The NSFW posts.
IDK if they're exactly merited in these spaces outside of a protest context. I'm also not sure they were really needed in that context either but ce'st la vie!
For the people who have a lot of hours on this game, how well does it play for co-op?
My spouse and I actually dated doing Star Wars the Old Republic co-op, where we could play two different characters going through bespoke personal quest lines while being able to help each other out on their journies.
How easily could we get that experience with this game?
You really should look at the homelessness crisis in more detail, because it cannot be on private citizens to shoulder that burden. There simply isn't enough for individuals, even if they all miraculously organized together in this effort, to fix the issue.
It's systemic, and we need top-down action. Housing people affordably is a scale issue, and larger institutions should be the ones to gather the equity and resources at a scale that individuals simply cannot, especially in the middle of a housing crisis.
For examples of public housing that works quite well, I'd suggest you read into Greek's post World War 2 Social Housing programs, and Singapore's state controlled housing programs.
At whose expense?
Also, trust in the police is at an all-time low, especially among young liberal-leaning Americans.
It's one of those things where I look at it, and say 'wow that sucks... But you can't argue with the results damn, can we workshop a better version of that?'
China doesn’t aim for global hegemony
You are gliding over every single time that Xi Jinping said, out loud, that this is the long term goal? Why wouldn't you believe him?
Yeah, they couch it carefully, but it's quite clear, from the China #1 propaganda, that China doesn't want to uplift anyone else, they want to use their soft power to make neighboring countries dependent on them. They're following the playbook laid out by Western companies in the 20th century, but organizing it with State controlled corporations.
And as for Singapore, there's a lot of propaganda from some right-wing Supply-Side economists that mischaracterize that country as being an ideal Capitalist state, while gliding over how the State controls most of the means of production. It isn't an ideal system, it has many inequities. But it's an example that serves as a surprising counterpoint to the argument that only free markets can thrive & survive in global capitalism, and components of it could be useful for looking for solutions to the issues with capitalism. Right wing economists do this, so they don't have to confront how incorrect their argument that Capitalism cannot be reformed with the State taking a direct role in the economy without disaster.
You say that like Russia isn't Capitalist as all get out.
The only good counterpoint to Capitalism in the modern global landscape is Singapore, and possibly China if you're feeling extra spicy and support their version of global hegemony.
The modern Russian state is a Fascist Autocracy propped up by Oligarchs. Y'know, what Trump likes.
Edit: Actually I'm going to add Slovenia to that as well, as I had a great time learning about that Jewel of a Country before the Delta Variant absolutely wrecked it.
When I was there in 2018, it was a fantastically eye-opening example of a successful socialist state.
But that's where my knowledge end on counterpoints to Capitalism, in its varied forms. I'm sure more exist. I'm not an academic on this subject.
That seems like a playful way to fill up a slow gaming-news day.
Wait this isn't the actual article!
For everyone's reading pleasure:
https://kotaku.com/baldurs-gate-3-halsin-romance-sex-scene-bear-karlach-1850615466
I didn't hand curate them, I just went to google and copy/pasted in a demonstration of the lowest amount of effort I could do to find articles that dispute the narrative here.
Most of these countries have free press, btw. And some articles blame Russia, others give credence to the possibility that Ukraine could have done this, but with the realistic perspective that it's basically impossible to know.
In fact, reading those stories makes me incredibly skeptical of anyone who doesn't show uncertainty on this topic. Look at that, I just changed my own view by researching a bit more.
@KurtDunniehue
@ttrpg.network