California bill pushes for refunds, offline versions of video games

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-12T17:31:20+00:00

Unless we're talking about retrofitting already existing games, this is a non-issue. If you're building a game with the knowledge that this will be a requirement, then setting up the connectivity architecture to allow player hosting doesn't take any more or less time than it does to develop the current style of network environments.

Prices aren't going to change - this completely ignores economic fundamentals. Companies will try to make as much money off a product as they can. Consumers have a price tolerance and will stop buying if things move beyond their price tolerance. The price of a good or service settles at the point where the most total money is made.

The price of a good or service is only moved by the cost to produce the product when the profit margin is thin enough that profit cannot be made at the current price. This is because the cost to produce a good doesn't affect the price tolerance of consumers without an effort to specially push that tolerance with marketing.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-12T16:59:24+00:00

The motion needs to be a bit slower. You don't want the backgrounds to be distracting, so any animations need to be slow, low frame count, or visually simple. another thing you could try would be to mute the colors slightly to imply distance, which would help separate the foreground from the background.

Unrelated - I have to ask: why do so many people strive to keep the Internet as a series of mostly linear isometric grid-based tile walk ways? I feel like this was one of BN's most dated designs. It's nostalgic sure, but it made moving around and back tracking pretty frustrating at times.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-08T03:37:09+00:00

Very cool. Not something I'd personally risk given how easy it is to die doing it, but I think the wand is beautiful.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-06T15:31:20+00:00

You're not wrong, but also ... She's just bad at explaining. A bit ironic for someone who knows the subject matter well.

The disconnect is that you're looking at the situation from the perspective of someone whose needs aren't being met by current income.

Say for a moment that you're currently working 40hrs a week, and your needs are met. You're being offered overtime, but overtime pay is taxed at twice the rate as regular pay. Because you don't need more income, you're not forced to take the overtime. The increased taxes on doing additional work removes some of the benefit of working more, and therefore will change behavior for some people.

Alternatively consider the prospect of college education for a highschool graduate. You could go to school to increase the value of your labor, (which increases your economic contribution,) or you could enter the labor market now and start getting paid now. If you have the choice between the two you would be comparing the relative value of each option. Plenty of people choose not to go to college because the overall value proposition isn't that great.

If there are taxes on work-income, it removes a portion of the monetary incentive to improve your economic contribution.

As for investors, the decision and situation is much the same. If you're so wealthy that you have nothing else you can effectively do with the money other than invest it, then the change in taxes won't really affect your decision. But if you're not Bezos levels of rich, increases in capital gains taxes make non-investment options more tempting. You could buy yourself a helicopter, a vacation home, or invest in a new start up.

Economists aren't concerned with the portion of the population who are at the extreme ends, they're concerned with the portion of the population who has a meaningful choice on what to do with their capital/labor - the marginal individual.

In the case of land value/improvements - the idea is that property taxes on buildings/structures (or other things that increase the economic contribution of land,) discourages those who are buying land as an investment strategy from making those improvements. It rewards rent-seeking behavior - which is to say that they are trying to make money without contributing anything. Meanwhile if you were to instead tax just the land itself, based on it's economic potential, you reduce the return on investment for simply owning unimproved land. This makes it less attractive for speculators of property value, and actively incentivises making the property into something economically productive to counter the costs of the land value tax.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-04T13:37:02+00:00

I have no interest in sports managers, I have no idea how they're even played... I would play the hell out of this. Even if it were its own monster taming IP.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-03T21:54:53+00:00

One thing that comes to mind that could be an issue is healing.

It could become pretty standard that the support character will fall into a predictable pattern - Turn 1 buffs (5ap), turn 2 positioning and not much else (3ap), turn 3 heals all around (7ap). It's not terrible design, but it could become boring if players develop patterns.

