflict otherwise, and the so-called bad selfish things he's done are honest to God mistakes and things no one could have predicted.

This in turn has the unintended effect of not only making Sonic's friends from his primary universe look like ones who hold him to standards that are impossible to meet, but the alternate dimension versions of them too. Especially Nine Tails, who in my personal opinion, has been kind of insufferable so far. Even with taking his differing background into consideration, at best he comes off as someone with the biggest stick jammed up his ass, and at worst he just seems like one of those try-hard whiny Punk-Emo kids who think they're being edgy and non-conformist. He just seems like someone using the two people in the past who made fun of his birth defect as an excuse to be as abrasive and stand-offish as possible to everyone, even when someone hasn't given him an actual reason to. I also don't like the implication that without Sonic in their lives, they either end up like Nine Tails, you just never get anything done, or you're just too dumb to function.

Wouldn't have a problem with all of this if they weren't insisting that this is totally canon to the main game one, instead of just being it's own thing like every other Sonic adaptation in the past has been, despite there already being several things that contradict the game canon beyond just matters concerning characterization.

Didn't a similar thing happen with Rise of Lyric? I remember that most of the descriptions of the game pre-release mentioned that Boom Sonic was a loner who'd have to learn about the Super Power of Teamwork. Game comes out, and uhhh he's actually pretty chill with his friends, a few cutscenes notwithstanding.

I don't know which is worse: thinking that Sonic needs to learn how to accept his friends, or not even delivering on your premise. Both are bad writing :V except that everyone and their mother gleefully shat on Boom and everything related to it, but Prime has a Sonic that Is Just Like Me Fr Fr (And Is Also Gay For Shadow), so it's all A-okay :^)

Prime to me honestly feels like a Boom that takes itself seriously. Boom (the show, I mean) had no pretenses: like it or not, it knew that it was nothing more than a funny sitcom featuring AU versions of Sonic & co. So I don't mind that Sonic was grumpier, or that Knuckles was basically a furry Kronk, or that Eggman had a crush on Sonic was little more than a manchild with mommy issues. But if you show not only want to have a more serious storyline with dimension hopping and protagonists screwing up and having to live with the consequences, but you even want to be considered canon... well, I expect more.

[aerithisms]

hi! I just wanted to share my 2 cents about your aerith post and her screen time bc after I finished the game I shared the same sentiment, but after 2 weeks of thinking, rewatching and analysing cut scenes (this game lives rent free in my head now), I realized why they pace her arc the way they did. basically her arc deals with her duty as cetra and coming to terms w/ it. however there wouldn't be any progression if she was already resolved to do it, hence at the beginning of rebirth we have aerith who is happy to start her adventure w/ her new friends (the one she wanted to go w/ her mom as we learn from her trial, so her moment of joy after leaving kalm feels even more deep). but as we continue we can see the mix of inner struggles that resides in her: being last cetra, trying to moving on from zack and dealing w/ dark thoughts about hojo. her Costa del Sol scene suggests that she'll learn how to deal w/ all of that and she believes it'll make her a better person in the future (in some way it has come true bc aerith sacrifices her life and any chance to spend it w/ ppl she loves, and of all things she wanted exactly this). despite that it doesn't cancel her desire to have a normal life and enjoy every moment while she can (in the same Costa del Sol ch. where everyone leaves the beach you can see aerith lingering and watching the sunset as she tries to take it all in for the last time). I think starting from Cosmo canyon her resolve comes into form bc she admits about the loneliness she had to face. At the temple she's willing to learn how to control lifestream (even tho you can see moments when she's upset when it doesn't work out). and at the end she's resolved to fulfill her duty not bc she's a cetra but bc of her friends.

This way you learn to care about her as a person and not just her role as a chosen one. also it's just my personal impression that the devs didn't want her to be a walking sign of death to preserve that feeling of her loss. instead they tease the player the idea of saving her to via marlene, red xiii and partially zack scenes (which feels even more cruel imho).

i can definitely appreciate your perspective!! to clarify i didn't want her to be fully formed in her identity and duty as a cetra at the beginning of the game, and this sort of arc about her learning to explore that side of herself more was in fact exactly what i wanted, i just feel the game doesn't really address it as much as i wish it did. like besides the cosmo canyon fire scene and the last couple chapters there's not a lot there and you're left to infer a little too much imo. i would've liked to see aerith voice her feelings about it to someone more so that we could get inside her head about it. nanaki would've been great since he has a similar connection to the planet/responsibility to uphold the legacy of his people, or tifa since she and aerith confide so much in each other already. or even cloud! that could've brought more attention to their relationship in the narrative so it wasn't so sparse.

i do get that they don't want it to be obvious she'll die for new players but by the same token i sort of feel like if they were that concerned about that they wouldn't have had marlene straight up say sephiroth is gonna kill her. by and large this game's story feels targeted at a primary audience of people who've already played ff7 so i don't know that i feel that's a good enough justification not to explore all the facets of her character in more depth while they could.

that being said i absolutely agree that i love her arc about her connection to the party and how she clearly struggles with but ultimately is able to accept her fate because of how much she loves them and how much they brought to her life. i thought that was really beautiful and heartfelt. and for all my griping i did sob over the ending so it's not like these critiques i have ruined the emotional impact overall!

[thefirstknife]

also to add on to your "destiny dying long live destiny"

its the Monday after a holiday weekend for the states. people are exhausted and probably going back to work or trying to down tune

also also its the holiday week where a new mainline Pokemon game just released. regardless of your opinions/the quality of it its still a brand new Pokemon game. thats gonna pull ppl from anywhere.

