BeardyHat's recent activity
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentI also use a regular old PC as an HTPC. I actually thought about setting up an easier to use interface than just the Windows Desktop, but my wife actually prefers navigating a desktop environment...I also use a regular old PC as an HTPC. I actually thought about setting up an easier to use interface than just the Windows Desktop, but my wife actually prefers navigating a desktop environment with the wireless KBM combo to a more "user friendly" interface.
Which works for me. Less work and it makes it easy for my kids to get into Steam to play their games.
But I guess it all makes sense, I've been using old PCs in this capacity since like 2010 or so, when we still had a big old Sony Trinitron CRT.
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Comment on Adulting -- what advice or encouragement did you receive / wish you had received when you were just starting out moving out? in ~life
BeardyHat LinkJust put shit on autopay. It seems like you're going to run out of money, so you choose to pay your bills as they're due, but that's going to result in your overdrafting, being late on your bills,...Just put shit on autopay.
It seems like you're going to run out of money, so you choose to pay your bills as they're due, but that's going to result in your overdrafting, being late on your bills, etc.
Make-up a schedule:
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First paycheck of the month goes to these three bills and accounts for $500, comes out on exactly the 11th every month.
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Second paycheck goes to these four bills and accounts for $1000 a month and comes out exactly on the 26th.
You'll be thankful you did and you'll always be aware of when those chunks are coming out of your account, which will make you better with money.
Always check your bank account. You might be scared to, but you'll be better off knowing what you have in there in the long run and eventually, you'll just have a running tally in your brain with your autopay and you may not need to check it terribly often anymore.
Finance something you can afford. Don't go out and buy a $70000 car, but maybe go to a credit union and get a loan for $10k for a reasonable used car (or something expensive) and get that shit on autopay. Start building that credit as a young person now, because it's going to benefit you to have a good credit score sooner than later.
And just a general piece of advice I like to give my kids:
If you don't do anything hard and you never fail, you won't learn anything.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, it's just confusing to me that people like it so much. Obviously, different strokes, but I just cannot see any appeal to it.Yeah, it's just confusing to me that people like it so much. Obviously, different strokes, but I just cannot see any appeal to it.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat Link ParentI'll definitely be selling what I have. I have a fairly limited income at the moment and while selling all my stuff will be a massive pain, it'll bring me an influx of cash to invest in other...I'll definitely be selling what I have. I have a fairly limited income at the moment and while selling all my stuff will be a massive pain, it'll bring me an influx of cash to invest in other stuff I'm more immediately interested in, even if it's just STLs for my other wargames.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat Link ParentI have plenty of MtG myself. Though that stuff doesn't bother me, because nothing really needs to be done with it. Most of the stuff is in a cabinet and I've left a handful of decks assembled for...I have plenty of MtG myself. Though that stuff doesn't bother me, because nothing really needs to be done with it. Most of the stuff is in a cabinet and I've left a handful of decks assembled for when my friends and I get together, we have something easy to do that is compatible with multiplayer.
Seeing what Hasbro is doing with MtG at the moment really makes me resolve to never buy another card pack again. I am just not down with all the crossover stuff, not to mention the expense and the constant changeover. It's actually very similar to how GW operates, given they're constantly invalidating units, let alone entire armies (see Beasts of Chaos in Age of Sigmar) and then bringing out new editions constantly and then having constant, obligatory rules updates (Generals Handbooks).
But yeah, my other caveat comes in the fact that I just do not at all care for the Lore in 40k at all. Obviously you and many other people do, but for me, it never really clicked. In fact, the reason I chose Orks in the first place is because it felt like they were "Immune to Lore" for lack of a better term. Like they just didn't matter, all they want to do is krump and dakka and it doesn't go any further than that. 40k lore seems so arbitrary to me, I can't invest myself in it in anyway.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat (edited )Link ParentI do think selling it off and letting someone else paint the vast majority of it would feel like a load off. And honestly, you're right and it should be telling to me that amongst all the wargames...I do think selling it off and letting someone else paint the vast majority of it would feel like a load off. And honestly, you're right and it should be telling to me that amongst all the wargames I own models for, 40k is the least of the stuff I've painted. Both my Age of Sigmar armies are 95-100% painted, my Bolt Action armies are also 95-100% painted and while my other, smaller wargaming armies are significantly less so, they take up less space and were overall less investment, so I don't mind them sticking around.
