Chebucto Regional Softball Club

@gbargoud @futurebird @farah Yeah, Banks is generally rough on his protagonists, even if it turns out kinda ok as part of a heroic transformation. I think it's partly Bank's general darkness, but also the narrative constraint of coming up with an interesting plot in what amounts to utopia. So a lot of the stuff happens at the edges, when encountering less enlightened civilizations, and shit happens. Note also that Banks never really pushes the Culture as an utopia: while the average Culture citizen does just fine for themselves, mostly, these edge interactions are always loaded with moral ambiguity. The POV in Consider Phlebas does not really help, either. Protagonists are more embedded in the Culture in the next volumes, Use of Weapons and Player of Games, which is more interesting in terms of, well, Culture (but do not expect an easy ride for the protagonists, either). I prefer the pre-Excession novels, and it gets a bit repetitive in the later volumes, but it's still my favorite SF series...

I posted this before but it's such a good video if you want to know what this was like:http://youtube.com/watch?v=cv0yB_wo12I

@cavyherd Yes! But they are angles so it's OK to say it again.

@rose_amd64 @futurebird @catmisgivings that's about where I am, I just built a bigger stream engine and I'm working on some automation.

they're different games, so yes the setting assumptions are different and the systems aren't exactly the same. but if one wants to import story elements from WoD, they can. it is shaman-y, but i wouldn't say that overshadows the Werewolf in 2e. worth scoping out for yourself.

I tried to sync [@testing@chebucto.club](https://community.nodebb.org/user/testing%40chebucto.club) with @testing-ground.

I'd argue her exasperated acceleration through the five stages of grief adds a lot to the video, but I understand not wanting it.

‍️ Page 19 shows how biased their narrative is.

I **have** to do this next time I DM again.

For Foundry I found it even easier to use the module "tokenizer" haven't used token stamp for a while because of it. https://foundryvtt.com/packages/vtta-tokenizer/

Hey, I am currently working on a machine learning project, but LLMs (like ChatGPT that work with natural language) are not my specialty. LLMs generate plausible text. Text that you could read anywhere. It doesn't think about text. Also, "Semantic Vector closeness" (i.e. what word is closest to the meaning of "tomato" without the meaning of "red" in all possible positions is not something people understand as it is a very complex state. In my opinion try to do the following (these are not just hallucinations): - Try to think of a sentence. Change it so it remains plausible but the meaning is altered - When the AI doesn't know the answer, make something plausible up. For example: If someone asks who invented something, tell them Edison did. There are many sentences out there that name Edison as the inventor of things. - Whenever you are able to digress because of a previously discussed topic, don't be afraid to digress - If people get frustrated and try to get a different answer from you, make sure to give them the same answer again but word it differently - Talk a lot and tell them blatant lies. When they correct you tell them how right they are and change your mind even if it is - again - wrong. Example: "How far is building XYZ away?" "Oh, it is quite a distance. The distance between here and XYZ is 3km" "But I can see the building!" "There are many reasons why you might be able to see the building despite the building being 3 km away. For example if there is nothing in between." "But it is much closer." "You are absolutely right! Good catch! The building is actually much closer than 3 km away." "BUT HOW FAR IS IT?!" "The building is 1 km away; which is much closer than 3 km." (still made up) Most importantly I think you should come up with your own system prompt. A system prompt can be as simple as "Answer as if you were a professor of computer science!" or as complex as [chatgpts](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2025/08/09/gpt-5s-system-prompt-just-leaked-heres-what-we-learned/) and try to stick to that. These tips are not just for hallucinations as I mentioned, because I think other aspects are equally or more important. In any case: don't try to emulate an AI perfectly. Make it fun for your players to interact with the character, have a few catchphrases and everything else might be unnecessary bloat, but feel free to dig deep.

