Completely Inconsequential Hot-Takes

[Ionathus]

New rant, hot off the presses

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a key part of the gameplay is talking to your fellow villagers and learning new crafting recipes from them. You can use these crafting recipes to, uh, craft things. Like furniture and clothing and scenery. It's a pretty core element of progressing and customizing your island.

Because of the way the mechanic is set up, there are several factors at play here:

1. Only 1 villager at any time is eligible to give you a recipe (I think 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 1 at night? Can't remember).
2. The recipe is randomized: it's entirely possible (increasingly likely as your collection builds, even) to get a duplicate.
3. There's no way to know what the recipe is until you're already in the conversation.

You may see where this is going. Getting a recipe you want is up to chance, and often you'll instead be offered a duplicate of a recipe you already have.

And in that situation, after you've already initiated the conversation (because you have to, to learn what the recipe is), there is no dialogue option that ends with you rejecting the duplicate. There are two dialogue options, I can't remember them, but the difference is meaningless: I think one dialogue option goes something like "Sure, I'll take it" "What?! You already have this one! Here's a second copy, so you can give it to a friend ", and the other dialogue option goes "I already know that one" "Okay, then here's a second copy, so you can give it to a friend "

Now, I recognize why they encourage duplicates, because you want players to trade with each other. However, the mechanic here sucks. AC:NH has an interface problem, where every action takes just a bit too long and becomes tedious very quickly. I realize it's a "chore simulator", but the goal should be to make the chores smooth and enjoyable to do, and even the "drop" or "sell" mechanic for the duplicates becomes another tacked-on nuisance quite quickly. It would have been so easy for them to include a "no, thanks" option for common duplicate recipes that none of my friends will want.

Why do I know it would be easy to include? Because an option to say "no thanks" is, inexplicably, included for non-duplicate recipes.

[Rockphed]

Why do I know it would be easy to include? Because an option to say "no thanks" is, inexplicably, included for non-duplicate recipes.

My word that sounds infuriating.

[animorte]

Why do I know it would be easy to include? Because an option to say "no thanks" is, inexplicably, included for non-duplicate recipes.

So, you can accidentally decline something you may actually need. That's somewhat amusing and almost sounds intentional.

My word that sounds infuriating.

Capital Y-E-S.

[Ionathus]

So, you can accidentally decline something you may actually need. That's somewhat amusing and almost sounds intentional.

Capital Y-E-S.

It's not the default option so you need to page down to select it -- and in this game, mashing the A button furiously in every conversation is par for the course (thanks for the snail's-pace dialogue interfaces, Nintendo!), so there's next to no chance that you'll ever decline one accidentally.

However, it's infuriating that this is even possible!

[Bohandas]

Fancy restaurants should not be candle-lit and Medieval Times should be

[Ionathus]

Worst restaurant I've ever been to was candle-lit -- you couldn't see anybody's faces or even really your food, and it just made the place look dingy and gross.

Though, that could've been the food poisoning my date got.

[Rockphed]

Worst restaurant I've ever been to was candle-lit -- you couldn't see anybody's faces or even really your food, and it just made the place look dingy and gross.

Though, that could've been the food poisoning my date got.

There are lots of reasons that electric lights drove out candles and gas for normal illumination. I will miss incandescent bulbs though.

[Ionathus]

LED tech has gotten so good at replicating soft incandescent glow that I honestly don't notice or mind much. But the harsh white fluorescent tubes in industrial settings can die in a fire.

Best lighting description I've ever heard: "Interior. Dead-end convenience store. Fluorescent hell with an Eagles soundtrack."

[Bohandas]

In any case, candles, or any simulacrum thereof, are only appropriate if the theme is "there's no electricity"

EDIT:
or "this is a birthday cake" I guess is an acceptable situation as well

[Velaryon]

On the subject of the atmosphere at restaurants: If a restaurant has such bad acoustics that I struggle to hear the people at the table with me, it's a bad dining experience.

