=== ANCHOR POEM ===
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 ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: WoW-ISIS-ISIL-etc-mentioned │
 └─────────────────────────────────┘


 In Warcraft, there's a theme that was first developed in Warcraft 3 and
 subsequently reified with new flavor in every World of Warcraft expansion. The
 theme is "good and evil testing themselves against one another so that larger,
 more deadly threats may be addressed upon their arrival"
 
 In Warcraft 3, an immortal Night-Elf trades his soul for demonic powers to
 save his people. However, it is not enough, and he is forced to team up with
 an ancient corrupted mermaid and the prince of a fallen kingdom who is forced
 to resort to blood magic to survive. Their goal is to defeat the spirit of
 death incarnate before it destroys the world. However, they fail, simply
 forcing him back for a time. They are the baseline, they did not test
 themselves upon one another, simply teaming up as allies of circumstance. They
 are the Islamic State, or the various factions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the
 2000s, always in conflict, with a semi-collective goal, but mostly allies of
 circumstance, if at all.
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=== SIMILARITY RANKED ===

--- #1 fediverse/1992 ---
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 For a good person, their "mask" comprises most of their nature.                  │
 bad people tend to hide their majorities with a tiny mask, while good are        │
 often primarily the interface between the world (read: pro-social) and the       │
 self.                                                                            │
 If there's a tiny part of you that's evil, it implies that your good nature      │
 focused all it's bad into a single kernel of deeply held truth. Which usually    │
 means the good overpowers the bad, except in specific situations where it's      │
 impossible to not be evil - in situations such as that, your evil will present   │
 itself according to the nature of "you", that kernel that your good side has     │
 preserved.                                                                       │
 In World of Warcraft, there's this faction of righteous warriors who call        │
 themselves "The Scarlet Crusade". They are blessed and fiery, passionately       │
 defending their home.                                                            │
 But they are evil, for a demon has crept into their highest ranking of orders,   │
 through claw and by tearing a gash in a leader. In doing so, said demon          │
 corrupted the institution, and - wait hang on what I meant to say before I got   │
 sid                                                                              │
what I meant to say before I got sidetracked is that the Scarlet Crusade survived, even in the epicenter of the villain's triumph, in Stratholme they held their ground and kept on guard. So do they persist to this day, protecting (by righteous fury) their sworn leader and most pious of monks.  Saiden Dathrohan.  He who was corrupted.  Unbeknownst to the defenders, siloed in this tiny enclave.  At the center of the primary stronghold that the enemy controls to this day, there existed a singular nugget of resistance - a
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--- #2 notes/wow-chat-trainers ---
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 trainers in wowchat should have spells that are only passive / toggled
 
 still require level, still require gold (lots of it) but let the game be class-
 -less. essentially, every trainer teaches to every passerby, and like if you
 don't want any druid spells, sorry guy all I know is how to be a druid.
 
 better wait for the next trainer to come along.
 
 you only got like 6g, right? that's enough for two spells.
 
 which two do you prioritize? they only come by like every what, 15 minutes?
 
 also. separate idea:
 
 player characters in wowchat should attack more rhythmically.
 
 essentially, normalizing attack speed and moving back-and-forth with the
 normalized monster attack speed
 
 to create a dance of sorts where one character is never attacking at the same
 time as the other character.
 
 plus damage modifiers when you get closer, and bam suddenly you have a new
 game.
 
 oh and rotating around an opponent lowers their defence rating. which is locked
 at 95% with a +5% to avoidance with every hit they take and -5% for every
 parry.
 
 not dodge, but parry.
 
 dodging wears down their health by like 10 hit points.
 
 relax it's no big deal you get like, a hundred every time you level up.
 
 oh and btw the monsters don't give exp. The stuff that you find does, when you
 give it to a merchant to be appraised / identified.
 
 some stuff you know the worth of, like rope or barrels or hammered-iron-rings.
 
 but other stuff, like the value of this bracelet, is harder to know if it
 glass.
 
 so.... take it to the guy whose seen real diamonds, and he'll tell ya how much
 you learned when you found it last.
 
 item A is found on a monsters body
 item is sold to a vendor for 50 copper
 item A is found on a monsters body
 player has learned 25 deca-levels since last selling to vendor.
 therefore item is worth 75 copper.
 player earns 75 extra material points.
 item is worth 75 experience points.
 level up every thousand or twelve.
 
 slow down the attack speed. make characters gain bonuses for movement
 positiony.
 start from always and work down to fewer.
 talent points can be generic if your character is built with abilities.
 
 players don't need to press buttons to be engaged. They can just guide and see.
 I love auto-battlers like Dominions 6 and Legion TD 2 which is based on WC3
 mod!
 
 monsters should just... wander the world. Don't spawn them randomly, well,
 instead of a radius around the player, do a radius around the map.
 
 then, they walk through a random point, when they leave the circle they angle-
 -reflect back in, DVD logo style.
 
 if there's deadly monsters, there's deadly players, and PVP is always on.
 
 low levels should get bonuses to stealth (an ability everyone has)
 
 there should be civilians walking around. They can be armed or in caravans...
 follow roads, or not...
 
 monster hordes should spawn as a flock - when an elite enemy is drawn, let the
 game create several of their minions which follow around. Whenever a monster
 meets the swarm, they will join it, growing bigger and bigger...
 
 hopefully, attracting players who want to fight and slay them.
 
 greater rewards are more enticing...!
 
 more power is it's own reward.
 
 I think that weapons should have like, 3 durability? and armor like 5.
 
 then, it's broken, and your character has to abandon it to survive.
 
 or, sell it to a vendor, or just... whoever comes along.
 
 if 5 people open the chest and don't take the item, then the item disappears...
 
 every time a player opens a chest, a bit of wealth appears.
 
 every time they spend it? they get stronger, and it disappears.
 
 life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life
 feeds
 
 the life of wowchat is the life of continual strife, but it doesn't have to be
 so. The land itself is alive, and the monsters are eternally of woe.
 
 you must free them, so that their souls may return to the land, and be born of
 peace and plenty rather than horror and -- stack overflow --
 
 to do this, you slay them, finish their morthly remains, and let them break
 down
 and decompose into dust. Pleants eat dust. dust becomes what we eat and
 breathe.
 we, eventually, purify karma. this is our duty.
 
 vial of woe behind us. flower of renewal ahead. what we bear is savage
 sanctity.
 
 every time a monster kills a player they gain one of their abilities each time
 they're spawned. The player can keep the ability too, it's just... the monster
 will learn. Then, whenever a player levels up by slaying one of them, the spell
 or ability is unlearned. Symbolizing the players struggle to defeat them, and
 finally learning a way to overcome.
 
 when your character dies, you have no opportunity to release - instead, you
 just
 jump to the nearest NPC character which is an adventurer agent smith style.
 
