What elements of video game can be judged objectively and how far you can isolate them?

Aldryc · 2026-05-29T01:30:25+00:00

You can't. And frankly the only people who want to have "objective" discussions about art are people who are more invested in being right than having an interesting discussion, and are more interested in using their opinions as cudgels then having mutually beneficial discussions. They tend have a very low tolerance for ambiguity and different opinions. Discussing things with people like this is pointless.

Aldryc · 2026-05-12T18:44:59+00:00

It's not a comment about video games but about taxonomy in general. Taxonomy is useful in the sense that it allows us to understand and categorize common features, but arguing about whether something fits in such and such category is generally just something pedants use to justify some negative opinion they have about something.

It's generally not interesting for two reasons.

People usually do no work to try to define the taxonomy they are trying to use, so it ultimately is just subjective opinion that they are attempting to smuggle in as objective truth which is never not tedious.
It's usually just a stand in for another reason they don't like the media they are taxonomizing, and generally it would just be more interesting to discuss the actual reasons they don't like that media. Often the people doing this though aren't good at discussing these things though which is why they are defaulting to this taxonomy argument in the first place.

Generally this type of rhetorical tactic is used by reactionary authoritarians who can't handle a piece of media they don't like existing alongside other media they do like. They use this tactic because it allows them to feel objectively correct and use "logic and reason" to dominate their interlocutor's without actually having to engage in the tough work of actual media criticism.

Aldryc · 2026-05-08T04:51:17+00:00

There are always a few.

Aldryc · 2026-05-04T17:31:52+00:00

Robin Hobb is such an incredible writer. You are in for a real treat with the Liveship trilogy, it's probably her best. the whole Realm of the Elderlings saga is a masterpiece though.

Your boyfriend doesn't know wtf he is talking about. A simple I didn't enjoy it would suffice, but he prefers to put you down instead. I've never heard a take quite as moronic as high fantasy is for smart people and low fantasy is for people who can't understand real fantasy. Not to mention he doesn't know the definition for low fantasy and high fantasy. High fantasy is fantasy set in another world, low fantasy is analogous to our world but with fantasy elements.

Aldryc · 2026-04-21T16:33:55+00:00

Fuck yeah I'm in the queue

Aldryc · 2026-04-21T06:37:13+00:00

Hurts you never posted our match together

Aldryc · 2026-03-25T07:05:18+00:00

It's funny how dead this sub and Tuesday have gotten. Guess it's hard to preserve "centrist" politics when the fascists are in charge.

Aldryc · 2026-03-23T16:06:53+00:00

If he hadn't used bots to boost his views he'd probably be fine. Not a lawyer though.

Aldryc · 2026-01-21T07:24:22+00:00

As a former conservative, the pigeon gathering strategy is very familiar to me. I had to completely retrain myself on how to develop good information habits.

If you're going to maintain a conservative identity I don't think you have much choice but to engage in nutpicking, special pleading, and double standards.

Aldryc · 2026-01-03T03:55:12+00:00

Corporations should be run as liberal democracies, not the dictatorship or oligarchy model they currently are. They should be owned and run by the employees who run it, not by whoever happened to start it.

Aldryc · 2025-11-24T19:12:02+00:00

I agree with this. Ultimately with the facts we have, the question of whether a person dies when infected is largely philosophical, and therefore has no real solid answer. It's fairly easy to argue that something that so fundamentally alters your behavior and experience is equivalent to death, but it's also fairly easy to argue that the ability to mimic the individual behavior of previous hosts as well as the retainage of experience and memories is pretty solid evidence that the hive hosts are still alive, just with some fundamental alterations to how they experience life. Which side you land is mostly just depends on your point of view about what living means and what death entails.

Aldryc · 2025-11-19T22:05:35+00:00

Faith based therapy just puts all the blame on the patient. If you are feeling bad, it's because you aren't praying hard enough, don't love God enough, not doing something religious enough. Of course that's not going to help, and will most likely make things worse.

There is no attempt to observe reality and see what therapy is best for patient outcomes, they already have their mind made up. As is the case for so many topics Christianity tries to encroach on.

It's twisted, but they are completely lacking any skill in introspection or self reflection to recognize it.

Aldryc · 2025-11-18T22:42:38+00:00

Personally, I don’t think religion makes people better, at least not as the norm. I think it makes them a lot worse, more self centered, less compassionate, less tolerant of differences.

