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Rob Donoghue

14 Nov, 11 tweets, 2 min read

Ok, trying to watch the next arc of Arcane.

Warp Gates + Airships == Fantastic bit of worldbuilding.

Steampunk hoverboards, not quite so much.

This is a really the 1990s WoD school of trauma stuff, isn't it?

But the visuals have, if anything, gotten better. The parkour is amazing. And there's a scene in an opera house where a background element is the mechanics of stagecraft, and I love everything about it.

Got some good punching in for the second episode of the arc, but I was wondering how they were going to wrap it up in another tight arc, because the pacing was a bit meandering. Turns out the answer is, they weren't - seems like they're going into a more traditional arc now.

I assume, at this point, that Vi in the game has magic robofists or something, because it sometimes feels like the whole of the narrative is just a long drag towards her being able to super punch.

(Note, I don't object to this. I'm all for a bit of Super Punching)

On some level, I am mostly just sad that all the draggy plot stuff in the most recent episode was not replaced with an extended version of "Payback" with Vi as Parker. I'm 110% here for that.

I am a great fan of politics and intrigue, but I also am a great fan of not including them if they're not exciting to the writer. If they're just there to provide plot excuses, then just go with that, don't spend screentime on something that's going to fall flat.

Between the politics and the "Oh, I see, she's the Joker" there continues to be a lot to eyeroll at in Arcane, but I'll be damned if the visuals don't keep drawing me back.

Also, Caitlyn was an entirely decent character, and I would watch more of that buddy cop show.

I am apparently willing to tolerate a lot of plot I don't care about if provides sufficient spectacle.

@AntarianRanger

Also, it just kills me that they didn't just hand @AntarianRanger some money to make an Arcane RPG because sweet holy crap that would be a gift to the unIverse.

@AntarianRanger

@AntarianRanger Also, as much as the big plot is just there, I must give props - they do a better job with the secondary characters than I’d expect. And the visual storytelling is aces.

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More from @rdonoghue

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

14 Nov

@ptevis

So, after hearing many things in man good places, especially from @ptevis, I finally finished up Skelton & Pais' _Team Topologies_, and it was pretty good.

It has a *little* bit of "This is a really fantastic core couple ideas that got stretched a but to make a book" but at this point I just take that as a given for any business book. (Good news is most start as articles anyway, and you can track them down).

There's a lot of thoughtful exploration of Conway's Law in it, and part of why I like is how strongly aligned with my own philosophy that the most essential part of any system is the handoffs. Gave me some nice language on team architecture too, so that's a win.

Read 15 tweets

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

14 Nov

So, I am fully expecting the Strixhaven D&D book to be all that the Little Dude could want in the world. Might be wrong, and maybe he'll just think it's neat and move on, but I'm kind of already mentally preparing for an onslaught.

We'd actually largely skipped that Magic release (we're very bursty in our attention to magic) but I've gone back and picked up some boosters and such, purely in anticipation of this.

I'm actually a little sad that there's such hang time between the Magic release and the D&D release. I recognize the market segment which finds more value in their synergy than standalone is small, but I'm definitely in that space.

Read 5 tweets

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

13 Nov

Should you get a Remarkable 2?

I like mine, but also have reservations, so this is always a tough question to answer, but I figured out the way to answer it and find out if YOU should get a Remarkable tablet or similar.

Step 1: Get a Rocketbook notebook. No need to get a fancy one, just get one whose size and style you like.

Step 2: Use it for a while, re-using pages and scanning your content for digital storage a& processing.

Step 3: If this is working great for you, then stop. You're set

Step 4: if, on the other hand, you're like "I *love* having my notes captured digitally, but the process of scanning them and doing the dance with the app is really undercutting the experience" then it might be time to consider a Remarkable.

Read 9 tweets

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

13 Nov

When you do not have the language (or willingness) to speak to taste or style, then there's an easy habit for every choice - however trivial - to be framed as a moral one.

What drives this is that, surprise, sometimes people don't like things for personal, ephemeral reasons. And that *should* be ok, but unless there's space for it to be ok, then that like needs to be *justified*, which means either faux academic analysis or moral judgement.

Faux analysis is it's own sort of nonsense, and it can be fun or toxic, but it's at least complicated and takes some work.

It's way easier to just treat roll to hit as a moral failing.

Read 4 tweets

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

13 Nov

I do appreciate the Amazon habit of photographing proof of delivery, especially when it’s proof that my package was delivered to a house that I don’t recognize.

Apparently the policy for this is "Wait 5 days to see if a neighbor brings it to you, and if they don't, *then* you can call us about this"

Yeah, super happy I picked the thing that could get same day delivery.

The best course for me is going to be to order another one (same day), and if the other one every shows up, return it for a refund (Or wait the 5 days and initiate a refund).

Read 7 tweets

Rob Donoghue

@rdonoghue

13 Nov

One of the most interesting questions to ask someone coming to learn an RPG is why they want to learn. "I have heard of this thing and I'm curious", "I have seen a stream and it looked fun", "My friends play and I want to join them" and many more answers exist (which is great!)

I mention this because this is just one of many complexities around the idea of learning to play - consider the different learning paths those different entry points suggest.

The most obvious example is "Are they learning the game from a friend? From a stranger (like at a public play event)? On their own?"

If you ask "What's the best game to learn?", I'd be hard pressed to come up with one answer that addresses just those scenarios.

Read 11 tweets

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