i have changed some bits of both chapters already, actually. but it was merely grammatical stuff. i do very extensive editing before i post a chapter, which is part of the reason it takes me so long to release new chapters. i do have a slight fear of "getting stuck" because i committed to a certain plot point or character quirk in an earlier chapter (and i don't plan to make changes of this nature retroactively), so, in this way, i'm sorta bound by what i have already released, which is an interesting limitation to say the least.

*and i appreciate your interest!

anything goes

for you, none; why would you sign up for more than one to begin with? this is for anyone who hasn't signed up for multiple yet-another-indie-writing platforms and is looking for a federated write freely instance to join (considering write.as is closed for registration).

same. i have an art book of his stuff on my living room coffee table; it's been there for years. i've got an old copy of the Sandman issue illustrated by him as well; Morpheus looks especially moody in Amano's style.

regarding the Trump thing? favorably, IF it led to better outcomes, of course, and this is touched on in the piece too. the essay is pacifistic, however; it relies on the golden rule to say, "hey i might want trump dead but i'm not going to kill trump because i wouldn't want someone to do that to me in the event that they wanted me dead and if more people adopted this outlook then we would be better off." i was channeling some sort of naive peace-loving spirit when writing this, maybe. (i don't actually believe the spirit thing lol, only trying to get a certain idea across.)

some people on the left have been joking about Trump dying for years but now they're all "this sort of violence is unacceptable!" let's not pretend we didn't want this to happen on some level. i value being honest about one's self and motivations. we can admit that we wouldn't mind seeing Trump dead whilst simultaneously being like "but it might not be the best idea to kill Trump." it's important to note that Trump has made many many people feel threatened, and that if anyone should be charged for inciting Trump's assassination, it should be Trump himself.

haha, thank you. yeah the electric car thing is a bit too specific, huh? i thought that too after reading it a few times.

nice essay! this is a community about writing, so there's no need to apologize.

i feel like NOVA here is being a little inflammatory to rile up some sort of discussion, which attracts some unconstructive feedback but also some rather constructive feedback too (like your post). so, i appreciate you putting in the time to engage with this dumb DRAGON (i say this as affectionately as possible).

maybe the criticism comes down to a matter of moderation. yes, there is certainly a point where playing computer games is probably very much so very very like capital-S capital-B Super Bad; the hikkomori-likes, who play constantly and do not much else while nasty dishes and trash piles up around them, for example; however, if it were not computer games -- it would be something else. it seems, however, that computer games have a propensity to get people hooked much easier than, say, reading books. BUT! to say all computer gaming is a waste of time really begs the question as to "well, what isn't a waste of time?" and, in some cases (like you outlined) it can actually help people. a pinch of awareness is all one needs to determine if gaming is PERSONALLY bad for them AT THE MOMENT, and if you determine PERSONALLY that "maybe i should be focusing on my work instead of playing this computer game right now" then, AT THAT MOMENT, gaming is a bad choice. game later.

cool. welcome aboard. i hope you like it. it's a fairly simple, writing-focused platform.

i wrote a small starter guide that you might find helpful as well:

https://howdoyouspell.cool/cool/getting-started-guide

you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real. you are not real.

not again.

this is going to devolve into nihilistic: "well what is there to waste if life is meaningless to begin with! we create our own meaning!" or the hedonistic: "if it makes me happy, then why not?!" or the semantic: "define wasting time."

like it always does.

i am imagining, if you will. fascinating and creative. nice work. there is so much going on around us, we care about so little in the grand scheme of things.

lol, someone did actually report this thread for "breaking commuinity rules," but it wasn't you.

(for the record, this breaks no rules.)

(disclaimer: the term “computer games” in this context means literally any video game; “computer games” is what grandma says when she tells you to “stop playing those damn computer games and go outside!”)

why are you doing this, NOVA?

we have a strong contender here! will anyone step up to challenge this dragon of definitions?!?!

that sounds interesting. weapon breaking may work better for strategy games, as an extra level of strategic consideration; but it seems to be less than well-received for action/adventure games.

they're aimed at teens/young-adults but it's fun spotting the direct inspirations and differences. also, several Studio Ghibli films are based on books: Howl's Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, The Secret World Of Arietty (kind of), and maybe a few others.

weird mix, but Kiki's Delivery Service during the day and Infinite Jest before bed.

agreed. i don't have much to add as my sentiment on this subject drips from the words i've already written. i think addiction is a complicated thing driven by many factors: boredom, lack of purpose, depression, and some even think there is a genetic component. it's definitely more complicated than just-turn-the-game-off. (love the footnote.)

you have to engage with the first leg of the quest and kill a few goblins; eventually they ask you to go into the homes and kill the goblins inside, at this point you can refuse.

"Now on the ground, assist the other company members in killing all of the goblins around the settlement. You may notice that the "goblins" don't really behave as expected: they do not attack you and appear broadly harmless.

Once all the goblins in the exterior are dead, one of the other Company members will tell you to clear out the houses as well. If you start to suspect what is really going on, you don't have carry out this order. If you instead run far enough from the settlement, you will be relocated to where Modryn is and may continue as described below." https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Infiltration

yes, it is. for sure.

i immediately think of the inverse. spoilers for very old games.