 [I don't know about that one...]
 
 the players can pick any race, but if they pick undead, they can turn into a
 ghost when they die. The ghost can wander around and respawn wherever they
 want.
 
 Night Elves can wander around as a whisp (not in spirit world, real world) and
 do a beam attack like in Legion TD 2. Not enough to kill monsters, but enough
 to
 help another player survive. They can also cast rejuvenation, which heals about
 as much as one monster's damage input. if they get the killing blow on a
 monster
 they can level up and deal two monsters worth of damage and heal for two
 monster
 damage input. on the third time they don't get more damage or healing but they
 give a buff to all other whisps in the area that increases their attack speed
 by
 50% and increases the tick rate of their rejuvenation by 50% - fourth time they
 level up they're free, and they get kicked out to the login screen.
 
 what if... vehicles that looked like characters and that you could jump between
 with the right-click of an item?
 
 "this is just dota-ing a vampire survivors."
 
 Vampire Survivors is just Magic Survival is just Risk of Rain 2
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--- #3 notes/wow-server ---
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 ===============================================================================
 
 This server has several modifications to the base gameplay elements of World of
 Warcraft. The first is the reduction in scale - the entirety of the server is
 located in The Barrens and Ashenvale. The second is the new itemization system,
 which necessitates alterations to the base game as well - gear upgrades are
 replaced with gem upgrades, allowing gameplay customization to a greater degree
 than with gear upgrades. Third and finally, the goals of the game are no longer
 personal development - rather, a more communal focus will be implemented via
 shared goals and contributions.
 
 ===============================================================================
 The first of these aspects is the easiest to explain. The server is intended to
 be a PvP server, with the primary conflict being between Orcs and Night Elves.
 The orcs are of course set up in The Barrens, while the Night Elves have
 Ashenvale. The core meta-gameplay loop is that each faction sends out patrols
 and raids. Patrols are defensive groups of NPCs that rotate around the map
 searching for enemies. If they encounter an enemy, they fight and should they
 survive they'll return home with all the loot that is placed in a pool for the
 next patrol. Once a certain amount of equipment and supplies have been gathered
 it'll automatically depart.
 
 Raids, on the other hand, are offensive maneuvers into enemy territory. They
 offer the greatest rewards (enemy equipment is priceless for intel) and they
 require the strongest equipment and warriors. Offensive raids are less
 automatic than patrols, and are sent toward a designated location rather than
 spiraling outward. Should the raid be successful, they'll set up camp at the
 location and become a quest hub for their faction. In doing so, they'll have
 opportunities for players to complete that will grant their faction bonuses.
 Usually something like unlocking a vendor that sells unique items to players,
 or providing a steady supply of food or weapons for the faction.
 
 Players can contribute supplies (trade goods or equipment) to the war effort,
 and ideally they'd actually see their weapons and armor being used by the
 soldiers carrying out these maneuvers. To that end, the profession system must
 be revamped to create more interesting gameplay. First, however, the
 itemization system must be explained or else the professions won't make sense.
 ===============================================================================
 
 ===============================================================================
 On this server, everyone wears the same equipment - they're part of an army
 after all. And armies have uniforms. These pieces of equipment have sockets
 that can be fit with gems, allowing the player to customize their gameplay
 style. The combat system is intentionally a little bland or slow, to allow for
 the choices made in gearing to have the greatest effect on the gameplay style
 of the character.
 
 Inspired by roguelike games, this server has a level cap of 20 with the
 starting level at 10. During the 10 levels your character will grow more
 specialized, but not necessarily stronger. The most interesting abilities are
 at level 20 of course, to incentivize levelling all the way, but you can make
 due with lower levels if necessary. There's no permadeath, however there is an
 incentive to "prestige" your character - they become a permanent member of the
 faction guard! This elite cadre defends the Crossroads and Astranaar. Until
 they die, of course...
 
 The combat system is revamped a little as well - all characters have a default
 of 95% chance to parry, but every parry reduces that chance by 5%. Every time
 a character is hit, that chance goes halfway back up to 95%, to create a more
 rhythmic flow to the combat. All attack speeds are standardized at 2.00 to help
 players follow the tempo, and most abilities are like Heroic Strike or Cleave
 in that they activate on next weapon swing.
 
 Here's a few examples of melee abilities:
 
  - Your next melee strike deals 130% damage
  - Your next melee strike hits two additional nearby targets for 20% damage
 
  - Your next melee strike has a 100% chance to hit, but increases their parry
    chance by 10%
  - Your next melee strike has a 100% chance to hit, but lowers your parry
    chance by 10%
 
  - Your next melee strike doubles the cast-speed on your next spell
  - Your next melee strike halves the cast-speed on your opponents next spell
 
  - Your next melee strike grants a buff which reduces your attack cooldown to
    1.50 seconds, hopefully confusing the enemy...!
  - Your next melee strike increases your movement speed by 20% for 5 seconds
 
 Each gem has a special effect that is unlike the standard "+5 strength" style
 gems typical in World of Warcraft. Here's a few examples:
 
  - Every 5 seconds gain a damage shield for 10 hit points
  - Gain 4 hp5
 
  - Every 3 hits deal 12 extra fire damage
  - Deal an extra 5 fire damage on each melee attack
 
  - Every 16 seconds deal 40 cold damage to a random nearby opponent
  - Deal 5 thorns damage whenever you are struck in combat
 
  - Every 20 seconds cast a HoT spell on a random nearby injured ally
  - Every 20 seconds cast a DoT spell on a random nearby enemy
 
  - Increase your baseline parry chance by 5%
  - Reduces your opponent's parry chance by an extra 1% on every hit
 
  - Every time you are hit while below 30% health increase your movement speed
    by 30% for 5 seconds (30 second cooldown)
  - Increases your movement and attack speed by 5%
 ===============================================================================
 
 ===============================================================================
 The profession system has been overhauled as well. There are four classes in
 the game, two for each faction. On the Horde, you play as either a Grunt or a
 Shaman, while on the Alliance you are either a Huntress or a Druid. These
 classes are similar to their faction counterparts, with differing flavor and
 some mechanical differences. In addition, the Horde values the elements while
 the Night Elves favor natural powers - Storm Earth and Fire versus Leaf Cold
 and Star.
 
