Cethin
@Cethin@lemmy.zip
- Comment on EA: Ruin Everything 4 hours ago:
I’d argue slightly before. EA purchased them about the same time Mass Effect came out, which means they didn’t play a part in development. I would say Mass Effect was the beginning of the end for them. Yeah, it was great, but it was the game where they started dumbing things down and moving away from the CRPG into bland action games. Mass Effect was the start of the path towards Anthem and then trying to make Dragon Age into a multiplayer live-service thing, which ended up as Veilguard.
- Comment on HBO Max has really turned to shit since the Skydance takeover 7 hours ago:
How is Lovecraft Country? I watched the first few episodes and it seemed really good, but I got distracted by things that came up I guess and never finished it.
IIRC, the lead actor I think has some kind of controversy a few years back. I really liked him before then, but I think he did something fucked up.
- Comment on Fandom won’t allow adblockers 1 week ago:
I didn’t think I needed plugins on mobile until I had the option. I still don’t have as many as desktop, but there are some incredibly useful ones. things like Indie Wiki Buddy, for avoiding Fandom, as an example.
- Comment on Fandom won’t allow adblockers 1 week ago:
Have you tried Firefox on Android? You can actually have plugins. It’s the only mobile browser I know of that supports that.
I haven’t had your issue with Firefox getting slower though. I use Zen, but it’s still Firefox and it seems fine. Maybe it’s just the mainline branch getting slower? Could it be AI? Do you have it toggled off?
- Comment on Fandom won’t allow adblockers 1 week ago:
You should use the plugin Indie Wiki Buddy. It’s better than the people saying “just use Breeze Wiki.” It actively transfers you to the indie wiki option even when you select a Fandom link (if you have the option set). It also does a lot more than just Breeze Wiki. You can toggle certain ones on or off and set their priorities. For example, some games won’t have a Breeze Wiki page, but they will have some other Wiki, and this handles that without you having to think about it.
- Comment on 1 week ago:
That makes sense. If they set up the pipeline for Star Citizen, then cut out all of the processing needed for networking, then you end up with a lot of headroom on the CPU. However, some of this will obviously be consumed by AI (as in video game AI).
- Comment on My people need me 2 weeks ago:
No, you can’t clarify, or no, it wasn’t satire?
- Comment on Anon was a cub scout 3 weeks ago:
Everyone knows you shouldn’t, but sometimes you have to. Sometimes you don’t get to your camp site until dark, and you just have to make do.
It doesn’t sound like that’s what happened in this story though, assuming it’s true at all (it isn’t).
- Comment on Realistically, what do people plan to do on the Moon and Mars that requires a permanent, or long term human presence there? 3 weeks ago:
I’m done with this conversation, but I’ll address this:
I am also confused as why you keep referring to Earth’s moon as “Luna”…
Luna is the name of Earth’s moon. Have you heard of the term lunatic? That term came from people worshiping the moon, Luna. I don’t know why some people don’t know its name. The Moon is not a name. Moon is a description. Luna is the name.
Earth is named Earth. It’s not “The Planet” which would be the equivalent name as The Moon. Earth is a name. Terra, Tellus, Gaia are all also names for it. Mars is the name of the fourth planet from the sun. The sun is named Sol, which is why solar system means our star system. There are other star systems, but only one solar system. You can’t compare solar systems to each other because there aren’t any other solar systems. There’s only the one.
- Comment on Realistically, what do people plan to do on the Moon and Mars that requires a permanent, or long term human presence there? 3 weeks ago:
The Moon and Mars are not interchangeable. They’re vastly different. The Moon is in Earth’s orbit. That’s why we went to the Moon in 1959 and haven’t even tried to go to Mars in 2026.
All interesting research can be done on Earth, the Moon or space telescopes. Mars is not interesting except for taking samples, and robots can do that.