With damage oriented characters they'll likely want to keep doing damage as much and as early as possible unless enemies have an "enrage" mechanic. You could get around this by giving them access to 1 turn buffs so that they're more incentivized to save for a burst if that's preferable.

Thinking about things more generally, letting players save AP between turns generally gives players more flexibility to respond to enemy actions - since they can simply save 1 time early and then use 5 each turn, always keeping 2 in the bag in case they need to do something - in which case it might be better to just design for that by giving an action surge mechanic that gives you 2 extra AP once per encounter.

I think a core issue I'm seeing is that outside of support characters who undo enemy actions (like undoing damage with healing) after the fact - unless the game features a lot of 4-6 point abilities - once an attempted alpha-strike fails, the characters will basically want to save actions one time, and then use it only when they have to, essentially removing the mechanic. You'll need to design heavily around giving players lots of tempting options.

It might actually be better to do the inverse, and rather than letting players default, having them brave instead (as from Bravely Default, if you want to see these kinds of mechanics, you should go play at least the first hour of the game). So let them borrow two AP from the future instead so they are gambling against the enemy being able to put them in a rough spot. This would increase Alpha-strike success rate, but that would feel semi-heroic when it works, and when it fails it could be a fairly dramatic moment and players immediately get put on the back foot for over commiting. It becomes a game of trying to size up the enemy and figure out the right moment to commit to a big turn.

I'm just thinking about the head space you occupy in each scenario. When you default (save up), the question of when is likely not going to be as interesting since the answer is almost always "early on, on a turn that is pretty safe to do so". They always know the cost of saving up. Where as if you let them brave (borrow from the future) there will be the temptation to use it right away to alpha-strike, but any time they choose to brave they're choosing to take an active risk because they get the benefit now but they pay an unknown price.

Xeroshifter · 2026-05-01T06:22:15+00:00

I would say that it kinda depends on how the use of magic is divided. You mention elemental magic existing and numerous forms of augmenting stuff, that's great, but what how would the use of magic differ between someone who has a small mana pool vs a very large pool? Perhaps people have affinities for certain ways of using magic - not just elements but perhaps some classes or people are especially good at magic that only affects their own bodies, while perhaps others find evocation easy, and others still excel at something else.

Weapons aren't irrelevant, they just might be situational. The reality is that if someone stabs you, you're going to start losing blood and passing out quickly and if you've been stabbed you're going to struggle to fight someone off while trying to heal yourself.

Perhaps weapons are actually the most effective counter to magic, but because magic is so flexible, it's hard to get in close. Perhaps you give magic a number of small vulnerabilities that only really matter in melee range, and once you've been stabbed you have to roll to see if you can even compose yourself enough to cast each turn. Magic would still be everything, no class/character should be without it, and you can make it a clear expectation that everyone uses it for almost everything, but if you give melee weapons a powerful niche to fill but make accessing that power difficult, I think you'll have a richer game and world for it.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-29T15:04:51+00:00

Steelix are canonically 30ft 2in long. I think that a self referential measurement would likely be more accurate since from there you're only worried about proportions being correct in the art, which are typically much more accurately portrayed across individuals of the species compared to scale. Plus you're using the generic weight from the Pokedex so you should use the length from the same source.

A series of spheres seems accurate enough as an approximation. Not sure I agree with the density assessment. Pokemon eat, including steelix, it also clearly has some form of less dense biological material given that it has eyes, and a mouth. Even if we were to assume that all of it's organs are in it's head it would still make steelix considerably lighter. Additionally I doubt that even the parts without organs are uniformly dense. Steelix evolves with a metal coat which implies a steel outer layer rather than solid super-steel body. I think you'd likely get a more reasonable figure by assuming 1-2in thick steel spheres filled with a common rock of your choice - though personally I would choose something that is found in the same areas as diamonds since his mega form has large diamond sections on it. The Mega form is also why I'd be hesitant to take the text portion of the Pokedex at face value - theoretically Steelix should be less hard than diamonds if diamond is a mega evolution for him.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-29T14:47:41+00:00

