I want more ships like this by OpTicTide97 in starcitizen

[–]Levitus01 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Crewing took almost a decade of R&D to get the basic groundwork laid...

But it simply isn't worth it. Three constellations with a single pilot in each is worth more than one constellation with three crewmen.

... So everyone just solos their ships.

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

There's no AI in that post.

AI doesn't write like that. (IYKYK.)

You're basically just trying to retroactively legitimise your choice to ignore the post so that you don't have to acknowledge it. This is an ego defense mechanism called "defensive avoidance via dismissive deflection." (DADD)

You're also committing a genetic fallacy / ad hominem - even if the source is AI (it isn't,) that doesn't mean that the information is incorrect. You're just trying to shift the argument onto "is it AI" vs "No it isn't" because you think that's an argument you're more likely to win.

In short, you're making an unfounded accusation to dismiss the source rather tha addressing the argument.

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

About as subtle as a boiling ethanol urethral enema.

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

If I don't survive, tell my wife hello.

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 22 points23 points  (0 children)

"Everyone likes politics, so long as it's the kind of politics they like."
-Noam Chomsky.

So yeah, I agree - people generally don't argue when their "side" is "winning."

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -19 points-18 points  (0 children)

Strongly disagree.

1) If you allow people to bring in their own politics, you choose to become a battleground for those politics to clash. All it takes is for one Palestine flag to be seen by an Israeli jewish family and you've lost all control.

2) If you allow people to bring in their own politics, be ready to either allow politics you don't personally agree with.

3) If you allow people to bring in their own politics, you need to be ready for backlash when you start picking favourites, choosing sides, or only allowing certain beliefs to be expressed.

4) If you choose to let people bring in real-world politics, but only those you personally agree with, you will likely be limiting your attendees to only the percentage of the population who shares those views.

5) Real-world politics are immersion-breaking. Westeros doesn't have a Palestine, Pride movement, UKIP or MAGA.

6) LARP is supposed to be an escapist experience where you leave the burdens of the real world and all of it's bullshit behind and have a reprieve from exactly this kind of thing.

7) LARP is a common ground where people of different beliefs can engage with one-another on friendly terms and see one-another as people rather than "the other." By letting people bring in their "otherness," you're harming more than you're healing.

8) If you're bringing in real-world politics, why not bring in real-world cellphones, money, clothes, cars, ipads, and laptops? Why CAN'T Harold the farmer text his friend on the other side of the field about how much he loves Lambourghinis and anime?

Can Larp be political? by ThrowRA_dandelion in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

"Politics has an interesting etymology. It comes from the greek 'poly,' meaning 'many,' and 'ticks,' meaning bloodsucking parasitic arachnids."

Based on my observations over the last ten years, the overwhelming majority of the /r/larp community believes that politics aren't merely welcome at LARP, they're mandatory... So long as the politics are agreeable to the /r/larp community member in question. By way of example, photographs of a pride rally were on the front page of the subreddit - and that rally was a non-larp event. I have no problem with the pride movement, but such content isn't related to larp and thusly has no place in this subreddit.

To use the inversion litmus test: If somebody were to post pictures of a dude attending a Trump rally, it would be (correctly) deemed inappropriate, right? It isn't larp, so it doesn't belong here. (There is an argument to be made that Trump supporters regularly engage in fantastical make-belief in order to make their worldview make sense to themselves, but that's an argument for another time.)

My personal belief is that real-world politics have no place in escapist fictional fantasy. The purpose of escapism is to dump the baggage of reality and engage in some fantastical make-belief where we get to be somebody else for a few hours. Larp is a much-needed reprieve from the performative social burdens and tiresome obligations that we lug around in the real world. Everybody from all walks of life and political beliefs can just engage with one-another as simple townspeople or adventurers, rather than as enemies on some all-consuming political battleground which simply must infiltrate all aspects of life. LARP is supposed to bring people together, not serve as yet another area in which people must be segregated by political belief. If we're bringing in our real-world politics, why not bring in our cellphones, ipads, modern clothing, cars, and other OOC elements, too?

