deimosthenes's recent activity

  1. Comment on Reselling tickets for profit to be outlawed in UK government crackdown in ~music

    deimosthenes
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    Yeah I think this is probably the best compromise between curbing scalping at least a bit without sacrificing much privacy or flexibility.

    Yeah I think this is probably the best compromise between curbing scalping at least a bit without sacrificing much privacy or flexibility.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on Best recommendations for PC couch multiplayer games? in ~games

    deimosthenes
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    I'll say that while it's a fantastic game and I love it, small caveat is I've found that it can be a rough one to play casually if there's a dramatic difference in platforming game skill level /...

    I'll say that while it's a fantastic game and I love it, small caveat is I've found that it can be a rough one to play casually if there's a dramatic difference in platforming game skill level / experience between participants.
    Because of the way you as a group build up the levels you're also building your own difficulty and it can be easy to end up with something too challenging for someone less comfortable with the fundamentals.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on The future of technology makes it harder to solve fictional crimes in ~books

    deimosthenes
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    Yeah, Caves of Steel and the like was certainly front of mind when I was reading the article, alongside a few other Asimov short stories that also do the robot-centric whodunnit thing. I guess...

    Yeah, Caves of Steel and the like was certainly front of mind when I was reading the article, alongside a few other Asimov short stories that also do the robot-centric whodunnit thing.

    I guess it's always going to be a rarer subgenre of stories that deviates the setting significantly from the lived experience of its readers. So over time technology changes what plot devices that status quo default template setting will allow, while the stories in historical or speculative fiction get more control over the setting constraints but have an obligation to do more worldbuilding to make it work.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Crossdressing Garbage in ~creative

    deimosthenes
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    Thanks for sharing something so personal and open, this is really good! You really nailed the introspective stream-of-consciousness style of dialogue. In the last couple of years I've had multiple...

    Thanks for sharing something so personal and open, this is really good! You really nailed the introspective stream-of-consciousness style of dialogue.

    In the last couple of years I've had multiple friends come out as trans or nb or otherwise question their gender identity and describe pretty similar journeys to what you illustrate here. So I'm appreciative of works like this that maybe help me understand a little better.

    12 votes

  5. Comment on What makes a game, a game? in ~games

    deimosthenes
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    Yeah that was surprisingly difficult, and perhaps even a little upsetting to fill in. Something about gently being led to the realisation that there was no easy internally consistent position that...

    Yeah that was surprisingly difficult, and perhaps even a little upsetting to fill in.
    Something about gently being led to the realisation that there was no easy internally consistent position that would align with my intuition, followed by rethinking a few earlier answers and still not really coming up with a definition I was happy with.

    16 votes

  6. Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Always happy to see this game get mentioned. It's a lot of fun with a group of friends, especially when none of us are very good at it.

    Always happy to see this game get mentioned. It's a lot of fun with a group of friends, especially when none of us are very good at it.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Disney decides it hasn’t angered people enough, announces Disney+ price hikes in ~tv

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Not necessarily arguing that the term isn't misused by any technical definition, but figured I could weigh in with how I see it used. In a tech setting I would say that 'ecosystem' typically has...

    Not necessarily arguing that the term isn't misused by any technical definition, but figured I could weigh in with how I see it used.

    In a tech setting I would say that 'ecosystem' typically has implications of it being a heterogeneous system made up of many independent actors with their own concerns and drives but sharing use of some foundational environment or structure.

    Whereas 'system' by itself is so semantically overloaded as to be not a very useful descriptor in most circumstances without modifiers or clarification.

    8 votes

  8. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Apologies if you're as already aware of this but Hollow Knight is what's usually called a 'metroidvania' game, a subgenre of platforming games with a much larger focus on exploring a large...

    Apologies if you're as already aware of this but Hollow Knight is what's usually called a 'metroidvania' game, a subgenre of platforming games with a much larger focus on exploring a large interconnected map and unlocking new capabilities to slowly open up that map. Named such for the Metroid series and several of the later Castlevania games being regarded as the progenitors of the genre.

