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Made in gb
[DCM]
Et In Arcadia Ego





Canterbury





uh huh ...

One would like to think that this is little more than an attempt to drum up extra revenue via license charges, but given the apparent confirmations claimed in the 2nd pic..well....


The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Considering they brought in orange camo gear (deer don't see orange as such) so that hunters (esp I'm told in the USA) didn't keep shooting each other by accident when they were heavily camouflaged during hunting seasons* and that Bigfoot is basically "humanoid shape that looks like its wearing a ghillie suit". I wager the most likely thing to get shot is lots and lots of hunters.

Indeed whilst one might interpret it as a bid to basically drum up hunting tourism and get free money from it; one might also interpret it as a subtle means to shoot off some hunters or even build a steady campaign against hunting by having hunters shoot each other so much it gets too dangerous to permit.

That or he wants to bump someone off and has worked this out as a sure fire way to take a friend out hunting and shoot them and appear innocent - he's 6ft wearing a ghillie suit - he was bigfoot!




I mean this all makes the assumption that Big Foot is like most aliens and such in that it does not exist. Even though a lot of tourist money is involved so, like Nessy in Scotland, there's lots of "casual grade proof and evidence" and blurry photos taken on potato cameras that would make GW's potato camera look like a Leica.


*I've heard tell stories that more people get shot in the first week than deer

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






"But judge, he was comin righ at meh!"

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/772746.page#10378083 - My progress/failblog painting blog thingy

Eldar- 4436 pts


AngryAngel80 wrote:
I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "


 Eonfuzz wrote:


I would much rather everyone have a half ass than no ass.


"A warrior does not seek fame and honour. They come to him as he humbly follows his path"  
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Et In Arcadia Ego





Canterbury

....

.........

Spoiler:








...


The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

I remember watching a documentary on those water bodies trapped under layers of ice. As I recall the big problem they had was finding a way to drill down that deep and then insert a probe without contaminating the water body at the bottom. I believe they tried using old soviet/usa (I forget which) exploratory bore holes.

As I recall, and this was a good 10 years ago? The documentary ended with lots of fancy theories, but nothing was completed as the team couldn't get down deep enough with the equipment they had without risking contamination.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in gb
Veteran Inquisitorial Tyranid Xenokiller





Watch Fortress Excalibris


FYI, IFLScience is a somewhat questionable source.

A little bit of righteous anger now and then is good, actually. Don't trust a person who never gets angry. 
   
Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






I think that some scifi horror stories are becoming reality, and they related to advertising.

In "the room" which appeared in playboy in 1961a man is assaulkted by advertising constant, even in his sleep. Animated ads appear in his newspaper thanks to animated ink, he can barely read stories in the newspaper du to them being small sections surrounded by ads, he has ads on his mirror as he shaves, ads are plsyed in his house from the momet he gets out of bed, and when he';s in bed ads are deiven into his mind as he sleeps.

He seeks out a covert room to rent that is in poor condition but has no ads. As he leaves it is made clear the room is a trap and he will be subjected to "the treatment".

In another story, "Captive audience" a man's grandmother if put in prison for 6 months for wearing earplugs in her home to block out 'ventriloquist advertising" which is literally beamed into people's homes after corporations claimed they had a "right to advertise' to people anywhere, and using earplugs to blocks it was ruled illegal as it violated business' right to advertise where it chose to.

The story ends with the idea of advertising to prisoners in prison.

Well, if the guy who wrote 'the room' in 19561 thought advertising was bad i can't imagine what he would think of it today.

We live in a world where corporations are people money is free speech and we have adblockers which advertisers now detect and demand we disable.

At this rate, how long before interfering with advertising becomes a violation of the advertisers free speech? When we could record shows and fast forward thru commercials the people who did it were called "Content thieves" for not watching commercials, and new technology made the vcr and it's ability to record anything, replay it anytime and ff thru ads a thing of the past.

Now it's nearly impossible to see anything on the net without sitting thru ads, and having ads in them. We ofted get a sliver of news in the middle of our screens which is surrounded by ads.

People were tired of being harassed in their homes by phone advertising, we got the 'do not call' list which gave us a few years of relative freedom from phome adveretisers, then new technpology was invented to let advertisers blow right thru it with disposable numbers, spoofed numbers, etc. The government has taken no action to stop peple being plagued constantly by this new wave of advertising.}



I'd like to imagine the day people demand restrictions on advertising. Maybe someone day there will be a historic lawsuit where someone sues a company claiming it's ads are violating his right to choose not to see or listen to them, but i'm afraid that 'freedom to advertise' laws will come first.




