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    1. What is the most interesting feature you've seen in a language?

      For me, it's definitely the topic particles in Japanese. It just seems like a really interesting thing that is a reason enough to want to learn Japanese, even excluding other great features it...

      For me, it's definitely the topic particles in Japanese. It just seems like a really interesting thing that is a reason enough to want to learn Japanese, even excluding other great features it has. Here some info on them.

      30 votes
    2. SF recommendations

      Not exactly an original first post, but as a life long avid SF fan, I'm always on the lookout for recommendations. According to Google Play, my reading (and re-reading) this year has been ... Iain...

      Not exactly an original first post, but as a life long avid SF fan, I'm always on the lookout for recommendations.

      According to Google Play, my reading (and re-reading) this year has been ...

      Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds, John Scalzi, Dan Simmons, Neal Stephenson, Charles Stross, China Miéville, Vernor Vinge, Peter Watts, Neal Asher, Richard K Morgan, Corey Doctorow, C.J. Cherryh, Karl Schroeder, Ann Leckie, Hannu Rajaniemi, Yoon Ha Lee, Greg Bear and James S.A. Corey.

      So I guess that sums up my current taste, which would seem to tilt towards space opera and "hard" SF.

      11 votes
    3. ~music Listening Club 3 - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

      Week three, everyone! Last week's obscure record pick went well, and here we are with another classic record discussion: Wu-Tang Clan's Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)! Here's the place to discuss...

      Week three, everyone! Last week's obscure record pick went well, and here we are with another classic record discussion: Wu-Tang Clan's Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)!

      Here's the place to discuss your thoughts on the record, your history with it or the artist, and basically talk about whatever you want to that goes along with 36 Chambers. Remember that this is intended to be a slow moving thing, feel free to take your time and comment at any point in the week!

      If you'd like to stream or buy the album, it can be found on most platforms here.

      Don't forget to nominate and vote for next week's obscure record in response to this comment!

      14 votes
    4. The Paper Bag Princess for all children

      The Paper Bag Princess was an awesome book for little girls that I read when I was a little girl. And now that a lot of family and friends are having kids of their own, I was wondering anyone have...

      The Paper Bag Princess was an awesome book for little girls that I read when I was a little girl. And now that a lot of family and friends are having kids of their own, I was wondering anyone have any recommendations for similar books but for both genders?

      7 votes
    5. Let's talk Buffy! Once More, With Spoilers.

      Inspired by an earlier thread in this post I'd love to hear what other Buffy fans think about the show. What season is best and why? What elements of the show did you love, or hate? What did the...

      Inspired by an earlier thread in this post I'd love to hear what other Buffy fans think about the show. What season is best and why? What elements of the show did you love, or hate? What did the show mean to you? Angel or Spike?

      17 votes
    6. Search Bar

      Ok, so I'm relatively new here on tildes, so I'm not even sure if I'm posting this in the right place, and if I am, I apologize. One of the things that I've noticed about tildes is that it doesn't...

      Ok, so I'm relatively new here on tildes, so I'm not even sure if I'm posting this in the right place, and if I am, I apologize. One of the things that I've noticed about tildes is that it doesn't have a search bar. I've looked through some posts but can't seem to find anything about it (it was made difficult by the lack of the search bar :P), so I'm wondering is there a reason we don't have one, have we not gotten round to getting one yet or do we just not want one? What are your thoughts on a search bar?

      8 votes
    7. The Expanse season finale discussion thread

      I've read the books up until Cibola Burn, so my impression comes from comparing my experience watching the story to reading it as told in print. Season 3 was incredibly rushed through and little...

      I've read the books up until Cibola Burn, so my impression comes from comparing my experience watching the story to reading it as told in print.

      Season 3 was incredibly rushed through and little of any character's motivations or thought are clarified as they still make more or less the same decisions. Two noteworthy characters (Pa, Bull) combined into one character (Drummer) whose actress only does one vocal and facial expression, which I happen to mirror every time she gets air time.

      Show Ashford, an arguably much more sensible and intelligent man than Book Ashford, is unreasonably suddenly deemed necessary to reflect Book Ashford without any clear change in motivation.

      So many things are done weirdly on the show that didn't need be done. Those are a few examples off the top of my head. What do you think?

      12 votes
    8. Let's talk player classes

      No, not the PC classes in your game - the classes that describe the people you play the game with. Mister Fantastic: Every single number on this player's character sheet has been optimized beyond...

      No, not the PC classes in your game - the classes that describe the people you play the game with.

      Mister Fantastic: Every single number on this player's character sheet has been optimized beyond comprehension to be at least 20% higher than you thought was possible, and it's all legal. Reading one of his sheets will teach you about traits, feats, and rules you never knew existed. Often mumbles cryptic, one-word answers while barely paying attention that end ongoing rules discussions leaving the other players with blank faces. His characters are nearly invincible except for one small key weakness (AC 26 at level 1, but with a CMD of 5). This player can typically one-shot the BBEG and reverse the party's fortunes in a single round. If he's charmed or dominated it will result in a TPK unless dealt with instantly.

