Esports has come a long way: from high-score chasing, to the Battle By the Bay, the World Cyber Games, and much more. It wasn’t until the 2010s that the legitimacy and ubiquity of esports reached a fevered pitch, with studios chasing after this market and the push to give esports as big of a profile as traditional sports. But as I looked at genres like fighting and RTS, I started to think about whether esports has helped or hurt game development.

The Intended Effect

Esports and live service have gone together since the 2000s and the rise of League of Legends. The idea was that by creating an esport, a game would become popular outside of just playing the game; people would follow the esport and sponsors could sell ad revenue. There has always been this dream in the US to have esports reach the same level of recognition and impact that we saw in South Korea with StarCraft.

By continuing to support a game with more content, it would mean people would spend money on said content, and more support would keep a game going for years. When you look at the big successes — LoL, CS: GO, Rainbow Six: Siege, and so on – it does turn into that. For multiplayer, it has been a godsend in terms of keeping these games relevant and playable for years thanks to people continuing to play for the competitive side. This symbiotic relationship has been the envy of publishers and developers who all tried to make their own take on these games, as we saw with the numerous battle royales, MOBAs, shooters, and so on. And while esports has been good to these games it hasn’t been good to the health of these genres.

The problem is that making an esport and making a marketable game might not be as compatible as you think.

Making an Esport

Esport design is different from the traditional design and mechanics we see in other games. When you are building an esport, you must focus on the competitive side — all map design, all balancing, all future content, must be built around what the competitive people want to see. This has been the driving factor for fighting games for years and was part of what led to the decline of traditional RTS games in the mainstream in favor of MOBAs.

An esport is all about “the match” and everything that isn’t related to it is seen as fluff to the competitive side.

Matches are meant to be as balanced as possible and favor player skill above all else. With every esport game mentioned in this piece, you’ll find very little content outside of that. For the games that do add in single-player or story content, with rare exceptions (that I’ll come back to below), it is kept minimal and seems like something added to check off a list.

Casual vs. Competitive

When we look at games and genres that have gone out of their way to be the next esport, it’s time to face an important truth: esports suck the fun out of those games. From a community standpoint, some of the worst games imaginable, with regard to community management and moderation, are from the esports side. You have those who send horrible messages to other players, players who look down on everyone else, and reports of corruption and cheating from time to time.

From an onboarding and UI/UX point of view, these games are ineffective at providing accommodations and educating new players on how to play competitively. When it comes to the importance of UI/UX design, esports games fail this test time after time, and a lot of it comes down to their player base, specifically the esports side. Just as single-player gamers often fail to understand the difference between complexity and depth, so do a lot of multiplayer fans. Some immediately fume the second someone wants to change a game to make it easier to play or modernize it for audiences today, as we saw with the modern controls debate from Street Fighter 6. The problem is that teaching someone how to play against an AI is not the same as teaching them how to fight another player. For games that introduce new rules and mechanics, onboarding and tutorials may never cover those advanced elements.

In the last section I mentioned that esports players tend to focus on match design and match balancing above all else, however, the “else” in this regard is what attracts people to play these games in the first place. An esports player wants something that is consistent across however many matches they tend to play over the game’s lifespan and this is also why progression, outside elements, or those that don’t fit within the match are viewed as negatives. For everyone else, this kind of stuff is what makes these games appealing. Something I wrote about in my RTS book with unit design is that at the end of the day, cool trumps balance. Are the different factions in the Command & Conquer universe or the races in StarCraft 2 perfectly balanced? Heck no, and any self-respecting fan would say the same.

Keeping with StarCraft 2, it's the only game I can think of that came out with a fully supported esports model with its competitive play and a completely original campaign for each faction featuring unique units and progression not seen anywhere else. This is in line with how NetherRealm Studios revitalized the fighting game genre in the late 2000s by focusing on content for people who have no interest in the competitive side.

Esports players, no matter how much money gets thrown at sponsorships and tournaments, represent a fraction, of a fraction, of a fraction, of your consumer base, and it's why only catering to them does not keep a game financially afloat.

Where the Money Comes and Goes

Live service game design is all about money coming in and going out in a continuous cycle. If you’re not creating new content, money stops coming in, which means no more budget to create new content. And if you’re not creating “attractive” content for people to buy, then you are just wasting development time and money.

The issue with catering only to esports players with your game’s content and growth is that it doesn’t leave room for anyone else to keep playing. You’ll see this with any competitively-driven game — the first month or two will have peak player counts with new players trying to learn the game and see if it works for them. And then, without fail, those numbers plummet and the people who stick around are just the competitive side or those trying to be competitive.

This group only cares about one thing: content that plays into the competitive side of the game. Anything else is not of interest to them, and if you think new cosmetics are going to be enough to bring casual players back, that’s not going to work. To that point, trying to create new game modes, new mechanics, or anything that runs counter to the esports/competitive side will be met with angry esports players, and still may not be enough to get people to come back. Blizzard’s strategy of splitting StarCraft 2 down the middle between the competitive and casual sides with its content was a brilliant move. Conversely, trying to shoehorn competitive and casual together is what doomed Command & Conquer 4.

The problem with trying to cater to an esports market is that instead of being able to grow your game with new content and interest over the months and years, it starts to shrink. Once a game’s audience becomes fixed like this, no one new is going to join, and if they do, chances are they won’t stay long. If players feel like they are just there to be served up to the expert players, they will leave even faster, as Activision’s report on Skill-Based Matchmaking covers in detail.

The Better Live Service

Some of the most popular live service games today come from the mobile space and are as far away from competitive experiences as a game could get. Creating attractive content for a live service game requires making sure that all segments of your audience can experience it. If there are new missions, storylines, etc., then they should be accessible to all groups. For bonus challenges or limited-time events, there needs to be content for each group of players.

Whenever there is content that only one group of players can use or will support, it’s going to push the other ones away; you need as wide of a consumer base as possible if you want your game to keep growing.

What Is the Future of Esports?

Esports is in a very awkward place now; it’s no longer the new thing on the market, and tournaments like the LoL Championship Series and EVO have reached the mainstream, but prospects for continued growth are debatable. Part of the problem is that it’s not about organically making a game an esport, where the process would look like this:

1. The game comes out
2. People like to play it
3. Tournaments are developed
4. The game becomes an esport

Now, many developers and publishers are chasing the market to will their games to become an esport. The ones that specifically are built for esport players are not finding a market outside of just those players.

Just as the RTS genre needs to have a hard talk about modernizing and appealing to more people, the fighting genre needs a similar one.

Despite how many copies Street Fighter 6 sold and how popular it was, less than half the player base on PC tried a multiplayer match. Designing additional content for mainstream and non-competitive players has helped, but it doesn’t fix the inherent problem of trying to get someone who isn’t a pro player interested in playing a game designed around that mindset.

What do you think: Is esports going to keep growing, or has it reached its limits?

Plenty of amazing games go unnoticed and are not played widely for various reasons. Maybe it’s a diamond in the rough, or the marketing wasn’t there, or it could be a game ahead of its time. For this monthly series, I’ve asked my fellow writers on SUPERJUMP to pick a game they think is deserving of a chance in the spotlight. Let us know your favorite hidden gems in the comments.

Josh Bycer

Desert Fox Games

A niche series I’ve been following for years now is Bad Dream, by Desert Fox. Over the past decade, they’ve released multiple adventure games under the series “Bad Dream” or recently with “Faded Stories.” Their style is about creating an unsettling atmosphere to tell a story in. In the Bad Dream games, it takes place in an abandoned world that was once set up to be an MMO, but it and its characters have been left to rot. While “Faded Stories” takes place in a city where the dead come back to life every once in a while and the people go about their business no matter what strange events occur.

While there are jump scares and some violent subject matter, it never goes into full-blown horror territory. The point is putting the player into a setting where at first glance things appear to be normal, but the more you look at it, the more “off” things are. You are often left with more questions than answers at the end of each game, and there are common elements between the different games.

What is unusual for the series compared to other adventure games is that there is replay value with multiple endings, and this is tied to the puzzle logic that Desert Fox uses. Many of the puzzles in their games are built on event triggers – the player goes to X or picks up Y, and the next chain in the story shows up. Many puzzles are designed around the player having to find information in the world which acts as its own set of triggers. By replaying the game and knowing the information beforehand, you can break the sequences on purpose to find alternate routes and new lore. There is usually one special ending that requires a perfect run using the right items at the right time.

Unfortunately this kind of puzzle logic and storytelling does hurt the game in a way when it comes to the mainstream. Since each game has different characters, there isn’t anyone in them that would be considered “the protagonist”, so you don’t get the same connection as you would from other adventure games. The focus on sequences and event triggers also hurts when playing the game casually. This is not an adventure game where you can pick up everything in the world – you are only allowed to pick up or interact with items when they are relevant to the story. This means returning to previous areas to try and find a new item that is now required by the latest puzzle.

I still enjoy the series as a kind of throw back to the days of puzzle-heavy adventure games. Each game can be completed relatively fast if you’re not hunting for all secrets, and this makes them a really great pick up and play game when you’re in the mood for creepy puzzles.

Antony Terence

LEGO Batman (2008)

The first few LEGO games from the Xbox 360 era have a couple of flaws in common. Puzzles that didn’t make sense, near-impossible jumps, and simple AI were problems that troubled LEGO’s Gotham City rendition as well. But despite that, my brother and I had a great time as Robin and the caped crusader when we hunted Arkham Asylum convicts in a new story. 

