Bullmaestro's recent activity
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Comment on Game Pass was supposed to save Xbox – instead, it’s killing the company in ~games
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Comment on UEFA agrees to boycott FIFA competitions if World Cup sell-off plans proceed in ~sports.football
Bullmaestro LinkCONCACAF have also rejected FIFA proposals. Your move, InfantinoCONCACAF have also rejected FIFA proposals.
Your move, Infantino
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Comment on Game Pass was supposed to save Xbox – instead, it’s killing the company in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentYou still do. Because the Reddit community is toxic and lacks basic critical thinking skills. Game Pass is genuinely one of the dumbest business models a games publisher could ever have...You still do. Because the Reddit community is toxic and lacks basic critical thinking skills.
Game Pass is genuinely one of the dumbest business models a games publisher could ever have introduced; aside from "release all our exclusives on our competitors' platforms and hope that sells Xboxes."
For the price of roughly two games a year, you get access to hundreds of titles including day-one releases of anything from Xbox Game Studios.
Even at $30 a month Game Pass Ultimate eas an absolute steal.
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Comment on Mojang has updated the system requirements for Minecraft: Java Edition, raising recommended system memory from 4GB to 16GB in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentIn any other context surrounding a block game I'd agree. But unlike a game like Vintage Story, Hytale was founded by Minecraft's main third-party server operator, bought by Riot, closed down by...In any other context surrounding a block game I'd agree. But unlike a game like Vintage Story, Hytale was founded by Minecraft's main third-party server operator, bought by Riot, closed down by Riot, bought back by the original founders following outrage and a huge petition and then grossed enough in Early Access sales to fund an additional two years of development.
And the updates they've released so far have been substantial. It's not like Mojang's quarter-arsed community votes where they make the community choose one out of three new biomes every year then scrap the others; whilst the modding scene recreate all three biomes and their new mobs/items in a matter of days.
If they keep releasing substantial updates, figure out how to make monetisation work without pissing off the community, release console versions and get a few big content creators playing their game, they'll be a big threat.
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Comment on Mojang has updated the system requirements for Minecraft: Java Edition, raising recommended system memory from 4GB to 16GB in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkThis puts them practically on-par with Hytale in terms of system requirements. Considering the fact that Hytale is already graphically superior to, is more moddable than, and already has...This puts them practically on-par with Hytale in terms of system requirements.
Considering the fact that Hytale is already graphically superior to, is more moddable than, and already has comparable amounts of content to Minecraft even in Early Access, this jump in minimum/recommended specs feels incredibly ballsy. Maybe Hypixel have finally forced Mojang to start taking content releases and engine upgrades seriously...
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkA warning to anybody thinking of playing Tangy TD. If your PC powers off whilst you play it, whether due to overheating, a forced Windows update, a power cut, or in my case, a circuit breaker...A warning to anybody thinking of playing Tangy TD. If your PC powers off whilst you play it, whether due to overheating, a forced Windows update, a power cut, or in my case, a circuit breaker tripping in your home, you will lose all your saved data. So clearly something is incredibly broken with how Steam Cloud is set-up for that game.
I made my thoughts about that game and its repetitive nature known last week, and losing six missions worth of progress has made me not want to touch it again for the foreseeable future.
Punch Club is a terrible martial arts management sim game. The story feels like an incredibly unoriginal homage to past boxing movies (there is a whole section where your buddy dies to a Zangief-looking Russian fighter and you spend a good chunk of the game in a Russian village training to beat him in a straight-clone of Rocky IV's plot. On top of this, training your character becomes a grind-fest, and a huge part of the problem is that your stats drain rather excessively each day. At least its sequel, Punch Club 2 fixes some of the original's flaws, even if the dystopian cyberpunk setting is very contrived and feels more like a cross between Fifteen Million Merits and Soylent Green.
Right now I'm planning what I want to play over the next week. Halo: Campaign Evolved releases generally tomorrow and since Early Access isn't available to Game Pass subscribers, I'll have to wait. But also, League of Legends Classic actually releases on Wednesday alongside patch 26.15.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkAurelia is an erotic 18+ visual novel with incredibly light RPG mechanics which I finished last week. While I won't go into the lewd content of that game (of which there is a metric tonne of smut....Aurelia is an erotic 18+ visual novel with incredibly light RPG mechanics which I finished last week. While I won't go into the lewd content of that game (of which there is a metric tonne of smut. No seriously, it makes Katawa Shoujo look incredibly tame by comparison) I do have some thoughts on it. The graphics are reminiscent of those late 90's/early 00's point & click adventure games that makes heavy use of dithering. Looks great in some areas, not so much in others. The gameplay involves light puzzles and a series of minigames that range between repetitive, luck-based and kinda frustrating. Your ability to do these minigames are governed by a series of 5 RPG stats, which you all max out at the level cap of 100.
