Zach

A graph showing gross damage per encounter for a D&D 5e fighter. It shows each level and uses two bars to compare that gross damage for a fighter who uses at-will abilities and one who uses as many daily abilities as possible. The daily power damage output starts out as double the at-will damage and ends at about fives times as high.

If you run D&D 5e, you might find that your boss monsters die easily. There's actually a simple reason for that!

The game was built around the assumption that characters would engage in about 20 rounds of combat between long rests.

We were probably off by a factor of 5.

Begone puritan

@tobyfox.undertale.com

You attempt to purchase Deltarune on Steam!

A small white dog appears to be asleep in a tangle of wires. The server is on the floor.

Gabe Newell looks on with a confused expression.

Only Mr. Generosity would give us a cookie shaped like his face.

Thank goodness you said crawfish. I grew up in the PNW and called them crawdads and my partner from Louisiana almost had an aneurysm the first time I said "crawdaddy" outloud in front of them.

Envisioning some high society extraction-style game where you're downing tea and cucumber sandwiches to regain stamina in-between boss fights with Mary Anne Cartwright being an absolute hag about your late uncle leaving her out of the will despite only being a 2nd cousin twice removed.

Being too deep in Vtuber Culture Example 1:
Seeing this album title and thinking, "Oh, I didn't realize Kanye was graduating. Seems overdue tbh."

Me too! I was mostly reflecting on knowing all of the Vtubers in the photo lol

Ahh

This is my new favorite image because it perfectly encapsulates the concern trolling and crybullying from the right when you give them even a fraction of what they spew out on a consistent basis.

I can already see all the LinkedIn posts quoting this talking about how Galileo was prosecuted for his vision.

AI use damages professional reputation, study suggests New Duke study says workers judge others for AI use—and hide its use, fearing stigma.

Employees who use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini at work face negative judgments about their competence and motivation from colleagues and managers, according to a new study.

First hints of a possible bubble pop

Good on you for shining the spotlight on small indie creators!

Earthsiege was the one mostly on Earth.

Starsiege was the one mostly in the Stars.

Japanese Study Apps That DON'T Use AI - Japanese Talk The plagiarism machine seems to be worming its way into everything. Here's a list of Japanese Study apps That DON'T Use AI!

I was going to post this article this weekend but Duolingo's recent doubling down on replacing humans with generative AI pushed me to get it out sooner.

Here's a list of amazing apps for learning Japanese that DON'T use generative AI!

#cancelDuolingo
jtalkonline.com/japanese-stu...

We've somehow come full circle and Amazon fresh is showing up in the Clip-and-Save.

Snake’s big dumpy as a magnet above the words “Loaded Ravioli” from an ad

*Metal Gear Solid alert sound*

There’s clearly a lot of nuance, but I still think it’s worth discussion - with a lot of empathy, and minimal speculation - but there is a lot to say about the structure of of Vtuber idol corporations - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

But when that many people leave in such a short time, it’s a stretch of the imagination that there isn’t a common thread. Some members, like Nanashi Mumei, have cited poor health - most recently Gura has talked a lot about struggling with her fame.

Remaining members have explained that’s a catch-all, which makes sense - say too little and speculation reigns, say too much and you threaten retiring members anonymity, the reputation of others in the company, and even more pointed parasocial attacks.

But it is worth discussing that 7 members have graduated in the past… 6 months, 3 of them JP, 4 of them EN, and many of them citing ‘issues with the direction of the company’.

There are countless other bits and bobs that feed into this, and maybe I’ll start writing about it more, but the point is this: I couldn’t talk about WHY any member graduates without speculating, and doing so baselessly would stand to only sow additional confusion or give a platform to rage.

This occurred early with Kiryu Coco when she was showing off viewership by country and managed to upset some people because she showed a map that contained Taiwan as a country.

There’s also the added wrinkle of political intrigue via other countries/companies/groups trying to create narratives to attack individuals (usually as a part of attacking the company as a whole, and its value).

Hololive’s English branch started during the pandemic, so a lot of folks were in the middle of quarantine, so a lot of early fans (myself included) were even more attached because the sense of kinship and camaraderie these Vtuber streams provided was a warm light in a cold world.

Vtuber Idol culture is also... very very complicated. Not very feminist, and often attracting obsessive and possessive fans that demand a girlfriend experience, and purty.

Hololive as an org has millions of followers, but those people aren’t usually tied to the corporation - they follow individual streamers - either after they debut, or following them from a previous persona.

Hololive’s members are entertainers, but they’re people with feelings. When a member leaves, their fans mourn, wail, and gnash teeth, which many members are on record stating that’s a big downer, understandably.