Suchian Musings And Ramblings About General Designs Involving Notable Estuaries

Ali_Roz

Imipolex G said:

I keep wondering if one could make a good Metroidvania type game with absolutely no boss battles.

Yeah, just take any good Metroid-vania game, and remove the boss battles.  Easy peasy.

Imipolex G

That would leave noticeable narrative and gameplay gaps in many such games.

For example, in Super Metroid - the definitive Metroidvania, really - there would be no way to make the final area accessible.

TitleName

I think boss fights are my favorite things in video games myself.

Ali_Roz

TitleName said:

I think boss fights are my favorite things in video games myself.

If you take the best part of something, and then add more of it, it sometimes starts to feel like it isn't the best part of something any more. The chariot race in Wyler's Ben-Hur is one of the greatest things in any film, ever, but the movie would not be twice as good if it had two of them (film as a whole might be better, and the sum of the parts of the movie might be better, though).

But, for me, a lot of what I most enjoyed in computer/video games was going around and doing stuff, trying things, having options, and boss fights tend to be this limited and anxious space. If the levels were like recess, boss fights were like tests. Or, maybe, levels are like practicing an instrument and boss fights are like recitals. There's a definite thrill to doing something difficult and, furthermore, doing it excellently, of using all the skills you've cultivated and the things you've learned, of reaching your potential and overcoming challenge, one even I can't deny, so I guess my problem is how they act as a barrier to progress while being both ubiquitous and mandatory.

Ali_Roz

So, I was doing some media research, and came to the conclusion that HOPY SPIT YOU GUYS RERUNS KILLED TELEVISION and then came to the conclusion that HOPY SPIT YOU GUYS THE VHS KILLED TELEVISION and then came to the conclusion that HOPY SPIT YOU GUYS STREAMING KILLED TELEVISION..

By which I mean, viewership numbers that ended shows in 1991 would puta show in the top ten today.  Specifically, Twin Peaks and it's nadir of 7.4 million viewers by the end of its least-viewed episode.

To be fair to Twin Peaks, though, its timeslot was moved to Saturday nights  at 10.  In 1991, this is a terrible timeslot for the Aliroz audience, given that archeologists agree that I was approximately negative four years old at the time.

Ali_Roz

I tried watching the pilot of Twin Peaks.  I didn't like it, a lot of it was boring, there was anti-pencil violence, the town population on the sign was over 50,000 despite almost EVERY mention of Twin Peaks I've ever read saying that it's a small-town show (also where the HECK is the town elevation on that sign?), and the writers think that $6.31 is a believable price for a good sandwich with a slice of pie and two cups of coffee in 1990, also, this show is pro-coffee propaganda and I'm not having any of it.

Ali_Roz

Also, I have negative amounts of patience for high school in fiction.  Add drugs, bullying, death, or sex to that and yeah, I ain't watching any more episodes of this show.

Ali_Roz

How the heck does a town of over 50,000 have one and only one high school?

Ali_Roz

On the plus side, I feel like I get more of the jokes from that one episode of Psych now.  Also on the plus side, Log Lady is life goals, it's really nice to have a show set in Washington that doesn't look like a California soundstage (mah gosh, those mountanis and birds) and this is one of the greatest things of all time:

Ali_Roz

Ali_Roz

Yeah, I'll admit to skipping a bunch of scenes and fast-forwarding my way through a lot of it, but it's the sort of show that isn't for everyone and isn't trying to be for everyone.  In this instance, "everyone" certainly includes me.

Ali_Roz

The term hostis humani generis translates to "Enemy of (all) humankind)".  

So, the core root of hostis comes from an old root which once meant "other" in the sense of "stranger" in the sense of "guest".  From this we get the word, "hospitality".  Eventually, at least one of the offshoot words from that root meant "other" in the sense of "stranger" in the sense of "enemy".  From this we get the word "hostile".  Compare this to the Greek xenoi or barbaroi, words for strangers or others which have also the meaning of danger, threat, and enemy.  

The humani part is obvious.

The generis part is like "generic", "genus", so a "type".

So, In old international large-bodies-of-water-related law,  hostis humani generis applies to pirates and (later) slavers.  More current interpretations have human traffickers included as a subcategory of slavers.

Quote Matthew Tindall in his 1694 work AN ESSAY Concerning the LAWS of NATIONS, AND THE RIGHTS of SOVERAIGNS,

""Hostis humani generis, is neither a Definition, or as much as a Description of a Pirat, but a Rhetorical Invective to shew the Odiousness of that Crime. As a Man, who, tho he receives Protection from a Government, and has sworn to be true to it, yet acts against it as much as he dares, may be said to be an Enemy to all Governments, because he destroyeth, as far as in him lieth, all Government and all Order, by breaking all those Ties and Bonds that unite People in a Civil Society under any Government: So a Man that breaks the common Rules of Honesty and Justice, which are essential to the well-being of Mankind, by robbing but one Nation, may justly be termed hostis humani generis; and that Nation has the same right to punish him, as if he had actually robbed all Nations."