Yep! It's really interesting how November without an expansion in Destiny has been low two years in a row. And incidentally, both Novembers, there's been a Pokemon and Call of Duty release (on top of other major releases).

I know Aztecross said "don't tell me it's because it's Monday, it's Monday for other games too and there's 34 games above Destiny by player count." But it does matter. Those other games also probably have fewer players than they do when it's not post-holiday Monday.

And ofc, not all games are tied to seasonal cycles. People know there's nothing left to wrap up in Destiny so they moved to other games that they may have been neglecting during the Destiny pinnacle grind. I've neglected other games for Destiny this season and I've been catching up with them now that Destiny's season is ending and I have nothing left to do. If I have to choose what to play on a Monday before the new season, it won't be Destiny. Cringefail confession, but I spent this Monday catching up with levelling my battlepass in Overwatch. Yeah it's Monday, but I have things left to do in Overwatch and none in Destiny.

If Destiny is someone's primary game, they'll prioritise it in the first two months because of the pinnacle grind. I have to get my power level up so I can do GMs. I always prioritise Destiny first. So when I'm done, last month of the season, I play less because I have to go back and do stuff I neglected in other games. It's really simple. The fact that it's the final week of the season is crucial context.

And it's really hypocritical of these content creators to do this after they spent months farming negative attention and bad press for the game. Maybe fewer people are playing because you convinced them that the game is shit? They never seem to like taking credit for the negative, just the positive. You influence people's opinions! When you post the newest god tier build, everyone and their grandma copies it. When you shittalk the game for months, your fans listen to you. I don't know why that's difficult to understand.

There's obviously legitimate reasons for everyone to personally dislike the game! I have my gripes too, everyone does. I think we could have really important convos and feedback with Bungie about the issues we have. But this specific way of doing it? Constructing outrage by using "numbers" stripped of all context to "prove" that the game is objectively bad? It's sleazy. And it helps no one. Worst of all, it results in really awful online behaviour under the guise of anonymity and perceived justification: "bad devs ruin the game, we have the right to complain!"

Bungie knows the numbers better than any of us. If they're concerned, they will deal with it. And ofc, we'll see the numbers skyrocket in December. And then drop in January. And then skyrocket in February. And so on.

[imperatortez]

What's your favorite game you played this year?

sky my pal my friend my companion sky.

that is a very difficult question, I've played a lot of different games this year! In fact, I've actively been keeping tabs on games i've completed this year, totalling around 20 fully completed games.

I think it's gotta come down to three candidates, Valheim, Jedi Survivor or NEO: The World Ends With You. And the thing is, I love them all for different reasons.

Valheim is such a fun game to play with friends, and is an experience you could easily sink dozens of hours into without even thinking about it. From the biome-based progression and gear system somewhat akin to Terraria. To the harder boss fights and survival based aspects of the game. To it's incredible simplistic, yet very stylish and distinct visual style, it's genuinely a solid 10/10 for me.

STAR WARS: Jedi Survivor was an incredibly fun experience, despite a rocky technical launch. I definitely experienced a good few bugs and poor preformance, but looking aside the state of the game at launch it was a really genuinely phenomenal experience that managed to feel properly Star Wars. Which is a thing not a lot of Star Wars games manage. And I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of that, not to mention that the twists in the story threw me for a genuine loop.

NEO: The World Ends With You was a game I didn't really expect to play this year. It was gifted to me by @somethingwittyandweird for Christmas last year and I got around to playing it sometime early this year, and the first few days didn't super do it for me in game, but after that I was locked in. It was a really interesting and engaging story, with really well written characters, and overall fun gameplay. As it turns out, I am so normal about this game, so y'know, it's fine. Totally fine. (My game be so fine then boom, it got even better)

A few shoutouts before making my final decision: Master Detective Archives: Rain Code was a phenomenal detective game. Which, typically investigation and mystery games aren't 100% my thing, I often don't feel very good at them and I find the mysteries get a bit too complex for my liking. But this one really hit home for me, fantastic game with fantastic characters, art design, writing and soundtrack. Baldur's Gate 3 is another fantastic game I've played this year. I'm a lover of CRPGs and D&D so it was a pretty safe success for me, and I did thoroughly enjoy it. I've got a lot of different gripes and disagreeances about how some characters were handled and some options and such within the story, and various opinions about other bits and bobs. But all in all, it very much deserved GOTY, even if it wasn't my game of the year. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Pathfinder: Kingmaker were also exceptional games I played this year. Again, big fan of CRPGs so these were very safe hits for me. But in addition to that, they let me immerse myself and learn so much about Golarion, the primary Pathfinder setting, and I thoroughly enjoyed that. With well written characters, fantastic stories, and very in depth mechanics, these games were a great time for my fantasy adventures.

I think, having ruminated on it properly, my favourite game that I played this year has to go to Valheim. I can return to that game any number of times for any number of playthroughs and have a fantastic time, it's so engrossing and fun and it's a game I cannot recommend enough.

There are a lot of hot hits this year I just haven't played yet. Like Mario Wonder, Tears of the Kingdom, Alan Wake II, etc. etc. I just have not gotten around to them yet, though I plan on doing so sooner rather then later, hopefully!

I hope this satisfies your curiosity! And I for one look forward to seeing what games will end up being played next year!