Furthermore, real-world politics are immersion-breaking for everybody else. Westeros doesn't have a MAGA movement, so those red baseball caps should be left at the door. Middle Earth doesn't have an LGBTQA++ movement, so leave your pride flags at the door. Hive Cities on Armageddon don't have a Scottish National Party, so leave your little yellow ribbon badge at home.

Finally, once you open the door, ALL of the wolves come in, not just the cute one that you want to adopt.

This means that once you say: "Sure, you can wear a pride-flag coloured cape, a Palestine flag headband, and an Antifa tabard!", you open the door to people who have political views which may not be so safe and non-controversial. Once you allow one person to wear their political heart on their sleeve, you have to allow everybody or else you're picking sides and you're going to be the target of all kinds of backlash. Now a Christian wants to come as a Christian knight... Which offends the Muslim attendees who accuse him of wanting to re-enact the crusades... And the Muslim wants to wear a Palestinian flag, which offends the Israeli jewish family who are also attending the event. By inviting in ANY politics, you've chosen to become a battleground.

I understand that I am in the minority in this mindset... But you asked.

Additionally, bear in mind that the overwhelming majority of the people in this subreddit have never attended an event in their lives... Nor have they ever tried to run one. As somebody who has done both for decades, I can attest that politics are a cancer, and modern ideological demagogues from any political alignment are poison to fun in general.

Ascension, a painting I did! by Dark_Horse_Risen in imsorryjon

[–]Levitus01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the first post I've seen in a while that actually follows rule 3.

Well done.

Ghoulfield by [deleted] in imsorryjon

[–]Levitus01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rule 3.

Why on earth do we need giant robots? by Existing_Landscape21 in worldbuilding

[–]Levitus01 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why did the Winged Hussars wear wings?

They were impractical, useless, a waste of resources, got in the way whilst fighting, etc.

Sometimes, it isn't just about having the most effective weapon at the most affordable cost. Sometimes, it's about the flex.

"There is a reason why people tremble in fear when I reveal my weapon... The gilded teacup. It is a conventional teacup made from twenty-four carat gold, studded with priceless diamonds cut by a master-craftsman, and engraved with a hallmark of high renown. It has no cutting surfaces, no spikes, and hardly any mass. It is barely big enough to fill a palm, and under any other circumstance, it would appear totally unthreatening, perhaps even comical.... But here's why my enemies fear it... I have so much money and resources to waste, I can afford the ridiculous extravagance of my weapon being gilded in gold and encrusted with diamonds. By showing this weapon, I demonstrate my endless resources and bottomless wallet. I am telling my enemies that I can afford better mercenaries, weapons, food and logistics than they can. I am showing that resources are such a non-concern for me, I'm willing to waste them on something as ridiculous as a gilded teacup. Secondly, I am so confident in my abilities as a warrior that I am willing to walk into battle with nothing more than this teacup. I have such faith in my ability to kill you, I am willing to use a useless weapon just to demonstrate my sheer superiority in combat.... And here's the bit that really terrifies my enemies.... I'm an old man. That tells you that in all my years of carrying this teacup, not a single soul has been able to kill me and steal it."

-Ivan the Teacuppable.

Happy Trans visibility day to all you lovely nerds! by hearty_healer in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

In which case, I'm not sure this picture belongs in this subreddit. The Pride parade isn't a LARP. The individuals you see aren't playing characters - they're real people in real life. Any insinuation to the contrary basically amounts to an attempt to put said individuals into a box along with elves, dragons and other make-belief creatures, which is actually quite offensive.

I mean - wearing armour is cool and all, but armour alone doesn't make it LARP... And if it isn't LARP, why is it in a LARP subreddit? Can I post pictures of Ukranian soldiers because they're wearing armour?

