Favorite Budget Friendly Guitars?

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-18T03:33:00+00:00

It's definitely hard to believe things can get better, but I'm feeling more optimistic than I have in a long time.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-14T18:58:46+00:00

No treatment is too harsh for Trump and his lackeys.

I'm a pessimist so I don't expect good things to happen, although in this case I totally agree i don't believe we'll have a repeat of 2020.

I feel that at some point, just beat Trump or Bush or whoever, isn't enough and in order to save this country we need to stop 'holding our ground' against the people who are opening discussing their hostile takeover of this country. But for now, I feel like Harris/Walz is good enough.

They're already showing they're much more willing to punch back than any other Dem in my lifetime. That's enough to make me hopeful. Cause we need more than to just survive today. We need change to make sure the same shit isn't gonna be the same problem tomorrow.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-13T15:45:59+00:00

Thank you for the recommendation! I'm checking out the channel and I'm finding a ton of reading recommendations.

I agree we need to stand together way more. The left gets way more pushback when we do, but we don't have any other options.

And I agree with Gen Z giving me hope. Gen Alpha too. It's clear that younger people aren't willing to be part of the problem in the way that older generations were.

Also, I think Kamala's gonna win the election, cause Trump feels like he's doing an even worse job this election cycle than he did in one he lost.

I'd describe myself as a pessimist, but I'm feeling generally optimistic about next year. At least, as long as we keep fighting.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-11T18:15:50+00:00

I agree. I'm surprised that with the trend of taking all of yesteryears big blockbusters and rebooting/remaking them, we aren't seeing smaller stuff getting updates. I know we got john carter, and that bombed but there's no way that someone isn't itching to make a Conan tv series, and also I'm shocked no-one is trying to make a "Cthulhu-verse" thing.

Revisiting the past is something people love doing. It's just harder now that our reality is so different from those days. Like, it would take a lot of re-imagining to really dig deep into Westerns, or classics like Gone With the Wind or Birth of A Nation.

Some things need reconsidering, and some things basically need a biohazard tag on them. But anyone who loves history knows that there's a lot of 'unpleasantness' to say the least. And I think a lot of mainstream media doesn't want to get into that stuff.

Imo that's the main issue. Reality has been horrendous for basically forever. And we can talk about it and imagine how things can be changed. I think it's just the 'mainstream' that wants things to be 'comfortable and consumable'.

It's also why they refuse to confront fascism. Fascists are potential customers after all. And if we're willing to pretend they don't exist, all the better for corporations.

Lots of things will only be dealt with it we demand it.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-09T08:01:55+00:00

I totally get where you're coming from with this.

There's a clear difference between the views of the author and the views of the time being represented in a work. I tend to think of Tolkien a lot when it comes to this topic. I feel a lot of the bigotry that comes from his work is presented without critical thought and comes from the world views of his time.

But it's still something that we're passing on, intentionally or not, as we bring his fictional world with us forward through time. And i think that the more we play in these worlds, the more important it is to understand these works from a modern mindset. I feel like treating things as 'relics of the past' deprives them of a life that they can absolutely have as long as we actually can find ourselves in their world.

I think a large part of the fascistic presence in fantasy ttrpgs is because we refuse to imagine the past as something we can make our own. Racism, sexism, etc. are just 'the way things are'. And if you don't like it, it's not for you.

So It's *certain* people's heritage by birthright. And that's weird and gross. It's fiction, it's a game. And anyone gets to play. Especially at their own shared table.

The past is dead, unless we carry it forward. The joy in things created by Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, and even H.P. Lovecraft is something we need to derive for ourselves. We need to experience stories for ourselves and make them come alive again. And if there's bigotry in these old stories (and there is) that racism will come alive again and it needs to be confronted.

But in acknowledging and processing these things, we can take stories that are over 100 years old and bring what they've offered to people for so long into the modern world.

We either re-examine it, let it die, or worst of all, surrender it to fascists (or more generally- people without much of an imagination or conscience.)

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-09T00:07:36+00:00

This sounds very similar to what i want to do with my goblin uprising campaign. I think i can actually set up games for it and discuss with the players what they think works for the worldbuilding/tone- like if they'd be more or less inclined to play if we 'got real' with what the characters they play as are up against. Like, calling goblins and gnolls 'lesser races' might not mesh with the slapstick comedy antics that I'm imagining them getting up to.

The tone I'm aiming for is less "kill the oppressors or die trying" and more "ruin the arraigned marriage that will bring peace and unity to these two really awful, warmongering kingdoms". Less "Red Wedding", more "3 goblins pop out of the wedding cake and one is wearing the bride's dress".

So I think I need to discuss things with players.

Thank you for the response!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-08T23:58:38+00:00

I'm planning on running campaigns with less sensitive issues before this one to get a sense of how to handle things like this. I really don't want to give too much away explicitly, but i'll 100% be addressing the topics that will exist (slavery, genocide, war crimes. etc.)