    Hollow Knight is definitely one of the darlings of the genre but yeah if you really get into it and are looking for similar experiences that's how I'd find them.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    I'd sunk a ton of time into Blue Prince a couple of months ago and really should go back to try to tie the remainder up. There's a few puzzles that have irked me but most are skillfully and...

    I'd sunk a ton of time into Blue Prince a couple of months ago and really should go back to try to tie the remainder up.

    There's a few puzzles that have irked me but most are skillfully and thoughtfully put together and the drip feed of story elements is pretty exciting as you piece things together.

    I think the intention is that some of the meta-progression elements (and your own improving drafting strategy) alleviate some of the frustration of having to draft particular rooms to progress. What I've found is that as you progress further it does kind of suck if you've only got one objective for a day and it doesn't work out, so I've been trying to keep an updated list of things I want to try so I can pivot to whichever is feasible. Early game there's such a wealth of things to explore that this is fairly effortless, later game it might partly depend on your memory or organisational skill.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Session report: PF2 Kingmaker in ~games.tabletop

    deimosthenes
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    Ah nice, I haven't read through the 2e AP but I've played enough of the videogame to visualise roughly where they're at. A group of level 3 players against a level 6 creature is a pretty tough...

    Ah nice, I haven't read through the 2e AP but I've played enough of the videogame to visualise roughly where they're at.

    A group of level 3 players against a level 6 creature is a pretty tough fight, especially one with regeneration. They really must have been rolling hot to trivialise that.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Jet Lag: Snake across South Korea | Trailer in ~hobbies

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I'm in the same camp. For every time there's a crazy game-changing coincidence that surely must have been scripted, there's a bunch of decisions and situations that go much as you'd expect...

    Yeah, I'm in the same camp.
    For every time there's a crazy game-changing coincidence that surely must have been scripted, there's a bunch of decisions and situations that go much as you'd expect and could easily be rigged to be more dramatic if they wanted to.

    They're just building games that lend themselves to opportunities for clutch moments, capturing a metric ton of footage and relying on editing to focus in on the exciting stuff and gloss over the mundane.

    5 votes

  12. Comment on Share the contents of an old file you've got lying around in ~talk

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    You might not have the internet available all of the time if you were still on dial-up, and if you found something you liked there was no guarantee it'd still exist later. I think there was just...

    You might not have the internet available all of the time if you were still on dial-up, and if you found something you liked there was no guarantee it'd still exist later.
    I think there was just more of a culture of saving things locally if you wanted to make sure you'd be able to find it again later.
    Maybe it's to do with the difference of wanting to preserve/hoard things if you went out actively hunting for content, rather than having it served up to you by a largely transient algorithmic feed.

    10 votes

  13. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Yeah I'd watched the anime adaptation and it's really excellent, I just wish I didn't have to include a caveat anytime I would recommend it to friends. The tonal whiplash it cultivates is pretty...

    Yeah I'd watched the anime adaptation and it's really excellent, I just wish I didn't have to include a caveat anytime I would recommend it to friends. The tonal whiplash it cultivates is pretty fun overall and I like that it's willing to tackle some pretty tough subjects but I wouldn't fault someone for dropping it before it had a chance to get good.

  14. Comment on The Expanse: Osiris Reborn | Announcement in ~games

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    I've been playing one of Owlcat's earlier games and it's good. It'll be interesting to see how they do tackling a new genre, as to my knowledge I think they've exclusively been making isometric...

