BeardyHat's recent activity
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Comment on CGA-2026-06 🦇🧛‍♀️🔥 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI'd been trying my best to emulate Hotel Dusk on a couple of my handhelds (notebly the RG Slide and Retroid Pocket Classic), but neither could quite do it right. On the Slide, I could rotate the...I'd been trying my best to emulate Hotel Dusk on a couple of my handhelds (notebly the RG Slide and Retroid Pocket Classic), but neither could quite do it right. On the Slide, I could rotate the screen and controls and it looked really good, but the only emulator that let me do that would crackle the audio and have slowdowns frequently. On the RPC, I couldn't get the stylus/touch controls to work properly and all of it just turned into this endless tinkering.
So I cracked out my DSi XL instead and actually ended up playing a ton of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, which I last played at the time of release on DS.
It's been an awesome fit for where I'm at right now. When it originally came out, I was probably like 25 and enjoyed it, but didn't really appreciate it much. This time, I'm really taking my time and savoring it; doing all the puzzle challenges. Yesterday I must have spent about an hour (throughout the day, not in one sitting) on a single puzzle, just trying to figure out what the hell to do before I finally discovered the solution right as I was lying in bed and about the shut out the light.
I'm not sure what else to say about this one, other than it's a great little puzzle game and I'm loving it. Been carrying my DSi everywhere with me in the last couple of days. I really loved the DS back in the day and it's still one of my favorite consoles now.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentParticularly different from the classics like Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 or Icewind Dale? I've only played about 10-hours of the original Baldurs Gate and probably a similar amount of the Icewind Dale...Particularly different from the classics like Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 or Icewind Dale?
I've only played about 10-hours of the original Baldurs Gate and probably a similar amount of the Icewind Dale series, as well as playing and completing Neverwinter Nights (also real time combat) decades ago.
Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale and even NWN never really hit like PoE did. Granted I played NWN ages ago, as I mentioned and I really did love it at the time, but I have zero desire to ever go back to it at this point in my life. Baldurs Gate is something that I've played much more recently, as in maybe a year or two ago and I liked it well enough, but it never grabbed me much and I kind of felt like I was just going through the motions with it. I eventually got to a fight I had issues winning and after trying a bunch, I kind of put the game down and have been meaning to go back, but just haven't.
Pillars definitely hits different. First and foremost, the writing is just so damn good. The characters feel multifaceted, the world doesn't feel like a gameworld to me, because I feel like I've been caught off guard by decisions that ended-up not just being binary choices. I feel like I'm actually existing within this world, which is pretty unusual for myself, given I tend to be more immersed in a game if it's first person and certainly not isometric as Pillars is. I don't know if you've played Pentiment (another Obsidian game), but the writing in Pillars, while maybe not exactly on par with that one (which is 100% the focus of that game), feels exceptional to me.
Again, I'm not the type to really ever invest in a reading books or extra lore within a game, but Pillars has me reading every little bit I find and is expanding the world further inside my head, I'm loving it.
The turn based combat is a massive improvement over the real time stuff, which I tend to find boring as hell. I'm a big tabletop wargamer, so having that as an aspect to it feels like it really enhances my decision making, especially when it comes to fights that are tougher or I'm in a dungeon or whatever and limited on my ability to camp, so I have to make use with what spells and supplies I have left as I progress and make a real decision about when I want my party to camp to refresh everyone. Again, I do feel some complaints about it in that it can feel a little tedious, ("Oh great, another fight) after the 65 or so hours I've put into it, but usually during those times I just take a break and come back to the game when I'm feeling ready for that again (which might be a few hours, might be a day).
If I could make one recommendation, avoid any characters with Yellow/Gold text in their name. I've tried to play Pillars three times (this is my third) since 2015 and the first two times I got absolutely bogged down in the Gold Text NPC's, which are Kickstarter backers. Their lore adds nothing to the world or really fleshes it out; you'll still encounter it periodically, such as a Graveyard you'll see inscribed names on Tomb Stones like, "Weed Wizard 101" or something, but that's easily avoidable and doesn't drag the game down for me like the Gold Text NPCs.