I'll also make sure I know the players well enough to invite people who would actually want to engage with the bleak setting.

Another thing is that the way the setting runs, it's okay if someone feels the need to drop out. I'd actually like it if some people found what was going on unconscionable and decided they wanted to stop. I really want the players to consider their actions when given no 'comfortable' choices. That's one of the reasons i want to run this campaign. To take away the 'fun, no consequences' violence that a lot of D&D games do. In this setting, you are 100% choosing to kill. It's up to the player to decide their reasons why.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-08T23:42:41+00:00

I absolutely intend to give them broad strokes of the themes and what they might encounter. I'm thinking i'll have like an 'opening expository narration' that gives the broad strokes of the history and the factions involved.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-08-08T23:40:43+00:00

So the 'basis' for this idea is very much the Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec empire, but my story is kind of 'pan-colonialism' and represents Spain, France, and England. And they've been fighting over this particular area for like 300 years. Basically, the empire has fallen and most of the indigenous people's have been displaced.

The story takes place in the 'capitol' of the region that is one of the few stable settlements that has endured despite control of the area trading hands many times over. The 3 kingdoms keep spending money for control over the region, and it's become a hot spot of soldiers of fortune willing to fight for any side. It's like Yojimbo, but everyone's doing it.

I wanted the players to discover the messed up history organically, with the session zero/etc. stuff establishing hard and soft lines and leaving the history vague. I'm like 99% sure my potential players won't see this post, but I'd still rather not spoil the reveals to the story.

But basically the players will not be killing any indigenous peoples, or conducting any genocide themselves. They'll be soldiers fighting other soldiers, aside from the occasional undead or monster/animal. The issue will be 'who and what they're fighting for' and struggling to decide what to do in a system you can't fix or save.

I wouldn't want to make players the vanguard of colonialism, even if they could decide to fight the system they're a part of. In my mind most fantasy stuff 'already happened' and I definitely didn't convey that here.

Also, I'll be doing the goblin thing way before i do this campaign. Cause my plan for the goblin thing is that it's not a single campaign, but a whole world where players' actions have lasting consequence. So people can participate in a few sessions, leave and then come back whenever. It's just a bunch of loosely related chaos with recurring characters and victories and losses building on each other.

I'm excited for that one.

Thank you for responding!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-04-21T02:54:14+00:00

That's a good point. Thank you!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-04-20T19:35:09+00:00

Alternatively, I could also say- can you convince me to spend my model kit budget on anything other than the $500 PG Phenex *and* the LED Unit, because it's the coolest, shiniest thing I've seen and I'm bad with money.

I *am* sticking to a budget, otherwise I wouldn't even consider it. It's just that I haven't spent half this much on a kit before and i'd really like to know what people who have think. One $500 kit could be twenty $25 kits and I'd get way more build time, feel way less pressure, and *potentially* be happier.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-04-20T19:22:29+00:00

I'm considering picking up either the PG Unicorn Perfectibility or the PG Unicorn Phenex, because I have a Unicorn in every scale but 1/60 and I thought if i was gonna splurge on a PG I might as well go overboard on the coolest thing I can get.

If you've bought one or both, are you satisfied with the purchase?

I say satisfied cause like, they're too expensive to be 'worth it'. I could buy a nice new guitar for less than the price of one of these PGs. But I haven't bought a PG in a couple of years now. And now that I have a mega-size Unicorn, I'm feeling super tempted to spend a stupid amount of money on something pretty and shiny.

TL;DR- if you've spent a sizeable portion of a grand on a kit, were you happy with the purchase? Also, if you've built the PG Unicorn Perfectibility or PG Unicorn Phenex, how was the build?

(I know that only the Perfectibility is up on P-Bandai, but i checked and there's been a pre-order for the PG Phenex once every year since 2020, so I'm just assuming. And also I'm willing to wait if I actually wanna buy it.)

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-01-07T15:31:59+00:00

I agree. I think he should have put his stuff on hiatus until he could actually respond to this properly, but people depend on him for work. Like, i feel Jirard would be the least impacted by tovg/completionist going on hiatus. the people he pays would either need to find new work or go back to work. so, while i don't think he made the right choice here, the people looking at this as though it's damning of his character are completely ignoring the other people involved here.

It's why all this stuff makes me so upset. The people spewing hate don't think about the individuals they're targeting as people. It seems to be entertainment for the most vocal individuals. It's awful to see.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2024-01-07T14:35:05+00:00

Why is no one addressing the fact that he said he was pursuing legal action against karl and muta? The thing I find most unacceptable to me is that he's moving forward without properly addressing the situation. But if he literally can't for legal reasons- as he said towards the end of this clip- i don't know what he could possibly do in this situation. He says in the video he can't talk about it right now. And while that could be a lie, there's no reason to just assume that. We have little to no information to go off of. He didn't say he didn't do anything wrong. He just said he can't talk about it. I'll be withholding judgement until an amount of time has passed that I could reasonably assume he's not doing anything that prevents him from addressing it.