Ali_Roz

It's honestly, in a horrifying way, kind of fascinating, this idea of one set* entirely outside of humanity, of all consideration, protection, hospitality, or claims of legal status, anywhere.  Hospitality is so fundamental to the beginning of society, likely predating fire, the wheel, and plant domestication, and the rule of law is so crucial to what we understand as civilization, that when I first heard of the term hostis humani generis and what it meant, I shuddered to think what it could apply to, why there would be a need for such a thing.  It goes beyond damnatio memoriae, beyond the ostracism Socrates chose death over, and beyond even war crimes and crimes against humanity (because those are still given a trial and those guilty are still legally considered persons).

It seemed far too much to apply to piracy, but the other...yeah, hostis humani generis all the way.

*I mean the word "set" here as a verb, not a noun

Odradek

Ali_Roz

Unfortunately, that's not a phone, it's just a black rectangle with a grey rectangle.  This should be obvious, because phones are shaped more like the letter C or more like bananas.

Ali_Roz

Sure, your MTG deck has synergy, but does it have THIS synergy?

1 March of the Machines

1 Darksteel Forge

1 Mycosynth Lattice

1 Leonin Abunas

1 Doubling Cube

2 Swamp

2 Island

2 Mountain

2 Forest

2 Plains

1 Voltaic Construct

Ali_Roz

Or, visually,

Ali_Roz

Dernit, pretend that those were printings from the original Mirrodin and its two expansion sets.

Ali_Roz

Dernit, pretend that those were printings from the original Mirrodin and its two expansion sets.

I made a sixteen-card combo that turns ten mana into ten mana. while untapping and tapping doubling cube.  Also with all cards played, every card is an indestructible artifact creature that can't be the target of spells or abilities one's opponents control.

The real problem is that the lands turn into 0/0 artifact creatures because they don't have a casting cost and indestructible doesn't prevent that meaning that they go to the graveyard.  Even trinisphere, which sets the cost of all spells with costs less than three, to three, probably wouldn't save this because lands aren't spells and I unless think turning them into artifacts, creatures, or artifact creatures would give them a casting cost of zero, I don't think that would apply.  If one's opponent agrees that one's indestructible lands are not sent to the graveyard for whatever reason (probably to preserve one's opponent's own lands), do the following paragraph for maximum lols.

This could be made even more janky by adding Mycosynth Golem and Hum of the Radix.  Taken together, these would make one's artifacts cost the same, but one's opponent's artifacts would have reverse-affinity (each artifact one's opponent would play would cost one more for each artifact one's opponent controlls).  Add that to Mycosynth Lattice, and each land one's opponent controls adds one to the cost of each card-with-a-casting-cost for one's opponent.  Sure, your opponent is still able to play cards with affinity-for-artifacts for regular cost, or use the 2 Myr Galvanizer/2 Palladium Myr (from the later Mirrodin card-batch from years later) to get infinite mana, but it's fun to abuse the fact that Mycosynth Lattice applies to ones cards while abusing the fact that Mycosynth Lattice applies to one's opponents cards.  It reminds me of the original slivers, back when they were "All slivers blah blah blah" instead of "All slivers you control blah blah blah".

Oh well, Mirrodin and Kamigawa were great.  Super neat, the art was a bizarre fever dream, there were mechanics that they don't do anymore, and since they were the first to have the stupid new borders instead of the good old borders, they seem to me to represent the change from original MTG to current MTG.

Ali_Roz

I had a lot of fun with Duels of the Planeswalkers, and Duels 2014 is the game I've played on Steam more than any other game.  The Duels of the Planeswalkers games were removed from the Steam store, so I'll never be able to get the years I didn't get.  This bothers me enough that I'll never spend any money on anything MTG, because the Duels series was the only instance of me spending money on MTG.

Since I'm not Bill Gates, I don't have the money for the actual paper cards anyway, so I just mess around with Manastack.

Ali_Roz

Since the Duels games are my main frame of reference (with manastack being my other frame of reference) anything with the stupid new borders looks "current" to me and anything with the nice good old borders looks "old school" to me.  Mirrodin and Kamigawa are old enough to have "they don't make them like that anymore because they learned better" bizarre experiments, but new enough to feel "current" because cards from at least Kamigawa are in Duels 2014.

