<2021-03-12T00:40:19.000Z> tengumatingpress: based
<2021-03-12T00:40:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: have a good night
<2021-03-19T17:18:35.000Z> tengumatingpress: What's the name of the song used at the end of Little Wars? can't find it and I don't think it was mentioned
<2021-03-19T17:22:49.000Z> tengumatingpress: ah, I was checking mecha anime osts lol
<2021-03-19T17:23:30.000Z> tengumatingpress: you'd think with musicians like that they'd have survived longer
<2021-03-19T17:24:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: all that really matters in the end
<2021-03-19T17:59:01.000Z> tengumatingpress: got the title, it's Ratne Igre by Kerber
<2021-03-19T17:59:19.000Z> tengumatingpress: and the title translates out to "war games"
<2021-03-19T18:14:21.000Z> tengumatingpress: and in the grand tradition of Ai wo Torimodose, it's actually a love song
<2021-03-19T20:07:33.000Z> tengumatingpress: I felt like a coward for making the religion thread followers-only, but it's basically the only way to have a decent discussion about these things lol
<2021-03-19T20:24:01.000Z> tengumatingpress: tbh as someone involved with buddhism I really don't have room to talk shit about poz in religious institutions
<2021-03-19T20:24:17.000Z> tengumatingpress: like half the reason I got involved with Tibetan Buddhism is every local Zen center was headed by shitlib jews
<2021-03-19T20:42:59.000Z> tengumatingpress: I'd recommend watching Right Wing Dharma Squad's vids, they explained it better than I can
<2021-03-19T20:44:06.000Z> tengumatingpress: ah, in that case what do you find nihilistic about it?
<2021-03-19T20:45:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: not trying to convert anyone, it's just outside my understanding of course
<2021-03-19T20:47:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: not really, it's not as if Buddhas stop existing after parinirvana, at least according to Mahayanists/Vajrayanist schools
<2021-03-19T20:48:06.000Z> tengumatingpress: I will agree that it takes a very pessimistic view of existence in that the sufferings of lower rebirths are far greater than anything you experience in the higher realms
<2021-03-19T20:48:07.000Z> tengumatingpress: yes
<2021-03-19T20:48:39.000Z> tengumatingpress: I assume you get the concept of bodhisattvas since you know that
<2021-03-19T20:50:22.000Z> tengumatingpress: tbh I've never liked western academic studies of Buddhism because most of them rely on assumptions Anglos added when they tried bringing it over as a "scientific" alternative to Christianity, which was a grave disservice to both religion
<2021-03-19T20:51:30.000Z> tengumatingpress: I can imagine
<2021-03-19T20:52:18.000Z> tengumatingpress: anyway this is pretty gay, but I'm going to say that at least tibetan/vajrayana buddhism's big appeal for me was how its explanation of existence made the most sense to me
<2021-03-19T20:52:36.000Z> tengumatingpress: which on some level is arrogant since I might be assuming the way I think must be some kind of universal truth
<2021-03-19T20:53:49.000Z> tengumatingpress: not sure if they gave the cliff notes version of the Mulamadhyamakakarika in that class, but it was important for helping me understand what the actual point of Buddhism was
<2021-03-19T20:55:05.000Z> tengumatingpress: probably hasn't helped it that the sutras are very dense and the translations aren't so good, so the majority of material Westerns have access to are exegeses by scholars lol
<2021-03-19T20:55:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: Right Wing Dharma Squads did a pretty lengthy series about it, you should check those episodes if you haven't already
<2021-03-20T00:35:53.000Z> tengumatingpress: btw you ever play Ogre? been working on getting it working with VASSAL, it's a great game
<2021-03-20T00:51:26.000Z> tengumatingpress: VASSAL is a program for playing wargames and similar games online and Ogre is a wargame Steve Jackson made in the 70s where one side is playing as a conventional army and the other is playing as a superpower AI-controlled tank called an OGRE, it's very fun
<2021-03-20T00:52:52.000Z> tengumatingpress: ah
<2021-03-20T00:53:22.000Z> tengumatingpress: there's also an expansion, GEV, that's packaged into the latest release that uses the units and systems for a more conventional wargame
<2021-03-20T00:53:36.000Z> tengumatingpress: maybe, haven't played Battletech yet but it seems pretty similar to how playing as the OGRE works
