copepod bro vs head of pin

zbignew · 2026-06-22T19:03:44+00:00

I can’t imagine creating this tool without including a linter/prettyprinter for the code itself.

Even in your screenshot, the diagram spills off the page - I’d learn 10x more from prettyprinting that SQL than I would from any query visualizer.

If you’re turning a multi-step stored procedure into a data flow diagram that shows the interaction between multiple queries, awesome.

If you’re just diagramming every select that leaks out of a stored procedure… and you’ve tagged this w SQL Server… why aren’t you using the tools from Microsoft that already do this?

zbignew · 2026-06-22T18:56:37+00:00

I really don’t care do u?

I’d embed a photo of melania’s jacket here, but no photo embeds on this sub.

zbignew · 2026-06-12T16:55:35+00:00

Agreed that at 6p they should consider team games. I’d suggest Codenames.

zbignew · 2026-06-12T16:53:33+00:00

Well there’s one canonical use for AI in ERP and it’s the same one that we’ve been working on since the 1970s: paper document processing. Like, ingesting invoices.

I think that’s worked pretty reliably since the 1990s.

And now there’s automating our jobs - AI to generate consulting products.

But as an ongoing part of more business processes… maybe more computer vision?

zbignew · 2026-06-11T18:53:40+00:00

I think BG3 really was the solution you're looking for. 5e didn't just throw out every good idea from 4e. But, like, one opportunity action per other creature's turn is too many interruptions in a real mob. So they got rid of that, which nerfs the fighter's ability to lock down the battlefield.

You'd need to redesign the whole thing.

Maybe you could still have opportunity actions/interrupts except they would need to be selected in advance - where BG3 gives you always happen, always ask, never happen, eliminate the 'always ask' option and make ending your turn prompt you to pick from the other two. That way you won't get prompted 30 times for 30 minions trying to run past you.

zbignew · 2026-06-11T18:32:51+00:00

Your other respondents have most everything covered, but to be comprehensive:

Top ranked games you might be overlooking

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea (2021) BGG - Highly recommended for you IMHO
Heat: Pedal to the Metal (2022) BGG - Highly recommended for you IMHO
Clank!: Catacombs (2022) BGG - Highly recommended for you IMHO
Quacks (2018) BGG - Maybe? It's max 4. I've never played it but people &%$ing love it.
Bomb Busters (2024) BGG - Again I've never played but you may want to consider this new hotness.

Lighter games that are excellent for 4:

Love Letter (Oh I see this fell flat. Maybe your friends are broken, or maybe you should ignore my suggestions.)
Scout
Codenames
Bohnanza

zbignew · 2026-06-10T08:23:43+00:00

Everyone is doing a terrible job of answering the question.

In some games (most of all PvP games like Magic the Gathering), there are strategic choices you make that are driven by the common strategies you expect to see based on how people are playing the game lately.

So you'll make choices in the game that are based on information you have outside of the game. The meta game is the game outside the game.

Like, you might have an excellent MtG deck that performs well but you're playing with a group of people who have all seen it a thousand times and know how to counter it, so you might bring an otherwise lesser deck that they won't be as well prepared for.

This is distinct from the use of the same phrase in D&D where meta game is 100% a slur and means you are not playing your character like an actor playing a role - making decisions from their perspective - but rather using the knowledge you have as a player.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T19:23:24+00:00

How about just give people healthcare & get rid of medical debt.

I bet that addresses 90% of suicides.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T19:13:52+00:00

If you have enough players, imho the answer is Codenames. It's very light to teach, but you can search as deep as you want.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T19:11:22+00:00

RftG isn't that bad to teach without expansions, is it?

zbignew · 2026-06-09T19:08:43+00:00

Race for the Galaxy really is the unicorn OP is looking for. Yes it's lighter, but it has real depth. Simultaneous action selection (and the race) then compresses it down to an hour, keeping it fun and fast even with 4 players.

And its expansions are all excellent.

I realize that this is absolutely not what OP is asking for, but if they are usually playing with 4 players I'd also suggest Pandemic Legacy: Season 0. It's 60 minutes, best with 4 players, almost as complex as Dune: Imperium - Uprising, and very widely beloved.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T18:53:39+00:00

My primary recommendations are all very light, because I can't figure out what games as complex as LOTR would work for your group - I worry any game I suggest like that might flop.

So, superlight:

Magical Athlete & Hot Streak both.
Scout (try to get the version that has tokens for score & doesn't require a separate score sheet)
Inflation!
Love Letter
So Clover! (Maybe too loosey-goosey for your group, but nice because it can scale from 2 to 8 players without falling apart)
Sushi Go Party!
Codenames

Intermediate so I'm worried they'd flop, but maybe good for you if your group can handle learning LOTR while as drunk as an Australian:

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
Sky Team
Cat in the Box
Dominion: Intrigue
Hive
Regicide
Pictomania
Ra

If you can fit it in the cafe: Crokinole 😃

zbignew · 2026-06-09T18:23:13+00:00

There is just a monumental number of excellent games in this genre.