This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/03/11 08:38:55


"But the universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be missed..." 
   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut




I have a feeling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron

is also coming.

For example to games: https://www.wired.com/story/dandd-must-grapple-with-the-racism-in-fantasy/?fbclid=IwAR0e-_lxhg2V6C2KoLBVIUSjmS96IlpGS9hxOpEZKnO75lMIVyuLLBza5GQ

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/11 11:13:32


 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Moustache-twirling Princeps





Gone-to-ground in the craters of Coventry

That's been coming for a long time.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1512070-racism-was-not-a-problem-on-the-discworld-because-what-with

“Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because—what with trolls and dwarfs and so on—speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green.”
― Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

Having non-Humans around lets people redirect their issues. Role playing games allow people to experience that, from all angles. You'd think that, with a 'safe' group of people, issues one player has can be talked thoughin an in- or out-of-game way.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/03/11 13:28:48


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Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut




Definitely - the more conflict in a fantasy setting the more opportunities for telling stories. Racism, religious persecution, nationalism can give plenty of story hooks.
   
Made in gb
Assassin with Black Lotus Poison





Bristol

The issue in D&D as a setting isn't prejudice between the species.

It is the concept of some species being inherently evil due to the alignment system.

You cannot have a meaningful discussion about a racism analogy when your Paladin is justified in their hatred of species X as species X is inherently evil by their very nature. Strip out all of that inherent alignment nonsense and you can now start telling some good narratives.

The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.

Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
 
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

Alignment was always a bad system. A gross oversimplification in an attempt to make an easy to use morality chart. But it inherently leads to morality just being a zero-sum game, when real morality isn't one. I always treat it like a guideline, and never force specific alignments on specific species or characters.

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Grey Templar wrote:
Alignment was always a bad system. A gross oversimplification in an attempt to make an easy to use morality chart. But it inherently leads to morality just being a zero-sum game, when real morality isn't one. I always treat it like a guideline, and never force specific alignments on specific species or characters.


Save the city from destruction with a legion of animated skeletons and you're the one who's evil. It's never really made sense.


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






 A Town Called Malus wrote:
The issue in D&D as a setting isn't prejudice between the species.

It is the concept of some species being inherently evil due to the alignment system.

You cannot have a meaningful discussion about a racism analogy when your Paladin is justified in their hatred of species X as species X is inherently evil by their very nature. Strip out all of that inherent alignment nonsense and you can now start telling some good narratives.


Why are you wanting to have a meaningful discussion about racism while engaging in make belief world pretending to be a paladin??




Automatically Appended Next Post:
 BaronIveagh wrote:
 Grey Templar wrote:
Alignment was always a bad system. A gross oversimplification in an attempt to make an easy to use morality chart. But it inherently leads to morality just being a zero-sum game, when real morality isn't one. I always treat it like a guideline, and never force specific alignments on specific species or characters.


Save the city from destruction with a legion of animated skeletons and you're the one who's evil. It's never really made sense.


Do the Skelington's go out of control and go on to eat everybody's brainz ? :p

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/03/12 07:11:29


https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/772746.page#10378083 - My progress/failblog painting blog thingy

Eldar- 4436 pts


AngryAngel80 wrote:
I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "


 Eonfuzz wrote:


I would much rather everyone have a half ass than no ass.


"A warrior does not seek fame and honour. They come to him as he humbly follows his path"  
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

 BaronIveagh wrote:
 Grey Templar wrote:
Alignment was always a bad system. A gross oversimplification in an attempt to make an easy to use morality chart. But it inherently leads to morality just being a zero-sum game, when real morality isn't one. I always treat it like a guideline, and never force specific alignments on specific species or characters.


Save the city from destruction with a legion of animated skeletons and you're the one who's evil. It's never really made sense.


More like Alignment as a system breaks down when you actually use it. You can murder a whole town, but you can make up for it by saving enough puppies. So you never actually have to take responsibility for your prior actions.

At least Paladins don't have to be lawful good anymore. You can make a Paladin of any alignment, because "evil" gods have paladins too.

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

 BaronIveagh wrote:
 Grey Templar wrote:
Alignment was always a bad system. A gross oversimplification in an attempt to make an easy to use morality chart. But it inherently leads to morality just being a zero-sum game, when real morality isn't one. I always treat it like a guideline, and never force specific alignments on specific species or characters.


