Durinthal's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on Is Super Mario Maker beaten yet? in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI just checked the site again on a whim earlier after a few days and was surprised to see it was down to one, didn't realize the penultimate one was just cleared recently. Here's a short breakdown...I just checked the site again on a whim earlier after a few days and was surprised to see it was down to one, didn't realize the penultimate one was just cleared recently.
Here's a short breakdown of why Trimming the Herbs is difficult too.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Durinthal Link ParentFollowing Lertoff was a great part of the series and a perspective rarely seen as you mentioned. Gundam is rather sprawling and has its ups and downs even within the Universal Century timeline...Following Lertoff was a great part of the series and a perspective rarely seen as you mentioned.
Gundam is rather sprawling and has its ups and downs even within the Universal Century timeline that started with the original 1979 anime, but one of the side stories that takes a look at a neutral civilian area during the war (0080: War in the Pocket) is particularly good. It's not necessary to watch the original show/film trilogy before that but it does help provide context and if you were considering it anyway might as well start from the beginning.
I think the original Macross was interesting to a point, though the Do You Remember Love? film is a better reinterpretation of the story and my favorite entries in the franchise are later (Plus and Frontier); any can be watched on their own but have references to earlier parts as the setting changes over time.
Patlabor has another look at how mecha are used in a modern society outside of a war context which I thought was nice as well.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival - GG no re (End of an era) in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI like that idea. I never messed around with armor stands before, can you have them hold any item as well? I was thinking I'd want to have mine with a rail in hand.I like that idea. I never messed around with armor stands before, can you have them hold any item as well? I was thinking I'd want to have mine with a rail in hand.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Durinthal Link ParentThat might be my favorite '80s mecha series, I really like the approach it took in how it presented and examined the conflict. Unfortunately there will probably never be a newer (or maybe...That might be my favorite '80s mecha series, I really like the approach it took in how it presented and examined the conflict.
Unfortunately there will probably never be a newer (or maybe international) release of the series as I believe there are licensing issues with some of the mecha designs.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentYeah, at this point I don't think I'll get around to doing more with the arena so feel free to reuse the land for something else. I've been meaning to get back and at least do some more rail...Yeah, at this point I don't think I'll get around to doing more with the arena so feel free to reuse the land for something else. I've been meaning to get back and at least do some more rail cleanup but keep having other distractions pop up.
I believe the hotel was @priw8's idea going by this older comment.
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Comment on Ocarina of Time speedrunning glitch discovered - Ganonfloor in ~games
Durinthal LinkI love how they keep finding new ways to use glitches found a decade ago (themselves a decade after the game released) to make them useful for speedruns. Initially I was surprised that it was...I love how they keep finding new ways to use glitches found a decade ago (themselves a decade after the game released) to make them useful for speedruns.
Initially I was surprised that it was quicker than the previous route but I forgot that the wrong warp from Gohma required visiting Kakariko to get a bottle for bugs as well, and the rest of the new route is faster than running through all of the Deku Tree.
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Comment on Sam Reich on revamping the game show - and Dropout's success as a small streamer in ~tv
Durinthal LinkIt's good that they seem to be going for small and sustainable compared to the infinite growth of a lot of other things out there these days. After binging several seasons of Um, Actually on...It's good that they seem to be going for small and sustainable compared to the infinite growth of a lot of other things out there these days.
And number five: is the show worth nerding out about? If you're a fan of the show, can you go deep on this show in some way?
After binging several seasons of Um, Actually on YouTube last month I absolutely felt like nerding out about it, because it's the show for nerding out about things. I finally signed up to Dropout a couple of days ago following checking out a couple of episodes of other shows as well like Game Changer and Breaking News.
Sam Reich: We are making a study of what feel good content means. Our platform is about content that makes you feel good for a variety of reasons.
I really enjoy the generally lower stakes to everything I've seen and the overall feeling of "friends having fun together" that they bring, which seems to be along the lines of what they're going for with that quote.
Maybe eventually I'll get around to the Dimension 20 series, I'm curious how they'll compare to Critical Role (which I follow but I'm not highly invested in) with the shorter seasons that are edited down.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Durinthal LinkI'm back in Stardew Valley after binging it for a month about four years ago, just prior to the first pandemic shutdowns here. That was on the Switch, now I'm on a Steam Deck with the newest patch...I'm back in Stardew Valley after binging it for a month about four years ago, just prior to the first pandemic shutdowns here. That was on the Switch, now I'm on a Steam Deck with the newest patch additions and mods. Mostly just Stardew Valley Expanded and Grandpa's Farm to start for any game-changing mods though there's also a handy lookup add-on to give me info I'd otherwise go to the wiki for anyway.
