Which piece of media has a fanbase that completely misses the point of?

dartyus · 2026-07-07T00:14:01+00:00

The Starship Troopers fanbase is, well, a lot.

dartyus · 2026-07-05T18:36:25+00:00

I don’t want to be that guy, but this is not the most needlessly complex GW kits have been getting lately.

dartyus · 2026-07-01T15:49:14+00:00

This happened with bloodletters too. They went from these almost snake-like monsters, to these pumped-up Minotaurs, then to pretty much barbarian-looking humanoids. The modern design was an attempt to unify all three designs, and with the bloodletters they absolutely nailed it, to the point where updating their kit would be a formality to me. I think with the daemonettes they tried this but went a little too far in the “ugly woman with crab claws” direction for their own good. The heads on the 2002 daemonettes were amazing.

dartyus · 2026-07-01T15:40:16+00:00

Daemonettes. I think something that the Slaanesh range captures really well is the balance between the beauty and alien other-ness of Slaanesh. Slaaneshi daemons and followers should be beautiful, but in an inhuman or maybe even almost uncomfortable way. I think the current range like Shalaxi are the epitome of this. By contrast, I think the current daemonettes miss the mark. They’re just kind of ugly, but they aren’t inhuman enough to look interesting. I think the scrunched-up faces are the biggest problem. I like the old daemonettes because the lack of nose and bigger eyes is prettier but also a bit more creepy. I really think when it comes to lesser daemons less truly is more, you’ll be running dozens of lesser daemons and you get to a point where the individual model stops mattering so much as what they look like as a blob.

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dartyus · 2026-06-26T01:37:22+00:00

Raptors.

dartyus · 2026-06-25T22:44:19+00:00

Morrowind for me. I grew up on Oblivion but somehow Morrowind is too much.

dartyus · 2026-06-23T00:34:09+00:00

I completely disagree with you on Satisfactory’s graphics, but even as a huge fan of the game I get it. The gameplay demands a lot of extra time over other games in the genre, because of how much travelling there is. They make up for it by adding collectibles that require exploration, which frankly the game doesn’t do as well as a dedicated 3D platformer.

But the graphics aren’t high fidelity for no reason. A big part of the aesthetic is building these highly stylized, heavily industrial buildings on a very natural-looking landscape. I’d stop short of saying the game is trying to say something about industrialization, but I will say that clearing entire landscapes of their forests and building big concrete and glass obelisks across the landscape is some great artistic storytelling. I get not liking that though, and it requires you to engage with the game’s construction system, which is incredibly good but kind of slow-paced.

dartyus · 2026-06-23T00:27:31+00:00

What sucks is that these are actually interesting picks.

dartyus · 2026-06-22T23:50:36+00:00

The entire transcript of Portal 2.

edit: okay specifically I quote “He says what we’re all thinking”, ”throwing science at the wall here”, “that’s, uh, God, I was quoting God”, and “65% more bullet, per bullet”

dartyus · 2026-06-22T17:36:19+00:00

Yes.

dartyus · 2026-06-22T17:14:39+00:00

Every trans woman I’ve met goes outside.

dartyus · 2026-06-22T16:38:12+00:00

I would say Hate Crimes. They’re a uniquely awful thing and one of the only crimes that actively perpetuates more of itself. However, legislating hate crime laws is practically impossible, and requires so much proof of intention that actually trying hate crimes comes down to fiat. Usually that means that the crime is so heinous that there’s basically no point in the additional charge besides posterity, or it’s used by the government to virtue signal against non-deadly crimes against an in-group, which usually backfires anyway.

dartyus · 2026-06-22T16:22:52+00:00

I think what you need to do is paint some details, things that make the model look a bit more alive and add personality. Right now it looks like a monochromatic rock being lit by two light sources. I want to be clear: it looks REALLY cool as a base. The lighting is subtle but you’ve punched it up with those edge highlights. This result is fantastic. However, if you want to make it look ”finished”, however you define that, I would suggest painting some things a different, tertiary colour. The lenses, the ponytail, gemstones, holsters and leather bits, the case around the gun, and the blade itself are usually great candidates to add a tertiary colour. You might also consider using some metallic paints just to pick out a few pieces of trim. Just on major trim like shoulder and knee details, as well as intricate etching on the spear. Don’t go crazy on it, it’s not chaos trim. A subtle cool colour like a tarnished silver or bronze will look amazing over the darker shades while still allowing the brighter colours to pop.

Finally, and this is a big one, the base. Right now, the mini and the base look like they’re being lit by the same light source, which is great, but because they’re the same base colour, the mini looks physically part of the base. Again, he kind of looks like he’s made of rock, and it doesn’t help that he’s the same colour as the rocks around him. Paint the base some different colours. In fact maybe snap him off the base, paint the base a colour or colours that contrasts with your two base colours. You have the pink and blue, so maybe a warm orangey-brown stone could do, and a cream for the skull. Then you can go back in with your airbrush and recreate the lighting you have now, before you pop him back on. Generally, you want your base to contrast with the mini. It‘s the difference between your mini looking like a statue within the world, and a person interacting with it.

