zonixum's recent activity
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Comment on New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here! (v3) in ~tildes
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Comment on Let's add (and rearrange?) some groups + a few notes about other short-term plans in ~tildes.official
zonixum Link ParentI am one of those people and this is why I am reticent about tildes overall. I totally respect wherever Deimos want to take things, so I am not going to say anything about it. If I browse a site...I am one of those people and this is why I am reticent about tildes overall. I totally respect wherever Deimos want to take things, so I am not going to say anything about it. If I browse a site like reddit, the subreddit in a way represent the total newsfeed and the goings on. In that sense it gives a more succinct and focused picture of whatever the subreddit is about. I am not sure if TIldes can ever have that? If we scale up Tildes and it's traffic, won't say games just become a very fast pace feed of video game related tags, where users has to expend more effort "catching" the relevant topics they want?
and how would one then kickstart a community on tildes? As in how do you communicate to people that there are people with x niche interest on here? It seems like the motivation of tildes is first and foremost a broad conversation, and then you need to take a leap of faith that the right people are present.
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Comment on F.E.A.R. spiritual successor Trepang2 is out in ~games
zonixum LinkHow is the AI or enemy behaviour? Does it compare to FEAR?How is the AI or enemy behaviour? Does it compare to FEAR?
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Comment on Women of Tildes, do we want or need a designated women's space? in ~tildes
zonixum Link ParentI regret not making a comment earlier now, as I think I can put your worry into words more precisely. I have already discussed this a lot before on meta discussions on how we discuss things and...I regret not making a comment earlier now, as I think I can put your worry into words more precisely. I have already discussed this a lot before on meta discussions on how we discuss things and reddit. I would posit that those subreddits, a long with many many other forums, perhaps the majority, fails because their function is very broad. That is perhaps why some of the subreddits mentioned here do poorly, because they are capturing a whole gender and then so much more.
Consider the following. A forum wants to be (let's call it a social space) about constructive discussion, activism, emotional ventilation and entertainment. These things necessarily undermine each other, unless there are mechanisms which contextualizes a discussion(/thread). Activists tend to uses hyperbolic language. Hyperbolic language is imprecise and necessarily less truthful. Therefore it undermines constructive discussions. A meme gets mistaken for mockery or a statement about something. Somebody tries to start a constructive discussion in a social space where nobody wants to have it. We can go through the motions here and point at every little thing, but you probably get the gist.
An important sub-point here is language and the degree to which people are unable to articulate themselves. Also consider that posters themselves aren't sure of what kind of discussion they want or whether they want to interact with people at all. In my experience people vastly underestimate the degree to which these things annihilates meaningful discourse. This is why people argue that websites with strong cultures, such as we see on anonymous message boards, does so well. In these places the culture itself contextualizes and tells people how you are supposed to have a discussion. I invite you to go back to reddit and read the sidebars. Usually they will say something like "This is a place to discuss x..." or "share thoughts and opinion...". It is profoundly broad and the minute you apply qualifiers to "discussion", you will agree with me that reddit is not a place to discuss things. Which is why I have pretty much stopped using the word "discussion".
For these reasons I would strongly advice, not just for the ladies but everyone, disperse to the relevant social places. Not saying you can't have a cozy meme-forum, but don't go to a broad forum trying to have a constructive discussion on feminism. Go to the specialized feminism forum that actively cultivates the right kind of discussion if there is one. If a forum is simply just space for women and related topics, you are doing little else than putting a bunch of women into a room/social space. More needs to be done, especially if you want in-depth and good constructive discussions.
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Comment on Why doesn't Tildes display a user's social score or karma on their profile page? in ~tildes
zonixum Link ParentAdding to this. On reddit, on a subreddit dedicated to constructive discussion, I would start to add regulars as friends. The reason was that their name got marked and they were easier to find in...Adding to this. On reddit, on a subreddit dedicated to constructive discussion, I would start to add regulars as friends. The reason was that their name got marked and they were easier to find in threads. This worked really well as these people consistently put effort and insight into their responses. This way they weren't drowned out by the noise when the thread reached a wider outside of the subreddit. It's important to note it's not just about quality text, but consistently finding people that you can have a constructive discussion with at all. You are talking to strangers after all.
