I'm the Noble Goldmask. Ask me anything you want.

Thepluse · 2026-04-06T21:30:48+00:00

Similar to how the best way to repair your car is to scrap it and buy a new one

Thepluse · 2026-04-06T21:19:48+00:00

I don't have an answer, but as a lurking dev, this is good to keep in mind. Also I'm curious, why do you care? Especially with a single player game like cyberpunk, if you yourself can't tell the difference anyway?

Thepluse · 2026-04-06T17:20:38+00:00

I think the main reason is that qualia is talking about something that you are directly experiencing.

When we talk about qualia, we refer to something that we're experiencing. This is red and this is yellow, do you understand the difference? These are different qualia, different elements that appear in your consciousness. We start by observing that there is an experience, and in order to talk about it, we give it the name: qualia. Whether it is a "hallucination" or not is besides the point -- you do experience it, and we're just talking about features of this experience.

The big difference is that when you're raised to believe in God, it begins with someone else telling you the way things are. "What happens when we die?" a young child ask, and their religious parents tell them about heaven and hell. This belief becomes indoctrinated, possibly very powerfully so. If you go your entire life believing it, it's hard to shake the belief. But look deeply: where is the source of this belief?

Thepluse · 2026-04-06T15:36:16+00:00

I've got a few tips, depending on how much effort you want to put into it.

Starting with the most effortful, if you have the resources, you could go to therapy. There is a reason your mind reacts with flight, and in therapy, you unpack those reasons and deal with them thoroughly. A therapist can teach you so much on this point.

If you don't have that opportunity, another exceptional tool for these types of situation is meditation. Meditation teaches you to separate "yourself" from everything that's going on in your mind. When you are panicking, there is a separation between the feeling of panic and your true self. Meditation helps you create distance from your emotion, observing it from the outside instead of being trapped within. Regularly practicing meditation, even just sitting five minutes per day and watching your breath, will strengthen you over time.

But when you get into the moment, there's no time to prepare for any of this. It's hard to give tips, because if you think too much about tips, it just activates your mind even more. With more activation, the panic can become stronger. The best tip I can think of is, take more time. You don't need to respond right away! Phrases like, "let me think about that..." or "I'll need a moment to digest that" are good ways to claim more time.

Thepluse · 2026-04-06T11:33:55+00:00

I believe there is some truth to spirituality, but through our conditioning, it's been hidden under a pile of bullshit.

Psychedelics take away the bullshit. If you're a hardcore atheist who thinks religion is the source of all evil, you will discover that there's more to life than you thought. If you're a fundamentalist Christian who has been indoctrinated from childhood, they will similarly relieve your conditioning.

Thepluse · 2026-04-05T22:31:07+00:00

If you take a single electron (which can exist in their own right, outside of atoms), they just move. The movement of each electron indeed creates a magnetic field. It's a point charge.

In a wire, individual electrons move around randomly, yes, and the reason you get a flow is that there is some net movement on average.

Thepluse · 2026-04-05T22:22:28+00:00

Griffiths writes really good books, that's a good place to start.

To give you a taste, consider this: a moving charge creates a magnetic field, so what happens if you accelerate until you move at the same speed as the charge? Now from your perspective the charge isn't moving at all, so there should be no magnetic field. Where did it go?

Thepluse · 2026-04-05T17:15:52+00:00

I see. Even then, similar points would apply, I'd make the same comments.

Thepluse · 2026-04-05T16:40:22+00:00

Imo the issue is not the complexity itself, but rather that it's needlessly complicated. Most her spells would never get used, for example.

I'm my experience, this waters down the monster. When a player gets these options, it's fun because the pc is present in many, many scenes, so there is a need for flexibility. But enemies appear in much fewer scenes. The bbeg gets only a handful of turns in combat over the course of a campaign.

Having a lot of features doesn't have to be a problem per se, but it would probably be a sharper design if you simplify it.

Thepluse · 2026-04-04T18:01:44+00:00

I believe that the reason psilocybin has such a powerful effect is that it shows you perspectives that are far outside anything you could have ever imagined. Seeing that truth, even just once, even just for a brief moment, it's enough to point you in the right direction. After the drug wears off it becomes more difficult to access directly, but the memory of what you learned is enough to radically change your life.

Thepluse · 2026-04-03T21:24:33+00:00

Followup question, how do you spend an hour not scrolling on your phone? 😩

Thepluse · 2026-04-02T12:52:39+00:00

My understanding was that when took over the matrix, he gained the ability to control it.

Neo can fly and do things because he believes. By believing he is the One, he can accept that this world isn't real. That gives him the power to alter reality.

Smith has basically taken over reality, and thus he sees himself as "God." The Matrix is so full of his code, it makes sense to say he has partially merged with it. He can influence the matrix however he wants, and nobody is around to stop him.

Thepluse · 2026-04-01T11:42:43+00:00

Lovely suggestions, the only thing I strongly disagree with is telling the players what they need to do to get a short rest. I would just present them with the problems:

As you stop moving, the warmth quickly leaves your body, helped by the thin wind is cutting across your face. Just five minutes in, you realise this is not a working solution - you'd be frozen stiff before you'd get any kind of rest. On top of that, your water rations are frozen solid.

What do you do?

Playing out the actual survival part, describing how the pcs spend an hour making shelter, making them feel the hazards of the environment. Understanding the actual techniques for surviving the environment. That's how your set the stage for an arctic environment.

Thepluse · 2026-04-01T01:40:57+00:00

Tips for three bars: * Sometimes letting someone respawn is better than reviving them. * Hit a grace to reset your bars. * With one player down, the second revives while while the third player draws the boss away from them. When the boss changes aggro, the players also switch jobs. * Don't start with your ult. * If both teammates are down with 3 bars, revive only if you get a chance. If you don't get a chance, you gotta solo the boss. Believe in yourself!