Hopefully that answers your question. I don't have a ton of time to play games at this point in my life, with two little kids and a wife, maybe only a half hour to an hour a day and I tend to avoid RPGs these days, but Pillars is one I've had trouble putting down.
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Comment on Do you prefer to 100% games, or to move on to new experiences? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI play until I stop having fun and I don't feel guilty about it. I've been using Steam for 22 years now and my library between it and all the other gaming services is well over 1000 titles. So I...I play until I stop having fun and I don't feel guilty about it.
I've been using Steam for 22 years now and my library between it and all the other gaming services is well over 1000 titles. So I play whatever I feel like for however long it feels interesting; over the past two months, I put 65-hours into Pillars of Eternity and while I would like to continue it and finish the story, it's ceased being interesting to me at the moment, so I've put it down and have been playing other stuff. When the other stuff stops being interesting, I will also move on from that.
Life's too short. You're never going to play everything you want to before you die, so if you have the means, buy what sounds interesting and play that. Not that you should buy willy-nilly. I have pretty limited income, so I'm pretty judicious with spending money on stuff; I usually look at my library and think, "Do I have something similar in my library?" and then I go play that instead, if I do, because odds are, I've never touched it anyway.
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Comment on America’s tech-filled classrooms are facing a backlash against school-assigned devices in ~life
BeardyHat Link ParentAnecdotally, when my 3rd grader has access to school computers, they're looking up stuff about video games or whatever Poppy Playtime monster their friends told them about, on YouTube. YouTube can...Anecdotally, when my 3rd grader has access to school computers, they're looking up stuff about video games or whatever Poppy Playtime monster their friends told them about, on YouTube.
YouTube can be good, but both of my kids only get a small amount, if any at all, a week and under the close supervision (ie, we choose the videos) of their parents. Otherwise, YouTube is completely banned in the house.
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Comment on Bricks & Minifigs corporate stole a man's $200,000 Lego collection and told him to get bent in ~hobbies
BeardyHat (edited )Link ParentI am American. I don't have anything of particular insight or interest to say on this subject other than the fact that this kind of stuff has been happening here for decades, if not a century or...I am American. I don't have anything of particular insight or interest to say on this subject other than the fact that this kind of stuff has been happening here for decades, if not a century or longer. "Small" businesses like this that are dubious at best who take advantage of people as they see fit and then abusing the legal system to keep their unjust actions credible and legal.
There is plenty of documented cases of this. Just another day in the US of A.
Here's a few links:
These are just two small instances. But you have numerous others, such as Wal-Mart and their wage theft from employees, illegal fees from companies, the list goes on and on. This is just standard practice here. And keep in mind, a lot of these instances are just where they got caught and often fined. Even in many of these cases with the CPB, the fine is less than the money they made from scamming people, so it ends-up just a cost of doing business.
Edit: And I'll say, I'm going to do my best to avoid Bricks & Minifigs in the future. My kids love it and I can't probably stop my family from taking them there on occasion, but they won't get any more of my money.
Edit Edit: I also want to say (sorry, should have thought this through more with my initial post), but even if the police aren't in cahoots in this particular instance, it's not surprising. Police are not there to protect you and your property. Just my own anecdote, but I've been burgled twice. Each time I reported it to police and they shrugged their shoulders and basically said, "That sucks." They knew who did it, they had license plate numbers the first time, they knew the kid who did it the second time and where he lived, but they did fuck all. The people who helped us the most was our insurance company.