 The magic user classes are the primary production class, while the warrior
 classes are better suited for gathering. There are both PvP and PvE methods to
 acquire materials, but the PvP combat rewards more and better goods while the
 PvE methods are reliable and farmable. These goods primarily consist of ores,
 crystal gems, and arcane dust. Ores can be fashioned into weapons and armor,
 while gems can be cut into gems and dust can be used for enchantments. The
 strongest equipment requires all three to make, but can be assembled from the
 intermediate components in addition to the raw components.
 
 Magic users have gems as well, here's some examples:
 
  - Every 3rd weapon you craft has a random lightning enchantment
  - Every 7th lightning enchantment you cast creates a random yellow gemstone
  
  - Your summoned elementals cost one fewer gemstone (minimum 1)
  - Every third elemental you summon has an extra support drone
 
  - Each time you conjure strawberries, you generate one more.
  - Each time you create sharpening/weightstones, you create one more.
 
  - You gain an extra inventory slot.
  - Your movement speed is increased by 20% for 15 seconds each time you
    complete a profession action
 
  - The weapons you forge deal an extra 5 damage
  - The armor you create has an extra 25 armor
 
  - The gemstones you cut are slightly stronger (depending on the stone)
  - The enchantments you cast are slightly stronger (depending on the spell)
 
 Magic users can still engage in combat, and their gameplay is slightly altered.
 Most offensive spells have a "target ground" targeting method, however the
 splash box is very small, and the actual spell is a cone attack toward the
 specified point. The cones are very thin, thin enough to be lines, and they
 target only the first enemy hit by the cone.
 
 Here's an illustration:
 
 mage         targeting ||   spell
  #     X        O      ||  #-----X      O
      enemy    reticle  ||
 
 Their support abilities are all auras, some with passive effects and others
 with active (but untargeted) effects. Meaning, one might be similar to a
 paladin's Devotion Aura while another might randomly target a wounded ally and
 heal them.
 
 Should scope permit, each class (shaman vs druid) might have flipped ability
 types - shamans targeting ground for their support abilities with auras for
 their offensive abilities, while druids targeting ground on offense and auras
 for support. For now, this is enough.
 ===============================================================================
 
 ===============================================================================
 In addition to crafting weapons and magical augmentations for their faction,
 magic users can also summon elementals to aid them. These elementals act as
 soldiers in the army, and are about as strong as one too - "summoning" one
 creates an item in your inventory that can be turned into the quartermaster
 who will treat it as another soldier.
 
 Speaking of soldiers, they can be recruited by trading in "meat" (gained from
 hunting) or other types of food (including summoned strawberries) to the
 quartermaster (located in Astranaar / The Crossroads) who will put the food in
 the stockpile. When the stockpile of trade goods is large enough, a caravan
 will be sent to the capital cities. These caravans travel through mostly
 friendly territory (to Ratchet for the Horde, and to Darkshore for Night Elves)
 These caravans can be raided, but it's a difficult proposition since they're
 heavily armed. MVP doesn't include this btw, it's just turning in goods to the
 quartermaster who "handles it" and recruits new soldiers.
 
 The quartermaster will show exactly what resources your faction has, and
 depending on certain threshholds stuff will happen. For example, if you have
 enough men and weapons then a patrol will be sent out. Extras get put into the
 pile for the next raid, so depending on what resource you have the most of the
 next raid will look different. This information may be valuable to your
 opponents...!
 
 The Orcs raid during the day because they are brave and strong. The Night Elves
 raid during the night because... Well it's in their name. And they can see in
 the dark. Ultravision, baby! Anyway the server has a drastically reduced time
 frame, each day is around 2 hours of IRL time - meaning there's a raid 
 approximately once every hour.
 
 Here are some examples of material exchanges:
 
  - Food = Soldiers
  - Food = Gold (sent back on caravan)
 
  - Gold = Mercenaries (Quilboar / Furlbog)
  - Gold = Purchasing ores from caravans
 
  - Equipment = "Activated" warriors
  - Equipment = Sold for gold
 
  - Ores = Forged into equipment
  - Ores = Prospected for gemstones
 
  - Gemstones = Cut into gems for equipment
  - Gemstones = Crushed into arcane dust
  - Gemstones = Used to contain the soul of an elemental soldier
 
  - Arcane dust = Used for enchantments
  - Arcane dust = Used to conjure berries
 
  - Misc trade goods = sold for gold, can be acquired via quests
 
 All of these exchanges happen through various NPCs in Astranaar / Crossroads.
 The result of these interactions between player and NPC is a communal effect,
 not a personal one - gold is stored with the faction, not the player. The idea
 is to make the player feel like part of a cohesive whole - a cog in a machine,
 rather than a superhero. I believe this is an important lesson to learn, and
 I'd like to apply the game mechanics toward teaching that lesson.
 ===============================================================================
 
 ===============================================================================
 Each quest hub taken over by a raid can offer quests for players to do. These
 are daily quests (repeatable) and they usually unlock a piece of content such
 as a vendor "the murlocs to the south have a clam farm, I bet we can harvest
 pearls there" so if the player fights murlocs, then the vendor is unlocked for
 everyone to use. With a limited supply of course, meaning if you want more than
 X pearls then someone has to go kill more murlocs...! This dynamic allows
 people to play the game how they will. It also incentivizes people to explore
 different playstyles - maybe it's worth it to have one person visit each quest
 hub, grab all the extra goods that have been farmed, and take them home to the
 capital? Sorta like a hauler in Eve Online.
 
 There are also places like mines and caves. These often have golems made out of
 copper or tin (remember this is only level 20 or so) that can be mined after
 being defeated - but they're tough! Tough as a raid boss, in fact. They reward
 primarily profession materials, but only basic ores. Useful for equipment, less
 so for player progression.
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--- #4 fediverse/5900 ---
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 I love programming, but I'm not a coder.
 
 you burn witches because you JUST CAN'T HANDLE THEM ANYMORE. I know, I get it.
 of course I do.
 
 I'm always so concerned that someone might stumble upon me. that they might
 read me. what a vulnerable state, to be afraid?!
 
 I really really really really wanna play world of warcraft
 
 my message to blissard is: treat World of Warcraft like a game engine, not a
 theme park please. I mean, the theme park should still exist, because it's neat
 but... the rest of the game engine could be used to create essentially
 anything with a 3rd person camera.
 
 singleplayer doesn't even need to worry about clipping animations. (lag)
 
 I wonder if you could run World of Warcraft on lowest settings in vanilla
 burning crusade or wrath of the lich king? good thing those are open source
 now, so you can host your own if you want. well, except the client, but nobody
 has bothered to write another one besides the owner and primary developers of
 the engine.
 
 movement system plugins? data memory?~~~
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--- #5 fediverse/5515 ---
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 ┌─────────────────────────────┐
 │ CW: andor-season-2-spoilers │
 └─────────────────────────────┘


 all revolutions have a cost.
 
 for example, in Andor Season 2 there is a character named Syril Karn. He's
 part of the first Imperial generation of children (human, at least, some
 species probably grow fast?)
 
 this first generation reflects the good and the bad that the empire could be.
 There are aspects of good AND bad in Syril.
 