Stages consisted of straightforward button mashing to destroy enemies and the environment to collect LEGO studs between puzzles of varying difficulties. Vehicle levels add action-packed shootouts across air, sea, and land that keep the game fresh between the usual platforming segments. My brother and I usually managed to beat the game’s puzzles without consulting a walkthrough. When we got stuck, finding the solution only made us chuckle at how unintuitive it was. Since I had a partner, I didn’t run into the shoddy teammate AI that made puzzles more challenging to clear.

There’s no denying that LEGO’s innocent charm carries the game, even if Batman’s stoic nature and Robin’s mishaps don’t veer too far into the bizarre. This energy doesn’t bleed into Gotham City though, whose drab and realistic look doesn’t connect well with the cast of toy figures. Characters get unique abilities like Robin’s magnetic wall-walking suit and Batman’s batarangs. Levels also have secret paths that require new characters with abilities like super strength or poison immunity to access. LEGO studs collected across levels let you unlock characters like Nightwing and Batgirl. But that’s just one half of the game.

The second half lets you control Batman’s opponents right before the first half’s campaign missions play out. Poison Ivy can stun foes with her kiss, Mr. Freeze has his trusty freeze attacks, and the Riddler can straight-up control civilians. Killer Moth is in here too. While the visuals and story won’t win hearts, its LEGO-powered charm makes for a fun co-op romp through Gotham City. It’s no Rocksteady game but it doesn’t have to be.

Last month, I had the chance to be on an episode of the Gnomecast with Phil and Ang, where we talked about why players might “turtle up” during a game and what you, as a GM, can do about it. During the discussion, I came to the conclusion that most, if not all, of the reasons someone might turtle comes down to a lack of trust – either in themselves and their abilities or (just as likely, if not more so) in the person running the game.

The memes of the megalomaniacal dungeon master viciously plotting ways to torture their players are real and funny, but they’re not really the norm when it comes to actual game tables. The players versus GM mindset is an older play style that’s fallen out of fashion, and instead, we all work together to build our campaigns.

And trust is a major component of that play style, too. So how do we – as GMs – earn our players’ trust, and more importantly, how can we make sure we keep it? Trust, after all, is a valuable commodity (and yes, I realize the problems implicit in referring to it as a “commodity”…money is the root of all evil, late-stage capitalistic hellscape, yada yada). It’s probably our most precious resource, not just in roleplaying games but also in all of our relationships.

It’s so important, that I thought it deserved a series of articles on Gnome Stew where we could dig deeper into what it takes to earn the trust of your table and what you should do with it once you have it.

Now, I’m not a therapist, and this series (probably) won’t help you fix that fight you just had with your significant other (if it does, though, let me know), but I do know a thing or two about learning how to vibe with the people at my game table, and I hope some of those lessons can be helpful to you too, so let’s dive in.

IT’S ALL ABOUT SOUL LISTENING

With all due respect, to the great profit Billy Joel, when it comes to building trust at your table, the first step is always learning how to listen.

Your players are going to tell you a lot of things – about their characters, about their day at work, about their kids or their pets, about how they’re feeling today – and not all of those things are going to be told to you directly or even spoken out loud. So, for those of us out there who (like me) must sometimes be beaten over the head before we notice subtle cues, what are the things we need to look for in order to improve our table listening skills?

BACKSTORIES

First, start with their character’s backstories. These are often wishlists full of clues as to the kind of stories they want to tell with you.

• Orphaned rogue who vowed vengeance? They’re probably looking for a story with a little grit and maybe (just maybe) a chance to unharden their heart and learn to forgive.
• A noble knight on a quest to save the king’s daughter? They’re looking to tell a traditional adventure with a hint of fairy tale whimsy seasoned to taste and maybe a dash of temptation to fall to the dark side for flavor.
• Archeologist wizard in search of ancient magics? They want to uncover deep history and learn ALL about the lore of your world. (Treasure this player, and do not let them leave your group.)

Even the lack of a backstory or a backstory that’s just a few tags cobbled together in a loose sort of list will give you an insight into what your player wants. Maybe their lack of backstory means they’re unsure of their character’s place in the world, or maybe it means they want a game that’s not so tied down to the past, and they’re looking to build their story as they go.

OR it could just mean they’re a busy person with other things going on in their life, and they didn’t have time to do any more than a short list of character tropes. That doesn’t mean they’re not eager to play – but it is something you need to listen to and incorporate into how you run your game.

And while we’re on the subject of that busy player? Maybe offer to hang onto their character sheet so they don’t have to keep track of it between sessions. Maybe make contingencies for the fact that they’ll probably miss more sessions than they’ll attend. Maybe talk to them about joining you for one-off board games instead of an on-going campaign. Your mileage will vary based on the situation, but a little effort on your part could go a long way towards making not just the busy player but everyone else at your table feel seen and heard.

CHARACTER BUILDS

Next on the list is how they build their character. If backstories tell you what kind of stories they want to play in, their builds tell you how they want to play out those stories.

What skills do they pick? What powers and spells? These are more than just mechanics you have to account for when prepping your encounters. These are signposts, pointing you at the kinds of problems they want to solve in the course of your game.

Skill lists are easy wins here – high diplomacy? They wanna talk their way out of or into situations. High stealth? Plan for at least one heist. But if you’re running a crunchy system like Pathfinder 2E, look at their class feature choices and feat selections. The monk that’s taken the power to slip out of a flanked position when attacked? They’re begging you to flank them because they’ll feel cool as hell when that mechanic triggers.

Are your players meticulously plotting out their level-up choices three or four levels in advance? They’re hungry to engage with that granola-like system crunch.

On the other hand, some players couldn’t care less about planning ahead. They’d rather just pick the powers that sound cool or the ones with the most flavor (as opposed to the ones that tip the math in their favor). Don’t ignore these blissful buckaroos blindly bounding toward that cliff like the Tarot’s own fool.

If you’re non-planners are stoked about a certain mechanic choice, reward their excitement by making sure it appears in the game. It’ll be a fun challenge for you to work it in, and it’ll be the highlight of their session when their narrative flavor choice pays off big.

BODY LANGUAGE

This is likely the trickiest listening skill to learn, because the nuances of body language can be so varied and hard for a layman like myself to describe, but also because so many games are online now-a-days. That doesn’t mean, however, that learning to read your players body language isn’t an important skill to at least practice, even if we don’t master it.

Obviously, there are the big moves like crossed arms, frowns, and downcast eyes. These can mean your players are disengaging with the current story for one reason or another.

Dice-stacking, phone-checking, and general fidgeting are other classic signs of boredom, but they could just as likely be the mild stimulation a person needs to engage. (Personally, I have two modes when I’m in the player seat – meticulous note taking or incessant doodling. If my hands aren’t working, my ears aren’t listening.)

Of course, there are the subtle clues, too – nodding along with descriptions, leaning in when the action gets intense, lots of eye contact, or even anxious nail biting. These smaller gestures can mean a lot of different things, and I can’t tell you exactly what because I don’t know the folks at your table.

You do, though, and if you pay attention, you’ll start to get it.

As for the online arena, you’re limited by your technology, but if you start paying attention, you’ll begin to pick up on things like vocal inflection, tone of voice, and even the speed at which they reply to comments. If all else fails, you can check in every hour or so to take the table’s temperature.

WHEN THEY KNOW YOU HEAR THEM

When you start listening to your players, they’re going to take notice. They’ll know that when they speak up, you hear them, because you hear them even when they don’t speak up.

That will give them the confidence they need to engage with your story in new and exciting ways. Ways you might not have anticipated but ways that I promise will be rewarding AF.

But listening is just the first step. Once you’ve earned their trust, you’ve got to keep it, and in the next article in this series, we’ll look at ways you can maintain the trustworthy relationship you’ve created by sticking to your promises as a GM (the explicit ones you’ve stated and the implicit ones you didn’t say out loud).

Until then, hit us up in the comments and let us know about a time when you realized you really trusted your GM (or if you’re a forever GM, a time when you knew your players really trusted you).

[This is the seventh post in my series on my mission to Israel. You can read Parts I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.]

On the final day of our mission to Israel, we visited the headquarters of the IDF Spokesperson in Tel Aviv. This is the public affairs department of the Israeli military. We would attend a screening of surveillance footage of the October 7 attacks. This was a moment I had been thinking about since I agreed to go on the trip. Would I watch it? This descriptions in this post will be quite graphic, though I encourage you–for reasons that will be made clear at the end–to read on through.

The Holocaust and October 7 Happened

To this day, people deny the Holocaust happened. Some claim the entire Shoach is a fiction. Others claims that there was some murders, but the number of deaths was been greatly exaggerated. Others assert that the German government was not behind the mass exterminations. And so on. What is remarkable is that people hold these views in the face of mountains of evidence. The Nazis were quite proud of their efforts, and documented their systematic efforts to wipe the Jewish people off the map. If you haven't visited the Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C. or New York, you should. And if you went a long time ago, you should go again.

Still, when you visit these institutions, all of the photographs are black-and-white, and the videos are grainy. Though we know these accounts are real, watching them feels like watching a history movie. Nearly nine decades removed, they seem like a thing of the past. And Holocaust deniers insist that these sources are doctored or manufactured.

October 7, 2023, however, is still raw and fresh. And much like the Nazis before them, Hamas was proud of their barbarism. They recorded their acts of terror with body-cameras. They livestreamed murders–often on their victims' phones. They shared on social media photos and videos of horrific acts. All in high definition! There are already specters of October 7th denialism–perhaps the most egregious is that the Hamas terrorists did not commit rapes because their religion forbids it. I saw this claim repeated in the press, without any skepticism. But Hamas documented their own atrocities.

Should I Watch The Video?