Ali_Roz

1: Harry Potter and the assume I came up with something funny here

2: Harry Potter and the assume I came up with something funny here

3: Harry Potter and the assume I came up with something funny here

4:  Harry Potter and the assume I came up with something funny here

5: Harry Potter has HAD IT with this GOVERNMENT LADY telling him WHAT TO DO

6: Harry Potter hits puberty and people die

7: Harry Potter goes camping and everybody dies

Ali_Roz

Don't talk to me or my permanents ever again.

Ali_Roz

It turns out you can start a sentence with "it turns out" and people will assume you're about to say something interesting.

Millennium

I smiled.

Calica

Ali_Roz said:

It turns out you can start a sentence with "it turns out" and people will assume you're about to say something interesting.

Interesting!

AlirozTheConfused

Ali_Roz said:

 (note how all the good ancient Greek plays, and all the good Shakespeare plays, are the histories and the tragedies)

Yeah, maybe according to the pretentious hat-wearing killjoy demographic. The actual audiences for whom the old comedies were made enjoyed and appreciated them greatly.

Ali_Roz

Minstrel shows were popular, and enjoyed by their audiences, it doesn't make them any less wrong.

AlirozTheConfused

Ali_Roz said:

Minstrel shows were popular, and enjoyed by their audiences, it doesn't make them any less wrong.

Not everything that can be fit in the same big box is equivalent, or even remotely similar. But if that's how it's going to be, it's time to stop enjoying Youtube Poops, Homestar Runner, Napoleon Dynamite, and a whole lot of other things.

Ali_Roz

If I could stop enjoying/being-amused-by things, I would; it's a distraction from other priorities, one that I don't need so long as I maintain the ability to appreciate things.

AlirozTheConfused

Ali_Roz said:

If I could stop enjoying/being-amused-by things, I would; it's a distraction from other priorities, one that I don't need so long as I maintain the ability to appreciate things.

Everyone values goodwill and light-hearted cheerfulness.

Ali_Roz

Those aren't the same things as humor, it's just that humor is a socially acceptable way to express them (and, more, one which has the advantage of not asking for a thought-out response).

AlirozTheConfused

Ali_Roz said:

Those aren't the same things as humor, it's just that humor is a socially acceptable way to express them (and, more, one which has the advantage of not asking for a thought-out response).

In that case, wouldn't it also be true to say that humor is not the same thing as cruelty, contempt, or resentment, but a socially acceptable way to express them?

Ali_Roz

Unrelated to this, this thread continues.

Ali_Roz

The elves were leaving for good.  A curse is a curse is a curse, but there is a sweet gap between deed and consequence, and the elves had learned to stretch it far.

Nevertheless, it was time to go, and so the gifts must be given.  There were Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Ogres, Orcs, Trolls, Kobolds, Merfolk, and so many more.  Friends.  Young friends by elf-reckoning, Old friends by else-reckoning.   Innocent.  Naïve.

Ali_Roz

The humans decided their envoy for the gift-giving through three contests of riddles.  The dwarves cast lots.  The gnomes don't remember how they chose.  Many of the speeches from the Minotaurs' gathering are still remembered and studied.  And so on and so on, my time doesn't suffice to tell every worthy story.  But fewer came than anticipated. Some, like the centaurs, satyrs, unicorns, and giants, shared an envoy, fearing elf-trickery but intrigued by opportunity.   Others, like the pixies, nixies, dryads, and naiads, sent no envoys and would accept no gift.

The goblins' envoy came late.  Remember this.

Ali_Roz

The envoys (save the goblin, who had not arrived) would gladly have started with a feast, but custom in those days dictated the host eat first.  There are many reasons why the food comes first nowadays, but few as compelling as the two hundred and seventeen melancholy songs, one hundred and nine sentimental poems, two stories, and one speech before the last elf-feast.

Ali_Roz

This isn't a story.  This is a collection of vignettes which might resemble some of the bones a story.  There's a difference.

I'm not obligated to connect setups with payoffs, payoffs with setups, or details with significance.  

Just as I think it's good to practice doodling without worrying about making a good or meaningful picture or worrying about finishing what one starts, I think it's good to practice the written-word-equivalent.

Ali_Roz

So, Baldur's Gate III came out, and it's rated M.

I hate this blighted and cursed modernity.

Superhero movies are rated PG-13, they made three new Star Wars episodes and they were all PG-13, Humongous Entertainment is gone as is the entire "edutainment computer game" genre, and Diablo, Fallout, DOOM, and their "grim and gritty" ilk are still going but without the context and competition that made them stand out.

Ali_Roz

Where's my 2023 iteration of Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores Inside the Earth?

Ali_Roz

Fallout was the first rated-M game that was ever in our house growing up, and until a good few years after the rise of Steam, the only one (Heck, it wasn't even technically rated M until Fallout 2 came out and the package combo was rated M).  My uncle loaned it to my brother (along with all four of the Monkey Island games that were out) and that's practically the same thing as your parents saying it's okay.