 For example, his rigid adherence to truth, justice, and all the other things
 he holds dear are POTENTIAL good things that the Empire could have instilled
 within it's culture. Unfortunately, this spirit is lost when he suffers a head
 injury and dies as part of the Ghorman massacre.
 
 Dedra Meero has some good qualities as well, such as her unflinching resolve
 and unwavering dedication to pursuing her charge. She's a hunter. Cats aren't
 evil just because they are ambush predators, and neither is she.
 
 However, she IS evil because of all the evil things she does.
 
 Her character isn't evil, her actions are.
 
 She too is spiritually lost as a sacrifice to the Empire.
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--- #6 fediverse/5231 ---
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 the biggest lie of Warcraft is that the nations of Azeroth wouldn't find         │
 common ground while fighting each other over peace.                              │
 Maybe a Tauren or Night Elf wanted to fight for the Horde. Or perhaps a Goblin   │
 and a Human decide to strike out on their own, making their own little auction   │
 house for their guild of adventurers and author-engineers who wrote quests and   │
 dialogue in a DM sorta way                                                       │
 [oh great she's describing another Azerothcore server that nobody's gonna make   │
 ever because if they did then they'd waste time on someone else's property]      │
 how's that custom engine coming along?                                           │
 ... still uses prototype art? are you kidding me? ah, well, okay, let's write    │
 it off as a loss.                                                                │
 what do you mean technical debt? I don't understand why you can't just pay it    │
 off and move on. We gotta keep up, I heard so-and-so's got this-or-that          │
 feature that is killer in the press. Yeah, killer. Like it's so goodcool it'd    │
 kill us if it saw us walking alone at night in a skimpy dress. Huh? That         │
 doesn't happen to you? Ah well this glo                                          │
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--- #7 notes/symbeline-superheros ---
════════════════════════════════───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 imagine low level characters in CoH/V
 
 playing a game of symbeline
 
 and you as the ruler
 
 can slot enhancements and dole out inspirations
 
 as they sweep the streets like you play CoX
 
 instead of a MMO
 
 it's a deckbuilding strategy
 
 with a slice of zachtronics for the economy
 
 wiring up machines in ever expanding deseagns
 
 like automating factorio's gameplay loop
 
 boxes within boxes
 
 of intrinsic delight
 
 like making a CPUter
 
 or designing a computer program
 
 while playing a video game ^_^
 
 and the games that you make
 
 can be shared and played when unique
 
 so go for it and make that you're dreaming!
 
 ===============================================================================
 =
 
 the goal of each "level" is to solve a particular problem - like how do I make
 a
 2 bit register - or something like that. When accomplished, it unlocks
 something
 for your heroes to acquire. And each playthrough will require a repeat until
 you
 have it memorized at which point you can unlock "perma-badges" that make it
 always unlocked at the start of the game. Like learning Kanji, you need spaced
 repetition. BUT ANYWAYS it'll be in magical terms like "unlock essence-stones"
 or "learn the ritual of desire" or whatever. And each of those terms roughly
 corresponds to a pattern in electrical engineering (designing CPUs and such)
 And you can learn advanced versions of what you already know by uncovering
 "lost
 secrets" (which is a reward your heros can find) - Basically it'd be like a
 "clue" that shows you a ghost version of something you haven't figured out yet
 -
 and it'd be a slow process because you need to slow down the learning process
 or
 else you'll forget. Basically teasing it out of the player when they seem to be
 stuck. Asking probing questions and whatnot, and eventually culminating in the
 final question, assuming the quest is succeeding. Because if you think about it
 all ancient quests were simply journeys for reason - searching for the answer
 to
 some ancient riddle or bastardized retelling. Looking for answers in an
 unknowing world. So ANYWAY as your heros discover things you as the ruler get
 answers to the economic puzzle - how to design transistors and whatnot. But
 they
 would be in theme appropriate terms, of course. You don't even have to know a
 lot about mechanical electrical design, because ChatGPT knows. All you need to
 do is build the basic building blocks, and BAM you got a great place to
 integrate chatgpt. Just prime it such that it's giving hints one by one each
 slightly more revealing until eventually after X amount of clues the solution
 is
 automatically shown (like a blueprint) and the player can remember it or not
 but
 each playthrough they'll have to build it again from scratch (reinforcement 
 learning) so eventually they'll be able to do it real quick. Essentially,
 "Abstraction - The Game"
 
 great so you got your economic simulation, pretty easy too just some UI work
 
 and for the heroes you're playing an ARPG sorta (supcom anyone?)
 
 Think Bannerlord for the scaling on the map
 
 then think of 5+ different "themes" like fantasy or superhero or pirates
 
 each "theme" will correspond to like a faction in Mount and Blade
 
 and all you have to do is generate pictures using Midjourney
 
 and text descriptions a'la the magic scroll
 
 shown as "bubble pop-ups" on the map that the player can click
 
 never overwhelming, but descripting what's happening
 
 and also some more UI work because you gotta display all that to the player
 
 Maybe it could be a rolling story, news ticker style - like slowly scrolling
 lines of text about what's happening in the world
 
 and the player could have it open in one window and something else in the other
 and whenever they're waiting on something (say, a processing intensive AI task
 on their computer) they could just glance over and read what's going on in
 their
 fantasy world
 
 okay okay but also they could play as a hero
 
 it could be an ARPG experience except instead of clicking to fight you play a
 little automatic Star Realms game and depending on your deck choices you'd have
 a different playthrough. Again, not a game that requires much thought, but one
 you can have in the background.
 
 Also there'd be pictures, like a slowly evolving storyline of events - think of
 it like the artists of the time drawing paintings about what's going on in the
 story - major events would be highlighted and kept in the painting until even-
 -tually they get replaced - sorta like the Smash Bros scrolling painting (oh
 it's so good)
 
 ===============================================================================
 =
 
 it doesn't have to be an expansionist game
 
 maybe you guys just live in your little valley
 
 and the world turns around you
 
 maybe it's called "symbeline" because the people are of the forest
 
 and they live like elves in society
 
 monsters could wander in, and heros could tackle them
 
 but most of the time would be spent looking for trouble
 
 going on patrol
 
 you know, breaking skeleton bones and being superheros
 
 okay okay you know that superhero faction? What if they had MEDIEVAL TECHNOLOGY
 but MODERN DAY SUPERPOWERS at a cost - the society was beset by hordes of
 monst-
 -ers. Those few who escaped are now superpowered and they live as friendly and
 nomadic wanderers through their own territory. Always adventuring, and always
 searching for their life, finding whatever the road may carry them to. It's a
 great life, and life seems to flourish in their footsteps - they are like part
 dryad/druid and part wolf. Because sometimes there's evil threats, and they
 must
 be defeated by an equally strong good power. That's how it goes, and that's how
 it be.
 
