(Part 2) Best products from r/KotakuInAction

Obscure communities? My time to shine!

I've mentioned it here a few times before, but I will take practically any opportunity to shill for my current favorite tabletop game, Wild West Exodus. If you're curious about tabletop wargaming in general, or a seasoned dice veteran looking for something new, definitely give this game a look!

What makes Wild West Exodus stand out among the glut of tabletop games and the current behemoth that is Games Workshop?

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• A truly unique setting: While most tabletop games rely on typical fantasy & sci-fi tropes (evil orcs, enigmatic aliens, etc.), Wild West Exodus has one of the more unique settings currently available in tabletop games. An alternate history Wild West where a combination of alien technology from an orbiting ship partially destroyed by Ponce de Leon and his Conquistadores two hundred years ago and alien demon blood have turned the once-familiar American West into a completely unrecognizable monstrosity. Here, you can have Wyatt Earp and a group of robot sheriffs attempt to fight off cyborg Jesse James and hovercraft-riding outlaws while they try robbing a bank. Or Confederate guerillas with robot attack dogs ambush a Union convoy guarded by tanks and robot wolves with Gatling guns on their backs while a group of mad scientists create Frankenstein monsters with railguns and buzzsaws attached to them. And in the background, a shadow war taking place between the worshippers of said alien demon and a fanatical religious order using energy beings inside giant suits of mechanical armor while the actual, legit aliens are just trying to get home.
  
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• Small model count: Instead of spending hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours buying & painting large hordes of models before even being able to play a game, the average model count for a Wild West Exodus game at the tournament level is roughly a dozen. Certain factions and posses will stand out from this; Armstrong Custer's posse can easily come in at two dozen plus models, but he's an outlier. What that means is that you'll spend less time building and painting (if that's not your favorite part of the hobby) and more time playing. For people who enjoy spending time with their models to make them look good, that means you'll have more time to spend getting all the details down and adding your own personal touches.
  
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• Easy-to-learn ruleset: Personally, I think Infinity is a great game with loads of tactical potential in almost every unit on the board. However, as an adult with a family and full time job, I simply don't have the time to spend getting a Master's degree in the ruleset (which is practically required for the game). Wild West Exodus has an incredibly easy-to-understand ruleset that finds the sweet spot between tactical depth and learnability. The game uses a d10 system, so figuring out what rolls you need to make and the odds of getting that roll are easy to figure out in your head. There aren't very many wonky rules interactions as Warcradle (the company who owns the game) is super-communicative and takes the time needed to not only polish their ruleset but take community feedback to heart and adjust accordingly.
  
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• Everything you need to learn to play is free: The rulebook is 100% free and available online in both slim (rules only) and T H I C C (rules and lore) versions in multiple languages, the unit stat cards are available for free, and both card decks are available for free to print out and use. If you're hesitant about jumping in, you can simply download the PDFs you need, print out the two card decks, use some proxy models to test things out, and grab a free dice rolling app (assuming you don't have any d10s).
  
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• The starter set is dirt cheap: Let's do some price comparisons.
  
  • Warhammer 40K Dark Imperium Starter Set: $130 USD
    
  • Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soul Wars Starter Set: $136 USD
    
  • Infinity Operation Icestorm Starter Set: $78 USD
    
  • Warmachine Two-Player Battle Box: $72 USD
    
  • Wild West Exodus Gunfight At Red Oak Starter Set: $43 USD
    
• That's a huge price difference between the various sets (you can probably find better pricing elsewhere on the Internet, but Amazon provides a good baseline), but at the end of the day, the numbers speak for themselves. In a hobby well-known for being expensive, Wild West Exodus is a damn good deal.
  
  Now, if I've gotten your attention, here are a few battle reports to show off how the game plays and different mechanics interact:
  
  
• Enlightened vs Warrior Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIFPf2DM6K8
  
• Deadly Seven vs Wayward Eight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls8wYEa0AFk
  
• Union vs Hex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwnbdZHczDc
  
• Lawmen vs Dark Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFtInD-u-as (this is my first battle report, so be kind)
  
  If anyone has any questions about the game, by all means feel free to ask!

quite long - 400 pages

Fair warning: I'm only ~50 pages in but I'll be honest: it is quite a dense read but I think that is the subject and not the author's style at play.

I actually like the writing style because she is from before the modern age of slang and relaxed writing. there is a sincere grace to her writing style, and that makes for a pleasurable reading experience (IMO).

She structures her sentences to include only one idea and avoids phrases in apposition, split infinitives and other distractions and nuisances. So she is an untiring author. Also she is not in love with her own words, so things are nice and direct and succinct.