What I don't particularly like is the story and writing. You play as an adventurer who inherits his deceased uncle's cottage, find a mysterious amulet left on a desk and touch it, knocking you unconscious. You wake up days later to find a sorceress who has been squatting in your home, and that the inconspicuous amulet you touched is cursed and gave you magic powers. Beyond that, there's not really a sense of danger despite the protagonist surviving some deadly situations. Much of the game's writing in its main and sidequests is just straight-up bad porno writing.
Tangy TD is another game I played more recently. It's... a bit repetitive. While the skill tree is very expansive, it feels like you are expected to grind a lot to get to the next stage. Only three tower types also makes it really really boring, and the whole mechanic of microing a rather weak hero and picking up or dropping "towers" is quite frustrating.
Idle Sword Master got very weird recently. Because I'm on a platform that didn't get the latest update for a few months, I suddenly logged in to find I had been given hundreds of thousands of scrolls, tens of thousands of yellow upgrade gems, tonnes of pickaxes, and other resources as compensation. It's so much that I genuinely don't have a clue how to spend it all because they went into overload with compensating players who couldn't climb the leaderboards because they weren't on iOS. Companions level up so slowly unless you spend top dollar on VIP upgrades that I basically won't be able to raise any of them to level cap now.
League of Legends is the only other game I played this week, and I dunno why I'm torturing myself with this one. I'm hovering between Bronze 4 and 3, and it just feels like the quality of my matches has taken a further nosedive. Other than maybe trying League Classic once it launches next week, I'm not having any real desire to revisit it.
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Comment on Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrested in Miami in ~news
Bullmaestro LinkI'm surprised they dared return to the US. Weren't there a lot of people in the Trump Administration that were very unhappy with their arrival and wasn't this causing a schism within his cabinet?...I'm surprised they dared return to the US. Weren't there a lot of people in the Trump Administration that were very unhappy with their arrival and wasn't this causing a schism within his cabinet?
I thought the obvious path would have been Dubai, since the UAE has no extradition treaty with the UK...
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Comment on China is dealing with its own manosphere in ~life.men
Bullmaestro LinkI'm surprised we didn't see influencers with similar views to Andrew Tate blow up on Chinese social media sooner. China has a serious demographic problem thanks to their one-child policy...I'm surprised we didn't see influencers with similar views to Andrew Tate blow up on Chinese social media sooner.
China has a serious demographic problem thanks to their one-child policy encouraging parents to abort or abandon girls after birth out of wanting a male heir, and a phenomenon known as elite overproduction.
So imagine you're a Chinese guy in his late-twenties. You've been pushed through cram schools and forced to study for much of your childhood and adolescence, manage to get into a prestigious university like Tsinghua or Peking, graduate with a top Bachelors degree, only to then be unable to find a graduate job. You then take on postgraduate study yet despite coming out of it with a Masters or PhD, your only prospects for work after are to register for Meituan (China's equivalent of Doordash) and earn a pittance delivering fast food orders in the gig economy. You can't find a girlfriend or a spouse because China's aforementioned one-child policy has made boys outnumber girls by a ludicrous amount, and because you're not in stable employment, you are basically disqualified from being a suitor for marriage.
There is an African proverb that best describes why the manosphere has been growing so hard in the past few decades. "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth." China represents a rather extreme example of what is currently going on in the West (mass youth unemployment) which have left men particularly disenfranchised.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
Bullmaestro (edited )Link ParentI'm of course rooting for England, but not just because I'm an Englishman. Hopefully us winning the World Cup will finally put It's Coming Home to rest. It's a "we haven't won in 30+ years, woe is...I'm of course rooting for England, but not just because I'm an Englishman. Hopefully us winning the World Cup will finally put It's Coming Home to rest.
It's a "we haven't won in 30+ years, woe is me" football song.
Haaland will be a huge fucking problem though. He single-handedly carried Manchester City to multiple Premier League trophies...
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Comment on Stellantis to sell small Fiat Topolino electric vehicle for $13,995 in US in ~transport
Bullmaestro LinkThis is the EV equivalent of driving one of those Little Tikes Cozy Coupe toy cars around. The only place where I can see this being even remotely suitable for the road is in Welsh towns, where...This is the EV equivalent of driving one of those Little Tikes Cozy Coupe toy cars around.
