Bullmaestro's recent activity
-
Comment on BlizzCon discussion thread in ~games
-
Comment on BlizzCon discussion thread in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkWoW Forever looks great. The Skyborne Elves are an odd choice to add for a neutral race but I'll let Blizzard cook. Some of the things they revealed in their deep dive panel seem really solid too....WoW Forever looks great. The Skyborne Elves are an odd choice to add for a neutral race but I'll let Blizzard cook.
Some of the things they revealed in their deep dive panel seem really solid too. They're not straight-up copying Retail with their planned Paladin rework, for example. Holy Strike is basically that game's version of Crusader Strike, and it appears that Retribution will be designed around Seal Twisting.
-
Comment on BlizzCon discussion thread in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentNot surprised. Serral is an absolute monster. If anything, Korean SC2 died when KeSPA pulled out of the esport. There are still strong Korean players but the gap has narrowed considerably. They...Not surprised. Serral is an absolute monster.
If anything, Korean SC2 died when KeSPA pulled out of the esport. There are still strong Korean players but the gap has narrowed considerably.
They are still absolutely dominant in Brood War though. And that's largely because few people outside of the country are interested in playing a game so clunky that it's a one-way ticket to severe carpal tunnel.
-
Comment on BlizzCon discussion thread in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentThere's a rumour going around that Nexon will be developing it. I can't tell if that's better or worse...There's a rumour going around that Nexon will be developing it. I can't tell if that's better or worse...
-
Comment on Nintendo - Customer appreciation sale in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkFor context, Nintendo is currently facing a class action lawsuit over their decision to pocket tariff refunds they've received from the US government. They're probably doing this because they're...They're probably doing this because they're spooked that the courts will rule against them, and want to show the judge they have been doing something to pass the savings back to consumers.
-
Comment on Apple announces iPhone Duo, its first foldable iPhone in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkSurprised they even bothered with a foldable phone, considering how easily they wear down and break. The only real advantage you get from using one is having double, even triple the screen real...Surprised they even bothered with a foldable phone, considering how easily they wear down and break. The only real advantage you get from using one is having double, even triple the screen real estate.
At this point they're well and truly aping Samsung and Huawei...
-
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Switch 2) | Zelda 40th anniversary Direct trailer
41 votes -
Comment on Nexon pursues ‘StarCraft’ sequel development rights from Blizzard in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkThis is the same company that is charging $59.99 for Founder's Packs which would give customers early access to MapleStory Classic World for two weeks before its official launch. Now I get it,...This is the same company that is charging $59.99 for Founder's Packs which would give customers early access to MapleStory Classic World for two weeks before its official launch.
Now I get it, they made Shattered Galaxy and their home country loves the franchise to the point of treating it like a televised sport. But licensing StarCraft out to Nexon doesn't bode well for me.
They are up there with EA, Supercell and Take Two Interactive as the four horsemen of greedy publishers.
-
Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life
Bullmaestro LinkIt's more like what happened around that day. Wedding ceremony itself was at a countryside inn and got interrupted several times by moving trains and people doing welding work nearby. I took part...It's more like what happened around that day. Wedding ceremony itself was at a countryside inn and got interrupted several times by moving trains and people doing welding work nearby.
I took part in the quarter-final of a (unrelated) karaoke competition later that eve and got eliminated.
And I caught food poisoning and spent the next few days uncontrollably shitting and vomiting...
-
Comment on What are your "how on earth did I not learn this sooner" tech moments? in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkDefinitely Ctrl+Shift+Esc on Windows. Gives immediate access to the Task Manager without having to go through an additional menu. And to a lesser extent Windows Key + . brings up an emoji keyboard.Definitely Ctrl+Shift+Esc on Windows. Gives immediate access to the Task Manager without having to go through an additional menu.
And to a lesser extent Windows Key + . brings up an emoji keyboard.
-
Comment on Gamergate but actually in ~games
Bullmaestro (edited )Link ParentIt absolutely was. Zoe Quinn made a freeware game. Didn't charge a penny for it. And the gameplay was more like a series of multiple choice questions in a "choose your own adventure" text based...It absolutely was.
Zoe Quinn made a freeware game. Didn't charge a penny for it. And the gameplay was more like a series of multiple choice questions in a "choose your own adventure" text based storytelling format, except positive options get crossed out when your mental state gets worse.
And she got hate because apparently she was sleeping with a games journalist who published an article about her game? So?
