I’ve been playing DND since first edition. When my group got to 4e we jumped on eagerly, then dropped it like a hot potato.

Why?

It wasn’t a bad system, but up till then DND felt like an evolution and 4e felt… different. There were a bunch of undocumented patterns that had been in the rule set for a very long time, strategies, concepts, that just… broke under the new ruleset.

It felt alien. If we had wanted a different system we would have gone looking and found one already. It’s like ordering chocolate ice cream and being given lemon all the while insisting it is still chocolate.

So we jumped to Pathfinder, played around with 5e (which reclaimed a lot of that lineage), and finally really got into Pathfinder 2, which had largely felt true to that lineage all along.

I’d love to say 4e could have flourished if they had billed it as a sister system instead of a replacement, but in all honesty it probably would have had a lot slower growth than hasbro wanted. There were already other competitors and what hasbro really wanted was to refresh the market with the need to replace your set to have (buy) the current version.

I can respect that. And I liked Xena. I just didn’t like something not Xena turning into Xena.

That may be true, but Washington has the Public Records Act which says they have to respond in 5 days and can’t take longer than a year to provide the documents, and have fines large enough for some people to make a living setting people up for public records lawsuits.

So in Washington, at least, there actually is some accountability.

Sigh… I was so excited about the sword of truth. Instead we got… Xena.

Some families teach their kids that your ability to pick a gift directly equates to your value as a person.

Clearly her failure in this instance is more important to her than to you.

Whatever you do, try to help her feel valued.

I’d say you’re first job is to determine what you don’t want. Google the differences between distros and pick the philosophy you like. Some have corporate backing, some favor stability, some stay cutting edge, some are more community developed, etc.

I started with Bazzite (Fedora) and switched to Garuda (Arch). What got me to each was researching “best gaming Linux” and later deciding I didn’t want immutability.

I mainly just wanted it to work right out of the box, but now that I have it I also love that Arch is always keeping me up to date. There is still a lot of fear mongering about Arch, but Garuda was just as easy as Bazzite, which is recommended for beginners all the time.

I think Garuda is amazing, and recommend it wholeheartedly, but no matter what you choose there will be some learning curve, so pick something that sounds cool to you so you stay motivated to figure it out.

I use Garuda, it’s Arch and is just as easy as Bazzite.

I use Garuda. Yes, it’s Arch based, but it’s also all set up for gaming and newbie friendly. I started on Bazzite, then switched to Garuda, it’s just as easy.

We have passed the point where it has to be complicated. If you choose something like Garuda, Bazzite, or Mint, it should be a pretty straightforward switch.

No, that’s Garuda.

Also gaming focused, also super easy, not so locked down it won’t let you change your login background, also has great Nvidia support. Arch.

I was thinking, build a new, brutalist, mainly underground executive complex and turn the white house into a museum. The ballroom houses an exhibit on the warning signs of oppression and fascism.

Well… You can, of course.

I’m sure there are all kinds of arguments for or against it but for me it comes down to one simple question.

What kind of world do you want to live in?

We all work together every day to manufacture a shared reality, it could just as easily be one of mutual respect as it could constant aggression. We can help each other or hurry each other. We can be honest or dishonest.

Would you rather live in a world where everyone indulges in self gratuitous lazy fallacies? Or one where people try to be more honest and rigorous in their communication?

Yes, but you also don’t need a minority ruling class to treat everyone under their control as a disposable resource in order to be able to have money and buy things.

Instead of a system where money is power, let’s craft one where people have power. We do that by regulating away the capitalists.

“But other people who tried that ended up with despots!” Yes, well, despots will always try to take control, let’s build a society that doesn’t let them.

It amazes me how many people just think capitalism means earning money and owning things and don’t realize it is about having a minority ownership class that literally uses everyone else as a disposable resource.

Maybe you are right. I can only say I have been using it for a couple of years and haven’t had any trouble.

Coming at this from a different angle… You don’t have a pet that could have laid in it do you?

My first distro was Bazzite, and I switched to Garuda to get away from immutability.

Maybe it’s silly, but it pissed me off to not be able to change my login screen background.

I have never had problems with Nvidia drivers with these distros, and Arch on Garuda has been easy. Honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about over these. Maybe I just got lucky with my choices.

Also I use xfce, it just looked straightforward. It has some quirks regarding the application bar, but had otherwise been pretty straightforward.

Just remember, the only way to get a consistent experience across all users is to design to the least common denominator. In this case that means designing for a program that runs in an Internet browser.

That’s why the more advanced features have been disappearing over time. That’s why the older versions start having weird problems. That’s why they are dumbing everything down and making it less powerful… so it can run in edge.

Honestly? Learn about flocks and herds. They aren’t just groups, they move and act in synchronized ways that make it impossible to just focus on an individual. They become a giant organism that activates primal centers of the brain.

It’s this horrifying? Sure.

Does it trigger a protective instinct in most people? Absolutely.

Are there any studies that show whether something like this helps or hurts pedophile behavior around real children and their likelihood to abuse or not? I’d love to know.

If I had to choose between banning these out of a sense of moral indignation or lowering the rates of child SA… I’d really like to see some data.