Tuesday, April 30, 2019

My Life As A Gamer: Learning From The Mistakes Of Others - WOW Edition

Below is a video by a fan of a Twitch streamer by the name of Asmongold. He made this video back in October, when Asmongold reacted live to another video by another streamer calling himself Preach. Both are World of Warcraft veterans, and both are experienced in high-end endgame play. What they're talking about here are decisions with regard to game design and how the current expansion (as of this post, Battle For Azeroth) has a lot of its flaws due to decisions made over a decade ago. This is not a short video, but worth it if you're into game design and game theory, be it at the macro level or (as they are) the micro level.

Let's break down the core of Preach's position: Wrath of the Lich King is where Player Retention trumped all other concerns regarding game design, but the full expression of this priority didn't manifest until two expansions later with Mists of Pandaria and it's at that point where the cancer metastasized and the freefall began in earnest.

Player Retention is the measure by which an online game holds on to the players it has, and decisions motivated by this concern inevitably involve making the game easier in some manner or another. During Wrath, the developers made design decisions with the explicit intention of giving high-end (and thus high-powered) players incentives to go into easier content and help the suck players actually finish that content. This carried over, notoriously, into Cataclysm after their initial removal when those same suck players turned out to not have improved at all; they let the good players baby them through Wrath instead of get good themselves.

It was this same concern that, back in The Burning Crusade, had the developers changing raiding into 10-Man and 25-Man tiers; the latter got the best loot at the time. This changed down the road, removing the existing incentive to deal with the far greater logistical and managerial issues of 25-Man raiding, and as such that scene died faster than vapid sorority girls in a slasher flick. Mists introduced RNG-based procs to upgrade items that dropped in raids, "Titanforging", at the time to deal with this.

It worked, big time. Why? Because it uses Gambler Psychology, exploiting the same flaws in human cognition that casinos use to rope in people and bilk them of their cash.

Having seen it work so well, it carried forth and expanded with Warlords of Draenor and did so since. The introduction of Mythic Plus (timed speed runs, with higher quality loot as the reward) in Legion iterated further on the matter, leading to the problems mentioned in this video: suck players being carried well beyond their actual skill, making the in-game measurement of Item Level worthless for assessing a player's skill. This lead to third-party tools coming into use and dominating high-end play, with predictable results of exclusion and complaints thereof.

In short, we have cascading failures of developers thinking through the full extent of their decisions, with each short-term fix causing the next problem. Instead they should have started at "How do we want players to play the game?" and work back from there to the mechanics required to achieve that end. There is your takeaway: Game Design deals with known quantities, so you start with the conclusion and work backwards from there to discern which rules and mechanics best achieve that conclusion.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Narrative Warfare: Watch For Counter-Lawfare Attacks

The SJWs sitting at the intersection of popular culture, currently embroiled in corrupting North America's anime scene, are facing the consequences for their actions in the form of civil legal action for defamation and tortious interference in Vic Mignonga's business affairs. One of those involved, but not yet served, is MarzGurl after her recent antics of last week, expect that status to change. She dun goofed.

Bounding Into Comics covered her incompetent attempt to organize a point-and-shriek swarm attack on Vic support YellowFlashGuy today. You can read about it here. She immediately lied and dissembled when confronted about it, trying to do the usual DARVO routine to make her the victim.

Lawfare is working, for now. The reason is because the shock of being confronted with legal consequences, coupled with the fact that the usual SJW playbook doesn't work in court, is sufficiently upsetting that--for the moment--these people aren't able to adapt to the changing circumstances. Instead they (a) lie to themselves that they still have it in hand so (b) they double-down on the usual plays in the hopes that shutting them out of social media and normie employment will shut down the legal threats, (c) projecting their own thinking on to their enemies because they realize that this would work on them.

It is now a matter of time before someone above them in their own hierarchy observes this working and decides that the laws and regulations need to be changed to shut down the legal recourse against SJW passive-aggression. That's why I'm saying "for now"; I'm anticipating higher-functioning SJWs or Leftists to resort to either open legislative action or the same gossip-mongering bullshit behind the scenes, and we would be wise to watch for it.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

My Life As A Marksman: Ruger Does A Budget Rimfire Revolver

It's been a long time since I did a firearms post. As the NRA's annual show is concluding as I write this post, I think I'll talk about one of the new revolvers coming out on the occasion of this show.

As many have noted, this is Ruger's move against the Heritage Rough Rider, which is even cheaper but made of notoriously poor materials (such that it's base version is not legal in my state) and equally poor finish. Ruger is a solid company, and now that Bill Ruger is gone it's fully committed to the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution. If you get your hands on a Ruger, you have a reliable firearm regardless of what it is.

I've been wanting a Single-Action Army style of revolver for some time, and this would be ideal for me. The street price is going to be about $200, which is a steal for U.S. firearms, and it will fit into existing accessories for the more-expensive Single-Six model so you can get all the holsters, etc. you want for it. For those wanting to do Cowboy Action Shooting on the cheap, this is ideal; a solid, reliable revolver by a solid, reliable manufacturer using dirt-cheap and plentiful ammo. Go for the lever-action rifle in the same chambering--hello Henry Repeating Arms--and all you need is a coach gun to finish the trifecta. Fun for the whole family, and built like a tank so it'll last for generations. I'll take a Wrangler in Black Cerekote.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Even Hamill Knows Mouse Wars Is Garbage

He ain't kidding. This was a way missed opportunity, and now that Fisher is dead it can't possibly happen. Oh, sure, their characters can come together again, but those people playing those roles will never happen now. Mark's sad and a little bitter about it, and he's right to be so, because he witnessed first-hand the destruction of what Uncle George built with him and those fellow actors all those years ago.

It's done. He knows it. At least they can't take the Joker from him.