Save the city from destruction with a legion of animated skeletons and you're the one who's evil. It's never really made sense.


This reminds me of a webcomic that is very humorous where a party is hiding in a cave as an angry mob goes by and they're all glaring at the necromancer; "I bring the children back to life, but I'm the bad guy!"


   
Made in gb
Assassin with Black Lotus Poison





Bristol

 Argive wrote:

Why are you wanting to have a meaningful discussion about racism while engaging in make belief world pretending to be a paladin??


Because that would be an interesting story to tell? I thought that was pretty explicit in my post.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/12 10:08:10


The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.

Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
 
   
Made in gb
Mad Gyrocopter Pilot





Northumberland

 A Town Called Malus wrote:
 Argive wrote:

Why are you wanting to have a meaningful discussion about racism while engaging in make belief world pretending to be a paladin??


Because that would be an interesting story to tell? I thought that was pretty explicit in my post.


And because analogous storytelling has been a useful tool in human history since we first started saying "ug".


One and a half feet in the hobby


My Painting Log of various minis:
# Olthannon's Oscillating Orchard of Opportunity #

 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Moustache-twirling Princeps





Gone-to-ground in the craters of Coventry

"Choose your own fairy tale".
If the Brothers Grimm and Aesop told us anything, it is you can tell a story about anything, and still make it teach a lesson.

Role playing lets you be the bad guy, and see how it affects others.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/03/12 14:05:15


6000 pts - 4000 pts - Harlies: 1000 pts - 1000 ptsDS:70+S+G++MB+IPw40k86/f+D++A++/cWD64R+T(T)DM+
IG/AM force nearly-finished pieces: http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-38888-41159_Armies%20-%20Imperial%20Guard.html
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw (probably)
Clubs around Coventry, UK 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Argive wrote:

Do the Skelington's go out of control and go on to eat everybody's brainz ? :p


Nope, just, RAW casting the spell that animates them is, in and of itself, an evil act. It's like using Poison. Use poison to kill people, evil. Use poison to kill giant rats or massive roaches, also evil. This actually got to bizarre extremes under 3rd, whole Dragon articles were devoted to 'not poisons' that good players could us to poison someone without violating their alignment.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/03/12 23:24:48



Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
Walking Dead Wraithlord






A Town Called Malus wrote:
 Argive wrote:

Why are you wanting to have a meaningful discussion about racism while engaging in make belief world pretending to be a paladin??


Because that would be an interesting story to tell? I thought that was pretty explicit in my post.


Olthannon wrote:
 A Town Called Malus wrote:
 Argive wrote:

Why are you wanting to have a meaningful discussion about racism while engaging in make belief world pretending to be a paladin??


Because that would be an interesting story to tell? I thought that was pretty explicit in my post.


And because analogous storytelling has been a useful tool in human history since we first started saying "ug".



Yeah but we are talking about D&D which is a game.

Personly, telling in-game make-belief stories about paladins is fun. Having meaningful discussion though...Is more like work.. It would require work for it to be "meaningful"
You have meaningful discussions in a debate club or some other such forum where concerned people knowingly and willingly engage in discussion as participants of said discussion and prepare...

The alignment and races are there to make the game function. Not to be representative of reality.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
 BaronIveagh wrote:
 Argive wrote:

Do the Skelington's go out of control and go on to eat everybody's brainz ? :p


Nope, just, RAW casting the spell that animates them is, in and of itself, an evil act. It's like using Poison. Use poison to kill people, evil. Use poison to kill giant rats or massive roaches, also evil. This actually got to bizarre extremes under 3rd, whole Dragon articles were devoted to 'not poisons' that good players could us to poison someone without violating their alignment.


I think any gaming group or DM worth their salt would allow for some leeway though if there is a good narrative behind it.
Like this particular person had their family murdered by an assassin and they managed to kill him and now they vowed they would use his evil weapons to fight evil in order to atone for their weakness and find the truth behind the event.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/13 04:19:39


https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/772746.page#10378083 - My progress/failblog painting blog thingy

Eldar- 4436 pts


AngryAngel80 wrote:
I don't know, when I see awesome rules, I'm like " Baby, your rules looking so fine. Maybe I gotta add you to my first strike battalion eh ? "


 Eonfuzz wrote:


I would much rather everyone have a half ass than no ass.