So I don't think forums necessarily to find these universal or objective metrics, categorizing people or saying anything about them, as this comes with it's cart full of problems. For example reddit karma point is this seemingly neutral or objective metric, but it also doesn't say anything specific about the user. Simply adding tools for the users, like in my case, marking a persons user name with a different color helped me find the discussions I wanted to be a part of. It also humanized them as I was recognizing and having conversations with the same person, even seeing their more grander perspective on things.
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Comment on Redditors of Tildes .. what is the thing you can live without? in ~tech
zonixum Link ParentIt's always interesting to hear different implementations on vote based forums. Thanks :)It's always interesting to hear different implementations on vote based forums. Thanks :)
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Comment on Invite-only is a brilliant idea and I'd like to have it for longer than planned in ~tildes
zonixum Link ParentIn the context of this thread I don't expect them to bring me anything, if the question is whether I consider that to be the socially appropriate thing to do. It's simply that you have an invite...In the context of this thread I don't expect them to bring me anything, if the question is whether I consider that to be the socially appropriate thing to do. It's simply that you have an invite and want to invite the right people. If you have access to their post history, that is an easy way to figure out whether they should get an invite.
As for a hypothetical systems where you had to apply for communities. I think that is going to happen, but whether that is good or bad is probably best discussed in a separate post.
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Comment on Invite-only is a brilliant idea and I'd like to have it for longer than planned in ~tildes
zonixum LinkTo add to this. What is really neat about the invite-only is that on other forums where there is transparency and a user's post history is visible, you can simply just go through a candidate's...To add to this. What is really neat about the invite-only is that on other forums where there is transparency and a user's post history is visible, you can simply just go through a candidate's history in order to determine whether the person is a good fit. I know this is what some private tracker website are doing already and seems to be in the cards for the future. There certainly is money in it and as a user you obviously want to be in the "best" community possible.
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Comment on Redditors of Tildes .. what is the thing you can live without? in ~tech
zonixum LinkThe biggest thing for me is how the vote button ultimately became a like button and all the implications of that. I am not sure if it is even possible to avoid that, while retaining having a large...The biggest thing for me is how the vote button ultimately became a like button and all the implications of that. I am not sure if it is even possible to avoid that, while retaining having a large user-base along with the conventional ways of designing forums. These things has been talked about on more "pretentious" subreddits before. Some of the main issues close to the heart of vote based like reddit are these things based on those discussions:
- It takes effort to both type out a long-form text and then also to evaluate it. Therefore low-effort responses gets relatively more evaluated and voted on.
- The quickest(which necessarily tends to be the low effort ones) comments necessarily get more exposure and more evaluation, acting as a snowball effect.
- There is a lack of (social?)context online. You don't start a vigorous debate with someone waiting in a queue to the bank. Therefore having something that clarifies what kind of discussion somebody want is useful, so as not to speak past each other.
- Fourthly, this is self-reinforcing. Why spend an hour typing something out, when you know somebody else give a three word answer get more exposure?
There is a longer interesting discussion here, but I'll leave it there. I guess what I want is to (somehow) leave those points or phenomena, or whatever you want to call them.
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Comment on How can we encourage more posts with comments here? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentThat has struck my mind as well. Reddit threads can get very long and I wanted to see someone forcing a limit to how many responses the original post could get. I always imagined something like...One of the frustrations of those, though, is that you often get hundreds of pages deep in a post so people don't bother to read the whole topic. I think some of that would be mitigated by threaded comments in the style that Tildes uses, but not all.
That has struck my mind as well. Reddit threads can get very long and I wanted to see someone forcing a limit to how many responses the original post could get. I always imagined something like when you edit a google document and you can mark text and add comments. What if a commenter had to mark some text in order to respond. If you want to respond to some already marked text, then there would be some kind of system (more up/down-votes?) to get the best, let's say counterargument in this case. The main idea being that you each digressionary thread in a post would stay focused (and constructive/deconstructive) and things wouldn't get repeated as much. Probably would just become an amazingly convoluted quotation system though.
