The :3 Pit

I have made a lot of mistakes in my tabletop design stuff, especially early on, but I'm proud that I never put a "If the mechanics contradict The Story™ you're telling just ignore the mechanics" because 1) it's extremely obnoxious when rulebooks act like they're giving you permission to do something that you can technically always do if you want (even if I think it's usually against best practices) and 2) whenever a game has a "this game is about X and Y but if the mechanics start rubbing against that narrative just fudge the dice, lie to your players and/or ignore the mechanics" clause (e.g. OG World of Darkness) the designers are kinda just openly admitting that they're leaning on the GM's ability to ignore mechanics as a crutch for the fact that they didn't design good mechanics for the narrative they wanted their game to be about.

I think more game rulebooks should abandon the wishy washy "uuuhhh the rules are a guideline 👉👈 feel free to ignore them whenever you want if it conflicts with [narrative the rules don't support but the authors REALLY REALLY want you to believe their game us about]" thing and openly embrace the stance that while they can't stop you from ignoring the rules, the rules are there for a reason, and ignoring them will presumably result in a worse experience. And if you as a designer can't in good conscience bring yourself to unapologetically take the stance of "this mechanic is here for a good reason, its presence improves the game, and removing it would almost universally result in the players having a worse experience" about any one of your mechanics that's a pretty good indication that that particular mechanic should either be presented as optional or just not included in your game at all in the first place, don't put it in your game just so you can tell your players to ignore it.

If I just spent like $60 on your RPG sourcebook you had better have something that you believe is good and important to tell me in it. If your rules are worth money they're worth explaining and standing by. Tell me how your rules connect to one another, tell me what I would need to do to replace them if I took parts out, tell me the scenarios in which they are and aren't important. Even if I am going to start going around with a sledgehammer taking down walls; I want to do that with the knowledge that the whole system won't collapse on my head because it was made by someone with zero confidence or ability to design a game. I should be hacking the game for fun, not because it doesn't work if I don't. Giving me permission is worthless; letting me see your design documentation and teaching me how an why your game works is priceless.

The problem with trying to fix The X-Files is that its writing and characterisation are so wildly uneven even from episode to episode within a given season that most of the time your "improved" version will just end up being an accurate description of a specific episode of The X-Files.

(And, critically, because there exists one specific episode which more or less accidentally answers to the description of the imaginary show you're proposing, certain fans will insist the entire series ought to be given credit for being like that and you're just looking for excuses to complain.)

Very importantly, this works in both directions. Both your improved version and the most unfair caricature of the show you could possibly concoct exist as actually-aired episodes.

Two dudes in my group chat have been playing league & slowly but surely have shifted from saying "wanna play league of legends" to "wanna play some geego legends". At this point their average post is just @ing the other and going "geegogagand?" and I feel insane

snakes really make you appreciate how gross mammals really are. squamates are very dry and clean

a bird is a kind of reptile that has learned to be yucky.

why does my mother suddenly fail kindergarten whenever she tries to do anything on the computer

I know she doesn't know what "the maximise button" is so I told her "click the square at the top right" and she clicked...the printer icon...in the middle of the toolbar. and I'm just like okay. this isn't a technology thing you are flunking basic shapes and directions. I'm turning off your computer and getting you a block puzzle. you have a master's degree

Characters will make a very nuanced choice that makes sense for their story arc and internal conflict, and audience members will be like "is anyone else going to misconstrue this in the most black and white, bad faith manner possible?"

One thing that Moebius really understood as an artist is that fantasy and science fiction needs more strange hats. Our current hatless existence is really an anomaly. If you look at virtually every historical portrait of people, EVERYBODY is wearing a hat (or some kind of headgear, a veil, a scarf, a hood, even a headband at least). Even in early photographs before the 1950s, you won't find a single person without a hat. You can't help but notice.

avengers doomsday trailer is so fucking embarrassing bro it's like watching an aging celebrity try to relive their greatest hits

it's so rote now... ooooh here's 72 actors you recognize making shocked faces at a greenscreen. ominous narration to let you know that this is definitely the scariest thing we've ever had to fight. we wheeled Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan out of the retirement home to fag it up again. are you entertained. are you reaching for your wallets yet.

I've never seen anything more soulless in my life tbh. I've never wanted to see a movie crash and burn more. let it be dead so marvel studios can get on with being a spirit halloween already.