Forderz

Interviews like this are the perfect counter towards arguments that political statements and such have no place in gaming. What a rich and provoking discussion!

Just as an aside, Paradox's press conference at GDC was hilariously, amazingly, perfectly bad. Multiple references to the American Primaries, automatically assuming you know the exact date of D-day because, hey, you wouldn't be watching this otherwise, a couple technical snafus, and people walking out before they are introduced. Stellaris looks more amazing with every video I see. Edit: link because I'm dumb.

Archer looks great as a still image, and just listening to it I'm fine, but I can't stand to see it in motion. I feel like I can see the flash puppets or something.

Apparently My Little Pony has eclisped Transformers as their most profitable licenced franchise thingie, which is so damn bizzare to me, and the upcoming not-high-school-human-ponies pony film in 2017 is going to have Emily Blunt in it. That level of success was so damn unthinkable back in 2010. I wish that the show was as free as something like Steven Universe, which I don't think anyone would argue isn't a better show, but executive meddling has undercut MLP multiple times. It seems like Rebecca Sugar must have some serious dirt on her bosses to be able to explicitly endorse non-herteronormative relationships on a show destined for international markets, while you have garbage like that Derpy Hooves controversy a few years ago, and stuff like the season three finale being rewritten by people not on the writing team of the show, and those damn Equestria Girls schlock. There's so much potential in just the setting, a 1890s/1910s fantasy world without fucking dwarves and elves running around, and they squander the team on fucking high school movies. Then again, its a media juggernaut according to shareholder meetings, so I guess what do I know. Rick and Morty being called ugly is strange to me, because I find adventure time to be unsettling and squiggly, and Archer to be infuriatingly stiff and unnatural in motion, while R&M is a joy to watch, especially when they're on alien planets. There's a ton of great visuals happening around the fore and background in almost every episode. SU and R&M are weirdly connected in my head, as they both examine fundamentally broken individuals and how they interact with their families, but on polar opposite ends of the cynical/idealistic spectrum. The Crystal Gems are fucked, Pearl and Amesthyst especially, and the whole Sanchez clan is absolutely dysfunctional. Also, fuck those high school films. Edit: Having realised while writing this that the Gravity Falls finale was out, I went and watched it. I won't lie, it made me tear up a bit. I think the Y7 rating prevented some punches from truly landing, but it was still a fantastic end to a great series.

Well, reparations are scaled off of your yearly income, not your treasury. That's why I try to no occupy my opponent's personal holdings in defensive wars, since that lowers their income. Similarly, battle's warscore is determined by net loss of soldiers of the entirety of both alliances. Warring against tribals means that you're probably up against a substantial number of dudes, and unless that giant number of dudes is all together, its probably better to just tactical siege down enemy temples instead.

Oh man, I love Crusader Kings. I'd love to see one of the thumbs try the After the End mod that allows you to play in post-apocalyptic North America, where Catholicism is only one of many religions in the game. The Pope of St.Louis must contend with: the Abbess-General of Quebec, a feminist St. Ursiline church of Canada; the Evangelical Columbian Confederacy; the President of the Americanists, who worship the true gods of the past, the giant statues of Lincoln, Adams, ect; the Rust Cults of Michigan, who pray in great factories; the CEO of the Consumerists, who believe that the almighty dollar will strike them down unless sufficiently worshipped; the Atomicists, who willingly expose themselves to the holy radiation of the great ones; and the Cetics of California, who are totally into gurus and stuff, man. That in addition to various mesoamerican and native American faiths, as well as Caribbean Voodoo. It's pretty rad. I also, in the tiny town of Niverville, in the central Canadian province of Manitoba, was treated to Khorne playing at the town fair. I was treated to this actual dialouge: "When's Khorne playing?" "The Corn stand is just over there." "Really? There's no stage." "Why would Corn need a stage? A little stand does just fine." "Whoa, that's a low blow."

My WoW guilds (that I can recall) were: Attrition. My high school buddy was way into WoW and I piggybacked into his guild. I think I joined right when BT came out, and the guild fell apart soon afterwards. My friend picked up the pieces and turned it into a 10m for our IRL circle. My first experience in independent guildfinding was in naxxramas WotLK. Easy content, was led by a Hawaiian stoner called JSkrazy. Cool dude. There was another druid in there called Bucknasty. Also a cool dude. I fell into a guild that was 90% former Call of Asheron players, called Darktide. Solid group that pushed for 10m records, but was held back by a lack of 25m gear. Slappaho, Lockedon, Booyakashock, you guys were cool. We got a world 11th kill. Super Evil was my 25 man crew through Ulduar and Champions. They were okay, but there were a few good players mixed in with a lot of bad ones. Me and my pal Emirii eventually applied to a super serious guild called... WHO CARES. Led by Pashah the Insane. Tommystep, I will forever remember you and your Innervate-hogging ways. BZnachoes, Tziltwo, Aastra... Good times. Shame LK was such a class-limited fight. God damn were our hunters incredible. Man, what a trip down memory lane.

On the subject of map variety: it might be important to know that the variables (units) involved in a game of starcraft are static between expansions/patches. A game of Dota will see less than 10% of variables available to the players in that given match. Some Lords (Pudge, Vengeful Spirit, and Timbersaw to name a few) will completely change the movement of the opposing team, as their positional abilities necessitate an altered strategy. No game of starcraft is going to be without the possibility of a marine or zergling showing up. IMO that means that a Lords Management game can get away with having one map, and an RTS probably shouldn't.

As a white, middle-class Canadian dude, I have no idea what Serial is about or why it may or may not be contributing to a continuing racial reporting problem in America, but I greatly enjoyed listening to your discussion about it.

Signed up just to say that Danielle is an amazing addition to the podcast. Finally, a source of new game playing. And this thread... Ghost dog. Skeleton-dogwoman-thing. The Lyra doll. One of those things was reclaimed as at hilarious short-lived meme, one is slightly amusing, and one is is a horror spawned from the bleakest pits of the abyss.