Theorycrafting has changed our relationship with video games. Our collective pursuit of the meta – that is, the mathematical study of game mechanics – has pushed us to the point where, as Dan Olson declared, “It’s rude to suck at Warcraft.” Even single-player communities aren’t immune. It’s so pervasive that much of the games media ecosystem depends on an unseen legion of guide writers. But there is more to theorycrafting...

Many cities in California are punching well above their weight to solve the housing affordability crisis. Ukiah (pop. 16,607) recently became one of the first rural cities to receive the state’s “prohousing” designation earlier this month. It is a remarkable accomplishment for a community that was once perceived as resistant to development. As recently as the early 2000s, developers complained about the “arduous” process…

Dead videogames are like catnip for the terminally online like myself. Even a slight dip in a game’s player count is enough to generate countless hours of hasty YouTube punditry, breathless news articles and misguided comparisons. Although these narratives are usually misguided, our terminal obsession with player counts touches on something that is somehow both overlooked and over-commodified. Games die all the time, often by…

California’s unfunded pension woes could become worse in the next few years. Last year, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System suffered a 6.1% investment loss in the fiscal year ending on June 30, the first such loss since 2008. Cities will not feel these impacts immediately, but they will almost certainly be felt in the next few years.

When COVID-19 shut down San Diego, it felt like the end of the city’s vibrant arts sector. Venues closed their doors, gigs dried up, wallets tightened, and an existential malaise swept through a community that lived paycheck to paycheck. “Our social, intellectual, and professional lives can be pretty embedded in the rhythm of art exhibitions' openings,” said Allison Wiese.

When Overwatch launched in 2016, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Its cast was a self-proclaimed mix of “oddities,” whose “soaring ideals of freedom and equality would never be forgotten.” It felt like a video game for everyone. ...Six years later and Blizzard’s slipshod track record demonstrates the limits of this milquetoast, Pixar-ification approach to diversity.

Like many cities, Emeryville’s housing market is out of balance. The supply does not come close to the demand. Emeryville has roughly 30,000 jobs, but only 12,905 residents. Both are expected to increase in the coming years, especially if the city’s burgeoning research sector continues to grow. Rebalancing that ratio is tricky and will take years to fully realize. 

Asian American pop culture has exploded in popularity over the past few years. Music collectives like 88rising and films like Everything Everywhere All At Once are dominating the Western media zeitgeist, something that was almost unthinkable ten years ago. … Despite this collective progress in other media and wider society, Asian Americans are scarcely noticeable…

In March 2021, cities across the nation breathed a sigh of relief as an economic package that included $65 billion for municipalities finally made its way through Congress and was signed into law. The American Rescue Plan Act provided badly needed direct and flexible funds to cash-strapped cities on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.