Friday, April 26, 2019

Narrative Warfare: This Is (Not) What Historians Are For

Over at the Supreme Dark Lord's blog, we have a post on why never believing the official story is wise. Quoting the article he quoted:

The shocking double tragedy of a D-Day rehearsal exercise 75 years ago this weekend has been remembered in a new book.

More than 1,200 Allied soldiers were killed over two days off Slapton Sands in Devon, a disaster that was kept hidden by the authorities for decades.

On April 27, 1944 over 400 of them were slaughtered by the friendly fire of shells bursts on the beach due to a timing error. The following day nine German E-boats passing through Lyme Bay stumbled upon the exercise and opened fire on the mock-invasion fleet, killing 749 men.

Scores of bodies washed up on to the beach in harrowing scenes that would be replicated six weeks later on the beaches of Normandy.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted his men to be battle-hardened ahead of D-Day so he insisted on live ammunition being used during the trial run. But a calamitous error with timings meant some of the landing craft arrived at the wrong time where they came under heavy artillery fire. The tragic mishap meant a wave of servicemen taking part in the rehearsal were killed on the stony beach.

Historians, like journalists, serve the lawful purpose of being witnesses and transmitters of events. We justify our purpose by telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Sometimes this commitment means upsetting comfortable--but false--myths, and sometimes that means confronting blatant gaslighting frauds. If the truth is hidden, then it must be brought forth; there's a necessity for secrecy, but once that need is gone then what is secret must be revealed- it's why no one sane trusts the spooks.

We all know that journalists are institutionally unfit for purpose now. Count on historians have similar problems; History is one of the Humanities, and you had better believe that those who view 1984 as an instruction manual--looking at you, Saul--have played the SJW game, the Frame Game, here for generations just as they have in fiction publishing across the board.

You can't have a healthy culture if you are lied to routinely by your elders, and if you lie routinely to your children. (Shut your Gamma gotchas on religion; myth is not a lie automatically.) You can't have a moral culture if fraud and deception are part-and-parcel of your daily routine. The very concept of "official stories" indicates that you've got a corrupt culture in dire need of repentance and reformation. Only the truth, and a ruthless commitment to it, can make and keep a culture healthy and its nation great. Warfare, and only warfare, merits the permission of deception; all else must scorn it for the corrosive thing that it is- much how we strictly control the use of fire.

World War 2 ended generations ago. The generation that fought it is in its twilight now; there is nothing to be gained by keeping secret the whole truth of that war. ALL of it must come out, great and small, horrific and beatific, and be shown to one and all. So must all of history. This is our collective inheritance as Mankind, and what we leave as our posterity to our descendants. Whataboutism bullshit is the basis for protests to the contrary, and Whataboutism's flaw is the false perspective that it's about you- it's not. Larger concerns take priority, and the truth is paramount as it is a subset of The Truth (i.e. God).

And pursuing the truth is worth fighting for.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

My Life As A Historian: Sabaton Does The Lord's Work

Today's a two-for-one Sabaton presentation. First, the new Sabaton History video on the German battleship Bismarck.

Part two is Sabaton's new music video for the song about that very battleship.

You can thank World of Warships for making that video happen. Well done, guys. That's how to cross the streams properly.

This is it, folks. This is how you can make history alive for those long after the fact; you take the facts of history, and you use the dramatic arts to recreate the events as best you can. People react well when they are able to see and hear, and thus to feel, what they learn; vicarious experience is the most effective means of reaching most people, which is why it's such a common element in every nations's cultural institutions.

Sabaton is doing the Lord's work here, telling the truth as best they can, about the wars of Man and the men who fought--and died--waging them. If I can capture this with my Star Knight books, then I know I'm hitting the mark.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

My Life As A Gamer: The Lawfare Comes To Tabletop

It's not just SJWs in the North American anime scene that shall soon learn to Fear The Beard.

That's right, some of the most insufferable SJWs in tabletop RPGs are finally getting dragged into court. Beard, Harris, Bullock & Hughes of Texas are suing B.J. Hensley, Stacey Dellaforino, Jessica Price and Christopher Helton on behalf of Frog God Games. Steve Jackson Games are 100% behind FGG. All the fun I'm having watching Mark Waid all but kill himself in his suit vs. Richard Meyer, while Vic's foes do their best impression of Starscream just before Megatron bitchslaps him, will soon be had in the realm dearest to my heart: tabletop RPGs.

And it will be glorious!

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

My Life As A Gamer: Sometimes The Goof Finds You

Super Robot Wars, as a franchise, is a goofy idea. Take a bunch of well-known mecha anime properties, mash them up, and enjoy the "What if Amuro fought Koji?" fun is the premise. Some games in the series are goofier than others, and the new console title--Super Robot Wars T--is one of the goofier ones.

My man Zengar started his first playthrough the other day, and from the start this game shows its goof. The mashup timeline alone is goofy. A few years before the game starts there were several apocalyptic events within months of each other, taken from the sources of the game's mashup, starting with the relatively benign dropping of Axis from Char's Counterattack and including the Kill All Humans/Kill All Life events from Gaogaigar and Getter Robo Armageddon.

And our protagonist? A samurai salaryman named "Saiko", so gung-ho for his company that it reads as parody; his co-pilot, the new girl on her first day on the job, is the comedy half of this comic duo and their interactions are played for laughs quite effectively. (The other choice shows up as Saiko's rival; she's a Rotten Girl, a boozehound boorish tomboy who somehow can't get fired for her behavior.) They pilot the respective Original Mecha--Tyrando and Gespenst--and don't suck in actual play.

So what happens right out of the gate? Tetsuya and Great Mazinger not only become playable and join the roster, but are formally transferred to the protagonist's corporation and joins his team. That's some goofy shit; imagine Batman--as Batman--taking a dayjob at your mercenary/weapons manufacturing firm because he's bored and you get an idea of how ridiculous this is, but we roll with it because it's funny.

