@inquisitiveardvark.bsky.social
I already believe that. A small dose of suffering is what leads to learning and growth (struggling to solve something can cause discomfort, but also growth and skills).
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I already believe that. A small dose of suffering is what leads to learning and growth (struggling to solve something can cause discomfort, but also growth and skills).
Code assistants are great at small chunks where you can do formal verification. Scaling them up to really chunk code bases is…not ideal?
February 6, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Code assistants are great at small chunks where you can do formal verification. Scaling them up to really chunk code bases is…not ideal?
The genre has collapsed in on itself almost entirely. At least it hasn't been fused with dark souls energy.
Yet.
Yet.
February 6, 2026 at 12:12 AM
The genre has collapsed in on itself almost entirely. At least it hasn't been fused with dark souls energy.
Yet.
Yet.
I would be fine if social media and digital ads were nuked from orbit.
February 5, 2026 at 10:52 AM
I would be fine if social media and digital ads were nuked from orbit.
I mostly lean on Necromunda for my 40K fix these days. Same horrific setting, but necromunda has that aura of cyberpunk corruption that makes me feel less icky.
January 30, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I mostly lean on Necromunda for my 40K fix these days. Same horrific setting, but necromunda has that aura of cyberpunk corruption that makes me feel less icky.
D&D does have strengths, though! Its mechanics are, at core, quite simple (D20 + relevant stat vs difficulty rating) and easy enough to remember. However, it is also massively bloated with mechanics that turn combat into an absolute slug fest with an emphasis on resource management rather than risk.
January 30, 2026 at 9:50 AM
D&D does have strengths, though! Its mechanics are, at core, quite simple (D20 + relevant stat vs difficulty rating) and easy enough to remember. However, it is also massively bloated with mechanics that turn combat into an absolute slug fest with an emphasis on resource management rather than risk.
Very much so! The Puritan/Radical split in the secret police of the Imperium is more about justification for your horrific form of brutality than it is an actual method of 'saving' humanity. Dark Heresy does a lot of good work with respect to that in my opinion (and is a really good RPG as well).
January 30, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Very much so! The Puritan/Radical split in the secret police of the Imperium is more about justification for your horrific form of brutality than it is an actual method of 'saving' humanity. Dark Heresy does a lot of good work with respect to that in my opinion (and is a really good RPG as well).
in a much more nuanced fashion that doesn't glamorize what is going on, the Borg series of RPGs does a fantastic job with the vibes and setting players up to rage against a system that can't, ultimately, be saved/stopped/changed in a meaningful way with a doomsday apocalypse round the corner.
January 30, 2026 at 9:13 AM
in a much more nuanced fashion that doesn't glamorize what is going on, the Borg series of RPGs does a fantastic job with the vibes and setting players up to rage against a system that can't, ultimately, be saved/stopped/changed in a meaningful way with a doomsday apocalypse round the corner.
Imperium is full of bad, horrific, no good people in charge. You have to earn the "good" ending (it is arguably still a fairly grim situation, just not as jackbooted as the other potential endings) and that still involves being a petty tyrant in the end.
As for what game/medium handles grim-dark
As for what game/medium handles grim-dark
January 30, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Imperium is full of bad, horrific, no good people in charge. You have to earn the "good" ending (it is arguably still a fairly grim situation, just not as jackbooted as the other potential endings) and that still involves being a petty tyrant in the end.
As for what game/medium handles grim-dark
As for what game/medium handles grim-dark
wargame by virtue that you can explore and explain just how miserable it is for the average human. The wargaming side also needs to sell toys so the social-economic conditions are of tertiary concern to the people who buy said plastic crack.
In the case of Rogue Trader it is very apparent that the
In the case of Rogue Trader it is very apparent that the
January 30, 2026 at 9:05 AM
wargame by virtue that you can explore and explain just how miserable it is for the average human. The wargaming side also needs to sell toys so the social-economic conditions are of tertiary concern to the people who buy said plastic crack.
In the case of Rogue Trader it is very apparent that the
In the case of Rogue Trader it is very apparent that the
In general I would argue that grim-dark settings tend towards fascism as the default government type simply to help fuel the oppressive, depressing nature of the setting in general. In 40k specifically the roleplaying side is far less sympathetic towards the fascist state than it is in the tabletop
January 30, 2026 at 9:02 AM
In general I would argue that grim-dark settings tend towards fascism as the default government type simply to help fuel the oppressive, depressing nature of the setting in general. In 40k specifically the roleplaying side is far less sympathetic towards the fascist state than it is in the tabletop
That is cringe as all get out.
