Bullmaestro's recent activity
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
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Comment on What internet discussion sites remain? in ~tech
Bullmaestro Link ParentIt's referring to two particular Lemmy instances that are on .ml domains. Lemmy.ml (run by Lemmy's developers) and Lemmygrad.ml. Both are basically full of tankies. They were the two biggest...It's referring to two particular Lemmy instances that are on .ml domains. Lemmy.ml (run by Lemmy's developers) and Lemmygrad.ml. Both are basically full of tankies. They were the two biggest instances on Lemmy before the Reddit API protests and subsequent exodus put the fediverse on the map.
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Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes
Bullmaestro Link ParentI think what happened was Ellen Pao being forced to resign, which caused an immediate user exodus back to Reddit. And it's clear the mistrust towards Pao was misogyny becauss Spez has done much...I think what happened was Ellen Pao being forced to resign, which caused an immediate user exodus back to Reddit. And it's clear the mistrust towards Pao was misogyny becauss Spez has done much worse things as CEO since yet the community has barely batted an eyelid for the most part.
Then when Voat almost shut down, Stormfront (a white supremacist forum) closed and its users flocked to Voat.
Similar thing happened to Ruqqus after Voat closed in 2020.
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Comment on The Hero of Cheese (Wallace & Gromit x Zelda Parody) in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkAs a Bristolian (Aardman are based in my hometown), I absolutely loved this.As a Bristolian (Aardman are based in my hometown), I absolutely loved this.
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Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes
Bullmaestro Link ParentI find it really weird that Reddit's official mobile app is markdown only but we get semi-buggy rich text WYSIWYG bullshit with the desktop version of New Reddit. And yeah, I feel like image and...I find it really weird that Reddit's official mobile app is markdown only but we get semi-buggy rich text WYSIWYG bullshit with the desktop version of New Reddit.
And yeah, I feel like image and GIF embeds would take away from this site.
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Comment on What do you think about Destiny 2’s imminent death and games as a service? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI never got that big into Destiny. The first game was a bit boring to me and I only got part-way through the campaign. Destiny 2 was a bit more interesting. I played with a German-American friend...I never got that big into Destiny. The first game was a bit boring to me and I only got part-way through the campaign. Destiny 2 was a bit more interesting. I played with a German-American friend of mine when the PC port was released. We joined a clan led by a trans woman (I forget her name, we never really kept in touch) and cleared Leviathan up to the very last boss completely blind, not even looking at any tutorials and figuring it out entirely by trial and error.
As for Marathon. I was hyped at the initial reveal trailer, until I found out it was not a remake of the classic boomer shooter trilogy but rather a live-service extraction shooter wearing the skin of a dead Mac-exclusive franchise.
I fully expected Marathon to suffer the same fate as Highguard and Concord, but the player numbers are surprisingly healthy. And even Steam figures may be misleading as I'd imagine a lot of players are on PS5.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentTo be honest after the reply I just got from Player Support, I think I want to channel my frustration into something a bit more creative and damning. I'm genuinely thinking about creating a blog...To be honest after the reply I just got from Player Support, I think I want to channel my frustration into something a bit more creative and damning.
I'm genuinely thinking about creating a blog where I openly document, catalogue and call out the actions of inting players and Riot's downright incompetence at punishing them. Not because I'm chasing down any kind of virality or Internet clout but to actually.
Or it could be a video series. Disco Heat did something similar with League of Children many years ago but my idea would be more like in-depth replay analysis, manually raising tickets with Customer Support, keeping tabs on reported players' OP.gg match histories to ensure Riot aren't just full of crap.
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Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes
Bullmaestro (edited )LinkSomething that i don't think Deimos would ever allow to happen. I used to be part of a few Reddit competitors that went down the toilet (namely Voat and Ruqqus). What killed them for me was white...Something that i don't think Deimos would ever allow to happen.
I used to be part of a few Reddit competitors that went down the toilet (namely Voat and Ruqqus). What killed them for me was white supremacists infiltrating these communities and turning everything into slur-filled cesspools.
I remember Ruqqus got abandoned and eventually shut down because of a rule change. They used to literally follow the Brandenburg Test (same one used by the SCOTUS) to determine whether to take down posts for inciting violence. After they toughened that rule following pressure from their hosting provider, about 99.5% of the community abandoned the site whilst calling the admins every antisemitic slur under the sun, which showed just how much the site had been infiltrated.