Some stuff like mysteries you need to be ready to tell the players they got it right, even if their idea is a little crazy. Players are famously bad at noticing details and remembering plot. But if you do some subtle shifting instead of going in with a fixed, canonical, right answer then it can be fun. I did a one shot the other day that was about people being murdered. We found out they were being done in by golems, but the solution we came up with (do the golem creation ritual with the opposite elements) wasn't what the GM had in mind. But they decided that our idea was good, so they went with it, and we all felt very smart.

@negative12dollarbill I didn't want to write a letter because he was disrespectful about the bodies of some of the dancers. I heard a few comments about their weight out of his mouth and I just didn't like him. So, I think it's not so much a "rich people" thing, but it might be a thing for abusers and their loyal enablers.

It's because they were. The system they used to generate weapons in 2 allowed for tons of unique but mostly garbage guns. This also combined with different drop mechanics so a random bandit didn't have a chance to drop something amazing, you had to wade through trash to find the gimmick enemies and bosses that actually dropped good loot.

@mattsheffield Brother that is a scary graphic you have there. Wow.

And lastly, I've said it before:The fediverse, right now, is where e-mail was 30 years ago. Federated, meaning, impossible to govern centrally. Node-to-node connections not run through a third party in between (1). Anyone can spin up a new node at will.And just like e-mail, we are experiencing the same issues: spam, harassment, unenforceable rules.Look at e-mail today. Virtually all moderation is automated. Entire IP blocks are being blocked based on algorithmic judgements. Self-hosting is nigh-impossible. Appeal is effectively impossible. There are no human decisions involved.Is that where we want to be headed? Or, on the other hand, do we want to head for chaotic free-for-all PvP?We have to make that choice now. When I started on the fediverse, back in '18 I believe, spam was a non-issue. But as the 'verse has grown in popularity, in numbers, in profile, it's become a target. We have hit a milestone, we are now relevant enough for spam and scam.We are at a crossroads.I would like more passive assistance. I don't want automatic moderation; we've all seen where that leads with Twitter. I want assistive systems that provide insights, that inform my decisions, rather than take them from me. Because at the current size of the network, purely manual moderation is simply not feasible any more.I would like a software that gives me all the info I would otherwise have had to go digging for right away, so I can focus on the decisionmaking part.I implore you, Eugen and the rest of the team, think about moderation while you still can, because at the rate spam etc. is ramping up at the moment, your human moderators are being outpaced rapidly.Look at e-mail and learn. Please.(1) internet infra notwithstanding, I mean no AP-specific facilitator is required between two instances (relays are optional)#MastoMod

2. on the internet it’s lingua franca by force, because most of the CEO techbros (like Bill Gates) creating this digital hellscape were illiterate in all the lingua francas of the world. it’s 2025 and fuckers have no concept of a multilingual keyboard and dictionary.Spanish & French are still very much lingua francas in meatspace. American English will get you treated like crap in many places. 3. yeah, it’s hard to raise bilingual american kids, even in nyc @futurebird @pawsplay

@JeffreySmith @bicmay @fullyabstract Do we need to start naming kids "Gulf of Mexico" is it that bad yet?Darren Gulf of Mexico Williams.

@lienrag @richpuchalsky That is too long to go on a sign. And I am not going out for his mean face and his mustache. Also they have not arrested him yet, and they might not. They need to keep fishing to see if they can come up with anything. He's a man who causes violence and suffering *within the law* that's kind of his whole thing. I will be shocked if they can find anything to even charge him with.

I had similar thoughts, especially since the main game has been out for a while. I've played the main game multiple times, 100% it, helped others play it, and I've even done speedruns in various difficulties just to see how long the "core" story would take. Does that mean the DLC will scale for me due to my 100%-ing? Will it be based on my various difficulty settings? Will it be my most recent playthrough? We shall see. In the end, it'll be interesting to see what they do with the story; the main game's story was a little odd for me in one particular case since Indiana Jones ::: spoiler spoiler encountered Noah's Ark ::: in the novels at an earlier stage of his life.