By the time my facility lost its Internet connection last night, we had Captain Harlock, the core of the Crossbone Gundam crew (Tobia and Kincade), Spike Spiegal (with Faye and Jet showing up), Tetsuya, Van (from GunxSword) who apparently has plot-driving duties early on, Akito and the Nadesico B from Prince of Darkness, Domon and Allenby from G Gundam and a few others already in the mix. Take a second look at that roster and the series they're from and you can see how goofy this has to be, yet it isn't totally absurd.

Yet.

We have the girls from Magic Knights Rayearth to come yet, along with both leads and mechs from Aura Battler Dunbine and New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine, all of the gang from Getter Robo Armageddon, the Brave Express Corpse from Mightgaine, the entirety of Armored Troopers VOTOMS, and everyone from between Zeta Gundam to Char's Counterattack yet to come.

Think again on how different those sources are, and you can see how goofy this mashup is. V made sense; everything tied together without straining things too much. X relied on "Outsiders drawn to the same Other World" schick to make its mashup work, but it did work. T? T doesn't give a fuck; this is the sort of thing I came up with 30 years ago, and it's done in that same earnest spirit that made such a thing work for 14 year old me then. It's absurd, doesn't try not to be, and doesn't apologize for it. I wasn't looking for this goofery; it found me, and I am glad for it. I can't wait to play it myself; for my fellow tabletop RPG people, T (like V and X) is RIFTS Done Right and yet different from others in the series.

Monday, April 22, 2019

My Life In Fandom: No One Likes Brie Larson

The World Class Bullshitters, back from Star Wars Celebration, cut this video on everyone's favorite woke MCU cast member.

This is who Marvel Studios pinned their hopes on. Nevermind the usual knocks about under-qualified actresses getting roles too demanding of them; Brie being woke enough was sufficient. I'd never seen someone so contrary to Hollywood's emphasis on glamour somehow rise to prominence; she's got friends getting her gigs because she mouths platitudes those friends want out there. Despite all her SJW bullshit clunking with resounding thuds, causing PR problems across the planet. No one likes her.

Here's my take on this: her supporters know no one likes her, so pushing her like this is a deliberate Fuck You play.

Someone above Feige in the Disney corporate network pushed Brie on him, despite statements to the contrary. Now we get to watch the MCU implode in record time. All because this unlikeable bitch gets shoved in our faces for Muh Wokeness. Wallet closed, walking away, done after Endgame. Get out of my life, Larson. No one likes you.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Narrative Warfare: Watch A SJW Swarm Attack In Real Time.

Witness the process happen in real-time.

"But Pundit's a shitlord!" some say, "He deserves it."

That's the trap.

What you're seeing here is a textbook Point-and-Shriek Swarm Attack, right out of SJWs Always Lie. Mercer isn't trying to persuade Pundit as to the merit of his position. Mercer's aim here is to silence Pundit by manufacturing the illusion of superiority from bullshit and gaslighting via the swarm attack. This is the same bullshit that Vic Mignogna's suffered, causing him significant--maybe irreparable--damage to his reputation and career, and if Mercer doesn't watch his ass it can--and should--end the same way: with total lawfare.

This is not about the contest of ideas. If it were, Mercer and Pundit would mutually engage in good faith. Pundit did engage in good faith. Mercer's bullshitting, and this call to swarm Pundit is the tell that all he wants is Pundit's tongue ripped out and handed to him on a silver platter. Fortunately, Pundit's a counter-puncher and anti-fragile, so he's got some resilience. Note also Pundit's smart take on handling the swarm; most of the accounts are impotent wankers, so he's not even deigning to acknowledge them, focusing only on those with clout like Mercer.

It should also be noted online legal issues usually default to the victim (criminal) or plaintiff's (civil) jurisdiction. Pundit's in Uruguay, and if he does go for lawfare I will encourage him to have Mercer's ass dragged south of the equator to answer for it or face summary judgement with all that involves, such as liens on Mercer's assets. (Yes, Pundit, you had damn well be talking to a lawyer about this; greater men have been ruined for less, and Mercer is in a position to damage your ability to do business.)

Keep an eye on this to see how the SJW Attack Program works. Once you see it, you won't unsee it.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Narrative Warfare: The #KickVic Saga To Date

Taken from the blog of the Supreme Dark Lord, He Who Devours SJWs, who in turn heard from Bounding Into Comics. Hang on, because this is a long post.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly voice actor Vic Mignogna has filed a lawsuit against Funimation, Jamie Marchi, Monica Rial, and Ronald Toye.

Mignogna is suing them for defamation, tortious interference with existing contracts, tortious interference with prospective business relations, civil conspiracy, and vicarious liability. The suit was filed in Tarrant County, Texas on April 18th.

Mignogna’s lawyer Ty Beard claims in the lawsuit that the defendants defamed Mignogna and “knew these statements were false or made them with negligent disregard for their truthfulness.” The suit claims that the defendants’ “conduct was willful, fraudulent, malicious, and in wanton disregard for Vic.”

He points to a number of statements made by Ronald Toye, Monica Rial, and Jamie Marchi on Twitter. Those statements include accusations that Vic Mignogna engaged in “harassment or threatening behavior.”

The suit claims that “Ronald (a Funimation agent or employee) has tweeted more than 80 times that Vic sexually assaulted or assaulted Monica, more than 10 times that Vic sexually assaulted or assaulted three of his “very close friends,” more than 10 times that Vic has been accused of hundreds and possibly thousands of assaults, and at least 17 times that Vic is a “predator.” It also points to a number of tweets made by Rial and Marchi.