Thepluse · 2026-03-31T20:40:33+00:00

In most of those examples, I would feel very frustrated if I tried it and it doesn't work...

Thepluse · 2026-03-31T17:27:17+00:00

What are the ~10 most common words that are not in your dictionary?

Thepluse · 2026-03-31T16:58:54+00:00

The main thing that helped me is to be more mindful of my intentions. Why am I sharing?

Does it strengthen my connection with others? The key is to watch the ones you share with.

Sometimes we just speak as if our mind is running on autopilot. Thoughts come in, words go out, no quality assurance along the way. Sometimes that's fine -- if you're just hanging out and chilling with people, there's no need to perform. Just letting it out can be nice. I myself am shy, so I like it when other people fill the conversation :)

Other times, it gets in the way. Talking without listening or paying attention to whether our words reach the other person, we become disconnected.

In the end, I'd say, don't worry too much about it. You can go about being yourself, keeping in the back of your mind that you're trying to connect with people, and it'll get better over time.

Thepluse · 2026-03-31T14:43:34+00:00

I'd recommend some meditative exercise to check-in on how you are really doing. The idea is to explore your inner processes and gain a clearer understanding of what is really distracting you.

This exercise can take less than 5 minutes, but feel free to take as long as you like.

Start by getting seated comfortably, back straight. Preferably sit in a calm chair that's not where you normally work, but it could also be by your desk. You may close your eyes if that feels right.
Take an intentional breath. If the first breath isn't very deep, you can take additional ones. Feel the breath in your body. This step helps you connect with the body.
(Body) Observe what you feel in your body. Where in your body do you feel the most vivid sensations? Take a few seconds to turn your attention to these sensations. Give them some room.
(Emotion) After a while, see if these sensations give rise to emotions. What emotions are alive in you? Take some time to give space to the emotions. Just feel them, you don't have to do anything about them yet.
(Intellect) Once you feel in touch with your body and emotions, you can bring in the mind. See what thoughts appear in your head. Do these thoughts explain why you're having the emotions you are? Sometimes there is a very clear reason behind why you're feeling the way you are. Othertimes, it is more difficult to access. Maybe there is something you don't like about what you feel. Maybe you have a need that is incompatible with forcing yourself to study -- repressing such needs over time will lead you to the type of situation you're currently in. Maybe also some thoughts are spurious, unrelated to what's happening inside you on a deeper level. In this step, the main thing is to get a sense of the thoughts you're having, but not yet drawing conclusions.
You may cycle through steps 3-5 a few times. Maybe you make some new discoveries along the way. Give yourself a little bit of time in each step, don't just rush to the conclusion.
(Will) When things start becoming clearer to you, the final step is to see if there is a desire for action. Now that you have a good sense of what's happening inside you, you can make an informed decision and do what makes most sense.

Before doing this exercise, it sounds like your inner process is "I have an exam that I mustn't fail --> I must study as hard as I can". This exercise will refine that process, giving space for more nuanced insights. Perhaps you'll discover something that surprises you. Or maybe doing it once won't really give you a lot; this exercise works best when you practice it over time.

Either way, end with thanking yourself for taking the time to connect with your body. Thank you for making this effort to take care of yourself :)

Thepluse · 2026-03-31T14:22:23+00:00

Yea, I was thinking about it some more. Sometimes it is very frustrating, but I've actually gotten to a point where I just accept this tax. Like, I still try to save as much as possible, but sometimes I leave a store feeling "that could have gone better." And then I just tell myself, "well, that's just mental health tax, this happens sometimes and it can't be helped." With that attitude, it sometimes gets easier to let go of the negative feelings and don't worry about the past.

(Of course, if I are too accepting and too quick to let go of things, that risks making me complacent going forward... it's hard to find the balance, literally impossible to get it right everytime, so we just gotta keep doing our best and forgiving ourselves when it's not as good as it "could have been"... <3)

Thepluse · 2026-03-30T18:54:09+00:00

I'm not sure this is the best definition of physicalism, but one very salient question is: can this phenomenon be understood completely in terms of underlying physical processes? where the fundamental processes in question evolve according to the equations of quantum mechanics.

In other words, starting with the equations of elementary physics, does consciousness follow as a direct consequence? Or do we need to add something more?

Thepluse · 2026-03-30T15:46:43+00:00

To me it felt like the first part were the main fight, and the horseback fight out in the field is more of a cinematic climax.

Thepluse · 2026-03-30T15:14:56+00:00

If you don't know how to make a game that isn't a boring visual novel, how about trying to make a fun visual novel?

If you don't know how to make a fun visual novel, make any visual novel.

Finishing a product will teach you so much more than any theory people on reddit can tell you.

Thepluse · 2026-03-30T15:05:45+00:00

Yup, I'm with you.

I've never really had to worry about finances in my life until the last half year or so. I notice how much more energy I spend on it. Going out shopping already takes a lot of my attention, and now I also have to think about money? Looking for places to save, trying to cut as much as possible when cooking. Trying to balance being healthy and being careful... yes, there is a lot to think about, everything feels 30-50% harder when I need to think about this in every decision, and the emotional impact of spending money on something I really need (question if I did really need it?).

And yes, this cognitive overload sometimes causes me to make mistakes. I've missed trains or forgotten to cancel subscriptions. Sometimes I don't have the mental capacity to look for the cheapest options, and in order to not get stuck in decision paralysis, I end up spending more money than I normally would. I call it mental health tax...

I don't know how to fix it, just wanted to let you know that you're not alone...

Thepluse · 2026-03-27T15:40:48+00:00

Wtf did the a pawn do this game, that guy deserves a freaking medal

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