rkcr's recent activity

  1. Comment on What was the last game you played that really surprised you? in ~games

    rkcr
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    I don't know about "last" but I perused my games list and saw at least a few games with moments that really surprised me: Baba is You This game lends itself to wild situations due to the nature of...

    I don't know about "last" but I perused my games list and saw at least a few games with moments that really surprised me:

    Baba is You

    This game lends itself to wild situations due to the nature of the core gameplay but the first time you escape the world map to go to meta is mind-boggling.

    The Witness

    The first time you discover the world-level puzzles is game changing. Hilariously, some reviewers clearly never found this and thought much lesser of the game because they missed a crucial part of the experience.

    Undertale

    I managed to play this game blind. I killed Toriel, felt bad about it, then restarted to avoid killing her, *and the game called me out for restarting*. I was so hooked after that moment.

    Outer Wilds

    The first time I realized the quantum moon was in a different spot each time I woke up was shocking. You start the game by thinking each loop is the exact same, but it's not!
    6 votes

  4. Comment on Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut locks PS5 features behind a paywall in ~games

    rkcr
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    Making the game work on PS5 took work. I don't see anything wrong with charging for that effort.

    Making the game work on PS5 took work. I don't see anything wrong with charging for that effort.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on YouTube permanently bans and then unbans Right Wing Watch, a media watchdog devoted to exposing right-wing conspiracies in ~tech

    rkcr
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    Apparently already unbanned, according to the updated article.

    Apparently already unbanned, according to the updated article.

    13 votes

  6. Comment on Is gerrymandering about to become more difficult? in ~misc

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    I would listen to 538's Gerrymandering Project. Fixing gerrymandering is a surprisingly complex problem even if you have the right intentions. In particular, they have an article "Hating...

    It would be trivial to come up with a mathematical model for drawing districts that is nonpartisan

    I would listen to 538's Gerrymandering Project. Fixing gerrymandering is a surprisingly complex problem even if you have the right intentions. In particular, they have an article "Hating Gerrymandering Is Easy. Fixing It Is Harder" which gets right to the heart of this issue.

    9 votes

  7. Comment on Yearbook photos of girls were altered to hide their chests in ~news

  10. Comment on Any self-help/motivational books that don't focus on an individualistic perspective? in ~books

    rkcr
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    This is not really what you are asking for, but I just read it so it's still on my mind... You could pass them How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, which skewers the concept of self-help books...

    This is not really what you are asking for, but I just read it so it's still on my mind... You could pass them How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, which skewers the concept of self-help books in an amusing way.

    4 votes

  11. Comment on Looking for suggestions of investigation-based games in ~games

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    It's also worth mentioning that there are some time loop games on the horizon: Twelve Minutes looks real promising in this genre, and Deathloop could be fun (though that's going to be combat-based).

    It's also worth mentioning that there are some time loop games on the horizon: Twelve Minutes looks real promising in this genre, and Deathloop could be fun (though that's going to be combat-based).

    3 votes

  12. Comment on Looking for suggestions of investigation-based games in ~games

    rkcr
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    I love these sorts of games, especially when they are more open-ended (like Outer Wilds). Unfortunately I don't feel like "open-ended investigation" is a genre that has a large library yet. That...

    I love these sorts of games, especially when they are more open-ended (like Outer Wilds). Unfortunately I don't feel like "open-ended investigation" is a genre that has a large library yet. That said, here's a few good ones I've played recently:

    Paradise Killer - Murder mystery with absolutely wild world-building and aesthetic. Not particularly challenging, but a fun investigation.

    Disco Elysium - Technically an RPG, but it's a murder mystery with a fantastic story and there is very little combat (and even that is just role-played).

    The Stanley Parable - Not so much a game as a philosophical exploration of game design, but it's still got branching paths and you're "investigating" the game mechanics.

    Subnautica - Okay, admittedly this one is a bit of a stretch as it's not much of a puzzle game, but it's a fantastic exploration game. There is some combat (though most of it involves running away).

    Also, +1 to The Witness, Talos Principle and Her Story. I've played all and enjoyed them greatly.

    8 votes

  14. Comment on Inside the all-hands meeting that led to a third of Basecamp employees quitting in ~tech

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    That's the key difference here IMO. This meeting was an existential threat to the entire company, and he's a key part of leadership. DHH needed to do as much as he possibly could to prevent the...

    it wasn't about a topic like this

    That's the key difference here IMO. This meeting was an existential threat to the entire company, and he's a key part of leadership. DHH needed to do as much as he possibly could to prevent the company from falling apart.

    IMO, dialing in from bed for this particular meeting gives the optics of "I don't take this seriously enough." It may not be fair, but we're not talking about fair, we're talking about fighting for the life of a company.

    10 votes

  15. Comment on Reaching ‘herd immunity’ is unlikely in the US, experts now believe in ~health.coronavirus

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    This explains why the data is weird: https://twitter.com/dhmontgomery/status/1389223136189501444 tl;dr - doing it on a county-by-county level is misleading, however Minnesota is still less...

    This explains why the data is weird: https://twitter.com/dhmontgomery/status/1389223136189501444

    tl;dr - doing it on a county-by-county level is misleading, however Minnesota is still less hesitant than the national average.

    8 votes

  17. Comment on The clockwork universe: A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist in ~humanities

    rkcr
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    I've never been convinced that it matters if we have free will or not, and this article didn't help. The logical leap from "there is no such thing as free will" to "therefore no one should be held...

    I've never been convinced that it matters if we have free will or not, and this article didn't help. The logical leap from "there is no such thing as free will" to "therefore no one should be held responsible for anything" makes no sense to me.

    For example, if a salesman never makes any sales, they can't defend their future employment by saying "it's not my fault, neither I nor my customers have any free will." That's bollocks. Of course your employer must let you go at some point. Just because, on a cosmic level, you had no free will does not mean your every action gets a free pass.

    18 votes

  18. Comment on Lumber prices soar, but logs are still dirt cheap in ~finance

    rkcr
    Link Parent
    This doesn't seem strange to me; raw materials are bountiful, but processing those raw materials is hitting a bottleneck. Thus it's cheap to buy the raw materials, but expensive to get the...

    This doesn't seem strange to me; raw materials are bountiful, but processing those raw materials is hitting a bottleneck. Thus it's cheap to buy the raw materials, but expensive to get the finished product.

    13 votes

  20. Comment on The Real Book in ~music

    rkcr
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    Oh man, I can't wait to hear this episode. I remember being told to go get The Real Book from my teacher (back in 1999), and it just felt so bizarre, this book which I had to get from under the...

    Oh man, I can't wait to hear this episode. I remember being told to go get The Real Book from my teacher (back in 1999), and it just felt so bizarre, this book which I had to get from under the counter at my local music store. It was illegal, but also everyone owned a copy? What?

    4 votes