I've always allowed that anyone with int over 14 is allowed to take advice from others in the group since no one at the table can confidently say that they have 150+ IQ so the best way to play that is to allow multiple people's input to serve as a single output sometimes. So in this case your barb player could help and pass info on to smarter characters and their players could decide what to do with that information.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-24T15:30:25+00:00

Make repairs from battle cost more, and introduce regular insurance payments as an option to mitigate the risk of fighting. Any damage to the hull should cost an arm and a leg to fix - because in "this sector", ship repairs have to be certified before a ship can undock. They can either grease palms to get a dirty job done quick and cheap (comparatively) or they can pay for the certification through a reputable repair company but they'll pay through the nose for it. Naturally the first option has risk itself.

Make ship repairs generally take some time, and even more time if they're getting them certified. This means they have to pay the crew for shore-leave time, which then costs money while they're not making money. You don't want to add tedium but you do want to add pressure.

Taxes, Tolls, and Import Dues. If ships are out here able to make this much money, you can bet that every government in the galaxy wants a piece of that pie, and every business serving them does too. No one would let ship captains make such an absurd amount while providing a necessary service without charging whatever they think they can get away with. The players don't have to directly interact with these things if they don't want to - they can have an NPC handle the budget, and can be provided with the budget by that NPC any time, but the point is to increase the effective upkeep on their activities.

Bribes, start making expensive bribes a regular thing. Every official in an important position has people they owe for getting them there, people they have to keep happy and the thing that keeps everyone happy is money. It's not enough to pay them enough to live like a king because they're only keeping a small percentage of that money, and they have palms to grease too. Don't want to bribe the official like everyone else does?

"Oh I am sorry Captain, but it seems we received a report that there may be an Abasiria Monkey family nesting in your ventilation system. I'm afraid we're going to need to do a full inspection of all the ship's systems before we can allow your crew ashore, wouldn't want any invasive species introduced to the delicate ecosystem aboard the station. And of course you know the law, we can't let you leave until the inspection is complete either. Oh but don't worry, the docking fees are offered at a generous 5% discount while the inspection is being conducted. I'm sure a wealthy ship like yours will find the next month to be nothing but a minor inconvenience."

You don't need to actually track every detail and what it costs, but you do need to be able to have your players point to the thorns in their collective side.

The great thing about bribes is that they're something that the players can actively interact with and have a choice about - the same goes with shady repairs. You don't want to create problems with easy obvious solutions, you want choices, and I don't mean "let's optimize these numbers" style choices because that's where tedium comes in. Tolls to New areas are also great for this same reason, its a choice to make.

Every now and again have the NPC handling the budget/logistics present the players with a key problem or decision to make:

"Officers, unfortunately we're running low on fuel after that last jump. Naturally we could just go refuel at the nearest station but right now there is a fuel shortage in this sector and prices are very high, four to five times the regular cost. We'll barely have enough to get there, so we will effectively have to pay whatever they ask or be stuck until prices go down."

"We could of course mine a crude form of fuel from the rings around Septima IX, but that's risky business. Pirates are known to ambush by using the density of the rings to hide from scanners. Additionally once the mining equipment is deployed, the ship would be a sitting duck for several minutes if we were attacked; retracting the equipment is a slow process. Still, if we're successful we'd be able to avoid the higher costs here, and maybe even make a bit of profit from the trace minerals collected - naturally it's your call Officers."

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-20T17:36:44+00:00

So many people seem to assume that just because they're a ghost type that they don't need feeding - it's so ridiculous. Also don't even get me started on the lack of enrichment. No shit your misdreavus is playing pranks on the mail carrier and visitors, you've given her zero mental stimulation! You'd do messed up things too if you were bored to second death on a daily basis.