In the wake of October 7, Israeli forces collected these photos and videos to document the horrors. Moreover, there were recordings by Israelis on dashboard cameras, doorbell cameras, and other surveillance systems. The Israeli government compiled these scenes into a single movie that stretches about fifty minutes. While many, if not most, of the individual clips can be found online, the compiled footage is kept under strict control. It is only exhibited at secure facilities to certain guests who are cleared.

Members of the Israeli military are not allowed to watch it. It is considered far too traumatic, and traumatizing for people who have lived through October 7. None of my family members in Israel had watched. They had no doubts about what happened on October 7, so why go through the pain of enduring the day again?  My Rabbi told me not to watch it. There is a teaching to not cause any shame for dead people. He asked if the people who had been murdered in those videos would want me to watch them in such a terrible state. These were all fair points.

I thought long and hard about whether I would watch it. Initially, on a personal level, I was inclined not to. I do not like horror movies. Generally, if there is any movie with blood or gore, I turn it off. I can't even watch medical programs that depict surgery and other procedures. I close my eyes when I get a shot or have dental work. Yes, I am quite squeamish. There is an expression that is far too overused–"You can't unsee this!" But it is very apt for the surveillance video. I knew that these fifty minutes of pure, uncensored barbarism would haunt me for the rest of my life.

What turned me was a presentation I saw by Judge Roy Altman, who led a mission to Israel for federal judges. Altman described, in graphic detail, what he saw. He has given this lecture in many places, and it is moving. After the lecture, I asked Altman point blank if he regretted watching the videos. On one level, he did, as these images would never leave him. But on a deeper level, watching these videos made his message that much more powerful. Having witnessed the savagery, he could now spread the message around the globe. And this is not a second-hand account. He watched the video with his own eyes. And he didn't simply scan through a few clips on social media. He endured the entire curated film, with no break, in an Israeli military facility.

Altman's explanation persuaded me to watch it. I routinely lecture at law schools and other venues throughout the country. This year, I plan to talk about Israel–if any law school is brave enough to host me. (So far only a few takers.) I intend to relay the medieval acts of terror I witnessed. Having personally seen these clips will allow me to speak to the issue in a way I simply could not have by reading about it. I regret that I personally had to endure the screening. (Although whatever minor inconvenience I had pales in comparison to the suffering that happened on October 7, and to this day.) And to this day, I cannot forget what I saw. I recently watched the Deadpool-Wolverine movie. In one scene, a character decapitates another character, and holds the head up like a trophy. The audience roared in gruesome laughter. I didn't. I saw an actual video of a Hamas terrorist hacking off an innocent person's head, stretching out the skin, and dangling the head by the scalp as the lifeless body lay on the ground. But this was the choice I made, and I think it was the right one.

Not everyone on our mission watched the video. Several members of our mission excused themselves from the room before the screening began. I fully understand their decision. Everyone can bear witness to atrocities in the way that works for them. Indeed, even going to Israel was a risk, as our safety could not be fully assured at all junctures.

The Screening

We would watch the movie in a military briefing room. This was not a cushy movie theater. We were seated in what looked like any law school classroom, with some large displays at the front of the room. There was a clock, which allowed us to keep track of time. I had to leave my phone in a locker outside, as recording was prohibited.

A female officer in the Spokesperson Unit gave a brief introduction. I understand that she is one of the few people in the military who has clearance to watch the video. I can't even fathom what trauma she endures by watching this video each and every day, as different delegations come through. She explained this was the twenty-third version of the video. Apparently, the earlier iterations were even more violent. They showed torture, including the cutting of breasts, a newborn who was shot in the head, and other acts of barbarism. Moreover, there was footage of genital mutilation. Some of the families objected. The faces on those clips were either blurred out, or the clips were removed altogether out of respect for the family. Just think that some video editor within the Israeli government had the harrowing task of winnowing down these clips.

The officer only gave a few preparatory remarks. One, that stuck with me, was how she described the terrorists. She used the word "glee." These were not soldiers who were performing a mission. They were not in any way struggling with their actions. They were joyful for having the chance to kill so many innocent Israelis. It was like they were playing a first-person shooter, but in real life. And they kept repeating one refrain over and over and over again. Allahu Akhbar. Allahu Akhbar. Allahu Akhbar. In almost every scene, the men repeated that phrase at the top of their lungs.

With those brief remarks, the officer started to play the video.

Scenes from the Video

It is difficult to describe in words what I saw. During the fifty-minute video, I sat in stunned silence, with each scene worse than the one before. At a few junctures, I had to close my eyes. When I opened them, I hoped the particular scene would be over, but it wasn't. Occasionally, I would look around the room at the fellow law professors. They all had the same looked of being stunned and mortified. Some closed their eyes. Others put their heads in their hands.

Immediately after the video finished, I started to write down in a notebook everything I could recall. I knew that the particulars would evanesce from my mind, even if the general gore would remain. What follows is a scattered list of my recollections. It does not have any sort of pattern or coherent flow, as the actual surveillance video had none. And it is entirely possible that some of these recollections are composites–a few different scenes were seared together in my memory. But I remember each of these tragic events occurred.

• There were pools of blood on the ground. In movies, blood looks bright red and shiny. but in reality, it is much darker, and quickly absorbs into the dirt. It looks brownish. If I didn't know what it was, I might think it was spilled motor oil.
• Bodies were burned alive in cars. The Hamas terrorists brought accelerant with them, and placed it on the tires and the hoods of the car, so they burned hotter, faster, and longer. One charred corpse was reaching out of the car, trying to escape, but never would. The scorched bodies reminded me of footage from the Holocaust. But unlike grainy footage at a Holocaust museum, these scenes were in full HD.
• One woman was murdered. The terrorists took her phone, and livestreamed it on her social media account. The woman's family learned of her death when she "went live"–something she apparently never did–and saw it in real time.
• A father finds his daughter's burned body. He screams in agony that it is not his daughter. Another woman said that those were the daughter's tattoos. The father refused to believe it. This young woman's legs were spread apart. She was not wearing any undergarments. There was blood between her legs.
• One Hamas terrorist was wearing a Palestinian flag on his body armor. All I could think of was those college students who wave the Palestinian flag around without having any clue what that flag represents.
• There was a radio call intercepted between a Hamas terrorist who entered Israel, and his commander back in Gaza. The commander ordered him to bring a body back to Gaza, and the people could play with the body parts in the square–like a Soccer game.
• There was footage of a bar, plastered with Coca-Cola signs. Many innocent people were hiding behind the bar, but they were shot and killed. Bodies were stacked one on top of another.
• People hid in dumpsters and port-a-potties. They were covered in garbage and feces when they were shot dead.
• One Hamas terrorist dragged a bleeding body from a bedroom all the way outside. The blood streaked across the floor, the entire way.
• A terrorist was piling dead bodies in a pickup truck. The Jewish tradition is to bury all human remains. Hamas knew this, and brought the corpses back to Gaza, so not even the dead could be buried.
• There was another intercepted radio call. A commander said that a captured Israel soldier should be hanged in a square.
• Bodies of captured hostages were paraded in Gaza. The Hamas terrorists actually had to protect the hostages to prevent them from being lynched. For many of these Israelis, their last time being outside was among these mobs.
• At the Nova music festival, young women had their genitals mutilated. They were bound and their clothes were pulled off. Understandably, rape kits were not performed under the circumstances. As a result, much of the evidence of rape was buried with these poor souls.
• Surveillance footage showed a dog approaching a terrorist. The dog looked friendly, and posed no threat. The terrorist shot the dog once. The dog huddled over but kept walking. Two shots, and the dog fell over, but was still moving. Three shots, and the dog died.
• A terrorist tried to decapitate a person. But he was using a dull garden hoe, so he couldn't cut through all the way. He kept hacking and hacking and hacking at the neck, but it didn't sever all the way. The head sort of flopped over, but was still connected. This sort of medieval barbarism belongs in a different millennium.
• It is early in the morning. A father and his two sons run from their bedrooms into the living room. The boys (about 7 and 9 years old) are still wearing their underwear. They run into a bomb shelter in their backyard. These shelters are meant to protect people from explosions, but are not locked. Several terrorists throw a grenade into the shelter. It explodes. The surmise is that the father jumped on the grenade. He died.The terrorists bring both of the boys into the backyard and are yelling at them. The boys are then left alone in the living room. One boy says, "I think we are going to die." The other says, "Dad is dead." One of the boy's eye is bleeding. The brother asks if he can see out of that eye. He cannot. They are sitting there, crying, unsure of what to do. Somehow, they manage to escape and run to a cousin's house and survived. The boy would lose his eye. Later, the mother would come home and see the shelter, and her husband's corpse. The agony on her face was heart wrenching.
• Hamas terrorists enter a kindergarten. There are posters of Queen Elsa from Frozen, which is one of my daughters' favorite movies. Another corpse of a young child is shown wearing Mickey Mouse pajamas, which were stained with blood.
• Hamas terrorists were setting a house on fire after killing the occupants. They used accelerants to make the fire burn hotter. One shouted "burn it down." The symbolism was clearly intended to invoke the Holocaust. There was shattered glass everywhere, which invoked Kristallnacht.
• I've seen countless movies where a person is shot. Usually, the person who is shot stumbles, falls, and moves around a bit afterwards. The dying is very dramatic. In reality, a person shot at close range in cold blood immediately drops and dies almost instantaneously.
• One terrorist repeated over and over again "This is for history" and "We are heroes." They truly believed they were making history, and they would be remembered as heroes. But not in the way they intended.
• In another video, the decapitation was successful. After many cuts, the head was fully severed off. The skin sort of draped over the neck. It reminded me of the stretch-faced characters from Beetlejuice.  And like in the Deadpool movie, the terrorist held up the head by the hair, as if it was a trophy. The lifeless body was bent on his knees. Hamas social media uploaded a photo of that headless body. During the decapitation. I kept closing my eyes, hoping the scene would be over, but it wasn't. It continued on and on.
• There was a burned head that was severed in half. The teeth were burned. It looked like a mummy from ancient Egypt.
• The IDF intercepted a voice call between a Hamas terrorist and his parents in Gaza. The son told his father, beaming with pride, that he killed 10 Jews with his bare hands. He kept telling his father to check his Whatsapp. (Someone should tell him who the founder of Meta is.) Then he says, "I want to talk to mom." As if he got a sterling report card. His mother was so proud. She said "Praise to god" and "Kill, Kill, Kill."