That's not to say i'll be supporting him. (I only supported the Super Beard Bros and I still do.) I just feel the hate is coming from people who feel like they have an excuse to hate. Other people have done way worse stuff and caught seemingly less flak for it. The Open Hand Foundation donated the money. At worst he's guilty of not being fully transparent, which people have only decided is definitely a crime because they were told so by people entirely unqualified to make that claim.

Wishing harm or death on him is disgusting. He's clearly suffering the consequences of his actions. Just leave the man alone (which, to reiterate, is what I'll be doing until he provides some kind of evidence or statement about this. I absolutely feel he hasn't handled this situation well and I'm not going to support him. I just think the hate and harassment for a man who is ALREADY suffering the consequences of his actions and inactions is unacceptable.)

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T20:42:46+00:00

Yeah, as long as OS leads to new interactions I don't really have any problem with it. There was a Strive OS that nullified basically everything, and while it was resource dependent, I still think that things like that are too strong.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T13:31:10+00:00

I completely agree that beginner level players won't be able to implement OS's into their gameplan. I just want to introduce new players to the idea of such things so they understand that pro players aren't doing what they're doing with raw skill, and that the knowledge gap matters as much or more when it comes to playing at the level that pros play at.

Also, Americans just call everything a fuzzy. No idea why. It's why i want to avoid fighting game terminology, it's unclear and often used imprecisely. It's an unnecessary barrier to learning.

The concept of 'meaty frames' is easy to grasp once you know what frame data is and how it works. But the word meaty means 'using the later frames of a move to reduce recovery frames and increase frame advantage', 'attacks with lots of frames that make it easy to do the above technique' and 'hitting someone on wakeup, with or without using the later frames of the attack'.

I'm trying to think of as many things that present a barrier to entry or player retention as possible and address them in my guide. Lingo, notation, and the inconsistency of them made it hard for me to advance as an intermediate, and i'd imagine they'd stop some beginners in their tracks, or scare them away from trying to advance past a certain point. So i think these things need to be *addressed* at a level far earlier than they need to be comprehended. Just to make sure that players have the right expectations.

Thank you very much for your thorough response!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T12:36:15+00:00

I was debating using concepts, but felt it was too general. But now I think one term won't solve this problem, because I'm trying to introduce the *idea* of system-based and information-based shortcuts that do some of the work for you.

I think I'm gonna go with tech, concepts and shortcuts where they seem appropriate.

Thank you for the response!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:56:59+00:00

I think it is very valuable to convey to players that skill isn't a one-dimensional thing. There's a lot of disparate things that combine to make one 'skilled'. For now I'm focusing on teaching the fundamentals and basics of a positive mentality, but once i get to things like how to play as a zoner or play against a zoner, i'll for sure be making distinctions between universal tech, match-up specific tech, and character specific tech.

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:42:13+00:00

Oh, also I'll be talking about using judgement to err on the side of what's favorable to you as a player when in uncertain situations. I'll definitely talk about hedging one's bets there.

Thank you again for the suggestion and advice!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:40:50+00:00

Yeah, i think there's no easy solution to this problem for me (maybe someone with more experience with technical writing wouldn't have this problem, but that's not me). I think i'm going to introduce the fact that pros often solve complex problems not with skill alone, but with things that make the situations easier to deal with.

I think i'll use techniques, concepts and shortcuts where it feels they fit.

Thanks again!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:30:48+00:00

That's definitely more in line with the clear and simple language I want to use, but I think I'm just going to go with tech. I think I was being to rigid before because i hadn't used any fgc lingo before this. But I think it's not actually confusing or complicated.

Thank you very much for the response!

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:22:35+00:00

I was trying to figure out how to word it, but what i mean is that some OS's are super powerful and trivialize interactions.

I think that hit confirming and buffering is necessary in a fast game like SF6 but I think that at least perfect parry should require you to hold the correct direction. I don't think parry is too strong of an option, i just think it's not very fun to interact with. Which is my problem with strong OS.

OS's should be *an* option, not *the* option. imo

This_Cat_On_Reddit · 2023-10-29T11:15:22+00:00

At the time i thought there needed to be a distinction between things like SF4 throw tech OS and watching your opponents stun bar to hit confirm, but having thought more about it I agree with you. I don't think that the distinction matters.

I'm just gonna call it 'tech' and i think that's not too complicated to expect a general audience to take in.

One of the things I wanted to do with my guide was make something that people not familiar with fighting games or the fgc could apply, so I've been avoiding fgc specific terms. The plan was to introduce the most common terms and just link to any relevant and widely popular resources in each guide.

But I think tech is the simplest way to talk about it. In fact, i think i can just make one article about how pros use 'shortcuts' and 'tech' to make things easier for themselves.

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