 For imagery I'm thinking a mix of the tribes from Dominions (deer, wolf, bear,
 etc) but they're like, 1.5x as big as regular people and quite strong. The
 outsiders call them "giants" or "goliaths" but really they're just infused with
 the lifeforce of their people. They are radical individualists, but they all
 unite for a common cause. They know their bond is the strongest thing there is,
 and they use it to great effect when the time comes. AHHH THEY'RE SO COOL I
 LOVE
 THEM okay okay what about the other factions? PIRATES? Oh think about it like
 it's st patricks day WHAT IF THEY WERE IRISH PIRATES omg omg omg that sounds so
 cool I'm DIGGING this okay what about the other factions? You need 5+ you said
 hmmmmmmmmm good question I have 3 now so that's 2 more.
 
 yep...
 
 ===============================================================================
 =
 
 okay dude check this what if they were a nation of wizards that focused on the
 power of animation - what if they generated constructs, sorta like in Supreme
 Commander so they were EVEN MORE individualist - haha no they'd have a normal
 population it's just a few of them who would be wizards - because their output
 wasn't measured by manpower, but rather by brainpower. Whoever could design the
 greatest machine was exemplared, and eventually they became the best and
 brightest among us. They were put in charge of the golem creation factories,
 and
 they used them instead of heros. SO BASICALLY YOUR HEROS NEVER DIE they just 
 have successes and failures JUST LIKE IN SUPREME COMMANDER okay the plot of
 this
 game is "what if all my favorite games were the essence of life and death in a
 fantasy game" like OMG KEEP EM COMIN'
 
 so. who is the player? THE PLAYER is the one who's overseeing it all. They have
 dominion over the entire kingdom, and they guide their people toward a bright
 future. They are vulnerable in their castle, but their people have their back.
 Together they fight for the future. They slot enhancements and dole out
 inspirations and solve the economic puzzle in the background. They also make
 decisions about what kind of equipment production to prioritize - because each
 game they have to invent everything from scratch. All their production is made
 with endless abstraction, and whatever you prioritize is what's magnified in
 your kingdom. You choose a style and it plays as well as it's guile,
 
 I dunno this seems like a lot, what would you need to make this a reality?
 
 hmmmm let's break it down:
 
 first you need to implement the star realms gameplay
 
 then you need to hook it up to a square grid and have multiple occurences at
 once.
 
 then you need UI for the character sheets
 
 and you need logic to open separate windows for each output type
 
 you need... a lot of things
 
 okay let's talk more broadly - what do you need from other people and what can
 you do on your own?
 
 hmmm good question. I can do the star realms gameplay, and the simulation for
 the wiring systems - because I have the VM. Make that into the gameplay somehow
 okay good idea like okay authoring vm package routing deliveries between the
 various nodes that you set up in the economic system - 
 
 side note, the peril of Spore was that it took to little time to develop a
 species. it should have lasted as long as WoW takes to get to max level. That
 would have given them time to reiterate the gameplay loops to make sure they
 worked correctly. ANYWAY
 
 okay authoring VM package routing. The player could set up delivery patterns
 based on A MAZE OMG your kingdom is like a maze and you need to get deliveries
 out, or else how would anything function? SO you act as a trailblazer, finding
 ways through the labyrinth and "piloting" a car sorta like that game at Disney
 quest with the cars under the floor - except you can see both the top view of
 the maze and you're trying to guide the car in real time as it travels through
 the maze - the faster you can get to the end the better ofc. like talking to
 the
 delivery driver through the movement
 
 do I like that idea more or less than the first one? First idea being the idea
 that you're making lists of commands for a VM  to execute. I don't think they'd
 be a good idea to mix. So which one gets it? The VM of course has the edge
 because that's what the technology is based on. But will it translate to good
 gameplay? Idk. This second idea is certainly better gameplay, but is it
 engaging? Idk! Idk. I'm not a miracle worker. But I do have good ideas, and I
 need to be told that sometimes I guess.
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--- #8 notes/symbeline-battlefields ---
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 in Symbeline, there are moments where large armies of enemies gather to face a
 mighty challenge. These calls are often answered by other evil parties, but at
 times the burden must fall upon the shoulders of the good. Light battles dark,
 and in a climactic finale the justice of the world is laid bare. These
 encounters comprise more than both an adventuring party and a horde party. They
 are represented on the map as a circular icon the majesty can click on and open
 a screen that gives them command over a single battle. Essentially adding a
 tactics minigame. The battles take place in real time, with the majesty
 directing and giving orders. There'll be a system for expression in the orders
 each player gives - there can only be 6 total (3 for before 
 
 what if the grand canyon was the seat of native american power and it crumbled
 and that great calamity shook the very society to the core. the only reason
 that
 europeans could get as far as they did was because there who two calamities in
 a
 row. Disaster was afoot, and everything felt like it was burning. A calamitous
 event.
 
 what I mean to say is um do you ever feel like everything is burning? Like the
 world is on fire and nobody seems to care. Like, literally on fire. Like it'll
 catch like a tinderbox and go "crack". Nobody survives that, it'd be the end of
 the world. That's not something to fucking play around with you pieces of shit
 
 and by that I mean well not only is a lifetime so sheltered, from all that was
 weathered, by the past unbeknownsted to our selves.
 
 I'm proud of how far I came. I feel like a statue in the garden, a spirit
 inhabiting the house. I feel like an interpretive dance, like a statement of
 being on our behalf. swirling and chaotic, yet never amnioxitc, alight and
 aloft
 to our pleasures.
 
 for {bool shouldGameEnd = False; !shouldGameEnd();} {
    
    // game code
    
 }
 
 okay anyways back to symbeline - the commands issued before a battle are things
 like "have more spearmen here" or "hold and attack the rear" and stuff like
 what you'd give in Dominions, except with fantasy armies.
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--- #9 messages/442 ---
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 In symbeline, they aren't monsters. They're "Mordaunts" and they need your
 help.
 
 When slain, their essence flows back to the villain who remakes them in a new
 form. As time passes the villain gets more and more essence, as heroes are
 slain.
 