It took me a while to shake off the rust, or maybe that's just what getting through the first spring is like for most people, but I've happily fallen back into the groove as I'm slowly expanding my farm again and have nearly gotten to the first winter. Maybe at some point I'll try challenge runs or completely different strategies for fun (or to romance other people since I'd feel bad breaking up with my current partner) but I'm going for a casual all-around approach again for now.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI've had a good time with Against the Storm as well, only got as far as finishing the first two seals so far but it's something I want to come back to when I'm in the mood for it just for another...I've had a good time with Against the Storm as well, only got as far as finishing the first two seals so far but it's something I want to come back to when I'm in the mood for it just for another round or two at a time.
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Comment on Most bingeable book series? in ~books
Durinthal LinkThe Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) — A great fantasy romance series following the paladins of a dead god and the various women and men that they fall in love (and have a...-
The Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) — A great fantasy romance series following the paladins of a dead god and the various women and men that they fall in love (and have a lot of sexual tension) with. Book 4 of maybe 7 came out recently and I'm in the middle of it now. There are also three other books in the same setting (Clocktaur War duology and Swordheart) that are similarly good.
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Ascendance of a Bookworm by Miya Kazuki — Obsessive bookworm is reincarnated into a medieval world without access to books, shenanigans ensue as she tries to get them any way she can. I love it for how the setting is handled with the scope slowly expanding over time based on what the main character needs to know. The final volume (for now at least) came out in Japan recently and should be translated by the end of the year; I'm subscribed to J-Novel Club for a weekly drip of a few chapters at a time rather than waiting for an entire volume.
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Comment on Easy mode is actually for adults in ~games
Durinthal LinkI can't think of the last time I actually played a strongly narrative-driven game like The Last of Us but if I was there for the story more than the game play I'd probably drop the difficulty if...I can't think of the last time I actually played a strongly narrative-driven game like The Last of Us but if I was there for the story more than the game play I'd probably drop the difficulty if it was getting to me too. I didn't have any qualms about using the item duplication glitch in Tears of the Kingdom to get around farming a bunch of materials for armor upgrades since I'd already gone through all the experiences that I'd need for that anyway, I just wasn't as interested in doing it another dozen or more times as a time sink after already putting a hundred hours into the game.
More generally, I'll switch difficulties depending on the game and what I want to get out of it. For the roguelite FPS Roboquest I turned the difficulty up because I want a challenging experience and while my reflexes aren't as good as they were when I was playing Unreal Tournament twenty years ago, I'm still aiming for a fast-paced arena shooter and I can keep up with what the game's throwing at me.
Meanwhile with Civilization I usually want more of a relaxed experience in watching my empire grow without being threatened too much so I'm fine on the lower difficulties there.
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Comment on Alabama's Nick Saban retiring after seven national titles, most in major college football history in ~sports.american_football
Durinthal LinkSaban retiring could possibly mark the end of an era of college football by itself. But amid massive conference realignment with the collapse of the PAC and the start of the 12 team playoff next...Saban retiring could possibly mark the end of an era of college football by itself. But amid massive conference realignment with the collapse of the PAC and the start of the 12 team playoff next year this isn't even the biggest change and maybe that's part of why he's doing it now.
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Comment on How social media’s biggest user protest rocked Reddit in ~tech
Durinthal LinkUp until two days ago I was a moderator for a fairly large subreddit but I ultimately left because of the events of June. For a long time I was fine providing my time (and money hosting bots) to...- Exemplary
Up until two days ago I was a moderator for a fairly large subreddit but I ultimately left because of the events of June. For a long time I was fine providing my time (and money hosting bots) to shape a community I wanted to be part of but Reddit's proven repeatedly that it doesn't care about community, it just needs the bare minimum to keep users on the site.
I think that for some subreddits the lasting effect will be more subtle and not as directly attributable to Reddit's actions then with a large amount of institutional knowledge and leadership behind the scenes that's being lost. Three of the most active and engaged moderators on the team left by the start of July, while I handed off what responsibilities I could to the rest of the team over the ensuring months to minimize disruption before I quit as well.
