Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
- 192
- 2
What is this place?
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
If in doubt, please post it!
Rules
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I'd say my favorite RPG was the Witcher 3, but only after I modded the fuck out of the gameplay with the Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition mod. The story was chef's kiss, but the stupidity of the combat system made me give up on vanilla playthroughs.
In a lot of RPGs, I despise leveling mechanics, you're telling me that Geralt, a superhuman dude who can block arrow with his sword, needs approximately 17 minutes of constant wailing on a town guard to kill them, and not even get the contents of his wallet for his pain? Oh, sorry, I didn't realize that the guards are always conveniently higher level than you, guess I'll die then.
I actually enjoyed Divinity 1 more than 2, because the former was often gutbustingly funny while the latter took itself too seriously. Good game though, I need to get around to finishing it sometime.
Unfortunately Larian can’t write, and despite hiring new writers for Baldur’s Gate they don’t seem much better.
Yeah I would give a lot to see an RPG like Divinity in scope and combat, with writing on par with Disco Elysium.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Hah I have the same thoughts on both games. Witcher 3s combat was saved by gwent for me though.
The first divinity was hilarious. You kind of had to not take it seriously because you’d die every 10 minutes walking on random traps.
Also,
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link