My point is, those places turned into Nazi bars and I think this site's owner would fight to his dying breath to ensure Tildes doesn't go down that route...
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Comment on Who’s buying SpaceX and Anthropic? in ~finance
Bullmaestro LinkSpaceX and Blue Origin are the only commercial aerospace companies that have seen success, but investing in the former is supporting a Nazi. As for Anthropic, they're the better of the AI firms...SpaceX and Blue Origin are the only commercial aerospace companies that have seen success, but investing in the former is supporting a Nazi.
As for Anthropic, they're the better of the AI firms and the most poised to achieve supremacy aside from Google. Investing in them could be a moderate loss or major win depending on bubbles.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (June 2026) in ~health.mental
Bullmaestro LinkThings haven't been good for the past few months and I've felt a mix of loneliness and frustration. I'm now a contractor working with the same company that laid me off last year. Been brought in...Things haven't been good for the past few months and I've felt a mix of loneliness and frustration.
I'm now a contractor working with the same company that laid me off last year. Been brought in to clear a backlog left by the overseas firm they outsourced to replace much of the finance department three years ago. It's been a shitshow to say the least and the work they've done has been shockingly bad. Errors everywhere. High turnover. Workers not taking responsibility.
Since starting back, I've felt like an outsider. It's taken IT weeks to set up access for everything I need and even now I have certain things I need for my job closed off to me. Even the guy who is meant to be my line manager and approving my timesheets hasn't said a word to me since I returned and left me on read in the two times I've contacted him on Teams.
At least I'm being paid, I suppose.
Things at home haven't been great. Dad has been obnoxious lately and I don't particularly want to go into that topic. I just feel trapped...
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI recently reinstalled Heroes of the Storm after earning a temp suspension from League of Legends, following a string of Ranked losses where I tried to play Quinn Jungle (she recently got buffed...I recently reinstalled Heroes of the Storm after earning a temp suspension from League of Legends, following a string of Ranked losses where I tried to play Quinn Jungle (she recently got buffed two patches in a row) but had inters sabotage my matches, provoke me into flaming them by being assholes, then maliciously mass-report me when I understandably got heated at them.
When I say "sabotage", we're talking:
- Support players who end the game with borderline single-digit vision scores. They start with a dedicated item for warding called the World Atlas, basically making them the only role that can actively place stealth wards, of which you can have up to 3 active at once. And when you are not warding in the only role that has consistent access to stealth wards that can hit the placement cap, neglecting to use it basically makes your team play completely blind. I can understand people neglecting to use their World Atlas in casual modes like Swiftplay and Draft Pick especially when the game's tutorial does a horrible job at explaining how the game works, but this is bloody Ranked we're talking about. You need an account at level 30, to own at least 20 unique champions and to have played at least 10 SR games to even queue up. That takes about 100+ hours of game time.
- Laners who die 6+ times by the 10 minute mark either due to them deliberately dying to their lane opponent or placing absolutely zero wards, getting bodied by the enemy jungler then crying "jungle diff" in chat like some entitled manchild who expects to be constantly babysat. Which leads to the opponent snowballing because they're now more fed than Gabe Newell.
- Players who don't participate in team fights. One of my most frustrating losses in the last few days was due to a Taric Support player who didn't follow any commands, didn't read chat, didn't obey objective pings from myself or anyone else on the team, barely fought in skirmishes, and decided to solo push mid all the way to the enemy's inhibitor turret and basically kill himself about 15 seconds before Elder Dragon was due to spawn, which led to us losing 4v5, losing Elder buff (adds a true damage DoT and a 20% execute), Baron buff, and ultimately, the game.
- Players ducking out and Alt+F4ing the moment they concede First Blood.
Sent an "appeal" to the ban which was more-so a complaint about three particular players that stood out for their flagrant inting, where I quoted game IDs and match timestamps of what occurred. Been over a day (and counting) and I'm still waiting on Riot's customer support to respond to my ticket, and I doubt they will take it seriously, but if they claim they'll escalate the matter then I look into the players' match histories and find they're still active, I'll know they're completely full of crap.
Yes, I know I was out of line and probably deserved the suspension, but I don't think it's fair that Riot allow players to sabotage matches with utter impunity whilst they target chat offences like the low-hanging fruit they are.