CNet got less hate for firing Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot over a negative review of Kane & Lynch. And even when CNet ironically acquired Giant Bomb and basically acknowledged that Gerstmann was unfairly sacked over Eidos threatening to pull ads, there was even less outrage. Getting bought out by the parent company that initially flipped the middle finger over journalistic standards should have immediately led to a boycott of Giant Bomb if gamers had the same level of standards they showed towards Zoe Quinn but alas, they're hypocrites.
Heck, Future Publishing releasing falsified 9/10 reviews for Driv3r in exchange for early review copies got even less outrage than that...
Anita Sarkeesian crowdfunded and made a very badly-researched series about how tropes negatively portray women in video games and probably gave thunderf00t enough fuel to see him through several nuclear winters. Her episode on Hitman Absolution for example painted the game as encouraging you to murder scantily-clad women when the game actively penalizes you for killing anybody other than your target.
Crowd funding feminist analyses of games was all it took for Sarkeesian to get rape and death threats thrown at her, showing GG was only ever about harassment and misogyny.
If Gamergate has taught me anything, it's that the discourse from both sides were toxic as fuck. I've seen supporters and opponents of the movement get doxxed and swatted everywhere on Twitter.
But also, it taught me that if an e-celebrity or major content creator is big enough, criticising them when they pass away becomes a cardinal sin. Case-in-point: John "Totalbiscuit" Bain, a supporter of GamerGate known for getting into some really toxic flame wars whilst he was still alive.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkCities Skylines 2 Ohhhh boy. I dunno how Paradox managed to mess up the sequel to a SimCity killer so badly, but here we are. My problem isn't necessarily that the game is a mess, it's that the...Cities Skylines 2
Ohhhh boy. I dunno how Paradox managed to mess up the sequel to a SimCity killer so badly, but here we are.
My problem isn't necessarily that the game is a mess, it's that the game is not even remotely an upgrade to the first one. Paradox have some cheek releasing paid DLC expansions to effectively bring back features that were in the first game.
Age of Empires II Definitive Edition
Vs CPU matches on Arabia have made me realise how rusty I've become mechanically with RTS games. I used to be Master in SC2 and id probably get stomped on ranked ladder in this game.
It's bad when in 4 games out of 3 I managed to get supply blocked after making my very first villager.
-
Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkCant comment so much on current pain points, aside from the obvious one that games with ring-0 anti cheat are incompatible. Only Linux devices i have are a Chromebook (I mean it runs Linux apps)...Cant comment so much on current pain points, aside from the obvious one that games with ring-0 anti cheat are incompatible.
Only Linux devices i have are a Chromebook (I mean it runs Linux apps) and a Steam Deck where I only found the Battle.net launcher a pain to install.
I also found that the occasional game verified for Steam Deck practically crashes to desktop (specifically Cthulhu Saves The World.)
I was practically forced to use Ubuntu eighteen years ago (TL;DR I got goaded into pirating Norton PartitionMagic by a "friend" from school because my computer was weirdly partitioned, nuked my Windows XP install, had no backup media and had to use Linux) and it was fucking awful. Only game I even managed to get running reliably was World of Warcraft.
The current state of Linux says a lot more about how the FOSS community (and more importantly, Valve) advanced the system's gaming support by a few decades.
-
Comment on Twenty-year-old Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon now has a fantastic unofficial PC port that unlocks the FPS, goes 4K, and even adds mod support in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI mean the Sonic fandom is who you should thank for Xbox 360 decompilation, since Sonic Unleashed was the first game to get that treatment. When they're not drawing shitty OCs and shipping...I mean the Sonic fandom is who you should thank for Xbox 360 decompilation, since Sonic Unleashed was the first game to get that treatment. When they're not drawing shitty OCs and shipping characters that have zero business to be romanticised, Sonic the Hedgehog fans can be really fucking creative and laser-focused.
Just look at the sheer number of fan games created that shit all over official efforts from Sonic Team themselves. I'm not just talking about Christian Whitehead and LakeFeperd here. So many developers have made brilliant fan games and would become great solo devs in their own right if they focused that energy elsewhere.
-
Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI was really impressed with the extended look trailer (watched it on YouTube, was at a karaoke night when Netflix had exclusivity), and it even showed that the footage Cyberleek posted was from a...I was really impressed with the extended look trailer (watched it on YouTube, was at a karaoke night when Netflix had exclusivity), and it even showed that the footage Cyberleek posted was from a much older build.
Not gonna buy it on launch. I skipped the PS5 and they're now prohibitively expensive to buy. I'll wait for the PC port.