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Comment on CGA-2026-05 🕹️⛵🦜 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Sid Meier's Pirates! in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI've played Pirates quite a bit on PSP in the past and very much enjoyed it. This time I decided to go the Sega Genesis route and I must say, I found it a little bit better. In the PSP version, I...I've played Pirates quite a bit on PSP in the past and very much enjoyed it. This time I decided to go the Sega Genesis route and I must say, I found it a little bit better. In the PSP version, I don't recall there being the "10 Pirate Quests" or whatever it was called and I felt like this gave me a little more direction in the game. I also found the Genesis graphics absolutely charming and this is probably the version I'll end-up going back to in the future when I'm looking for a fix.
That said, I never really "get" Pirates. I did the same thing I always do in when I play this game where I kind of sail around, take some ships, sell some goods and then wander around aimlessly for awhile, always kind of resistant to splitting up the loot and starting all over again. It's tough for me to find the fun in this game, I'd say or perhaps it's the idea that I'm always going to be doing the same thing pretty much, just getting larger ships and fighting bigger named pirates, but otherwise, nothing really changes from the moment you start the game until you finish it.
Granted, I haven't ever finished it, so I don't know how it progresses the further you go into the game, but the game has never really enraptured me to get all that far in it. All that said, I do still keep coming back to the game, because I do find it charming generally and I expect that will still be the case here. I intend to keep playing periodically over the next couple of days, because I still do like the game and there is some part of me that does want to continue to get further into it, so we'll see.
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Comment on The cost of safetyism - what we lost when we stopped letting kids leave the front yard in ~life
BeardyHat LinkI've got two of my own, 8 and 6. I don't yet trust the 6-year old to do much on their own, but the 8-year old is pretty much fine to run the neighborhood and as long as the 6-year old is with...I've got two of my own, 8 and 6. I don't yet trust the 6-year old to do much on their own, but the 8-year old is pretty much fine to run the neighborhood and as long as the 6-year old is with them, then I'm ok.
That said, to other parents: You gotta suppress your anxiety about it. I get it, I also get highly anxious when my kids are running around the neighborhood or out of sight or whatever, but I do my best not to let it get the better of me. I would definitely feel better if they were just at home playing video games or whatever, but I know that's ultimately not good for them and not going to teach them independence, so I try not to let myself get too anxious and remind myself that there are other parents in the neighborhood that will look out for them and that they're generally safe--aside from crossing the street, which I am constantly nagging them about.
Just last week, a neighbor was supposed to pick both of them up from school, but I got a call ten minutes or so after school let out that the 8-year old was nowhere to be found. Another call 15 minutes later that even the school wasn't sure where they were at after they were released from class. My anxiety went kind of nuts, but I already knew my answer: 8YO probably didn't want to go to neighbors house and decided unilaterally to just walk home, something they haven't done by themselves before, but something we've been training them for for years. Still anxious, I got in my car to go take a look and wouldn't you know it, three houses down from mine, I found 8YO.
I got them in the car and they assumed they were in trouble, though I honestly couldn't be too mad. I thought them how to be independent. So I explained how this choice was ok and I'm fine with them walking home alone, but they can't just decide to do so without letting anyone know where they're going; they're not in trouble, but they need to remember to let an adult know what their plan is.
Anyway, we've also been training the kids how to ride their bikes to a neighbors house who is about half a mile away, but still in the neighborhood. The plan is to eventually be able to say, "Why don't you go see what such-and-such is up to?" and let them ride over there themselves.
This is getting long, but I also want to piggyback on @goose and their comment: You gotta take part in neighborhood activities and meet the other parents. Sometimes that takes a push, especially for someone like myself who is generally kind of shy and introverted. When my back fence fell down a couple of years ago, my kids finally got to know the neighbor kids who lived behind us and as the fence was going back up, we kind of ambushed the other parents--who seem to be more introverted than myself--with the idea of putting in a gate. They agreed and now we've had it for several years; our kids come and go to each others houses regularly, especially during school breaks and it's become a means to facilitate even more neighborhood kids coming over from the next street over. Our kids regularly go through the gate, jump the neighbors fence and visit different kids on that block and vice versa.
