Raistlin's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Raistlin LinkLive a Live. What an excellent little game. Have beaten Prehistory, Distant Future, Imperial China and Wild West. I'm generally aware of the big twist, but the little moments surprise me, and it...Live a Live. What an excellent little game. Have beaten Prehistory, Distant Future, Imperial China and Wild West. I'm generally aware of the big twist, but the little moments surprise me, and it never overstays it's welcome.
Spend all day at work thinking about the Present Day and what its gimmick would be.
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Comment on Former Square Enix exec on why Final Fantasy sales don’t meet expectations and chances of recouping insane AAA budgets in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentSee, I would argue that there's a difference between what SH Covenant and Persona do (add a spin to turn based JRPGs) and what Final Fantasy does (throw it out altogether). Or the Dragon Quest...See, I would argue that there's a difference between what SH Covenant and Persona do (add a spin to turn based JRPGs) and what Final Fantasy does (throw it out altogether). Or the Dragon Quest strategy of not changing a single thing, and still being successful.
Neither Persona nor DQ feel the need to spend 100 million dollars on graphics, but both have excellent art direction, and I bet both series ultimately end up being more profitable (and less risky) than FF.
My overall point is that at no point did the formula fail for SE. Not ever. As interest waned, maybe it could have, but we will never know because SE abandoned the formula at the height of its popularity.
(PS I'm so happy you played Covenant, that game was excellent)
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Comment on Former Square Enix exec on why Final Fantasy sales don’t meet expectations and chances of recouping insane AAA budgets in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentRegarding people being fed up with traditional turn based combat, is that true? The last mainline normal FF game was FFX, which did fantastic. Then came the MMO, then 12's weird mix, then 13's...Regarding people being fed up with traditional turn based combat, is that true? The last mainline normal FF game was FFX, which did fantastic. Then came the MMO, then 12's weird mix, then 13's weird mix, then another MMO, and now action combat.
I don't see a decline. The series went from 7 to 8 to 9, then culminated in 10. At what point did interest start to wane?
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Comment on Former Square Enix exec on why Final Fantasy sales don’t meet expectations and chances of recouping insane AAA budgets in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentCan't you make 10 Hollow Knights, then? If costs are ballooning out of control, make cheaper games, sell to less people, right?Can't you make 10 Hollow Knights, then? If costs are ballooning out of control, make cheaper games, sell to less people, right?
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Comment on Former Square Enix exec on why Final Fantasy sales don’t meet expectations and chances of recouping insane AAA budgets in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentHate might be too strong a word, but I played FF for a turn based JRPG experience, and it seems FF doesn't want to be in that market anymore. So I played Dragon Quest and Persona instead. They...Hate might be too strong a word, but I played FF for a turn based JRPG experience, and it seems FF doesn't want to be in that market anymore. So I played Dragon Quest and Persona instead.
They traded markets. Which is fine, but then it's not surprising some people are bitter.
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Comment on Alexander the Great's untold story: Excavations in northern Greece are revealing the world that shaped the future king in ~humanities.history
Raistlin Link ParentTo your point, you can very easily see Alexander as the last Achaemenid ruler. If he hadn't died like he did, we'd probably see it as a transition, like from Cyrus to Darius. He kept many satraps...To your point, you can very easily see Alexander as the last Achaemenid ruler. If he hadn't died like he did, we'd probably see it as a transition, like from Cyrus to Darius. He kept many satraps on, ruled the empire from Babylon, was Persianising, married into the Achaemenid royal family, had his closest generals and officials mass marry Persian nobles. I don't see how we can say he was a poor ruler. He's acting exactly like a king of kings dealing with a succession crisis.
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Comment on Embracer cut ties with more than 4,500 employees and cancelled eighty projects, reducing its headcount by 27% in twelve months in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentUnlikely. It's a fairly large piece of legislation last changed in 1984, with the other law that affects my job just having been changed in 2020, to increase government obligations. There's no...Unlikely. It's a fairly large piece of legislation last changed in 1984, with the other law that affects my job just having been changed in 2020, to increase government obligations. There's no political will to change either act right now, and if there were, I'd have many many many months of advance warning, since it couldn't happen overnight. If they were to change, they'd likely have to change in a way that requires more from my department, not less.
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Comment on Embracer cut ties with more than 4,500 employees and cancelled eighty projects, reducing its headcount by 27% in twelve months in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentWhereas my ass is never, ever going to get out of the public sector. My job needs to be legally done by someone, so unless civilisation collapses, I should be fine.Whereas my ass is never, ever going to get out of the public sector. My job needs to be legally done by someone, so unless civilisation collapses, I should be fine.
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Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election in ~news
Raistlin Link ParentWith respect, the polls were right about Trump too, both times. Clinton and Trump were neck to neck, within the margin of error. What happened was that liberals were telling themselves, with...With respect, the polls were right about Trump too, both times. Clinton and Trump were neck to neck, within the margin of error. What happened was that liberals were telling themselves, with nothing to back it up, that Trump wouldn't win. But Trump was a margin of error swing away from winning, which is exactly what happened. The almost same exact margin of error happened with Biden v Trump, but Biden was polling like 5 points ahead, so that margin of error wasn't enough to best Biden.