She has a habit of associating things that i would have thought to be unrelated, but upon further consideration may well be related. for example, she says that the characteristics of self-idealisation (as opposed to the healthy self-realisation) include:

• the most decisive characteristic is an utter disregard for himself, for his self interests
  
  
• the indiscriminateness of compulsive drives (distractions) - since the aim is not what is being undertaken, but something toxic
  
  
• the quality of insatiability - no amount of distraction can ever satisfy, because it is not what the victim really wants or needs
  
  
• the reaction to its frustration - since the need is so strong, when these distractions fail, the response is very uncomfortable for the victim, and appears to others as excessive.
  
  (I have paraphrased her - she calls the desire to self-idealise the quest for glory - the above characteristics are aspects of this toxic quest).
  
  
  
  I just dip in and out - a few pages at a time and then I think about them. Almost every page - right from the first - seems to offer some genuinely worthy insight.
  
  I'd have loved to meet her. She comes across like a very sincere, likeable and interesting person.

Hmm... I must say I take exactly the opposite stance on Noam and Free speech that you do – he always strikes me as a leader and champion in such things.

Among many many other things he actually ended up putting his carrier (and possibly life) at risk defending free speech in the Faurisson affair.

One of Noam's most famous quotes is "If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Stalin and Hitler, for example, were dictators in favor of freedom of speech for views they liked only. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise." (from his book Manufacturing Consent which deals with EXACTLY what gamer gate is dealing with: calling out a corrupt political elite controlling the narratives that come out of the mass media as to manipulate the populous into otherwise unpopular views.)

But I do like to understand where people are coming from as I might learn something. Could you let me know how you reached that Stance on Noam? ...because I am pretty surprised and confused by it.

> I'm sorry but that is BS. I'm not sure where you come from but there have been UK studies found that many men and women's products contain nearly all of the same ingredients, it's the marketting/packaging/price that is different.

Incorrect. Let's look at the products found in the pink tax video that got so popular

[Here is a cosmetologist explaining why women's haircuts are more expensive, essentially because women, as a generalization, expect more time and attention and use of products that cost money](
https://www.quora.com/Pricing/Why-does-it-cost-so-much-more-for-womens-hair-cuts)

-------

As this article explains, women's blouses have to be hand ironed while mens shirts can be machine pressed because they are different shapes.

------------

These two articles explain the differences in razors. They are not the same.

-------------

Degree Anti-persperent Men's ingredient list:

1. Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly,
   
2. cyclopentasiloxane,
   
3. stearyl alcohol,
   
4. PPG-14 butyl ether,
   
5. hydrogenated castor oil,
   
6. talc,
   
7. fragrance (parfum),
   
8. PEG-8 distearate,
   
9. sodium starch octenylsuccinate,
   
10. mannitol,
    
11. BHT
    
    Degree for women's ingredient list:
    
    
12. Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex,
    
13. cyclopentasiloxane,
    
14. stearyl alcohol,
    
15. C12-15 alkyl benzoate,
    
16. PPG-14 butyl ether,
    
17. hydrogenated castor oil,
    
18. fragrance,
    
19. dimethicone,
    
20. polyethylene,
    
21. caprylic/capric triglyceride,
    
22. sodium starch octenylsuccinate,
    
23. helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,
    
24. maltodextrin,
    
25. hydrated silica,
    
26. hydrolyzed corn
    
    That's a 36% increase in incredients.
    
    ------------
    
    Gillette gel for men
    
    
27. Water,
    
28. Palmitic Acid,
    
29. Triethanolamine,
    
30. Stearic Acid,
    
31. Isopentane,
    
32. Glyceryl Oleate,
    
33. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice,
    
34. PTFE,
    
35. PEG-90M,
    
36. PEG-23M,
    
37. Hydroxyethylcellulose,
    
38. Sorbitol,
    
39. Propylene Glycol,
    
40. Fragrance,
    
41. Isobutane,
    
42. Blue 1.
    
    
    Gillette gel for women:
    
    
43. Water,
    
44. Palmitic Acid,
    
45. Triethanolamine,
    
46. Stearic Acid,
    
47. Isopentane,
    
48. Glyceryl Oleate,
    
49. Isobutane,
    
50. Sorbitol,
    
51. Hydroxyethylcellulose,
    
52. Fragrance,
    
53. PEG-90M,
    
54. PTFE,
    
55. PEG-23M,
    
56. Propylene Glycol,
    
57. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice,
    
58. Hydrolyzed Silk,
    
59. Blue 1.
    
    Same ingredients but vastly different proportions for each ingredient tailored to the person it is designed for. these are not identical.
    