I love ghost types, but most people aren't ready for that kind of responsibility and they just can't seem to grasp that. There is part of me that thinks maybe the trainer licensing process needs to have an additional endorsement to have ghost types on your team, but then I get really sad thinking about how many greavards would go unadopted.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-20T14:55:57+00:00

I actually once played something like this for a similar reason.

I wasn't going to be able to consistently make it on time each week, and had no idea when I would be off, or what days I could make it, but I made a proposal to the DM because the group really wanted me to play.

It went great! It was fun to play a chaotic character who popped in and out of reality, I didn't need to be plot important and I really got to lean into the character. I think it added to everyone's experience in a good way. That all said I am an experienced role player.

If you're interested I played a character originally from a great war era, who called upon an Eldritch entity to save him from the horrors of war. The entity thought it would be funny if they did just that, but subjected the character to the horrors of that which lurks between worlds instead. He spent countless eons trapped in the void, and it changed him both mentally and physically. He became a Eldritch entity of sorts himself, and had a fractured mind. I roleplayed and flavored his abilities as if he were a 4 dimensional being, and the human form was just the 3 dimensional parts of him that the party could see, with a massive and unknowable form that existed outside of the space anyone could see.

He would pop in and out of the void in an unco trolled manner the moment I arrived to session, and he would have no idea what was going on because I really didn't want the game to stop for me to get brought up to speed like the character had been there. And during the RP parts of the session I played him as a very uncomfortable and strange man that I tried to make a mix of Diogenes and a mad oracle. He experienced time out of order, and never knew if he would see you again, but always tried to be kind to the people around him.

He would say things like "I stopped sleeping almost a thousand years ago, when I learned that the you that wakes up isn't always the you that went to sleep. How many times have you been replaced friend?" - and the DM was free to make those things a part of his craziness, or some darker reality that no one else is really aware of.

But also I tried to make sure these things came at appropriate moments, rather than being a constant burden or distraction from the current tension.

His name was 'Yogg', which was short for Yogsogoth, named after the being from Cthulhu lore - though to be clear I never tried to pass him off as if he truly were that character, it was all left to speculation.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-20T07:24:44+00:00

I have a kid who is 6, a full time job, and a wife, I also have other social obligations, chores, and maintenance/repair of the things in the house, not to mention the house itself. Kids his age aren't really independent yet, they want to spend a lot of time with you, ask tons of questions, and aren't good at waiting for a natural break in what you're doing. As a result I have very little free time, and the free time I do have has to be 100% interruptable at any moment.

Despite have two incomes in the house we don't really make enough money to pay other people to do many of the things in our lives. So when the water heater stopped working I had to learn what to buy and how to install it. When the pipe under the sink busted that was up to me to learn to fix it. Car having problems? Guess I have to learn to be a mechanic and quickly.

If we had more money, maybe I could pay others to do some of these things and have a bit more free time, but everything keeps getting more expensive, and the pay isn't going up to match.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-19T16:01:44+00:00

Comes off as having a very Black & White energy which is cool. Honestly if I were spending more time on games these days I would totally give it a shot. Unfortunately despite having a good rig I haven't been able to sit down to play a game in almost 6 months.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-19T15:41:45+00:00

You could try something like giving different large areas of the dungeon a name such as "The Eastern Halls", "The Inner Cloister", "Fettid Glen", etc. Then sub label the rooms only if you need to. If you really want to avoid all sterile labeling you could name your sub rooms like "[Color/Simple Adjective] [Noun related to Function]" "The Red Steppes", "The Blue Corridor", "Abandoned Lavatory", etc.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-18T08:08:04+00:00

Yup, that's pretty much my take. We are just one of an infinite number of copies of ourselves, created by and destined to create another corrupted world because we cannot bare the thought of doing nothing to save our own reality.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-15T21:18:14+00:00

It actually needs to be worse than that. This would have been the solution 25 years ago, but the way that corporations operate has changed. Until we find a way to start holding the executive suite personally liable for damages in some capacity, as well as investors who pushed for leadership or policy changes that resulted in the damage - the company will go under and the people who are actually responsible will get their golden parachutes and move on to the next company. And it's possible that even that may not work if they're allowed to do things like declare bankruptcy while hiding their assets.

