HiT3k

Okay genius, so what’s Iran’s military budget, what is Israel’s, and how much value in aid is Iran providing to Hamas annually? It’s more than $3.8b?

This is the only reason I’m playing a pirated copy. Fuck MSFT for releasing Sept 1st and then punishing any Game Pass users who didn’t want to shell out $35 additional for digital content that isn’t even released. I’ll transfer my saves once my Game Pass version unlocks.

This is such a brain dead take. You cannot compare an OS from one developer to a device from another unspecified manufacturer with no context. No one would claim that a Samsung phone is more private than an iPhone, regardless of the “potential” in the context of degoogling, or the niche privacy switch that’s present on less than 1/10,000 Android devices sold.

Open world RPG? They are probably the most common single player AAA experience released these days. Bethesda does work in a bit of “immersive sim” qualities to their games though, which is often what makes them feel so sand-boxy.

Idk, the community on Reddit/online is pretty friendly and active. In PVP and co-op it’s typically pretty great the first week after launch and about 2-3 years after launch.

You can’t really get around the fact that self imposed challenge is a huge part of how the core fans enjoy the game and I think it’s difficult for newcomers to know when hardcore fans are speaking to them vs their own compatriots.

Sekiro fans are hugely supportive of newcomers though, probably because it’s a relatively less played game. The community around Elden Ring suffered from its own success I think.

2007 for sure. Mass Effect, Bioshock, Crysis, STALKER, The Witcher, Assassins Creed, and a bunch more I’m forgetting. I also played a ton on PSP back then that probably released that year that I’m forgetting.

This article is clickbait. There are exceptions for devices that are “waterproof” or have batteries that last a certain number of cycles.

This isn’t going to change a thing (especially it EU judges allow IP68 to be considered “waterproof.”)

MGS1 is available on GOG, but it’s definitely got that early 3D vibe that OP doesn’t seem to like. I think it’s aged pretty well, considering it’s a PS1 title.

Returnal, Resident Evil REmakes, most Giant Bomb games, Firewatch, Hellblade…

If you liked Alan Wake, definitely give the RE remakes and Hellblade a shot, and don’t sleep on Firewatch. In fact, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is probably one of the most thoughtful and atmospheric experiences in gaming (at least in the field of 3rd person, pseudo action games).

I’m a huge sci-fi nerd, and I love the idea of exploring the solar system and galaxy. However, everyone I meet who actually talks about it is also so credulous about terraforming and mining and colonizing. It’s an outrageously stupid waste of resources and mental energy and I have such little respect for these people.

Well, the Metal Gear Legacy Collection on PS3 is still a way better deal than whatever this garbage Konami is about to vomit up. I bet they want us to forget what an amazing collection they released for a mere $50.

There are commas and periods on your keyboard. Come back and try again once you finish 4th grade, you’re unintelligible and quite possibly illiterate.

You people genuinely have the worst reading comprehension. How could you say I insinuated anything remotely like that? And then I get criticized for trying to sound “intellectual” because I go to such lengths to make it clear that I hold both Russia and Western warmongers accountable, but never the small ex-Soviet nations that are the pawns in their game. Yet you still somehow read that into my statement.

Jesus, I would love to see the world as simply as you do.

Just breathe. This is such a typical, hyperventilating response. The critique here is not that the West “made” Russia invade Ukraine and only Russian sympathizers are saying that. The critique is of Western diplomacy over the last 30 years that directly contributed to the tensions in the region. The critique is that when the Warsaw Pact dissolved and Russia was at its weakest, the commitment by the West to also disarm and cease expansion militarily into former USSR territory should have been upheld. It’s the idea that unity and peace in the region should have been primary goal, not the liberalization of former USSR territories via NATO membership.

What exactly are you denying as “true?” You seem to have interpreted my comment as saying “Russia invaded Ukraine because of one singular thing the West did.” Well of course that’s not true, but that’s also not what I said. There isn’t one thing that Russia invaded Ukraine over. It’s a mix of national desperation, a psychotic despot, and regional tensions that made for an easy target. My only contention here is that Western diplomacy failed in Eastern Europe and a different approach would have had a different outcome. Diplomacy is a very long game. This isn’t a “hindsight is 20/20” issue, either. This strategy of military expansion for three decades despite Russia’s protests has been widely criticized.

