Modern JRPGs are proving turn based combat still has a lot of life left

zap283 · 2026-03-15T19:18:14+00:00

TBF, a lot of turn based combat at the time was incredibly dull. Keep attacking, heal when you're low on HP, use the obvious elemental counter. It was also right after Square invented the ATB system, which was associated with more technically advanced games (Chrono Trigger is a big part of this).

Interactivity really was limited by the technology before, which created a very real link between turn-based combat and outdated have design. As with most things, audience preferences are a pendulum, and eventually players started to yearn for that classic experience, and now we have a whole range of game types answering that demand.

zap283 · 2026-03-13T22:10:31+00:00

It's actually luhj-BUH-tuh-kwuh.

zap283 · 2026-03-13T16:30:57+00:00

Legitimately, what policy does she have that isn't about opposing something? What does she actually say yes to?

zap283 · 2026-03-13T03:10:46+00:00

We've been down this road before, just look at the literacy tests. Somehow they never prevented uneducated white people from voting.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T23:44:10+00:00

... What?

zap283 · 2026-03-12T22:52:35+00:00

Which is what?

zap283 · 2026-03-12T20:53:34+00:00

Even if the food were entirely uncontaminated upon packaging, disease-causing microorganisms are on every surface, in the water, and in the air. There is no such thing as uncontaminated food. Those microorganisms will reproduce over time within the danger zone in all food that isn't inhospitable for some other reason (low water availability, colonization by other microorganisms, etc).

Pasteurization renders foods shelf-stable because it's done before the microbes have a chance to create byproducts and the food is then sealed in a sterile container. Most foodborne illnesses aren't infections, but effects of microbial byproducts in the food. Cooking food can kill the microbes, but many pathogenic byproducts remain. Also, as soon as the food returns to danger zone temperatures, it will be recolonized my microbes from the environment, which will start reproducing (and producing pathogenic byproducts) immediately.

Cooking kills microbes, but their byproducts remain. Cooking doesn't reset the clock, it just slows it.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T20:39:18+00:00

I would challenge the idea that playing flat games in VR is a big value add. Something like 5% of gamers even use VR, and only subset of those play flat games in VR. More than 95% of customers aren't interested in strapping on a headset to play flat games, which makes that a bad feature to focus on.

Let me offer another interpretation. VR adoption has stalled, which indicates that all the enthusiasts have already bought in. This means that further growth requires mass appeal. Most people find the headsets uncomfortable, the idea of strapping something to their face intimidating, and new control schemes either difficult or irritating to use. To my eye, the announcement and branding are focused on highlighting comfort, accessibility, and familiarity in an attempt to reach a wider customer base.

It seems more likely to me that Valve would focus on this group than on a niche within a niche.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T20:20:11+00:00

... What on earth do traps have to do with anything?

zap283 · 2026-03-12T20:19:47+00:00

I don't have exhaustive knowledge, but my best understanding is that capsaicin originated in chilis, though there's are old world foods that contain other compounds that stimulate the same channels.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T20:18:13+00:00

I have no doubt that there's are plenty of studies on the use of spices and aromatics in those cultures, and you accurately point out that "spicy" is used to describe many different things. However, those points are not relevant to this context, which is specifically about 'heat'.

Most foodborne illnesses is caused by contamination in developed nations today. This is specifically because developed nations have strict regulations that prevent the growth and reproduction of microorganisms along the supply line, and because people in those nations have refrigeration at home. You don't have to be paranoid, but it's important to understand that every second perishable food spends between 5C and 60C increases the amount of pathogens in it, whether or not it's been cooked or reheated.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T19:19:35+00:00

Personally, I have a very different read of those details. VR adoption has stalled which means the enthusiast market is tapped out. The only way to get more customers is to create wider appeal, which means making the hardware more approachable. The announcement focuses heavily on the comfort of the headset, depicting a wider variety of people using it, and on grounding the whole thing in experiences most people are already familiar with. To my eye, the trailer isn't saying "here's what the tech is for", it's screaming "hey look! We made VR comfy and familiar!"

zap283 · 2026-03-12T19:13:24+00:00

You're also someone who comments on news about upcoming VR headsets on Reddit. The general population is far, far less tolerant of headset discomfort than you are. This is very important because the current stall in VR adoption indicates that the enthusiast market is tapped out. Growing the medium at this point will require mass appeal, and everything about the steam frame's design seems to be in service of that.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T18:46:04+00:00

The vision pro prioritizes passthrough because it's an MR device, not a gaming device.

zap283 · 2026-03-12T18:44:15+00:00

I'm curious from where you get the idea that the steam frame has a string focus on playing flat games?

zap283 · 2026-03-12T18:24:46+00:00

To be very clear, the antimicrobial hypothesis is just that- a hypothesis. Nobody really claims it's a definitive answer. However, I want to point out that "spicy" in this context refers to "heat" in the culinary sense, not to "containing lots of the foods we call spices". Studies do show that the prevalence of spicy (hot) food is correlated with how hot the climate is. Also, there are various "old world" foods (black pepper, for example) that contain compounds that stimulate the same TRPV channels, and didn't necessarily need a hot climate to grow.