Heroes is one of those games I used to really like before Blizzard completely and utterly abandoned it. I mean the game still gets balance updates but it hasn't had a new content patch or hero release since 2020. After three ranked matches (two losses, one win, and both losses in games where I was practically doing top DPS as a tank.) And sadly, I think the inting problem in that game is 50 times worse.
I think maybe playing solo queue MOBAs is making me a worse person.
Mina the Hollower is another game I played for a bit. It has some problems. Combat feels incredibly clunky and that's probably because I chose the flail as my weapon which not only has a significant attack delay but also can only be swung in four directions. The game also has no map whatsoever and gives incredibly vague hints on where you need to go next.
Kinda wish that Yacht Club didn't make this game a Soulslike.
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Comment on Valve raises Steam Deck OLED prices by up to $300 in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkMy guess is that Valve aren't doing this out of corporate greed. They don't have the same clout when it comes to negotiating supplier prices compared to a major consumer electronics giant like...My guess is that Valve aren't doing this out of corporate greed. They don't have the same clout when it comes to negotiating supplier prices compared to a major consumer electronics giant like Nintendo or Samsung, and the price hikes reflect that.
Valve would be wise to indefinitely delay the Steam Machine until the AI bubble either collapses or the semiconductor market recovers.
That or sell it at a loss like every other console manufacturer and give consumers an incentive to switch to Linux.
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Comment on When did your preferred fighting game franchises peak? in ~games
Bullmaestro Link ParentI think the character intros and overall presentation of MK11 was better than X. But MKX is still a really great game.I think the character intros and overall presentation of MK11 was better than X. But MKX is still a really great game.
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Comment on When did your preferred fighting game franchises peak? in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkMortal Kombat with MK11. I get that they wrote themselves into a corner with Kronika and the New Era stuff but MK1 (the new game, not OG Mortal Kombat) is so shit. It's a sidegrade graphically,...Mortal Kombat with MK11. I get that they wrote themselves into a corner with Kronika and the New Era stuff but MK1 (the new game, not OG Mortal Kombat) is so shit.
It's a sidegrade graphically, Liu Kang sucks as "the chosen one" and all the what ifs end up following the OG timeline anyway I.e. Bi-Han becoming Noob Saibot anyway, Baraka and Mileena having heavily spiked skin not because the Tarkatans are a separate species in Outworld but because the condition that causes them to grow bone spikes like Tarkatans is an incurable disease...
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Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkMagicka is the next game on my backlog I tried to play through and this one is a doozy. The negative Steam reviews it's been getting lately are quite accurate. Something about this game has made...Magicka is the next game on my backlog I tried to play through and this one is a doozy. The negative Steam reviews it's been getting lately are quite accurate. Something about this game has made it incredibly crash-prone.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #5: Pineapple on pizza? (Results) in ~talk
Bullmaestro LinkI accept that Hawaiian pizza has a right to exist, but I fucking hate pineapple in general.I accept that Hawaiian pizza has a right to exist, but I fucking hate pineapple in general.
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Comment on Energy supplier abandons Lake Tahoe residents to serve data centers in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkI heard about this from MoistCr1TiKaL of all sources, and the idea that an energy supplier can flip the middle finger to a town of 450,000 residents and leave them without power, all because they...I heard about this from MoistCr1TiKaL of all sources, and the idea that an energy supplier can flip the middle finger to a town of 450,000 residents and leave them without power, all because they want to chase the AI gold rush is appalling. His video really opened my eyes to how openly and brazenly corrupt US politics is.
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Comment on Gameoverse: Pilot in ~tv
Bullmaestro (edited )LinkReally love the premise that they're trying to save game worlds by stopping the heroes from completing their objectives, and the characters seem nice. Especially a fan of Kit, and I like how...Really love the premise that they're trying to save game worlds by stopping the heroes from completing their objectives, and the characters seem nice. Especially a fan of Kit, and I like how Gobbles isn't just a toddler or a complete idiot, despite the initial impression of him.
What I can't get past is the animation, which is choppy at times.
Co-written by Arin Hanson & Ross O'Donovan
EGORAPTOR WROTE THIS?
No wonder this is better than what Glitch usually produce.
EDIT: There are also a lot of people in the credits I recognise and it tells me the team they got for this show is stacked:
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Christopher Sabat as Warrick - voice of Vegeta in the Dragon Ball English dub
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AmaLee as Scratch - she does a lot of English anime song covers on YouTube
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Vinny VineSauce as Orph - big name streamer and YouTuber who mainly covers glitches, corruptions and obscure games.