I remember 538 being roundly mocked for giving Trump a 33% chance of winning, that it was too high. Every other liberal organisation had him at like 5% or whatever. Fucking delusional.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Raistlin LinkPlayed the demo for Live a Live, and just ordered it. This feels like a really special game, although I can already tell that the Japan section is going to be very annoying.Played the demo for Live a Live, and just ordered it. This feels like a really special game, although I can already tell that the Japan section is going to be very annoying.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentWhat difficulty mode are you playing UO in? How easy or hard are you finding it?What difficulty mode are you playing UO in? How easy or hard are you finding it?
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Comment on First proof that "plunging regions" exist around black holes in space in ~space
Raistlin Link ParentCould I ask a hypothetical? Say you're an immortal observer watching the collapse of a star. You also have unbelievably advanced technology that allows you to detect the most minute signals, down...Could I ask a hypothetical? Say you're an immortal observer watching the collapse of a star. You also have unbelievably advanced technology that allows you to detect the most minute signals, down to the Planck length. You observe the star collapse on itself. Most of the matter gets blasted away in the supernova, which you of course survive.
You never see any matter cross the event horizon, right? From your point of view, nothing crosses it, and it's all smeared across the surface of the event horizon. Yet there's still a singularity, and the black hole is still losing mass due to quantum effects. Where did the singularity come from, just taking the point of view of the observer? Where is that lost mass coming from? If I'm understanding this right (and I'm likely not), you never observe the lost mass cross the event horizon, and some random other mass is being emitted as heat due to quantum effects, and eventually the black hole dissipates and you never once saw anything cross the horizon.
What you're saying makes sense practically. If the light is red shifted into invisibility, then as far as a normal human is concerned, it might as well have crossed the event horizon. But mathematically, from your pov, it can't have. It has to be smeared across the event horizon.
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Comment on First proof that "plunging regions" exist around black holes in space in ~space
Raistlin Link ParentMy understanding, and I'm absolutely not a scientist, is that there's no preferred frame of reference, right? From the point of view of the observer, it's not that there's an illusion that the...My understanding, and I'm absolutely not a scientist, is that there's no preferred frame of reference, right? From the point of view of the observer, it's not that there's an illusion that the light didn't cross; the light doesn't cross, from the observer's point of view. Am I misunderstanding the concept?
I just think that it's an interesting contradiction that from the point of view of the observer, nothing ever crosses the event horizon, but the black hole still shrinks.
There's no contradiction from the point of view of the falling observer. You fall through, die in some awful way, and reach whatever the hell thing exists in the centre. But from outside, the observer never falls in, but the black hole is still losing mass that the observer swears never made it to the centre.
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Comment on First proof that "plunging regions" exist around black holes in space in ~space
Raistlin Link ParentCheers! I'm specifically curious about, from the perspective of an immortal observer studying the black hole that watches it for trillions of years, what does the process of the black hole...Cheers! I'm specifically curious about, from the perspective of an immortal observer studying the black hole that watches it for trillions of years, what does the process of the black hole vanishing due to Hawking radiation look like, when no particle has ever crossed? I definitely understand that for the particle itself, there's no contradiction. But for an outside observer, mass that has never fallen into the singularity is being shed away, and I'm wondering if that's ever resolved.
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Comment on First proof that "plunging regions" exist around black holes in space in ~space
Raistlin Link ParentSince the black hole is vanishing due to Hawking radiation, and the particles never enter the event horizon, what does the outside observer see as the black hole gets smaller and smaller? And when...Since the black hole is vanishing due to Hawking radiation, and the particles never enter the event horizon, what does the outside observer see as the black hole gets smaller and smaller? And when the black hole goes poof, what does the outside observer see happen to the "stuck" particles?
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Comment on The West doesn’t understand how much Russia has changed in ~misc
Raistlin Link ParentYou're right, but you're precisely making my point. The only real way of preventing Russia from making war on the world is to flood their border with soldiers and weapons so that the can't. As you...You're right, but you're precisely making my point. The only real way of preventing Russia from making war on the world is to flood their border with soldiers and weapons so that the can't. As you said, the economic impacts didn't give them pause then, and are lessened now.
Regarding nuclear weapons, yeah, but at some point we have to call that bluff. Otherwise, what, they invade Poland, and we have this same exact conversation.
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Comment on The West doesn’t understand how much Russia has changed in ~misc
Raistlin Link ParentThat entanglement was European policy for decades, and did not prevent the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, it made Europe weaker, as to this day, the countries most entangled with...That entanglement was European policy for decades, and did not prevent the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, it made Europe weaker, as to this day, the countries most entangled with Russia are the countries most likely to block Ukranians aid.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
Raistlin LinkJust found out that there's new sequels to Dragonlance, so rereading the core books. Finished Chronicles, and currently on the second book of Legends. Which means I have like 10 books to go.Just found out that there's new sequels to Dragonlance, so rereading the core books. Finished Chronicles, and currently on the second book of Legends. Which means I have like 10 books to go.
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Comment on Under development: WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria (not classic) in ~games
Raistlin Link ParentYeah, Legion was the end for me as well. Played BfA, hated it (HoA, the story, azerite armor), then came Shadowlands which completely broke my love for the game. I'm still on the margins. I...Yeah, Legion was the end for me as well. Played BfA, hated it (HoA, the story, azerite armor), then came Shadowlands which completely broke my love for the game. I'm still on the margins. I occasionally play the F2P mode, which is an interesting challenge. But I have zero interest on being up to date with the current xpac these days.
The funny thing is that there was never a WoW killer. No MMO ever came along to displace WoW. The game did it on its own.
I'll have to put it on my watch list, it looks like it's the Near Future and I'm not there yet!