The Tortious Interference with Existing Contracts part of the lawsuit claims the Defendants “willfully and intentionally interfered with these contracts prxomiately causing cancellation, termination, even breach, of these contracts by the convention producers thereby causing Vic actual and consequential damages.” The suit points to a number of conventions canceling Vic’s appearances including Anime NYC, Ancient City Con, and others.

The Tortious Intereference with Prospective Business Relations claims, “There was reasonable probability that Vic would have entered into agreements with other production companies and conventions; however, the Defendants’ unlawful actions prevented these relationships from occurring.”

The Civil Conspiracy claims “The Defendants conspired and acted in concert to defame Vic, interfere with his existing contracts, and interfere with his prospective business relations, and each knowingly assisted an participated in the other’s actions.”

The Vicarious Liability claim notes, “At all times relevant, Jamie, Monica, or Ronald was Funimation’s employee and acting in the course and scope of her or his employment in the conduct alleged above or, alternatively, Jamie, Monica or Ronald was Funimation’s agree with actual or apparent authority to act on behalf of Funimation…or Funimation ratified her or his actions.” It notes, “Funimation is liable for the conduct of Jamie, Monica or Ronald.”

I've been following this situation since Nick Rekieta came on the scene. Below is the summary of events leading up to this law suit's filing on Thursday this week.

https://kiwifarms.net/threads/victor-mignogna-v-funimation-productions-llc-et-al.55556/page-16

https://kiwifarms.net/threads/weeb-wars-animegate-kickvic-vickicksback.53670/page-1097

Check the over 1100 pages of archived drama on the part of those bitches and cuckfaces in KiwiFarms.

It is worth every single page.

TL;DR:

1. A bunch of unfounded allegations started by ANN and Marzgurl in particular began to filter through Twitter that Vic Micnogna was a sexual predator. No actual proof, just pages of allegations, mostly unsorted. For those going "Hey, this sort of reminds me of ChangeTheChannel!" congratulations, you have a functioning sense of pattern recognition. The pair begin the #KickVic hashtag to get Vic fired. The timing of this is right after an ANN staffer got outed as a sex offender.

2. ANN goes to all their buddies to spread it around. Derek Padula does a write-up that "explains everything," by spending over 80% of said write up not discussing any allegations against Vic, several paragraphs comparing him to Bill Cosby, discussing Todd Haberkorn (for some reason), and basically doing anything but make a compelling case. Gizmodo gets in on this and declares Vic guilty in everything but name. Worth noting: Several of the claims made against Vic are patently ridiculous, such as calling him a homophobe for refusing to sign an unofficial yaoi book.

3. Jamie Marchi and Monica Rials declare that the claims are absolutely factual, again with no evidence. When confronted they sperg the fuck out, arguing they're being harassed when people do such unthinkable things as telling them provide proof or GTFO. They double down immediately, declaring everyone who dares disagree with them is harassing them by definition. Marchi in particular declares that Vic deserves to be castrated and/or executed.

4. Funimation allegedly "investigates' and fires Vic, as does Roosterteeth. Surely by coincidence, a personal acquaintance of Rials takes his place in all his VA endeavors.

5. ANN and friends continue to accost Vic in an effort to shut down his potential job offers. As many as 15 cons purportedly cancel his appearances. Vic becomes persona non grata in voice acting circles. Vic responds with remarkable candor, thanking his fans for his support and encouraging them not to engage Rials or Marchi directly.

6. People smell bullshit and ANN's involvement gets exposed, as does the fact that almost everyone involved with declaring Vic guilty at Funimation are people who have provably done worse. Monica Rials is #MeToo'd, though she denies it. Amanda Winn-Lee, apparently still sore from Revolution 60, declares that she hopes a female critic gets raped. More and more Funimation associates declare that if you support Vic, you're a harasser that hates women. No one cares at this point. Multiple culture war coverers (such as Hambly) begin to bring up the ongoing scandal and cover it in ways Rials and Marchi don't like. Anti-CG spergs immediately rally to the Anti-Vic crowd, further cratering its already leaking credibility.

7. Pensacon threatens attendees that anyone who shows up wearing a "Stand with Vic" shirt will be arrested and criminally prosecuted, if not reported to the FBI, and the account operator gleefully spergs about how much they want to see Vic supporters suffer. Their Twitter is publicly mocked until they lock it temporarily.

8. Weeby Gal, one of Vic's accusers, the most credible one up to this point, has her video evidence proven to be faked, as it had massive redactions. The full video is released and mirrored. Weeby Gal deletes fucking everything.

9. Nick Rekieta gets involved. Does an overview of the situation. Advises Vic to lawyer up because proving malicious intent and tortious interference is going to be piss-easy with these assholes. Vic does so and allows Nick to give some announcements on his behalf. Pants are shat when Nick is gathering evidence to give to Vic's case. Blood is now in the water and the internet's sharks salivate.

10. Pensacon claims to have recieved a bomb threat from a Vic supporter. Local spergs investigate and find no such threat occurred. Unfortunately for Pensacon, they were planning to host that event at a government building, which means the joint anti-terrorism task force is now involved because of this idiot blowing smoke. DHS, FBI, and DIA get involved, and start getting some information from the Youtubers who initially covered the drama (Yellow Flash, Hambly, et al). This entire shit-show just came to the attention of the US Government, however briefly, proving that weebery is, as some have suggested, serious business.

11. Samantha Inoue-Harte claims to have been SWATTed by a Vic supporter. The images she posts are traced and it turns out they come from a previous SWAT Hoaxing she did in 2016. Two hoaxes for the price of one! It turns out Inoue-Harte is a former Funimation staffer and IRL friend of Monica Rials. ANN puts up an article declaring she dindu nuffin. Unfortunately all the police reports show is that her door was damaged, not that she was SWATed.