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Comment on How can we encourage more posts with comments here? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentAh, that's embarrassing, excuse my ignorance. I came back to Tildes after a while and made some assumptions. I worded this poorly as well. It is reassuring knowing that this something that you...Ah, that's embarrassing, excuse my ignorance. I came back to Tildes after a while and made some assumptions. I worded this poorly as well. It is reassuring knowing that this something that you have thought about.
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Comment on How can we encourage more posts with comments here? in ~games
zonixum (edited )LinkSo I like a few others I know lament the lack of constructive discussions on gamedesign. This was actually something I superficially mentioned in asking Deimos to join Tildes. The way I see it,...So I like a few others I know lament the lack of constructive discussions on gamedesign. This was actually something I superficially mentioned in asking Deimos to join Tildes. The way I see it, Tildes share the some problems with reddit (reddit problems) when it comes to facilitating discussions.
One of those problems are how exposure of posts ties to age and votes. The implications being that high effort posts are discouraged. For example why would a person that wants to have an in-depth discussion about something start it and have it ultimately fade away. Not only that, the same discussion will most likely restart in a week or month and endlessly repeated. In that sense, there is not a constructive discussion being had. A forum that manages to retain previous effort made into a topic and having it built on top of older discussion in a pseudo-academic seems to have a lot to gain. Further since exposure also competes with other posts for votes, the overall quality is pulled down. Also consider that a high effort post probably needs more time and effort to evaluate so they are less likely to be considered at all.
Second reddit problem as I see it are how unfocused discussions are. While plenty of subreddits have " This is a place to discuss <x>..." there is often no indicator as to how that discussion is to happen. There is a myriad of different types of discussions to choose from. I believe this partially explains why places with an established culture can lead to good discussions, such as /r/changemyview, /r/patientgamers or even the house of commons(or even 4chan). It's not enough to facilitate for a discussion, because that is being too vague. The solution here can be to create a culture or elegant rules that has huge implications for the discussion. Another solution which some forums do is the tagging system, however they seldom go further than labels. It would be interesting to see a labeling a post completely dictating how the discussion is had. I think it should be clear that certain responses in a post labeled "debate" can become inappropriate in a discussion labeled " exploratory discussion". This is hard to go about without changing the website and/or heavy moderation of some sort however. This also leads into humanizing posters. If there is a certain etiquette, then you wouldn't get as many situation where the original poster get's picked apart by cherry picking their arguments, which often fails to take in the whole body of text holistically. This leads to a form reductionism as well and is very common on just about any forum.
These are the main reasons why I feel discouraged to post in places like these (although there are other "problems" as well). My impression is that the tildes users posts avoids these problems by maturity and being respectful. However without addressing these problems somehow I am worried that tildes won't end up any better than some other sites. So I am apprehensive about spending time and energy on building up a community. That being said, if there is a discord for tildes users with a games subchannel, please send me an invite.
Edit: This comment is misleading and is a result of frustration with other forums really.
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Comment on What are the best, most interesting TV shows from outside the US? in ~tv
zonixum LinkI can't give it a hard recommendation, but I found the french Ad vitam on netflix to be interesting. It is a sci-fi drama, but it does want to genuinely examine one big change in society which has...I can't give it a hard recommendation, but I found the french Ad vitam on netflix to be interesting. It is a sci-fi drama, but it does want to genuinely examine one big change in society which has vast implications. That thing being that people can live forever, as long as a person periodically take a bath in a sort of vat bath. If you can enjoy dry, detective story, contemporary, hard sci-fi then you might enjoy it.
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Comment on Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentYeah and due process isn't the only one. Can't wait for more games use more randomly generated maps, stories and the implications.Yeah and due process isn't the only one. Can't wait for more games use more randomly generated maps, stories and the implications.
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Comment on Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentYou mentioned in your other comments that political and economic pressures makes it hard to achieve total fairness. There is a key difference here, those pressures as with formula one comes only...You mentioned in your other comments that political and economic pressures makes it hard to achieve total fairness. There is a key difference here, those pressures as with formula one comes only from competitors I would assume. All arrangement made by those hosting the games and making up the rules tries to level the playing field to a certain point of reasonableness. With esports we are able to make things even more fair and of course we should, to a certain point of reasonableness.