I do keep looking at my Orks and thinking I ought to be painting them or making some progress, but whenever I paint one or try to batch paint them, I rapidly feel bored and also overwhelmed by just how much there is that needs to be done. One of the things 40k taught me is that I'm not a huge fan of army style games because there's just so much that needs to be painted.
I'm not necessarily ADHD (though I apparently have symptoms), but looking at all the unpainted 40k makes me feel absolutely overwhelmed and stressed by the fact that I'm not doing anything with them. Having them gone would be a relief.
And yeah, I have zero interest in Space Marines. I have no interest in pretty much any 40k videogame and even moreso if it's got Space Marines in it. I'm a huge fan of FPS games, as well as classic FPS games, but I can't bring myself to muster even the slightest interest in Boltgun due to that fact.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat Link ParentI think that's where I'm struggling a little bit. Normally, I'm not a terribly sentimental person and am always ready to jump on the train of selling stuff off that I'm not using and making space...I think that's where I'm struggling a little bit. Normally, I'm not a terribly sentimental person and am always ready to jump on the train of selling stuff off that I'm not using and making space for new stuff; it's largely how I've been able to afford a lot of my hobbies given I have very limited income at the moment.
But I am looking at selling stuff off as an opportunity to put that money elsewhere, as well as get rid of a display case in my office, or at least open the shelves up to something different. I have a lot of wargaming stuff that I've bought or 3d printed and the 40k stuff is taking up a lot of space that could be used better for things I'm actually interested in.
I think it's just some part of me feels a little wrong for not liking 40k when it seems to be such a popular universe and game system. So part of my brain is leaving room for me being wrong about not liking it, though I'm certain that I'll never come back around, given I've been pounding my head against a wall with it for several years now.
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Comment on Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it? in ~games.tabletop
BeardyHat Link ParentIt feels silly to be so reticent. It's not like I'll never play a tabletop wargame again, given I have a heap of models for other games that I actually do enjoy. I think some part of me just has...It feels silly to be so reticent. It's not like I'll never play a tabletop wargame again, given I have a heap of models for other games that I actually do enjoy.
I think some part of me just has FOMO and am worried my friends will want to play and I won't be able to. But realistically, my friends have plenty of other stuff to play and would be more than happy to accommodate me in whatever else; not to mention, the main friend I do play with also shares my love of Historicals and different types of wargames and has zero interest in playing any form of Warhammer.
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Anyone sold their 40k armies? How'd you feel about it?
I have two 40k Armies, Orks and Necrons. I don't know current point values, but if I were to venture a guess, it's probably somewhere on the order of 6000-7000 points worth of stuff. I have...
I have two 40k Armies, Orks and Necrons. I don't know current point values, but if I were to venture a guess, it's probably somewhere on the order of 6000-7000 points worth of stuff. I have something like 200 Ork Boys, 40-50 Nobz, Trukks, 15+ Deffkoptas and all kinds of stuff. Necrons are significantly smaller, but probably something like 3000-3500 points.
But I hate 40k. I don't like the Lore, I don't like the game and I don't really enjoy painting the models. The last time I played was 7th Edition about 8 months or so ago and I didn't have any fun with it and prior to that, I played a handful of games of 10th, both full scale and campaign and really didn't enjoy myself all that much then. So it's only been about a week since I came to the conclusion that I should finally sell my armies.
I've been thinking about selling my Orks for quite some time, but only recently came to the conclusion that I should dump the Necrons as well, because I just have no interest in playing the game or even painting the models. But I'm struggling with the decision. 40k is what introduced me to Wargames and I thought it was pretty neat at the time, but not too long after that, I discovered historical Wargames (Bolt Action, in particlar) and those are very much my jam.