The only place where I can see this being even remotely suitable for the road is in Welsh towns, where there are 20mph speed limits in force on their residential and built-up roads. Maybe you could get away with it in other towns that have primarily 30mph limits if you buy the conversion kit...
It feels like this car only exists for people who want to smugly virtue signal to everybody that they're saving the planet, by slithering along a road at 19mph to the annoyance of every other motorist. It's otherwise a two-seater with practically nonexistent boot space and pitiful range, which doesn't even make it useful as a city car.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Bullmaestro LinkThe only time I really felt a culture clash when travelling abroad was when I went to Santorini four years ago. The locals seemed quite hostile and rude, which is unusual because I've always found...The only time I really felt a culture clash when travelling abroad was when I went to Santorini four years ago. The locals seemed quite hostile and rude, which is unusual because I've always found Greeks and Cypriots quite friendly.
Not the reason I wouldn't really recommend Santorini. It's very mountainous (if you have a fear of heights, you definitely won't like it), has basically zero sandy beaches, and is the kind of place where newlywed couples go for their honeymoon because nothing is more romantic than eating a meal with a twilit view of Fira or Oia. I stayed in Fira for a few days and the only place I really recommend in terms of nightlife is 2 Brothers Bar.
Only two people I really struck a conversation with on that trip was an Aussie couple who I went on a cruise across the island with.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Bullmaestro Link ParentNever really experienced that helpfulness in London. I was once on a university field trip and trying to ask for directions to where Harrods was sixteen years ago. Everyone ignored me. In...Never really experienced that helpfulness in London. I was once on a university field trip and trying to ask for directions to where Harrods was sixteen years ago. Everyone ignored me.
In retrospect should've used Google Maps, but I didn't know exactly how the place was spelled.
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Comment on Discord bans (then unbans) around 8400 accounts because of a CSAM neural hash collision in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkI'm a bit more concerned about people who had been wrongly false-flagged and banned by this, yet didn't have their bans automatically reversed. and how much they'd struggle to appeal this with...I'm a bit more concerned about people who had been wrongly false-flagged and banned by this, yet didn't have their bans automatically reversed. and how much they'd struggle to appeal this with Discord's customer support.
No Text To Speech did a video covering a similar topic about an image circulating around on Twitter over two years ago with a warning to users that reposting it anywhere on Discord would get your account instantly banned (no the thumbnail/placeholder in this video which is of Rybeck eating popcorn is not the image in question).
People were getting banned from Discord for sharing what looked like an innocuous image, but was actually a frame from an incredibly horrific illegal (CSAM) video which had been picked up by their automatic cryptographic hash detection system.
As NTTS showed, attempting to appeal a ban centered around this would lead to a very vague boilerplate rejection response.
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Comment on Give me your culture clash stories in ~travel
Bullmaestro (edited )Link ParentYou're right. This was meant for a thread about a Discord ban wave. I was exhausted.You're right. This was meant for a thread about a Discord ban wave. I was exhausted.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkMelvor Idle: Reached total level 1300 and the cracks are already starting to show. I don't rate it particualrly well as an idle game because it feels like Malcs based it way too much on Old School...Melvor Idle:
Reached total level 1300 and the cracks are already starting to show. I don't rate it particualrly well as an idle game because it feels like Malcs based it way too much on Old School RuneScape and the design kinda suffers for it.
Smithing for example follows nearly the exact same lopsided melee gear progression as OSRS, with Steel requiring level 25 - 37 Smithing to craft gear that otherwise requires 5 Attack or Defence to wield. Rune gear requires 70 - 87 Smithing to craft but only 40 Attack/Defence respectively. And unlike in OSRS, you'll want to grind Smithing because you can trim armour pieces with silver and gold bars which grants additional strength bonuses, which are an incredibly big deal for damage output. This also applies to Dragon armour (which is smithable and is second-best in slot.)
Other skills are kinda badly designed. Township (basically a skill where you run your own town and have it update in hourly ticks) isn't good because it often bottlenecks you on certain resources and floods you with others (right now, my main bottleneck is stone and the main useless resource taking up my storehouse is food.) Tasks do go some way to helping you progress the skill but you only get 5 casual tasks once every 5 ticks, and they often involve grinding for a resource you're already abundant in.
Fellowship:
Booted it up again yesterday to try out their Season 3 update. The game now gives you the option to either stick to Holy Trinity (1 tank, 1 healer, 2 DPS) or Odd Comp (any combo of roles, with party buffs based on composition) in matchmaking, which isn't really advertised unless you look deep in their path notes.
