In the Lord of the Rings fandom there’s a persistent debate whether balrogs, or Durin’s Bane specifically, have wings. The text in Fellowship is ambiguous whether what it is describing are literal wings or something else wing-like.
Star Trek (Voyager): Was it murder to split Tuvix back into Tuvok and Neelix?
I’ve got a long and complex possible solution to offer regarding this ethical clusterfuck, and I’m willing to elaborate if someone’s interested to hear it.
Edit (possible solution): Voyager’s database should include the Enterprise D’s information regarding Riker’s duplication incident. While Voyager’s crew already found a way to separate Tuvix, they could’ve searched for a possibility to repeat that process and then split back the copy Tuvix a few milliseconds into the original Tuvok and Neelix before said copy became self-aware.
That’s what makes it a good story though - an ethical dilemma with no clear “right” answer.
The longest and most complex solutions are usually right (yes, please share).
The trench from my bed to my toilet is three meters but I can whizz without getting up anymore
Im curious, please share
Two characters got merged into one completely new character the had traits of both, but was their own person. Decision was made to forcibly (against the new character’s wishes) undo the accident and restore the two people. In so doing the new character no longer existed.
Yes ive seen Voyager lol, I meant their solution
Thanks for trying tho
Lol should have remembered this was Lemmy.
The Riker split depended on a plant on that one particular planet. Maybe it cannot be replicated.
Fully embracing that technology would have loads of chaotic outcomes…maybe they forbade it or something? Ripe for abuse…the ability to make infinite free clones or people…
They should have just kept replicating Tuvix with the transporter and using him as fuel.
So I was under the assumption that every time they beamed someone up or down they murdered them and an exact copy appeared elsewhere.
Yes and she was right to do it. Except maybe she should have made a backup so she could have done it again
Programming and Linux. Oh boy, what to pick…
Terminal text editors: VIM vs Emacs is the main debate there. (There are others but these are ones people argue the most about)
Linux Distros: Arch, Debian, Mint, CachyOS, …
Init Systems: Systemd vs OpenRC. Honestly, probably the most toxic debate on this list.
Programming Languages: Python, Shell, but the heated one is C vs Rust
A non-exhaustive list of ones I couldn’t think of a category for:
- Tiling vs Floating Window Managers
- Chromium vs Gecko-based browsers
- Bash vs Zsh vs Fish
I love computers and Linux, but man, the amount of toxic in-fighting and gatekeeping is a real turnoff. Just use what you want. At the end of the day, we are all nerds doing what we love.
And heaven forbid you actually prefer Windows
Microsoft’s helping our case by blasting their own foot all the time, fortunately.
In the Sonic fandom, there’s a debate over which is the “authentic” Sonic: the Western version or the Japanese one. It’s not about design, but rather personality, values, and attitude.
The thing is, the differences between the two are very subtle. Unless you’ve been in the fandom for years and have seen enough material on the subject, they’ll seem exactly the same to you.
My opinion is that “It doesn’t matter”~♪. At this point, there are countless versions of Sonic (the classic, the modern, Sonic SatAm, Sonic X, Archie Sonic, IDW Sonic, Fleetway Sonic, Sonic Boom, Sonic Prime, Movie Sonic…), all with their differences, but in general they share the, let’s say, “essence”* of the hedgehog, and that’s what matters.
*(If you’re not from Latin America, you won’t know how funny it is that I used that particular word)
I can’t believe people still argue over whether or not Balrogs have wings when the text unambiguously says they do. You can have wings and also have a shadow that looks like wings.
His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. ...suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall...Like two vast wings but then he explicitly says its wings were spread, clearly stating it has wings. To be the most generous you could try to say the wings are made of shadows, but based on the text they’re clearly still wings.
Yes, Balrogs have wings.
I don’t have an opinion on the matter. I’m much more into the worldbuilding and languages than the books themselves, though I’ve of course read and enjoyed them.
Yes you do. Your opinion is the right one, that you don’t like getting attacked by panthers.
Balrogs have wings because how can you expect to go caving without fried chicken? And what’s the best part of the fried chicken? The skin. And what has the most chicken skin? The wings. Not fake boneless chicken nublet basket shit restaurant wings, real wings. So smart ol Balrog goes around trading drumsticks for wings. Of course he’s got wings. Quid. Pro. Quo.
Synthesizers: digital vs analog.
Common opinion holds that analog (specifically oscillators, but also filters and even VCAs [voltage controlled amplifiers]) are warmer and more natural sounding while digital are cold and harsh.
The thing is, digital emulation of analog hardware has become virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, but there is a certain segment that refuses to believe their $5000 Minimoog can be so easily replicated by software (realistically I doubt Bob Moog could tell the difference anymore).
Of course some also choose to argue which is better, which is just ridiculous because they both have their uses depending on what kinds of music you’re composing or just what sounds you’re trying to make.
Yeah by the time you add effects, throw that synth into a full mix with other instruments, THEIR effects, and all the compression and EQing in a finished track, the only thing that matters is whether that single instrument adds what it needs to add to the whole.