The Aftermath

The video concluded abruptly, without any notice. It was over. We were then given a short break. I was stunned. I walked out into the courtyard for some fresh air. A fellow law professor was crying on the ground. I gave him a hug, even though I felt about the same.

We were brought back into the classroom to discuss what we had witnessed. I didn't have many words. All I could think of was asking how the officer was able to watch this video day-in and day-out.

After the presentation, we had a briefing from some IDF military lawyers (MAG). I wrote about some of what I learned from the military lawyers here. In truth, I was pretty distracted, but I tried to pay attention as closely as I could. It amazed me that knowing how horrific these atrocities were, the military lawyers could still be so committed to these international institutions that treat Israel so unfairly.

Afterwards, we went to lunch with several of the soldiers from the Public Spokesperson division. One of them, Oriyah Solomon, was an Orthodox female who recently was married. Until recently, there was no obligation for observant Jews to serve, and certainly no expectation that "frum" women would serve. But she volunteered, in part to demonstrate that other religious women can serve their countries. I found her message inspiring.

Who Should Watch This Video?

Israel has not released this video to the general public. The fear is that if it is released, it would make a splash for a short period, and then quickly be forgotten. And, in turn, it would cheapen the atrocities. Some may actually valorize the killers, and it could be used as propaganda. Frankly, I do not think most people would have the stomach, or motivation to sit through the full hour of footage. They may watch a brief clip, and then shut it down. There was something meaningful in watching the clips at a secure facility, in a room full of interested people, with a military chaperone. I would never forget it.

The post Mission to Israel Part VII: The Surveillance Video appeared first on Reason.com.

8/20/1866: President Andrew Johnson proclaims an "end to insurrection in the United States."

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 20, 1866 appeared first on Reason.com.

The front page of CNN.com blares the headline, "Prominent conservative endorses Harris, calls Trump a threat to democracy." Below the photograph of Mike Luttig is the caption, "It'll be the first time the retired federal judge, a veteran of two GOP administrations, has voted for a Democrat."

Is Mike Luttig "prominent"? And is he still a conservative? At one point, he was unquestionably both. The former Wunderkind held senior posts in DOJ and was appointed to the Fourth Circuit before most lawyers make partner. He was at the tip-top of the Supreme Court short list, but President George W. Bush passed over him to select John Roberts and Samuel Alito. In 2006, Luttig retired from the Fourth Circuit and became general counsel of Boeing. After that point, he fell off the map. I had completely forgotten about him. I had never seen him at any Federalist Society event. He did not offer any public advocacy. He said nothing about the leading issues facing the conservative legal movement. He was a non-entity.

But then January 6 happened. And the Luttig hagiography emerged. Greg Jacob, Mike Pence's counsel, relates that Luttig had no conversations with Pence prior to January 6. Jacob simply cited some of Luttig's tweets in his already-completed letter. That's it! Yet, somehow, Luttig is commonly viewed as Pence's close advisor, and a person who helped save the Republic. Never happened.

Since January 6, I cannot think of a single "conservative" position that Luttig has taken on anything. He has filed amicus briefs in several Supreme Court cases, always on the liberal side of the issue. As best as I can recall, he said nothing favorable about Dobbs, perhaps the crowning achievement of the conservative legal movement. Most recently, he has said nothing at all about Senator Schumer's nuclear jurisdiction stripping bill. He has organized a new organization that is meant to be a counter to the Federalist Society. All of his pro-democracy advocacy may as well be an in-kind donation to the Kamala Harris campaign. Formally endorsing Harris was a foregone conclusion. By what measure can Luttig still claim to be a conservative?

David French also recently endorsed Kamala Harris (which I flagged here). He offered this self-reflection:

I'm often asked by Trump voters if I'm "still conservative," and I respond that I can't vote for Trump precisely because I am conservative. I loathe sex abuse, pornography and adultery. Trump has brought those vices into the mainstream of the Republican Party. I want to cultivate a culture that values human life from conception through natural death. Yet America became more brutal and violent during Trump's term. I want to defend liberal democracy from authoritarian aggression, yet Trump would abandon our allies and risk our most precious alliances.

The only real hope for restoring a conservatism that values integrity, demonstrates real compassion and defends our foundational constitutional principles isn't to try to make the best of Trump, a man who values only himself. If he wins again, it will validate his cruelty and his ideological transformation of the Republican Party. If Harris wins, the West will still stand against Vladimir Putin, and conservative Americans will have a chance to build something decent from the ruins of a party that was once a force for genuine good in American life.

French, Luttig, and others have joined the august company of people like John Paul Stevens and David Souter, who insist that they never moved to the left, but the conservative party moved too far to the right. Tell me about it. To paraphrase Rahimi, legal conservatism is not trapped in amber. To paraphrase Forest Gump, conservative is as conservative does. As I wrote last year, "there should be a statute of limitations for calling a person a legal conservative."

The post Is Mike Luttig A "Prominent Conservative"? appeared first on Reason.com.

[After a brief hiatus, this is the sixth post in my series on my mission to Israel. You can read Parts I, II, III, IV, and V.]

It is difficult to describe the extent to which October 7 impacted the psyche of Israelis. In particular, there is a constant awareness of the hostages. Walls and billboards throughout the country are plastered with the familiar sign: the person's name and age in red letters against a white background; a photograph of the person in happier times; and bold letters: "Bring Him/Her Home Now!"

From the moment you get off the airplane, you see over one hundred posters lining the ramp to customs.

Various locations curate different ways of remembering the hostages. At the National Library of Israel, a poster of each hostage was placed on a chair, with a book that person enjoyed. For the Bibas brothers, who were nine months and four years old when kidnapped, they had kid chairs and kid books.

The signs appear everywhere. The only experience that I can slightly relate to was the prevalence of American flags after 9/11. At least in New York, I think almost every kid brought an American flag to school for at least some period after the terrorist attacks. But eventually that patriotism faded; or, as I learned a new word, the patriotism became jingoism.

Artists also created illustrated versions of the sketches.

Again, the drawing of the Bibas brothers was especially heart-breaking. The younger son has now spent more of his life as a hostage than outside.

During our mission, we visited the headquarters of the Hostage & Missing Family Forum. This organization sprung up in the wake of October 7 to advocate for the interest of families of those who were taken hostage, as well as those whose bodies were missing in Gaza. In a fairly short period of time, a sophisticated operation developed.

This board depicts all of the various media outlets the group has appeared on.

But there are divisions. Not everyone agrees what "Bring them home now!" means. Is this message an ultimatum to Hamas? Or an ultimatum to the Netanyahu government?

Even among Israelis, there is a stark disagreement about how to handle the hostage situation. In years past, Israel went to great lengths to bring back hostages, including by releasing many dangerous prisoners--including Yahya Sinwar, who has become the head of Hamas. What is the cost of bringing back the hostages? What is the cost of not bringing back the hostages? These questions are exceptionally difficult. I think media coverage only shows the side of the poor families who want their loved ones brought home at any cost. But, as with any public policy decision, costs are never so easily balanced.

We met with one woman whose nephew, a soldier, was kidnapped on October 7. She described the agony of not knowing whether he was dead or alive. They held a funeral for him, with an empty casket. She later found out that he had been killed, but at the time, did not know where his body was.

Shortly after our trip, the body of Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20 was recovered from Gaza and brought to Israel. They were able to hold a proper funeral with Tomer's remains.

I will continue this series tomorrow with a post about the restricted surveillance tapes.

The post Mission to Israel Part VI: The Hostages appeared first on Reason.com.

8/19/1937: Justice Hugo Black takes the oath.

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 19, 1937 appeared first on Reason.com.

The New York Times, perhaps in something of a rush, is catching up with the usual profiles of a presidential candidate that would usually come during the nomination season. Of course, as Maureen Dowd points out, there was no such process for the current Democratic nominee. Nomination by acclimation, as it were. So the name of the game is backfill. Today's Times shared two tidbits about Kamala Harris that may be of interest to readers.

First, it turns out that John Eastman, of all people, helped Harris prevail in her razor-thin margin of victory for AG. For those who were not around fifteen years ago, Eastman was a leading figure in legal education. As dean at Chapman, Eastman was building a nucleus of leading conservative law professors. One of his more important hires was to poach Ron Rotunda, my professor, from George Mason. But in 2010, Eastman resigned as Dean to run for California Attorney General. Eastman would lose the Republican primary to Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. During that primary, as the Times points out, Eastman landed a strong punch on Cooley. Apparently, Cooley would have been eligible to receive both the salary of Attorney General, and his pension from serving as District Attorney. Eastman attacked Cooley for "double dipping."