<2021-03-20T00:55:14.000Z> tengumatingpress: sjgames.com/ogre/resources/img/Ogre_6th_Battlefields_Rules.pdf
<2021-03-20T00:55:32.000Z> tengumatingpress: maybe he'll get something out of it, I've had some success with getting a few guys into wargames through it since it's fairly simple to learn
<2021-03-20T01:07:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, fair enough
<2021-03-20T01:08:15.000Z> tengumatingpress: I do like integrating wargames into campaigns, but only a few groups actually accept doing that
<2021-03-20T01:09:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: that's the most interesting aspect of battletech for me imo
<2021-03-20T01:10:18.000Z> tengumatingpress: I firmly believe that was the original intend for D&D that never materialized because Dave Arneson couldn't write rules worth a damn and they never figured out good domain rules
<2021-03-20T01:10:25.000Z> tengumatingpress: *intent
<2021-03-20T01:11:35.000Z> tengumatingpress: I saw a pretty interesting series of blogposts that might be relevant to the history of D&D shit you mentioned earlier, hold on
<2021-03-20T01:12:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: campaigns-playable.blogspot.com/2020/07/scale-role-play-and-dungeons-dragons.html
<2021-03-20T01:13:00.000Z> tengumatingpress: this is the hub for it, but there's more relevant info on the blog
<2021-03-22T18:22:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: mediafire.com/folder/d9x0dbxrpjg48/Advanced_Squad_Leader
<2021-03-22T18:22:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: this is the ASL trove, I think you just need the 2nd edition core rules
<2021-03-22T18:23:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: advancedsquadleader.net/index.php?title=Beginners_Guide
<2021-03-22T18:23:15.000Z> tengumatingpress: and the starter wiki
<2021-03-22T18:23:22.000Z> tengumatingpress: based, not sure if you'll enjoy it but it looks fun
<2021-03-22T18:24:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: it's ww2, so it might not be as helpful
<2021-03-22T18:25:07.000Z> tengumatingpress: not sure if ww1 wargames would be fun, historically faithful ones would involve a lot of turtling lol
<2021-03-22T18:25:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: waifu trench warfare
<2021-03-22T18:26:25.000Z> tengumatingpress: excellent taste
<2021-03-22T18:26:59.000Z> tengumatingpress: still need to watch the movie, haven't gotten around to it and I'm not sure if it's subbed yet
<2021-03-22T18:27:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: I'm no expert on theoretical warfare, but I'm sure magic would invalidate WW1-era tactics
<2021-03-22T18:28:33.000Z> tengumatingpress: never really liked magic in stories outside of spooky eldritch shit practiced by depraved lunatics though, it opens up too many questions
<2021-03-22T18:30:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: I should ask this historian friend of mine more about it, his take is WW1 was such a meatgrinder because militaries hadn't adapted to new technologies and they weren't entirely sure how to handle it until fairly late in the war
<2021-03-22T18:30:59.000Z> tengumatingpress: maybe I'll see about him getting on poast, I think he'd fit in well
<2021-03-22T18:45:15.000Z> tengumatingpress: I myself am most interested in 14th century - Napoleonic war tactics
<2021-03-22T18:50:21.000Z> tengumatingpress: still funny how the early tactic of firing a volley then dropping your gun for melee was a retvrn to chucking spears before closing in
<2021-03-23T00:25:47.000Z> tengumatingpress: 2nd edition
<2021-03-23T00:26:14.000Z> tengumatingpress: Apparently there is an electronic pdf containing revised versions of the rules, but nobody's liberated it and I'm not paying $60 for a pdf, especially for a game I haven't played yet
<2021-03-23T00:27:15.000Z> tengumatingpress: maybe if I like it enough I'll bite the bullet and buy it so I can upload it to the trove
<2021-03-23T00:28:08.000Z> tengumatingpress: sorry if I sperged a bit re Touhou lore, I'm pretty deeply into it and get genuinely annoyed when people act like it's all fanmade
<2021-03-23T00:28:23.000Z> tengumatingpress: I get the feeling he doesn't have a very high tolerance for crunch
<2021-03-23T00:28:29.000Z> tengumatingpress: which is fine, but I'm into that kind of shit
<2021-03-23T00:30:54.000Z> tengumatingpress: I think I will, and I think it's understandable to dislike crunch when it comes to rpgs
