Counterpoint, no matter the accessibility options included, there’s always going to be a disability that isn’t compatible. The only game that everyone can play is “sitting alone in your room” and some people even struggle with that. There’s always going to be some level of ability required. As much as that sucks, that some people just won’t be able to experience a thing, it sucks more to have no one experience it for fear of excluding those who can’t.

See it’s funny you say that. My neighbor had a pumpkin that I SWORE was two lightning bolts, til I looked at it properly and it was the KISS logo. And say what you want about being a KISS fan, it’s a lot better than the conclusion that was initially reached. Benign explanations for things exist, and you have to look at more than a license plate to get an idea of someone’s beliefs.

Each of these exoduses moves the bar a little bit. We only lose if we give up. Eventually the bad decisions will catch up to them, as long as we keep pushing.

Drop the mic, bro. You earned it.

You didn’t elaborate.

No problem, bud! Elden Ring is a good start for the series, imo, because it’s as open as it is. If you enjoy it, honestly, go back and give the dark souls series another shot after understanding their design philosophy a bit more.

As much as I love the world of elden ring, nothing will compare to the level of interconnected labyrinths that connect back on each other so elegantly that dark souls 1 has. Enjoy your time!

It’s less esoteric than that. There’s rhyme and reason to all of the individual steps of the quest lines, but sometimes if you aren’t thinking juuuuuust like the devs want it can be a bit of a leap.

I haven’t played it since launch, but apparently they’ve added map markers for NPCs you have already met, that’ll make it significantly easier to understand what they’re wanting you to do, I think.

You should take a gander at the YouTube account VaatiVidya. He does deep dive lore videos on most or all of the FS games, and shows the in-game sources for most or all of the lore he covers. It’s remarkable how much they tell you with so little.

Yeah, 100%. There are some much more obvious signs posts around the main quest stuffs.

The link you posted shows the example plate with AAA999. Usually all of the plates of a specific design have a specific schema of letters/numbers. Not sure if this is the case with that particular plate, or if that’s just a random example they went with.

Either way, we can’t determine a person’s affiliation from just that license plate, just use it as a signal to possibly be wary around them.

This. It doesn’t matter that this specific guy got it. It matters whether or not it CAN exist. If it CAN exist, then eventually someone will get it.

To be fair, usually they have a schema of, say, LNL-NLN or LLLLNN or something similar where Ls are letters and Ns are numbers. Every non-vanity (or special, like gov’t, dealer, temp…) plate will follow the schema, so I doubt there’s a chance FCKPLC could show up.

The other unfortunate thing with dog whistles is, they’re designed to be easily looked over, subtle enough to be plausible. Without other evidence this guy is a Nazi, the only right thing to do is to let them be. The consequences of taking action against an innocent person far outweigh the benefits of acting against a single Nazi.

The presence of a dog whistle itself can’t be a reason to attack someone (metaphorically, hopefully. Don’t do random acts of violence against individuals period. There are better ways to get results.) but it is definitely enough to make one cautious and observant.

No. 88 is just a number. It can be used as a dog whistle, but it can also be used, for instance, to describe a quantity equidistant between 87 and 89. Numbers and symbols don’t make a Nazi, actions and rhetoric do.

I love Norse symbology. I’m not going to stop loving it because some fuckbrains use it to spread hate. Fuck that.

Not used to be. Still are. Symbols can represent a lot of things, and it’s an ignorant person to assume that they MUST represent the bad one.

It’s not Nazis unless it’s on a Volkswagen, otherwise it’s just sparkling fascism.

Or, just make multiplayer (competitive, anyway) locked out if you’re using certain options. If you’re struggling and using accessibility options such as stat buffs/nerfs, you proooooobably don’t want to engage with invaders. And who cares if a friendly summon gets pulled into a slightly easier world? Oh no, I get easier souls, the horror. Now, everyone can play, AND we’re not interfering with anyone else’s gameplay in a meaningful capacity. Win/win.

Not the guy you replied to. I think I’ve looked up guides or tips for bosses like… 3 times in all of the from soft games. Bosses are largely puzzles to be figured out. They’re some of the most engaging moments of gameplay, and, barring gimmick bosses, reading a guide for them still doesn’t do the work of beating it for you anyway. They’ll just give you some things to look for and some general advice, then the rest is on you.

Think of it less as “at the 20% mark you’ll need a guide” and more “you’ll probably only FIND 20% of the game your first playthrough without a guide” - you’ll find the critical path, you’ll beat the game, but without a TON of tenacity, you won’t complete a lot of the side quests, and probably won’t even find some. You probably won’t really have a grasp on what conditions you need to get an ending you like, etc.

All of it CAN be found, can be done, without a guide, and you’ll probably have a blast doing it, it’s just a matter of the time and commitment you want to/are able to put in.

Yeah, a guide will say like, “okay, first go to stormveil. To do that you’ll have to kill Margit. Go more or less north from the start.”

Between the start and Margit is like, easily 5+ hours first time for a decently experienced player. There are tons of caves and miniature dungeons and other cool things to explore. The individual challenges, you’re more or less doing yourself. Unless you’re watching a video walkthrough. No comment there. Imma let people enjoy their way. Some guides include tips for certain particularly brutal areas, or build ideas of you’re struggling, but those are absolutely not required to play the game, and if anything removes some of the sense of satisfaction from overcoming.

Then, there are things like the interactive map. Elden ring is a huge open world. Really all of the souls games are open, non-linear, and thoughtfully connected worlds, but elden ring is the only one of call " open world". If you really want to see just how dense the world is, and how little using a general route guide actually ruins for you, I encourage you to take a gander at it before playing. The world is FUCKING HUGE.

I think one of the coolest things with FS games is, the level of hand holding you get is pretty much what you want to look for. You CAN watch a video walkthrough and follow it step by step, sure. You can read a general route guide to have a bit of bearing. You can just use the interactive map, to uncover things you may not otherwise. And, if you’re so inclined, you can raw dog the Panda Between, just you and your own wits.

Think of guides in FS games more like MapQuest directions. It’ll tell you to take a left at a certain exit, but not all of the traffic between here and there. You gotta navigate that bit on your own, just here’s a sign post to follow.

As far as lore goes, that’s one of the most compelling things about the games. They’re absolutely oozing more from every possible orifice. The worlds are so dense and thematic, and the lore isn’t spoon fed with excessive cutscenes and talking, it’s largely given to you environmentally. Placement of items and enemies, item descriptions that feel like they’re telling you bits of legend. Stuff like that.