Objectively, digital oscillators are better - they don’t drift unless you want them to, they stay in tune, and they can always be run through analogue filters to add imperfections (sorry, “warmth”).
But it still boils down to my first point: it’s a single part of a multi-part song. As long as it gets the job done, who cares whether it’s fluctuating voltage or zeroes & ones. It’ll be analogue on its way into the listener’s ear canal either way.
Absolutely. So much nuance is lost in a mix. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just dumb to think a $3000 synthesizer is going to sound better than a $10 plugin when you’ve got it buried amongst guitar, bass, drums, and vocals.
Community - The slogan was ‘Six seasons and a movie.’
We are still waiting for our goddamned movie!
Make your own dammit. Fan edit it together
Woodworking: I have mentioned this a couple times in my lectures on this platform. Festool has a tool called the Domino. It’s the shape of a biscuit joiner but it’s got a router bit that it wags like a dog’s tail. It cuts a deep, narrow, short mortise that pre-made loose biscuits fit into.
This tool is protected under patent so only Festool makes them. They sell two models, a small and a large. The small cost a thousand petrodollars.
It’s very easy to use, it makes strong joints quickly, it’s impossible to afford.
You’ll find there’s a crowd of purists who will spend that much on a chisel and won’t hear anything about it because it’s not “traditional joinery.” Floating tenons are thousands of years old, but okay. You’ve got beginners or hobbyists who can put together the basic tools and are upset when Youtubers use Dominos in projects. Most domino joints can be replaced with dowel joints, but okay. And you get the actual cabinet makers who go “I manufacture cabinets, this lets me do it faster, and time is money.” Which…fair enough.
If you don’t own a plunge router, you don’t care.
In the world of Game Collecting, the guy with potentially the largest single collection on the planet is getting rid of his collection.
The ideal plan was for it to all go to a singular museum, which was in the works and then unfortunately fell through. Problem is the next two backups also fell through. So plan D involves the collection being split up and some of it going to the Embrace Group, and some into private collections, which was seemingly both never the plan. People who donated items, thinking that they would eventually be publicly displayed, are rightfully upset. And then the rest of his fans, such as myself, are somewhat bewildered that this is how it will end after decades of amassing a collection, and then years of saying it’ll all be going to a museum.
That’s really sad, especially given the industry’s penchant for destroying its own legacy.
Why don’t people crowd fund and start a new museum?
systemd is fine for some
I understand the pushback against it being “not unix” philosophically, since it’s a large system instead of many small systems working together.
At the same time systemd is still kind of just a collection of config/script files. And as annoying as it is, the perennial “well just contribute to / code for the thing you like instead” mantra applies. init.d is falling out of favor with maintainers because they find it comparatively harder to maintain and update.
I have the vague feeling that a lot of the people that would care the most have moved to NixOS or esoteric stuff like it.
Ironically NixOS only works with systemd
Improv: should you lead with character relationships, game or platform? There are many vehement proponents of each, each claiming that their process leads to better improv.
Character relationships are self explanatory, “game” is kinda like the core conceit of the sketch - i.e. in “who’s on first” the “game” is “names that sound like pronouns”, another common one is a pile on of identical characters (i.e. the SNL Jim Carrey family reunion where all his family have his mannerisms.
And “platform” is where you build the world and the scenario (i.e. we’re Goombas that live in fear of mario; we’re merpeople with a foot fetish… or more seriously - the family that runs this farm, the employees that work at this hotel…)
I mean it always starts with the game, right? That’s what we do. Then get platform or characters as gets. I didn’t realize it was possible not to start with game, as it lays the framework to create the scene.
There are a lot of other ways in - hence the disagreement.
In my city in the Southern USA, “game” is rarely if ever taught (except in the context of short form) and formats like the Harold are almost non-existant.
I have friends in the scene who tell me they’re happier without any game in their work at all.
There is a large chunk of narrative or similarly structured (montages, Spokanes, la rondes…) work
Yeah almost all we do is short form (I know, I know) so we do game after game. Sometimes we just start with one word and raw dog it, but that’s rare in a show.
personally I think there’s actually such a big difference in “game” between short and long form they should be called different things.
Once I got the hang of game when i was on a house Harold team, things really took off for my long form ability.
deleted by creator
The original is my fav simply for the vibes. The music is great, the graphics are charming and the gameplay is simple and fun. Great expansion pack content too. I still have all the original CD copies from when I was a kid.
I preferred Sims2, but 1 had a lot of charm. It was charming.
I’ve only played Sims 3 and 4. 4 has way better mods, while 3 has better gameplay.
I was a massive SIMS2 player. When Sims3 came out and my dude walked away from the wall with the phone and sat on the couch I flipped my shit. Finally can increase social workout comfort going to hell. Haha
Lots of debates about the internal arrangement of the original series Enterprise…
- Bridge: forward facing or offset?
- Engineering: primary or secondary hull?
- Shuttlebay: short or extending under the nacelle pylons?
- How big is this ship, anyway??
I watched a video on this recently which was able to demonstrate that Engineering was shown in different locations in TOS. So the answer is, “Don’t worry about it.”