Chipotle has bad acoustics. The Lou Malnati's I was at last weekend had bad acoustics. I'm sure there have been plenty of others. I get that most restaurants aren't exactly flush with disposable cash, but making it so that I can comfortably hear the people sitting three feet away should be high on the list of priorities.

[137beth]

a bunch of people with equally pretentious names

What makes a name pretentious?

Yeah, but you can't expect most cis audiences to pick-up on trans theming without a character turning to the camera and saying "this is a trans theme"

Xan says it best

Spoiler: Image

Show

She also has one specifically about The Matrix

Spoiler: The Xanimatrix

Show

The Xanimatrix

As far as Cypher is concerned, I know queer people who've come out, and then gone back in the closet (or tried too) because of the bad reactions they get from family or society. It doesn't get them what they want, since they end up in the same position that led them to come out in the first place.

In The Matrix Reloaded, the Architect tells us that some people just instinctively recognize that The Matrix isn't real. Cypher is presumably one of those people, since otherwise he never would have taken the Red Pill. Had he succeeded in getting back into the Matrix, even with his memory erased, he still would have eventually realized something was wrong with the world, but no one from The Nebuchadnezzar would come to rescue him again. What Cypher actually needed was to live in the real world and for the Machines to stop trying to kill the Zionists. He didn't live long enough to see that happen.

[animorte]

What makes a name pretentious?

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (and everything he's ever written).

Off-topic, but I took a swim in the sea of your extended sig and it was a treasure to behold. I thought I found Atlantis for a brief moment.

[137beth]

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (and everything he's ever written).

Off-topic, but I took a swim in the sea of your extended sig and it was a treasure to behold. I thought I found Atlantis for a brief moment.

Thank you!
Since I'm a sucker for meta-humor, may I put this quote in my extended sig?

[animorte]

Thank you!
Since I'm a sucker for meta-humor, may I put this quote in my extended sig?

It would be an honor!

[Rockphed]

Hot take: virtue names need to make a comeback.

[Rynjin]

Hot take: virtue names need to make a comeback.

It's true, all the strippers have normal names these days. Return Charity, Grace, and Modesty to these cabarets.

[Fyraltari]

Hot take: virtue names need to make a comeback.

Nah, let's bring in Vice names instead.

Edit: Calling my kid "Drugs" should guarantee them an active sex-life, everyone will want to do them.

[gomipile]

Nah, let's bring in Vice names instead.

Edit: Calling my kid "Drugs" should guarantee them an active sex-life, everyone will want to do them.

Will naming kids Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, etc. guarantee them a life as anime villains?

[Rater202]

All I can think of in regards to the current discussion is that one gag from the Apoclypse Cow episode of The Simpsons.

If I recall, it went...
"We always knew Marry was gonna Marry. That's why we named her Marry."
"We named all our kids after what we think they're gonna do, right Stabbed in Jail?"
*carving a shive* "We'll see who stabs who."

[Batcathat]

All I can think of in regards to the current discussion is that one gag from the Apoclypse Cow episode of The Simpsons.

Maybe they've been brought up already, but there's also the family mentioned in one of the Discworld books, where all the daughters are named for virtues and all the sons for vices (and all of them end up the complete opposite of their name).

[animorte]

Maybe they've been brought up already, but there's also the family mentioned in one of the Discworld books, where all the daughters are named for virtues and all the sons for vices (and all of them end up the complete opposite of their name).

Kids, always rebelling.

[DavidSh]

One traditional list is Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice.

If you name your child Justice, you might end up with a lawyer, or even a judge, following the pattern of Major Major Major, if you remember the reference.

[Bohandas]

What makes a name pretentious?


Xan says it best

Spoiler: Image

Show

She also has one specifically about The Matrix

Spoiler: The Xanimatrix

Show

The Xanimatrix

The top one reads as agender as well. When the chips are down their gender's not what's important to them.