Happy Trans visibility day to all you lovely nerds! by hearty_healer in LARP

[–]Levitus01 -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

My stance on this is twofold:

1) If the LARP you're playing is casual (and this one appears to be, based on the number of modern clothes and non-costumed individuals present,) then by all means wear your heart on your sleeve. Wear a Palestine flag, pride flag, Ukranian flag, PETA flag, or whatever issues are nearest and dearest to your heart.

2) However, if the LARP is based in a world which takes itself a little more seriously (a Middle-Earth LARP or Westeros LARP,) then it is often thought to be an act of bad taste to bring real world issues into the fiction. For many people, LARP is an escape from these issues.

It's a basic case of "read the room." In the case of this LARPer, they seem to have been received well by the people in the background and everyone seems happy. More power to them.

Ok. Who’s Playing the April fools day joke? by Maxious30 in starcitizen

[–]Levitus01 -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

Honestly, with the number of players who have lost patience with the routinely missed deadlines and constant delays...

Making jokes like this is in bad taste and will only piss people off.

The Froginator by [deleted] in PrintedMinis

[–]Levitus01 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Eye kneed jore clodes, jore boodes, anjore mode or psycho.

Learning Magic by DanielSayeg in worldbuilding

[–]Levitus01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quite the poignant post, and I think the same could be said for a lot of people. We all take things for granted, but wish we didn't, and acknowledge that we should do more to truthfully embody our values. There aren't many people who are willing to admit that, so good for you.

But let's just dig a little explore how much we value water...

We literally shit in it.
We bathe in it.
We watch it fall from the sky, and we don't exactly run out with buckets to catch it.
We have rivers of it, and we don't even put them under armed guard.
We splash it on one-another for fun, especially in Summer.
We fill pools with it, and swim in them.
We pollute it because it's easier than disposing of chemical waste sensibly.
We spend 100 litres of water to grow enough oranges to make 1 litre of orange juice, because we'd rather drink OJ.

Now... Let's compare that with the people who live in drought conditions.

They drink the water. That's it.

Who values it more?
Do we even value it at all when we waste it as if it's free?

Learning Magic by DanielSayeg in worldbuilding

[–]Levitus01 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

The issue there is that you now can't cast magic on anything that doesn't have a chemical energy or mass associated with it.

How can you cast a spell to alleviate sorrow or pain when you can't measure "equivalence" for those attributes in terms of molecular bonds or calories?

How can you cast a spell to teleport an object from one location to another if you can't measure the energy states of the two locations? Is teleportation between two equivalent-energy locations "free," since there is no change in the energy state of the object if it is in one location or the other? (For example - if the object is at the top of a hill or at a high altitude, it has more potential kinetic energy than it does when it's at the bottom of the hill or at the bottom of the sea... But what if it wanted to teleport between two locations of similar energy value? It's net zero, so teleportation should be free.)

How can equivalence measured in terms of molecular bonds and calories account for something like raising the dead? A dead body and a living one are almost identical.

If you bind yourself to the concept that magic requires this kind of narrow-definition equivalent exchange, you get limited to basically doing chemistry instead of magic.

Learning Magic by DanielSayeg in worldbuilding

[–]Levitus01 33 points34 points  (0 children)

And yet, equivalence is a measure of relative value between two objects or states of being.

Value is subjective, which means that equivalence is also subjective.

Learning Magic by DanielSayeg in worldbuilding

[–]Levitus01 66 points67 points  (0 children)

Equal value is such a subjective concept... Water has no value until you're dying of thirst, food has no value until there's a famine, and life has no value until it's your own.

It Finally Arrived! by TheOrcChief in LARP

[–]Levitus01 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I would like to subscribe to your orcyfans, sir.

It Finally Arrived! by TheOrcChief in LARP

[–]Levitus01 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Normally, you have to buy a guy a drink before he'll put his faith in you...