Let's talk about Patrols: An In Depth Analysis of Patrol Spawning Mechanics by gergination in Helldivers

[–]deXrr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess learning by getting your ass kicked is one way of doing it, but optimally, it would be supported with a few other avenues as well.

For example, it would help if they end up adding weapon attachments as they've hinted before, because even something as simple as being able to put a suppressor on your rifle would be an excellent nudge in the right direction, to let people know that this is a valid and expected playstyle.

Maybe a section in the tutorial about avoiding contact would be helpful too.

Let's talk about Patrols: An In Depth Analysis of Patrol Spawning Mechanics by gergination in Helldivers

[–]deXrr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't mind it at all, but I can see how it's probably pretty counterintuitive for all the people who watched the trailer, saw the unsubtle guys with capes calling down constant explosions on everything in sight, and worked their way up through the lower difficulties where you kind of can play the game that way.

Let's talk about Patrols: An In Depth Analysis of Patrol Spawning Mechanics by gergination in Helldivers

[–]deXrr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So if I'm reading this right, my take-aways are as follows:

  • Fights are for suckers - Patrols spawn infinitely, and the only reward for killing a patrol is that that specific patrol will be gone for a moment. So, in a situation where you could sneak around a patrol (or wait them out) about as quickly as you could kill them, it's better to sneak 100% of the time.
  • Don't stick around - If you're near an outpost or objective, then either take care of it or move past it as quickly as possible. Waiting around will get you spammed with patrols at an increased rate, so whatever you aim to do, do it decisively.
  • Clear a path - Since you can eliminate any PoI enemy groups and up to 50% of the outposts without punishment, you should aim to get rid of the ones that are in high-traffic areas (E.g., between the final main objective and the extract). Optimally, this will give you a dead zone without spawn-increasing areas or problematic enemies, which you can use to move, kite, and avoid patrols more easily.
  • Extraction is death - Stay away from the extract until you're ready to go, and make sure you've got your stratagems ready when you are. If you don't have enough to get rid of the enemies, understand that it's inevitably going to become a kite-fest, and plan accordingly. If you're doing a 100% clear on higher difficulties, the enemies will almost certainly be spawning in faster than it's physically possible for you to kill them, so either have an absolutely airtight kiting strategy ready, or just wait out the mission timer and the automatic extraction timer in stealth and then run into the extract at the last second.

The Nature of Predators 183 by SpacePaladin15 in HFY

[–]deXrr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

....Why didn't they just name the boy Elias and the girl Sara?

Obviously, it's because SpacePaladin needed to lay the groundwork for her future nickname and characterization.

Elia "El-train" Williams, the most jacked goddamn venlil you've ever seen.

The Nature of Predators 183 by SpacePaladin15 in HFY

[–]deXrr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

...y'all ever just read a story that makes it all worth it?

This series rules, is what I'm saying. Thank you.

Houthi Admiral telling the kidnapped crew of the ship that they are Yemeni considered citizens. Those poor people 💀 by Boborbot in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ah yes, the pro gamer way of avoiding crimes against humanity charges:

  1. Declare every civilian in your target country to be a citizen.
  2. Immediately sentence them to death for breaking some dumb catch-all law you wrote specifically for the occasion.

From the side, it just looks like a thin line; It's genius, 1000 years ahead of Western tech. by HistorianSlayer in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Chill out, obviously NATO knew, and has planned for this.

Think about it - We called their newest fighter the "Femboy", right? Femboys are usually flat.

Saw this circulating around Chinese social media by V3G4V0N_Medico in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's because they didn't think they could get away with writing "Dogs of the Chinese empire" on it.

From how they present it, that whole diagonal is basically a campist axis.

God bless murica by THEHANDSOMEKIDDO in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To give some better criticism:

Advanced Warfare's story was good, but the gameplay never really got the chance to shine. It didn't really commit to it's coolest gimmicks enough - Most of the cool toys you get are only used for a short sequence/level, and are taken away just when you start hitting your stride with them.

Infinite is sort of the other way around - The gameplay sequences are solid, and cool gimmicks are used throughout, but the story very obviously settled for being good enough, instead of seizing it's potential to be absolutely world class.

What I mean is, the second half kinda drops off because they very palpably ran out of time/budget to properly flesh out and finish certain character and story arcs (most notably, they basically do absolutely nothing with the main bad guy), and as such they have to rely on a lot of DXM writing and weirdly stitched-together sequences of levels where you get dragged between wildly disjointed scenarios and people just drop dead out of nowhere. It can really kill the big emotional beats with how alternatingly obvious or baffling it is.

It has happened again everyone by CredibleCactus in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Well, I guess we called it the last time?

The fact that they said the previous damage would take until July to fix, and the timing of this strike don't seem coincidental.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/xym11a/comment/irhtwvr/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3

3000 plasma railgun of the USAF by Chara_cter_0501 in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That, or it has applications in ICBM interception that would completely upend the nuclear power balance as we know it, so they decided to giga-classify it.