You don’t have to agree with Russian interests here (I certainly don’t,) but you seem to be having a hard time grasping the concept and purpose of international diplomacy and separating it from your own political views. The purpose of a diplomatic relationship should be to advance the goals which benefit the citizens of one’s own country, while working within the constraints of a given political landscape, and to advance the good of all nations where possible, not proselytize liberal democracy via military expansion. Why don’t you tell me what you think the benefit of NATO expansion post-Cold War was for the citizens of the West? How did that benefit the citizens of my nation, the USA? From where I’m sitting, it didn’t. It seems more like a needless expansion of military power by the West despite prior commitments and despite the fact that it increased tensions with Russia and jeopardized peace in the region. Don’t forget that this expansion was spearheaded by the USA, not the nations that volunteered to join. Spearheaded by a nation that has maintained its superpower status by being involved in and often instigating every major conflict for the past 80 years. Now Western Leftists are suddenly going to forget that and give them a pass because Russian sympathizers are using it as an inconvenient talking point?

I am 100% for supporting Ukraine in this war. That should have been clear by my comment, but somehow you decided I was instead promoting the rape of innocent children. However, I also believe that after this is all over, there should be a healthy discussion about how we got here in the first place. The most absurd thing is that everything I am saying would have been widely accepted as fact by Liberals prior to the Ukraine invasion. “Western powers, particularly the USA, love destabilizing and exerting control over other weaker nations, even when they pose no threat.” Now that Russia finally did the horrible thing everyone knew they might do, this is now somehow a “pro-Russia” position to hold. It’s ridiculous.

I’m sorry, but the greatest stupidity I’ve seen from the Left during the course of this war is the complete abandonment of the belief in US accountability for foreign conflict and destabilization, which was so common in discussion before the war. Was it just more convenient for us then?

Putin is a vile human being and Russia is an insecure, inept power. The invasion was a crime, and a horrific one. That does NOT absolve the US from responsibility for the regional instability that led to this war. In fact, we spearheaded and encouraged it. It is clear by our foreign policy that our leaders wanted this war.

And now we are letting Russian sympathizers use it as a talking point and we have no rebuttal because we refuse to accept it as truth. It’s a massive own goal and reveals so much of liberal discourse in this nation to be ignorant, self serving drivel that can be abandoned as quickly as conservatives can abandon their “values.” It is disgusting.

No idea what channel this is, but I searched for a summary of the last 30 years of our diplomacy and NATO expansion and found it. I agree with everything said and it is all historical fact.

That’s why the response has been so negative. Every instance that federates with another stores a complete copy of the posts and comments from every federated user.

If the majority of instances do not defederate from a Meta instance, that Instance will inevitably become the primary destination for discussion, even between and by non Meta-Instance based users, just because the communities in that Instance will be so large and active.

Meta will then have carte blanche to collect data on a huge collection of users from outside their own Instance.

Fuck that.

Sure wish id would capitalize and develop a true, in house successor to Quake. I actually like Quake Champions, but you can’t help wonder what it would be like to have id or Epic put the full force of their development talent behind an arena shooter for the modern era.

Lol, yeah this is such a bizarre take. Like, no one calls Elden Ring a JRPG even though it’s made in Japan. JRPG is a genre, full stop.

The WRPG is also a thing. There is a very clear difference in how developers in the West versus the East approached the adaptation of the TRPG to the video game format, which is what all RPG’s are rooted in. Square/Enix/Falcom and others used prebuilt parties and turn based combat, with a heavy emphasis on story, while western developers put way more control into players hands with character creation and role play (and often real time rolls/gameplay), with less developed stories and side characters. No approach is the “correct” one.

What would be really interesting to hear reported on is whether this was rooted in player preference. Like, did Japanese TRPG players gravitate more toward prebuilt campaigns and characters? Did Western players indulge in more varied self expression and try to break the game while disregarding the story the DM was trying to tell? Tbf, the former sounds much nicer to DM.

Talin, Estonia is absolutely beautiful. A hidden gem that no one talks about.

I’m an ignorant American, so when I looked at the map I kinda figured Estonia would have some really strong Eastern European vibes, but I was shocked how Nordic/Scandinavian it was. Incredible infrastructure, extremely walkable, fascinating history as a major Baltic Sea trade route, tons of old medieval architecture…

And the people were so friendly! The language is beautiful, the education system is top notch, they have a great national parks system, they’ve pumped out a ton of tech startups, they’re vehemently anti-Soviet (I love that they celebrate their Independence from Russia beginning in 1920 and consider the Soviet years an occupation). The topography and flora is really beautiful. Silent forests covered in pine needles, bogs, lakes, rivers and a gorgeous coastline.

It’s just the coolest place and I wish more people visited.

Edit: Oh, and Pub Kompressor serves the best damn pancakes/crepes I’ve ever had.