I still have a bunch of Age of Sigmar, as I prefer it to 40k, though it's still far from a favorite of mine (Something like 3500 points of Gloomspite Gitz and 3500ish of Nighthaunt), so I still have access to Warhammer if friends want to play, but...yeah.
I'm not exactly certain why I'm making this post. I went and bought boxes today for when I'm ready to start the process of taking pictures and selling stuff on eBay, but I just feel weirdly attached to some of these models, even if I have absolutely zero interest in them anymore. I do think I'm going to keep one kitbashed Ork Battlewagon I made, but beyond that I'm ready to just let go all of this stuff.
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 đšī¸đââī¸đš INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
BeardyHat LinkMy first encounter with THPS was probably...2? I don't remember exactly, but undoubtedly, it came on a PC Gamer demo disk. I do recall being excited to get into the game, because my friends had...My first encounter with THPS was probably...2? I don't remember exactly, but undoubtedly, it came on a PC Gamer demo disk. I do recall being excited to get into the game, because my friends had the original one on their Playstations and finally I could get a taste of it.
I did very much like the demo and ended-up playing it quite a bit, if memory serves. As a person who isn't athletic and has never been into Skateboarding, this game was just damn fun in general. I still go back periodically and put it on my various emulation devices, though almost never actually play it so this should be a good excuse.
I'll be emulating the Playstation version, as that's the one that sticks most in my head and the system that's associated with this particular game. I'll be likely playing it for awhile on my RG DS, as it's a nice, compact system that can run PSX no problem and I have another Game of the Month which happens to be a DS game, so I can easily switch between the two.
So far, I did jump in for about 10 or 15 minutes and while the 2-minute timer doesn't feel like enough time to actually ride around and explore, I feel like it's going to really benefit the Game State of Mind (TM) I'm in right now, encouraging me to do short play sessions here and there and not having to remember anything in particular to keep advancing. Looking forward to trying it out some more.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI feel compelled to complete it for whatever reason, likely because I know the campaign is pretty short, given that I usually am all the willing to drop a game as soon as I find it bothersome. So...I feel compelled to complete it for whatever reason, likely because I know the campaign is pretty short, given that I usually am all the willing to drop a game as soon as I find it bothersome.
So in The Library, I dropped the difficulty to Easy and gave myself infinite Ammo and such and am just running through as fast as I can. I do intend to try the other games after this, since I'm assuming they have to be substantially better.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, I just found the Swap button on my controller. I've been dabbling here and there, but 99% of it has been with the remastered visuals. But it's not just the visuals. The levels are all very...Yeah, I just found the Swap button on my controller. I've been dabbling here and there, but 99% of it has been with the remastered visuals.
But it's not just the visuals. The levels are all very samey. Doing The Library now and it looks damn near identical to all the SciFi structures that came before.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 đĄī¸đĄī¸â¤ī¸đē REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI don't think I played a single one. Back then, I wouldn't have tolerated an RPG, as they were far too slow for my adolescent brain. Trying to think of most of the games I played. Lots of Sonic 3...I don't think I played a single one. Back then, I wouldn't have tolerated an RPG, as they were far too slow for my adolescent brain.
Trying to think of most of the games I played. Lots of Sonic 3 + Knuckles, Platformers, Strike-series, that kind of stuff. If my memory is correct, the first RPG I actually played and got into was Neverwinter Nights.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI've been mostly playing Elden Ring, the same playthrough I've been at for about 70-hours and 2+ years now. It's fine? I like Elden Ring, but I definitely don't feel about it like I do Dark Souls...I've been mostly playing Elden Ring, the same playthrough I've been at for about 70-hours and 2+ years now.
It's fine? I like Elden Ring, but I definitely don't feel about it like I do Dark Souls 3, which I think was absolute peak. I get a little bored seeing the same Hero's Grave repeatedly, but I still feel compelled to complete them, even if they're pretty punishing. I've made it to the...Capital something or other; seems like a large city with an Erdtree in the middle of it. I've been slowly exploring that, but have only made it to the second bonfire there so far.
