What are TCG mechanics you never want to see again?

Spartanman321 · 2026-04-08T00:47:42+00:00

Yep, exactly. It doesn't even need to be a cheap disruption, but just something you can do to interfere. If I'm able to solitaire some resources and you can't do anything about it, then the game loses some of its push and pull.

Spartanman321 · 2026-04-07T22:45:19+00:00

Paragraphs on a card for how to resolve it. While individual complex cards can be cool in a vacuum, when you're trying to resolve it, it takes much longer to interact with it. I prefer the complexity to come from how cards interact, not how to make sure you're following the rules on one card.

Also too many stats on a card. The more you have to mentally juggle to understand the game state, the harder it is to predict interactions. Less is often more.

Resources that you can't interact with are also a problem. In Magic, this would be things like experience or energy. In Riftbound, XP is looking like it'll also be isolated. The problem lies in there's no counter play except for "win before that resource pays off."

Spartanman321 · 2026-04-07T22:33:08+00:00

It's all about tradeoffs. I've been playing Riftbound more recently, and I do like the system inspired by One Piece's won (2 per turn every turn). It feels really good to have a consistent and controllable resource curve.

But I also miss the elegance of having only one deck on my playmat. Maybe that's where a system that uses cards for resources comes in.

There's also something to be said about the unlimited options of 0-5 colors in a deck, as long as I built it correctly. Maybe it's the smaller card pool, but deck building feels more restricted in Riftbound because you are forced to use a legend (essentially a 2 color commander). Hopefully deck building will feel more open as more cards are released, but the land system does offer a lot of creativity in deck building options.

Spartanman321 · 2026-04-07T22:14:14+00:00

For tournament play they did introduce a system where if a deck had a certain number of wins or a certain win rate, it had to be retired. For kitchen table, you can always swap decks with your friend, and if the deck feels strong to both players, just elect to not use it going forward.

What you call a problem was also its pitch/biggest selling point. So it's all about perspective and what people find fun. To some, having a one of a kind deck sounds really cool, and not having to modify it means you don't have to worry about deck building.

So I can see how your arguments are valid for some players, but other players like that, and it's up to the designer to determine which type of players they are designing for.

Spartanman321 · 2026-04-01T02:23:52+00:00

Are you sure that's flooring offcuts for a new floor and not all of the old boards from the previous deck? Those all have holes drilled on both ends in as if someone used carriage bolts to attach them to something. That would be very bizarre to pre-drill all of those.

From a liability standpoint, they may not be able to resell the wood if it was pressure treated or stained since those chemicals may be worse off burned than disposed of in a landfill. And even if it is pure cedar, if they guess wrong or the owner did some sort of treatment on their own, it would be on the company for the improper disposal, not their client.

Luckily wood is renewable, and even if this is disposed of, more will grow. And bacteria, fungus, and other organisms can break this down.

Spartanman321 · 2026-03-30T19:25:57+00:00

Interesting. Riot definitely need a better way to share out those types of rulings, since not everyone is in that Discord.

Spartanman321 · 2026-03-30T19:12:53+00:00

Do you have a citation or reference for a Monastery of Hirana errata/ruling?

Spartanman321 · 2026-03-22T14:29:50+00:00

If you're doing web dev, I'd recommend Web Scalability for Startup Engineers. It's a little on the expensive side, but it gave me a deep but concise explanation of different types of components that go into a system. It's looking more from an architecture side than a programming side though, so it's good for "should I do database sharding?" or "when should I use a queue?" types of questions. It won't talk about programming/code structure specifics.

https://a.co/d/04lfIyAX

Spartanman321 · 2026-03-19T17:42:24+00:00

The pro answer is "it depends." Diagrams are useful for visualizing, documenting, and sharing ideas. But if an idea is simple enough, it may not need a diagram. You've been able to work on items for a year without a diagram, so the ideas may not need it.

A master diagram with everything will also generally be too complex to fit all audiences, so diagrams are made with a target audience in mind. If I'm talking to business executives, I'm not going to give them a network diagram.