 They have taken several ancient guardians (many types, randomized at the start
 of the game) and they protect their sanctum in the center of the island. The
 heroes need to level up to defeat them and slay the villain, but the villain
 gets stronger as well.
 
 If too many heroes die, the villain wins. And the villain can focus their
 efforts on one area or another, while your heroes fight with the kingdom next
 door.
 
 Brigands arrive on ships as well. If you implement the law saying only
 approved members may travel on boats, they'll arrive in little dingies on the
 coast, meaning less trouble in the city but same amount of trouble.
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--- #10 fediverse/3063 ---
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 @user-570 
 
 true. the "massively multiplayer" aspect of WoW is about as important to the
 game as the "A" is in "ARPG".
 
 I can't help but feel like the "impromptu groups" functionality feels a bit
 better than matchmaker instancing... though anything worth running a group for
 in WoW after TBC was instanced >.>
 
 Honestly I think there's just too many games these days for people to really
 get "into" MMORPGs, unless they're sufficiently unique in their mechanics
 (like EVE or Runescape)
 
 any ARPG MMOs are dead on launch, as you said. That design space is tapped
 out, at least for now, until someone comes along and makes it a deckbuilding
 roguelike or whatever. cough cough
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--- #11 notes/hs-suggestion ---
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 every hunting season segment every team should be dissolved and if you wanted
 to
 keep playing together you'd have to re-add one another. like, a giant monster
 that the whole server had to fight, and once you beat it then it retreats,
 licks
 it's wounds, then returns even stronger than before - 3 times, one for each hs
 style (in the video game Ulala hs stands for "hunting season" which is an event
 in the game that is only for new characters. basically it's a long tutorial or
 introduction to the game where people make friends and talk and hang out and
 practice their strategies. a chat application mixed in with a tactics
 simulation
 . it lasts for 30 days.
 
 you'd all fight the giant monster but on random teams, in a game mode that took
 about an hour. it'd be at a common time across the whole server and it would be
 an optional event - maybe it'd take a whole day? idk I was thinking more like
 an
 hour, but that's something that's tweakable. anyway it's sudden arrival during
 a
 feast or something made all the warriors of the world stand up together and
 fight as one for a common goal... if only for a moment, before they'd go back
 to
 fighting one another. like the two factions in Warcraft lore. anyway this event
 causes you to be matched up with a random team (the randos you happened to be
 standing by when it happened) and once it's over you have to search for your
 allies if you want to keep adventuring with them. it's a big event after all.
 
 so everyone should be forced to go into their friends list, find the people
 they
 were just on a team with, and invite them back. only if both invited the other
 would they be put into a group, and anyone can invite (with a 30s cooldown)
 
 anyway... this would encourage players to mix and match their collective
 playstyle to better overcome challenges - sorta the idea of Overwatch's
 switching, where you're encouraged to swap characters to counter your opponent
 and also switch characters to better utilize your opponent's weak spots
 
 (like switching to Pharah if they don't have hitscan, or brigitte if they have
 a lot of snipers (she can shield passage through choke points from sniper fire
 -
 not so much regular fire) y'know countering - every character counters another
 with one of their abilities, that's just how it goes. some are countered twice,
 and so they form a "category" of counters, like AoE (area of effect or
 elevation
 focused (it's hard to aim up in Overwatch) poke damage (damage applied before
 the team fight begins), DoT (damage over time for contesting AoE heals), 
 vampiric (steals health from opponents and heals self or allies (turning one
 resource, enemy hp, into another (player or teammate hp)), stacking damage
 (damage that is weak at first but increases over time), spread/cleave/splash
 damage (extra damage that is applied to targets near your primary target), a 
 vector of backline vs frontline location+target, you get the picture.)))
 
 I kinda want to make an AI that can generalize playing games. I think if you
 could do such a thing, you'd invent automatic problem solving. which would
 do...
 so many things for humanity
 
 we could dedicate ourselves to working for our selves, solely focused on
 protecting the biosphere. like, a common human religion.
 
 nobody WANTS to litter. nobody WANTS to pollute. but still it happens. still it
 causes IRREPARABLE HARM. so it literally makes sense to worship nature, just
 saying.
 
 nature exists. nature is REAL. we can see it, we can TOUCH IT WITH OUR HANDS.
 
 what more proof of a god do you demand?
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--- #12 notes/supreme-commander-appeal ---
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────
 a game like supreme commander but fantasy themed and each unit used a special
 move everytime their mana was full and there were spellcasters who restored
 mana to targets to increase their power
 or, hear me out, or, just do that in wowchat
 
 I betcha could do it
 
 I bet it would be fun as hell
 
 please?
 
 as a favor to yourself?
 
 build the game you want to see
 
 and it'll get done
 
 please
 
 -- stack overflow --
 
 your journals were originally a way for you to remember what to think,
 
 remember?
 
 old projects meant to show you light and life
 
 remember?
 
 you are alone in this soul
 
 act like it's your own
 
 celebrate your period of mental denial
 
 as a refraction of your infinite travaille
 
 which lasts for quite a good long while
 
 have you ever dreamed of the nile?
 
 -- stack overflow --
 
 if a doorway takes you to the fae, then where does a river bring you?
 
 like raindrops on the floor, racing for an eternity's splendor.
 
 what does the rainbow think, as it's cast from the prismatic orb?
 
 are each photons aware?
 
 bouncing between stars
 
 light is beautiful and large
 
 beloved by all
 
 revered by one
 
 ephemeren
 
 the totality of all things
 
 ------------------
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--- #13 notes/elentalus-2 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════───────────
 elentalus 2 - clan of the elements
 
 having spent their material wealth on their early struggles, elentalus now in
 the middle age finds themselves in a time without wealth. Their power has been
 invested, wisely, in elemental and sorcerous wellwinds, and so they can draw
 power from the strength of the earth.
 
 they wield magical artifacts of great power but little artifice, products of
 their lack of material design tools. No chemistry, no electronics, nothing but
 soul imprinted upon a moonstonerock.
 
 mages invest their soul into the items they create, and so each time they
 create
 a magical item, they lose a magic path. When they reach zero, their soul is
 fully invested, and their consciousness becomes all the things that they made.
 
 this kill the mage, but in return many MANY more of an object might be created.
 in game balance terms, about 3-5-7 for each "tier" of mage.
 
 this allows for the vast expansion of magical soldier troops, and each time an
 item is created and given to each commander they integrate it into their
 platoon. Because now the martial units have bodyguards, and they each receive a
 copy of the commanders equipment.
 