This is actually a huge deal and I'm shocked that this hasn't been advertised more plainly. My core complaint about Fellowship was very long queue times and that the game seemed dead without a strong community. The ability to choose whatever role you want, pick up and play with zero-fucks-given is a big deal, whereas before DPS would have been oversubscribed and there'd be a shortage of either tanks or healers.
Yes, Odd Comp groups don't have leaderboards of their own, but that's not really a problem when Fellowship's core reliance on the Holy Trinity of MMO combat presented a major accessibility problem. If you can't even find groups, you can't play the game meaning you can't obtain gear, meaning you can't climb the ladder, meaning you cannot access tougher content.
Blizzard really need to start taking notes from Fellowship and add an odd comp system of their own along with solo queue Mythic+ to World of Warcraft. Elitism, toxicity and generally not having the patience to deal with the community's bullshit is why I haven't even touched WoW since the last TWW tier. Haven't even tried, let alone purchased Midnight and it remains the first WoW expansion I haven't even bothered with.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (July 2026) in ~health.mental
Bullmaestro Link ParentAn update to that, they've offered me the permanent role and I accepted. Feels weird going back to a place I was laid off from last year, but I've worked with that particular manager before and...An update to that, they've offered me the permanent role and I accepted. Feels weird going back to a place I was laid off from last year, but I've worked with that particular manager before and she's cool.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (July 2026) in ~health.mental
Bullmaestro LinkMix of good and bad. Work has been a rollercoaster. Dad is still being obnoxious and there's still a lot of uncertainty. Some good has happened though. I recently took part in a karaoke...Mix of good and bad.
Work has been a rollercoaster. Dad is still being obnoxious and there's still a lot of uncertainty.
Some good has happened though.
I recently took part in a karaoke competition (still ongoing) and advanced to the quarter-finals. The grand prize is £1,000 but I dont particularly care if I win or not, just doing this for fun.
Also, I've been approached about a permanent role going at the workplace where I'm contracting. So it's possible I'm gonna be back in full-time permanent employment.
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Comment on I need more hilariously awful pick up lines to make my wife roll her eyes at me in ~talk
Bullmaestro Link"Hey girl are you Irish? Cause my penis is Dublin!" (Sorry if that's a bit too crude)"Hey girl are you Irish? Cause my penis is Dublin!"
(Sorry if that's a bit too crude)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI have been looking for a game that could scratch my itch for a new game like Wario Land 2 or 3, so I picked up Beard Blade on the recommendation of a Steam curator page that listed it as a...I have been looking for a game that could scratch my itch for a new game like Wario Land 2 or 3, so I picked up Beard Blade on the recommendation of a Steam curator page that listed it as a Wario-Like.
The only thing "Wario-Like" about this game is that they took the day/night cycle from Wario Land 3, saw how it majorly impacted two or three zones, and decided to pad the entire game around every stage having separate day/night versions, often with half the stage lazily cordoned off by blocks that activate/deactivate based on the time of day which utterly breaks the immersion of the game world.
Aside from the protagonist looking like a cartoon caricature of a certain disgraced YouTuber that had been accused of charity fraud (to the point where I genuinely had to look up if Jirard Khalil had any involvement in the making of this game), my biggest problem with Beard Blade is the movement.
Branson's controls are quite slippery and platforming feels imprecise. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the Beard Grapple move which you learn in the first zone. You need borderline pixel-perfect timing to even grapple a bar with your beard, and this makes sections where you need to use this move an exercise in frustration.
Quite a few collectibles are also placed in such a way that if you missed them on the first try, you'll have to outright restart the level - either because they're only reachable by jumping off a block you smashed, or because they can only be grabbed by an animal companion who doesn't respawn if you get knocked off of it.
I also picked up Star Fox and have mixed feelings towards the Lylat Wars remake. While I do appreciate the extended lore and brand-new cutscenes, everything about this version feels alien. Locking on doesn't feel right and the updated graphics really miss the mark when it comes to visual clarity. I especially cannot get over the voice they gave to ROB64 for this remake...
Maybe it's because it's been fourteen years since I played Star Fox 64 3D and have gotten really bad at video games since, but I managed to get medals in every stage in the N64 original and 3DS remaster, but the gameplay itself feels off in the remake.
It's harder to quantify based on the fact that Xbox Live Gold was mandatory to play online then got bundled with Game Pass Essentials.
Game Pass PC may be a better point of comparison. $13.99 a month or $167.88 a year. Divide that by the RRP of a mainline MS game ($69.99) and that's about 2.4 games a year.
The only thing even remotely making this a win for MS is the fact that Xbox Game Studios have released sweet fuck-all lately.