Thank God 2020 Is Over

2020 wasn't the worst year of my life, but it wasn't a good one either. The WuFlu threw off everything, and coupled with other things outside of my control (as well as a brief hospital stay), things I wanted to get done didn't. We'll recitify that soon.

This year has been full of suck and blow and that was on the good days. Some of that has turned to the good--the collapse of DC Comics, Hollywood's theater (real estate) business, the Big Five became the Big Four, indie SF seriously taking off--but much of it was not as the massive destruction of small business and retail-based operations outside Big Corporate Franchises show whenever you get out of your houses and look around the area.

The power grab Corona-chan enabled is far from over, but the resistance is building; we're looking at Prohibition-era levels of utter disrespect for law and government.

We're looking at a remix of the 20th Century, folks. 100 years ago was a very turblulent time as instabilities caused by World War I produced effects with consequences we're still dealing with now, such as Communism being a thing at all and the rise of the Cult of Democracy. It was the time of rising gangsterism in the US and political instability across the globe.

Fortunately the historically-literate are not just aging cripples in wheelchairs like me. They include people with agency and power, like the God-Emperor (soon to begin his second term), and I doubt we'll see the Globohomo elite get their third World War (which they use to cover up their reset of the fake and gay economy they use to control us) due to that very opposition. So no, I don't fear The Great Reset because it's not going to happen.

2020 sucked harder than a black hole, but the Spanish Flu it is not. It'll be fine in time, so calm thy tits and focus on dealing with the overreach from the tyrants.

To send off 2020 on a good note, here's the Pundit talking about long D&D campaigns (and promoting his new gonzo fantasy setting).

And the Black Pants Legion with one final shitpost for the year.

And being that it is Thursday, that means the final Sabaton History episode of the year is now live. Enjoy.

My Life As A Gamer: Remembering "The World of Synnibarr"

Not all tabletop RPGs are equal. There are very bad ones out there. Some are bad because they're bad-faith creations by fetishists that should be put down. Some are jokes in (very) bad taste. Then there are the earnest clusterfucks, and The World of Synnibarr is one of them.

Infamous in tabletop RPG circles online for being batshit insane, it takes the known trends behind playing superhero RPGs and says "We must go deeper!" Ninjas whose swordplay is so fast it counts as shooting a laser. Amazons that are Wonder Woman, The Class. (Hawkeye gets a class also.) Dwarves, Elves, Giants, and Gnomes are all classes. Rules for gods, fighting them, and becoming one. Charts you need a TI-30 or better to use properly. A strict and enforceable rule banning house rules and rulings. Oh, and all of it "rings with authenticity".

This is the game that you love to death when you're a 12 year old boy, you argue if Superman can beat up Goku, and you devour comic books like they're M&Ms. I'll let Mr. Welch take it from here, because I've played this game and I am too sober to go on describing it. This is the Introduction, followed by Welch's musings on the game. Yes, this is the game's Introduction verbatim.

This is all about power-gaming, using scientific calculators, and wondering what the hell McCracken was thinking when he wrote this. Embrace your inner 12 year old who thinks the best Marvel movie ever is Infinity War/Endgame and you can enjoy this for the clusterfuck it is.

Don't take my word for it. See for yourself. If you want a copy, hit the image link and fork over the cash; you might as well buy The Ultimate Adventurer's Guide to max out on the sheer What The Fuck this game gives you (such as Nazi Gestapo Elves).

P.S.: Superman, in Synnibarr, is a viable Mutant class character and Goku is a basic-bitch Tiger (super martial artist). They're nowhere near the top of the heap.

The Business: SCP Is Proof That Making New Stuff Works

The SCP scene began producing more than wiki articles for some time now. First it was an array of YouTube channels taking those wiki articles and making videos about them, and now we have a lot of games and fan films. This one came out a month ago, and it's one of the biggest to date.

The SCP scene is proof that making new stuff to replace what the Death Cult destroyed is viable. This is where all the Weird Fiction energy went, where you'll find people working out their kinks as writers, because there is no one canon of continuity to adhere to and so you can remix as you like while you contribute to the wiki.

