In my experience, a community with even the most basic and rudimentary filter to join has consistently higher quality people in the community. Kinder, more active, and better posts. A bigger community does NOT mean a better one, often the inverse has been true ime but blah blah analogies aren't evidence.

I like that the mods are prioritizing healthy growth over just growth. It's easy to look at number go up and get excited, then to open the flood gates. And whenever a community does that, a bunch of people whom are not wholly interested in the point of the community swoop in and push out the invested crowd.

The only downside would be wanting to answer something more personal, but making a throwaway account isn't exactly easy with this system. That's, really, the only downside I can immediately point to.

Yeah, I think reddit is going to die (if only due to the process of enshittification and the consequences of going public) but the idea of a mass exodus is a bit of a dream. Anyone who has had a conversation going on in one channel, and then have a mod tell them to move it to a more appropriate channel should know this. The conversation doesn't move, it just stops 9/10 times.

But we shouldn't be preoccupied with reddit as a community. Give what you can to Lemmy and enjoy it for what it is, not wishing it to be reddit.

Same. Replacing doom scrolling on Reddit with posting on beehaw.

Hell, even if people move back to reddit, I've made the choice to stay on Lemmy, and give a small community everything I've got.

I think the issue with that is that dog whistles from far right extremists is constantly changing. And to outline an exact rule of what defines hate speech invites people to find loop holes in the rule.

This is just something that you have to trust the community on. And I can understand that sounds way too risky and vague.

I think with things like this, err on the side of caution, be excellent to one another, and keep politics to what you can do rather than what you should do. In my time, the "should do" arguments is where I found most of the division in communities that aught to get along come from. Just my own thoughts though.

Still, if any mods could give their word on the matter, that'd be(e) fantastic.

A weekly or even fortnightly writing group thread would be HUGELY good. Not only on an individual level, but also on a community level.

I'll echo the idea of "bad writing" being the goal. It's easy for everyone to get caught up in the big issue of "Is this good enough?" Vs "Am I having fun?"

I might actually make this my own weekly thing. Give me a bit and I'll make my own post on this.

I'm with you on Persona 5. My favourite in the series is Persona 2. Plays like complete ass but some of the best writing I've seen in a videogame. So it balances out. Then Persona 3 came out and they changed direction with the games, and... Well, I guess it makes more money and being told you're the best is a lot more fun than the weirdness of early persona.

Weirdly enough, I could never get into Stardew Valley. Whenever I play it, the path to complete optimisation is just so annoyingly clear. Something ALWAYS needs to be done to be optimal. So I always feel like I'm not doing it right or I'm falling behind. My personality just does not work with Stardew Valley even if I really truly want it to.

To add onto your point. One thing that we'll have to watch out for is that toxic clout culture built up on other websites coming here.

It's been something I've been thinking about in the context of all this. People aren't coming from the void. They'll have their own internet lingo and culture that they'll bring with them to any site they go to. And while the design of a website can mitigate some of the worst parts of a culture, it can't outright remove it.

Without near constant vigilance (like the ask a historian subreddit) most communities will end up dying off. And even then you're at the whims of the platform.

I realise my point now is hardly even connected to yours, haha. Apologies.

Reminding myself that the person posting the worst opinions I've seen in my life is likely a 14 year-old with unrestricted access to the internet from birth is the only thing keeping me sane.

Honestly, this might be a bit of a hot take coming in. But I don't think the lengthy tutorial is the actual issue when it comes to modern Pokemon games. Plenty of games have very slow openings, monster hunter is the first that comes to mind.

I think the issue is that the game doesn't actually have any depth behind the initial tutorial. Once you know how to battle, catch, and level up, what more is there? Barring competitive play, the basic mechanics are the entire game.

Legends was a breath of fresh air, because you did have to explore and learn about the world and Pokemon in order to succeed. Even if it was incredibly minimal.

If anyone is still reading this, my recommendation for a game that scratches the deep mechanical and monster collecting itch would be Monster Sanctuary. The story is thin on the ground, and the designs themselves can lean on the simpler side. But my god, I haven't seen an equal when it comes to team building or strategy. Genuinely fantastic.

Fantastic essay. Slightly tangential, but honestly so many new constructions with housing are just so wasteful. Luxury apartments designed to stay empty while some investor on the other side of the country owns it and waits to sell to the next sucker in line. Office buildings with extravagant and wasteful lobbies, serving no purpose other than the vanity of the developers.

Of course, we need higher density. The world can't be split into the extravagance and waste of skyscrapers and the drudgery and repetition of the suburb sprawl.

As I type this, I'm sitting in the empty lobby of an office building. A giant corporate sculpture is hanging above the concierge desk. The empty space and high ceiling could easily fit dozens of apartments. Not even thinking about the resources spent

It's just... A lot, when you start looking at offices and skyscrapers through this lens.

Modded dwarf fortress. I've always been a bit of a baby, so I mod out the invasions and aquifers. It's almost like watching ants work once it all gets going.