Zagorath, zagorath@quokk.au

Crossherd #513
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Time: 3:28
crossherd.clevergoat.com?ref=shared 🐐

My worst in a long time.

Like I said, I’m not completely clear on why it’s controversial. I’ve never even looked at other editions, and have done no more than look at V5 and watch one AP—without participating in any community surrounding either.

That said, the sense I get is that there’s a mixture of dislike for aspects of the mechanics and changes to the lore & metaplot. I don’t think it’s the core mechanics like how the dice pool and hunger work too much (though it very well could be) as it is the mechanics surrounding clans and powers, along with the lore implications thereof.

Edit: oh I should probably also at least mention the Nazi stuff. At least one of the writers in the book turned out to be a neonazi, and some far-right content was snuck into the first printing of the core book. There was at least a perception that the problems were systemic enough to need major change. So Paradox disbanded White Wolf shortly after V5 released and took further development to its own skeleton crew in house plus a lot of reliance on external contractors. How the community reacted to all this I’m not sure.

I imagine it pissed off some small percentage of right wingers who somehow missed the franchise’s proud queerness. Some of the rest might have been upset it even got to that point in the first place. Not sure if the reliance on contractors created any sense of cheapness or anything like that.

Crossherd #512
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Time: 2:03
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The FAQ has a good very broad summary of the core mechanic changes. Here is the part of the FAQ that I thought worth reading, though there are more questions on there:

What’s Drama?

Storytellers now have a resource called “Drama” that they can spend to complicate the PCs’ circumstances or introduce new twists into the Story.

What’s Quickening?

Quickening is a new mechanic that rewards players for rolling well, giving them a resource they can spend to improve their chances in future situations.

Will I be able to use my V5 dice at the table?

No, V6 uses a different system to count successes and failures, so we use regular D10 dice. We’ve also made changes to the Hunger system, so the Hunger dice are not relevant to V6.

Where did my Health and Blood Points go?

Health and Blood Points have been combined into a single resource called Vitae.

What’s the Humanity Scale?

The Humanity tracker has been updated to the Humanity Scale, which tracks the inner struggle between your monstrous and humane sides, as they constantly press their urges onto you.

How does physical and social conflict work now?

Physical and social conflict share a unified procedure, making both equally important and supported by the rules.

How will the Discipline powers change?

Each Discipline will have multiple powers, and many Discipline powers now scale with you, growing in power as you gain dots. The alpha playtest shows off many of these new powers, and the final book will include powers for each Discipline up to 5 dots.

How many clans will be in the final book?

There will be 14 clans total in the book; the alpha playtest includes 7 so far (Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Ministry, Nosferatu, Toreador, and Ventrue).

Can I play as the different stages of Vampirism?

Yes, the final book will include rules for playing a ghoul, a duskborn, a neonate, an ancilla, a caitiff, or an elder.

What about playing as Sabbat or other sects?

In V6 you will be able to align with the Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Sabbat, Independents or The Unbound.

Is there a release date yet?

No, not yet. We are still in the alpha phase of development and want to ensure we can polish the material and implement the valuable feedback we’re receiving before we announce specifics like a release date or cost.

Putting the Sabbat back in the core books seems like a serious nod to classic fans of the franchise. I’m curious about “independents” and “unbound”. How do these differ from each other? And isn’t the point of the Anarchs supposed to be independence?

I haven’t seen what the actual core mechanic is yet, but I really liked the dice pool system (in theory; I’ve not actually played the game to have firsthand experience). I hope the basic sense of forming a dice pool and having some chance for equivalents to Messy Criticals and Bestial Failures are still represented.

Wow that’s incredible. Nice one!

Crossherd #511
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Time: 0:27
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I know V5 has been rather controversial among some fans, though I’m not really sure why/in what way. I don’t know anything about older versions, and I’ve never actually played V5 either (just read the core rulebook and watched LA By Night). But I really liked the look of the game and wanted to play it. I haven’t had a look through the new rules at all yet, but I’m curious to see how much they’ve changed, and what form those changes take.

