Such a good game! It did not have to have all the extra features it does to be worth the purchase, but they loaded this game with fun!

I really appreciated what THUMPER was trying to do, and I think it was successful at it. I have felt emotionally battered by games before. I have stepped away from a gaming session feeling drained, like I had just run a marathon. But THUMPER is the only game that has ever made me feel physically battered. Assaulted. Strangely aware of my own physicality because the game in front of me is so wildly physically affecting. Playing it is a bit like purposefully standing too close to large speakers. It’s like you’re experiencing it in two ways. Like you’re experiencing it the “normal way” and also getting these shockwaves that you experience with your body.

This new game looks very fluid. Possibly also very physical.

Interestingly, there are some boardgames that do a great job of ludonarrative harmony. This is tangential, because it’s a totally different medium, obviously.

There is a lovely game called Oceans. The game is themed as an aquatic ecosystem. And what’s awesome is that the game mechanics are all about players identifying unexploited niches created by the game or other players and then exploiting those resource pools. The better they do at that, the more likely it is they generate surplus resources and that can be a niche exploited by others. Oceans does a better job of naturally simulating ecosystems than most simple models I’ve come across in textbooks.

Boardgames that have strong harmony between narrative(setting) and game mechanics just feel great to play.

I had one and I also really loved the way it sounded.

I bought my FairPhone from Clove too. It was easy and the phone works great here.

That was super interesting. Thanks!

That was fascinating. Thanks!

“Let them cheat”

I mean, yeah, that’s one way to go. You could say “the students who cheat are only cheating themselves” as well. And you’d be half right about that.

I see most often that there are two reasons that we see articles from professors who are waving the warning flags. First is that these students aren’t just cheating themselves. There are only so many spots available for post-grad work or jobs that require a degree. Folks who are actually putting the time into learning the material are being drowned in a sea of folks who have gotten just as far without doing so.

And the second reason I think is more important. Many of these professors have dedicated their lives to teaching their subject to the next generation. They want to help others learn. That is being compromised by a massively disruptive technology. the article linked here provides evidence of that, and therefore deserves more than just a casual “teach better! the tech isn’t going away”

Have you seen the size of these classrooms? It’s not uncommon for lecture halls to seat 200+ students. You’re thinking that each student is going to present? Are they all going to create a presentation for each piece of info they learn? 200 presentations a day every day? Or are they each going to present one thing? What does a student do during the other 199 presentations? When does the teacher (the expert in the subject) provide any value in this learning experience?

There’s too much to learn to have people only learning by presenting.

The “work” that LLMs are doing here is “being educated”.

Like, when a prof says “read this book and write paper answering these questions”, they aren’t doing that because the world needs another paper written. They are inviting the student to go on a journey, one that is designed to change the person who travels that path.

I’m not sure about this. The only way I can make my lips touch when saying that number is if I actually say pour.

Omg! Omfg! Why have I never considered this before. That could be really fun.

Oh man, I would love a 3rd game! I started replaying the first two recently. Had to grab a pad of paper to note down all the side quest stuff I was finding. It brought me right back to the good old days.

That went from “just asking questions” to “I’m going to ignore all of the science that you’ve presented me with and be an asshole” really quick.

I’m grateful to you for making it so obvious that it is okay to block you and never see another thing you post. Thank you.

I love Wandersong so much. I’ve tried to put into words what makes this game different to every other game. It usually goes something like this.

Nearly every game is about winning. Some are about plumbers leaping their way to the flag pole. Some are about gun-wielding heroes shooting everything. Those are pretty obvious examples of games where the primary emotion is Fiero (the feeling of pride after accomplishment). But even games about cozily pushing blocks, or doing skateboard tricks, or running a successful shop are also predominantly about fiero.

Now, I agree that not all games are about this one emotion. Horror games feature fiero, but are mostly about exploring fear. And there are lots of games that explore other emotions as their primary goal. But the vast majority of games are about winning and the emotion of fiero.

Wandersong is about happiness and not fiero. It makes that perfectly clear in its opening moments. The protagonist is made (painfully?) aware that he is not the hero. The Bard goes on to have several conversations with other characters about happiness. The plot largely revolves around increasing happiness. And, in terms of gameplay, in almost all the places a typical game would offer players chances to feel fiero, this game offers the player opportunities to experience happiness instead.

If you’re looking for it, it’s clear that the game is occasionally working to prevent fiero and present happiness in its place. The game frequently puts the player in situations where there is no opportunity for them or The Bard to “win”. Instead, they have the chance to help or to be helped. And sometimes even when things turn out well, it’s despite The Bard and the player failing at their goal.

It’s a unique game made with tons of love and I treasure it. I would recommend it to anyone with a heart.

I love these books!

I had so much fun reading The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. It is squarely in the fantasy genre. Not SciFi like you’re asking for. But I can’t recommend it enough.

Amina is a very rare character: she is simultaneously an older woman, a single mom, a pirate, a lover, and a legendary hero. Chakraborty does an admirable job of balancing all these different aspects of her main character’s personality. The story is bombastic and fun, the supporting characters are charming, the setting is historical and fantastic all at once. This book is incredible, I could not put it down.

I have heard good things about the audio book. I read it in text form though, so I can’t confirm that myself.

Yeah, you’re honestly way out of line here.

Being correct is not a virtue. Other people are not impressed by how correct you are, or by how great a job you’ve done in correcting others.

Knowing more than others is not a virtue. Literally everyone knows less about some things than others; there is no super genius that is right or most knowledgeable about everything. For that reason (and many others), lack of knowledge is not a good reason to treat someone poorly.

You obviously care about the mechanics of clear communication. I believe that you can be better than this, that you can keep in mind why we communicate, not just how. You obviously know a lot about certain topics as well. I believe you can be better at how you demonstrate your knowledge. This time you showed off your knowledge to shame someone else. Maybe next time you could show off what you know by sharing it with someone in a helpful way.

Then people really would be impressed.

Can the controller go diagonal?

Aw, that was such a sweet time in video game history.

I’m honestly having so much fun getting out in my neighborhood and completing quests