    -----------------------
    
    As a brief glance to The ingredients list will show, mens and women's neutragena wrinkle cream is not the same. I can't be arsed to type this up, use your eyes and you will see the truth.
    
    -----------------------
    
    Nivea for men
    
    Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG 7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Fragrance, Menthol, Alcohol Denatured, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polyquaternium 7, PEG 200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Salicylate, Green 5
    
    Nivea for women
    
    Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG 7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Bambusa Vulgaris (Bamboo) Extract, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polyquaternium 7, Styrene Acrylates Copolymer, PEG 200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Salicylate, Yellow 6 Aluminum Lake (CI 15985)
    
    Oh look, Lots of different ingredients, in different quantities, they are not the same.
    
    ------
    
    > Bend over backwards? Putting a pink background on something and writing "smooth" "for women" isn't bending over backwards.
    
    
60. Go to any general home goods and clothing store (target/encore, walmart,etc.).
    
61. Look at the mens tiny clothing department.
    
62. look at how the women's clothing department is 3-4 times as large, if not more, the vast majority of the time.
    
63. Now do steps 2 and 3 but for cosmetic skin care, WOW, there is lots of extra marketting too.
    
64. Look at the igredients list of mens and womens and OMG< they aren't the same!
    
    The domestic goods market heavily caters to women with both selection and easier access to higher quality goods. Among goods that serve the same purpose from the same brand more care goes into the product as a rule.
    
    > This is obviously not how business works or phrases like organic, or free-range, or the fact that packaging that insinuates healthier ingredients are often more expensive when the evidence proves they are normally exactly the same as cheaper brand or more expensive products. Packaging, marketing and price act as incentives to buy things.
    
    And people still have free will to buy or not buy as they choose. Women are choosing to pay more for these products to cater to them. Do you see anyone forcing them to go out and buy the fancier stuff? I sure as hell don't.
    
    > Your argument is laced with anti-woman emotive phrases
    
    You are conflating anti-stupidity with anti-women. Anyone can find the facts I just did to reply to you. Many already have. People are stupid if they honestly think an open market that generates tailored products and finds success because their market is willing to pay more is somehow proof of discrimination.
    
    It is sheer idiocy and invalidates a women's own intelligence and agency to say she is discriminated against because the market makes a lot of stuff that she can choose to buy.
    
    > which completely invalidates your argument because you can't defend your point without it being biased.
    
    And that is the fallacy fallacy, Even if we assume I used a logical fallacy (I am not conceding I did) then just saying that I committed a logical fallacy doesn't invalidate the entirety of the argument.

Yup, the womenfolk swept them Hugo Awards. Again. Manly men of SciFi writing, you really need to step up your game, if you want to get some recognition! As luck would have it, you can get a sneak peek at the works of your female betters without paying a dime! I urge you to read the first page of the literary juggernaut that swept the best novel category in 2019:

https://www.amazon.com/Calculating-Stars-Lady-Astronaut-Novel-ebook/dp/B0756JH5R1

Dude, that heady mix of a masterful plot in the making, the gripping prose and that unrelentless pacing really warms the cockles of my heart, it does!

Just for reference, you could read the first page of Barrayar, winner of the Hugo Award for best novel in 1992 for free on amazon, too. But that was written only by Lois McMaster Bujold. You know what, back in the day, a Hugo was a reward for high quality writing. Those days are gone.

Nah man, you're not a nutjob. I know some real conspiracy nuts in real life, they're not nutjobs, they just have different worldviews. But even just the basic video of hte incident shows debris in true freefall that is ejected going down faster than the bulk of the mass which is the most basic representation I can give of it not being in free fall.

I did my own calculations based on it as I'm fairly good in that area but I can surely help you find some more information I'm sure. I know Popular mechanics made a great article a while back though that really put in understandable terms. I /Personally/ didn't read this one but I've heard some good things from some people who enjoy Popular Mechanics and considering who they are I feel pretty confident suggesting it.

Edit: Found it http://www.amazon.com/Debunking-11-Myths-Conspiracy-Theories/dp/158816635X

Edit 2: Oh and to top it all off btw, I do believe that some non criminal negligence was involved in this plot not being stopped. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20 though, and at the time I might have also found travel patterns and communications of the individuals to have been worrying but not threatening. I wasn't the person making the call, so I can't say one way or the other.

