Recent content by Umbran

Well, let me ask you a question - do you think is it possible for a man to have a clash with a woman that isn't driven by his sexism? If you don't feel that's possible, then the discussion ends there, I think. If you do believe it is possible - what, in these cases, indicates to you that these...

Please see Marvel Comics' "Civil War 2" (2016) or Phillip K. Dick's "The Minority Report" (1956) for more information.

And thus my point is demonstrated - being unclear leads to less-than-valuable exchanges. "The subject of this thread is stated incompletely," or "the subject of the thread, as stated, is untrue," are both most certainly opinions on the subject of the thread.

Arguments are not discussion. They are two different processes.

Okay, I can fix it to "...that's a major reason for..." That better?

Oh, wait, let me approach this a bit differently... "What happens at the table is the most important thing..." This is probably true as Reynard here intends it, but it is, as stated false. Most of the actual meat of this statement is unstated, unspecified, or implicit, and only apparent from...

So, there are bad interactions men can initiate with women that aren't sexism. If there had been a third doctor who had panic attacks, a dude that that he let slide, that would be a more clear indicator. But lashing out at someone else who has a behavior you hate in yourself? That is a...

Goodness, gracious, yes. When the interior of the die is too busy, it gets hard to read. Also - I can understand that artistically, it is nice if the ink of numbers "matches" the colors of the die, but contrast is key to legibility. It's a physics thing. Metal dice are typically heavy, and...

Or, it is perhaps better to say, that time hasn't told on that point. Generative AI's tendency to hallucinate is not limited to English language work and poorly drawn hands - it exists in coding packages too. I expect, in the long run, for code quality to drop, and fragility to rise, as you...

These days, my sessions are short, and only run a couple times a month. I just don't have time for material that isn't core to whatever the players are doing. Yes, yes, "make the world feel small". Sure, whatever. If I try to add interest into yet more things, the group never gets anything...

Ah, so, while I don't think I was wrong to suggest broadening the definition of play, the sport analogy makes me think there's another route to much the same point. But it does mean I negate your original thesis. Play is not paramount. ENGAGEMENT is paramount. Because, you see all those...

I mean, that is exactly my point - in taking that stance, you start with blinders on. The point is to stand beyond your own favorite bits for a minute, and remember that there's a whole of entertainment to be had that may not be your personal focus, because ignoring the other things is missing...

Among crafters, it is often noted that purchasing crafting supplies and actually using crafting supplies are two separate hobbies.

Monopoly. Kind of a crappy game, imho. I'm not interested in engaging in it. Does that mean it isn't a form of play at all? For anyone? Anywhere? No, it just means it is a kind of crappy game. So maybe building (say, 3e D&D) NPCs and monsters is kind of a crappy game. Alas for your...

My very first game of D&D was run this way. My eldest brother had brought the AD&D rules home from college as an X-mas gift to his younger siblings. He referred to it as running the game "blind" - we didn't even have character sheets, just broad descriptions of who we were and what we could do...