BougieBirdie

Oh yeah, like being an adult is easy

I’ve run a couple games in D&D 5e with mutating cultists. The party fought a bunch of cultists, and most of them had pretty pathetic stat blocks, but sometimes after the party killed one I’d change it out for a tougher monster’s stat block and describe how it violently mutated.

Behind the curtain, this is pretty useful because you can always decide when an encounter needs more oomph. The players can never be sure if a weak enemy is really a weak enemy or if they’ll become more powerful as a result of trauma. Just like Resident Evil. It’s also a technique that’s broadly applicable to any RPG system.

I lean on Resident Evil a fair bit when I’m designing games. They’ve got a lot to teach about dungeon design, like how to use backtracking instead of simply branching paths. I also like how puzzles aren’t too clever for the average player, or how they signal that locked doors might be opened not by a key but a key item.

I present male and I wear skirts to work. The boss said the dress code was black trousers and I said I don’t wear pants. Never been an issue

That said, it’s totally nerve-wracking to make that stand. If an employer refuses on anything other than a safety concern then it’s just bigotry, straight up.

Don’t work for bigots - which can be a difficult stance to take when you don’t know how you’re going to make rent. People don’t deserve to be put in this position, but as you say it’s the world we live in

I’m reading the series right now! I’m sure I read Redwall and maybe Mossflower as a kid, but I think my introduction to them was probably the cartoon. They certainly hit different as an adult.

I’m reading in publication order, and I’m on the third book now - Mattimeo. There’s this bit I enjoy where we’re told several times that Martin’s sword is just a sword. While it might be a symbol, it isn’t magic - and although it can be used for good it could just as easily be used for evil. Matthias is taught this when he recovers the sword during Cluny’s siege, and Martin is told this when the blade is originally forged.

Anyway, early in Mattimeo one of Slagar’s gang floats the idea of stealing the sword. Slagar says they better not - it’s almost certainly a magic sword, and if someone who wasn’t a mouse tried to use it they’d surely be cursed.

I find it interesting, because apart from the fact that these are woodland creatures, Redwall is fairly low-fantasy. There is sometimes a supernatural element with visions of ancestors and prophecies and such, but it’s not the fantasy fare I’m used to of wizards slinging fireballs at skeletons. But it does make me wonder: could the sword be magic after all? Martin certainly has a touch of the divine to him, and his spirit does come to the aid of Redwall several times.

Maybe the magic comes from having a good heart and living your life to protect your friends. These days I feel we could all use a little more magic in our lives.

Far out, man

I put garlic in just about everything. Probably not really a secret ingredient, but it does go with just about everything

For soup I like to add turmeric for the colour. Also kinda tasty

I wonder how he holds his glasses up

The one I use is called Firefox

Jokes aside, they do not have an official app. There is an unofficial one on the play store, and they have a public API so maybe someone might make one down the line

I’m here to plug TMDB. It does everything I want from IMDB without being owned by Amazon

Yeah, I think this post suffers from being vague. The default reading would be to take the curators at face value and follow their opinion.

A more charitable reading, and one that I hope OP had intended, is to buy the games that these curators recommend against, because if they think they’re bad for being woke that probably means they’re good.

To OP: I’m of a divided opinion. On one hand this is probably a decent method of discovery, and I absolutely want to make those curators feel as unwelcome and foolish as their hateful rhetoric. On the other hand, I don’t want to surround myself with hatred or live for spite. Plus I think calling them out would count as feeding the troll, and the Streisand effect suggests that would actually help them by creating engagement.

It’s a typo in the post title. The body refers to anti-woke curators, which incidentally makes your description accurate

For the people who militantly insist it’s got to be one or the other, you can always serve 420 enhance your calm

Temporarily out of stock

Comedy is all about timing

They’ve been doing this for a while now, I think it’s neat

Sometimes you already own a game in the bundle so you get the game cheaper because you buy the bundle. Not only is it cool that’s even an option, but Steam will tell you about it to save you money

It’s even cooler when you own part of a bundle and steam alerts you that not only can you get the game cheaper by buying the bundle, but you’ll get bonus games too

Big wins for the consumer all around

Correcting a Paladin on how to smite is a good way to get smited

You know what, Resident Evil is one of my favourite franchises, and I have to just say that the plot is bullshit. That’s not to say that it’s irredeemable, I happen to love trash, but I don’t think you’ll be missing any key beats by jumping in at any point

I know you played 1-4, but if I were to pick a modern entry for someone, I’d say starting with REmake 2. Resident Evil 2 is iconic, lays most of the groundwork for the interconnected plot such as it is, and the remaster has quality of life that you’d be missing from the original.

Unless you’re really into old games, I’d give 1 a miss. Technically there’s a remaster too, but tank controls are a hard sell.

If you are into old games, Flesh Made Fear scratches that vintage PS1 survival horror itch and just came out this year. Phenomenal indie game

A while back I was recovering from a panic attack so my wife said we should try watching Bluey.

The feelings were too scary, so instead we settled on Friday the 13th

This sounds like analysis paralysis. If you have 5 games, it’s easy to select one. If you have 416, it’s difficult to select one.

I’ve often found that the more options I have, the more difficult it is to come to a decision. And when you think about “what game should I play,” it sounds like a silly problem to have. But when you extend it to other problems in life, like “what should I have for dinner,” then you see it start to cause some pretty serious problems.

Lately I think I spend more time trying to decide what to play than I do playing games. Then I’m not always successful in making a decision, or might run out of time, and then I don’t play any games. Following the same reasoning, sometimes I don’t eat dinner.

If you start to notice this is becoming an actual problem, the good news is there are tools and techniques that can help you make a decision. About a thousand of them. Good luck picking one.

To hang out together intentionally, outside of work, more than once. If you no longer ever want to hang out, they’re probably not friends anymore.

I have a few coworkers I’m tempted to call friends. At the very least, we’re friendly. But I also know that once either of us leave the job, we probably won’t see each other anymore.

In a more general sense, I call a lot of people “friend” without necessarily considering us friends. Mostly strangers and customers, and it’s meant in a disarming way, like “Sorry friend, we’re sold out.”

I’m friendly with most people, but then to consider someone a friend feels like taking the relationship to a new level.