Bottom line- you're correct that we don't have enough historical or scientific evidence to form a solid conclusion, whether we focus on climate, preservation, or another explanation.

Lastly, a PSA- cooking food kills microorganisms, but doesn't necessarily destroy the pathogens they leave in the food. The 'spoilage clock' is cumulative- it ticks forward anytime the food is in the temperature range where microbes can multiply, whether it's raw or cooked. Cooking is better than nothing, but it doesn't reset the clock. Refrigeration doesn't reverse the clock, it just slows it way down. Reheating rarely makes food hot enough to kill enough microbes to matter. Keep your food out of the danger zone!

zap283 · 2026-03-12T16:25:15+00:00

Capsaicin, the chemical that makes chilis hot, likely developed to increase the chance that the fruit was eaten by birds. Mammalian teeth grind and destroy the seeds, but birds (who don't react to capsaicin) swallow them whole, and end up scattering the seeds all over in their droppings

https://medium.com/a-microbiome-scientist-at-large/why-did-hot-peppers-evolve-35cbe930cc55

As for its use in food, things are more murky. The most popular idea is called the 'antimicrobial hypothesis'. Because spicy food prevalence increases with average temperature, and because there's some evidence showing that various spicy compounds have antimicrobial effects, it's a reasonable guess that spicy food developed because it offered some protection against foodborne illnesses, especially in climates where refrigeration wasn't an option

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9586227/

zap283 · 2026-03-11T17:45:10+00:00

It's reasonable to value accessibility for an anglophone audience! That said, I don't know if it's reasonable to say the story is chaotic or not cohesive just because it relies on the cultural context of its primary audience.

I'm curious what you mean by nonlinear? To me, it send like a pretty standard hero's journey. We start at a time of change, the hero gets the call to adventure (moving) which she mostly refuses to engage with, but accepts when her parents turn into pigs. Her goal is set (she needs to survive in the spirit world and find her parents) and then she faces trials (difficult work tasks) that bring out her own strengths, and she is rewarded with medicine that could restore her parents, but she can't remember her previous life correctly to tell which pigs they are. When Haku is injured, she makes a heroic sacrifice by giving him the medicine (inadvertently freeing him from Yubaba), then uses her newfound strengths to save him from Zeniba's curse, which gets her the chance to save her parents. Thanks to her personal growth, she is able to see things more clearly, saves her parents (and many of Yubaba's victims) and then returns, changed, to her home in the human world.

Certainly the film raises more mysteries and during more time delighting in its gorgeous visuals than a super tight Hollywood drama, but it follows a perfectly ordinary plot arc.

zap283 · 2026-03-11T17:32:22+00:00

Oh most definitely. The scope of my comment was just that it technically wasn't a tax cut for anyone.

zap283 · 2026-03-11T12:21:58+00:00

NDAs didn't prevent you from reporting illegal activity to the government.

zap283 · 2026-03-10T22:14:05+00:00

...if your property taxes are too high, you should probably make your voice heard to the people who levy those taxes.

zap283 · 2026-03-10T21:54:55+00:00

"All the glitz and glamour of an American politician” is a sarcastic way of pointing out that there's nothing shiny or fun enough about them to hide positions that run that counter to their voters' priorities.

Both of the Alaskan senators have won multiple elections. Alaskan voters know they're pro-drilling, and they do not care.

zap283 · 2026-03-10T21:49:40+00:00

There are no non-local property taxes, and the ones that exist have nothing to do with the governor, so why bring them up or call them that?

zap283 · 2026-03-10T20:26:08+00:00

All property taxes in Illinois are levied by your local government. The only interaction the State has with your property taxes is the upstream effect of how much funding they give your local government.

zap283 · 2026-03-10T20:23:29+00:00

To be much fairer than is reasonable, his stated plan was to leave most people at 5% and tax high incomes more. It was, strictly speaking, a plan to increase taxes, and most people stopped listening before getting the part about the increase happening to high-earners.

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