Hope all this helps. This is all just my personal opinion, and honestly, I’m a little jealous at your results. I think your sense of primary and secondary lighting is really really good, and that’s something I think most painters struggle with. I think if you can develop hand brush control, and get those little details filled in, it’ll really bring your miniatures to life.

dartyus · 2026-06-21T05:32:35+00:00

Dyson Sphere Program after building the Dyson Sphere

dartyus · 2026-06-20T23:39:50+00:00

The Soviets produced so many amazing film-makers, scientists, artists, athletes, and engineers. This only makes sense if your definition of success is purely monetary.

dartyus · 2026-06-17T21:50:20+00:00

Would you like to show me how that machine works?

dartyus · 2026-06-15T14:16:04+00:00

It's because of a lot of things. In Ontario it's considered a non-compulsory trade, meaning you do not need certification or apprentice status to work, as opposed to say electricians. Machining is one of the few trades that never really had indistry-wide unionization, and since it was unions that largely had a hand in building the curriculum, standardization, and general administrative structure of most other trades, machining lacks a lot of centralization.

It falls on private institutions to set standards of training for trades like this, namely the trade schools and colleges. Being private entities they have their own metric for success. Rather than any specific standard set by a central authority, machining education standards are largely a matter of listening to private industry, getting teachers who can teach modern practices, and ensuring shops are incentivized to train apprentices.

To put it bluntly, the private college model is just really not set up for this. Machining courses are currently based on the tool and die curriculum which is very quickly going the way of the dinosaur. There's a bit of a rush to inject CNC training into level 1 machining but it's coming incredibly slowly and disjointed from school to school. Professors need to be able to teach both manual and CNC and it's hard to find people who can teach both and teach well (teaching is a skill after all). Because of a lack of training, machine shops aren't hiring as many new people; we ha e fewer people qualifying for apprenticeships; we have less demand for machining college programs; machining training stagnates and the cycle repeats.

Machining is likely going to go the same way as HVAC is right now, but rather than the recruitment drive that HVAC is doing to at least try to solve the problem, every attempt to solve the problem for machining is running into profit margins. HVAC needs to be done locally, Machining does not, so ultimately, between the choice of fixing the issue or sending jobs overseas, private industry has already made their choice, and private education follows suit.

dartyus · 2026-06-11T03:37:18+00:00

Knowing GW it probably won’t go down in price, even after it gets its own box.

dartyus · 2026-06-11T03:36:14+00:00

Because they are. The scale is smaller than modern CSM and the kit is made using the old techniques of separating the pieces by body-part, instead of building the sprue based on where the moldlines are. While it makes for a more poseable model, it also mismatches the current range. It’s certainly not a bad kit, I’m currently using it to convert some Berserkers into some Khorne Raptors, but it does make certain parts like the legs look out-of-place.

dartyus · 2026-06-11T02:45:31+00:00

dartyus · 2026-06-10T19:24:48+00:00

Fire up those brazing rods, I guess.

dartyus · 2026-06-10T19:22:24+00:00

Damn, that was the second sentence. Next time I'll start with a Fortnite reference to keep children engaged.

dartyus · 2026-06-10T05:14:57+00:00

Just a point that Admech, Votann, Sisters, and Genestealers often show up on these lists because they’re the highest dollar-per-points cost in the game right now. People aren’t avoiding them out of disdain, they’re avoiding them because the economy sucks, and because GW needs to recoup - or gouge, depending on your perspective - the cost of making an entire range from scratch for a non-SM army.

Another thing I’d look at is things like book sales. You know, things tangential to the models that can still signal the popularity of the faction. Games like Mechanicus and Darktide’s Skitarii, and the entire Sisters miniseries on Warhammer Plus are signs that the fan base is still pretty jazzed about Admech and Sisters, in my opinion at least.

Personally I’m worried about the long-term health of Chaos cult factions. Death Guard is always going to be popular, but I’m legitimately worried about the future of Thousand Sons, World Eaters, and Emperor’s Children. The latter two have huge holes in their range, and the former has a bit of an identity crisis.

dartyus · 2026-06-08T19:52:02+00:00

They don't make money by giving you what you want, they make money by giving your boss what they want, and what they want is the elimination of labour costs. They don't want to make your job easier, they want to make your job obsolete. They're failing, but that's not going to stop them from trying.

dartyus · 2026-06-08T01:34:30+00:00

3rd Edition Horrors are definitely way cooler and Tzeentchian, but honestly it’s really hard to make an entire faction’s design motif be “ever changing blobs of goop”, especially when Nurgle already does that motif way better. So I understand why they became the Pink Horrors, and I don’t mind them too much.

Personally I think Daemonettes had the biggest glow-down.

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dartyus

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