That sort of thing just doesn't land as hard now as it did when it was on the same computer as The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mothra and the original Age of Empires and only one sibling can play at a time.

Ali_Roz

I never played any of the Diablo games growing up, except once, at my Grandma's house on Halloween in a big computer party for those too old to trick-or-treat and too young to enjoy giving out treats to trick-or-treaters or watching boring old movies.  I don't know if this kind of computer-game-party was a once-only thing or if it happened multiple years and I was trick-or-treating instead.

Sure, I'm an adult now, but that just means that I disapprove of stuff as an adult now instead of disapproving of it as a child or teenager, and an M rating for nudity is a much different thing from an M rating for Spookiness, Swear Words, or Violence Against Satan; it just ain't gonna fly with me, no way, no how.

Ali_Roz

On a car ride:

My Sister:  You make disapproving of things an art form.

Me:  I don't think I approve of the arts, they're so decadent.

Ali_Roz

I like the word Buffalo.

Ali_Roz

1: Realize that e-mail application isn't showing all my e-mails (this is important because I need to be aware of e-mails I get from Vocational Rehabilitation),

2: Download G-mail application, use password to do so,

3: Link G-Mail application to G-mail account, use password to do so,

4: Discover that this needs 2-factor authentification from the Google application, so download Google Application, use password to do so,

5: In order to get the 2-factor authentification notice, allow the Google Application to send me notifications and real-time updates,

6: Choose "No Thanks" option for the "Update your Google Application" popup because I finished installing it about fifteen seconds ago,

7: Realize I have to sign into the Google Application, click the button to do so, see "Google wants to use google.com to sign in" popup, click "continue" to do so, put in g-mail address and password to do so,

8:  Get a pop-up saying informing me that I have to do a 2-step verification for this and that this will require me to open the Google application,

9: The Google application is already open and the problem is that I am trying to log in to it,

10: Look at the "notifications" tab in the Google Application, it is empty because I am not signed in, and the sceen message says "Sign in to see your notifications", so presumably I need to use the Google application on my old i-phone

11: Find old i-phone, charge it, this takes seventeen minutes before it has enough battery to turn on

12: Look for Google Application on old i-phone, find no such thing, only Google Drive and Google Photos; in order to get Google Application I'll need to download it,

13: Realize that this will end in the same loop,

14: Look on the computer's g-mail in hopes to find a 2-factor authentification notice, fail to find it because it's not there because it goes to the Google Application,

15: Resign myself to the situation.

Ali_Roz

<Bitter Sarcasm>But no, let's digitize EVERYTHING, especially services, for ~accessibility~, because this won't put barriers between the elderly and the world and this won't be a problem for those in poverty or with limited ability to use such technology</Bitter Sarcasm>

Update:  With the help of my mom, I got it to work.  It was sending her the notifications since she's logged into my g-mail on her phone.

Ali_Roz

I don’t have unrealistically-idealistic expectations of reality, I just want the things to be like they were when I was a kid.

I don’t have unrealistically-pessimistic expectations of reality, I just think they’ll keep going in the direction they’ve been going, and since I want the things to be like they were when I was a kid, that’s not going to happen.

Ali_Roz

I remember when there wasn’t a single corporation responsible for more than half of the print-book sales in the world. I remember when the post office was better-funded and there were still space shuttles. I remember e-mail interfaces that were made to be useful.

Ali_Roz

I remember when Google’s search engine let you specify a time range for the results, when it also let you use quotation marks to get exact results, and when more than half of the content on the internet wasn’t made by bots and more than half of internet traffic wasn’t from bots.

I remember when you ran for the phone whenever it rang, and the light pollution levels were so much less.

I remember a time when cryptocurrencies didn’t use more electricity per year than the entire continent of Australia.

Ali_Roz

America is in Africa which is part of Australia, which is on Jupiter, which is in Antarctica.

But Antarctica is on the opposite side of the world from Kansas, which is in Dubai, which is part of Bangkok, which is in the eastern part of Naples.

Tokyo is the southernmost part of Guatemala, which is on Mars, which is the southeastern half of Chile.

which is above the arctic, which is to the left of Antarctica.  

The Earth is part of Guam, which is south of Grapefruit.

Grapefruit multiplied by Summer equals Dubai, which we know is in Bangkok, which has the color green.

It is three bicycles heavier than January, so it only can be reached from this time of year on Wednesdays, which it isn't right now.

Yes, you could walk widdershins from Naples to get there, but then you would have to remember that Albuquerque is no longer orbiting Neptune, which would throw your calculations off by five triangles.