The secondary output--the videos--are by folks working out their kinks as they master the skills needed to make good videos. (Some are further along than others.) We'll see this with the fan films also, but this film is by the same guy that did "Dollhouse" and that was a good film.

As author Brian Niemeier stated, much of this is supported by way of crowdfunded patronage. You'll see Patreon links shared often when the channels post videos with the more serious channels and artists, and they're going to be worth the support.

So don't despair over the persistance of the Pop Cult. New stuff is being made, and not just by us, that's gaining traction organically.

Notes:

1. The SCP games are on Steam. Some are free. Some are not. A few have DLC. Quality varies.
2. The best channels on YouTube are The Exploring Series, SCP Illustrated, SCP Explained - Story & Animation, and The Volgun.
3. The wiki is here.

We're seeing participants push slowing towards putting SCP product out where normies can find it. Being on Steam counts. Being on Amazon counts. It's not just merch, as easy as that is now to do; we're going to see more books and comics appear also, and there's already some up for sale.

Yes, there's been some legal issues, and there's bound to be more down the road, but for now we have a scene where people unwilling to leap with both feet into the creative crucible can wade in and learn to swim- and some of it is very good indeed.

My Life In Fandom: Send The Drinker A New Liver

The Critical Drinker saw this coming, and the release confirmed it: WW84 is trash.

This is what happens when corporate filmmaking goes wrong.

And I think we can fix a large portion of the blame on one of the principles: Kristen Whig.

Drinker states that the film tries to put forth that you have to work for what you want. "Tries" is being generous; it's not the actual narrative at all. Remember who the film's target audience is: future SJW RadFems (i.e. girls).

Jenkins may have had creative control, but she's not immune to influence. Whig does know how to write, has influence, and isn't afraid to use it. All of the SJW signals in this film are to the benefit of her character and her espoused political beliefs, including the message of "There is no true consequence for taking the short cut; it's no different than having your appendix removed."

Further, all of the detrimental effects upon Diana are directly tied to her anti-SJW desire to be with a man. This is a direct association of eu-social norms with weakness, dependency, and eventual helplessness (i.e. where Whig's character was pre-wish).

The men are either unattainable fantasies (Chris Pine's Steve Trevor) or Gamma Male wastes of skin (Pedro Pascal's Max Lord), which further associates seeking love and unity with a man with being a failure of a woman.

And then there is the real undermining: the SJW stand-in (Whig's Cheetah) only loses because another woman who ought to know better (Diana) betrays the sisterhood to restore the status quo anti. Had that not happened, the SJW would have soon fully achieved her full innate awesomeness that her oppressors stole from her.

Make no mistake, that's the real message: "You don't need a man. You don't need to do anything to realize your real power, it is as easy as making a wish. Don't let traitors and oppressors get in your way."

And that message does not resonate. That's why this film is a trashfire, and trashfires are best left to burn themselves out. Alas, a third film got greenlit (further showing that there no longer a firm association of commercial success with continued employement), so we'll see down the road if this trend continues or not.

My Life As A Gamer: Some Games Are Better Done In Different Media

It's a nice Sunday, the Sunday between Christmas and New Year's, and the Black Pants Legion delivered another BattleTech episode today.

The reason BattleTech works is that it is a playable giant robot wargame with just enough ability to account for infantry, vehicles, and aerospace to allow for players to do the full military campaign experience if they want. Harebrained's PC adaptation takes this and makes it something most fans want to do--play a campaign, with things carrying over from battle to battle--and makes it practical to do so.

That is because most people can't organize and maintain a tabletop campaign of any sort outside of a club and most players aren't in a club. They play set-piece scenarios, often small in scope and scale, because the tabletop game can go slowly if the players aren't paying attention or don't know the rules well.

Try to play Company-scale fights and you're looking at spending an afternoon--akin to an entire day of football programming on a weekend--especially if you're dealing with urban terrain, interactions with terrain, anything that isn't a 'Mech, or are bold enough to start your campaign with contesting the orbital drop approach. (That's dogfighting in space with fighters and dropships shooting at each other; no 'Mech action at all.)