So when the people arranging the game, or developers in this case, have this opportunity then shouldn't take it? Well that is what I'm talking about. If they don't, then can't we conclude that they aren't interested in facilitating for an esport? Doesn't this delegitimize the esport games in which this happens? Speaking generally about the state of things. If this is true for the majority of esports, then that is a damning things for esports in general.
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Comment on Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentThanks for the interesting insight. This seems to be the case in shooters like counter strike as well. Map design is hard and takes a lot of effort. With games that is constantly changing you are...Thanks for the interesting insight. This seems to be the case in shooters like counter strike as well. Map design is hard and takes a lot of effort. With games that is constantly changing you are at the same time locked into the maps designwise and vica versa. I think it is another argument for why some esports should seriously consider randomly generated maps.
I think what's interesting about map making is that while it's very easy to make a fair map, there seems to be a very big expectation on map makers making maps interesting or engaging somehow. I wonder if this is not indicative of a game in which the gameplay doesn't really stand on it's own legs. Consider that rocket league maps is basically just a square box. I am wondering if this doesn't tell us that the future of esports is one where players doesn't rely on established knowledge such as map meta's. In fact, a thumb of rule would be to discard as much meta as possible to enter the competitive arena, thereby making it accessible and revolve more around skill.
I do wonder if the map problems that you mention can partially be overcome by presenting the map more as an obstacle to overcome while also only revealing it just before start. Give players a few minutes to plan for the map, while keeping the map rotation extremely large. These kinds of games are about teamwork so why not lean into that.
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Comment on Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them? in ~games
zonixum Link ParentI forgot about rocket league actually. I suppose rocket league stands outside the overall trend.I forgot about rocket league actually. I suppose rocket league stands outside the overall trend.
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Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them?
This questions ultimately rests on the supposition of what a game intends to be or what esport should be. This is partially why it probably won't spark too much discussion, but I'm interested in...
This questions ultimately rests on the supposition of what a game intends to be or what esport should be. This is partially why it probably won't spark too much discussion, but I'm interested in your opinions nonetheless, especially when it comes to the current state of esports. It seems to me that when we are talking about rules in any kind of sport we want to change as little as we can over time. If the rules changes enough, you could argue that people have over time played what essentially is a different game. It becomes harder to compare achievements between players within the a timeline. Meta's and achievements will only really be comparable after games has stopped adding content such as new heroes or mechanics. With a lot of games there seems to be a major content patch, then long period of balancing and this cycle basically repeats itself. Another point is that by adding content and changing the meta you are preventing the current players from reaching their full potential, the older players from retaining their hard earned experience and discouraging new players by promising them a game they can never "beat". That is until the content stops coming in and in today's world that might mean that you are not able to play at all due to a lack of dedicated servers. Further the players that might once have stuck to it might already have left, leaving no opponents left to play against.
This superficial take ultimately comes from someone who hasn't really played esports except a little bit of 1.6 counter strike and counter strike global offensive. It always struck me as odd that with MOBA's and especially with shooters such as overwatch and siege, that there seem to be no pushback on this. When I ask people that prefer this sort of drip-feed-service, what I usually hear is that it's something that is necessary to keep them engaged. Isn't there ultimately a trade-off here, between a sort of accessible fun and lack of constancy which prevents players from reaching their full potential?
I immediately see the talking point of financial aspect of games. It seems to me however that Quake and counter strike largely went without major changes when compared to modern esports games. Are there any good broad rules we can use when designing esport games in order to avoid the issues mentioned here?
In an ideal world, do you agree that we generally don't want kind of content and/or rule change that we see today?
If there is a need to add content (such as heroes) to keep a game feeling "fresh". Is there an acknowledgement here that the core-gameplay isn't engaging enough? I think there is a case to be made here when it comes to MOBA's since knowledge (about enemy heroes abilities) plays a more central part when compared to more archaic shooters. Is this indicative of a an audience that is more interested in an entertaining service, rather than a (e)sport that seldom changes?