-
Comment on ‘This is crazy. This is insane’: Bill Gates has changed his mind about AI and jobs in ~comp
Bullmaestro Link ParentI see a lot of hubris in his words if anything. Gates is acting like he's one of the first to have these doubts about the AI revolution when the masses have been decrying AI slop for months if not...I see a lot of hubris in his words if anything.
“I am in a state of shock that I’m sort of the first one saying, ‘This is crazy. This is insane,’” he said. “I’m just deafened by the silence.”
Gates is acting like he's one of the first to have these doubts about the AI revolution when the masses have been decrying AI slop for months if not years at this point.
That shows how bafflingly out-of-touch he and other billionaires are.
-
Comment on ‘This is crazy. This is insane’: Bill Gates has changed his mind about AI and jobs in ~comp
Bullmaestro LinkIt's like he's trying to save face before shit inevitably hits the fan with the world turning on billionaires and trying to bring out the guillotines. (I say "trying" because I don't think a class...It's like he's trying to save face before shit inevitably hits the fan with the world turning on billionaires and trying to bring out the guillotines. (I say "trying" because I don't think a class war in the literal sense would succeed. The civil unrest coming from climate collapse or mass unemployment will probably be brutally put down by the ruling class.)
Not a very good survival strategy compared to the literal doomsday bunkers that other billionaires are constructing.
-
Comment on 10,000 people rallied in Stockholm to demand stronger action on climate change, weeks before Sweden's general election in ~enviro
Bullmaestro LinkI don't understand what they're expecting the Swedish government to do. Sweden is already pretty green. They contribute 0.1% of global CO2 emissions. They're 21st when it comes to emissions in...I don't understand what they're expecting the Swedish government to do.
Sweden is already pretty green. They contribute 0.1% of global CO2 emissions. They're 21st when it comes to emissions in Europe and 41st in Europe when that same metric is measured per-capita. For the 89th most populous country in the world and one of the more wealthy economies in Europe, they're a drop in the ocean.
At this point net zero is a pipe dream and we should be pumping our resources into geoengineering research to find ways to cool the planet and reverse the effects of man-made climate change. It will prove valuable if we try to move away from Earth.
-
Comment on Ali G: Who Iz I? | Official trailer in ~movies
Bullmaestro LinkI dunno what's more surreal, seeing Ali G in 2026 with dreadlocks wearing a rastacap, or seeing that this is being published under MGM, a brand associated with James Bond, Tom & Jerry, Pink...I dunno what's more surreal, seeing Ali G in 2026 with dreadlocks wearing a rastacap, or seeing that this is being published under MGM, a brand associated with James Bond, Tom & Jerry, Pink Panther and Rocky.
Not sure how well this is going to land. Chav culture kinda declined by the late-2000s (which is probably a big reason why Sacha Baron Cohen retired the character in the first place), and Tim Westwood, the DJ and radio presenter who inspired Ali G's character in the first place, is currently awaiting trial for serious sex offences.
-
Comment on Dolly Parton, country music legend, dies at 80 in ~music
Bullmaestro LinkWell there goes the rumour that she was recording an album with Slipknot... Yes I know that was written as satire, but I didn't know it was satirical when a friend first shared the article with me...Well there goes the rumour that she was recording an album with Slipknot...
Yes I know that was written as satire, but I didn't know it was satirical when a friend first shared the article with me two years ago. That would have been an incredible mashup out of nowhere.
They were rocky from the start.
Blizzard and KeSPA had been in a legal dispute over broadcasting rights with Blizzard demanding they pay royalties on broadcasting professional matches of their game. When negotiations went poorly, they decided to give GomTV exclusive broadcasting rights just months before SC2 was set to launch.
That is why SC2 had LAN multiplayer support gutted out mid-development, so that if KeSPA tried to transition towards that game without agreeing to pay royalties, their IPs could be blacklisted from Blizzard's servers. Proleague, MSL and OSL did resume as normal until 2012 when the dispute was resolved. KeSPA not joining until two years later definitely affected the game's success in Korea.
What hurt things more was Blizzard aping Riot Games by announcing the WCS and imposing their esports league upon their stakeholders at extremely short notice. WCS was a shitshow from its inception, and this was especially the case in Korea. Ongamenet hosted one season and decided they wanted out, leaving GomTV as the sole tournament organiser. After 2013, WCS Korea was retired and the GSL brand was brought back, but by then the damage was already done.
Proleague went on for another four years as a SC2 team tournament until 2016 when dwindling viewership and balance issues in Legacy of the Void ended it for good. All the KeSPA teams disbanded, except for Jin Air Green Wings, who stayed active until late 2020.