    I've been playing one of Owlcat's earlier games and it's good. It'll be interesting to see how they do tackling a new genre, as to my knowledge I think they've exclusively been making isometric RPGs.
    They've been doing very well in that niche, a more action-oriented game can be quite a different beast though. Overall I'm cautiously optimistic to see them try something a bit different, and hoping it means we still get some deep, crunchy RPG progression options in this action RPG.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on I miss D&D in ~games.tabletop

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Ah yeah, I'm currently running a pre-built module as my first exposure to PF2e too. They do tend to lay out the specific skills which can be used for a challenge, but I agree it's on the GM to see...

    Ah yeah, I'm currently running a pre-built module as my first exposure to PF2e too. They do tend to lay out the specific skills which can be used for a challenge, but I agree it's on the GM to see that as starting suggestions and to be open to some level of lateral thinking from players.
    Are they perhaps newish to GMing and feeling a bit nervous going off book and potentially losing control? I still find it pretty overwhelming sometimes.
    Or maybe more of a case of them wanting to present the contents of the module impartially without putting too much of themselves into it?

    Could be worth a conversation about GMing styles and player expectations while not in the middle of the session, if you haven't had one already and think they'd be open to chatting about it. While a bit uncomfortable in the moment I've ultimately appreciated it when players have told me about things I was doing that reduced their enjoyment.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on I miss D&D in ~games.tabletop

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Pathfinder does have a lot of rules and I can imagine someone going too strict. What I'd suggest (as someone else also quite new to it) is that when done well, the rules are there to give the GM...

    Pathfinder does have a lot of rules and I can imagine someone going too strict. What I'd suggest (as someone else also quite new to it) is that when done well, the rules are there to give the GM guidance and tools to easily adjudicate things within the structure of what's already defined.

    There's intentionally no surprise round in Pathfinder so for your latter point you might well be playing it correctly already. It can be a bit too strong an approach in many other systems.

    If you were having a stand-off or a conversation and reach for a knife or incantation, it's down to whoever's reflexes are faster as determined by rolling initiative. One important consideration is that turns aren't really sequential, you're all moving and reacting in the same 6 second window.
    What I'd say is there are still situations where you can get the drop on someone but it requires more than declaring that you attack. Maybe your party has successfully approached under stealth and are all undetected to the enemies, so even if they have turns before yours they're unaware of the danger and don't do much with those turns.
    In a social situation turned combat I'd potentially allow similar if someone wanted to use Deception or Thievery to hide their intent until the last split second and the enemy wasn't already too wary. Or if that felt too strong then maybe I'd give a circumstance penalty to initiative rolls for the enemies, to represent them taking a second to react to you.

  17. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (May 2025) in ~health.mental

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    It's such a rough thing to work through, you have my sympathies. It's coming up on 10 years since I lost my dad and it still catches me out unexpectedly at times. Be generous to yourself and take...

    It's such a rough thing to work through, you have my sympathies.
    It's coming up on 10 years since I lost my dad and it still catches me out unexpectedly at times. Be generous to yourself and take the time.
    I do get what you mean about complicated relationships, it can be hard to unpack yourself and just as hard to talk ill to others about someone you're grieving.

    7 votes

  18. Comment on Convincing the new Digg not to use downvotes in ~tech

  19. Comment on Convincing the new Digg not to use downvotes in ~tech

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    Not Canadian, but I've come across this one. Donair is the Canadian take on a doner kebab, adjusted to suit the local tastes. I think the main distinction is that the sauce they typically use has...

    Not Canadian, but I've come across this one.
    Donair is the Canadian take on a doner kebab, adjusted to suit the local tastes.
    I think the main distinction is that the sauce they typically use has condensed milk in it.

    7 votes

  20. Comment on Passing the torch - Discord is getting a new CEO in ~tech

    deimosthenes
    Link Parent
    On the response to moderation, I wonder if it's to do with most modern social media being viewed as a public town square, rather than somewhere private that someone actually owns, hosts, controls...

    On the response to moderation, I wonder if it's to do with most modern social media being viewed as a public town square, rather than somewhere private that someone actually owns, hosts, controls and moderates and which you've been invited to participate in.

    4 votes