12. Sean Shemmel believes this, only to realize he was in the wrong, retract his statement, then lock his Twitter. To chase this, Schemmel is also said to have hoaxed a SWATing from a vic supporter. Again, local spergs conacted police, discovred this was false. That is three hoaxed crimes by Vic supporters in under 2 days.

13. Vic announces intent to sue. Bricks are shat. Targets include Marchi, Rials, Saucedo, Chapman, and dozens of others. Funimation is HQ'd in Texas, which has Vice President Laws. Funimation, ANN, Gizmodo, and Roosterteeth may be liable for the shit their various staffers have said. Vic's GoFundMe hits $20,000 in less than a day. Anti-Vic elements try to slander Nick Rekieta and get the GFM shut down, but fail.

14. Marchi and Rials go poor innocent me routine and try to act like all is good now and nothing is ruined. No one is buying it.

In addition, KamehaCon had Vic back last weekend to huge success--floor to himself, hours-long waits in line, etc.--and he killed with with his attentiveness to his fans. The man showed his appreciation for their support by giving it back in spades. Anime Matsuri will have him back, and all of the aforementioned parties are dogging that con. Todd Habercorn has had a similar point-and-swarm job done on him, and he's reached out to Vic's lawyers for help; the SJWs have already gone at Ty once, doing the same futile smear job via filing complaints, that they tried and failed with Nick. In short, we're not seeing brilliant masterminds at work; we're seeing insane incompetents wreaking havoc. It's Gamma Rage and Entitled Bitch Tantrum all the way down.

They all need to be grateful this is only a civil suit. If this had gone down in Minnesota, they'd all be facing criminal charges.

Friday, April 19, 2019

Narrative Warfare: Good News Friday

It's Good Friday. In preparation for the Good News on Sunday, here's some morale-boosting stories.

  • The Mueller Report. Razorfist has a great, short rant about it here. Enjoy and feel free to chair-dance doing "Fuck You, I was right!" The Narrative Warfare pivot is already happening; if you can stomach it, watch the Fake News for the tells of a shift and you can see it in real time.
  • Vic Mignogna files suit against Funimation and others for defamation. The suit got filed yesterday in Texas; Nick Rekieta had Vic's lawyer, Ty "Fear The" Beard, to talk about what could be discussed. You can see that four-hour plus stream here, for which Ty was front and center in the first half. If you want more of a summary, ClownfishTV has your back and did so here This is the opening salvo. Other parties are likely to get served down the road. Lawfare works, people. By the way, Vic's going to win; the SJWs have all but handed victory to him, and the consequences will go far beyond North America's terrible anime industry.
  • On a related note, some tabletop gaming company has also retained Ty Beard's firm due to SJW bullshit crossing the line. More on that when Nick spends four hours live going over documents or whatever he gets his hands on. It's happening! People are finally getting that SJWs are vulnerable to Lawfare, and soon they shall see how super-effective it really is.
  • The new singles JAM Project did for One-Punch Man Season 2, Super Robot Wars DD (the mobile game), and Super Robot Wars T (the console game on Switch and PS4) have dropped. Of course someone's done an Anime Music Video for the latter; embedded below. Not major news for most, but I figured you could use some unabashed, nakedly earnest high-energy music to put some spring in your step- something JAM Project is very good at doing.

As for myself, I'm in the home stretch now. I'm due to discharge on the 17th of next month, and I'll have more good news to share soon.

Thursday, April 18, 2019

My Life As A Historian: Sabaton History Channel

If you haven't subscribed to Sabaton's history channel on YouTube, go fix that right now. You get a video like this every week, and the stories are fantastic and real.

As the scientific masterminds of the early 1940's discover the destructive capabilities of splitting atoms, some of them try to weaponise it. One special product is important in the creation of such a weapon: heavy water. The Norwegians have a plant that produces heavy water at Vemork. The Allies, desperate to slow down the German progress towards the development of a nuclear weapon, decide to sabotage it. The Sabaton song 'Saboteurs' is about the dangerous mission that is conducted by the British and Norwegians in the winter of 1940 to sabotage the Norwegian Heavy Water production for the Nazi's.

This is why I love Sabaton. They not only have a passion for music, but also for history, and they get that their music is far superior for spreading knowledge of history than the sad-sack suckfest that is public schooling in most of the world today. This is how you make it matter, by bringing to life and showing how its impact reverberates down the years to you.

Godspeed, Sabaton. You're doing the Lord's work here.

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

From Rehab: The End Is In Sight

Filed under "It Can't Rain All The Time".

Yesterday I set down a discharge plan with a tenative release date from this rehab facility. I should be going home one month from today exactly, after which therapy will shift to a home healthcare regime before going to a community engagement form of outpatient therapy. That means I should be completely capable of walking moderate distances once more by the time Football begins in August and able to do most household functions unassisted.

Today I went in to adjust the alignment on the roboleg once more, and in two weeks the test socket goes in to be finalized; I've got that amount of time to pick any pictures, logos, whatever on a 2x2' cotton square (so a big bandana) and have that go in with the roboleg for permanent embedding into the socket material. If any of you are able to put the Living Dead division's logo (see this post) on such a piece and get it to me, let me know and I'll tell you where to send it.

And that's just what went down in the last 48 hours. I have more coming before the end of the month, once the details are final and set down.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Narrative Warfare Roundup: Assange & Notre Dame

Yesterday we witnessed Notre Dame burning. Last week we saw Julian Assange get dragged out of Ecuador's embassy in London. The epoch is due to shift, and we're seeing signs of that now. I will wait a few days before giving my commentary, but for those looking for some I've curated some videos from my YouTube feed on both topics; just the links, no embeds, lets this post get longer than Longcat.

Furthermore, author Brian Niemeier hits the core issue of the matter in today's post at his blog. The secularization of Christendom has to stop or Civilization dies and collapses back into the Dark Ages, the days before the Light of the World--Jesus--came to our ancestors. The Enlightenment is now revealed to be a mistake, and as with all other errors the only way forward is to turn around and back up until the errors are gone, then close off that dead end forever and proceed down a new road.