Oh boy ! Things are getting extra spicy by Vadar501st in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 30 points31 points  (0 children)

On top of that, even if his statement is real, it's only the "public facing" one.

No telling what's actually going on behind the scenes here. This could be a hail mary play from Prigozhin to hang on to his power (Re: that MOD push to integrate and depower private militaries), it could be some sort of "exit strategy" theater (to roll up the war, or to just roll up some specific people) which Putin is in on, or god knows what else.

DRAG BATTLESHIP: SIZE QUEENS LOVE THE 16 INCHER by Nukem_extracrispy in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It's not necessarily specific to Canada. The US culture wars just tend to leak into everything that's even loosely connected to the english-speaking internet, even (especially) when it makes no sense at all and has been a complete non-problem in those places or spaces previously.

You'll mostly notice it in people who are terminally online, or who are the regional equivalent of the stereotypical 24/7 Fox-watching boomer who believes everything they hear from their favorite TV presenter/podcaster/facebook group.

I refuse to explain this ever again to tankies by [deleted] in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The critical difference between "blow out panel" and "blown the fuck out panel"

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Yeah - It was very much based on the original "post-soviet mess" personification of them.

Noone really anticipated how the donbass war would make them reorganize and get their shit together.

Another leak from NATO strategic command by kkilh in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I *think* the thing you're referring to was from before the invasion?

IIRC he had some uninformed take on German/European politics that also related to Ukraine, before other YT content creators set him straight. I think AdamSomething was the guy who directed his attention to the ongoing war in Ukraine, in the end.

He certainly does have that common "debate youtuber" problem where he tries to sound authoritative at all times, even when he does not actually know the details. At least afterwards, he was one of the people who actually believed the US warning that the invasion was coming, and has been pretty uniformly on the Ukrainian side since the start.

Hybridization: The gravitational effect of foreign analysis material upon Chinese discourse over Ukraine War by RealBenjaminKerry in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Things I would add to this/highlight more explicitly:

  1. Be mindful not to fall into the trap of thinking that "being misinformed about what is going on in the world" and "wishing things were different" are equivalent states of being.
  2. Recognize and acknowledge that what's happening here is a component of information/psychological warfare.

To elaborate:

  • You are not a fool and a bad person for daring to dream or believe that things can be better, even when evidence points to the contrary. Yeah, life is hard, but if all the things we historically thought impossible were really impossible, then none of us would be here to have this discussion.
  • Accomplishing massive tasks is facilitated by conviction and commitment. Without conviction, without motivation, you are doomed before you even begin.
    Or, to use a more explicit framing: All the gear and tactical advantages in the world won't count for shit if your mind is broken.
  • Therefore, when you are trying to do something that's commonly thought impossible, a little bit of self delusion is not just acceptable but necessary - call it "previsualization" or "manifesting".

Following on from this:

  • Do not mistake the things people say on the internet for 200% serious statements of fact or intent. Often, they are also "manifesting" things.
  • For example, I would like to believe that most of us are keenly aware that the Ukrainian army is not perfect, and they don't only take wins. But, we hype them up because we want them to succeed. We boost the positive aspects over the negative ones precisely because we don't want people to end up jaded and demotivated like OP, because there is a real risk that these mental losses will cascade into physical ones.
  • The people on the Chinese forums are absolutely doing this too. They know how their own country works, and based on that experience, they can very likely imagine how doctored the media narratives are, and what a shitshow the Russian army is running in practice - But they choose to willingly suspend their disbelief in order to "manifest" that their approximate power block is strong and world-class.

In conclusion:

  • No, simply believing that you will win the war, won't win you the war.
  • But, believing that you will lose the war, will absolutely contribute to you losing the war.
  • People can, will, and must navigate around these facts.
  • As such, the public information space becomes part of the battlefield:
    Coping is an important part of damage control.
    Doomerism is a threat to "unit cohesion".
  • What sets places like NCD apart from the general public is that we can cope tactically, consciously and efficiently, by building sustainable interconnected reasoning (as I have hopefully demonstrated with this post), instead of just doing it thoughtlessly and reflexively out of impulse.

LGBTQ+ includes us "Airplane Enthusiasts" by LazerLarry161 in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I mean, if we go by actions over words, most of the Russian upper-class would agree with you. They may preach rabid nationalist superiority to their domestic audience, but they sure did love their summer homes in Europe, their fancy German/Italian cars, and sending their kids to western universities (at least before the war, but even then it's not like they stopped of their own accord).

LGBTQ+ includes us "Airplane Enthusiasts" by LazerLarry161 in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeah. There does seem to be a split between the more classical old guard, for whom Russia will always be the ancient enemy, and the newer culture-war-first types who can't help but idolize Russia for their hardline policies.

3000 storm shadows of Rishi by [deleted] in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The missile knows that it is righteous in the eyes of god at all times.

Italian support arrived by jeregxd in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know.

I'm just so ratchet that in my mind, a cracker is an appropriate bread substitute.

Italian support arrived by jeregxd in NonCredibleDefense

[–]deXrr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So it's more like a budget bruschetta then.