"A warrior does not seek fame and honour. They come to him as he humbly follows his path"  
   
Made in gb
Assassin with Black Lotus Poison





Bristol

 Argive wrote:

Yeah but we are talking about D&D which is a game.

Personly, telling in-game make-belief stories about paladins is fun. Having meaningful discussion though...Is more like work.. It would require work for it to be "meaningful"
You have meaningful discussions in a debate club or some other such forum where concerned people knowingly and willingly engage in discussion as participants of said discussion and prepare...

The alignment and races are there to make the game function. Not to be representative of reality.



I disagree. Telling interesting stories is fun. It is fun to play a paladin who is forced to question his beliefs about the world as it provides the opportunity to really explore that character and that characters beliefs. By the end of that story that paladin is a much better character than they were before, regardless of the eventual outcome of that exploration.

Frankly, the question of "are all orcs inherently evil?" is not something that requires preparation. This isn't a debate, it is a story. There's no requirement that your character be able to back up their position with academic references. But you should be open to their beliefs being challenged and potentially having those beliefs revealed as false within the story.

The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.

Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
 
   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut




When I sent the link and compared it to Vonnegut's short story I didn't think of alignement, but rather of the idea to remove racial bonuses and penalties. Basically to "celebrate diversity" by making everyone the same - which is what the story is about.

IMO it is a huge overreaction. Especially as what is called "races" in fantasy is more like "species".

EDIT: As for your discussion, I think s-f/fantasy is a great beckground to explore morality as we can experiment safely with these subjects and they are (more) free from our real-life baggage and biases. As a result we can see certain mechanisms more clearly then while exploring the reality we are a part of.

SF/Fantasy has been doing this for decades and it's good games enter this territory as well. No reason why they shouldn't.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/13 11:54:59


 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Argive wrote:


I think any gaming group or DM worth their salt would allow for some leeway though if there is a good narrative behind it.
Like this particular person had their family murdered by an assassin and they managed to kill him and now they vowed they would use his evil weapons to fight evil in order to atone for their weakness and find the truth behind the event.


But that's not RAW. And further, your example would constantly run into this problem. If you follow RAW for things like Redemption, he'd literally not only never win, but slide further and further into evil.

Which is also a good narrative. Just ask V:tM.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/13 14:27:39



Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
Assassin with Black Lotus Poison





Bristol

 BaronIveagh wrote:
If you follow RAW for things like Redemption, he'd literally not only never win, but slide further and further into evil.


So the morality equivalent of the laws of thermodynamics

The Laws of Thermodynamics:
1) You cannot win. 2) You cannot break even. 3) You cannot stop playing the game.

Colonel Flagg wrote:You think you're real smart. But you're not smart; you're dumb. Very dumb. But you've met your match in me.
 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

So the morality equivalent of the laws of thermodynamics


It would explain why liches and vampires inevitably fall to evil, no matter what their alignments were when they turned.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/03/15 00:58:35



Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
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Made in fr
Longtime Dakkanaut






You know, the sad thing is that some parts of humanity do seem to learn from science fiction, but they're the wrong parts and learning the wrong things.

In 'Merchant's war" a man who worked for the advertisers, who practically rules earth, was an agent seeking to cause the collapse of the human colony on venus so that the ad corporations could take it over too. When he returns to earth he is unaware of a new ad method that is meant to and can produce instant addiction in a large segment of the population thru brain stimulation.

He becomes addicted to 'mokie coke', a soda that is unhealthy and expensive. As soon as his fellows learn he's drinking it he is instantly fired, his health goes to hell and he goes broke.

He is saved ironically by the venusian agents on earth as he now understands what his advertising does to people and wants to fight it, but they have to rehab his addicted ass first as a junkie, even one sincerely willing to help, is of limited use.

That kind of advertising was only a dream then, but not video game makers are now using neural feedback studies to make games more and more addictive. They scan the brains of people playing games, looking at the pleasure center, and write the game elements to maximize stimulation of it, thereby making the games as close to addictive as possible.|

So yeah, some people are learning from SF, too bad it's not the right ones learning the right things.



"But the universe is a big place, and whatever happens, you will not be missed..." 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

Australia sees Sharknado, says :Hold my Beer and Watch this.


https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/australia/spider-exodus-australia-scli-intl/


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User





Oh, nice. So right now we all have to prepare our bolt-guns and personal orks, hah?


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