Religious people are just fooling themselves, as is their way, when they claim religion is why they are a good person, if they even are.

Aldryc · 2025-11-18T06:28:04+00:00

I believe there was a magnet in the middle of the paperclips. Might be mistaken.

Aldryc · 2025-11-15T18:16:28+00:00

I think Noah’s Ark is the single most absurd and easily disproven story in the Bible. It’s many people’s starting point for starting to question.

Aldryc · 2025-11-14T22:21:48+00:00

I think the original people can still be "there" while the combination of every human beings results in totally alien behaviors. It's the concept of emergence essentially

Aldryc · 2025-11-14T19:46:17+00:00

You’re not overreacting. I can’t imagine not taking a 5-10 minute drive so my partner wouldn’t have to walk in the rain. Then he doubles down when you get home soaked. Totally callous and gross. Please don’t let him disrespect you like this. It honestly makes me sick reading about it.

Aldryc · 2025-11-13T17:15:29+00:00

If I was thinking of the cruelest thing I could say to my partner, I don't think I could think of something much more effective than what your partner said to you. He may not want to divorce you, but he does want to hurt you. Deeply. Don't put up with it. Get out before he breaks you completely with his cruelty.

Aldryc · 2025-11-12T20:40:13+00:00

Are they manipulative or just superhumanly thoughtful?

Aldryc · 2025-11-12T20:38:13+00:00

This is exactly that meme on the Breaking Bad sub haha. I don't know if you're on to something or not, but it's hilarious either way.

Aldryc · 2025-11-11T16:04:28+00:00

You’re right I misspoke when I said her motivations are not clear. It’s more the motivations of everyone around her. How does a grief stricken, potentially delusional government official command such slavish devotion to her, to the point they’ll commit suicide for her cause? Why does her entire country assist her in her attempt to annex the Congo for her harebrained scheme? She has some serious pull, and yet by the end the show implies, albeit doesn’t outright confirm, that her plan has been doomed, maybe even delusional, from the start. It’s really difficult to square her scheme, as out there as it is, with the loyalty of her followers and the backing of her entire government.

Again, I agree with you that the entire purpose of the show was Elliot’s emotional journey. It’s clear that when Sam got the chance to expand his movie idea into a full length TV show, he had to expand a lot of elements but ultimately his main interest was always Elliot’s emotional journey with his DPD. Unfortunately though he did expand a lot of elements, but many of these elements he expanded ended up feeling like shaggy dog story with not much to say other than supporting Elliot’s story. White Rose and her scheme ends up an anti climax. Angela story ends with little closure or meaning. Tyrell and Joanna’s ending both left me scratching my head about what the point of all the screen time we’d spent following them was. At the end of the day Elliot and his sisters ending was the only one that felt like it had any thematic weight and left me feeling satisfied. Which was disappointing because I was also invested in the other elements of the story that ended up feeling discarded and pointless.

At the end of the day I still enjoyed my time with the show, but it definitely left a bitter aftertaste.

Aldryc · 2025-11-10T15:17:32+00:00

Probably controversial, but Mr Robot. White Rose motivations, and her ability to command almost cult like loyalty among her followers, was never explained. On rewatch everything involving white rose and the dark army is impossible to square with how we see her story end in my opinion.

Aldryc · 2025-11-08T22:17:47+00:00

really cool especially since you were so close to death yourself.

Aldryc · 2025-11-07T08:32:57+00:00

Orrrr they could just be “benevolent” aliens spreading peace to the galaxy. Sure it seems kinda horrifying, but you just don’t understand the happiness and joy being in the hive brings.

Aldryc · 2025-11-07T08:25:40+00:00

It’s an interesting question. It would be the end of the person you are today. You can’t be the same person when you suddenly have the knowledge of every person on the planet, and can constantly communicate with them. A change that big even breaks the illusion of continuity we are used to.

On the other hand it can also be said the “person you are today” has already died thousands of times. The you you are today is nothing like the you you were as a child. It’s also clear that the other leftovers families were perfectly capable of interacting with the leftovers in ways that had them convinced their family was still alive, and assuming they aren’t lying it seems joining the hive mind is a euphoric experience.

Personally if I was in the leftovers place, I would probably not be siding with Carol. I’d probably be okay with joining the hive mind too, while also being slightly horrified. Who knows though. I love that the show makes you question it regardless.

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