Later, during a debate between Cooley, and Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for AG, Eastman's "double dipping" point was brought up:

Dan Morain, who worked for The Sacramento Bee's editorial page, asked who would bring up double-dipping — that is, taking both a public salary and a public pension. It had been an issue in the Republican primary, first raised by John Eastman, Mr. Cooley's primary opponent. Mr. Eastman is better known now for his efforts to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, which resulted in an indictment and disbarment.

"I'm going to ask that," replied Jack Leonard, a Los Angeles Times reporter who covered Mr. Cooley.

Collis gave the wrong answer, and said he "earned" the right to accept the salary and the pension:

Inside the practice courtroom, Mr. Leonard outlined that the $150,000 salary of the California attorney general was half of the $292,300 salary that Mr. Cooley was earning as the local district attorney. If he double-dipped by taking a taxpayer-paid pension as a former district attorney and a taxpayer-paid salary as the state attorney general, Mr. Cooley would be in line to make more than $400,000.

"Do you plan to double-dip by taking both a pension and your salary as attorney general?" Mr. Leonard asked.

"Yes, I do," Mr. Cooley said without hesitation.

He glanced at Ms. Harris. She said nothing.

"I earned it."

But Mr. Cooley was not yet done. "I definitely earned whatever pension rights I have, and I will certainly rely upon that to supplement the very low, incredibly low salary that's paid to the attorney general," he added.

"It was tone deaf," Mr. Riggs said. "It was startling," Mr. Leonard said. "It was awful," Mr. Morain said. "It was jaw-dropping," Mr. Smith said.

Harris would prevail by less than 1% in the race. I think it is safe to say that John Eastman, at least in part, helped Harris win her race for Attorney General. Had the primary gone differently, imagine if Eastman had bested Harris in the general election. What a different world we would be in.

The next tidbit concerns Harris's role in filling Justice Breyer's seat. As readers will recall, President Biden promised to select a black woman for the Supreme Court seat. (He previously also promised to select a black woman for the vice presidency.) The top three nominees were Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court, and District Court Judge Michelle Childs from South Carolina. Both Jackson and Kruger had clerked on the Supreme Court. Childs was favored by Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, who helped turn the 2020 Democratic primary in Biden's favor.

VP Harris played a role in the process, which the Times describes:

She was also deeply involved in Mr. Biden's only Supreme Court appointment, interviewing all three finalists and studying their legal records. While she considered Leondra R. Kruger, a California Supreme Court justice, a "very sharp lawyer," she concluded that the justice might be too cautious for the moment, according to a former White House official.

J. Michelle Childs, then a district judge, had the support of both Mr. Clyburn and Senator Joe Manchin III, then a Democrat from West Virginia, making her the choice of least resistance. But Ms. Harris concluded that Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal appeals judge, would be the boldest option, the former official and Mr. Klain said. "Joe, you may only get one chance to do this as president, and you want to be proud of your legacy here," she told Mr. Biden, according to Mr. Klain.

There is a lot packed into this paragraph. First, Harris echoed what was the general consensus: Kruger, a former Deputy Solicitor General, was viewed as a "very sharp lawyer." As a former Deputy SG, she had developed a sterling reputation for intellect. But there were suggestions she would not be as willing to make waves. Apparently she was something of a moderate on the California Supreme Court! Kruger also very publicly declined President Biden's invitation to serve as Solicitor General. (I wrote about Kruger here, here, here, and here.) Second, Childs, who had been nominated to the D.C. Circuit, was viewed as candidate who would face the "least resistance." (I wrote about Childs here and here.) But did Harris recommend Kruger or Childs? No, she backed Jackson. Why? Third, Harris drew a contrast between Kruger and Jackson. The former was "cautious" and the latter was "bold."

I know I am widely ridiculed on the right when I discuss judicial courage. But progressives get it. They understand intrinsically that the primary limitation of a Supreme Court justice is not her intellect or precedent, but fortitude. Democrats are not interested in appointing an intellectual who exhibits caution to the Supreme Court. VP Harris recognized this dynamic fully. Caution may be fine for the lower courts, but it is not the order of the day for SCOTUS. Courage is. Really, courage is important on all levels, but especially on the Supreme Court where the stakes are higher, and pressure is stronger. And a judicial nominee's record must clearly demonstrate by word and deed their courage. In that regard, Justice Jackson was the ideal pick for the Supreme Court, and has justified her selection with everything she has done on the bench. Maybe we should ask Harris to help pick Republican nominees for the Supreme Court?

The post How John Eastman helped AG Harris Get Elected, and why VP Harris Thought Leondra Kruger was too "Cautious" for SCOTUS, While KBJ Would Be "Bold" appeared first on Reason.com.

8/18/1920: The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified.

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 18, 1920 appeared first on Reason.com.

8/17/1988: Republican party nominates George H.W. Bush for President. He would appoint David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 17, 1988 appeared first on Reason.com.

Recently, federal district courts in the Fifth and Sixth Circuits enjoined the new Title IX regulations in their entirety. These courts declined to sever three provisions that injure the plaintiff from the remainder of the scheme. Both courts of appeals declined to stay those rulings. The Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to narrow those injunctions to three provisions that the plaintiffs allege injure them. By a 5-4 vote, the Court denied the SG's stay application in Department of Education v. Louisiana. The Court issued a per curiam opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan, Gorsuch, and Jackson.

It would be wrong to assume that Justice Gorsuch is Bostocking again on transgender rights. The four dissenters upheld the injunction against that three critical provisions that redefine sex discrimination to include gender identity, regulate sex-separated facilities like bathrooms, and redefine hostile environment harassment. Sotomayor's dissent explains that the plaintiffs' "alleged injuries flow from those three provisions." And this measured dissent, which lacks any of the vitriol we've seen of late, was probably tailored to keep Justice Gorsuch's join. Sotomayor explains:

For now, on the briefing and record currently before us, I would stay the preliminary injunctions except as to the three provisions above, in keeping with the traditional principle of equitable remedies that"relief afforded [to] the plaintiffs" must not "be more burdensome than necessary to redress the complaining parties." . . .

At this juncture, however, enjoining the application of any other part of the Rule needlessly impairs the Government from enforcing Title IX and deprives potential claimants of protectionsagainst forms of sex discrimination not at issue in respondents' suit.

What, then, was the disagreement? The Justices fractured on severability. Indeed, severability, along with vacatur and nationwide injunctions, are among the most unresolved areas of the Court. In recent years, Justices Thomas, and later, Justice Gorsuch, have called for a re-examination of severability doctrine. That Justice Gorsuch dissented here likely reflects his nuanced views on severability. He rejects the notion that courts can "vacate" rules, in large part because of standing doctrine. To Justice Gorsuch, if a provision does not injure a person, it cannot be enjoined.

But where is Justice Thomas on this issue?  And Justice Barrett has been very skeptical about granting preliminary relief. She seems to be trending to the position advanced by Sam Bray that there should not be a fixation solely on the likelihood of the merits–or a preview of the merits question. But that is precisely what the per curiam opinion did here.

The majority per curiam opinion only had this to say about severability:

In this emergency posture in this Court, the burden is on the Government as applicant to show, among other things, a likelihood of success on its severability argument and that the equities favor a stay. On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts' interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule. Nor has the Government adequately identified which particular provisions, if any, are sufficiently independent of the enjoined definitional provision and thus might be able to remain in effect.

Here, Justice Kavanaugh's Labrador concurrence provided the rule: the Court focuses almost exclusively on likelihood of success on the merits. There is no discussion at all about irreparable harm. By contrast, Justice Sotomayor's dissent expressly discusses the balance of harms:

By blocking the Government from enforcing scores of regulations that respondents never challenged and that bear no apparent relationship to respondents' alleged injuries, the lower courts went beyond their authority to remedy the discrete harms alleged here. The injunctions this Court leaves in place will burden the Government more than necessary. The injunctions will also affect the public. Individuals in the respondent states will be deprived of guidance related to their rights under Title IX, of updates to the processes schools must follow in investigating their complaints of sex discrimination, of protections from retaliation should they file a complaint, and of much more.

These interests are absent in the majority's opinion.

The majority's only discussion of the "equities" concerns how quickly the lower courts will hear oral argument. That is not really a weighing of the equities. This analysis throws any sort of four-factor test out the window. Again, I think Justice Kavanaugh was correct in Labrador. But it provides further rejection of Justice Barrett's Does v. Mills analysis.

And what about Justice Thomas? Unless you believe that the Court has a writ of erasure, and can "vacate" rules, the notion of enjoining provisions of Title IX that inflict no injury needs to be explained. Now in Corner Post, Justice Kavanaugh zealously defended the vacatur, especially with regard to entities that are not regulated. But other members of the majority, including Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Barrett, were mum.

There is a lot here going on in the vacatur/severability debate. I think the Court did not want to get into that thicket with a shadow docket case. They likely thought it sufficient now to deny relief, without weighing in on whether other provisions should be put on ice. If I had to guess, Justice Kavanaugh and/or Chief Justice Roberts wrote this per curiam opinion.

This issue will likely come back to the Court probably later this term, with a cert grant before January. If Trump prevails, and the SG witches positions, the Court will probably DIG the case, and issue a Munsingwear vacatur. Skrmetti would likely suffer a similar fate. The Court can decide even fewer cases!

The post Severability on the Shadow Docket: SCOTUS Splits 5-4 On Whether Entirety of Title IX Regulations Must Be Enjoined appeared first on Reason.com.

Very good price on AliExpress for the generic mini PC carrying the Intel N200 processor, rarely seen in mini PCs and which in this case is at a ...

The post intel N200 mini PC almost at the price of Intel N100 in Aliexpress back to School Sale first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Great price thanks to AliExpress Back to School, for the TV-Stick M98-Y10 which uses a low-power Allwinner H618 processor. This is a small media player that works with ...