Obviously Luna and Mars aren’t interchangeable! They’re very different. However, you both agree they’re different, but also think there’s nothing that can’t be done exclusively there? What?
Mars does not help with developing farming technologies without soil. You’re thinking of low-gravity environments I take it?
No. I mean growing food without soil. There is no soil on Mars. We either need to make it (which is useful to learn how), or we need to do without, such as with aquaponics and aeroponics. These all would still help life on Earth too (they already do).
You’re describing Mars being a barren wasteland as a good challenge to try to solve. Fuck that. Start by solving the challenges we have on Earth. Show me you can fix a broken arm before insisting that you’re going to do brain surgery. Hence why you should terraform the Sahara before talking about building a civilization on a dusty hellscape that is a six month journey away from everything we need to live.
Why can’t we do both? I hate the idea we have to only do one thing. That’s not how this works. Developing technology to live on Luna and Mars would help us tackle the issues on Earth. It also doesn’t exclude focusing on Earth. We are currently terraforming the Sahara. Since we are working on that, do you agree we are now fine to work on other things?
- Comment on Realistically, what do people plan to do on the Moon and Mars that requires a permanent, or long term human presence there? 3 weeks ago:
Why do you think it’s not a good goal?
Do you think research into the origins of the universe is good (regardless of space technology)? What about the origins of life? what about the origins of Earth, life on Earth, and Humanity?
Do you think it’s good to increase our understanding and capability of supporting life on other planets?
Do you think it’d be a good idea to spread Humanity to multiple places (everyone living in one city or spread out, or everyone on one planet or spread out, are the same circumstances but a different scale)?
Do you think it’s a good idea to increase our capabilities to deal with potential asteroid threats?
If you answered yes to any of these, Mars is a fine goal, or Luna. This isn’t even mentioning stuff like farming technologies without soil that would be needed on Mars/Luna but also very useful on Earth. Also things like electricity generation (solar, wind, nuclear, and others we may not even consider yet) that need to be thought about in different ways that will inevitably lead to advancements.
Constraint is the mother of creativity, or however that saying goes. Creating problems to solve can frequently create solutions that just looking blindly without constraints would never find. Going to another body is a great way to impose these restraints.
- Comment on Realistically, what do people plan to do on the Moon and Mars that requires a permanent, or long term human presence there? 3 weeks ago:
I don’t think we need to gatekeep funding research. You shouldn’t have to do it with no goal in mind for it to be good. The fact of the matter is its funding research and making people excited to find research. That’s a huge win.
- Comment on Realistically, what do people plan to do on the Moon and Mars that requires a permanent, or long term human presence there? 3 weeks ago:
NASA spending has historically created more in return than is spent. It’s somewhat expensive (essentially a rounding error next to military spending though), but the science done gives a good return on investment. This isn’t just like on moon rocks or whatever, but developing technology that the missions need. Things like thermally reflective lightweight fabric, or a ton of other things. The science done on the Moon is worth a lot on its own, but it’s also not the only thing we’re getting out of it.
However, what are billionaires getting out of it? Hopefully it’s just the opportunity to profit from the contracts and not something more nefarious. We all know it is though eventually.
- Comment on Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo 4 weeks ago:
Probably, but that’s not happening anytime soon.
- Comment on Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo 4 weeks ago:
I mean something new as in let someone else have a try. 343 has been failing constantly. Letting them keep trying probably isn’t going to solve the issue. It’s worth trying literally anything else than having them keep at it.
- Comment on Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo 4 weeks ago:
This is on MS not Activision.
- Comment on Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo 4 weeks ago:
This isn’t publishing. This is development. Halo will be an Activision developed game.
- Comment on Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo 4 weeks ago:
I would argue that it probably does give better odds for it at Activision. They already have CoD. They don’t need to turn Halo into CoD. They can just use Halo to do something new.
I think I remember that they made a CoD with like mech suits or something, and a lot more movement mechanics, and it wasn’t received well. That’s basically what Halo is. Now they can go fully into that without CoD players complaining that it isn’t CoD.
