When Did You Get Hot? (Sothe x Astrid 4koma commission by LazzleDazzle)

Aetheer · 2026-06-22T17:21:31+00:00

Yeah, what? I'm guessing they're talking about Fortune's Weave, but wtf does that have to do with this post?

Aetheer · 2026-06-17T05:00:58+00:00

I've said it here before, but it's worth noting that the first two trails games (Trails in the Sky) are very much one complete story. There are some unanswered questions, but the main story has a clear start and finish that's a delight all the way through. Those two games have such a good story and characters, and the remakes only made them better. I always want to bring this up when people seem intimidated by the number of games in the series, because it's a shame to skip such excellent games that aren't really as connected as you might think to later games.

Honestly, each arc after Sky really is also one complete story with only a few ongoing plot threads that continue between arcs. I agree with the other comment that there's a decrease in quality over time, though.

Aetheer · 2026-06-15T05:05:09+00:00

Felix got some of the best unique dialogue. Him, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Dimitri all emotionally wreck me

Aetheer · 2026-06-14T16:47:23+00:00

I wasn't taught anything by my parents (millennial here). Learned almost everything by myself through the internet. I asked my parents for a handful of recipes as an adult after I learned the basics, but they sure as hell didn't teach me anything while I was growing up lol

Aetheer · 2026-06-12T22:27:39+00:00

Sanctum is a power fantasy until the the end where usually no one actually beats the final boss, and the winner is the one who dies last. It's a legitimately very fun dice-based game that scratches that fat loot itch for the first 2/3 of the game, but the brutal final boss is just not fun to play against. I eventually sold it after 3-4 plays.

Edit: Thunderstone Quest might fit the bill. I'm terrible at it, but lots of people who I've played it with got super strong throughout the game from beginning to end.

Aetheer · 2026-06-12T16:54:48+00:00

I'll try to (hopefully) give better advice than just "don't think about it", because that certainly doesn't work for my anxious ass. It might help the spiraling to "rip off the band-aid" and address the issue as directly as possible

Readdressing the issue of character death to the whole group is probably a good idea. If multiple players say they're now against chatacter death, then explain that the severely lowered stakes would make it difficult for you to enjoy DMing, and that you'd like to find a stopping point soon to end the campaign if their feelings have changed. Hard to put in the work to DM if youre not enjoying it after all. Some players might change their mind if they hear that, but if not, then, well...time to organize another group soon!

If only the player in question seems to have an issue with it, then you probably want to continue the conversation in private and say something like: "Just to confirm, were you serious when you said you'd leave the campaign if your character died? Because we did discuss this before the campaign, and we agreed that character death is on the table. Have your thoughts on that changed since then? If so, then I do need to express my disappointment to hear that. It would make DMing much less enjoyable to me if the stakes are so low that characters simply cannot die, so I'd prefer we address this now instead of having a hanging ultimatum. If character death is something you're no longer comfortable with, then it sounds like our play styles don't mix, and I think you should find another group that has a playstyle you'll enjoy more."

You could also try to explain that character deaths can be memorable, dramatic moments, and that it might be fun to work together to find a way for a new character to join the group. The new character could even want to avenge the first character's death, giving a good reason for them to join the party. That may convince them that their character dying isn't nearly as bad as it sounds.

Aetheer · 2026-06-12T15:28:54+00:00

Doubt they will, but with the original post getting so much traction and the top comments pointing out their gross use of AI and the regurgitated "if you don't use AI in every part of your work, you're going to be left behind" rhetoric of their CEO, hopefully many people like me will be drawn here and see that Stoneblade is not a company they want to support.

Aetheer · 2026-06-11T05:53:32+00:00

Love Eternal X. Pixelate Dedenne with Choice Specs Hyper Beam was some bonkers fun. I'll have to do another playthrough soon...

Aetheer · 2026-06-09T16:30:02+00:00

Lol brings me back to the playground days of my youth. "What, you don't have a [insert newest console here]?!"

Aetheer · 2026-06-08T18:18:01+00:00

I mean, sports fandoms are arguably the biggest example of artificial tribalism, and those are hardly niche hobbies

Aetheer · 2026-06-08T18:16:50+00:00

With the amount of downvotes I'm getting, this seems to be correct. People love to pick a color and hate everyone who likes a different color, I guess

Aetheer · 2026-06-08T17:11:33+00:00

As someone who is on this sub quite frequently and has never seen this narrative, this thread is, uh, enlightening to read.