One thing is already certain, however: the official story is bound to be wrong, if not a lie- and therefore a fraud. We'll soon know how both events really went down.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Narrative Warfare: SJWs Fail In Court

Good news for your Monday. One of the folks direct attacked by SJWs in the American comics business, and subsequently took the SJW responsible to court, looks like he's going to win his case.

The attacking SJW, Mark Waid, got deposed recently. He was compelled, as were others, to answer questions under oath. This did not go well for Waid; the accusations Richard Meyer made ended up getting confirmed by Waid and the Dunns. Nick Rekieta covered this last night, reading the redacted transcript of the deposition live, and giving his expert commentary along the way. TL/DR? "Waid dun goofed."

If Waid has a clue, he'll beg to settle after this and the matter will be concluded in Meyer's favor. But SJWs Always Double-Down, so he won't and the ultimate conclusion will be even worse for Mark Waid. Take heart, folks; Lawfare Works!

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Narrative Warfare: SJWs Are A Disease. Be The Cure.

This came over my feed today.

This is how Convergence works. It's why the SJW Death Cult is a memetic disease, and turns what it infects into zombies seeking to Spread The Love. It also explains why it is so hard for most SJWs to come out of the cult; it truly is a disease that parasitizes its host and takes control of it. Past a certain point, it can't be done by Man; only God can do that.

And we all know that you can only run from zombies for so long before they reach a critical mass and have to be confronted.

Saturday, April 13, 2019

My Life As A Writer: Feeding The Imagination For Star Knight

Anime productions produce a lot of concept art. Not all of it gets used in the final production. Some of it gets discarded early on, never to be added to the series canon, while some of it does but never appears on screen. Even those who get on camera don't necessarily get the focus of attention; some are background shots, lucky to be seen for more than a second or so at a time, and some become the darlings of the production.

It's in secondary products, such as RPGs and art books, that a lot of these ill-used or discarded art pieces finally get their due time in the sun. Well, formerly that was the case. The Internet Changed Everything, and this is one of those cases. Fansites allowed for concept art to get disseminated widely, and last night I spent some time visiting one that's been around a while: Gears Online.

The reason is, of course, related to Star Knight. Space Is Big, and that means that there ought to be noticeable differences among the cultures of Galactic Christendom. Visual differences make for good shorthand when talking in terms of art; as I am a visual thinker, I see the image first and then put it into words as best I can. Hence, I love looking at concept art, and in looking down the road for Star Knight I've got lots of differences to display. That's why I look at things like this page on unused Genesis Climber MOSPEADA designs to feed my imagination.

Here, have a sample.

And if that's not enough concept art, then head over to MAQH, which is where Brian Niemeier and I took our mecha profile format from. I look forward to a day when I put together a book all about the mecha, starships, and other conceptual artworks behind Star Knight.

Friday, April 12, 2019

My Life In Fandom: Jump Away From Coruscant

The official fan con, Star Wars Celebration, has begun and will on this weekend. The real info is now coming out.

Jon del Arroz is correct. Star Wars is dead. It took less than a decade for Disney to kill a formerly world-famous Space Opera franchise, a franchise that facilitated the founding of two major effects houses--Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic--who've got resumes going on for decades and includes far more major hits than Uncle George's own films. The novels are now expensive toilet paper, as are the comics (unless it's Darth Vader), and the games to date have been mediocre at best and often trash. Yes, including the tabletop games. (D6 or GTFO)

If you're thinking of handing over a single cent to the Mouse, despite complaining or whining about Mouse Wars, you're a paypig and beneath contempt, something Mouse Wars and The Mouse will not hide. Buy the pre-Mouse stuff used if you must have it and you either can't or won't see if your local Straw Hats can hook you up. You have alternatives to Mouse Wars for scratching that itch, starting with the Galaxy's Edge and the Galaxy Ascendant series; stop being a bitch and buy that instead, putting your money where your mouths are. If those aren't enough, keep looking; you'll find something in print.

And that's just Western science fiction. Go east and you've got Japan's massive mound of material to pour through, staring with Space Battleship Yamato and including Legend of the Galactic Heroes as well as Space Pirate Harlock. Want to include giant robots? Yamato's 2202 follow-up introduces them into the mix, and the classics include Super-Dimensional Fortress Macross and its sequels.

You don't need to let Mouse Wars shit all over the corpse of something you loved, but is now dead. Jump away. There's nothing left to save. Let it go and come find something alive to enjoy instead, which will include my own Star Knight Saga soon. To make this clear, I'll let Frank here put it plainly about giving the Mouse your money.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

My Life In Fandom: SJW "Localizers" Confess To Fraud

Fire up the Minecraft servers. We've got some SJWs to purge.

These SJWs in the North American anime scene have been caught pulling this shit previous, from name-checking #Gamergate despite what the actual text is to cringe-inducing lines akin to "Unsolicited Opinions About Israel", all because they get offended by the original text or the original creators or both and this is the petty passive-aggressive manner in which they sabotage things to benefit their Narrative Warfare campaign as well as gatekeep English-language anime releases.

What the Japanese studios need to do is what's been done for console releases of Super Robot Wars since SRW V: hire an in-house translation team, release the English-subtitled version through Singapore, and stop licensing IP for English release to third parties unless and until said parties explicitly disavow SJWs and their dogma.

That's where we come in. With a little help from our resident bi-lingual fellows like Mombot, we need to contact the relevant corporate officers directly and tell them in detail what is going on in the West, how it matters to them, and what they can do to stop the cancer from killing their business. What we tell them must be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; back it up with citations and other verifiable evidence. Yes, this means writing a clean and proper business letter; if you do not know how to do that, then remember you're on the Internet and you can literally look that up. Yes, this means snail-mail and not e-mail. It will be worth the effort.

