Addfwyn

which by some weird thought process becomes a pro-Russian position.

I am a communist and the prevailing attitude in most circles I am in is not an explicitly pro-Russian one, it's just not explicitly pro-Ukraine either. There is a also an underlying understanding of the reasons why the war started. Just because you don't support one side does not mean you have to 100% uncritically support the opposing side. The sooner we stop thinking of everything in black/white terms of Team A vs Team B, we will be a lot better off.

Now there are those who have nostalgia for the USSR, which is not the modern Russian Federation, but it's fairly niche. Usually people understand that modern Russia is not the soviet union. There are the patsocs too, but we don't really claim them.

I am not the Official Spokesman of Communism, but those are generally the attitudes I have seen in most of my circles.

Obviously you run into a lot of other issues with a sudden change but we are frankly pretty overpopulated and could use a decrease. It turns out that a system predicated on infinite population growth with finite resources can't be sustained forever. Especially with how finite they are in our case.

I think even worse than our population issues is the overcentralization though. SO much is based around Tokyo, the vast majority of jobs are located there, especially if you want any upwards mobility. It's even worse if you include areas like Chiba and Saitama as part of the greater Tokyo area. Even the other cities pale in comparison to opportunities in Tokyo. If people could spread out a bit more, it wouldn't be nearly as bad as it is now.

I was lucky enough to be able to move out of Tokyo last year thanks to my work. I am not in a super rural area but I definitely never want to go back to Tokyo if I can help it. I am in the mountains around Mt. Fuji, and get to work overlooking a spectacular view of the mountain. Don't have to deal with packing into crowded trains in the summer when everyone is dripping with sweat.

Maybe an unpopular take, but I honestly don't think private jets should even exist. When does a private citizen actually need one; if you want to fly in luxury that is what first class on commercial airlines is for, you shouldn't need more than that. I get that people operating in a government capacity might need, but that's not really the same as a private citizen owning one.

Then again, I don't think anyone should be rich enough to be buying private jets to begin with.

China is on the edge of a major economic decline.

People have been saying this for over a decade. It hasn't happened. Heck, Gordon Chang's entire career is based off writing a "China is about to collapse" book every couple years. If anything, their economic position has continued to strengthen.

Sorry I think you're right that I might be misunderstanding you. You mean the shelling of civilian centers, including with cluster munitions, by the Ukrainian armed forces was BS? That is a verifiable fact though. That's why I thought you must be referring to something else.

It was reported on by the UN Human Rights Council and the NYT back in 2014/2015, back when such stories could still be printed, not exactly famed Russian-biased propaganda outlets or questionable internet sources.

Read most of these and some I agree with, some I don't.

Weeks is okay, but I don't think Night Angel is a "must read".

I liked the Dresden Files well enough, but I don't think it is must-read either. They were fun reads, but he wouldn't be in the top authors even of urban fantasy specifically.

I don't read them really, but Harry Potter seems influential enough that it should probably be on the list. I might make a case for some Scott Lynch and Robin Hobb to be there too. Sorta surprised neither Terry Brooks nor Terry Goodkind made the cut either, though I haven't personally read them since I was very young.

Apparently Russian civilians, and journalists at that, don’t count.

Disgustingly, I have definitely heard people make that case with a straight face, look at all the people celebrating a Russian civilian being killed by a shark. They only care about warcrimes from The Other Team.

Which part of their statement exactly are you claiming to be BS? The numbers or something else?

That isn’t true of Ukraine or it’s supporters.

Journalists have been jailed for exactly that in Ukraine and some NATO countries though, so it is definitely true for some of those places.

I wasn't a massive XIV fan at the outset, but there has definitely been a trend in the game design I didn't like as it moved towards later expansions. They continually moved away from any kind of player agency/customization, so everything is super homogenized now (or at least when I last played). I stopped around the end of Shadowbringers, never actually got into Endwalker content.

They used to have cross-class skills and things like that, so it really felt like a FF job system where you would play different classes to unlock skills for your main. I think any FF player should be pretty comfortable with that. They have since simplified that, which I am sure is great for newer players but I don't really like it. Now, if I am a level 80 warrior I am exactly the same as every other level 80 warrior, except for the number next to my item level. That kind of customization is a big part of both MMOs and FFs for me, usually.

Killer soundtrack though, Soken does good work.

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It's kind of a long standing quality of the series, since they are always trying new stuff that will resonate with different people. Outside of like actual FF2 (I assume you are talking about IV since you mention the SNES) I think I have heard people make a case for every FF being their favourite. Which is great, I am glad they try to shake it up every time.

Both of the projects Yoshida has been involved with I have been pretty lukewarm on though, so I am just a bit concerned if he is going to be the proverbial face of the series moving forward.