::: spoiler spoiler consider Shadow of the Colossus. admittedly, it's been a while so i may be misremembering some points. but, the premise of the game is you play as a young man intent on reviving a sacrificed girl; he is a mute named Wander. giants roam the land ('colossi') and, from the start, Wander is tasked by a disembodied voice to slay these colossi to revive the girl. as you ride horseback through the land slaying these colossi (who are just wandering around peacefully): the colossi fall with exaggerated groans of sadness, the land becomes a little darker, and your character's appearance changes somewhat. it's revealed that the disembodied voice is actually a demon who was ripped apart and scattered across the world (or something), and these colossi seal the demon's disparate parts. by the end of the game, Wander has slain all the colossi and revived the demon, and consequently Wander is seen a demon himself and sealed. the demon kept to their word and revived the girl, however.

a shorter example, in Oblivion there's a Fighter's Guild quest in which you're tasked with infiltrating a rival guild ("The Blackwood Company"), and during this quest The Blackwood Company drugs you up with the sap of a hist tree and tasks you with "slaying some goblins that have taken over a village." you slay the goblins as they request, but after the drugs wear off you it's revealed that you slayed an entire village of innocent people; the hist sap only made you see goblins during the act. :::

i like these examples of games subverting your expectations and turning you into the villain. it's a form of empathy -- either feeling "sorry" for the character, or inversely: thinking they're a fool and thereby feeling like a fool yourself -- but it's more visceral because even the player is not in on the joke until the computer game reveals it to them.

the use of the word "better" is always problematic because you then have to explain how you define "better," which you did; then you have to justify it, which you did; but it has become entirely subjective during this journey. the hurdle is truly justifying why "tactical gameplay" or "character interaction" has more value than original world building, which is nigh impossible.

considering this is computer games, you could make the argument that gameplay rules all, but doing shooty-shoots-at-bad-guy can happen regardless of setting, it's all about mechanical fidelity and input-response feedback at that point; the setting is not relevant. if someone plays a computer game primarily for its unique setting, then the uniqueness of the setting becomes the prominent value judgement for that individual; that person would be disappointed if the setting was just a DnD-rip, for example.

i do think there is merit in your viewpoint from a general perspective; to appeal to the masses, using familiar tropes helps ease the average player into a comfort zone. but too much reliance on this idea of "familiar is better" stifles creativity. you could argue that unique settings should be left for novels/etc, but i think computer games should push boundaries, and the idea of what constitutes a computer game changes every day. you could argue that a non-DnD setting falls into the realm of "scifi" as well, but this is a semantics game; genre labels are typically vacuous, functioning only to give a potential audience some general understanding of the material they're about to engage with.

that being said, i can't think of many "fantasy" settings that don't borrow from Tolkien on some level. even the example i was going to use to counter your point, Morrowind, has a setting heavily inspired by Tolkien; albeit, very far removed and unique with elements of Hinduism thrown in. i don't think this validates the theory that sword/sorcery settings are "better," only that it validates the theory that human beings have a hard time being truly unique. even Tolkien was heavily inspired by the Norse Volsunga Saga. it's like a long game of telephone.

good post.

great insight, didn't even consider this.

it's out of wedlock

ffxiv does a decent job at limiting this type of player behavior in that the director has publicly stated parsers/logging are prohibited, enshrined it in the code of conduct, and has been outspoken about his disapproval for parsing culture.

"it's a tool for bullying ... 100% confident in that ... if we implement a (parser) we know that there will be group invites like "prove you can do xxxx DPS" and we never want that to happen."

https://youtu.be/e_i6mjiGerU?si=MMEsI_1xyhoz9HD3

i suspected as much

! I appreciate that! I'm glad someone is paying attention. Let me know what you think of the magazine, if you happen to read through it.

i had no idea people even browsed this community other than myself lol

not sure. didn't expect anyone would want to subscribe. i do plan on making more, but it will be awhile. you can always follow me on mastodon @buru5@mstdn.games or follow the blog which i post some of the magazine articles in: oncomputer.games

took about two months. i have a full-time job and two kids as well, so would have taken less time if i didn't have Grown Up Stuff to do.

that's what this is -- except it's free! hope you like it.

I appreciate you taking the time to read the peice and your sincere feedback! I won't make any changes to the piece now, as I consider it finished (even if flawed), although I will incorporate your feedback into my future writing; especially the bit around tenses and perspectives, something I need to work on across all my writing.

I can see how the references to Arcadia may be perceived as pretentious, was a risk. The original reference comes from the title of the painting "Et in Arcadia ego," which is the first chapter's title. Specifically, the second popular interpretation regarding nostalgia.

"...this second version shifted the focus from a warning about the inevitability of death to a contemplation of the past and a sense of nostalgia."

Plus, yes, it sounds like Arcade (lol) and it's used in a similar fashion in a manga/anime I enjoy titled "Space Captain Harlock: Arcadia of my Youth." In the essay's sense, we view our youth as Arcadia -- the golden age of splendor when everything was grand and intoxicating; a place in our mind we try to get back to.

The second chapter is a reference to 'unaware' (or maybe 'ignorant'), and refers specifically to Jake living in my (or maybe his own) Arcadia but being unaware of it (considering his condition), the third chapter title simply continues the Latin naming convention with "My Golden Years." So, yes, maybe a bit pretentious.

looks alright color scheme is a bit gaudy and not a huge fan of the big miyoo logo. they can do better than this, i think. i have the miyoo mini plus and really enjoy it so have high hopes.

no, they didn't.