It's as I said a while ago: some games from the 80s are actually better served in a different medium, and BattleTech is one of them. To play the game as it is at its best, you really do need the medium of a PC to make it practical for most people. Some additional expansions to allow player-controlled aerospace assets, etc. and the full adapatation will be complete.

That said, I do miss doing replays of Tukkayid. Die Clanner scum.

My Life In Fandom: The Shadowcast Returns!

Happy Boxing Day, folks! The Excellence of Elocution returns with Episode 10 of The Shadowcast.

The inaugural Shadow trilogy concludes with climactic chapter "The Shadow Laughs!" in December's edition of The Shadowcast! A dark, mysterious work in which The Shadow's signature twin .45 automatics make their debut, and Lamont Cranston... meets "Lamont Cranston"!

A true classic you'll need to hear to believe.

We conclude with a bit of disquieting news about Condé Nast's incoming Shadow relaunch, and wash the bitter taste out of our mouths with one of the greatest Mystery Horror masterpieces ever aired, 1940's "The Laughing Corpse", featuring a series of serial murders where people laugh themselves to death and die with a morbid grin.

(You're welcome, Joker!)

Besides being a reminder that you should get your own copies of the reprints while they're still available, and to track down the old radio show (because they are as good as Razorfist says), the big takeaways here are about the development process Gibson went through in creating his most famous character.

These first three novels are where we see the roughness carved away and the edges rounded off as the craftsman bring his vision to life. Several tropes don't appear until the second or third novel, such as Cranston being himself an agent of The Shadow (and not exactly by choice), or the preference for a pair of 1911 semi-automatic pistols chambered in .45 ACP. (Yes, there is a choice; .38 Super is an alternative until recently, when 9mm NATO became common.)

The other thing to take away is how Gibson wasn't going into this committing to a monthy workflow cycle. It's because of Street & Smith's reaction to the explosive response to the character that S&S decided to go monthly and thus commit Gibson to that schedule. Gibson would keep at it for 18 years, and, well, I'll let Razorfist finish this:

At age 80, Walter B. Gibson complained he could "only" write 5 books a year.
In the '30s/'40s, he wrote 24 Shadow novels a year AND most of The Shadow comics. Earning enough to afford a 2-story, 5-room apartment in Manhattan at the height of the Depression.
Step your game up. pic.twitter.com/JTU6J3KPOc

— RazörFist (@RAZ0RFIST) December 26, 2020

The man made bank during the Great Depression and throughout World War II, a time when many struggled to make ends meet and had to deal with the return of war coming to their door. The only problem he'd have today is that most people wouldn't consider his books to be novels, and balk accordingly at what they would sell for. (I write at about the size he did, so I know.) Blame that on the bitter Lit majors running the publishing houses, who decided to allow for literary obesity as a competition strategy for shelf space, and thus warp the perceptions of generations of readers.

Merry Christmas

And now a word from the God-Emperor.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2020

2020 has been quite the year, but like the Wu Flu 99.7% of us have recovered from it. Now it's all over but the big ball drop, however muted that may be due to tinpot dictators power-tripping like mad.

2021, from my perspective, is looking like a good opportunity to break out. The remainder of this year, when not dealing with taking the meds I'm on and dealing with dressing my wounds, will be putting together a plan given what I have to work with for time and workflow for at least six months. I'll talk more about that over at the Study soon.

And now, something from the Black Pants Legion: a new Scrombles the Mechwarrior episode. Eps. 14-16 dropped yesterday. That's about 5-6 hours of Tex playing BattleTech (badly) for your entertainment.

My Life As A Historian: Sabaton History Talks "Swedish Pagans"

On this Christmas Eve, Sabaton fans get a present in the form of a Sabaton History video about "Swedish Pagans", one of their most popular songs.

I do not understate the popularity of this song. It's a staple of their setlist in concert, and now that Vinland Saga has been animated it's gotten a resurgance in popularity due to its use in fan music videos.