There's a technical gap that I'm leaving behind though that no one currently on the team can fill and when we've tried recruiting new moderators no one's shown as much interest there. One of the primary draws of the subreddit now is for discussions of new shows, and episode threads are posted by a bot that occasionally malfunctions and requires a human mod to manually make a thread instead. Back in May I had a roadmap for improving the bot, expanding its capabilities, making it both more resilient and easier to manually create threads if necessary. I never got around to implementing any of that because of what Reddit did, but the next time a thread's two hours late the average user's not going to know it could have been avoided by now.
That's probably the most visible impact for the average member of that subreddit, but it's far from the only one. Maybe other people will step up and eventually make things better, but it will still be behind the trajectory of where things could have been.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentCombos of markers with a separate key could work, I was trying to maintain portability as much as possible so I wanted to avoid requiring two maps for it.Combos of markers with a separate key could work, I was trying to maintain portability as much as possible so I wanted to avoid requiring two maps for it.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentThe airport tower? I think that would make sense to remove with easy access to fireworks nearby.The airport tower? I think that would make sense to remove with easy access to fireworks nearby.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentIf you mean compared to the area map in town hall, that works because it's spread out across a large number of map tiles. I'm instead trying to cram about 20 labels into a single map in an...If you mean compared to the area map in town hall, that works because it's spread out across a large number of map tiles. I'm instead trying to cram about 20 labels into a single map in an organized pattern with tight spacing. Expanding to make it 2x2 would allow for plenty of space (for now) and still fit in each station, but then you couldn't easily carry a copy around with you which was one of my original goals.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentHaving a separate sign with just the names was something I tried as well — that's the other partially-completed area just north of the subway picture — but identifying which station is where is...Having a separate sign with just the names was something I tried as well — that's the other partially-completed area just north of the subway picture — but identifying which station is where is still a problem, since you still need an identifier on the map to connect to a name. There's an (already out of date) map posted in TildeTown Central that shows the issue - it barely fits with a colored marker for the line and three-character code labels for each station and that's before adding another station or two to make the Birch Line accurate. The idea was to have a legend posted next to it with code = name for the entire system (e.g. TTC = TildeTown Central, CFR = Castle Frye).
Two-character codes might be a temporary fix but if the system grows much more I don't think that would necessarily fit either. Numbers with colored markers maybe, but that's more abstract and potentially renumbering existing stations to fit added stops in the middle depending on the numbering scheme could be awkward.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival Bi-Weekly Thread in ~games
Durinthal LinkBeen away for a bit binging other games. I don't know if anyone finished the Trade Harbour station on the east edge of town while I was out but I guess that'll be the next thing to wrap up if not....Been away for a bit binging other games.
I don't know if anyone finished the Trade Harbour station on the east edge of town while I was out but I guess that'll be the next thing to wrap up if not.
While I tried to make an in-game subway map, even with only 3-letter codes for each station the labels are too big to be practical. If someone else wants to pick that up and try to find a way to make it work they're welcome to, there are already some materials out there (and a portal to the nether roof just east of the kitten art for easier access, maybe that should have an ice road built).
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Comment on Mickey Mouse to enter public domain in ~movies
Durinthal LinkI also just read this other article that covers some of the nuances about what specific versions of things will and won't fall into public domain at the start of the year. Aside from the earliest...I also just read this other article that covers some of the nuances about what specific versions of things will and won't fall into public domain at the start of the year.
Aside from the earliest Mickey, there's also the introduction of Tigger following Pooh and the Peter Pan play.
I've watched a few Mario Maker streamers' videos on YouTube for years as either background noise or something easy to follow and not think about too much. So following the recent news and countdown to beating all Super Mario Maker 1 levels, I joined Team 0% for a bit and played though a number of Mario Maker 2 levels that haven't been cleared yet.
I don't have the skills for the technically difficult levels but I can put up with the kind of nonsense that no one better has come across yet and just takes a little grinding to get through, like dark levels where you can't see ahead. Having online level viewers available so you can see what the entire stage looks like first (including hidden blocks that might be used to troll players) allows me to pick out ones I think I'll have a chance at finishing rather than blindly trying something uncleared without knowing what's in store for me.
While I've never been super into playing Mario games myself it has been a part of my life from a young age so I find it nice to be part of a community effort rallying for a cause, even if that cause includes playing a lot of terribly-designed platforming levels.