• 5 Posts
  • 57 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: July 8th, 2023
  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoRPGMemes @ttrpg.network•500 Hours in MS Paint
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    26 days ago

    Are the 5e apologists in the room with us?

    No, but seriously, most people I know (rightfully) criticize 5e for a lot of things, from sloppy writing in general, to shitty adventure books, to nonsensical rulings and poor balance. I’ve never met someone willing to defend 5e so passionately.

    I’ve always claimed that base 5e is basically unplayable past tier 2 because of how wild power scaling becomes, and how sloppy certain rules are (God forbid that your wizard doesn’t attempt to Shapeshift the Fighter’s Echo before you even reach tier 3). And frankly, base 5e is too boring to play for long, anyway. Homebrew is where it’s at.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoRPGMemes @ttrpg.network•D6 bite damage
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    1 month ago

    I don’t know how hospitals work in the US (assuming that OP is a US citizen, because that’s what we do on the internet), but where I come from, determining the cause of an injury is very important to decide on an effective treatment. Bites in particular are very nasty and can lead to a lot of scary complications (including human bites!).

    There’s no way in hell the nurse just said “yeah ok got it fam” and went along with her day like it wasn’t important.

    And maybe I’m too jaded, but I read “we also got engaged” and my mind automatically added “and everyone clapped” at the end of the sentence lol

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•What are the best fictional books you’ve ever read?English
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    1 month ago

    Robert Silverberg’s “The man in the maze” is a cool science-fiction book based on the Greek play Philoctetes. Iirc it’s a very short story (maybe about one or two hundred pages), I don’t remember the exact length but I recall reading it in one sitting. It is a very character-driver story where the “maze” itself is an allegory about mankind, isolation and disability, but it is very much enjoyable as a casual read as well.

    The protagonist (“man in the maze”) is an astronaut who has been somehow cursed to always radiate its emotions in such a way that others, even his family, find repulsive, so he self-exiles to a remote and long-dead planet to live the rest of his life in isolation. But when an alien species makes hostile contact with humans, he is needed again, as his “curse” is the only way to properly communicate with them and maybe convince them that humans are sentient beings and thus their equals.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoPatient Gamers@sh.itjust.works•Monthly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing?English
    2·
    2 months ago

    I got the Resident Evil bundle from Humble and decided to finally give RE2make and RE3make a go. But before that, I replayed the original games on my PS1. The last time was quite a few years back… I remember learning English by playing RE3, lol.

    Short review of each under spoiler (although they are very much spoiler-free)

    spoiler

    RE2 was a lot more… Boring than I remembered. Rooms are static, encounters are scripted, zombies are not really aggressive, and ammo is everywhere. I remembered pretty much nothing of the game outside of the main gist of the story and a few puzzle solutions, so it was an almost blind run. However, I still finished all scenarios with the item box overflowing with ammo and herbs, and I only died once at the beginning of the first scenario while I was still getting accustomed to the controls.

    Despite the criticisms, it was still fun. The story was better than I remembered! At least Claire A + Leon B, which is more intertwined and definitely better written. Leon A + Claire B is a lot more straightforward, features fewer interactions between the cast members, and even has a glaring continuity error. Gameplay is pretty straightforward, fairly predictable, not many jumpscares - and it’s difficult to be frightened when you have enough ammo to clean the entire RPD station twice and keep some spare - but I had fun throughout.

    The “zapping system,” as it’s called by the fans (basically the actions in the A scenario carrying forward in the B scenario), is greatly exaggerated. I can only remember three instances of choices carrying forward (using the cord in the eastern or western wing, leaving the machine gun or the item pack or both to the B character, and registering both characters’ fingerprints to open the secret door in the lab). In addition, the two A scenarios and the two B scenarios do pretty much the same thing and fight through the same rooms with slightly different item placement and enemy encounters. I honestly don’t think there’s enough “meat” to justify playing both scenarios with both characters unless you’re an RE fan and want to see everything the title has to offer. For the others, I’d recommend playing Claire A + Leon B and calling it a day.

    Each scenario took about 2 hours to finish, so it took me 8 hours to complete all four scenarios and 100% the game.

    RE3, on the other hand… Holy shit. Zombies RUN, Nemesis RUNS, and there’s a lot of randomization involved in how items and enemies spawn to always keep you on your toes. Sometimes it’s zombies, sometimes dogs, crows, or hunters - and maybe there’s the Nemesis thrown into the mix as well! The rooms are a lot more dynamic as well: while traversing the same rooms back and forth in search of the key items necessary to go forward, zombies keep pouring in, smashing windows, car doors, and even respawning after being killed. Compared to RE2, where a “cleared” room would stay safe until the end of the game, RE3 always makes a point in reminding you that the dead are in control of the city, not you.

    There’s a decent amount of choices scattered throughout the game that alter how the events unfold, but as with the scenarios in RE2, I don’t think that the changes warrant a second playthrough unless you are a diehard RE fan. Fighting the Nemesis at the RPD entrance allows you to retrieve the STARS card earlier than intended; finding Carlos in the Restaurant or in the Press Office triggers a different Nemesis encounter; and the ending of the Clock Tower and Dead Factory is slightly different depending on your choices. There are other choices as well (some are spelled out by the game, while others are triggered depending on which location you go to first), but for the most part, it’s just a slightly different cutscene and that’s it.

