EsteeBestee's recent activity
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Comment on George R.R. Martin says 'The Winds of Winter' is 'the curse of my life' in ~books
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Comment on The great Tildes Archipelago multiworld randomizer! Interest thread! in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkHmmm, I might be interested! Prooobably Dark Souls 3 for me. I see Dark Souls Remaster is only in alpha, so it probably won’t be finished in time (I know DS1 way better than DS3). But I’ll have to...Hmmm, I might be interested! Prooobably Dark Souls 3 for me. I see Dark Souls Remaster is only in alpha, so it probably won’t be finished in time (I know DS1 way better than DS3). But I’ll have to peruse the game list and see if I have the time when this starts!
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
EsteeBestee Link ParentThanks for the info! The Bravia 8 is one of the options I’m looking at, 65” for $1800 otherwise I can get an LG C4 for $1400. Both seem to have the features I want. As far as software, my goal is...Thanks for the info! The Bravia 8 is one of the options I’m looking at, 65” for $1800 otherwise I can get an LG C4 for $1400. Both seem to have the features I want. As far as software, my goal is to use as little of the built in software as possible, I just want it for a display, I access my media library through other means, so I have to do a bit of research on how much I can disable/not be forced to use on each TV.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentAh, at least masc sheps don’t have to deal with Kaiden flirting with them constantly, lol. Tali is one of the better romances, nice. I’m probably doing Liara in ME1, someone random in ME2...Ah, at least masc sheps don’t have to deal with Kaiden flirting with them constantly, lol. Tali is one of the better romances, nice. I’m probably doing Liara in ME1, someone random in ME2 (basically no good options for us lesbians, Kelly is basically the only option and she’s your assistant, so no) and probably Samantha in ME3? I’ve done the full Liara romance before and once in a while I’ll pick Garrus or Thane or something even though I’m not particularly attracted to men. Games like Dragon Age Veilguard have more choices for me, Mass Effect came out before lesbians were invented.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentGlad you enjoyed it! Just today I started ME1 again for probably the 15th time lol. I have a very important question: who did you romance?!?!Glad you enjoyed it! Just today I started ME1 again for probably the 15th time lol.
I have a very important question: who did you romance?!?!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentWoah, I knew about co-op randomizers, but I had no idea you could do cross game co-op randomizers, that’s incredible!Woah, I knew about co-op randomizers, but I had no idea you could do cross game co-op randomizers, that’s incredible!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentYeah, I think when I typed that I was thinking of games from the 2008-2013ish era, but even then there are plenty of timeless classics. I mean, I was playing Mass Effect 1 today (though I’m still...Yeah, I think when I typed that I was thinking of games from the 2008-2013ish era, but even then there are plenty of timeless classics. I mean, I was playing Mass Effect 1 today (though I’m still not sure if I think it’s good because of nostalgia or if a brand new player would like it). I agree it’s too broad of a statement either way, I think what I was trying to get at is that I don’t think Infinite aged well, but there are other games that also don’t age well, not just that one.
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Comment on Where do Red Dead Redemption 2's birds go? in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkI looked at the title of the post and immediately knew I was in for another Any Austin video :)I looked at the title of the post and immediately knew I was in for another Any Austin video :)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentI think Infinite is very much a product of its time and has aged poorly (I also played it in the last few years and did not have a good time). I think Bioshock 1 and 2 are also products of their...I think Infinite is very much a product of its time and has aged poorly (I also played it in the last few years and did not have a good time). I think Bioshock 1 and 2 are also products of their time, but with a game like Bioshock 1 being a bit more simple and lower in scope, I think it aged a little better. I entirely agree with your take on the game when playing it these days.
I wasn't super jazzed about it even when it first came out, but I can understand why people liked it at the time. It was a very capital G Gamer game and maybe that's partly why I don't like it as it aged. I just don't think it's that much fun 12 years on (tbf, most games aren't fun 12 years after they release) and that the hype around it back in the day is because Bioshock was "cool" rather than the game itself being extraordinary.