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
That is cringe as all get out.
Nah, absolute monsters every last one of them.
January 28, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Nah, absolute monsters every last one of them.
cohesion between those in power and those they rule over.
January 25, 2026 at 6:43 PM
cohesion between those in power and those they rule over.
Outside of that rebellion/revolts are typically headed off through a combination of good harvests (thus allowing the farmers to eat while supplying taxes), a less burdensome relationship with landlords (still not great, but more conscious of the population in general), and generally greater social
January 25, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Outside of that rebellion/revolts are typically headed off through a combination of good harvests (thus allowing the farmers to eat while supplying taxes), a less burdensome relationship with landlords (still not great, but more conscious of the population in general), and generally greater social
Further thinking on this, what prevents most revolts/rebellions in general? Depends on the labor source in the past. Enslaved populations tend to see extreme levels of violence/coercive measures to keep them in compliance that is effectively a terror state that is decentralized.
January 25, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Further thinking on this, what prevents most revolts/rebellions in general? Depends on the labor source in the past. Enslaved populations tend to see extreme levels of violence/coercive measures to keep them in compliance that is effectively a terror state that is decentralized.
Hell even in the early modern era a lot of the effective work of repressing revolts/rebellions was decentralized for the most part until you get into the 19th century and the emergence of modern policing, censorship, and administrative states.
January 25, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Hell even in the early modern era a lot of the effective work of repressing revolts/rebellions was decentralized for the most part until you get into the 19th century and the emergence of modern policing, censorship, and administrative states.
State intelligence apparatus in the past tend to be fairly weak at best and effectively non existent most commonly. If you have absentee landlords who mostly don’t pay attention to the conditions of their tenants and a central authority that is quite weak, peasant revolts can get massive real fast.
January 25, 2026 at 2:13 PM
State intelligence apparatus in the past tend to be fairly weak at best and effectively non existent most commonly. If you have absentee landlords who mostly don’t pay attention to the conditions of their tenants and a central authority that is quite weak, peasant revolts can get massive real fast.
Ah the joys of garbage collection. At least its a tame language like R and not a menace like C.
January 23, 2026 at 3:45 AM
Ah the joys of garbage collection. At least its a tame language like R and not a menace like C.
Yeah...the Khmer Rouge were quite horrific monsters in their own right.
January 22, 2026 at 11:11 PM
Yeah...the Khmer Rouge were quite horrific monsters in their own right.
Hell, the entire Einsatzgruppen operations on the Eastern Front during 1941 is one of those things that people won't believe is a thing until you literally force feed it to them. The only thing that was perhaps as evil as the Nazis were the Japanese during the 1930s-1940s.
January 22, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Hell, the entire Einsatzgruppen operations on the Eastern Front during 1941 is one of those things that people won't believe is a thing until you literally force feed it to them. The only thing that was perhaps as evil as the Nazis were the Japanese during the 1930s-1940s.
I think we have collectively become quite smooth brain with the subtle differences with words like nation, state, and country. The triumph of the nation state as the organizing principle blinds us to the very real nature that nearly all states are heterogeneous.
January 22, 2026 at 1:43 PM
I think we have collectively become quite smooth brain with the subtle differences with words like nation, state, and country. The triumph of the nation state as the organizing principle blinds us to the very real nature that nearly all states are heterogeneous.
Debatable but I am willing to accept the argument as it boils down to taste, gameplay, execution, etc.
January 21, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Debatable but I am willing to accept the argument as it boils down to taste, gameplay, execution, etc.
"The Empire is oppressing my religious freedom!"
"Didn't you guys commit ethnic cleansing in the Reach?"
"....Shut up!"
"Didn't you guys commit ethnic cleansing in the Reach?"
"....Shut up!"
January 21, 2026 at 10:27 PM
"The Empire is oppressing my religious freedom!"
"Didn't you guys commit ethnic cleansing in the Reach?"
"....Shut up!"
"Didn't you guys commit ethnic cleansing in the Reach?"
"....Shut up!"