It's also not surprising to see Norse paganism resurge in popularity. Call them LARPers if you like, but they're just trying to find alternatives to Globohomo like the rest of the dissidents. Having spent some time among them, the most sincere are those who focus on the pro-social/eucivic virtues of the Norse, and the worst are just grifters trying to work their hustle among a more naive crowd, and as usual both examples tend to be among the folks most prominent in the scene.

I have nothing against them as a scene. The honest ones will, in time, work their way through what that paradigm means and therefore figure out how the machine (as it were) works; either they make their peace with and accept the ultimate impotence of that paradigm against evil or they do as their forefathers did and change to one that actually solves the problem of evil: Christianity.

Still a great song.

My Life As A Gamer: Turning Your RPG Into A Little Red Book

The Pundit's talking about RPGs, Furries, and Commies.

He takes his time getting to the point, but the point is that the endstate of the poz is that RPGs--D&D in particular--is to be nothing more than reification of Commie dogma, and the rules will be enforced by nascent Karens who might as well be Commissars. The endstate is not a game. It's a Struggle Session disguised as entertainment, and deviation from the dogma gets you the Full Commissar treatment.

The inversion of reality that the poz promotes will be normalized in the game if the Death Cult keeps getting its way. Each table will be a freak show of players playing a freak show of characters pantomiming a freak show parody of a proper game. This looks trivial, but what goes on in tabletop RPGs is part of the larger entertainment complex and the reach of D&D in particular is far disproportionate to its actual size. What is normalized in D&D becomes normalized elsewhere within a few years.

Remember that people who wrote for or worked on this one game have gone on to bigger things and network across media boundaries, and others who got started in tabletop RPGs are now shaping the global corporate landscape (e.g. Jeff Gomez, started at Palladium and went on to found Starlight Runner). The game itself prompted reactions that in turn created massive franchises (Warhammer, Warcraft, Record of Lodoss War, Dragon Quest, Ultima, and more). This medium matters.

The change of the game to stop being a game, where you have to take risks with limited resources in pursuit of goals you choose and accept responsibility for when you fail, and instead become a Mary Sue simulator for spoiled brat narcissits. This is not just a difference of taste; this is the enforcement of a hostile alien and Satanic culture by way of the backdoor, and it must be stopped.

The Business: Don't Champion Battleships In 1940

Carriers, and the ability to project air power at sea, was a technological breakthrough that changed naval warfare. This is underestimated by many now. A reminder.

The video above talks about one specific and concrete example of a paradigm shift and its consequences. There were others within the living memory of those that fought World War II (e.g. tanks), and since then there have been more (e.g. long-range anti-ship missiles). Failing to comprehend what changes in technology allow is how people get screwed by those very paradigm shifts.

Again, I point to the above video. The debate over carriers was not just confined to the Imperial Japanese Navy. American, British, French, German, and other powers also had their arguments over naval air power, carriers, etc. vs. battleships. You can tell who the winners at sea were by those that adopted carriers and made the effort to adapt to the new reality of the dominance of air power at sea; those that did not became also-rans and non-entities. (Notable exception: Germany, due to its massive submarine fleet and how that got used, but also fell off quick once said fleet got neutered.)

This is a necessary lesson to take in. Paradigms change, and not always for the better. Survival means seeing it coming and adapting to the changes so it, at the least, does no harm.

In the publishing world, we see with the collapse of the Bigs from Six to Five and now to Four as their old model focused on paper distribution is contracting hard while the digital technology takes off and eats their lunch- a change accelerated by other changes like the rise of Amazon.

The digital media shift has also impacted film, television, videogames, and other entertainment media such that corporations are shifting to a rent-seeking model where you only pay access and not to own a copy of the media.

This concept is itself often difficult for people to comprehend. "Things just happen" is the cope, and it leaves folks scrambling for cover because it doesn't help deal with it, which makes the next step--that there are folks who get it and use it to their advantage--a bridge too far and you can see the brains short-circuit if you try to explain it.

And we're in the middle of a big one now.

If you want to get in front it this, find out who benefits from the present trends, then decide if you want what they want or not.

More than that, I can't advise in this post.