In fact, between this and the fact that the Engineering room set changed significantly between seasons 1 and 2, I’ve grown pretty partial to the idea that there are at least two and likely more rooms of a similar layout throughout the ship. Everybody wins.
In a flight sim board, I once witnessed a heated debate over the HE111. The argument was over whether the first HE111s to drop torpedoes were field modified or had torpedo hardware mounted at the factory.
This thing went on for pages, and there was plenty of primary source documentation posted. And it was heated, personal, and vicious.
This is the kind of shit that eventually leads to leaked classified documents on Warthunder forums.
Have a couple different ones:
Star Wars:: How many Clones were actually in the Clone Army (and, by extension, how large are the setting’s armies in general)?
The original wording used in 2003’s Attack of the Clones is (perhaps deliberately) ambiguous, so from that point on fans have forever debated this. On the one hand, there’s arguments that the visible cloning facilities and formations on-screen suggest literal interpretations of “unit” as “soldier”, and armies of a few million at most. On the other hand, fans have also pointed out that a galaxy-spanning conflict being fought by fewer troops than fought in World War 2 is ridiculous, and the casualty figures given would mean the entire clone army had been wiped out many times over - unless “units” can be taken to mean a much larger formation of troops.
Expanded Universe materials (both pre- and post-Disney) have given figures supporting both sides.
Eve Online: Was the game better or worse in the era of “Rorquals online”?
Context is, at that point in the game’s history, much of the game’s economy was driven by very large mining capital ships - Rorquals - systematically stripping in-universe resources at high speed.
Proponents suggest that the presence of vulnerable ships out in space doing things promoted conflict, and that this induced conflicting player groups to raid each others’ territory, creating game content. Detractors argue that Rorquals inevitably existed under the protective umbrella of existing large player groups, meaning only those groups could effectively harvest resources, creating a positive feedback loop where strong alliances got stronger and everyone else got wiped out.
(Personally, my answer is ‘both’ - but most of it has to do with other game changes besides Rorquals.)
Railfanning: Is coal-fired steam locomotives going away a good or bad thing?
Coal-fired steam is undoubtedly cool. you get the authentic sensations and smoke clouds that oil-firing really doesn’t provide. Many who favor it bemoan old coal-fired locomotives being converted to run on oil, sometimes also arguing the locomotives should be preserved as historically used.
On the hand, other fans point out that coal firing creates a very real fire hazard; there have been multiple brush- and forest-fires started or thought to be started by coal-fired locomotives. There’s also issues with coal becoming harder to get as use in power generation dwindles, and these fans would prefer to convert to oil rather than not run at all.
Most people just see a steam locomotive and go “Cool!”
I like to think that there are exactly as many clones as that one copy-paste that lists every one of them. That way it truly lists all of them.
EvE Online response as a player who was there for that era is still playing. I think the game is in a much healthier place now that most of the course correction patches have passed. Surgical Strike and Scarcity changes were needed to make the power blocs burn their stockpiles, but it happened slowly and almost killed the game (no one liked space austarity). Now with diminishing returns on capital reps, capped jump fatigue timers and filaments to allow for random travel the umbrellas can be pierced much easier and players have to adapt.
Also someone who played through that: I agree.
Nostalgia Rorquals Online have a very rose-tinted view of the time. Sure, there were more ships in space… but a lot of those “ships in space” came in the form of an entire cap fleet landing on your cruiser roam the second you tackled a Rorqual. Fatigue timers and diminishing returns were absolutely needed.
I think the current crop of issues wouldn’t be fixed by just going back; they can be traced to other factors, like Citadels encouraging players crowding together.
One
Female Space Marines. I’m gonna leave before this thread explodes.
After the shots of testerone the female space marines look like the male ones or vice versa!
Trans Marines!
The gif notwithstanding, I’m not enough of a 40K fan to care. Watching the nerd rage from the sidelines is fun though.
I do, however, enjoy lore and worldbuilding in general. It’s my understanding it had previously been established in several places the Astartes were male only. Were I more invested I would certainly find this decision vexing, especially in light of the fact they already have an all-female faction in the Adepta Sororitas and the fact that Astartes are massive spotlight hogs. Shining the spotlight on these other factions would kill two birds with one stone by highlighting female characters in a way that respects the lore and stemming the endless flood of space marines.
But again I’m just casually interested watching from the sidelines. I’ve never bought any models or read any tie-in novels. The only money I’ve invested are a few video games. The entirety of my knowledge comes from lengthy wiki walks and lore videos.
It’s not a lore issue for me, not exactly, more indicative of a change in fandom and corporate culture; Warhammer used to be this creative hobby you could easily put your own mark on, it was encouraged by GW in fact. Any one players Warhammer would look similar but unique to the Warhammer of another player.
Starting around the mid to late 2000s the attitude started to change, coinciding with (though not necessarily caused by) the release of the Horus Heresy books and Age of Sigmar, GW started to put more of an emphasis on lore and copyrightable content, they started to downplay customisation within the hobby and with it the tacit approval to make your own female Space Marines as you so wished.
When I see neckbeards frothing over female Space Marines it’s a disappointing reminder that the hobby has lost its personal touch, plus it’s a chance to piss them off with my Drag theme Ork warband!