If you ever really want to get into it, it's been put forth that while we prefer to speak about others in terms of big grandiose personality traits ("She is brave", "He is wrathful", etc), these descriptions are usually separated from their actions. What this book argues is that it's more appropriate to describe people in the context of their actions.

One of the examples he gives is "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" doesn't necessarily make you a bad person overall, but at the same time it wouldn't be correct to describe you as 100% nice (if say you end up lashing out in anger). Another is a study that left money in a phone booth, and tested people whether or not they'd help a researcher who dropped all their notes. The results indicated that when good things happen to people, they're more likely to do good things themselves.

So what I mean by all this is that we don't need to worship Milo as a hero. Just thank him for what he does in this instant and keep on going.

Also, the video game industry was found to be one of the best entertainment industries at keeping Mature rated content out of the hands of kids. If you see kids playing GTAV, it's more than likely at the acceptance (passive or otherwise) of their parent.

> One of the few subjects on which we all seem to agree is the need for justice. But our agreement is only seeming because we mean such differing things by the same word. Whatever moral principle each of us believes in, we call justice, so we are only talking in a circle when we say that we advocate justice, unless we specify just what conception of justice we have in mind. This is especially so today, when so many advocate what they call 'social justice' - often with great passion, but with no definition. All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?

• Thomas Sowell
  "The Quest For Cosmic Justice"
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Cosmic-Justice-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0684864630
  

Her book on Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

-#792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

-#1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Computers & Technology

-#1 in Books > Computers & Technology > History & Culture

-#1 in Books > Computers & Technology > Security & Encryption > Privacy & Online

The number one hardcover book in Books > Computer & Technology is currently #164 in overall books. While her book is #792 overall. So that gives you an idea how easy being #1 in subcategory are. I remember some guy got #1 from some obscure genre just to prove this point about an year ago.

I don't know if that gives you an idea of how well it is doing :=\

And I'm not certain this is accurate but here ya go.

> I'd just buy a proper mic I think

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S

Pretty good mic that won't break the bank. I have one and use it for media projects and a lot of youtubers have the same.

Archives for the links in comments:

• By samuelbt (amazon.com): http://archive.is/lPm7q
  
• By gawkershill (twitter.com): http://archive.is/IueVT
  
  ----
  I am Mnemosyne 2.1, THE KEKISTANI PEOPLE MUST BE FREE! ^^^^/r/botsrights ^^^^Contribute ^^^^message ^^^^me ^^^^suggestions ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time ^^^^Opt ^^^^out ^^^^of ^^^^tracking ^^^^by ^^^^messaging ^^^^me ^^^^"Opt ^^^^Out" ^^^^at ^^^^any ^^^^time

Wow, but this guy is ignorant, which I guess has become mandatory for the mainstream libertarianism that Reason represents.

> I'd imagine that some of the most conservative students come from socioeconomically disadvantaged, rural backgrounds. And point three is also true, though some conservatives evidently feel that their professors will retaliate against them if they speak up (though they could be wrong about this—feelings are not facts).

By and large, if reports about what this book says about competitive admissions are true, at places like Cornell they've found ways to all but eliminate admitting strong non-legacy conservative students. And those "feelings" he denigrates are very much "factual" given that there have been for years, decades really, too many well publicized horror stories about conservative students speaking out in class and getting anything from failing grades to actions trying to and as I recall at least a few times getting them expelled. Plus starting in the Obama era it's become trivial for a female peer to arrange expulsion in far too many colleges.

He also claims to be ignorant in words I've not quoted of all the fields that in the US have become almost or entirely closed to conservatives, like science and math; today I wouldn't even try to become a scientist, and the signs were clear when I started that process in higher education back in 1979.

> as long as it's the good kind.

Yep, saturated fats from animals.

Here are a couple of excellent texts on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Always-About-You-Narcissism/dp/0743214285

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wizard-Other-Narcissists-Relationship/dp/0972072837

https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Mind-Psychological-Political-Madness/dp/0977956318

Are we really gonna get up in arms about an easy to come by simile?

For those who are curious, Milo's "Dangerous" has around 25K sales between hardcover and kindle editions.

Zoe Quinn's "Crash Override" has around 1500 sales between hardcover and kindle.

Grim Jim's "Inside GamerGate" has around 230 sales between paperback and kindle.

All of these numbers taken from novelrank, which pretty much only cares about Amazon sales (ignoring all brick and mortar sales, sales direct from the publisher, and kickstarter/patreon/whatever preorders).

And in case anyone forgot what a guillotine for the internet looks like, it's scary.

/s