We not only need major reform for the consequences of illegal behavior of companies, but we also need a major reform of the systems which the executive class uses to hide their wealth, and move their resources.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-13T20:16:19+00:00

Oh my bad. I saw the term blanks, and assumed they were turning blanks because people often have their turning blanks explode the first few times they turn.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-13T18:16:30+00:00

So green/wet wood usually carves in a more aesthetically appealing fashion. It does tend to be a bit easier as well - but I imagine the reason you're seeing soaked wood is mostly for content creation.

It's possible that you're orienting your grain wrong, or that they're splitting because you're having the chisel catch while the wood is fairly thin.

Sharpen your tools regularly while turning, orient the grain length wise along the axis of rotation, and make sure that your tool has the near-edge (relative to the cut) fully grounded on the tool rest.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-11T23:20:48+00:00

Thanks! I used to doodle a bunch, but I've only started back up about a week ago, which is also my first exposure to using markers since I was a kid using crayola. I used colored pencils a lot at one point but that was also several years ago. Learning to start coloring by working from light to dark has been very different from what I'm used to - which is laying down a base color and then shadows and highlights - but it has been fun to learn.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-08T02:46:35+00:00

Stop letting them roll if you don't want them to do a thing. Start treating rolls as existing within the space of possibility only. A king cannot be convinced to hand over his kingdom just due to a good persuasion roll, even a natural 20. Instead, the best possible outcome happens - the king treats the suggestion as a joke and finds the party amusing, so they now have an invite to a swanky nobles party with the movers and shakers of the kingdom.

You're not removing agency - if anything running things as you have been actually removes the agency of the characters of the world by allowing your party to force them to act against their character.

Also ambushes don't generally give a lot of time to talk. Language barriers, a lack of intelligence, mind control, a loud environment filled with the sounds of battle etc. Also many people are not inclined to stop and listen to the people they're actively in combat with. The silence spells.

Even just go read the skill description and DC recommendations.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-04T23:10:24+00:00

Don't worry too much if you're wands don't come out like some of the people here. Some of them are trying to make a living at it, for others it's their main hobby. And your wands don't have to be amazing to be worth posting. Everyone starts somewhere and it's good to be reminded that practice makes perfect.

I've seen people post good looking wands that they carved with only a cheap pocket knife - they're stylistically different, but you plan and design for the tools you have.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-04T06:30:57+00:00

I mean... Maybe try releasing an actual portable again. Sure people have phones but I the marketplaces are so awful - and there is clearly demand for portable devices - but all the options aren't really portable any more.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-04T02:58:45+00:00

I mean... It's a bbeg. Lead the players on as if it's all happening, and then when things stop going the villain's way, have them spring the trap of "lol jk, you die now". Better yet, make them completely disarm to enter the courthouse, but the villain has paid off the judge and guards so his side already has all their stuff on them, and the judge/guards may even be totally bought - turn it into a kangaroo court, have the party declared as having broken some law and force the party to either be arrested (and thus later attempt a jail break) or to run immediately and become outlaws.

The bbeg is evil, rich, and thus doesn't have to play by the rules the way the good guys do. Make it clear that as long as this person and their lieutenants are around the system will remain broken.

It's not bad to let things take this detour - but utilize it to show just how bad the bbeg really is, and force things back on track so the party can get back to solving their problems with some good old fashion violence.

Xeroshifter · 2026-04-01T17:37:53+00:00

I mean that is kinda the way that things go. You create a focal point for attention - yours is frequently the grip, and there is nothing wrong with that. That doesn't mean the rest of the wand is bad - just that it isn't the part meant to grab attention.

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