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Tom Fulp as Farcade Manual - founder of Newgrounds and The Behemoth.
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Jake Kaufman (music producer) - produced the soundtracks for Shovel Knight, Mighty Switch Force, DuckTales Remastered, several Shantae games, Retro City Rampage, Adventures of Pip and other games. Mainly worked with WayForward.
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Grant Kirkhope (music producer - worked on the soundtracks for Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Blast Corps, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. Much of his credits are from working at Rare until 2008.
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Comment on Introducing Googlebook, designed for Gemini Intelligence in ~tech
Bullmaestro LinkSo, it's a Chromebook but with a presumably updated operating system that has stronger Android app support, and far more AI slop baked into it. I think I'll pass. ChromeOS feels like little more...So, it's a Chromebook but with a presumably updated operating system that has stronger Android app support, and far more AI slop baked into it.
I think I'll pass. ChromeOS feels like little more than an overglorified Chrome browser operating system, and even when later versions and newer Chromebooks started supporting Android apps, the useful ones either got support pulled (i.e. anything Microslop 365) or run like shit (any Android game.)
At this point the MacBook Neo has them beat and has shown that Apple's gamble on ditching x86 and producing their own ARM chips paid off in dividends. They've thrown an iPhone SoC into their budget laptop and produced something that utterly shits all over comparatively priced AMD and Intel chips.
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Comment on May 2026 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Bullmaestro LinkI'm not a fan of Ocean's Heart for reasons I went into on a weekly games discussion and so many more. The combat is clunky and unsatisfying, explosives do excessive damage to you even with armor...I'm not a fan of Ocean's Heart for reasons I went into on a weekly games discussion and so many more. The combat is clunky and unsatisfying, explosives do excessive damage to you even with armor upgrades, enemy placement is sometimes incredibly egregious, i.e. in the Pirate's Fortress, there is a room where you walk directly into the crosshairs of a cannon-wielding pirate, and I died on 3 attempts because the projectiles took nearly my entire health bar. Enemy locations also don't reset when travelling between rooms meaning enemies can literally camp the exit you left from and make backtracking lethal. Bombs are also literal unobtainium and I think I've picked them up a grand total of twice in my playthrough so far.
Also, you can genuinely softlock yourself because heavy objects you pick up, drop and throw are not programmed to press down switches and you can't pick them back up if you drop one on.
I only made a bit more progress since I last discussed the game, and it took me having to consult a walkthrough to figure out how to unlock the ability to sail between islands and progress, because you have to go to a specific area, save someone from monsters and you are given zero hints on where to go.
I recently got hit with an (unfair) 3 day suspension and 7 day chat ban from League of Legends for swearing at a few players who were either inting or insulting me in chat. I immediately lodged a ticket with Riot Support, not to appeal the penalty but to try and raise a formal complaint about how they allow players to intentionally throw my Ranked matches with utter impunity and let them get away scot-free with ruining my Ranked game experience - giving examples of recent games, match IDs and summoner IDs of how players have thrown some of my games in blatant fashion.
(Yes, I was irate, yes I used crass language, no I don't think it's fair because the people who created a negative gameplay experience for me weaponized the game's awful report system against me out of malice and essentially got off entirely scot-free.)
Lo and behold, the CS agent rudely fobs me off, reiterates the three lines which earned my automated suspension (which came seconds after the offending game concluded), closes my ticket and tells me no further appeals will be considered. Literally didn't read my ticket, or couldn't be arsed to actually do their job.
So I'm redirecting that anger towards recording my matches and I'm gonna either create a blog or video series where I record, commentate on and openly analyse my games, call out inting behaviour, reporting it to Riot Games, and seeing if they can actually be arsed to action any of my reports.
I just played a match as Quinn Jungle where I went 12/7/8, had the second-highest KP on my team, highest CS, and somehow still had the game thrown by morons who refused to fight as a 5 man team, refused to ward objectives, and refused to take part in skirmishes happening nearby. I am currently on a six game loss streak and on the verge of being demoted to Iron 1.
Not sure exactly what angle I want to go with when it comes to this blog or video series. I could either go the Disco Heat route and compile clips of it to music, do commentary, or just focus on games and individual players.
I essentially want to publicly out Riot for the terrible company they are, or have enough ammunition loaded if I ever decide to escalate a complaint to their CS team.