Taking a break from it, I jumped back into Halo: CE from the Master Chief Collection and this is another "fine" game. The shooting is interesting and I think they've done a good job keeping things tactical with only allowing the player two weapons and often setting enemies up to flank and the like; I feel like I have to consistently think when I'm playing the game so I'm not constantly dying. I've never played a Halo game before, as I was already deep, deep into the PC and PC FPS games by the time it arrived on the scene.
That said and I totally understand the reason this is, but the environments are very bland and boring. I just finished The Flood and I feel like there's not really been any super memorable set pieces, but mostly slogging through samey looking jungle and samey looking SciFi bases and all if it feels very long to me. I still would like to complete the game, as it seems to be pretty short and I may or may not try the second game when I'm finished; I do own it, so there's no real loss to just giving it a try.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 đĄī¸đĄī¸â¤ī¸đē REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
BeardyHat LinkGrowing up, we had a NES with the very first Zelda game and I always found it super intriguing, but sometime around 1990 or so, my parents got me a Sega Genesis and that was that for me; I was a...Growing up, we had a NES with the very first Zelda game and I always found it super intriguing, but sometime around 1990 or so, my parents got me a Sega Genesis and that was that for me; I was a Genesis kid. I liked the Super Nintendo and always wanted to rent one so I could play Super Mario World, but that was a pretty rare occurrence. But all through the those early 90's, I was also experimenting with lots of Shareware games on the family computer and then around 1994, I got Doom and I was a PC Gamer ever since. I'm relating these, just because I was never much of a Console Gamer after I switched over and my mindset generally changed and I feel like design philosophy was pretty different between the two platform styles.
LttP is something that's been on my backcatalogue for awhile, because it is so lauded and a friend of mine, who's opinion I respect, very much loves the game. I've played many Zelda games, including completing Twilight Princess back on Wii (I forced myself to finish it) and completing Minish Cap on an emulator several years ago (really loved it), I also completed Ocarina of Time on 3DS (Felt it was cool, but I wouldn't say I loved it) as well as having played (never completed), the first Zelda game (later in life), Links Awakening, Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild.
Having now played a decent amount of LttP (I got to the Dark World and started the first dungeon), I think I'm willing to say: I'm not really a fan of the Zelda games. They're fine, but they don't really capture my attention in the same way they do for other people. I enjoyed LttP, but as I got further into it, I really only felt that I was pushing through it was because we were playing it for the CGA; I probably would have given up on it much earlier once I realized there was the whole Dark World/Inverted Castle style of trope. I understand why this is done in classic games, but I've never been a fan of it; it has always felt like a reset to me and whenever I see it coming (as is telegraphed when you're turned into a rabbit), I immediately groan and am ready to just set the game down forever.
I don't mean to sound like a downer or like I'm shitting on the game, because I don't want to be that guy, but I am just not down with Zelda. I love the idea of it, but again, it just never captures my attention in the same way other games do. Anyway, it feels like a Zelda game. You start out, kill some stuff, go to a dungeon, get an item that opens up new areas/options for you, rinse, repeat.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 đĄī¸đĄī¸â¤ī¸đē REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI think you hit the nail on the head for me when it comes to many of the games we've played here. I want to give some more of my thoughts on LttP, but I'm going to do that in a separate comment....I think you hit the nail on the head for me when it comes to many of the games we've played here. I want to give some more of my thoughts on LttP, but I'm going to do that in a separate comment. But not getting along with a lot of these games makes me feel a little broken.
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Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI definitely vastly prefer Dark Souls as a series to Elden Ring. I think I only just hit 70 hours in Elden Ring, with long breaks in between. Meanwhile, I have well over 100 hours in each Dark...I definitely vastly prefer Dark Souls as a series to Elden Ring. I think I only just hit 70 hours in Elden Ring, with long breaks in between. Meanwhile, I have well over 100 hours in each Dark Souls game, even across multiple releases.
As for KCD, it might just be that it hit at the right time. I first played it in the early days of the Pandemic, 2020, when there wasn't a lot going in my life and my kids were still very little.
