MTGNexus

https://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-graphics ... ling-raid/ the tears of crypto miners not getting their illicit graphics cards makes me happy.

Travelers ran for three seasons on Netflix and it was definitely one of the best series I've ever watched. It succeeds on so many levels, creatively and narratively.

RxPhantom wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Travelers ran for three seasons on Netflix and it was definitely one of the best series I've ever watched. It succeeds on so many levels, creatively and narratively.

I could have gone for a fourth season.

Man in The High Castle was good ,but the ending was like "what"

Not only do I think magic is fine in sci-fi but I'd go so far as to say that most extremely advanced technology in sci-fi is essentially magic.

Lifeless wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Not only do I think magic is fine in sci-fi but I'd go so far as to say that most extremely advanced technology in sci-fi is essentially magic.

I would expand on this even further and say that most hard magic systems and hard sci-fi are much closer in spirit and execution than hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi. Soft sci-fi is basically magic under the veneer of technology.

But again it is a spectrum. For example, Futurama, despite its spoofy nature, leans more to the hard side of sci-fi. They even proved a whole mathematical theorem in the episode The Prisoner of Benda. And when it doesn't stay hard, it's 100% intentional. (But that is what happens when you have the most overqualified writing staff of all time.)

my fave science looks like this:

Kim Stanley Robinson "Mars Trilogy" - killer take on how we'd gloriously screw up a different planet, lol. A lot of my preferred science-fiction is rather pessimistic about human activity, I love Ballard etc. The first book in the trilogy especially is so clever and so plausible.
Olaf Stapledon "Star Maker" - really lovely prose, whimsical about stars as lifeforms and lots of world building stuff
Ursula K LeGuin - everything she's made, endlessly delightful and her fantasy is just as good.
Philip K. Dick - of course. everything he's made. Very well known considering how brutal and narratively strange his social sci-fi is. and VALIS didn't really turn me off

I love me some cyberpunk, too, but I think the Shadowrun RPG source books are even better reads than the famous novels :3

I have acquired primer status for my Changeling tribal deck. I am very pleased with myself because to sink more time into that thread for quite a while. I finally threw off my laziness and got it done. It took me several rounds of revisions over the past month. I had to change so, soooo many "changeling" to "Changeling". xD

Also, it's Friday! I am excited for the weekend.

Lifeless wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Not only do I think magic is fine in sci-fi but I'd go so far as to say that most extremely advanced technology in sci-fi is essentially magic.

Okay Mr. Clarke

I've been called a whole lot worse, lol.

Can someone tell what is going on with the #MTGbooty thing? I'm very confused and don't wish to google unless i have no choice.

Hermes_ wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Can someone tell what is going on with the #MTGbooty thing? I'm very confused and don't wish to google unless i have no choice.

Per a quick google and clicking on a reddit link (so take this for what you will) one of the posters had this explanation:

Kaitscralt wrote: Basically a random guy commented asking why women post selfies of themselves before going live, particularly in this case a picture focused on the streamers ass, and the MTG Twitter community responded by rallying around posting pictures of their asses in solidarity. Personally I prefer not to give trolls the attention they seek, but this was their chosen response to the criticism.

Guardman wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Hermes_ wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Can someone tell what is going on with the #MTGbooty thing? I'm very confused and don't wish to google unless i have no choice.

Per a quick google and clicking on a reddit link (so take this for what you will) one of the posters had this explanation:

Kaitscralt wrote: Basically a random guy commented asking why women post selfies of themselves before going live, particularly in this case a picture focused on the streamers ass, and the MTG Twitter community responded by rallying around posting pictures of their asses in solidarity. Personally I prefer not to give trolls the attention they seek, but this was their chosen response to the criticism.

I thought it had something to do with a streamer having an onlyfans that had nothing to do with MTG and losing the partnership with WotC at least thats what i saw on my twitter feed before i scrolled on.

Hermes_ wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I thought it had something to do with a streamer having an onlyfans that had nothing to do with MTG and losing the partnership with WotC at least thats what i saw on my twitter feed before i scrolled on.

That also happened, but some time ago.

folding_music wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I think the Shadowrun RPG source books are even better reads than the famous novels :3

I've long thought the same thing about some D&D source books vs novels as well.

Lifeless wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I'd go so far as to say that most extremely advanced technology in sci-fi is essentially magic.

Maybe in regards to things - objects, items, equipment, gear, weapons, etc. - but not "intangibles" - spells, enchantments, element bending, the force, etc. IMO.
I get that technology by any other name is still technology, but wherein lies the technology of a magical rock? Is it technology if the item and it's magic has no manufactured origin or source (other than the physical universe) and lacks any possibility of interface? I'm just scratching the surface here.

@Guardman

I'd switch companies if I were you (unless you're subject to a foul, local monopoly). Just before the netflix/streaming boom, our tv provider (dish network) started partitioning off channels we already had previously into packages we had to buy individually. So we bailed on it, and now save much more money. When companies make these 'cost-saving' choices at the expense of the consumer, they never tend to backtrack. So don't negotiate with terrorists, find greener pastures instead.

Just watched Cloud Atlas. Man, that movie is way dumber than it thinks it is. Same for sense8 tbh, but at least that didn't have Tom Hanks doing a cringey inconsistent future-cajun(???) accent.

DirkGently wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Just watched Cloud Atlas. Man, that movie is way dumber than it thinks it is. Same for sense8 tbh, but at least that didn't have Tom Hanks doing a cringey inconsistent future-cajun(???) accent.