<2021-03-23T00:31:12.000Z> tengumatingpress: Pathfinder outright turned me off of RPGs for a few years because it was the only game my group would play and it's genuinely exhausting to run
<2021-03-23T00:32:38.000Z> tengumatingpress: I think his argument is at that point you may as well run a skirmish wargame
<2021-03-23T00:34:01.000Z> tengumatingpress: part of the reason I like TFT and GURPS is they actually were extended from a skirmish wargame and unfortunately most narrative skirmish games don't really let you run full campaigns with roleplaying unless you wrestle with the rules enough
<2021-03-23T00:34:19.000Z> tengumatingpress: I like Mordheim, but you probably aren't doing much roleplaying outside of getting unreasonably attached to your dudes
<2021-03-23T00:37:37.000Z> tengumatingpress: A surprising amount of people will never fall into the old D&D mindset, which I've heard described as "roleplaying a Soviet commissar yeeting peasant conscripts into monster-filled caves and seeing who survives"
<2021-03-23T00:39:56.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, it's just funny seeing people avoid that even in games where that's arguably the intent
<2021-03-23T00:44:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: definitely checking out good ways to customize units in wargames to give people something to get attached to, I like the feature and few hex-and-counter games do that
<2021-03-23T00:45:10.000Z> tengumatingpress: also re ASL you should probably check the wiki, it explains things better than the core rules, unfortunately
<2021-03-23T00:47:54.000Z> tengumatingpress: I'm not sure if it's very good for a first-timer, but iirc you played some Battletech with the program and that's basically a hex-and-counter wargame you could play with minis if you're a child
<2021-03-23T00:49:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: rip
<2021-03-23T00:49:53.000Z> tengumatingpress: if you do include combat it's probably worth checking out some of the rules, the closer rpg combat is to wargames the better imo
<2021-03-23T00:54:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: too casual, they aren't even making the acronyms recursive
<2021-03-23T01:06:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: but seriously, if you're looking for combat systems to rip off and don't want to get overly crunchy I once again recommend looking into TFT's Melee/Wizard books  for inspiration
<2021-03-23T01:07:09.000Z> tengumatingpress: my only real complaint with it Strength is something of a dump stat
<2021-03-23T01:36:58.000Z> tengumatingpress: to clarify: all Strength determines is your HP and what gear you can use, which is still better implemented than D&D because you start taking stat penalties as your hp goes down & you cast from HP if you're playing as a wizard
<2021-03-23T01:37:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: the trouble is Dexterity is what determines your probability of hitting and armor lowers Dexterity, meaning high strength guys are usually fucked if built with the standard point buy system because they can't hit worth a damn
<2021-03-23T01:38:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: it's not immediately obvious while reading the rules, but most players end up settling into putting points in DX and IQ because Strength isn't actually that good, wish Steve Jackson would've fixed that when he rereleased it
<2021-03-23T01:41:32.000Z> tengumatingpress: thinking next time I run TFT I'll experiment with making the to-hit roll the average of ST and DX rounded down
<2021-03-23T01:42:20.000Z> tengumatingpress: low adjusted DX really fucks you in TFT because dumping all points in ST so you can use plate armor leaves you at DX 8, which is adjusted down to 3 because of the armor
<2021-03-23T01:42:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: and the to-hit roll is 3d6
<2021-03-23T01:43:01.000Z> tengumatingpress: 1/216 chance of even landing a hit, gg no re
<2021-03-23T01:46:16.000Z> tengumatingpress: the actual system is fun, it's just that ST is a huge beginner's trap
<2021-03-23T01:46:44.000Z> tengumatingpress: GURPS actually fixed that by making to-hit rely on your actual skill with the weapon
<2021-03-23T01:47:14.000Z> tengumatingpress: and the defaults usually gives you a fair chance of hitting even with an untrained skill
<2021-03-23T01:48:36.000Z> tengumatingpress: I used a very extreme example to demonstrate how it falls apart, beginner characters can't even afford plate of course
