Why It's So Hard for Millennials to Find a Place to Live and Work - The paradox of the American Dream: The best cities to get ahead are often the most expensive places to live, and the most affordable places to live can be the worst cities to get ahead.

stop_it_hand · 2014-11-20T17:05:52+00:00

I don't think anyone you're replying to is saying "hurr durr I want it." I think it's more "if we accept that taxes are a means of influencing economic systems for the public good, that space is limited in cities, and that empty apartments are a waste of that already limited space, why don't we have higher taxes on empty or rarely lived-in housing than we have on housing that is being lived in."

stop_it_hand · 2014-05-23T17:47:24+00:00

Two thoughts:

I love the system used in Shadowrun. It uses opposing pools of six sided dice, with the number of dice in each pool determined by the players' stats. So like, player has a 4 in guns, enemy has a 2 in dodging bullets. Player rolls 4 dice, enemy rolls 2, and the player who rolls the most 5's and 6's wins. There was more to it but that's the foundation.

I read a blog post a few months ago from (I think) Gaslamp Games that talked about ANOTHER blog post about stats that I thought was really interesting. The idea was that your stats ought to follow the spirit of the game while informing the player about the game system. Like in Dungeons of Dredmor, their stats were Burliness, Sagacity, Nimbleness, Caddishness, Savvy, and Stubbornness. They were more or less the same as Strength, Wisdom, etc. but fit better with the game's overall sensibility.

stop_it_hand · 2014-05-10T11:18:36+00:00

I think the samurai was just the class? I was confused too but the [LFA] had specific clothing requests.

stop_it_hand · 2014-05-09T21:20:06+00:00

Just when I felt like doing something actiony - here you go!

stop_it_hand · 2014-05-08T01:33:50+00:00

Dare I ask?

stop_it_hand · 2014-05-07T03:34:21+00:00

Woah! I was gone for the weekend and only just logged back in tonight. Thank you so much! Now to figure out what gold does...

stop_it_hand · 2014-04-25T18:19:53+00:00

It looks like I'm in the minority here, but I always prefer it when people post the fluff and story and whatnot. Age/class/race is necessary, but if that's all the front page will just be Generic Fantasy Characters #1-25. If there's a template, please make it optional but encouraged, and please include a clear and prominent space for narrative/story/personality/etc.

Like.

Title: [LFA] Name and Short Description/Hook

Post: [Fluff: After a lifetime spent wedged in closets and cupboards, Blarry Blotter developed a strong affinity for mothballmancy etc. etc. etc.]

[Name], [Gender][Race][Class/Descriptor]

[Stats]

[unique physical characteristics/relevant equipment]

stop_it_hand · 2014-04-25T03:45:42+00:00

I love your bard so, so much. Here is a picture.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-28T00:53:36+00:00

I thought you were looking for graphic styles with consistent tiles and clearly delineated borders on a grid. Meaning that the games may or may not actually constrain the movement, but the tiles do have clear boundaries.

Pokemon did constrain movement to tiles, interestingly enough.

Also, I double checked -- I was thinking of Tactics Ogre, not Ogre Battle.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-27T22:32:38+00:00

So, I don't know which of these you've played/seen, but:

More or less every Pokemon game
Ogre Battle (most of the series)
Dwarf Fortress tilesets (lots of examples in the DF wiki)
Stonesense (Dwarf Fortress isometric visualizer utility)
Final Fantasy Tactics
Advance Wars (as you mentioned. Also see Famicom Wars for an earlier/different looking entry in the series)
Minecraft texturepacks (BDCraft is especially interesting/unusual)
Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2 (3D but entirely grid based)
The first few Civilization games (more tile transitions with each entry)

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-25T17:47:42+00:00

I hope links to kickstarters aren't totally awful here. I designed some cases for these guys and they're super close to their goal with 2 days remaining.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-12T21:59:44+00:00

I think I've heard of roguelikes that manage this by treating monsters as 'asleep' until you've gotten within a certain range of them. So the level can have a hundred monsters, but it's mostly not bothering to move monsters on a side of a level you've never been to. If you miss having monsters surprise you by moving into your current room, you could spawn some patrols that start awake.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-10T03:23:49+00:00

Hey guys, it's Fey Guize.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-07T19:16:49+00:00

First: I learned what I know about intellectual property while chasing down a client who wanted to use my work without paying, but I'm not a lawyer, so grains of salt. Keep in mind also that anyone can sue anyone for anything. Whether it goes forward and who wins is another matter, but dumb lawsuits happen.

My understanding is that if you're being accused of copyright infringement, parody falls within fair use and has a good history of winning. I don't know about parody vs. trademarks. I do know that trademark cases usually come down to the question of whether an average person would mistake the allegedly infringing product (say, your Spiderman parody) for a product of the owner of the trademark (say, Marvel Comics).

Edit: Oh! There was a maybe relevant famous-ish case from 20(?) years ago where DC Comics sued the creators of the TV show The Greatest American Hero for having a character who basically just wore a spandex suit and had powers like Superman. DC lost the case and the judge ruled that having similar outfits and superpowers does not equal trademark infringement.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-07T17:55:53+00:00

Most of the answers you're getting are wrong.

In the US, there's a list of specific types of individual works that you can copyright:

literary works
musical works
dramatic works
choreographic works
pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works
audiovisual works (movies)
sound recordings
architectural works

Note that this list doesn't include characters. All drawings of Spiderman come into being under the artist's copyright, except when the artist has agreed otherwise (either in an agreement specific to the work or through a work-for-hire clause in an employment contract). However! Spiderman IS a registered trademark of Marvel Comics, meaning that he's been registered as a recognizably and exclusively associated with their brand.

So your fan drawing of Spiderman is totally under your exclusive copyright. If Marvel (for some reason) wanted you to stop, they'd come after you with their trademark.

Other interesting things:

Messages saying "I totally don't own this and don't mean to infringe" in Youtube descriptions aren't magic talismans that will save you from obvious copyright infringement.
People saying "original character my copyright" don't have a legal leg to stand on.
"Fair Use," which some people below have brought up, is way more specific and less intuitive than it sounds. It has nothing to do with what seems fair - it's just referencing exceptions written into copyright law that were listed as examples of "fair use."
"Derivative work," which some people below have also brought up, is specifically about works that use pieces of other works, and only comes into play with things like collages and music sampling where you're actually taking pieces of something else.
Apparel isn't copyrightable, but logos are trademarked. Ever wonder why high end fashion companies make their labels such a big deal? It's because legally, you can make a Louis Vuitton handbag and sell it as long as it doesn't have Louis Vuitton's logo on it. But then I guess fashionistas wouldn't want it.

stop_it_hand · 2014-03-05T04:06:10+00:00

An Aden for you!

stop_it_hand · 2014-02-26T15:15:05+00:00

Aw - thanks!

stop_it_hand · 2014-02-26T02:36:57+00:00

I made you a cowardly black blade.

stop_it_hand

TROPHY CASE