I don’t have much faith in this, but I do think there’s better odds for a better Halo with Activision probably. 343 didn’t get it. Activision may not, but doing something new has to be better than continuing to fuck things up over and over.
- Comment on This mess of a keychain I was handed at work 5 weeks ago:
I’m pretty sure she’s just trying to have an excuse to carry around plushies, and that’s fine!
- Comment on On disobeying instructions 1 month ago:
They aren’t making them specifically for food. They make one type that anyone who needs it buys. It needs the message for when it’s used with food, but that doesn’t mean it’s only ever used with food.
- Comment on On disobeying instructions 1 month ago:
Presumably because they’re often included in things you’re meant to consume. Someone who has never encountered them may think they’re part of the product. It’s obvious to all of us, because we’ve experienced them all our lives, but that won’t be true for everyone.
- Comment on Min wage in most states is so sad 1 month ago:
That can easily be fixed. Salary is the median (not average, because making more ultra-wealthy shouldn’t be encouraged) US income + median COL in DC. Maybe add some extra on top to cover travel and other expenses.
The goal is to make enriching the American people equivalent to enriching themselves. Currently it’s usually the opposite.
- Comment on Anon steams up the sauna 1 month ago:
I would bet it’s fine to talk with someone. It’s not ok to hit on them. Obviously you need to read the room for all of it though. Maybe they don’t want to chat at all, or maybe they are open to flirting, but if you can’t read it well then probably STFU.
- Comment on 1 month ago:
Most companies don’t do union busting. Also, there are tons of indie and AA studios that treat employees far better.
- Comment on 1 month ago:
I wouldn’t be as annoyed by hearing about it if Rockstar were an upstanding company. The union busting though means they should not be given any good PR at minimum, and ideally none.
I don’t care if people want to discuss big games. We shouldn’t accept positive discussion of games that are made by companies who treat their employees poorly. That should be a bare minimum rule people on this platform hold to. I don’t care how excited you are for the game. You don’t get to promote it.
- Comment on Flock is canceled—and its competitors are profiting 1 month ago:
Absolutely. It’s stupid that they maybe possibly can. It’s being tested in the courts. They definitely are allowed to abuse it to some extent, but maybe not like they are with these cameras. It doesn’t make any sense either way though.
The way phone data works, they have to get a warrant. They aren’t legally allowed to obtain it from phone companies until they have one, even if the company is more than happy to provide it. How this doesn’t automatically apply in the same way to these cameras is crazy.
- Comment on Flock is canceled—and its competitors are profiting 1 month ago:
I’m pretty sure part of why this is all being done is because the police can’t legally do this. A third party company can though, and police can purchase access (in their theory at least, though this is being tested).
- Comment on 1 month ago:
Maybe Xenonauts 3 will fix it, or whatever they do next. It’s still far better than Modern XCOM, from what I recall. Modern XCOM does some things well, but it’s also dumbed down.
- Comment on 1 month ago:
I made a statement on what they should do, for best results from employees, not on what they actually do. It should also be true for all other industries. I think all company profits should be shared with employees, and ideally owned, if not totally then at least I’m part, by employees. Give them a stake in the company, and a reason to care about how it’s doing, and they’ll put more effort in.
The fact this is incomprehensible to the capitalist class isn’t surprising though. They view humans as resources (hence the Human Resources Department), not as people with their own wants and desires.
- Comment on 1 month ago:
I haven’t played much of XCOM 2, but the late game of all of these games is usually not the best. Honestly, this is true for most strategy games. How many Paradox games actually make it to the end, for example?
It’s essentially something that’s impossible to balance in a fair way. Either the game scales automatically to match you, in which case your effort is meaningless, or it doesn’t, and it’s either trivial or impossible.
I just started a new game recently though. When I last played the end game didn’t even exist IIRC, so I can’t comment on it.