<2021-03-23T01:48:44.000Z> tengumatingpress: and you can put more points in your stats as you level up
<2021-03-23T02:19:25.000Z> tengumatingpress: thefantasytrip.game/news/2018/june/basic-combat-in-the-fantasy-trip/
<2021-03-23T02:19:37.000Z> tengumatingpress: this explains the system better than I can, it flows very well
<2021-03-23T02:20:43.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, fair enough
<2021-03-23T02:21:02.000Z> tengumatingpress: you need a certain degree of tism to vibe with that sort of game, though i wouldn't write off the genre altogether
<2021-03-23T02:22:32.000Z> tengumatingpress: different strokes, I guess
<2021-03-23T02:24:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: it's overly reductive, but it was made to be a quick skirmish game playable wherever, which is why the booklet, hex map, and counters were made to fit in a  small box
<2021-03-23T02:26:44.000Z> tengumatingpress: i think there's a triangle where you can only pick 2 of simple rules, deep combat, and verisimilitude 
<2021-03-23T02:28:19.000Z> tengumatingpress: the oversimplication of DX, for one
<2021-03-23T02:28:45.000Z> tengumatingpress: could've phrased it better, but obviously guys in heavy armor weren't historically idiots that couldn't  hit the broad side of the barn
<2021-03-23T02:29:31.000Z> tengumatingpress: nah, the system has a surprising amount of depth if you play it as a skirmish game with both players having a group of warriors
<2021-03-23T02:32:17.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah but ultimately there isn't much emphasis placed on movement/maneuvering unless you break out minis and torture the system to make it coherent with them
<2021-03-23T02:33:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: those systems were never fun to use as implemented, I think that falls into torturing the system
<2021-03-23T02:33:56.000Z> tengumatingpress: system automutilation, I guess
<2021-03-23T02:34:06.000Z> tengumatingpress: I'm probably being uncharitable though
<2021-03-23T02:36:10.000Z> tengumatingpress: fair enough, but I think a distinction should be made between intentional depth and having to manage a complex system running at a level it wasn't meant to handle
<2021-03-23T02:39:48.000Z> tengumatingpress: I guess the ratio of time spent actually thinking about your next move to time spent figuring out the actual state of combat
<2021-03-23T02:43:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: basically that's what I'm getting about, it's difficult to describe but I don't like the feeling of struggling against the rules
<2021-03-23T02:45:27.000Z> tengumatingpress: have to revert to simple grug analysis and I say I like games that feel good and dislike games that feel bad, though I imagine that's not very helpful as a designer
<2021-03-23T02:48:11.000Z> tengumatingpress: yes
<2021-03-23T02:49:49.000Z> tengumatingpress: my litmus test is how much time I'm spending thinking about the situation vs how much time I'm spending thinking about the actual rules and wrestling with which ones even apply
<2021-03-23T02:49:53.000Z> tengumatingpress: I hope this makes sense
<2021-03-23T02:56:20.000Z> tengumatingpress: that's a respectable stance, ideally rules heavy games would be rules heavy to facilitate player agency by codifying what maneuvers they'd want to take without leaving it up to gm/referee fiat
<2021-03-23T02:57:00.000Z> tengumatingpress: I think the real takeaway is people should playtest their games to make sure at least they have fun with it, I get the feeling many are released to appeal to a nebulous consumer group
<2021-03-23T02:58:20.000Z> tengumatingpress: they are, that's part of why so many games released immediately after D&D went overboard in codifying everything
<2021-03-23T03:00:38.000Z> tengumatingpress: fair enough
<2021-03-23T03:03:57.000Z> tengumatingpress: wargames do need a good amount of crunch because they usually don't have referees/GMs though
<2021-03-23T03:05:09.000Z> tengumatingpress: as someone with germanic heritage I get uncomfortable when there isn't a procedure for a certain situation
<2021-03-23T03:05:34.000Z> tengumatingpress: I think this is part of the reason why I'm very picky with games I enjoy
<2021-03-23T03:06:50.000Z> tengumatingpress: technically the author is above me in the hierarchy, pls understand
<2021-03-23T03:08:08.000Z> tengumatingpress: I understand the point of "rule zero", but explicitly mentioning it usually feels like the author preemptively shielding himself from criticism