Crossherd #510
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Time: 0:42
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This page’s “Life cycle CO2 equivalent (including albedo effect)” page says Nuclear is just a hair worse than onshore wind in the median case, significantly worse than both on- and offshore wind in the worst case (worst for both types), and slightly better in the best case. In best case, hydro actually beats nuclear.

Also, TIL tidal power isn’t commercially in use. I swear we were learning about it in school 20 years ago, and were not even told then that it wasn’t viable.

Including the effects of albedo seems rather straightforward and worth doing. Of course it neglects some more complicated factors, like opportunity cost of staying on fossil fuels in the meantime for the 20+ years it takes to build nuclear. A convenient part of the reason that the biggest proponents of nuclear tend to be those politicians and special interests who also support fossil fuels.

Crossherd #509
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Time: 2:00
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IMO every dev/publisher acquired by MS was already tainted and on its way out

I’ll assume you mean the more recent acquisitions, not ones from back in the day like Ensemble Studios. Which admittedly they shut down, but the games that they made live on, published by World’s Edge, and are better than ever.

But yeah, with the exception of World’s Edge, it’s hard to disagree. Blizzard in particular was probably so tainted before that being bought out can only have helped them. At least under Microsoft’s ownership there haven’t been any sexual abuse scandals. Bethesda it’s hard to say. They certainly haven’t done anything great since Microsoft bought them. But I’ll hold off judgment until like 12 months after the next mainline Elder Scrolls game comes out…or the 12 year anniversary of the announcement/teaser, if it still isn’t out by then. Activision…I don’t even know what they do, outside of CoD.

Crossherd #508
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Time: 1:12
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The Xbox this article talks about is much, much broader than the console. Xbox is the name of the division of Microsoft responsible for games. If Xbox dies, so do Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, and World’s Edge. We lose Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Call of Duty, Halo, and all three of the top real time strategy franchises: Warcraft, Starcraft, and Age of Empires.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about 99% of what Xbox does and it could go away in a heartbeat and I wouldn’t care. But that last 1% would be devastating. Age of Empires 2 & 4 and Age of Mythology are my top 3 played games of the last decade. In fact, aoe1, 2, 3, 4, and aom collectively make up 9 of my top 20 games by playtime on Steam, thanks to various rereleases. I would be gutted if I’m that went away.

Plus, there’s the wider impact. Half those mergers never should have been allowed, but now that they have happened, the amount of game devs who would lose their jobs if Xbox died would be devastating. That’s all their lives impacted. Many would probably have to leave the industry entirely and hope they can find work elsewhere. Others would be in a precarious position with a glut of workers making it easier for new employers to exploit them.

They also say:

There are also different implications and requirements for union recognition. For example, in the UK, staff members can individually decide whether to join the union or not, whereas in the United States all union eligible staff would be covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and in many states it is possible that all union eligible staff may be required to pay union fees, even if they choose not to participate in signing cards or voting.

That feels like it couldn’t possibly be true, but if it is that honestly seems like a fairly good justification for letting the union process play out without managerial interference.

Crossherd #507
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Time: 0:42
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No way am I clicking that link. 😣

The cruelty is the point

Oh yeah Wong’s attitude regarding Israel has been despicable. What really did it for me was her response to Payman crossing the floor. Using the fact that she as a lesbian went for so long voting against marriage equality as a justification for Payman not being entitled to vote for (a) Labor’s own official policy, and (b) her own basic human rights. Like bruh, Penny. Haven’t you seen Moo Moo*, S04E16 of *Brooklyn Nine Nine*? The response of those in power who have experienced hardship shouldn’t be to tell juniors to also put up with hardship. It should be too change the system so that they don’t *have to put up with it in the future. Be better.

But I wasn’t speaking about my personal opinion of her. Rather, of her prominence within the party and wider public.

Are they? I feel like Plibersek has been mooted as the natural successor for quite a while. I honestly can’t think of anyone in Labor who would be a more natural next leader than her. She’s been kinda sidelined by Albanese, but her history puts her in a good spot.

The only other names I can think of are Bowen and Chalmers. I would add Penny Wong, but being from the Senate is a significant barrier for her.

Crossherd #505
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Time: 0:41
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