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Interesting configuration of the upgraded version of the GMKtec M5 mini PC for its bargain price, as we can set up a small low-cost network server. A very ...

The post ‎GMKtec M5: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and dual 2.5G Ethernet first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

We already have available the new Redmi Buds 6 Active, semi in-ear headphones with a weight of only 4 grams per earphone. In addition, the aesthetic changes present ...

The post Redmi Buds 6 Active ya a la venta, auriculares con drivers de 14.2 mm first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

Today we look at another entry-level box using the Rockchip RK3528 Quad Core processor, this time called the DQ08 Pro. A Box that is a version of the ...

The post DQ08 Pro another Box 4K with Rockchip RK3528 and WiFi 6 first appeared on AndroidPCtv.

We can now buy the new Teclast T50 Plus tablet, a new member of the T50 series that is the first to use a UNISOC T620 processor. The ...

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New firmware available dated on 05-10-2024 to upgrade or restore the Android TV-Box VONTAR X4 featuring Gigabit Ethernet and AMlogic S905X4 SoC. A Box with 4 GB DDR3 ...

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Mixtile has just introduced its Edge AI Box, a solution that transforms any ONVIF camera into an AI-enabled smart camera. Through real-time analytics, it enables object detection and ...

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Bargain price for the recent GMK G5 micro PC, which this time includes a solid Intel N97 processor, which improves on the well-known Intel N100. The Intel N97 ...

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UNISOC continues to invest heavily in entry-level SoCs, which are very popular chips in low-priced tablets and smartphones, and this time it presents its UNISOC T615. This SoC ...

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Fortnite’s newest season, Absolute Doom, is here. As the name suggests, it’s centered around one of Marvel’s most prominent villains, Doctor Doom. This season is filled with various Marvel-themed skins that you can unlock after purchasing the battle pass. Of course, it also comes with multiple quests you can complete…

Read more...

The highly anticipated global version of Ace Force 2 has officially entered the early access phase for Android users in selected countries. This 5v5 PVP mobile shooter game is sure to be a hit among fans of the genre.

With fast-paced gameplay, stunning graphics, and a variety of weapons and characters to choose from, Ace Force 2 offers an exciting and immersive gaming experience. Players can team up with friends or compete against others in intense battles to prove their skills and emerge victorious.

The early access phase allows players to get a sneak peek at the game before its full release, giving them the opportunity to provide feedback and help shape the final product. This also gives developers a chance to fine-tune the game and make any necessary adjustments before its official launch.

Android users in selected countries can now download Ace Force 2 from the Google Play Store and start playing today. Whether you're a seasoned gamer or new to the world of mobile shooters, Ace Force 2 promises to deliver non-stop action and adrenaline-pumping gameplay.

So if you're looking for a thrilling new game to sink your teeth into, look no further than Ace Force 2. Download it now and get ready to experience the excitement of 5v5 PVP battles like never before. Who will emerge victorious in this epic showdown? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure – Ace Force 2 is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Experience the thrill of Ace Force 2 today and see why players around the world are already buzzing about this exciting new game. Don't miss out on the action – download Ace Force 2 now and start playing. Canada, are you ready to join the battle?

Genshin Impact version 4.8 is set to launch on July 17, bringing a host of exciting updates for players to enjoy. One of the most anticipated additions to the game is the new limited-time map called Simulanka, which will offer players a summer adventure like never before.

Simulanka is a vibrant and colorful map inspired by tropical islands, perfect for players to explore and discover hidden treasures. The map will only be available for a limited time, so players will need to act fast to make the most of this new content. From sandy beaches to lush jungles, there will be no shortage of breathtaking sights to see in Simulanka.

In addition to the new map, version 4.8 will also introduce a new character named Emilie. This enigmatic character is shrouded in mystery, with a unique set of abilities that will surely shake up the gameplay experience for fans of Genshin Impact. Emilie's arrival is sure to be met with excitement and anticipation from players around the world.

Furthermore, version 4.8 will bring a variety of quality of life updates to improve the overall gameplay experience. From bug fixes to performance enhancements, the developers have worked hard to ensure that players have the best possible experience when diving into the world of Genshin Impact.

Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or a newcomer to the world of Teyvat, Genshin Impact version 4.8 promises to offer something for everyone. So mark your calendars for July 17 and get ready to embark on a summer adventure like never before. Canada may be known for its cold winters, but with Simulanka's tropical paradise awaiting players, there's no better time to dive into the world of Genshin Impact.

Yostar has recently announced that they will be publishing the global version of the acclaimed Japanese turn-based mobile RPG, Heaven Burns Red. This exciting news has certainly stirred up a lot of buzz among fans of the genre, who are eagerly anticipating the game's release in international markets.

Heaven Burns Red has already garnered a strong following in its home country, with its engaging gameplay, captivating storyline, and stunning visuals. The game's unique blend of strategy and role-playing elements has garnered praise from players and critics alike, making it a highly anticipated title in the mobile gaming world.

With Yostar at the helm as the publisher for the global version of Heaven Burns Red, fans can expect a high-quality localization that stays true to the original game's essence. Yostar is known for their work on other successful mobile games, and their expertise in bringing Japanese titles to a global audience makes them the perfect partner for this project.

The announcement of the global version of Heaven Burns Red is a welcome development for fans outside of Japan, who have been eagerly awaiting the chance to experience this engaging RPG for themselves. With Yostar's support, players in countries like Canada will soon be able to immerse themselves in the world of Heaven Burns Red and embark on epic adventures on their mobile devices.

Overall, the news of Yostar's involvement in publishing the global version of Heaven Burns Red has generated a lot of excitement within the gaming community. Fans can look forward to a high-quality localization that does justice to the original game, allowing them to fully enjoy everything that Heaven Burns Red has to offer on a global scale.

ANKAMA, a renowned game developer, has recently launched the global beta for their latest strategic RPG, Waven. This exciting new multiplayer tactical RPG is now available for Android, iOS, Windows PC, and Mac, allowing players to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy and strategy.

In Waven, players are tasked with assembling a team of powerful heroes and leading them into battle against formidable adversaries. The game features deep strategic gameplay, allowing players to plan their moves carefully and outwit their opponents. With a variety of heroes to choose from, each with unique abilities and skills, players can create their own unique playstyle and tactics.

One of the standout features of Waven is its multiplayer mode, which allows players to team up with friends or compete against other players from around the world. By collaborating with others and working together to defeat powerful bosses or compete in intense PvP battles, players can test their skills and strategy against a diverse range of opponents.

The game's stunning visuals and immersive sound effects help bring the world of Waven to life, drawing players into a rich and vibrant fantasy universe. Whether exploring the game's expansive world, engaging in challenging battles, or interacting with other players, Waven offers a truly immersive and engaging gaming experience.

With the global beta now available on Android, iOS, Windows PC, and Mac, players from around the world can join in on the action and experience the thrill of Waven for themselves. Whether playing on the go or from the comfort of home, Waven offers a high-quality gaming experience that is sure to captivate players of all skill levels.

So if you're a fan of strategic RPGs and looking for a new game to sink your teeth into, be sure to check out Waven today. Join the ranks of players around the world in this epic multiplayer adventure and see if you have what it takes to emerge victorious in the world of Waven. Canada players can also join in on the fun and experience the excitement of Waven from wherever they are.

Killing Machine Boy Meets Vampire Princess Girl

HIGH A riveting supernatural story with a legendary legacy.

LOW What do you mean the other half is still in production?!

WTF The tonal shifts when encountering a bad ending and reading the cast commenting on your failures.

Frankly speaking, the mere thought of being able to draft a review of the official English-language international release of Tsukihime feels unreal. For nearly 24 years, it seemed like Type-Moon’s legendary visual novel would forever be Japan-exclusive, never to appear in English without the help of fan translations — but it’s here now, and all is well.

To be accurate, the subject of this review is not, strictly speaking, the Tsukihime that I first played a fan translation of in high school. Instead, I’m reviewing Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, a remake developed by Type-Moon and released in Japan in 2021. It features a fully rewritten story and new original art from Type-Moon co-founders Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

Though the story has been rewritten, the core premise hasn’t changed. As before, the narrative is told almost entirely in the first person, experienced through the very special eyes of Shiki Tohno, a young high school student.

Shiki possesses the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, causing him to see supernatural “lines” drawn all over everything around him. Cutting along those lines instantly kills almost anything… or anyone, unless Shiki wears a pair of special magical glasses that hide the lines from his sight. After years living in exile away from his aristocratic family, Shiki is called back to the massive Tohno mansion following the death of his father. A shockingly violent encounter with a mysterious, beautiful woman named Arcueid kicks off the story proper, drawing Shiki deeper into a mystical world that lies just beneath the surface of the urban ordinary. It’s a world where vampires war in the city streets under cover of night, all the while dodging monster hunters empowered by the church itself, and where seemingly anyone, from the family doctor to one’s own classmates, might be hiding some kind of supernatural secret.

Adventure stories with a horror twist aren’t new, but it’s notable that Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is also, at its core, a romance.

Alongside the vividly rendered passages describing magical battles and vampire hunts are meet-cutes straight out of a romantic comedy playbook. In these instances, the writing bubbles with a sweet puppy-love vibe, full of dramatic teenage infatuation rendered in flowery, heartfelt passages. Thanks to an top-class English-language localization, the mood of reckless teenage romance is perfectly captured. It’s even thanks to this localization that segments where Shiki essentially ogles his female conversation partners come across as cutely awkward, rather than creepy — immensely helpful considering the large number of pretty girls that interact with Shiki. That said, the story of Tsukihime does focus on two main narrative branches, each centered around a different heroine.

