...Did you happen to archive it or post the wrong URL? "Not found."

Ehh... no. I don't see that as being the reasoning. Maybe if bigger fish from the conservative side had been actively trying to shit on gamers, but it was merely a handful of mildly popular commentators who were pulling it.

I could definitely see that as being a potential long-term strategy that conservatives might aim for, but as of yet I don't see a strong indication that they've made any serious investment or moves into this regard.

As for the left/Feds/DHS, they absolutely are targeting gamers, both because of Gamersgate and I think also because intelligence agencies see gaming as a fantastic opportunity for psychological, sociological, and behavioral analysis. Gamers also make for a convenient "boogieman", along with anything else they can bunch into the "evil far right" that no one else will stand up for or defend.

There's also of course the money side of things too.

I think the saddest part is how many people are actually so pathetic as to leave reviews "just" for free DLC, especially in such a mediocre looking game.

Could always be deranged "climate change" activists.

Aye. I've seen a few games that manage to synergize exploration with the rest of the gameplay in pretty cool and natural ways.

Sadly there's a lot of other games these days that tend to rely on a lot of (fetch) quests to motivate or steer players into exploration. Which then often lead to achievement-styled checklists and "collectathons". Can't remember any specific scenarios I can describe, but I remember this sort of vibe in Darksiders 2, a lot of the Dead Island/Dying Light games, and some of Elder Scrolls Online.

IE, forcing players to follow along a linear path (usually with a dull and meaningless backstory), which often leads to a backlog of incomplete sidequests, which often don't flow intuitively with normal gameplay, and rarely is the reward even worth the level of hassle involved.

I'm sure that's next on the agenda, in some manner or another.

I do like it when games add onto that with skillbooks systems of some sort. Basically offering different avenues for the player to build up their characters' skills and abilities, and allowing the player to stack or overlap those different approaches as they play.

(IE, chop wood, build small shack, skill improves, explore, eventually discover some home improvement book where you can learn more working knowledge on building, skill improves some more, etc etc)

Aye. I was sadly late to the SWG game, only getting a taste of it within the emulation community, but even then I got an excellent impression on just how solidly they designed a lot of things. The camping system, housing, econ, crafting, etc. I'm not kidding when I point at how much inspiration Mortal Online 2 draws from it. Unfortunately, it has some brutally hardcore open world pvp, and not in a remotely forgiving kind of way. (A little too rage inducing for the amount of time I have to spare these days.)

Fucking Smedley, lol. Arguably he bears a fair bit of responsibility for Planetside 2 being such a faint echo of the first game. And then things went even further downhill for SOE.

Also going to split this off in a separate comment, since my comment was already getting a little text-heavy:

Another thought that comes to mind, loosely based on what I was reading about Burning Wheel, is how 7 Days to Die's internal dismemberment system actually works. I'd have to read through the game's XML's again to refresh my memory, but the TLDR of it was that each limb had a different minimum threshold that needed to be matched or exceeded in order to achieve a dismemberment. (Player-side modifiers include the weapon/item class, weapon quality, weapon upgrades, and relevant player skill levels).

I once considered adopting some kind of a core damage formula loosely based on that, but was on the fence given how in many respects, it's still a purely numbers game only with slightly different rules. Plus you end up going down a rabbit hole of trying to overcomplicate other things like bleed-out and trauma mechanics...

I'd highly suggest looking at RPG systems specifically designed before World of Warcraft.

Regardless of how you feel about WoW, there's no denying that the impact it had created ripple effects that stretched far and wide throughout RPG's and gaming. MMO's tried to emulate its design in a desperate effort to stay competitive (which arguably had the opposite effect) and even singleplayer games occasionally adopted a few inspired ideas. Pretty sure even D&D 4E's changes were inspired by certain WoW-related trends.

So if you want a wider palette of ideas, you might be better off looking back just a few years. Here's a few examples I could name that have mechanics that might diverge from what you're normally familiar with:

Star Wars Galaxies (Pre-NGE, before they tried overhauling the gameplay to emulate WoW)

Spiderweb Software (Specifically their slightly older games, at least in my opinion.)

