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.
- 137
- 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 -
IMO, the best 'Starship Troopers' game is running around in the nuclear powered tank in Factorio and shooting off hundreds of mini-nukes or just pasting the bugs using the 70 odd tons and the energy shield.
(Yes you could load a hundred nukes into a big tank, even in the real world. )
Are you talking about the Spidertron?
Spidertron isn't squashing the bugs. It steps over them. You can drive over them with a tank, this is a valid way of dealing with most of enemies unless they're really thick on the ground / very late game.
I play with the Rampant AI and the associated 'arsenal' mod which adds some more flavors of weapons -mortars, miniguns, faster-firing rocket launchers, more ammo types and two more variants of tanks and cars - advanced and nuclear, which are bigger, heavier and have more slots / better weapons.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Well, if you're a fan of the book I can't argue that isn't a faithful representation, all the more if the tank has legs. The Mobile Infantry weren't grunts with assault rifle, they used nukes as primary weapons. And even fought super advanced alien midgets, assuming I'm not getting it muddled up with another mil SF novel.
Yeah, I meant the vibe of using sf or almost sf-weaponry -nuclear cannon shells or RPG warheads are essentially that even if they exist - to kill untold hordes of extremely dangerous alien bugs and still essentially not even winning because no matter how fast you kill them, there's always more.
Of course killing them personally in Factorio is not a winner's strategy, usually you just carpet bomb them with nukes and pave the wasteland over with defensive lines.
More options
Context Copy link
The opposite, they were tall lanky things called 'Skinnies.' They also jumped around with jump packs, powered armor and I think laser swords.
Just to add context: these are the first enemies the protagonist is in combat against, but they switch sides and for most of the book the main conflict is the same as in the movie, humans-vs-bugs.
(for a loose definition of "the same"; e.g. in the book the humans are trying to capture a brain-bug so they can figure out how to communicate and negotiate peace rather than fight-to-the-genocide, whereas in the movie they want someone for Nazi Doogie Howser to torture)
I was going to joke about you confusing Starship Troopers with Star Wars or Halo ... but I pulled down my copy to check, and what do you know, the protagonist cuts through a wall with "a knife beam at full power". I swear I just reread it a few years ago...
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link