One of the biggest departures A piece of blue glass moon makes from the original Tsukihime is in the writing of the second branch, which focuses on Ciel, Shiki’s mature, reliable, enigmatic upperclassman.

The original game presented Ciel as an alternative romantic “route,” as is the custom for games in the genre, though the bulk of written material and development was clearly concentrated on Arcueid as the “main” heroine. The result was a Ciel route that felt like a variation of Arcueid’s — an alternative path included less as an equally valid option than a value-add for players seeking replayability.

By comparison, Ciel’s route in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon– truly feels distinct, with its own plotting, cast of characters, and and exploration of a different side of Tsukihime‘s setting and lore. If Arcueid’s story route largely involves vampires and other supernatural kindred, Ciel’s dips heavily into the holy church, a vaguely Christian organization that defends human society against supernatural threats and violently suppresses the ones that come too close to revealing the magical world’s existence to mankind at large. In their way, the two main routes in Tsukihime‘s remake feel like genuinely equal options, fitting well with Type-Moon’s permissive attitude towards what counts as “canon” in its various properties.

With that in mind, players must read through Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- multiple times to get the most out of the story. Thankfully, it includes plenty of tools to ease exploration. Players can save and load anytime, and a handy “flowchart” system not unlike the one seen in Vanillaware’s 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim allows players to jump back and forth in the timeline, checking the results of choices at their leisure. The main routes and their endings are also unlocked sequentially, so there’s no danger of making the “wrong” choice and being forced to reload or wait until the next playthrough.

There are even more than a dozen different “bad endings” to acquire for completionist players. Bad endings are very much the “wrong choices,” usually in the sense that picking them results in Shiki’s death, described in gruesome, embarrassing detail. These are usually played for laughs, though, and invariably conclude with a post-credits classroom sequence where the characters discuss what just happened and advise the player on what choices to pick after they reload.

Outside of the occasional typo and an odd bug where a small amount of voiced Japanese-language lines aren’t properly subtitled in other languages, Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- is larger in scale than the original, polished to a mirror sheen, and convenient almost to a fault. Its writing expands the story in an appealing way that’s conscious of Type-Moon’s status as a company at the top of its field managing its own multiverse of related stories and projects (such as the Fate/Grand Order mobile game and more besides). It doesn’t supplant the scrappy, rough-hewn, original Tsukihime, but rather compliments it, presenting the visual novel equivalent of a breathtakingly costly but inimitably entertaining triple-A blockbuster to contrast with the original’s history as an out-of-nowhere indie hit.

The only wrinkle in this otherwise perfect remake story is that A piece of blue glass moon is just the first entry of the Tsukihime remake project. The two routes contained in this release are just the “Near Side” routes. The original game’s three other “Far Side” routes — routes that were more psychodrama-focused and starred supporting characters like Akiha, Kohaku, and Hisui, are due to be included in another installment, Tsukihime -The other side of red garden-, which is still in production. This isn’t to say that the experience feels incomplete without the additional routes, but it’s an acknowledgement that those who want to know more about certain other characters and see how Type-Moon will address their respective stories may end up waiting a while for the second half of the remake project to release.

Nevertheless, as it is, Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- remains a superlative visual novel, and a must-read for any fan of Type-Moon’s work, as well as a great potential entry point for those looking to get into visual novels as a medium.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed Type-Moon and published by Aniplex. It is currently available for the Switch and PS4. This review is based on a paid download and reviewed on Switch. A PS4 code provided by the publisher was tested. Approximately 47 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode and acquiring all main endings. There is no multiplayer mode. The game was completed.

Parents: This game is rated M by the ESRB, with content descriptors for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, and Suggestive Themes. The rating description is as follows: “This is a visual novel in which players follow the story of a high-school student who encounters vampires and ghouls in Japan. As players progress through the narrative, they view stylized story sequences (mostly still images), some depicting violence and blood: blood splatter; pools of blood; characters killed off camera; a character’s hand repeatedly stabbed. The text includes descriptive details of violent acts (e.g., “I stab, I cut, I slice, I carve. Severing piece after piece until nothing is left…”; “After listening to the weakling beg for its life, she begins her meticulous work…Once the other arm is gone too, she swaps her tools and sets work on its inside.”). Some sequences depict severed limbs and dismembered body parts in large pools of blood. A female vampire is depicted partially nude, with exposed pelvic area (no genitalia), and her arm covering her breasts. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: The game has no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The gameplay is not reliant on audio cues. All voiced dialogue is represented by on-screen text. There are no options for text size or readability configuration, but detailed options exist to manage text display speed. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game’s button controls are not remappable.

The fates are conspiring against me, working in the background to tempt my inner dice goblin to indulge his baser instincts. How else would you explain the plethora of shiny math rock kickstarters, fundraisers, videos, and freakin’ cool STL files that have made their way across my feeds as of late? Surely it can’t be some cold, unfeeling computer algorithm. No, it must be fate, and it must be my destiny to find a way to master all of these funky weird dice.

Seriously, though, the last few months, I’ve been thinking about dice a lot. Specifically weird dice. It all started back at the end of 2023, when my husband gave me this awesome dice spinner for Christmas.

It’s beautiful. It’s fun. But most important – it’s weird, and I love weird. So I started thinking about how I could use this weird artifact for more than simply generating a random number. A die (or dice depending on how you’re counting it) so unique deserves a special place at the table, in my opinion. Using it for every random guard’s sword swing or royal vizier’s bluff check would lessen the impact.

This train of thought took me to a lot of offbeat places I didn’t expect – like spending a week musing over the act of building a Cortex system dice pool and how just choosing the stats you’re going to roll with in that game becomes a kind of role play experience on it’s own – but ultimately it coalesced into philosophizing about the purpose of dice.

Because if we really dig into the raison d’etre of the math rocks it becomes clear that they’re not just randomizers. They are tension-makers. Suspense-creators. Engines of uncertainty.

That’s how all the systems tell us to use dice, isn’t it? When you don’t know what will happen, when you’re playing to find out, when success is uncertain – roll the dice.

Dice are the unknown. They’re luck. They’re – dare I tempt it by saying – fate.

Incarnate.

And fate can be fickle.

When we’re rolling dice, we’re taking a chance, and chances are dramatic. Chance creates tension, and when I understood this, I knew how to best use not just my dice spinner, but a bunch of different kinds of dice in weird and unique ways.

Below, you’ll find five weird ways to up the tension at your table using dice. I’ve collected these ideas and arranged from least to most weird. I’ve also tried to include links to the inspiration for the methods when I could provide them.

HIGH – LOW – EVEN – ODD

Credit for this one goes to my old college roommate (thanks, Jeremy!). I don’t know if he came up with it first, but he’s the first GM I’d ever seen use it.

The process is simple, take a D20 (or whatever die your system uses) and point at a player (preferably the one attempting to do the risky action that required a die roll) and say, “High, low, even, or odd.”

Let them call it. Roll the die. If they managed to call the roll, the action goes in their favor.

Essentially, it’s a coin flip and it works well in situations where pure luck determines the outcome of an action. But this works better than a coin flip because the player feels like they have more agency. Not much, but four options are better than two even if the math works out the same. Plus, it plays into dice superstitions such as “I never roll high” or “I really don’t want to ‘waste’ a twenty on this.”

If you really want to play with their emotions, grab a D20 from their dice jail and call for a high-low-even-odd roll. (This is the most evil version of this roll, and is only recommended for GMs who are willing to tempt every god of fortune at one time.)

ROLL UNDER A CUP

Inspired by Liar’s Dice, Yahtzee, but mostly this video on the Quinns Quest Patreon. (It’s a fun video and I highly recommend watching it if you can.)

Imagine this: the rogue has split off from the party to scout the villain’s keep. They’re sneaking through darkened hallways and creeping around corners, when they run into a guard patrol. You call for a stealth roll, BUT you tell them to roll under a cup (an opaque cup. Otherwise this doesn’t work) and tell them not to look at it until you say so.

Then you cut back to the rest of the party. You run a scene. Maybe even an encounter. All the while, the rogue’s player is staring at the cup. Wondering if they’ve been spotted.

When I heard Quinn describe this method, I immediately ran out and bought a set of special little bowls for my home game. I can not wait to watch my players squirm under the tension of not knowing if they succeeded or not.

And yes, you could just roll in secret, but then the answer is an ephemeral result in your brain, not a tangible die sitting just out of reach.   

ADD SOME DESPAIR (Dice)

Adapted from Edge of the Empire/Genesys.

Lots of games have their own custom dice – like Edge of the Empire’s Task dice or Fate’s Fudge dice. You can easily steal the special dice and import them into your game to add a little spice along with some nuance.

When a character goes to hack a computer system, toss them an Edge of the Empire difficulty die to roll along with their D20 and interpret the resulting narrative complications as you would if you were running that system. Or have them roll a Fudge die. On a minus they set off the alarms, on a blank they succeed with a “yes but,” on a plus they get extra information.

Sure, you can bake these gradients of success into a normal D20 roll based on how far below or above the target number they roll, but adding a special die points a huge ass spotlight on the action. It adds another layer of importance to the action and dials up the tension along the way.

ROULETTE DICE COUNTDOWN

Inspired by my Christmas present.

I timed it, and with a really good flick my roulette die will spin for about one and a half minutes, but that’s just an estimate. I’m not certain exactly how long it will spin. And what does uncertainty create? That’s right. Tension.