Mortal Online 2 (Heavily inspired by SWG, with a dash of Bethesda "do thing to improve skill in thing" approach, and a rather unique skillbook related system)

And also look into some tabletop/pen and paper RPG's that aren't based on D&D or D20. A few that I've come across (though have minimal experience with): Burning Wheel The Riddle of Steel Mythras

I think in lighter degrees it is perhaps normal behavior, but things have been pushed to even further extremes in more recent generations.

For instance, maybe women would normally use details you've confided in them in a friendly teasing/joing or supportive kind of way. But now such secrets are often held and utilized with almost predatory intent.

To be fair, there was almost certainly a lot of pressure and influence coming from Britain and other allied nations actively embroiled in the war as well.

Not that I'm discounting your claims, but merely pointing out that there were almost certainly other parties involved too.

Aye, the letter of these laws and measures is not exactly as prohibitive as one might expect. Still, it's a slimy tributary act in service to a foreign power that the U.S. doesn't owe any true allegiance.

Connected with MelaninGaming too, just fyi. And they're putting out a petition to try and enforce something like this through the ESRB. Which I'm guessing they're doing with the hopes for an easy consultant gig/handout.

There are still occasional games being released with menu and control scheme designs that are clearly intended for console players.

Sometimes it's not that bad, but sometimes it makes a game almost as godawful as console ports released around a decade ago.

Ah, so now we come to the real reason woke artists are so terrified of AI. Projection strikes once again.

Woodelves and Beastmen?

Not even a pawn so much as a willing and eager partner. The way he created and runs his business involved almost no dependency or loyalty to anyone, especially not any of his customers/users.

That's very much the same kind of motivation that finally pushed me into starting on my own game a few years ago. I've tried to keep any details on it pretty close to the vest though, as I'm sure you and others here would certainly understand.

Something worth remembering by the way. It isn't the complexity that makes the game so much as the fun and satisfaction that the core gameplay gives to the player.

IE, playing cat and mouse with an enemy vessel in space, glancing skirmishes that eventually lead to a major moment where you maneuver your ship at the perfect speed and angle, and executing a deadly barrage onto an enemy at just the perfect moment.

So many developers let themselves get so deeply embedded into systems and meta mechanics that they forget and fail to deliver on the simple things. Plus, sometimes it's the simplest things that can provide the most satisfying and complex results (Emergent Gameplay).

That's certainly going to be a tough one to narrow down, given the variety of preferences people can have on such a genre.

I can give a rundown of a few areas I'd personally like to see in a solidly done (modern) strategy game, based largely on past favorites:

Something space-science fiction related in the same vein as Master of Orion, Star Trek: Birth of the Federation, Star Wars: Rebellion, and Sword of the Stars.

Most newer games I've tried of this variety tend to take annoying and experience killing design choices. Oversimplified and "streamlined" gameplay, 2D/pixely/cartoony art design, and often little depth or personality to anything story, lore, or character related. (IE, Stellaris having a rather bland "spreadsheet" faction setup). I can expound further if you're curious.

I've never been quite able to get into too many fantasy strategy games, save for a few niche instances though, and I think I've burned myself out on historical strategy games thanks to Paradox and Total War.

Maybe something like Heroes of Might and Magic might work, if it had the same personality and charm, but a less cumbersome design to the overarching strategic gameplay.

Celebrities who actively choose not to keep their (and their family's) private lives private are often not only terrible people, but are even worse parents.

Can you even understand reality?

This is probably the first instance I've heard of the rating being altered to reflect such nonsense. Absolutely insane and bizarre.

The Sims 4 can be moderately interesting, especially with mods. Unfortunately the gameplay loop gets a bit repetitive and the game is notorious for an absurd number of DLC's (many including a fair bit of gameplay additions).

The games definitely offer a certain kind of nostalgia just with the unique and chill styling. The music is pretty niche and nice too.

Oh, and there's a fair bit of wokeness of course on the part of the devs, but afaik it's almost entirely avoidable due to customization and/or mods. But even so, you would be giving EA money unless you sail the high seas.

I'm having trouble buying the "official" story as well.

One of the few reasons I can fathom ISIS singling out a Russian target would be some kind of latent revenge killing for Russia's active involvement in helping to crush ISIS and Syrian rebels about 8-10 years ago.

The timing doesn't exactly make sense though, and I don't know how closely tied the claimant ISIS cell is with the ones Russian operations were knocking out.