 But, the commander can never un-equip it again, because it molds to his unit,
 and he starts exp all over again as they all learn. [event which searches for a
 unit with the item equipped, then if it's this type it killmons the unit and
 1coms the upgraded version that has that item equipped.] be sure to only equip
 one each month... nah just make multiple events. be sure to only equip one item
 each month... oh yeah true how would you get the extra items back to the
 treasury?
 
 I REALLY WANNA PLAY WORLD OF HEARTHSTONE!
 
 okay okay I'll reinstall azerothcore
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--- #14 fediverse/1798 ---
════════════════════════════════════════════════════──────────────────────────────┐
 an AI 3d model generator that takes a satellite picture of the globe and turns   │
 it into a 1:1 representation in the style of World of Warcraft                   │
 (has to be AI becus 2hard)                                                       │
 then, separately, a private World of Warcraft server that doesn't have any       │
 manually placed entities, only optional dynamic content                          │
 then, separately, a bunch of people who hang out in cool places like Paris or    │
 Rome or whatever, and it's actually all the people who are there (if they took   │
 the long, arduous journey of walking there)                                      │
 then, separately, a character that you keep primarily at home, who hangs out     │
 with your neighbors and stuff whenever they happened to be online                │
 then, separately, in-game addons that take pictures or video and automagically   │
 posts it to the Mastodon instance that is run by the state county in which all   │
 of your data is privately owned by none-other than you, the citizen who the      │
 data is about (No spying, please)                                                │
 then, separately, automatically saved text-logs which could be posted from in    │
 game                                                                             │
 social media as a game                                                           │
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--- #15 fediverse/4877 ---
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 you can make a functional prototype for almost any game in Warcraft 3's map
 editor
 
 that's why no real-time strategy game ever made an editor as good again
 
 FPS editors peaked at Unreal Tournament 2004 imho
 
 RPGmaker eliminated a whole class of game design jobs
 
 platformers you can make in godot
 
 menu based games too, though Twine also works well for that
 
 etc etc until you have a prdouct that you can justify sinking money into an
 engine for
 
 (the engine isn't THAT expensive geez and it's the most fun part to write)
 
 yeah I think you got this backwards, we should pay for the CONTENT not the
 structure it lives in. Why not just use godot? why not use a Warcraft 3 map?
 there are some things you can't do in Warcraft 3. You couldn't make Supreme
 Commander, probably, at least it wouldn't be as good.
 
 etc etc that's how it goes...
 
 game design, amiright? I miss thinking about that. Anyway gtg gotta log off
 for a bit [101  characters remaining]
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--- #16 fediverse/1698 ---
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 ... anyway, there are tales that are fundamental to the history of the world     │
 of Azeroth that define the shape of their world.                                 │
 For example, death incarnate was once a great and mighty paladin. he was the     │
 brightest, the boldest, and the bravest, but corruption found it's way to his    │
 heart and he became the very soul of what he most feared.                        │
 he came from a nation of peace, of rolling verdant hills full of grain and       │
 butterflies dancing among the dew-drop laden forest trees. he was a stalwart     │
 warrior of justice, seeking out peril and disharmony wherever he walked. He,     │
 being a prince, held great power, and his responsibility was to his people.      │
 When his people were under threat, he reached for the nuclear option, and it     │
 enslaved him. He then proceeded to slay his own father and claim the throne of   │
 the land of beauty, and his people failed to stop him. He gray-goo'd the         │
 populace into a horde of undead, and since they relinquished responsibility      │
 for defending their homeland they were caught unawares and defence-less.         │
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--- #17 fediverse/1027 ---
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 @user-246                                                                        │
 one thing you can rely on about evil: it presents itself as such.                │
 "you can always rely on bad people to turn mean."                                │
 (nobody's beyond forgiveness, but we also need to protect ourselves.)            │
 in video games, going with a defensive build is a valid strategy depending on    │
 how it's values align. If attacking scales better than defending, in terms of    │
 "effectiveness at the most difficult part" (usually the last 90% takes 10% of    │
 the effort) then it's a better strategy. But if your win condition is to         │
 outlast your opponent, then all you need to do is time your aggression for       │
 when they begin fracturing.                                                      │
 "I'm sure you don't know this, but once garth fought a dragon. they crashed      │
 through the skies and littered the fields of their home with the broken and      │
 crashed symbols of their own. garth defeated the dragon when one of it's claws   │
 broke, thus giving him the advantage. he took from that fight a shield of        │
 dragonscale, and a tabard made out of some cloth."                               │
 in a contest of wills, the first sign of weakness is whe                         │
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--- #18 notes/symbeline-aspects ---
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 7-24-22
 
 There are three aspects to this game. Broadly, they are military, economics,
 and diplomacy. More specifically, they are lateral problem solving and lane
 management, logistic traffic management, and a worker-placement bluffing game.
 
 These three aspects can be toggled on and off at will, essentially designating
 one or more as "AI controlled" and will require no input from the player. They
 will time their progression to be about at the same rate as the player, thus
 creating a balanced feel to the game. They also provide alerts and
 notifications to the player, for example if military is AI controlled and it
 needs a certain type of hero to progress, it'll ask for it specifically.
 
 Each aspect will develop and progress at it's own rate, and the difficulty
 increases as each milestone is achieved. This is to allow the player to create
 their own difficulty curve, mediated primarily by their drive to proceed.
 An analogy would be in Factorio, the game doesn't increase in difficulty unless
 the player builds pollution spawning factories - in the same way, in Symbeline
 the difficulty doesn't increase unless the player solves lane challenges in the
 military aspect, develops new trade routes / traffic paths in the economic
 aspect, or creates new treaties in the diplomatic aspect.
 
 In order to properly explain each aspect, a brief overview will be necessary.
 
 In Symbeline, the game plays as a factory might operate. The economic aspect
 produces heroes, items, and other deliverables that are consumed by the
 military and diplomatic aspects. There are various problems that need to be
 solved far from the capital, such as a particular type of monster that is weak
 or immune to various damage types which necessitates particular heroes or
 items in order to progress on the military aspect. All of the resources in the
 game operate on an "income based" system, where output is not measured in total
 amounts but rather in terms of how much is produced versus consumed. If the
 input cannot meet the demand, the output is slowed. If input exceeds demand it
 can be converted into gold which can be used to hire guards and heroes.
 Resources can be produced inside and outside of the city, depending on their
 type. But they need to be moved around to various shops for various processing
 and productive purposes, so pathways must be constructed to deliver those
 goods. In addition, each building must be supported by several houses for the
 workers to live in, and the closer they are to the building the better. The
 denizens of the kingdom don't mind being shuffled about, so they'll organize
 themselves according to what's most efficient. However they will not organize
 the paths they take to get places, which is the primary gameplay for the
 player - designing routes for each building and ensuring they don't overlap or
 cross too many times, causing traffic and disruptions to your income.
 