Disagree on both fronts.
Though yes some accents were weird.

I found the connections between stories to be largely superfluous, to the degree that they felt like they'd be shoved in after the story was written. The use of repeating actors plus the birthmark convoluted whatever mechanics they were trying to establish in terms of reincarnation. Any attempt to find a character arc for any actor across stories seems to be an exercise in identifying patterns in randomness, as are most unifying themes between stories. The 2144 plot was a shameless mishmash of Logan's run, soylent green, and blade runner. Makeup was really distracting, especially when converting ethnicities. The structure mostly seemed to serve as a way to make a series of mostly boring and predictable stories appear to be more engaging but (despite lampshading itself immediately) never really justified its use.

Sense8 was a masterclass in terrible pacing. We waste hours and hours on tedious personal stories only to suddenly lurch towards an apocalypse-scale climax for the season finale before returning to tedium. I mean, with one episode left until the potential extinction of all the sensates, we're STILL fretting over whether a millionaire actor will get a role (and pretending like being gay would seriously limit a major star in this day and age...c'mon. Mexico isn't Iran). It was painfully clear they didn't have a solid plan for the series and the pacing paid the price.

DirkGently wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I found the connections between stories to be largely superfluous, to the degree that they felt like they'd be shoved in after the story was written. The use of repeating actors plus the birthmark convoluted whatever mechanics they were trying to establish in terms of reincarnation. Any attempt to find a character arc for any actor across stories seems to be an exercise in identifying patterns in randomness, as are most unifying themes between stories. The 2144 plot was a shameless mishmash of Logan's run, soylent green, and blade runner. Makeup was really distracting, especially when converting ethnicities. The structure mostly seemed to serve as a way to make a series of mostly boring and predictable stories appear to be more engaging but (despite lampshading itself immediately) never really justified its use.

I didn't think of the characters as being connected in different stories, more that the themes were connected. I haven't read the book yet but did get it as I feel like there is probably a lot more to the story. In any case, I saw it more like a series of short stories with thematic connections and repeating cast of actors.

Sense8 was a masterclass in terrible pacing. We waste hours and hours on tedious personal stories only to suddenly lurch towards an apocalypse-scale climax for the season finale before returning to tedium. I mean, with one episode left until the potential extinction of all the sensates, we're STILL fretting over whether a millionaire actor will get a role (and pretending like being gay would seriously limit a major star in this day and age...c'mon. Mexico isn't Iran). It was painfully clear they didn't have a solid plan for the series and the pacing paid the price.

The finale was a last second change and of course if warped the pacing. Netflix couldn't afford the show anymore and decided to give them a couple hours to try to wrap up as much as they could I am sure there would have been at least another 1-2 full seasons if it had gone according to plan.

But if you are talking about the first season finale, this is the same thing seen in most sci fi shows I can think of... Stargate SG1 always had cliffhanger endings with the fate of the world at stake. Smallville was the same. Watching Supernatural right now and the end of each season is a big two-parter with huge stakes.
Sense 8, to me, did this less than other shows because they had way less 'filler' episodes. Lito had character growth and I think was dealing with issues that many gay people struggle with. It may seem less important than the major things going on in the story, but I still felt it was an important part of the show.

DirkGently wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Just watched Cloud Atlas. Man, that movie is way dumber than it thinks it is. Same for sense8 tbh, but at least that didn't have Tom Hanks doing a cringey inconsistent future-cajun(???) accent.

It was his best Forest Gump impersonation. Hanks has long been overrated as an actor unless we count acting like himself (often with a cheesy accent).

I think it's supposed to be textual that the characters are reincarnations (either following actors or the birthmark, it's unclear). But it's probably more enjoyable to ignore that aspect tbh. I tend to see red whenever movies promote vague new-age woo, lol. Unfortunately the Wachowski sisters seem to be big fans of woo.

I do get the cropped finale, but even within the finale I thought the pacing was atrocious. The cliche burned-face villain had the depth of a teaspoon but we spent a bunch of time on a road trip or whatever.

Imo 8 people is too many to focus on Individual stories for, or at least they didn't do it well. Some stories were really engaging, like Nomi's in season 1, but others were just trite or uninteresting. More importantly, individual stories took like 90% of the runtime. It was like having a superhero movie where it's 90% before discovering their powers lol. And then actually using the powers was...meh. Mostly just "hey, Sun, kick this guys ass for me...ok thanks". The desperation to justify the other 7 characters switching in was real lol. "Uhh, he drives a bus, so he's the best driver ever! She can make a...a bomb out of household chemicals?!" Yeah alright lol. You'd think they'd have a better idea what to do with it when it's the whole gimmick of the show.

I guess I don't watch those sorts of shows but I thought sense8 was filler city. And imo if they wanted to show the struggle of a gay man, going with a millionaire action star is probably not exactly representative lol. Acting has to be among the most gay-accepting professions in the world, and he could have easily given up acting and lived comfortably off savings anyway.

Why do people run straight away from cars when being chased by them, in films? Does no one grasp the concept of angles?

pokken wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Why do people run straight away from cars when being chased by them, in films? Does no one grasp the concept of angles?

The Prometheus School of Running Away From Things is both world-renowned and dirt cheap to attend.

pokken wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Why do people run straight away from cars when being chased by them, in films?

Or run alone into a dark forest when fleeing an axe murderer?