My Life In Fandom: What Our Favorite Doog Reveals

Everyone's favorite doog has managed to make a meme of herself this year. The following video from November recaps the big events for her.

We can be cynical and say that this is just corporations exploiting opportunities for easy marketing, and no doubt that's a factor, but I think we can depreciate that motive here. Not everyone in corporate entertainment is a total bastard, and the international positive reception of Korone is an earnest reaction to an earnest feminine persona that is sorely lacking in much of the world.

That's what this is all about. People seeing a happy girl--even if it's a fictional persona--being happy playing games and singing, often in a goofy manner, is a big draw. That's the Hololive formula, and it works; Gawr Gura's the current best example (at 1.7 million subscribers as of this post), but Korone's got serious meme status to make up for being well under 1 million and that draws in the attention of people with clout.

You'd think that people would make the obvious conclusion here, but no.

These virtual idols--those of Hololive as well as indies such as Pikamee (she of the Kettle Laugh)--quickly acquire massive army-sized followings of (mostly) men that throw all the money at them. Why? Because, in varying ways, they are feminine and unashamed of it. Sure, it's a persona, but it resonates and in a daily life where common Western women (and increasingly other women) are pushed to be masculine (and thus unappealing) it is no surprise that men want and crave actual femininity.

Fathers, tell your daughters--show your daughters--this before it's too late. They win when they play to their strengths, and it's not in the masculine realm.

My Life As A Historian: Where Fleming Got Bond

This one is for the James Bond fans. Meet the man whom Ian Fleming based his most famous creation: Duško Popov.

Specifically, this is the Bond of Fleming's books and the early Connery movies and not that of later writers and actors. All Fleming did was to change some details (but not enough to avoid angering Popov) and emblesh some others (ditto) to make his superspy come to life. As Indy's video shows, what Popov did could be directly translated to film and not miss a beat, and that includes Popov's less-than-fruitful relations with the F.B.I. during his wartime experience in the United States.

And yes, like Audie Murphey, the man wrote an autobiography after the fact.

This is the sort of book that I would like someone like Mystery Grove Publishing to pick up and republish, as the prices of the used copies out there are Collector's Grade levels, and as with the recent republishing of other lost men of the 20th century Popov deserves to be returned to popular attention.

Signal Boost: Krampus Kristmas 2020: An Anthology

Need something to get under the tree for that voracious reader? Like holiday-themed anthologies? David V. Stewart has you covered.

Celebrate Christmas Mourning 2020 style, with this collection of tales both dark and wistful, intense and introverted, all from the dark mind of David V. Stewart!

Includes the brand-new novella, The Wasting Desert, set in the universe of the Eternal Dream, along with numerous rare short stories, melancholy fables, and the complete Gen Y Chronicles. Also includes the complete, unabridged text of:

• Voices of the Void
• Eyes in the Walls
• City of Silver
• Tyrant’s Gallow
• Muramasa: Blood Drinker.

Krampus is coming!

Click on the image to hit the store page. This is a big book, suitable for keeping on the coffee table (or next to your D&D rulebooks), and a thick one also. You're getting big value for your dollar, folks. The hour may be late, but you can count on Stewart delivering the goods as surely as you can on Amazon getting it to your by Christmas if you order now. You won't be disappointed; you will, instead, be wanting to get more of his stuff while leaving reviews for what you've enjoyed.

My Life In Fandom: Tex Talks The Rifleman

Those mad lads at the Black Pants Legion finally dropped their next BattleTech video, and it's about the Rifleman.

As with the previous video about the Mackie, this is a long and lore-filled video that takes a while to get to actually profiling the subject, but you won't care because Tex's smooth delivery coupled with their use of art assets will have your attention. There's some overlap with the previous video, acknowledged as such, in the historical recap that led to the Rifleman's development but it's needed to put said development into context.

(TLDR: People wants more and different 'Mechs. This lead to rapid role specialization, which means rapid design variation, and the Rifleman took up the anti-air/fire support role and design flaws ensure that it runs hot when going all guns blazing.)

