Reflections on Childhood

One of the things we do far too little of these days is let kids be kids. Yes, I know. We also simultaneously don't teach kids responsibility. They're not all that far apart though. In a very real sense, the former directly leads to the latter. Look at a playground these days. They've gotten a little more interesting of late, but singsets, tall slides, and "monkey bars" as well as large climbing frames and domes people my age knew well in elementary and middle school are just gone, along wit…

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Squadron Strike: Traveller

Squadron Strike: Traveller

There are a number of different space warfare games. Some are purely strategic, like the Traveller-based Fifth Frontier War, or a mix, like the Starfire system used to inspire several of David Weber's non-Honor Harrington books. Others are very tactical. Take Star Fleet Battles, or Talon. Not many were realistic. Sure, SFB could get as insanely detailed as a game of Harpoon, but it was still warp drives and swooping spaceships. Very little captured the freedom of motion of fighters in Babylon…

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Catch All and Catch Up

Catch All and Catch Up

A few odds and ends that don't wuite need a full writeup but I think are worthy of attention and a couple quick notes. First of all, Castalia House takes a quick look at Dwarf Fortress [http://www.castaliahouse.com/wargame-wednesday-obsessive-game-design-dwarf-fortress/] . I don't have much more experience with the game than they do, but have managed to arrive at a couple unpleasant fates for our poor delvers. I'll note that there's a total newb pack [http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF20…

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Why That "SJW Stuff" Matters

Why That "SJW Stuff" Matters

OK. In parts 1 [https://thelastredoubt.com/why-the-sjw-stuff-matters-an-intro-and-comicsgate/] and 1.5 [https://thelastredoubt.com/false-middles/] I covered an article on why the marketing signaling doesn't matter, and specifically took the article to task for how it looked at a marketing/attention-seeking only filter to both of their actions. Incidentally, this overview is well worth your time. As I noted, at least in the case of the comicsgate imprint, it wasn't about trademarks or copyright…

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