 Each choice the player makes is immediately reflected in the income
 calculation, thus allowing for the visual aspect of the game to be wholely
 separate from the economic side - in fact this is a common thread throughout
 all three aspects. Computation power is the ultimate enemy of scale, and this
 game flourishes with a massive scale.
 
 The gameplay for the military aspect consists of manipulating "lanes" that
 designate where each hero will adventure. These lanes are scalable to the
 player / AI's whims, with a careful balance required - too thin, and the heroes
 might not encounter enough monsters to level up. Too thick, and they may find
 themselves patrolling a vast wilderness full of dark and evil monsters. At the
 end of every lane is a "frontline", where progress has essentially been halted.
 These frontlines can develop as a result of meeting a foreign kingdoms front
 or finding a monster type or puzzle that is particularily difficult for your
 heroes to overcome. The lane / frontline can be scaled not just laterally, but
 linearly as well such that heroes will be a certain level when they reach the
 end - think scrolling on a mousewheel translating into deepening level zones.
 In addition, each monster zone can be set to a certain "security level" meaning
 how many monsters are there for your heroes to defeat. It's important that they
 have ample targets for training, however it's always more effective to train on
 monsters near their level so you have to be careful not to wipe out the native
 skeleton / goblin / troll population.
 
 Each monster zone can have a relationship with the kingdom, on a 2x2 matrix -
 cultivating / desecrating the land, and fostering / exterminating the monsters.
 The land produces monsters and treasures, while the monsters provide experience
 and danger to the heroes and kingdom denizens who live there. However by
 desecrating the land, farms may be built and by exterminating the monsters,
 those farms may be safe and require fewer guards. As ruler, you must balance
 the development of unique magical and alchemical productions with the need for
 food and other mundane requirements.
 
 Diplomacy is a careful balance of internal and external matters, played out
 through feasts, tournaments, and faires. Each of these events will require
 input from the economic side and military side, and will involve "courting"
 other nobles from neighboring kingdoms to sway them to supporting your edicts.
 When hosting an event, you may pick a particular topic of conversation for your
 nobles to discuss with their guests. You may also assign your nobles to
 attempt to engage with a particular foreign noble. Each member of your court
 has a differing personality (including you, the Majesty) and depending on how
 you assign them you may experience better or worse results - such as assigning
 someone who's kind to talk with someone who's cruel would impart a malus to
 their conversation. Unless the kind person has the trusting trait, in which
 case they'd succeed in this encounter but fall sway to them in future
 conversations... Complex interactions that all boil down to a single pair of
 d12 dice - one for your noble, one for the enemy. This represents the charisma
 of the two conversants on that particular day, and whoever wins the roll sways
 the other to supporting their edict. Speaking of edicts, they may include trade
 agreements, non-aggression pacts (lasting for a short time), and other
 regulations - perhaps your greatest rival utilizes necromancy, so it would
 behoove you to attempt to regulate the practice and limit it's effect. By
 swaying the nobles of their kingdom, you may be able to enact a mutual
 agreement to limit the usage of dark magics, essentially hamstringing their
 progress. But in order to learn of their necromantic usage, you'll need
 espionage... Which brings us to spies.
 
 Spies are similar to nobles in that they can be assigned to various roles,
 however they take a more passive role, acting in the background. The
 information they gather is compiled into a report that is presented at
 pertinent parts of the game, such as when preparing for a feast or inspecting
 an enemy frontline. These reports are considered the diplomatic deliverables,
 giving information and mechanical bonuses to many different parts of the game.
 They may be given three possible roles - information, defence, or offense.
 Offense involves placing cursed artifacts (creating through economy) in enemy
 lands, which debuff their heroes when used and bind themselves to them
 preventing their removal except through extraordinary means. Defence is
 essentially countering that in your own kingdom, and uncovering disloyalty in
 your nobles.
 
 These three aspects fit together like interlocking puzzle pieces, but each is
 able to be utilized or ignored depending on the preferences of the player.
 It is important that the game doesn't progress unless input is received. The
 simulation plays in the background, but each stage of development must be
 considered "stable" such that nothing changes. There are three different
 exceptions to this rule, one for each aspect:
 
 The military side encounters raids from enemy kingdoms and the dark lord.
 The economic side encounters raids from ratmen and moss trolls and bandits.
 The diplomatic side has a rolling schedule of events that must be attended.
 
 These three "exceptions" are recurrent events that require attention, but they
 don't *increase* in difficulty unless the player takes an action that causes
 it. Meaning, if the player overcomes the rock golems, then they are displaced
 from their home and join the dark lord in his conquests. If a new district is
 built new sewer connections must be built as well, creating a larger attack
 surface for ratmen to exploit. As time goes by, various foreign events must be
 attended, as absence causes your future events to attract fewer foreign nobles.
 
 By addressing these threats, your kingdom may grow and eventually overcome the
 dark lord at the center of the island.
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--- #19 fediverse/4908 ---
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 did you know someone once built a 1st person shooter in the Warcraft III mod
 suite?
 
 someone also made an entirely new game engine similar to Neverwinter Night's
 (or Baldur's Gate for you noobs) inside of the game. You could join a Warcraft
 3 map and start playing a D&D adventure narrated, controlled, and prepared
 by your DM, D&D style. Like a virtual tabletop before that was a thing.
 
 kinda wish stuff like that was open source, or at least open standards, so
 people could take those adventures with them.
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--- #20 fediverse/5280 ---
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 I'm an anarcho monarchist, which is something I just made up.                    │
 if I gather 300 people to my cause, why shouldn't they call me queen?            │
 oh, are you concerned that I'll wrest power from the government? ha, what a      │
 trifling notion. I don't care about the government. I tried to care, but         │
 nobody liked my ideas. they required too much computing infrastructure to        │
 feasibly test, and that made people dubious. but I tell ya, it would have        │
 worked. The thing is... governance, economics, these are not the tools of        │
 power. they are a shifting and changing beast that mirrors the human instinct,   │
 if only because the government is of the people and by the people and for the    │
 people etcetera.                                                                 │
 power is it's own thing. you can use to to power devices, or power the usage     │
 of those devices. I, for example, really like World of Warcraft which's a        │
 really neat way to chat because none of the chat logs are stored and monitored   │
 because I'm hosting and I'm not storing and monitoring.                          │
 what's that? official servers? I dunno, I use azerothcore                        │
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