It's unfortunate that the rules don't back up all this lore without using options that most players don't even recall to exist. The rules make the Rifleman out to be a terrible 'Mech in the default 3025 setting, and other eras don't let up on this much (aside from the Clan-specific IIC model, which still is flawed). That Tex and the gang sell this 'Mech is testament to their ability to sell this game. (Cut them a check, Catalyst Game Labs.)

And yes, they will be back with one of my favorites: The Marauder.

My Life As A Historian: Sabaton History Talks Firebombing In WW2

If it's Thursday, it's time for Sabaton History.

At the end of July 1943, Hamburg burned. A fleet of British heavy bombers had dropped thousands of incendiaries over the city, turning it into a hearth of unprecedented dimensions. Numerous major fires merged together into a single storm of fire. Structures combusted under the immense heat, as strong winds drove the inferno through the streets at rapid speed. Craving for more oxygen, the firestorm sucked human bodies into the flames and immediately incinerated or mummified them. Thousands of others died slowly of carbon monoxide poisoning in their shelters. By the end of the raid, 60% of Hamburg had been burned out and more than 35,000 of its inhabitants were dead. But while the Germans were shocked to disbelief, for the British the firestorm has worked as intended. And this was just the beginning.

I am unconvinced that this firebombing--in Europe or in the Pacific--of urban centers was actually effective at anything but wanton slaughter and destruction. It didn't even do much to damage enemy morale. Folks adapted as they could to go about their lives, and otherwise fled into the countryside- and that was certainly an option at the time. The bombing that worked targeted strategic assets: industrial output, transportation hubs (ports, airfields, etc.), government headquarters, etc. and eschewed non-combatants otherwise. This was terror, nothing more, and more counterproductive than anything else.

In addition to the song and the events it covers, this video spent considerable time talking about what to do next now that all of the regular songs are covered. That's a lot of goofy talk, but after talking about firebombing that levity is needed.

My Life As A Gamer: An Open Letter To CDPR & R. Talsorian Regarding Mekton

Dear CD Projekt Red & R. Talsorian Games:

Congratulations on the release of Cyberpunk 2077, despite present difficulties. You managed to take the story of a tabletop RPG and bring it to life in a manner that even long-time fans of the tabletop RPG did not expect and nonetheless delivered on.

If I recall, the agreement between your two companies includes other R. Tal titles. I have previously been quite vocal about making a Mekton game. Rather than try to use the same design paradigm, I suggest that you shamelessly copy a formula that mecha gamers have enjoyed for over 20 years- and recently went big into the West: Super Robot Wars. On the offchance that you don't know what these recent titles were, allow me to show you.

When I say "shameless", I mean it. This is exactly the thing needed for a Mekton game, and I'd be happy if you openly partnered with Bandai Namco to do it.

Build the game around Operation: Rimfire as your base for your narrative and scenarios. It's literally a design document in tabletop form; convert and animate into the SRW format and you're golden.

Might as well commission a tie-in anime series while you're at it, using the narrative flashes from Mekton II's Technical Manual as its basis, to lead into the game's events. Do not cheap out on this if you do; it's meant to drive people to the game, so it has to be quality. A short high-quality production is better than a long cheap one.

There is a massive opportunity for merchandise to be had here. Don't leave that on the table, especially the mecha designs.

Oh, and if you can somehow get JAM Project to do the game's OP, seize that opportunity. No one gets the genre better than them.

Sincerely,

--Bradford C. Walker

My Life In Fandom: Sentai Filmworks Sale Going On

Sentail Filmworks has a holiday sale going on. This includes stupid deep discounts on shows that you ought to have on hand like Aura Battler Dunbine. For my mecha fans, here's a Search page of what's available (and a few that aren't). Even on backorder, it's a steal to get Dunbine for $18 plus Shipping & Handling (because normally it's $100).

Right Stuf and similar places like Discotek should be running sales now.

And yes, you can still get that Premium boxed set of Legend of the Galactic Heroes right here.

And speaking of Discotek Media, they did a big release announcement stream last night. Lots of good news.

Of that bunch, Arion is the big win here and as soon as it's available it's going on my Wish List.

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That movie is fantastic.