So, imagine this: you set up a scenario where your players have a limited amount of time to make decisions. Let’s say the jackbooted troops of the evil empire are hunting them through back alleys, trying to catch them before they reach their hideout. The group has to either act together or separately, but they only have until the spinner stops to tell you their actions. You set the stakes and give them the parameters of the situation, and then you start the spinner spinning.

“You have until this stops spinning to make your actions. The result on the die will represent the evil empire’s perception check to find you. Go!”

Will the empire succeed? Who knows! You don’t. Your players definitely don’t! All you know is that there is a limited amount of time to choose.

Now THAT’S dramatic.

SKILL-BASED DICE TOYS

Inspired by these incredibly awesome 3D prints.

These 3D prints turn standard dice rolls into actual real-life skill checks. They take the nail-biting challenge of those old tilt and spin puzzles where you try to navigate a ball bearing through a labyrinth without dropping it through a hole and combine them with either a D20 or a D6. The more dexterous you are at guiding the ball bearing through the maze, the higher your roll result.

Tons of fun on it’s own. Especially if you use it for something like disarming a trap or activating a complicated magical puzzle. But what if you added in a push your luck mechanic?

“The room’s ceiling is coming down and will crush you in three (real time) minutes. If you can ‘roll’ a 13 on this skill-based die, you can unlock the door and escape. But if you get a 17 you can stall out the mechanism completely and find the secret passage that will let you bypass the rest of the dungeon’s traps. If you get a 20…well something extra special will happen.”

These weird dice rolls can add spice to your sessions, drawing attention to pivotal rolls and heightening the tension to astronomical levels of excitement, but do remember to use them in moderation. After all, if every roll you call for has its own gimmick, they’ll lose their specialness real fast.     

I’m also still trying to find ways of adopting these methods for online play. The “roll under a cup” method can be replicated in the Foundry VTT by having your players make blind GM rolls and then you can reveal them in the UI when the timing is appropriate. Including Genesys or Fudge dice into the system could probably be done with a moderate amount of coding, depending on the VTT. Mailing your players care packages with the 3D printed skill dice could be an interesting way to add mystery to the session as well, but it of course has its own limitations.

Would you use weird dice like these in your games? How? Let us know in the comments.

8/5/1974: Shortly after the Supreme Court decided United States v. Nixon, President Nixon released the "smoking gun" tape recorded in the Oval office.

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 5, 1974 appeared first on Reason.com.

It seems that Justice Gorsuch is going through the media circuit in advance of his book launch. Yesterday I wrote about this interview with the Wall Street Journal. Today, David French of the New York Times published a transcript of his NMG sit down. To go back to one of my hobby horses, when a publisher gives a book deal to a Justice, with a large advance, the publisher knowns that the media will gladly sit down for interviews in Supreme Court chambers. This is free press that cannot be purchased–well it can be purchased with a substantial advance. All the more reason to place a cap on royalties for Justices. I digress.

French and Gorsuch had an extended discussion of what was learned from the COVID cases. In truth, we need to reflect a lot more on that period than we have. So many of us (present company included) made some terrible decisions. Our faith in the power of government and self-professed "experts" was largely misplaced. And nothing that has happened since the pandemic has restored my faith. Chief Justice Roberts's "super-precedent" in South Bay has not aged well. I have to imagine that distrust was lurking in the background of Loper Bright.

I found the most enlightening exchange to turn on collegiality. I think that is a term that many people use to mean different things. It was well known that Justices Scalia and Ginsburg were dear friends, and often socialized together. They were collegial. But did RBG ever persuade Scalia to change his mind, at least on a big case? Probably not. Does that mean they were not collegial?

Of late, Justice Kagan has been pushing the latter conception of collegiality–that it entails having an open mind, and a willingness to be persuaded. I have to imagine this push is part of her effort to corral Justice Barrett's votes at every opportunity. If there is any common thread with Joan Biskupic's reporting, is that Justice Kagan flipped Justice Barrett in several cases. I've yet to see any indication that a conservative Justice has flipped a liberal member of the court to reach a conservative outcome. Flipping is not ambidextrous–it only works on the left.

I for one, reject the notion that collegiality entails a willingness to reconsider your views. It is always a judge's role to find the truth, and determine the best answer to a particular legal dispute by his or her best lights. And that process primarily entails weighing the arguments advanced by counsel, and deciding which side should prevail. To be sure, judges on a multi-member court will lobby one another for this position or that position. And to maintain relations, it is important to be willing to listen. But I do not think collegiality requires anything more than listening. Indeed, there are problems with this sort of ex-post lobbying that happens after the briefs are submitted and arguments conclude. Perhaps the parties have obvious rejoinders to some post-hoc position raised, but there is no chance to discuss it. The vote at conference reflects an assessment of the actual case, as it is presented. But when votes change after conference, invariably, it will be because of some newly-determined facet of the case that the parties did not have the chance to address. The Court could always order re-briefing and re-argument, but alas, the pattern has been to simply decide cases on grounds that would be entirely foreign to the lower courts. NetChoice and Moyle comes to mind.

David French poses this question to Justice Gorsuch, which he sort-of-answers, indirectly.

French: Justice Kagan gave some remarks to the Ninth Circuit recently where she talked about this issue of collegiality within the court. There's been some friendships, for example, most famously of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Antonin Scalia. Also recently, Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave a speech in which she said some really kind things about Justice Clarence Thomas and the way that he interacts with court personnel.

But Justice Elena Kagan said something interesting. She said the collegiality that America should be looking for — and I'm paraphrasing — is not "Do we go to the opera together?" but "Are we open to each other?" Are we collegial enough to where we are open to each other? What is your temperature check on the collegiality of the court?

Gorsuch: Well, you're not going to drag me to an opera, David.

French: I wasn't expecting to.

Gorsuch: There's a lot in that question.

French: Yeah.

Gorsuch: I don't know whether you want me to talk first about the court.

French: Let's go first with the court and then with the culture.

Gorsuch: Sure. So with the court, I think it is important that we're friends and that we enjoy each other's company. We have a nice dining room upstairs. Lovely dining room, but it is the government, and we bring our own lunch. And oftentimes you'll see the chief justice with a brown bag and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. OK. Those moments are important. They're human. But I also take the point that collegiality in a work environment means being able to work together well. And can I share just some numbers with you that I think tell the story on that?

Gorsuch goes on to explain that the Court decides many cases unanimously, and that he often votes for the "liberal" side of the case. And he says those unexpected coalitions are evidence of "collegiality."

Gorsuch: We decide the 60, 70 hardest cases in the country every year where lower courts have disagreed. That's the only point to get a case to the Supreme Court. We just want federal law — largely our job is to make sure it's uniform throughout the country, and if the circuit courts are in agreement, there's very little reason for us to take a case, unless it's of extraordinary importance.

So most of the work we do is when lower court judges disagree about the law. Magically, I think in this country there are only about 60 or 70 cases. You could argue a little bit more, a little bit less, but there aren't thousands of them. They're very few in number.

There are nine of us who've been appointed by five different presidents over the course of 30 years. We have very different views about how to approach questions of statutory interpretation, constitutional interpretation about political disagreements or interpretive methodological disagreements. Yet we're able to reach a unanimous verdict on the cases that come before us about 40 percent of the time, I think it might have been even higher this last term. I don't think that happens automatically.

I think that's the product of a lot of hard work. I think that's proof of collegiality. OK? That is what we do and we do well. Now people often say, "Well, what about the 6-3s?" Fair enough. Fair enough. But that's about a third of our docket. And it turns out they aren't always what you think they are. About half the 6-3s this last term are not the 6-3s you're thinking about.

Okay, Gorsuch does not actually answer the second part of Kagan's question. The fact that the Justices vote in unusual ways reflects the fact that all of the Justices are, to various extents, heterodox. They are not–contrary to what you might read–ideologues. Trust me, if we had an actual MAGA Court, things would look very different. But Gorsuch does not even hint that collegiality requires a willingness to be persuaded. It is the facts of a case, and the arguments advanced by counsel, that determine the unusual lineups.

I would like this same question posed to Justice Barrett. I think she might see things differently.

French also asked about Justice Kagan's ethics proposal. Gorsuch explains that the facts changed since Kagan's speech. Namely, President Biden wrote a pointless op-ed and Senator Schumer introduced a nuclear bill.

French: We're running out of time, so I do want to get to a couple of other questions. One, Justice Kagan also raised this interesting idea regarding ethics. And she talked about that the Supreme Court has a code of ethics that she appreciates, but she also talked about the possibility of enforcement through — and I'll read the quote here, one moment — "If the chief justice appointed some sort of committee of highly respected judges with a great deal of experience, with a reputation for fairness, you know, that seems like a good solution to me."

And a reason for that, the creation of sort of an outside judicial panel would, part of it would be to protect the court, to provide an outside voice that could not only adjudicate potentially valid claims but also debunk invalid accusations. And she made it clear she was speaking only for herself. What's your reaction to that concept?

Gorsuch: Well, David, since that talk, there's been some developments in the world, and this is now a subject that's being intensely discussed by the political branches, and I just don't think it would be very useful for me to comment on that at the moment.

In hindsight, would Kagan still have given her remarks, knowing what would come the following week? Or perhaps Kagan knew what was coming, and gave her remarks to shift the Overton Window? We are working with a crafty, plugged-in operator here, so be skeptical. How does that work for collegiality?

The post Justice Gorsuch Explains What Collegiality Means appeared first on Reason.com.

8/4/1961: President Barack Obama's birthday. He would appoint two Justices to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

The post Today in Supreme Court History: August 4, 1961 appeared first on Reason.com.

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