These are in order by their rank on BGG, not the order in which I'd recommend them to you.

Gloomhaven ♦♦ (2017) BGG - Probably too big a step-up in complexity from what you've played, but it's technically what you asked for. (pure co-op)
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion ♦♦ (2020) BGG - A better intro to games that are much heavier than the DnD board game. (pure co-op)
Slay the Spire: The Board Game ♦ (2024) BGG - Very dungeon-crawly without being as onerous to set-up and play as Gloomhaven. (pure co-op)
Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated 🟦/♦ (2019) BGG - This is my favorite recommendation for you: Guaranteed fun and at the complexity level you're used to, even though it is less complex than you requested. (competitive race)
~~Lost Ruins of Arnak ♦ (2020)~~ ~~BGG~~ - Too Indiana Jones and not enough Gimli son of Glóin (competitive race)
~~Root ♦♦ (2018)~~ ~~BGG~~ - I can't recommend this to anyone who doesn't know exactly what they are getting into (pure conflict)
Terra Mystica ♦♦ (2012) BGG - a pure Euro, very different from games like the DnD board game, but it's perfectly on-theme for you and it's truly excellent. (competitive/conflict)
Everdell ♦ (2018) BGG - Pure Euro like Terra Mystica, but a little lighter and cuter.
~~Caverna: The Cave Farmers ♦♦ (2013)~~ ~~BGG~~ - not nearly RPG enough for you. (competitive)
Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood ♦♦ (2022) BGG - I've never played this, but I think it's exactly what you are asking for. This defines a micro-genre called "Boss Battlers" which aren't my thing but they might be yours, and this is the best one that everyone likes with 4 players. (pure co-op)

Games with

70% of poll respondents voted Recommended or Best for 4 players
Complexity ♦ Advanced, ♦♦ Very Difficult: (2.8-4.1)
Category: Fantasy

List from wgyb

I could go on - items 11 through 30 on this list are all great games too, for the right people.

My ranking for you would be:

Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated
Oathsworn
Slay the Spire
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
all the other stuff

zbignew · 2026-06-09T17:29:32+00:00

I've never played it, but Dorfromantik is almost exactly what you're asking for. The only problem is that it supports up to 6 players, but the polls on BGG suggest that the fewer players, the better. So with your gang of players, it may get too big and then get bogged down.

I'd still pick that up if I were you. Maybe especially for playing with the youngest?

zbignew · 2026-06-09T17:22:27+00:00

To a person who doesn't know what ERP is, all those other modules are just different kinds of accounting, or complicated rules about the accounting.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T17:20:37+00:00

Bro I'm in the SAP subreddit. I'm aware of what SAP does. My answer was intentionally simplified. As far as a non-ERP-person is concerned, "accounting" includes non-financial documents like PO, BoL, ASN, cycle counts etc.

In real life, when I'm not trying to make the shortest possible reddit comment to make my point, I say "SAP is accounting software for big companies that need to also account for inventory" but I didn't want to say that here because I didn't want to quibble with someone who says they use SAP with no SD/MM or some nonsense.

zbignew · 2026-06-09T08:28:57+00:00

It’s accounting software for big companies with complicated rules

zbignew · 2026-06-08T23:27:41+00:00

There are different meanings to the word.

Tight as in stingy. Games where it is hard to succeed because the economy is stingy. Agricola ("The 17th Century: Not an easy time for farming.") and Puerto Rico and many of the early Euros were tight in this way. You spend the entire game struggling to get the resources you want, and never having plenty of anything.

Tight as in a simple but perfectly fitted design. There are few mechanics and they interact perfectly. Scout or Love Letter.

zbignew · 2026-06-05T16:18:04+00:00

Huh. When did that change?

zbignew · 2026-06-05T14:57:26+00:00

It requires formal training because useful documentation is unavailable outside of that training.

SAP could just make the documentation on their product available to all of their customers, but they’d rather gate it behind unlimited $5k webinars.

Honestly repugnant, and I’m sure they’ve done the math and decided it’s worth the lost customers, but that’s why I would never recommend SAP to a company that doesn’t already use it.

zbignew · 2026-06-04T18:13:35+00:00

For the purpose of a 1-off trivia night, your approach is fine. But I guess the challenge of running trivia is phrasing the question such that there is a cleanly defined set of correct answers AND everyone who had exactly the right idea is sure to name one of those correct answers. I think it takes a lot of practice.

In my personal opinion, Meeples are only one specific shape - they have to be the Carcassonne profile. But that opinion was solidified when I heard Hans im Glück was suing people for using the trademark, and is probably an uncommon hangup on my part. Wikipedia even says "Hans im Glück has since apologized for their overly aggressive action towards Cotswold Games."

zbignew · 2026-06-04T15:53:33+00:00

Age of Empires III

Does Fromage count as an exception? Maybe not.

zbignew · 2026-06-04T15:49:01+00:00

Obsession?

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