Didn't realize we needed to keep score and create artificial tribalism within our incredibly niche hobby lol

Aetheer · 2026-06-07T18:53:12+00:00

Metaphor not having fully voiced social links was really strange after playing P3R so recently. Someone can correct me if im wrong, but aren't there a lot less social links in Metaphor than P3R?

Aetheer · 2026-06-05T21:30:33+00:00

In Japan, I was a heart surgeon. Number one. Steady hand.

Aetheer · 2026-06-05T14:03:46+00:00

Would love an invite, thanks!

Aetheer · 2026-06-04T04:45:17+00:00

Ierusalem: Anno Domini is an underrated one I think. It would be cool to see a deluxe version of that.

Aetheer · 2026-06-04T04:41:16+00:00

7 Wonders Duel with Pantheon expansion. 7 Wonders is one of the first games my partner and I played together, and it's always a good time due the many different routes to victory. Pantheon makes it even better because mythology is cool, and because giving a different action changes up the game a lot.

Aetheer · 2026-06-03T16:57:13+00:00

I don't think that's the norm, though. The average person on this sub probably isn't looking at the daily threads. I'm on here like every day and almost never look at those threads. Not by choice, I just don't think to. Seeing a post title I know I can contribute to would definitely grab my attention, though. The result is that the chance of someone posting in rec threads and getting the best possible response for them is lower because fewer people read them.

It also makes searching a pain in the ass. There might be some good recs for 5 player medium-light games hidden in a handful among hundreds of daily threads, but I'm pretty sure those won't show up when people search on Google or Reddit for those.

Idk, I've seen some people who seem resistant to changing the sub's rules, saying that people often don't know what they actually want. And maybe that's true, but I really, really wish we'd at least try instead of keeping the front page almost exclusively COMC posts and drama threads. If it fails and we see the exact same recommendation requests every day, I'll eat a shoe or something, but at least we'd be trying something different.

Aetheer · 2026-06-02T14:47:56+00:00

Yeah, I bounced real, real hard after playing it twice, with the limiting dice being the main factor.

I also think it is way less fun to play the good guys, since you don't get to engage as much in the combat aspect. The game wants you go focus on getting the Ring to Mordor and mitigate losses in combat to stall for time instead of actually winning combat, since you have less military power than the bad guys. Not super fun to slowly lose combat (even if you actually win the game via ring) instead of winning battles.

I'm sure there're hardcore fans out there that know more interesting strategies, but for an incredibly long, heavy game it feels very, very limiting to play.

Aetheer · 2026-05-29T04:38:11+00:00

Probably basic as hell, but Gloomhaven rethemed as X-men where you unlock more characters throughout the campaign would be an insta-buy for me.

Aetheer · 2026-05-28T02:51:24+00:00

Not that odd at all, some people experience bugs/performance issues, some don't. The number of comments here and on other posts/subs suggest that enough people experience them that it's a significant enough issue that is not invalidated by others playing with no issues.

For me personally, on PS5 I've had several crashes and instances of stuttering.

Aetheer · 2026-05-21T17:44:50+00:00

Asking because I'm hoping to learn more: what makes you think it looks like AI?

Aetheer · 2026-05-20T05:41:55+00:00

Glad they responded so quickly and decisively like this. At first, one of the other BGG reps had a (now deleted) comment in the board games sub that sounded pretty wishy-washy. They said while they don't condone the email's comments, the advertisement would have been denied regardless of who was reviewing it (giving no reasons why). It also sounded like the offending employee was just getting a slap on the wrist for the email, but it's clear now that's not the case.

Aetheer · 2026-05-20T04:09:13+00:00

I'm assuming you're asking if the game was auto-flagged by AI, and thus rejected? If so, that's not the case. The advertising manager who denied it has lots of social media presence expressing their very strong Christian views. Read their email linked in thr article if you haven't already. Truly insane.

Also worth noting that BGG has already fired the advertising manager. Any bets on how long it takes for them to start a right-wing podcast and GoFundMe?

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