When we look at games such as world of warcraft, which isn't an esport, yet there are achievements and historic events so to speak which became cheapened or not attainable until what was basically a restart of the timeline (story of the game). Is this not what we are risking with current service models in modern esports?
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Comment on Joe Biden, not Bernie Sanders, is the true Scandinavian – Sanders totally misunderstands what's behind Denmark's safety net in ~society
zonixum (edited )Link ParentPretty much what you said. I want to mention that I am well not versed in the american candidates policies and don't really follow Norwegian politics as closely as I perhaps should. It's hard to...- Exemplary
Pretty much what you said. I want to mention that I am well not versed in the american candidates policies and don't really follow Norwegian politics as closely as I perhaps should. It's hard to really talk about American politics in a meaningful way, while also being succinct. There are so many small and large things that needs to be addressed, which at the same time affect each other. There are things worth bringing up here in this article, but I wouldn't have framed it as "who's more Scandinavian", which seems a bit reductionist.
Friedman seems to posit the idea that there are things that Denmark can do, which USA can't because of (which has some technical term) trust in government and overall stability. I think there is a lot of truth to this. The whole political climate and how we(Scandinavia) talk about politics is very different than in the US. This enables us to be more agile and precise in policymaking. Friedman mentions that denmark has had steady iteration over a long period of time, which I agree with (at least when it comes to Norway). It seems like no matter where a Scandinavian country lies on the political spectrum, most things gives way to reason eventually. In that sense one could argue that Scandinavia is quite conservative. Having said all that, this is where me (and many others I'm sure) diverge from Friedman. He seems to be reasoning that we should vote for Biden for he is most likely to get any change through. Again this reveals how the system is broken. Voters should vote on the candidates which presents their views accurately and not think about their vote as some kind of gamble. It's the politicians job to make those inevitable compromises between each other.
It is my impression that Sanders is more closely aligned with Scandinavian policies. It's true that politicians between these two places play by different rules. You can't however just equate Biden with the Scandinavian political system and therefore argue that he is more Scandinavian (in values). It is my impression that the glacial pace of Scandinavian politics is partially because we haven't had the same need for major change, like the US needs now.
As a footnote. It is kind of unfortunate that Friedman goes after Sanders for his rhetoric when Sanders talking points is most likely a result of how the politics is played in the US. It's a vicious cycle. If Friedman had actually addressed Sanders proposed policies,then a conversation might have been had. It's really easy write an opinion piece attacking somebody's rhetoric. We get the same kind of opinion pieces in Norway and they are just as unproductive, except perhaps when written by somebody injecting a fresh perspective into the conversation. This perhaps points out the uselessness of establishment opinion pieces.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
zonixum LinkFinished black mesa over the weekend. Playing a game without any collectibles or otherwise cheap addicting mechanics is something that I have missed sorely. I barely even checked under stairs for...Finished black mesa over the weekend. Playing a game without any collectibles or otherwise cheap addicting mechanics is something that I have missed sorely. I barely even checked under stairs for weapons and ammo! It helps smooth the already great pacing and I could almost entirely rely on intuition when navigating the game. There were a few spots which had me getting stuck and I suspect that people new to the franchise might also get stuck here and there. It seems like there might have been some lessons learned and/or change of developers that has impacted the level design in this regard. It is very apparent that with the last content update (xen), they were very conscious about using light, color, affordance etc to imply where to go next. I think this also goes to show how there can be value in reassuring the player that he won't miss anything of importance by checking every nook and cranny, which mainstream games tend to do by collectible-like incentive.
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The idea of going to an alien world and exploring what seems to be a "bizarro black mesa" is super interesting. It definitely felt like you were fighting against something other than this big evil baby entity.
I fear it's the same reason I only lurk. I just fundamentally don't believe in the design of the site as it currently stands. It's like meeting (excellent) strangers on a bus, which is nice and all, but the chances of having shared interests are very low and conversations stays at a surface level. I am also kind of disappointed that deimoz didn't lean into what could have been a great advantage of invite only sites. That is for invitees to provide a reference by post history on other sites, which is what some private piracy sites does I believe.