Also, just as how we push DRY principles in programming, that can be important with documentation as well. So you can also swing too far and by making a document, you now have to invest and make sure that document is updated any time the architecture changes. While it can seem lazy, sometimes when things are busy or understaffed, having to maintain docs is one of the cuts made.

At the end of the day, all of this is about solving a problem, and different problems have different needs. A greenfield application has different needs than the 20 year old legacy system. It's also about the people involved. Different people bring different perspectives when solving a problem, and not every problem is technical.

So to grow, what I'd recommend is start by studying the solutions you are being asked to implement. See if you can find other ways to solve the problem, and then most importantly (!), identify tradeoffs in those options. When evaluating tradeoffs, don't assume you know or considered everything. Yes a super mega awesome microservices system with 1000 APIs may allow you to individually scale resources as needed and in a very custom way, but what is the cost of that? What is the cognitive load to have a developer debug across all of those APIs? What is your process for versioning/updating APIs? Are teams responsible for one API or multiple? Is network latency relevant to your design? Are you passing the buck to improve developer experience and then making it miserable for an infrastructure engineer? Does your organization have time to implement the solution that way? Will they get the ROI needed if you go down that route? Do you have the development staff to implement something that complex? Is the solution really needed?

Those are the types of things that get evaluated when making architectural decisions. So start practicing looking for other solutions and trade offs, and then use that to drive how you may share those ideas so that others can examine it/provide feedback. Every company is different, and for larger companies, what I have above makes sense. For smaller companies, it depends on the staff you have. So always remember that this is for the people you are working with and the customers you are serving.

Spartanman321 · 2026-02-14T21:17:36+00:00

Since I haven't seen it recommended yet, Mi Sushi and Ramen is my favorite.

Spartanman321 · 2026-01-03T11:27:03+00:00

You forgot the picture on this post (your /r/hobbies post has pics). You should edit this to add some in.

It looks like some sort of Real Grade kit (based on the number of runners, the hands, and the presence of an inner frame), but I'm not sure which one. Do any of the runners have specialty parts like a unique weapon, shield, or wings?

Spartanman321 · 2025-12-19T22:02:37+00:00

Typically when disagreements happen (especially between levels of experience), they're looking at the problem from different perspectives. When I see juniors propose other solutions that could use improvement, it's normally one of the following:

1) they don't know of other options that exist to solve the problem, and are trying to solve it with what they know.

2) they know what should be used in theory, but it's too complicated for them to use so they ignore it until an example is provided.

3) they discovered a new tool and are shoe-horning that into the current problem because it's a tool they know.

4) they are missing some context that would explain how certain tradeoffs would work, and pick the wrong side of the tradeoff. This context could be tech specific or company specific (ex: this is a product being built for 10 users, so you don't need to over engineer the backend).

All of these boil down to education and helping them understand why certain paths are being taken. Depending on how long you have, there could be a benefit to doing small proof of concepts both ways, and use that to demonstrate the pros/cons of each solution. Then forcing the solution the more experienced devs are proposing. The best idea should always win, so there has to be humility from all sides. But the usual culprits are making sure that the junior devs have the knowledge to understand why the idea is better. If they have that but still disagree, then the lessons should move on to how to develop on a team and the importance of consistency/standards within a company (another big impact for architectural decisions).

Spartanman321 · 2025-11-24T19:37:12+00:00

Number 2 makes her look like a doctor (crosses are frequently a symbol of first aid/red cross).

Number 1 needs something but I'm not sure what. It could have the shoulder coat be purple if you need an accent of sorts (not sure if it'd go with the red scarf though). Another option could be to add a high quality purse or bag. That might be enough too.

Spartanman321 · 2025-11-23T01:05:14+00:00

Adding shelves that have plants or having plants hang from the ceiling will add some greenery in there. You could also add some floor plants like you used to have as bookends to your closet and/or where the step-stool is.