Last year I ended up playing about 25-30 hours of KCD2 and while I enjoyed it, I eventually fell off, mostly because I just wasn't in the mood for a "talky" game as I refer to them. I do intend to go back and at that point, I'll have a better understanding.
That said, I think it's the strong characterization in KCD. Henry is a great character, likeable and the people he gets surrounded with, such as Hans Capon are also quite fun and likeable. The world feels alive in a way that GTA doesn't. GTA feels just like NPCs spawned in for the purpose of filling the world, where in KCD even if it's just "Barmaid" as an NPC, they feel like people. They have a bed they go to at night, a job they get up for, you can meet merchants traveling about the world and later see them inside a random town.
That's what I'd say, but I can't fully put my finger on exactly why KCD hits when something like RDR2 doesn't for me.
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Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkSeems like I'll just echo the choir here: Loved it back in the day. Played a ton of the demo for the original game on my PC and later actually got the actual game and played through most of it. 2...Seems like I'll just echo the choir here:
Loved it back in the day. Played a ton of the demo for the original game on my PC and later actually got the actual game and played through most of it. 2 had awesome graphics at the time, but I didn't enjoy it as much, because it felt too futuristic to me.
I actually got a PS2 specifically for GTA3 at the time. It seemed a revelation and it was, I played the hell out of it. Ditto Vice City and later pirated San Andreas on PC and played it a ton. GTA 4 I really liked, but I didn't play it to that same level of the other games. I played a lot of GTA Online, but the loading times and hackers eventually drove me off and I've never been able to get through the campaign of 5, I can't say why.
GTA has lost the magic for me now. I'm not sure if that's because I'm older or because I've seen it before. When I was a kid, I used to look out at the skyboxes in Doom and Duke Nukem and fantasize about what it would be like to go out there and explore. That's largely been done now, but again, I'm also older; now I tend to prefer a more straightforward experience. I've explored cities in games, they're neat, but they're just not what I want from games anymore. In this GTA 6 just doesn't appeal; I don't care about Rockstars caricatures, I don't care about being a menace.
I don't want to spend my limited gaming time driving to my next objective, I just want to play something and have a relatively pure gameplay experience with the 30 minutes to an hour I actually have for gaming in a day. The entire Rockstar formula just doesn't appeal to me anymore as a middle aged adult, even Red Dead 2 didn't really grab me, but I had hoped it would given it's a more grounded game. I can't say exactly why that is, but looking at the games I often prefer to play these days, they're stuff that's more strategy (management, tactics games), more story heavy (focused RPGs like Pillars of Eternity) or straight up gameplay focused (like Elden Ring or Uboat). But I do think it's just Open World games in general for me these days. I did play and complete Cyberpunk a year or two ago and in that I felt that it would have been better had they completely cut the open world and made it a focused, linear game.
The only exception to the rule in recent years has been Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
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Comment on Worm - Full Performance (Live on KEXP) (2026) in ~music
BeardyHat Link ParentThanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out! I used to be substantially more opinionated about Metal when I was in my early-20's and it led me to me shit talking a lot of stuff I didn't need to...Moonlight Sorcery
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out!
I used to be substantially more opinionated about Metal when I was in my early-20's and it led me to me shit talking a lot of stuff I didn't need to be. These days, I feel similarly, where there's a lot I don't like, but it's just better to let it be and acknowledge it doesn't appeal to me as it does others.
And I also hear you on the pivoting or aping older stuff. Metal is such a traditionalist genre that I feel like the space of where you can push into without alienating existing fans or new fans is pretty narrow; we've been largely doing the same things for 50+ years now in the space, which is a weird place to be as a listener. Sometimes I listen to something new and I think, "Well, why wouldn't I just listen to X?" which is what they're aping. But ultimately I like the new thing better and I can't explain why; but music, as with many things, is an emotional choice and can be hard to nail down the "why" a lot of the time.
Tell the Chud Majority in office that it's illicitly records their Grindr encounters and I bet we'd see legislation the next day.