In response to Monica Heilman.
Wait, you can see it? I have an error message!
08:33 PM - Apr 16, 2023
In response to Timara (she/her).
Right? I'm like, I NEED TO SEE THAT MARSHALL IS HAPPY WITHOUT HER ASS
08:22 PM - Apr 16, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
The homeless man asked me for a blackberry, which I had, and tried to give him. I clicked the wrong thing, which made me not give him the blackberry but EAT IT IN FRONT OF A HUNGRY HOMELESS GUY. I hate that I'm accidentally such an asshole in this game...
11:58 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
At first, I didn't understand how to put something down after I'd picked it up. This is why I watered everyone in town with my watering can when greeting them for the first time.
11:57 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
They wouldn't end the festival until I put something in the soup. All I had on me was sap. I put sap in the soup and it made the Governor throw up.
11:56 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
It was something that gave us pride and resilience. I'm proud that Pittsburgh did bounce back as a center for healthcare, technology, and higher education. But it took years, and in the 70s, the zeitgeist was much, much different, and the show just completely missed this. It's unfortunate. /end rant
11:48 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
It was SO important that our sports teams were doing that well all at once because Pittsburgh had been knocked down from the mills closing. It was a scary, sad, hopeless time, and those teams gave us something to celebrate when it was sorely needed. THAT'S why they would've yelled CITY OF CHAMPIONS.
11:46 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
It could have been WAY more emotionally affecting to have these guys' families decide they needed to leave because of mill closures, forcing the band members to figure out what they would do next. That's what you miss when you fail to seek context.
11:40 AM - Apr 14, 2023
(Edited)
In response to Heidi McDonald.
In Daisy Jones and The Six, the band wants to get out and go to LA because it's a recording mecca. They missed an excellent opportunity to establish that this time and place held an important context: the exodus because of closing steel mills. People struggling with whether to stay, where to go.
11:38 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
Talk to locals, visit there if you can, GET CONTEXT. Context creates believability when you're storytelling. It's as important as worldbuilding is to a D&D game. Give the story a reason for the characters to be from a certain place and time.
11:36 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
If you are writing and need a city, and you choose one randomly, and all you do is choose a neighborhood on its map and look up the name of its sports team, you are doing that city and its people a disservice, and it's lazy writing.
11:34 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
Fourth: They clearly just looked on a map and chose the name of a neighborhood for these guys to be from. I don't personally remember Hazelwood being a good neighborhood, even back then. Bloomfield or the South Side would have been the ticket.
11:13 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
Third: That their signature cheer when things go right is placing their hands in the middle and all yelling PITTSBURGH is ridiculous. Back then, the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers were all on fire at the same time. We called it "City of Champions." This is what they'd yell.
11:12 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
Second: About that pennant on the basement wall. It would not be a pennant. Anyone who has been a Steelers fan in the last 50 years knows it would be a Terrible Towel.
11:10 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
First: They could have added so much depth here, rather than just a Steelers pennant on the basement wall. There were major reasons why working-class people wanted to leave at that point in time. Steel mills were closing. It was an exodus by working-class folks.
11:09 AM - Apr 14, 2023
In response to gdavidbrown.
I'm from Pittsburgh, home of Heinz ketchup, and you absolutely have my permission.
01:33 PM - Apr 05, 2023
In response to Cyndi.
I did see that. I was responding specifically to Oakland Catholic as I have a personal history with that place. My daughter and her dad are currently stuck in their offices until Pitt administers the all-clear. I want everyone to be okay.
01:04 PM - Mar 29, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
But if officials look at various angles on this situation, I hope they'll find out whether the school culture has changed since I went there in the early 80s. I experienced such terrible unchecked bullying, and there were verbally and physically abusive nuns.
01:03 PM - Mar 29, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
I went to Sacred Heart Elementary but also simultaneously attended a couple of classes at that high school. So this is scary and surreal. I desperately want everyone to be okay...
01:00 PM - Mar 29, 2023
In response to AllieB.
I *said* in my original post that I wasn't sure whether it was real. That's beside the point. The point is, it's funny. I wish it didn't feel like you're trying to come after me right here. I was just trying to spread some levity. I was clear that it might not be real.
09:12 PM - Mar 27, 2023
In response to AllieB.
True, but he re-testified in front of the grand jury in NYC today.
07:06 PM - Mar 27, 2023
In response to Nina L. Diamond.
I'd watch RDJ wait for a city bus. Seriously. He's one of the ones I show up for, no matter what. Since about 1987. 🤓
09:34 PM - Mar 23, 2023
In response to Marc Rumminger.
They had better also look at gyms that won't let you cancel unless you do it in person. What if the reason you have to cancel is COVID/health risk, and it's not safe for you to be in public anymore? They'd ask you to risk your life to cancel their stupid membership.
01:02 PM - Mar 23, 2023
In response to aaron.
I get that, it's just weird to ASPIRE to a low number after a lifetime of knocking myself out to get the highest possible percentage on academic things. (Abusive dad conditioning, is all. YMMV.)
08:21 PM - Mar 22, 2023
In response to Sassy Bee.
Good for you! I wish you'd share your recipe for success in growing your followers here. I've been following everyone back who follows, but some folks have dropped right after I follow them. Which I think is not the kindest behavior.
01:34 PM - Mar 22, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
10. Finally, and most importantly: Make sure the game responds in a player-facing way and sometimes invisibly to the player's choice (conditionals that are set and used later to call back to choices made in a moment). /end
11:18 AM - Mar 22, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
9. Use the best type of choice for any given moment. If the player is in a tense moment, brokering a diplomatic deal between Ferelden and Orlais, don't suddenly ask the player if they want to change clothes. 🤣
11:18 AM - Mar 22, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
8. No big choice should be perfect or obvious. I call these "grey choices." They force you to think about what's most important to you, and just like with real life, you move forward with the best information and your inner conviction and see how things unfold from your decision.
11:18 AM - Mar 22, 2023
In response to Heidi McDonald.
7. Think about punishment, reward, and consequences with every choice you offer. Don't punish your players, but do allow them to experience the consequences of their choices. Pentiment is a recent example which does this particularly well.
11:18 AM - Mar 22, 2023