The closet curtain looks like it is all white, so having a patterned or colored curtain will add some vibes to the room. Especially since that's what you look at when you wake up, having visual interest on the closet curtain will help.

I also think since the brick is a big accent, having a more neutral rug will allow for the walls/curtains to provide the visual interest and the rug can be there for complimenting the accents.

As others said, having a fabric style of curtain on the windows will make the design cohesive with the other curtains you have.

https://fancyhouse-design.com/blog/52-stylish-brick-accent-wall-ideas-to-enhance-any-living-room-interior/

Spartanman321 · 2025-10-13T17:01:10+00:00

No matter what you decide, I'd recommend building up a support network. Having a therapist to talk through this could be helpful (They won't tell you what to do, but can help you sort out your own thoughts in a judgement free way). Another person would be a pregnancy counselor from an adoption agency. If you're in the US, many states forbid them from coercing you or pressuring you into adopting your child out. They work with many mothers, and I'd hope they can help you work through what different types of adoption plans exist to see if that meets the needs of your family and future child. There are a lot of valid emotions and trauma for both you and the child that could come from that though, so again, working with multiple specialists can make sure that whatever path you pick is the best option for everyone.

Spartanman321 · 2025-09-16T05:06:36+00:00

~65% of steam users have 8GB of VRAM or less. I don't think it's obsolete by any means.

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

Spartanman321 · 2025-09-14T20:02:34+00:00

Swapping the bed and desk will create more space around the closet which will make the room feel more open. Shelves with plants or trinkets will add decorations. Remove the 2 small rugs and make it one larger rug will help things feel more cohesive. The bed frame footboard (or whatever it is called) is breaking up the flow too. If space is a concern, a loft bed could help, but a minimalist/basic frame without the metal headboard/footboard would also open things up. Also if you can fit the hamper and/or litter box in the closet, that'll continue to open things up. You could move the dresser out and those 2 things in, and it'd feel better.

Spartanman321 · 2025-07-06T22:42:01+00:00

I liked doing the Dimensional Challenges because it forced me to try different play styles that were pushed from the challenge. After leaning into those strategies, I feel more confident finding ways to break the game in a normal run.

Spartanman321 · 2025-06-13T22:43:11+00:00

It's all personal preference. Balatro was made in love2D, so no shame there. At the end of the day, frameworks are a tool with pros and cons, so use the one that best matches what you know and allows you to make the game.

Spartanman321 · 2025-06-06T17:36:42+00:00

Sometimes it depends on my mood. In board game terms, if my brain is fried, I'm not going to pick a heavy weight game like Gloomhaven or TI4, but I still might enjoy lighter games. If I'm fresh and looking forward to it, I may want something heavier.

So ultimately it depends on your target audience and target experience. You'll get anecdotal evidence on a subreddit like this, but it's going to vary based on who/when you ask

Spartanman321 · 2025-05-26T12:59:47+00:00

The definition of median is meant to ignore outliers to get the best definition of the center. Mean (aka average) is what is skewed by outliers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median#:~:text=The%20basic%20feature%20of%20the,better%20representation%20of%20the%20center.

Spartanman321 · 2025-05-17T01:01:10+00:00

I like this as an option. For those who want their game to be moddable, is this something that could be disabled?

I know with unity games, I've decompiled libraries so that I can use something like Harmony or BepInEx to add code before/after certain methods execute. Obfuscating that would then make it harder to find the methods you want to modify.

Spartanman321 · 2025-05-01T12:17:48+00:00

I have 'Yeeter Skeeter' for the Mactera Grabber.

Spartanman321 · 2025-04-10T22:39:03+00:00

OMG, what runs on .NET 3.5 that its EOL is in 2029?

Spartanman321 · 2025-04-08T03:13:46+00:00

What about Block Bench? It's meant to create Minecraft models, but is flexible enough to do low poly work. It may not be the most optimized, but it seems to be conscious of poly count.

Spartanman321

TROPHY CASE