We don't have to put up with this bullshit, and we have more recourse options than just to not buy that shit. This is old-school, sure, but Japan's corporate culture is also old-school in many respects and they don't like it when partners mess with their properties. Punish the frauds; tell the principals that their agents are stabbing them in the back.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

My Life In Fandom: Razorfist's Metal Mythos on King Diamond

Razorfist teased this before its premiere on YouTube the other day. This was well worth catching live, and if you are at all a fan of music documentaries then you really ought to make time for this work. Razorfist and his man Terran Gel are a one-two punch of independents doing it for themselves and making MTV (et. al.) look like bitchmade chumps in the process. Fake Journalists, this is how you do music journalism.

Look at the clips used to see just how far off the wagon the mainstream media went from then to now. It is, unironically, a shameful display that the music media can't be bothered to put in good work like this anymore. When they're not trying to spread the SJW Death Cult dogma via memetics to new hosts, they're displaying dumbass incompetence at their purported jobs. Only in Clown World could two guys in Arizona doing this as a side-hustle make an intercontinental media establishment look so utterly unfit for purpose and still have their jobs.

This is why Razorfist gets accolades from Science Fiction Grandmaster John C. Wright, the Supreme Dark Lord Vox Day, and others of similar intellectual heft who appreciate such diligence and depth in presenting and reporting while maintaining a distinct voice that compels your attention and holds it until the end. He's severely underrated, but the man put in the work over a decade or more to get this good. He's earned the respect and praise he's garnered, something his counterparts in the mainstream press cannot comprehend because so few got a goddamn thing in their lives by putting in any effort at all.

Well done, oh Excellence of Elocution. Here's to many more years, and increasingly rewarding ones, making these clowns look bad while giving the people what they want.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Narrative Warfare: Today's US House Meeting is Warfare In Action

Red Ice Creations is, as of this post, live-streaming the U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee meeting on hate crimes and white nationalism. Here's their stream, which will also be the VOD after the fact for as long as YouTube allows it.

The utter dishonesty going on in this meeting is appalling. Not one question or statement coming from the Democrats is in good faith; it's all Frame Game moves to unthink any nuance contrary to their Narrative Warfare goals. Peddling the "hate crime" conspiracy theory to justify criminalizing American nationalism is the means to the end, and the Fake News media will carry water for this move come the evening news broadcasts. The talk shows tomorrow will pick up the baton and push the bullshit to their cultists, astroturfing the illusion of consent.

People familiar with how media-savvy police states operate will recognize this as the signal for when the Party decided to move against a segment of the population in a move to satisfy their anxiety regarding their dominant position. People who know history will recognize this as the flag for when the Party declared someone a problem, and are now moving to destroy the problem.

The sheer volume of Rhetoric being thrown around astounds me. Every argument isn't; it's all feels-bad anecdotes meant to weaponize empathy and wield it against the designated target, flat out of basic bitch salesmanship. Knowing that the facts won't help, they go for the feels betting--accurately, most of the time--that feels trump facts when making decisions. Yes, even in government. You're watching Narrative Warfare in action here, and I'm glad that Henrik and Lana are doing this real-time counter-punching.

This is distressing. Take heed, folks; history is repeating.

Monday, April 8, 2019

No Place For SJWs Here: No Disavowals Allowed

This is an admin post.

There is a habit, weaponized by SJWs, of whining to someone about whom they follow or associate with in an attempt to get a disavowal. This behavior will not be tolerated here. If you have a problem with someone I follow or associate with, then you had better take it up with them; I will tell you to do so once, and after that I will delete your whines summarily. I reserve the right to ban violators at my discretion.

You shall not point and shriek here.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

From Rehab: Weeb My Cane Please

While following a dunking thread on Twitter, I came across this:

Hook me up. Just pick one and send it to me. I'm going to be using a cane for the rest of my days, so I might as well make it a stylish one.

And if there are additional options, let me know so I can see for myself; post the links in the Comments below.

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Geek Gab Talks Maxwell Cain: Burrito Avenger!

Today the duo doing Geek Gab brought on #PulpRev author Adam Smith to talk about his new novel, Burrito Avenger, and much more.

A key point came up in the conversation, and that's the need for authors currently underground like the #PulpRev crew to commit to quality. Why? To ensure that when the boost up out of the underground comes that your odds of meeting audience expectations is maximized, and thereby create greatly increased demand for your work henceforth. Mistime that and you end up turning your name into a bad brand.

That's one of two things we all need to do. The other? The perennial problem with authors: selling. We're independents, so we've got to do this ourselves. We can, and should, take as much control as we can over that aforementioned attention issue; knowing when to sell matters as much as knowing whom to sell to, how, and why. This doesn't come naturally or easily to many of us, yet it's still our responsibility because no one will do it for us, so we need to embrace the suck and just get on with learn the skills already.

The combination? Simple, more of us need to accept that we are in a scene and work together as a team for mutual benefit. Brian Niemeier and Rawle Nyanzi are good about this, so following their example here's a very basic thing all of us can do: post links to our fellow's works.

Come have a laugh if you miss the earnest action films of the 1980s from Hollywood. He's enabled Matchbook Pricing, so getting it print also allows for a much cheaper Kindle version for when you can't bring the dead tree copy with you, and that's a fantastic deal.

Friday, April 5, 2019

My Life In Fandom: Shit Like This Is Why Fan Cons Die

If you aren't following Nick Rekieta on YouTube and Twitter, you should. This lawyer delivers, and last night was another livestream following the #KickVic stupidity.