And if you're looking to get me something for Christmas, that Dunbine set is ideal.

Admin: We're Back Under Control

I'm home from another stay in the hospital, and now moving to outpatient treatment, due to something unreleated to the last hospital trip. (That's right, all new mistakes.) I'll find out tomorrow how much of a bother that will be, and thus how badly this cuts into me getting things done.

Admin: We Have A Problem

Literal massive pile of asshurt appeared. Hopefully not meritting a hospital trip. Will update.

Admin: We've Hit A Delay

Despite going nowhere for months, I caught a cold. Before my last stay in the hospital, I would think nothing of it; take the 'Tussin and soldier on. Now, when I'm operating with a damaged body, nope. No superhero shit. Until I recover, all the projects are going on hiatus.

So here's Razorfist ranting about Cyberpunk. Enjoy while I deal with this damn cold.

My Life As A Historian: Pearl Harbor As It Happens w/ Indy Neidell

Part of his Time Ghost operations, of course. Begins at 6:10 a.m. Hawaii Time, which magically translates to 10:10 for me, but whatever.

I have a major complaint: I didn't even SEE this in my feed until 15 minutes after it started. FFS, what a shit operation YouTube, you incompetent faggots.

My Life In Fandom: Let The Corpse Collapse Already

Jon's on a role with these videos lately.

Yes, it really is this bad in American Big Two comics. No, the show itself is fine; that's some '80s fun. It's the creepers and freaks and losers with issues sufficient to be graphic novels themselves that are the problem and this wanker from CBR is just one example of many.

If it's not self-hating Fuck You Dad sorts (especially the half-breeds; no one self-hates like halfies) then it's the degenerate freaks like this guy. All of them conveniently use Muh Leftism to cover up that they are degenerate freaks ("Muh Oppressuns!"), and at least this useless walking target isn't actually making any comics- but many like him are, and all of them hate you. This is why Big Two comics are full of suck and blow, unworthy of your time or money, and you should have stopped buying anything years ago. Even reprints of the old stuff still ends up feeding their delusional, degenerate fantasies of conquest, defilement, and humiliation.

Stop bankrolling the bad guys. They hate you. You have better options.

My Life In Fandom: Brian Niemeier Returns To Geek Gab To Talk XSeed Again!

Dragon Award winner Brian Niemeier returns to the Gab to talk about all things XSeed.

My Life As A Gamer: Gamers Can Suffer Foolish Games, But...

I gave the expansion a shot.

I'm done.

Bad expansions are tolerable so long as you have friends. I don't anymore; the core of my guild, a guild I co-founded, upped and left without saying a word. Now I have sweet fuck-all odds of being able to play the actual game. So fuck these chores, fuck this Games As Service bullshit, fuck dungeon runs where I get nothing- the bullshit ain't worth it.

And no, I ain't gonna play any MMOs for a while, so don't ask.

My Life As A Historian: Sabaton History Talks About The Other Aces Of The Great War

They're following up on the other aces of World War I this time.

They were the Aces in the sky - proud knights who flew their planes into deadly combat. Loved by the public, feared by their enemies, the victorious pilots of the Great War rose to prominence as gallant heroes. But the personal stories of those celebrated pilots were also memories full of excruciating pain, of terrible loss, and inner struggle. Body and mind of those aces were broken by the constant danger of fighting in the air. Those who survived bore more than a few scars.

You'll find similar stories in other aces of the period. That romanticism was part of the culture for pilots of the day, and those who survived the war would often find life after the war to be a very difficult beast due to dealing with the consequences of their actions- including, for many, the inability to return to the cockpit. These real life heroes would also serve as the basis for decades of pulps focusing on aerial adventures with daring flying aces, which would in due course inspire the next great cohort of aces to step up come World War 2.

Remember that real life is not bound to plausibility, but actual reality, and as such can produce incredible tales that fiction authors envy. World War 1's war in the air is full of them. Go find them.

My Life As A Gamer: The Pundit Again Makes Plain The Superiority Of The Old Ways

The Pundit cuts another video.

