Getting a headstart by collating this as time progresses rather than trying to go through a backlog way at the end of the year, though this in no way means I'll keep up with doing this each month. Going to be missing a lot of good posts (and probably including the same people a fair bit) simply as a consequence of what crosses my timeline.
Architectural Cross-Section of Kowloon Walled City by @belarius
During the late stages of evicting its residents in the early 90s, a Japanese research team was allowed unprecedented access to its mostly-empty structure, in order to document as much as they could before the structure was demolished. Their work was compiled in a 1997 book, cited above, which remains a major source of information about the enclave.
You don't have to read the news by @Science
I promise, if something happens that will impact your life, you'll find out. Someone will tell you. And if they don't, then it doesn't impact you. (This is kind of a self-fulfilling bit, but... well it works!)
Why You Don't See New Magical Girl IPs the Way There Used to Be (It's Not Because of Madoka) by @leakedexperience
If anything, these things criticize the sanitized image that people tend to have in their heads about magical girls and heroes — which ties back into my point in that if you see these things as inherent mockeries of the genre just by their sheer existence, you’re just as guilty of reducing the genre to that sanitized image.
REVIEW: Digital Minimalism by @kylelabriola
It’s always been a high priority, especially for my mental health, that I’m okay with being alone with myself and alone with my thoughts. It’s not something that I want to be kept away from. I want to be able to reflect on things, plan for the future, sort out of my feelings, and think deeply about things that are stressing me out. And, obviously, there are things online that are very good at distracting you from that.
Emotions are physical by @shel
People talk about "never believing anything about your life after 9pm" and that's the same phenomenon. It's easy to interpret physical sensations as emotions about the state of your entire life, and not the state of being tired and sleepy right now.
post on Steam's sales cut by @eniko
If you put a niche game for a niche audience on Steam and you haven't farmed mainstream appeal 5-figure wishlist numbers beforehand Steam will not do any of that. It will notice your game isn't selling copies day 1, it will drop your game on the floor, and not even the niche audience that would enjoy it will see it. Your game will make no money, but Steam will gladly take 30% of the sales you drive directly to them for the privilege of nothing
on white supremacy and the Indo identity by @idadeerz
i feel grief because i don't even feel allowed to claim this part of my identity because i'm so divorced from it, even when i stop to realize that it wasn't even my choice to be divorced from it, but that of the institutions and systems in this country pushing me and my family towards it.
thread on the origin of Pathfinder by @amaranth-witch, @IkomaTanomori
Internally, this was a very simple "spin up a subsidiary with a specialized focus, so we don't have to micromanage in the same hierarchy" move. To the public, this was positioned as "whoah!!! LONG TIME, STORIED PUBLICATION HOUSE PAIZO PRESS (who you've totally heard of obviously you just forgot) APPROACHED US BECAUSE THEY'RE FANS OF 3'RD EDITION!
post on eshop game titles by @gosokkyu
In Japan, things were very different: the DSi Shop had an absolute glut of games that were conspicuously titled to appear at the top of each category/listing, from publishers of all sizes, and it's something the core audience picked up on very quickly, too.
post on spam comments by @cathoderaydude
Most people are actually not stupid enough to click on anything in a banner ad! No matter how dumb we think the unwashed masses are, they really aren't; it's just that there are so, so, so many people, moving so fast, that if .05% of them are feckless enough to click on an obvious fucking lie, that still ends up being a couple dozen purchases. Enough to pay for the scam.
Devour the Left by @Partheniad
We are getting torn apart by the right while we devour ourselves. We have become so focused on morality and ethics- the seeming of being right. We fight over what's the best way for a country to be run in a hypothetical world we will never see. Being moral is a good thing, but it's not about fucking shaking your finger at others. It's about seizing the opportunity to do something good when you can.
thread on veganism by @pansytram, @osedax, @withnail
At the time of writing, there are multiple genocides occurring that are motivated in part by desire for oil, cobalt, and other mined materials. As no animal products are present, these things can be labelled as "cruelty-free".
thread on game journalism by @MOOMANiBE, @itsnatclayton, @lmichet, @grace-machine, @autumn, @austin
People don't get into journalism to write Top 10 Black Friday SSD Deals posts. But before too long you realise the demands of playing to ad rev and SEO have destroyed the ability to put time into good critique and journalism, or that the long term institutional knowledge at these outlets simply doesn't exist to train new writers.
Teach Pendant by @cathoderaydude, @fwankie, @FoxBall
while teaching, the robot would not move unless you squeezed the pendant’s grip hard enough. its tiring for your hand but a very good thing as you invariably startle and let go right before you command the robot to collide with you. it stops instantly. it is extremely cool and equally terrifying to be next to one of these big steel arms, even more so when you’re in control.