The setting of the games was good, the first game gave the gamers a catch phrase to latch onto ("would you kindly" entered nerd culture about the same time as "why so serious" and I kind of view it in the same cringe-o-sphere looking back), and Infinite was at least going out of the box with its story, even if it didn't vibe with me personally. It's one game where it makes me think we were pretty dumb as gamers in 2013 if this was our collective idea of a top tier game. That whole 2010-2015 era of gaming sort of feels that way to me, it was almost an awkward teenage phase of the gaming industry, where it was properly blowing up as a mainstream form of entertainment and people making games were still just kind of making it up as they were going along and the industry just came off some legendary years (like 2007), but we were kind of in a weird transition phase before we hit what I would consider to be the "modern" gaming era starting around 2015-2016ish.
Of course this is just my opinion and it's obviously heavily weighted by culture and what gaming culture was like in 2013, which I don't look back on very fondly. I am not sure if I can completely separate out an unbiased take on the gameplay without factoring in why the game was successful at the time, but yeah, I just generally don't like it either.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee Link ParentHave fun! Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are my favorites :)Have fun! Zero Dawn and Forbidden West are my favorites :)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkMostly I've been playing Slay the Spire on my phone as its been the easiest thing to play while recovering from surgery. I have probably 120 hours between PC and mobile now, this game just never...Mostly I've been playing Slay the Spire on my phone as its been the easiest thing to play while recovering from surgery. I have probably 120 hours between PC and mobile now, this game just never gets old!
Besides that, before surgery, I had picked up Trickshot Simulator as a fun game to stream to discord for friends when we're just hanging out on a friday night or something. I've gotten through probably 5 levels so far and it's pretty brutal, but I'm actually having fun in the same way that Getting Over It is fun. I haven't played in a week though as I haven't been able to comfortably sit at my PC until basically today due to surgery downstairs and then I also hurt my back during recovery from having to bend weird all of last week so that hurts now too and it might be another week or two before I can sit at my PC for more than like 30 minutes at a time.
I also have still been playing Destiny 2 during the current season. I enjoyed the story and seasonal activities enough this season, though there's currently nothing to hook them into the upcoming expansion, which we still know nothing about (and is supposedly releasing this summer). That said, Bungie was pretty clear that their plan for D2 now is two smaller expansions per year, which to me sound more like beefier seasons and less like actual traditional expansions. The game is as about on life support as you could be while getting new content. It's still a good game and the new content is still enough reason to play, but I can't deny that I'm just not as excited for the future as I was for prior expansions. It will always be in my rotation, but it has been pretty much demoted to a rotational time filler game rather than something I'm salivating over every week and consuming hours of youtube content ever week over.
Now that I've sort of exited post-surgery depression, I've been thinking of doing a replay of the Mass Effect trilogy since I have that on PS5 and can play from the recliner instead of my PC, but I've been trying to stay strong and not start a 120 hour trilogy right now when the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake is rumored to be shadow dropping imminently, which I know will suck me in, ha. I guess there's nothing wrong with starting ME and then stopping if Oblivion does come out soon, but yeah, that's why I've been sitting here like an asshole kind of not playing anything this week when I could be.
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Comment on What's an achievement (or achievements) you'll always be proud of? in ~life
EsteeBestee Link ParentAlso, hell yeah, I’m proud of your accomplishments, too! Beating depression and poverty is not fucking easy, I’ve had to deal with both as well, so I know how you feel about it.Also, hell yeah, I’m proud of your accomplishments, too! Beating depression and poverty is not fucking easy, I’ve had to deal with both as well, so I know how you feel about it.
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Comment on What's an achievement (or achievements) you'll always be proud of? in ~life
EsteeBestee Link ParentYeah, endurance can be brutal, especially when so much can go wrong besides your own driving. You could drive perfectly and another car takes you out or a teammate makes a mistake. Mentally, it’s...Yeah, endurance can be brutal, especially when so much can go wrong besides your own driving. You could drive perfectly and another car takes you out or a teammate makes a mistake. Mentally, it’s incredibly difficult, but that first endurance win had me more emotional than my autocross championship or any other win. So many things just had to go right besides my own driving and it was a race where I personally had blistering pace compared to normal and my teammate for that one was very quick that day, too (normally I’m kind of the “hold the fort” driver on my team that can be consistent and mistake free while my faster teammates take their breaks).