[Rater202]

Pop culture Hot Take: I find it ironic that Naruto never had any meaningful interactions with Suigetsu or Jugo in the manga canon or other official materials given that the two of them are basically Sasuke's cheap knock-off replacement Narutos and the anime had this whole thingabout every filler arc revolving around some character who was "just like" Naruto

[Bohandas]

It occurs to me that you could make the best agender comic ever by simply taking Oots and deleting page 249

Calling my kid "Drugs" should guarantee them an active sex-life, everyone will want to do them.

You could name them Molly and Mary Jane

[Draconi Redfir]

it's always irked me when someone makes a statement and then adds "correct?" to the end of it. idk what it is about it, it just makes it looks like they think themselves better then everyone else. "When you hit on an attack roll, you then roll for damage, correct?"

idk, makes me scowl.


Unrelatedly, people answering yes/no questions with literally anything other then a yes or a no... just stop.


Also unrelatedly: Companies need to stop putting RGB lighting into every computer product they make. it's an eyesoar, and makes it difficult to sleep when you need to keep the PC running for any reason.

[Batcathat]

it's always irked me when someone makes a statement and then adds "correct?" to the end of it. idk what it is about it, it just makes it looks like they think themselves better then everyone else. "When you hit on an attack roll, you then roll for damage, correct?"

idk, makes me scowl.


Unrelatedly, people answering yes/no questions with literally anything other then a yes or a no... just stop.

I can sort of agree with the second one (with the obvious exception of questions that are presented as yes/no questions but actually aren't, whether by ignorance or design) but I really don't get the first one. While it obviously can be used to snarkily point out someone's mistake, it has legitimate use as "hey, I'm not sure I'm right about this, check my thinking".

[Draconi Redfir]

I can sort of agree with the second one (with the obvious exception of questions that are presented as yes/no questions but actually aren't, whether by ignorance or design) but I really don't get the first one. While it obviously can be used to snarkily point out someone's mistake, it has legitimate use as "hey, I'm not sure I'm right about this, check my thinking".

yeah i think it's a personal preference thing, not so much the fault of anyone who uses it. Like i would say something like "is that right?" or similar, "Correct?" just feels off to me for some reason.

I think it stems from one time where i saw an argument between two people, and one of them was using it to manipulate the other into agreeing with them, like "X is Y right? therefore you agree with me that Y is also Z." or something like that.

don't remember the full argument or the specifics, so i can't really explain it properly, it was just... very uncomfortable to look at.




For the yes/no thing, i think adding a "however" etc extension to it is fine, just so long as the initial question is answered as the intended yes/no.

Like if i ask "Do birds fly?" the correct answer would be "Yes, HOWEVER there are some species such as the ostrich or the kiwi that are flightless due to variable factors"

As opposed to "Do birds fly?" "Avien creatures are known to exist in a wide variety of travel methods including swimming, running, and several even cling to cars or other vehicles to "surf" and rest their wings while in transit. there have even been cases of birds "Snowboarding" for entertainment" which... just does NOT answer the question i am asking, and is wasting everyone's time.

[DavidSh]

Asking a question by making a statement, and then adding "correct?" feels like forcing the answer "yes" by default, if the listener isn't particularly assertive. On the other hand, it is easier for second language learners not to have to use the normal process for transforming a statement into a question. Just like in French it is easier to prepend "Est-ce que" than to invert subject and verb.

[animorte]

Also unrelatedly: Companies need to stop putting RGB lighting into every computer product they make. it's an eyesoar, and makes it difficult to sleep when you need to keep the PC running for any reason.

Since this point wasn't touched on yet, I'll take it!

I also find it disturbing when my sight is suddenly gliding through the air like I'm unintentionally astral projecting. I'm still learning to control it and that's extremely disorienting.

Now, getting serious. You can tell we, as humans, are more a danger to ourselves than anything else (save for nature) when we need to create a defensive mechanism for nearly every invention. Parachutes for planes, airbags for cars, vests for bullets, blue light blocking glasses for computer screens (however effective or not they may be).