      The Veteran: A quiet fellow wearing a T-Shirt that says, "Don't tell me about your character: just play." He's never flashy, and seems to do very little, content to let everyone else play and have fun. Always prepared for any situation when no one else is. More likely to aid other players than act directly. He'll only involve himself when everyone else is making a mess out of things, and when he does wake up, his ability to deal with any given situation leaves Mister Fantastic green with envy. Has been known to kill BBEGs via roleplaying. Has the ability to summon natural 20s on demand but rarely uses it. The GM often consults with him on rules issues.

      Negative Diplomacy: No matter the class or the character's abilities, whenever this player opens their mouth to talk to someone who isn't in the party, you know the group is going to be in combat to the death in less than three rounds. The GM is uniquely powerless to prevent this from happening. His superpower is always knowing the worst possible in-character thing to say.

      Milla Vanilla: Every character this person plays is the exact same thing - even when playing different classes. For whatever reason, this player cannot mentally step into the shoes of their character, and ends up on endless repeat. Often not noticeable until one has played multiple games with this person and notices that their ninja assassin is remarkably similar in temperament to their paladin.

      The Conspiracy Theorist: This player is convinced that every single thing that happens is part of some grand tapestry and he is on a mission to figure it out. Often obsesses over small details, makes bizarre (sometimes nonsensical) connections between events, places, and facts. Your worst fear is that he's giving the GM ideas. It's confirmed when some of his wilder predictions come to pass later in the game.

      Aaron Justicebringer: The kind of perma-lawful good holy crusader who walks into a tavern and announces, "Greetings! I am Aaron Justicebringer. You may flee if you wish." He's on a mission to smite evil. Since he's always got detect evil running, he finds quite a lot of it and smites often, without concern for trivialities like local customs, ettiquette, roleplaying, and plot. This player always plays crusader types.

      Kaboom: Kaboom likes loves lives to set things on fire. Often a wizard or sorcerer, and the kind of fellow who can reduce six enemies to ash in a single round (even if those were six fire elementals). Flaming spells, flaming daggers, flaming hair, and one can track him across Golarion just by following the smoke. Unfortunately, that's all he's good for. Kaboom is a blunt instrument, best kept wrapped in asbestos until the party finds a target he can be aimed at in a location that hasn't got too much potential for collateral damage. This player comes in non-fire flavors too.

      Sleepy Pete: Sleepy Pete has a wife, six kids, and a stressful day job. By the time he makes it to the session, he's been clinically dead for two hours already. He'll be asleep within an hour of starting, even faster if food or alcohol is involved. Sleepy Pete is also prone to missing sessions with little forewarning. You're not even sure what his character or personality is because you've been given almost no opportunity to observe him in a conscious state.

      Brandon The Builder: A player who in all other ways is relatively normal, Brandon must never be given downtime in any way, shape, or form. With a full set of item crafting feats and flawless mastery of the downtime rules, Brandon will not only rule the entire kingdom in less than six months, he'll find a way to provide every single party member with a Headband of Mental Superiority, Belt of Physical Perfection, two +5 Tomes or Manuals of their choice, and a well staffed keep while doing it.

      Broken Billy: This player has no comprehension of the mathematical progression of the games he plays. Instead, he jumps at the first thing he finds that sounds cool. This leaves him with a hodgepodge of abilities that quickly become useless as the game progresses, leaving poor Billy more and more frustrated as the game goes on. Broken Billy steadfastly ignores all advice and all warnings given to him by the GM and more experienced players. Prone to having five first level classes on his fifth level character.

      The Novice Namer: Never good at coming up with names, this player has given birth to many legendary heroes: Bob the Barbarian, Robert the Ranger, and who could forget Sheldon the Sorcerer.

      The Knife Hoarder: For whatever reason, this player insists on having at least 2 knives on his belt and 4 hidden on his person. He'll never actually use these knives, but as they'd say "just in case."

      The 1-Leaf-Clover: This person's dice are trying to kill him. Oh he might roll a natural 20 to get a cheap room at the inn or tell if an item is masterwork (its not), but the second he's in combat, the most you can expect is a 12 or 13.

      The iGenie: Only looks away from his laptop when his name is said three times.

      The Bookworm: If not taking an action, is found face first in a book looking for a rare never before seen rule that will get him out of the in-game situation. There has got to be rule specifically for negotiating with a different race to reduce the price of a toll. There just has to be!

      Secretly Evil: This player almost always plays a Wizard/Sorcerer and takes a Necromantic path. They'll write a sizable and traumatic back-story. Then in game they'll never do or say anything evil in front of the group(in or out of character). In fact, they'll do very little in general. Instead they wait until everyone is gone and tell the DM what evil things they actually did while "no one was looking".

      You should try FATAL: Makes all their characters and every encounter somehow revolve around sex.

      Spellsaver: Spellcaster that never casts their spells because they think the next fight is going to be harder.

      The Lore Keeper: This player may not be the most talkative person at the table, but that's possibly because they're too busy writing down every even happening in the game. Conversations, shared loot, timelines, and character sketches -- this player is devoted to the story, and keeps track of all of it.