    Where the game shines, however, is the freedom of choice that the player is given. You can choose the order in which you explore different locations to retrieve key items; you can craft different ammo (and even specialize in one, giving you the ability to craft improved ammo for a specific weapon if you so wish); you can run from the Nemesis or fight it for additional rewards; and with the randomized enemy spawns and placement, even dying and reloading feels like a fresh experience. The improved controls (including a quick 180 turn and a tricky dodge mechanic) are the cherry on top.

    The story wasn’t as interesting as RE2’s, in my opinion. Although I enjoyed the characters, the Ada-Sherry-Annette dynamic from the previous game was more fascinating than whatever the deal was with Nicholai. Despite that, I appreciated the throwbacks to RE1 (although I would’ve loved to see more in the RPD; Jill enters the police department, grabs the lockpick, gets out, never interacting with anyone or reacting to anything, which was a bit disappointing) and the additional insight into Umbrella.

    My time count at the end of the game was 7 and a half hours, slightly shorter than the complete RE2 experience, but much longer than each individual scenario (and as I said, most of the scenarios involve passing through the same rooms and solving the same puzzles, so there’s a lot of repetition involved).

    Overall, I’d give RE2 a 7.5/10 and RE3 an 8/10. Both were very much enjoyable and I’d still recommend them to modern players. Tank controls and fixed cameras may take a short while to grow accustomed to, but the entire game is masterfully built around them and they add to the experience, instead of detracting from it. Listening to the sounds and noises to check which enemies are in play becomes second nature, and before you notice it, you are completely engrossed in the game.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtorpg@ttrpg.network•21 Lessons learned after running 100 sessions
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    2 months ago

    I see the Player vs Player more as a mindset than an actual fight between players.

    Tension and fighting between players are fun and can lead to interesting character development, if there’s a narrative reason for them to exist, and for as long as the players are okay with it.

    What I forbid is, the mindset. The players are a team and they need to stay together, act together, and rely on each other. No splitting the party if it’s not necessary, no fights over loot, no backstabbing, or anything of that sort. Everyone is entitled to have fun.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•*Permanently Deleted*
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    2 months ago

    Oversexualization. Panty shots, ass shots, boob physics, the same old jokes from the ‘80s about a guy “accidentally” groping a woman, guys peeping into a girls’ space, suggestive poses, barely-disguised fetishes (included, but not limited to, harems, incest and pedophilia).

    It got to the point where a friend would recommend an anime, I’d watch it, and walk away halfway through the first or second episode because it was just unbearable. Friends would tell me to turn a blind eye, but why the fuck should I put up with sexualizing minors in a show? I’d rather spend my time doing something that doesn’t make me feel sick.

    It also attracts the wrong kind of audience. Since the medium is so keen to produce oversexualized content, that’s all people look for and talk about. Any anime discussion thread degenerates into gross memes about “flat is justice”, “twincest is wincest”, people patting each other in the shoulder while calling the other “man of culture” for sharing their kinks, and shit like that. It’s so extenuating that, back when I was interested in the medium, I still actively refrained from interacting with fellow fans because I felt grossed out by them. Fun fact, I had a female classmate back in highschool who was interested in anime, and I thought that I could find common grounds with her, but no, it was the same thing, just reversed (she would only watch anime with sexualised boys).

    The medium also forgot what its name stands for. I haven’t seen “animation” in “anime” in years. It’s just still frames and more still frames and whenever there’s an action sequence, the characters will constantly interrupt them to explain or think about the thing that I’m already watching and needs no explanation, or having flashback sequences, because it’s cheaper to animate. The fact that Ghost in the Shell and Akira from thirty years ago had better and more fluid animation than the shit they produce now is just sad.

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•If you had to divide your life by one event, before and after, what would that event be and why?
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    2 months ago

    Oh boy. Just one?

    I guess I’d go with “signing up to a random online forum back in 2012”.

    I was a very shy and introverted kid back then, without friends or social life to speak of. I would spend all my time playing videogames and reading books.

    That online forum gave me a chance to speak to other people while staying “safe” in my shell. Without realising it, I slowly gained confidence and social skills that helped me make friends both online and irl, some of whom I still speak with to to this day. Thanks to one of the people I knew on that forum, I now have a job that I like.

    I wouldn’t recommend online forums nowadays to fight depression/lack of social skills, as the internet has become a cesspool. Online chats are breeding grounds for political extremists. But in my case it definitely helped.

    A close second would be having a girl in college confessing to me. I had never really thought about my sexuality back then: it just wasn’t on my mind, like, ever (which should’ve been a red flag, but whatever). She was really nice and wasn’t pushy at all, but I knew that I couldn’t leave her hanging forever, and I had to give her an honest answer in a relatively short time.

    Well, long story short, I realized I wasn’t straight. At first I thought I was bi, then gay, but a few years later I understood that I am ace (again, should’ve been obvious by the fact that I literally never thought about sex for the entirety of my teenage years, but I’m dumb).

    But seriously, there are so many important moments in one’s life, it’s difficult to choose only one or two. Watching nature documentaries with my brother as a kid turned me into a huge animal lover, to the point that I’m literally unable to kill a fly because it makes me sick. Thanks bro, those are some of my most treasured memories!

  • Aielman15@lemmy.worldtorpg@ttrpg.network•Finding Local Groups
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    2 months ago

    From experience, I’ve never been lucky with finding groups of randos willing to play consistently. Campaigns that began this way would always fall into scheduling hell, because people are only there to roleplay, not to spend time with friends.

    I’ve had more luck with convincing my friends to play. Since we are friends, we already spend time together, so scheduling a weekly game is much easier. We did have a few hiatuses because of work or family-related issues, but for the most part, we’ve played consistently for the past few years.