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Comment on What's an achievement (or achievements) you'll always be proud of? in ~life
EsteeBestee (edited )LinkFor me, it’s my accomplishments in auto racing (both IRL and in iRacing). I used to autocross, for those unaware, it’s essentially time trial racing. Some courses are just cones in a parking lot,...For me, it’s my accomplishments in auto racing (both IRL and in iRacing). I used to autocross, for those unaware, it’s essentially time trial racing. Some courses are just cones in a parking lot, but our club also has access to a track so we had a mixed calendar (and even our parking lot courses were pretty dope).
But anyways, our regional club in Minnesota usually has 120ish drivers per event through many classes. In 2020 I actually won the championship for the largest and second most competitive class! There’s a little bit of an asterisk since it was Covid year and some quick drivers weren’t able to make the minimum # of events, but I still drove my ass off and it’s one of my proudest accomplishments. I actually have footage of my championship clinching lap that I’ll link below! I never won an event that year (I did in other years), but I was consistently 2nd or 3rd enough to grab it by a few points.
Since then I’ve actually become a faster and better driver, but I stopped autocrossing since you usually have to spend 8 hours at the track and only get to drive for 5-10 minutes due to the format and how many drivers we’d have. But in iRacing, from 2020-2023 I was relatively unaccomplished. I was a consistent driver, but usually not quick enough to earn podiums. Well, something started clicking in mid 2023 and 2024 and I ended up earning four podiums at team endurance events as well as my first win in 2024! I had definitely won normal races in iRacing before and had won a race in my indycar league, but endurance events are ultra competitive and winning just one is such an accomplishment that I’ll never forget it!
I did also do a season of karting and won rookie of the year, but I don’t think I managed to win a main race (I won a few qualifying/heat races).
I do want to get on the track more IRL, but because of covid, health events, and money, I haven’t been able to get back out there (I can autocross again, but I don’t want the time commitment for how little seat time it is). I plan on going wheel to wheel racing eventually but I keep having to push it off every year again. Like I kind of need a house so I have a spot to keep a race car and a trailer and then even a cheap wheel to wheel race car is like $10k, then tires costs, safety equipment, etc.
Anyways, here’s a taste of autocross:
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Comment on 2025 Masters Discussion in ~sports
EsteeBestee LinkThat was an insane day of golf! I don’t really keep up all year, but I usually watch the majors and that was absolute cinema. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a horrid final round end up in a...That was an insane day of golf! I don’t really keep up all year, but I usually watch the majors and that was absolute cinema. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a horrid final round end up in a win. I did want Rory to win and that sure did stress me out ever since his first hole!
It’s absolutely insane that he had three of the best approach shots of all time between 15 and the playoff and he still almost lost it from horrid mistakes. I was pretty convinced that Rose would take it in the playoff after his ridiculous round and while he played a good hole, Rory was just that much better when it counted.
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Comment on Marathon | Reveal cinematic short in ~games
EsteeBestee LinkThis trailer is absurdly cool, I’m a huge fan of the visual style they’re going for! We’ll see how the game is when it comes out, but knowing Bungie, at the very least the visuals and gunplay are...This trailer is absurdly cool, I’m a huge fan of the visual style they’re going for! We’ll see how the game is when it comes out, but knowing Bungie, at the very least the visuals and gunplay are going to be top notch. I’ve never really gotten into an extraction shooters before (I did play a lot of battle royale’s though) so I’m cautiously optimistic.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
EsteeBestee LinkI watched two movies this week and I liked both! Sonic the Hedgehog was an impulse watch when my sister was over. We were both sonic fans growing up and hadn’t seen it yet. It was fun! Not a...I watched two movies this week and I liked both!
Sonic the Hedgehog was an impulse watch when my sister was over. We were both sonic fans growing up and hadn’t seen it yet. It was fun! Not a stupendously amazing movie or anything, but it was enjoyable and the callbacks to older sonic media were fun. I’ll be watching 2 and 3 in the next few weeks, I reckon.
Then tonight I watched Drive and I absolutely loved it!