You Can't Escape Values by @pervocracy
Values aren't innate or static; people can change what they value. But it will always be an emotional process because it can't be a rational one. There's no way to decide if you should care more about your country or your family based on logic alone; logic can help you explore the consequences but only emotion can answer a "should."
the difference between "nothing" and "nothing" by @xkeeper, @cathoderaydude
empty spots on this map do not exist, in any shape or form. you cannot go there. under no circumstances can you "boundary break" and visit one of the empty spots on this map.
post on adaptational TTRPGs by @soleilraine
Early on, you'll want to figure out what parts you deem important enough that it's core to the adaptational process. What is thematically important, how to mechanically represent it, the aesthetic ideas behind it, etc. This is where you quickly find out that some issues that aren't cursed in any other medium become cursed when you're adapting them to TTRPGs.
Singapore is not the United States (duh) but it's interesting how so by @shel, @Anschel
Is it better? Worse? I have absolutely no answer for you. It doesn't function within my existing paradigms for understanding politics. What reading about it does is shake my preconceptions about what is natural or normal about how societies can be structured. I probably can't form a solid opinion on Singaporean politics without living in Singapore.
post on criticism by @Tealfuleyes
There is a misconception that feedback/critique should focus on pointing out flaws and or mistakes, which I feel results in that commonly awkward "silence" in art classrooms, discord channels, and even professional meetings when work is presented. Focusing soley on the "bad" is discouraging and from my observations hinder growth or promotes an unhealthy/destructive approach toward growth that plunges people toward burnout.
You are not immune to filter bubbles by @shel
Something like only 1.5% of Twitter users checked Twitter more than once a week, and most people weren't on Twitter at all. We had a distorted sense of Twitter as being this global town square representing the global collective consciousness where important ideas were discussed and organizing happened... because journalists and a few major politicians really like using it. But most people just weren't in that world at all. Everything that happened on Twitter was an unrepresentative sample. It was all always a bubble all along.
The 16th Wolf RPG Editor Contest (第16回ウディコン) Reviews Index by @highimpactsex
This is the index post that collects all my thoughts and reviews about the 16th Wolf RPG Editor Contest for easy reading. The Wolf RPG Editor Contest is an annual festival showcasing creations made in the Wolf RPG Editor, an engine made by SmokingWOLF of One Way Heroics fame.
Knights With Shitty Guns Are Cool: An Amateur Guide To Terms For Cavalry With Early Firearms by @Mightfo
i think its just funny that:
the most recognizable term for gun cavalry: dragoon
but also: would you like to define dragoon in a simple, short way? god fucking help you, and final fantasy certainly isnt helping either
"Is it worth teaching old fighting games to new players?" by @pattheflip
It's also worth pointing out that the difference between playing a new game and playing an old game in this example is you - you get to share your knowledge and experience with others, and ground the practice of the game in the history and tradition that you understand. It's important to pass these on to the next generation, I think. I like to teach the NorCal kids how to play Capcom vs. SNK 2 because I believe that it's NorCal's game, and that learning strong footsies is their birthright.
Kirby's Dream Land is a game about smashing into enemies by @MOKKA
Eating enemies and using them as weapons is only a weapon of last resort and not the main aspect of either the character or the game.
"Should Zelda have a sword" by @mcc
It is the wrong argument because the problem is rarely actually that the character is a stereotype or isn't an archetype. The real problem is that the character is the only one.
The FFX Scale of Fun Road Trip to God Murder by @MOOMANiBE
It's generally been my philosophy that you can measure narrative pacing in any RPG about a pilgrimage that goes terribly wrong by comparing its pacing to Final Fantasy X, the quintessential (and very focused) RPG Pilgrimage Gone Wrong story.
Everything you need to know about retro console aspect ratios as an emulator player by @dog
Analogue TV is measured in terms of lines: on NTSC TVs (used in the Americas and parts of Asia), a signal is about 4802 visible lines filling the screen, while on PAL TVs (used in Europe, Oceania, and parts of South America and Asia), a signal is about 576 lines. Your horizontal resolution, on the other hand, is what's variable: you can ask the TV to render as much or as little detail as you want within a line, so long as the signal can fit that much detail.
Meal Planning Tips for Single People with ADHD by @SanguinaryNovel
Remember, all of this is a journey, so if some weeks you don't cook as much or even at all, that's okay. Meal planning, cooking, food management - all of them are skills to be learned. Again, fed is best, for both babies and you.