It helps that my wife and I are active participants in our neighborhood community organization, my wife is also on a women's book club in the the neighborhood. Neither of us particularly want to do these things and volunteer our time, but it's helped us get to know people around the neighborhood of all ages, which gives us that sense of security when our kids are running around. We even occasionally have new people join us--participation is usually not great--and they have kids too. I mentioned we're training our kids to ride their bikes to a neighbors house, well that person recently joined our organization a few months ago and their kids are our kids ages and they've had a great time playing together at the monthly meetings. Suddenly, our bubble has expanded further in the neighborhood and we have even more parents who are down with the way that we like to raise our kids.
You gotta get to know your neighbors if you want to be able to raise your kids like this. Not all our neighbors who have kids, who our kids hang out with are like us; we have one parent who everytime our kids leave their house, wants to drive our kids back home and they're just a street over. We're totally happy to let the kids either try and jump the fence or run around the block to come home, but we're also not going to fight about it with this neighbor if they want to do that. But maybe through seeing our kids run the neighborhood and getting to know other people, they'll come around to our way of thinking.
And if you're wondering, we don't live in suburbia. We do have a little suburban enclave where our neighborhood is, but we're bordered by very busy streets in a very populous, diverse city. Our city is widely regarded as "sketchy" and "dangerous" by people who don't live here and yet, I feel totally safe with my kids running around in our hood.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI wish I could do like you. Even if I find a story sloppy, dumb or boring, I'll still read it or sit through all the cutscenes and tolerate it. I wish I could just skip them and ignore them, but...I wish I could do like you. Even if I find a story sloppy, dumb or boring, I'll still read it or sit through all the cutscenes and tolerate it. I wish I could just skip them and ignore them, but my brain won't let me; I'd rather just stop playing a game I'm otherwise enjoying rather than skip the story.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkFor the past 7 weeks, I've been playing Pillars of Eternity. I haven't posted about it, because I've just been so absorbed with it. I love the writing in it and it's a rare game for me where I...For the past 7 weeks, I've been playing Pillars of Eternity. I haven't posted about it, because I've just been so absorbed with it. I love the writing in it and it's a rare game for me where I actually go through and read all the Lore books and little bits scattered about; I usually could not give less of a shit about Lore, but Pillars has it's hooks in me on that front.
I've been playing the Turn Based mode, which has been good, though after about 65 hours I'm finding it kind of tedious. My general style is to enter a new area and then fully explore it, looking for items, quests and interesting places, but of course, there's always monsters around and in the way. The combat itself is good, but it definitely drags the overall momentum of the game down when a fight takes 5 to 10 minutes and then after an encounter, you walk a few steps directly into another one.
I'm currently on my way to Twin Elms, which I think is the third act of the game, having finished the first DLC recently. I might need to change my attitude and just try and shoot for the story stuff more and then come back and do more exploring when I feel up to doing combats.
I've also been playing kind of a lot of Monsters & Memories, which has taken me away from Pillars quite a bit. My friends have been very gung-ho about it for several years now and I typically just make fun of them for that fact, because M&M is basically a clone of Everquest and who wants to go back to that (they do)? I played a whole lot of Everquest as a teen between 1999 and maybe 2002 or so and I'm kind of over that whole playstyle, which if you know, you know. I feel that WoW pretty much surpassed it in every way.
That said, I had been playing Turtle WoW on and off for something like 6 or 7 years and with it finally shutting down, I figured I'd give M&M a serious go and well, I'm very much enjoying myself. It has a lot of that old Everquest feel to it and it has a whole lot of that friction that comes along with it, such as slow recovery times, needing to constantly carry food and water, weight limits, hard stats on various classes and races that could be optimized (not that I'm one for that) and all that stuff. But it's also taken a good amount of inspiration from WoW; the first class I started, Fighter, actually has quite a few skills from the Warrior in WoW, Charge, to name just one of them. This kind of changes the entire feel of the game, because Warriors didn't really have that kind of stuff back in Everquest, so it was interesting to see how this kind of changes the entire proposition. Once I discovered this, I started having a lot more fun with the game.