This is nothing new for the Pundit, or those of like-mind such as Jeffro Johnson and the rest of the OSR. Tabletop RPGs are a wargame derivative, and as such are properly run when approached as such; the magic does not happen any other way, and it never has.

Of course the Fake Geeks projecting hard enough to be launch vehicles for NASA call this "gatekeeping". In addition to projecting their own desires to subvert and destroy what was never theirs, they demonstrate their own fear of their own inadequacies to handle proper RPG gameplay when they REEEEEE about Muh Gatekeepers.

The sad thing is, it's actually a lot easier to play properly than the retarded Rhesus Monkey method they use for Muh Story. It's easier to play, easier to run, and easier to play/run on a pick-up basis (which all long-standing games possess; you don't need to book yourself for a poker game or a chess match). In short, the Old Way is Superior Gaming, and Fake Gamers can't handle that shit.

And the continued resilience of the Old Ways prove their superiority. Long after the trashfires burn out, 3d6 In Order (No Mulligans) will remain.

Admin: Welcome To Padoru Season

This is an admin post.

• All Star Knight Lore now redirects to the Study, and future Star Knight Lore posts will be there.
• The Amazon and Steam Wishlists found on the Gifts & Support tab are up to date. Thanks to the anon that bought me Char's Counterattack. Regardless of whom you're ordering for, you should order now if you want to guaranteed delivery by Christmas.
• Palladium's Grab Bags are still available until Christmas. Great deal. (If you want to get one for me, throw on books from my Wish Lists.)
• Year-end review comes on New Year's Eve.

Not much else to say right now, not in this capacity.

My Life As A Gamer: Fixing The Game At The Source (Code)

I saw this on DEVGAME, which in turn got the below from Crazy Days & Nights (and is far more accurate than other blind gossip blogs, which is why folks like me pay attention to it).

This A list gaming company which is a merger of two big companies has a patent in which their match making services (traditionally random based on certain parameters) can be rigged in order to influence in game purchases. If one reads between the lines, this implies that all random events in their games are determined server side.

The ramifications of said patent were present for all to see at the online collectible card game world championship in 2019. In said tournament, the company fully rigged random results left and right in order to obtain political favor with China. This incident occurred within a few weeks after the company banned multiple players for speaking out against Chinese oppression of Hong Kong.

Examples of rigged events on behalf of the Chinese player included always having certain key cards in her hand by X turn, always going second when playing a deck that greatly benefits from going second, or random results from cards played always swinging significantly in her favor.

Many people who watched the live stream of the event suspected the fix was in, but had no proof. It is unknown if the player herself was in on it (assuming no due to innocent until proven guilty).

This is potentially the worst scandal in esports history.

Here’s the patent that can prove the fix is in. The one that by reading between the lines, a lot can be inferred. I also quoted some of the more disturbing passages that prove that the company can rig random events (quotes are about matchmaking, which is supposed to be random).

“In another example, if a player has been performing poorly (e.g., getting killed at a rate higher than the player's historical rate), the scoring engine may dynamically adjust one or more coefficients to match the player in a game that will improve the player's performance. For example, the player may be matched with easier opponents, matched with better teammates, and/or placed in a game that is more tailored to the player's preferences (e.g., players that play in games more closely aligned with their preferences tend to perform better).

To fine-tune the matchmaking process, the system may include an analytics and feedback engine that analyzes player and match data to determine whether a given match was good. A match may be deemed "good" when a player is determined to have enjoyed gameplay associated with the match based on one or more quality factors that are used as a proxy for player satisfaction. The quality factors may include, for example, a duration of a gameplay session (e.g., via analysis of player historical data), player psychological state (e.g., frustration level), and/or other information.”

The only thing I changed was adding the link to the patent in question, exposing that this is indeed Activision Blizzard. Nevermind that this is covered by calling it Skill-Based Matchmaking; the problem is that the ability to fix results is literally in the source code, an ability that immediately invalidates all esport events run by AB or otherwise actively managed by them.

This needs to be a much bigger story, but we all know what most Games Journalists are like. (Sophia, you want this one?) We're on our own, again.