Put simply, the folks running these fan conventions are not the professionals they think and say that they are. It's no different than the convention committees I've seen here in the Twin Cities fan con scene; it's a bunch of amateurs cargo-culting their way through it all, with a handful who have a goddamn clue keeping the edifice together as best they can. Nick, if you see this, you would be surprised just how commonplace the stupidity you're seeing with anime fan cons is throughout the con scene in North America.

It's no surprise to me that the SJWs who attacked Vic Mignogna feel confident, however delusional, that they can weather the reaction just fine. Nick's seeing the sort of influence that they have over the people who run these things, and the sorts of fuckups who run them. The same sorts of wankers, losers, and wanna-bees run fan cons across the country. It's been a thing for so long, intergenerational now, that we even have a phrase for them: "Secret Masters of Fandom", "SMOF" for short.

If actual professionals, competent and knowledgeable, ran these cons then this bullshit and all the other abuses and stupidities would stop. Why? Because you'd have someone on hand with the sense to say "Hold up, let's talk about this with a lawyer." before getting roped into this bullshit. Why? Because, like it or not, conventions are a business and need to be handled accordingly and that does include non-profit operations. Allowing unprofessional behavior to go unchecked is not good for business, yet it is too often the case because amateurs care more about the approval of those who they court over their primary responsibility to produce a smoothly-operating event.

With "talent" like this, I can see why most of those who could do this properly find it too bothersome to be worthwhile and instead go do something more rewarding. Considering that most fan cons are already rendered obsolete by the Internet, I can tell you now that not going HAM on these SJWs will only accelerate the collapse of fan cons as a thing, and that's before more scandalous things like abetting child abuse (and other open secrets in the SF fan con scene).

Fuck this for a game of soldiers. Livestreams and Internet sales do all that con appearances do, but cheaper and easier with superior security. Let the cons die in a fire.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

My Life In Fandom: Mouse Wars Is For Losers

Today, from the "Get Woke, Go Broke" department, confirmation that Mouse Wars loses money sufficient for the Mouse to notice.

The toys continue to rot on the shelves. The related merchandise isn't selling like previous iterations, pre-Mouse, did and when those previous offers are available most fans prefer them over the Mouse Wars versions. This is the way you can tell how well, as a business, Star Wars is doing. The wokeness and incompetence of execution of Mouse Wars has not gone over well in the real business: the merchandise. For you readers of the tie-in novels, keep track of the secondary market; expect to see Mouse Wars tie-ins flood the shelves and online outlets while licensors focus on the pre-Mouse movies to return to profitability.

At this point the association of Mouse Wars is one only enjoyed by fools and losers. The only good part was the final act of Rogue One, and even that was wholly unnecessary and uncalled for; everything has sucked and that sucking hurts the brand. If destruction is the game, and I believe it is, you could not do better than having a bunch of incompetents willfully driving it into the ground in the name of Muh Social Justice. Star Wars, increasingly, is solely for losers.

Marvel, you're next. This fate awaits you unless and until you conduct an inquisition and purge SJWs from your ranks.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

My Life As A Gamer: "Muh Social Justice" Is Still A Con

For the veterans of the Great Meme War, this is no surprise at all. We've known for years that "games journalists" are utter trash.

The SJWs that were dumb enough to jump off #Gamergate several years back have learned nothing. Those who observed, but somehow weren't involved, learned nothing. This filters down to where those same fake journalists otherwise end up when they can't grift and gaslight faking their way through glorified blogging for a petty paycheck: moderators at places at Reddit.

The real story is that these woke wankers give cover to authoritarians coming up with expert systems--it's not real artificial intelligence--designed to identify dissidents and unperson them. The cover is that "toxic masculinity" conspiracy theory bullshit, but we all know that once such a system is used somewhere it quickly gets adapted to be used everywhere. The intention of the tool is to identify targets for deletion, and once enough are deleted to assume and maintain dictatorial control. These SJWs want to run a police state.

That's how you know it's a con. Actually achieving the stated goals doesn't require running a prison planet. That this is still going on indicates just how asleep a lot of people still are.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

My Life As A Gamer: Only The Persistent Prevail

Following the whinefest by Fake Game Journalists over Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Oliver Campbell of the Metro City Boys put together a supercut of how he prevailed over the game. As the saying goes, "The master failed more times than the amateur ever attempts." That's what it takes to beat this game: persistence. Every game of this sort has similar requirements of persistence to succeed. Oliver here goes over how he did that. Skip to 14:10 for the lesson, taken from Rocky Balboa.

You don't get it handed to you. It's not a passtime. It's a game, and gaming is about challenge as much as it is about entertainment. The challenge is key to the entertainment, as the sense of accomplishment you get for beating a boss. You have to pay attention, your full and complete attention, in order to get the information you require to beat the challenge before you.

Why?

Because there is one sure way to win: Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.

That's how it works. You do have to yield to the situation to win, like a reed in the storm, and insisting that things have to conform to you--as if this is about you--is how and why you fail. It is not about you. It is NEVER about you. Not in gaming, not in life, not in anything. You're there to do a job; either you conform to the requirements at hand or you make way for someone that will.

Take it from a guy having to live with a missing foot and learning to walk all over again. I don't have the luxury of whining and throwing tantrums; either I conform to the physical requirements or I don't walk ever again. That's how gaming works, folks, and what separates gamers from normies who play games. It's no different from making the changes required to survive and thrive in any other context. You've got to fail, fail fast, adapt, try again, and keep doing that until you overcome. You have got to be persistent to prevail. Be like Simon. Be like the Dai Gurren Brigade. Make your will into a drill that breaks the heavens. Only then can you do the impossible. Only then can you turn to that challenge and say "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"

Monday, April 1, 2019

And Now A Word From Helling Ultimate

The Integra Option. The surefire way to deal with the trash shitting up your life.

When you deal with opposition who is beyond reason or the law, be like Sir Integra: kill them summarily and be done with it.