<2021-03-23T03:08:52.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, if a rule sucks enough but the system is otherwise good I'll ignore it, it's not like they could stop me if they wanted to
<2021-03-23T03:10:35.000Z> tengumatingpress: yes
<2021-03-23T03:13:25.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, that's absurd
<2021-03-23T03:14:31.000Z> tengumatingpress: this is probably just me being autistic, but I do think mostly sticking to the rules is necessary for it as a game vs just doing a collaborative storytelling session
<2021-03-23T03:14:42.000Z> tengumatingpress: which isn't necessarily bad, Microscope is a fun time
<2021-03-23T03:15:20.000Z> tengumatingpress: I mean, there's no functional difference between deciding a character died vs quietly retiring him, which I doubt he'd object to
<2021-03-23T03:16:35.000Z> tengumatingpress: I'm more sympathetic to "adversial" GMing because conflict leads to more entertaining games imo, but this is another matter of taste
<2021-03-23T03:16:49.000Z> tengumatingpress: as long as he's not being blatantly unfair, anyway
<2021-03-23T03:18:13.000Z> tengumatingpress: that's also why I ended up gravitating more towards wargames fwiw
<2021-03-23T03:22:05.000Z> tengumatingpress: and it's a little deeper than winning vs losing, it's also seeing how the players react to challenges 
<2021-03-23T03:28:04.000Z> tengumatingpress: that's true, I just enjoy playing around with systems
<2021-03-23T03:28:26.000Z> tengumatingpress: maybe I was disguising tastes as objective fact
<2021-03-23T03:28:29.000Z> tengumatingpress: based
<2021-03-23T22:23:34.000Z> tengumatingpress: no offense was intended of course, it sounded like a funny post
<2021-03-23T23:24:26.000Z> tengumatingpress: ;_;
<2021-03-27T22:58:26.000Z> tengumatingpress: did you mute the varishangout domain? Tried following you from my alt there, it's not letting me do that lol
<2021-03-27T22:58:51.000Z> tengumatingpress: not sure if I can blame you for that
<2021-03-27T23:00:15.000Z> tengumatingpress: as far as I've seen they don't actually allow being a chomo there
<2021-03-27T23:03:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: guess he's mad they're 51% loliposters instead of 50%, idk
<2021-03-27T23:08:32.000Z> tengumatingpress: you probably wouldn't enjoy hanging out on the instance, but it's certainly no nnia 
<2021-03-27T23:19:49.000Z> tengumatingpress: they also blocked the instance of a guy who technically didn't post anything illegal but was an obvious pedophile on principle, so I don't know where he got the idea
<2021-03-27T23:38:29.000Z> tengumatingpress: I asked the admins about it, apparently Graf was drunk and saw a few accounts poasting it and now isn't sure which instance it was from
<2021-03-27T23:39:41.000Z> tengumatingpress: he is curious where Graf said this, if you happen to remember
<2021-03-27T23:40:24.000Z> tengumatingpress: ah, fair enough
<2021-03-27T23:41:17.000Z> tengumatingpress: sorry if I'm bothering you about this btw
<2021-03-27T23:45:46.000Z> tengumatingpress: but yeah, speaking to other admins it''s safe to unmute it
<2021-03-27T23:46:37.000Z> tengumatingpress: alright
<2021-04-01T01:22:55.000Z> tengumatingpress: semi serious question: how big is big enough for your standards?
<2021-04-01T01:23:11.000Z> tengumatingpress: I was thinking 10 to 20 feet for mecha musume gam
<2021-04-01T01:25:21.000Z> tengumatingpress: ok, fair enough
<2021-04-01T01:28:58.000Z> tengumatingpress: are you actually into that sort of thing or is it just an aesthetic preference for mecha? I won't tell anyone
<2021-04-01T01:31:38.000Z> tengumatingpress: fair enough
<2021-04-01T01:32:02.000Z> tengumatingpress: I don't get it, but given what I poast I have no room to condemn that 
<2021-04-01T01:35:17.000Z> tengumatingpress: sure
<2021-04-01T01:45:01.000Z> tengumatingpress: I don't have a mic atm, need to get a new one 
<2021-04-24T14:10:34.000Z> tengumatingpress: wasn't expecting you to listen to that entire RWDS episode, but I'm glad you appreciated it
<2021-04-24T16:13:57.000Z> tengumatingpress: yeah, outside of referencing some esoteric lore (aryans possibly being degenerated descendants of devas that settled in the human realm & raving about a semitic volcano demon) he's pretty lowkey about conspiracy stuff
<2021-04-24T16:14:10.000Z> tengumatingpress: if he genuinely believes wackier shit he's pretty quiet about it
<2021-04-24T16:15:00.000Z> tengumatingpress: not meaning to imply he believes the we wuz devas theory, just that he's mentioned it iirc