My friends and I have also delved into a few dungeons over the past weekend, which was an absolute blast. Sure we were really only camping one particular room in those dungeons, but it was fun to have some danger getting there and then feeling a challenge to figure out how we could get out without getting killed. I've been having a good time with them and with the game in general that I've been playing on my own just for fun; yesterday I found my way to a relatively uninhabited part of the world where I could harvest a bunch of resources for the next time my friends and I play and I also sat and grinded on some mobs to get myself a level.
Really didn't expect to enjoy it so much, but it's a game I'm actually still thinking about when I'm not playing, which has been nice.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #6: Vote for the next four surveys we do! (Results) in ~talk
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Comment on Maybe just eat the bean goo in ~food
BeardyHat Link ParentI always loved using it in my cooking, because I felt that the flavor was really rich and lovely. But my wife has asked me to stop, because it gives her horrible, uncomfortable gas.I always loved using it in my cooking, because I felt that the flavor was really rich and lovely. But my wife has asked me to stop, because it gives her horrible, uncomfortable gas.
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Comment on Google Search as you know it is over in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentYup, happens to me consistently, "oh, fucking God damnit." I usually say.Yup, happens to me consistently, "oh, fucking God damnit." I usually say.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, I try to encourage him anytime he has plans to do something more with his life and really try and push him to do something about it, but it's like he's just been stuck for years now. Blows...Yeah, I try to encourage him anytime he has plans to do something more with his life and really try and push him to do something about it, but it's like he's just been stuck for years now. Blows all his money on video games and beer, doesn't bother to better himself, even though there's much better things he could be doing.
He's a great artist, always wanted to do tattoo, but he fell off that and anything else he's even thought about pursuing. I don't think he's a bad person, I just gotta shake my head at him, because he could be doing so much more with his life. But ultimately, I can't do anything about it.
Seen it in my family. Two of my in laws are currently recovering alcoholics; they've been in remission for many years now, thankfully.
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Comment on Lifetime Plex Pass will cost $750 USD after July 1st in ~tv
BeardyHat LinkNever used Plex myself, but as I understand it, it might be nice to organize my media? Like I can see what I've watched, how long I've watched it, etc? I have something like 4Tb of Media, but it's...Never used Plex myself, but as I understand it, it might be nice to organize my media? Like I can see what I've watched, how long I've watched it, etc?
I have something like 4Tb of Media, but it's just a shared folder on my server, which I connect everything to. So if I want to watch something, I just navigate to it via File Explorer on whatever I'm using to watch what I want to watch. I know it could be easier, but I'm just lazy and don't feel like changing the way I work or trying to explain it to my kids or wife.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
BeardyHat Link ParentI've got a good buddy like this. Our 20-year reunion came up several years ago and he kept talking about how he wanted to go so he could talk shit to people he didn't like and "bang chicks." I...I've got a good buddy like this. Our 20-year reunion came up several years ago and he kept talking about how he wanted to go so he could talk shit to people he didn't like and "bang chicks."
I never bothered to tell him I was going. I had a good time talking to everyone there and seeing how people had changed over the years.
My friend has a good heart, he's just got some arrested development going on due to alcoholism.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #5: Pineapple on pizza? (Results) in ~talk
BeardyHat LinkYeah, it's pretty good, I guess. I don't really feel strongly about it one way or another, but I do like it on a Hawaiian with some pickled Jalapenos. I'll never reject it, but it's also not...Yeah, it's pretty good, I guess.
I don't really feel strongly about it one way or another, but I do like it on a Hawaiian with some pickled Jalapenos. I'll never reject it, but it's also not necessarily my first choice as far as toppings go.