Spoilers
I really appreciated the slower pacing in the first half, which allowed the movie to breath a bit and for us to get uncomfortable with our driver as he’s trying to navigate a fairly normal life (at least in the daytime). The slow pace helped so much in building up tension and releasing it all at once in the second half. I’ll say that I knew absolutely nothing about this movie and didn’t know it would turn into a high stakes crime drama in the second half and I loved it for that. The story telling worked on me.Also, the opening scene is now one of my favorites, there was so much tension when he was trying to avoid the cops and all you could hear for parts was the radio and heavy breathing. It set the perfect tone for the first half.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
EsteeBestee Link ParentWhat TV did you get? I’m also eyeing up a 77” OLED, it’s the next big purchase on my list. I’m also with you on physical media. Not only is it fun to collect, the audio and visual quality beats...What TV did you get? I’m also eyeing up a 77” OLED, it’s the next big purchase on my list. I’m also with you on physical media. Not only is it fun to collect, the audio and visual quality beats the pants off streaming for sure. I also no longer want to be dependent on streaming services.
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Comment on What are some examples of media that really captured lightning in a bottle? in ~tv
EsteeBestee LinkTop Gear is such a fantastic example. It was so approachable and watchable even to non car people that not only was it entertaining for millions, it also exponentially grew the car community. Top...Top Gear is such a fantastic example. It was so approachable and watchable even to non car people that not only was it entertaining for millions, it also exponentially grew the car community. Top Gear is the reason I became interested in cars. I started watching when I was 18 and in college in 2010 (so it had already been running for a while) and because of that, in the years after, I started buying sports cars, working on cars, and fell into motorsport, not just as a viewer, but I’ve had the opportunity to race cars and work on race cars. TG was a life changing show for me in a good way and cars are now my main interest because of it. I’m sure millions share my experience , as well.
I know it isn’t TV, but I like the topic in general and one other lighting in a bottle I’d like to mention is Baldur’s Gate 3. The conditions for that game to blow up were absolutely perfect. We were just starting to come out of the pandemic, but somewhat still in it and people were staying home and the pandemic created millions of new gamers, especially PC gamers. People were starting to tire of live service, micro transaction laden games, and D&D had been more popular than ever, but I still couldn’t imagine a CRPG of D&D absolutely blowing up like Baldur’s Gate 3 did. I’m still really not sure what the exact catalyst is, but I remember feeling chills when it came out and not only was it a generational game in terms of quality, but it was flying off of (digital) shelves. I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing, that a fucking dungeons and dragons video game was becoming one of the greatest games of all time in real time.
Was it the bear sex marketing that gave it a push on TikTok or something or was I massively underestimating the audience for a CRPG set in D&D? Larian’s previous games had been good games and sold well for their genre, but I never ever would have expected what actually happened. Even talking about it now, a year and a half later, it’s still almost unbelievable to me that a game in a somewhat hard to play genre absolutely blew up like that.
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Comment on What are some examples of media that really captured lightning in a bottle? in ~tv
EsteeBestee Link ParentI was just talking about this last night with my sister: It’s absolutely insane that in a world where “premier” TV hasn’t really kicked off yet, this one show got almost everybody I know to pay...I was just talking about this last night with my sister:
It’s absolutely insane that in a world where “premier” TV hasn’t really kicked off yet, this one show got almost everybody I know to pay for HBO and then watch on a weekly basis and then on top of that, it was a fantasy show with swords and sorcery. It’s absolutely bonkers that so many people cared about a dense fantasy show that you had to pay money to watch (wasn’t just included in cable or whatever).
It was crazy to see how much of an influence the show had on pop culture. Everyone quoted it, merchandise was in every department store, you could even play fantasy GOT where you draft characters and get points for them killing, having sex, or dying. Despite the final season or two, it’s still one of the most important shows ever made. I can’t guess what the TV world might be like if they nailed the last season instead. Maybe since we’re 6 years removed, people would have moved on anyways, but I think if the show ended better, maybe we’d have seen a string of spin offs, movies, etc, instead of waiting 4 years for House of the Dragon.
I also feel that other shows like Wheel of Time may have gotten an indirect boost from people hungry for more GoT-likes if GoT itself didn’t leave such a sour taste in our mouths after season 8.
Lightning in a bottle, indeed. I think the TV world is so wide now, there are dozens of amazing shows on at any given time, that I might be hard for us to ever see another show where the whole world is collectively watching and talking about it.
Funny timing, I was just wondering about this book in the shower just now. Good to see it’s business as usual and can’t expect it to ever come out!
It’s such a shame because after how bad season 8 of the show was, I kidded myself into thinking “at least I’ll have the books” lmao