      What are we missing?

      (Some inspiration from this old reddit thread.)

      17 votes
    9. Antichamber developer Alex Bruce talks about the process of developing and marketing his game

      Alex Bruce gave a pair of talks at GDC 2014 on the development process of Antichamber (trailer) In the first talk he talked about the journey from Unreal mod to full game, presenting at game...

      Alex Bruce gave a pair of talks at GDC 2014 on the development process of Antichamber (trailer)

      In the first talk he talked about the journey from Unreal mod to full game, presenting at game festivals, networking, the grueling work of getting the game to market, and the lessons he learned along the way:

      Antichamber: An Overnight Success, Seven Years In The Making

      In the second talk he went over the iterative design process, and how he tweaked things based on how people interacted with the game (spoilers):

      Antichamber: Three Years of Hardcore Iteration

      12 votes
    10. The similarities between Soviet Union and Silicon Valley

      link to the source Tweet Things that happen in Silicon Valley and also the Soviet Union: waiting years to receive a car you ordered, to find that it's of poor workmanship and quality promises of...

      link to the source Tweet

      Things that happen in Silicon Valley and also the Soviet Union:

      • waiting years to receive a car you ordered, to find that it's of poor workmanship and quality
      • promises of colonizing the solar system while you toil in drudgery day in, day out
      • living five adults to a two room apartment - being told you are constructing utopia while the system crumbles around you
      • 'totally not illegal taxi' taxis by private citizens moonlighting to make ends meet - everything slaved to the needs of the military-industrial complex
      • mandatory workplace political education - productivity largely falsified to satisfy appearance of sponsoring elites
      • deviation from mainstream narrative carries heavy social and political consequences - networked computers exist but they're really bad
      • Henry Kissinger visits sometimes for some reason
      • elite power struggles result in massive collateral damage, sometimes purges - failures are bizarrely upheld as triumphs
      • otherwise extremely intelligent people just turning the crank because it's the only way to get ahead
      • the plight of the working class is discussed mainly by people who do no work
      • the United States as a whole is depicted as evil by default
      • the currency most people are talking about is fake and worthless
      • the economy is centrally planned, using opaque algorithms not fully understood by their users
      18 votes
    11. Friday Health Achievement Thread - brag and talk about your accomplishments here!

      Happy Friday everyone! I thought that a solid discussion could be spawned out of us talking about weekly health goals and how we've achieved them, so I invite y'all to tell us all about them. Have...

      Happy Friday everyone! I thought that a solid discussion could be spawned out of us talking about weekly health goals and how we've achieved them, so I invite y'all to tell us all about them. Have you recently hit a new personal record in weight-lifting? Run your first mile in ten years? Or have you just been maintaining a good, consistent routine?

      8 votes
    12. What is the best way to add a growth mechanic to Dungeons and Dragons?

      There isn't really a great mechanic for learning skills and languages in dungeons and dragons. This makes it a bit lacking if there is a certain amount of off-time between adventures and missions....

      There isn't really a great mechanic for learning skills and languages in dungeons and dragons. This makes it a bit lacking if there is a certain amount of off-time between adventures and missions. It would be cool to think some sort of mundane dnd. Like mini-games in video game RPGs that make your character a little bit more personal. A quirks mechanic, that adds a certain way your character acts in the every day or what your character normally does. The risk is that it could turn into too much of a dice roller and the players might engage less with the story. What do you think?

      9 votes
    13. Modern Portuguese literature, any hidden gems you know?

      Hello to all! Since I first read a Saramago novel (All the Names), I've grown to love Portuguese literature. Later I read Gonçalo Tavares and Pessoa, and I have some names to discover from their...

      Hello to all!

      Since I first read a Saramago novel (All the Names), I've grown to love Portuguese literature. Later I read Gonçalo Tavares and Pessoa, and I have some names to discover from their classics (illustrious ones like Gil Vicente or Eça de Queiroz), but because I don't know Portuguese yet, I have to make do with translations, which impedes me from following the current, less famous authors. So, I wonder if you could tell me about some of these ones. Which are your favourites, which ones would you suggest? Does not matter if translated or not, I can read in a couple other languages and will learn Portuguese soon too. Thanks in advance!

      7 votes
    14. Rethinking the ‘nature’ of brutality: Uncovering the role of identity leadership in the Stanford Prison Experiment

      A press release about the University of Queensland's review of the old Stanhope "prison" experiment: New interpretation of one of psychology’s most famous experiments The review itself: Rethinking...

      A press release about the University of Queensland's review of the old Stanhope "prison" experiment: New interpretation of one of psychology’s most famous experiments

      The review itself: Rethinking the ‘nature’ of brutality: Uncovering the role of identity leadership in the Stanford Prison Experiment

      4 votes
    15. What have you been listening to this week?

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to give recs or dicuss anything about each others'...

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something!

      Feel free to give recs or dicuss anything about each others' listening habits.

      You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

      http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

      13 votes