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Comment on The US campaign to turn healthy people into Alzheimer’s patients in ~health.mental
BeardyHat Link ParentAssuming we can remember how to connect the ethernet ports with our Alzheimer ridden brains. But assuming we can, UT2004, Quake 3, Battlefield 1942 and Command & Conquer (Never was big on...Assuming we can remember how to connect the ethernet ports with our Alzheimer ridden brains.
But assuming we can, UT2004, Quake 3, Battlefield 1942 and Command & Conquer (Never was big on Starcraft) all the way.
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Comment on The US campaign to turn healthy people into Alzheimer’s patients in ~health.mental
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Comment on Why so many people are going "no contact" with their parents in ~life
BeardyHat Link ParentFirst, I want to say I'm sorry for any offense, it wasn't my intention. I also want to say that if you've chosen to cut family out of your life, that is a valid decision; again, my wife has done...First, I want to say I'm sorry for any offense, it wasn't my intention. I also want to say that if you've chosen to cut family out of your life, that is a valid decision; again, my wife has done it with one of her brothers and I have given the thought serious consideration with my own parents. In my own case, I have a lot of anger over their political opinions and it is directly affecting my own life and I see that as a valid reason to stop talking to them.
What I was trying to do was clarify. Your original comment read to me like a misread of the original text, so I was attempting to clarify how I read it and that I thought the Author was giving thought and empathy to both sides. Not necessarily validating bad parenting, but more considering the idea that the in the current zeitgeist we see this push to cut toxic people from our lives, but those judgements, while valid, aren't always correct--for a variety of reasons. There are plenty of valid reasons and the subject of the piece, Amy, sounds like a fantastic piece of evidence for the practice.
I'm not saying cutting people out is bad, just that as a parent who's trying to raise two reasonable, adjusted adults, I'm fearful of the traps we can fall into as people with the advent of the social media and its shifting zeitgeist. I make deliberate choices in my parenting because of the way my own parents raised me, choosing the opposite of many of the poor things they did and trying to reinforce the pieces I thought were beneficial. But as humans, as parents, we can't help but make wrong decisions sometimes; sometimes I'm tired, stressed, frustrated and I yell at my kids undeservedly and when I'm more cool headed, I will apologize for my own behavior. But we don't always remember those things as we grow older, that Dad used to apologize when he yelled at us and that's my fear; that the takeaway will be, "Dad used to yell at us for nothing." and then rather than thinking any deeper about it or having empathy towards their parents as humans, they simply decide to cut us out. That is the point I believe the author was trying to get at.
All parents have faults. All of us fail, all of us are weak and stupid and all the other things that come with being human. But we hope that as our kids grow older, they can understand us as humans and forgive us our sins and mistakes. This is the anxiety of being a parent. That is what I think the Author is trying to get at. That constant anxiety of this choice we've made and the choices we continue to make every day that we do it.
It's different when your parent might be sexually abusive, severely emotionally abusive, manipulative, narcissistic, drug addled, alcoholic, whatever. I can understand cutting that type of person from your life.
Aria of Sorrow is actually the first Castlevania I've ever played and it was only about 5 years ago. My family and I took one of our usual road trips to my sister-in-laws house and I had brought my PS Vita with me. For some reason, midway through the trip, I decided it was finally time to give it a go, so I fired-up my laptop, legally obtained a ROM (as one does) and transferred it over to my Vita.
Got hooked pretty much immediately and after finishing it, moved on to the other two GBA games, which I very much did not like much. Since then, I've tried playing through Dawn of Sorrow multiple times, as well as multiple Oldvania releases and also Symphony of the Night (which I finished, but found a slog), but none of them have ever hit me in the same way as Aria.
I'll likely be emulating this on one of my (entirely too many) Android handhelds--looking at you, RG Slide, but maybe soon RG DS, which I ordered for some reason--as I want to use Save States and some nice, crispy Shaders. Plus just the ability to have it in my pocket wherever I am.
Worth noting that the collection is currently on sale on Steam for 50% off.