EsteeBestee's recent activity

  1. Comment on The American physicians are healing themselves with Ozempic in ~health

    EsteeBestee
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    I could definitely benefit from semaglutide, but I also have been kind of wary and waiting for more studies, but I’m at the point where my increased health from losing weight may outweigh...

    I could definitely benefit from semaglutide, but I also have been kind of wary and waiting for more studies, but I’m at the point where my increased health from losing weight may outweigh potential side effects. I’ve been hitting the gym hard, but I’m still having issues losing (tbf I’m also lifting a lot and getting noticeably more muscle), so I’m planning on talking to my doctor about it this week since I was already going.

    5 votes
  2. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    Yeah and it’s still a sandbox, it’s up to you to learn where to place your buildings and how to balance mining, farming, food, population, etc, but it feels more directed than playing Roller...

    Yeah and it’s still a sandbox, it’s up to you to learn where to place your buildings and how to balance mining, farming, food, population, etc, but it feels more directed than playing Roller Coaster Tycoon or Cities Skylines where it’s basically “here’s the map, start placing things”. It pretty specifically tells you what your town needs (shows how many months of food and fuel you have, what amenities citizens need, etc).

    It almost feels a bit more like an RTS or 4x game (based on vibes, it isn’t as deep as a 4X), which I’m enjoying. It’s also very relaxing, there were a few times where I just sat back and watched my city run for 15 minutes while trying to build up some supplies and watch my trade routes work.

    2 votes
  3. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    I really need to play it, it’s been on my wishlist forever. I’ve been in a medieval/renaissance mood lately and I’m kind of in a holding pattern until I know if Avowed is good or bad and if it’s...

    I really need to play it, it’s been on my wishlist forever. I’ve been in a medieval/renaissance mood lately and I’m kind of in a holding pattern until I know if Avowed is good or bad and if it’s bad I’ll need to get something like Pentiment to satisfy me.

    2 votes
  4. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    The new dungeon for Destiny 2, Sundered Doctrine, came out on Friday! I did not attempt contest mode, my clan and I instead did blind normal runs (normal combat difficulty but we figured out the...

    The new dungeon for Destiny 2, Sundered Doctrine, came out on Friday! I did not attempt contest mode, my clan and I instead did blind normal runs (normal combat difficulty but we figured out the mechanics and puzzles ourselves instead of watching the dungeon race or guides). This dungeon is great, though. There’s some fantastic lore, great aesthetics, and some fun loot. Rhulk’s Pyramid is my favorite location in the game and I’m excited to go back there! The difficulty is also great, it provided an appropriate challenge for a first run, but is very repeatable after learning the mechanics and the bosses have reasonable health values instead of having to 5 phase. My third attempt had us two phasing each boss which I think is a good balance spot for an activity that you ultimately need to run 15+ times to get the loot you want.

    I also finally picked up Manor Lords after the recent updates. It still has a ways to go, for example the perks and policy trees aren’t very deep yet, but the base gameplay is insanely good and very customizable. It’s closer to a resource management and worker placement game than something like Cities Skylines, but there’s still a level of satisfying building placement. As someone who doesn’t want to learn a million things in a new game, I think it’s concentrated well enough for me to get very into it, but still with enough complexity to reward multiple playthroughs.

    For my first game, I’m playing without opposing armies or bandits so I can get a hang of the management (I don’t play many games like this), but I will eventually do a city with that turned on since it gives you a lot of influence and that seems pretty crucial to expanding your kingdom (in my peaceful playthrough I’m currently running out of food until I expand but I can’t expand without tithing food which is not good because I’m already on a razor’s edge).

    One thing I wanted to mention is how technically impressive this game is. This game is made by a mostly solo dev, is 15gb, is beautiful, and the level of detail is absurd, like how all the livestock in people’s backyards get names or how you can walk around your city. It’s a very cool game and while it lacks the depth right now of some finished games in its genre, I’m excited by what it has so far and where it’s going.

    5 votes
  5. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    Destiny 2: Heresy (the new season) came out on Tuesday and it's pretty neat. The new seasonal activity, while not my favorite, is doing something new and is pretty fun. The new weapons this season...

    Destiny 2: Heresy (the new season) came out on Tuesday and it's pretty neat. The new seasonal activity, while not my favorite, is doing something new and is pretty fun. The new weapons this season all seem pretty great and I like the story/setting so far. Additionally, this season has a Trials of Osiris (competitive multiplayer) refresh that should make it much more bearable for PvE players like me that just wanna play it once in a while for armor and some new weapons. Also, a new dungeon is out tomorrow and that's what I'm most excited for! My clan and I aren't doing it on contest mode, but we are going to do normal mode tomorrow night going in blind (not looking up how to do the mechanics ahead of time).

    Also, I tried going back to warlock again this season: I mained warlock for my first 3 years playing this game and only played a couple seasons as titan. Last season I got really sick of warlock and played only titan. I was going to switch back to warlock for this season and I did play the first couple days as warlock, but then I tried the new titan builds out with the Storm's Keep aspect and fell in love, so I think I'm just a titan now. It kind of works out because the other two clan members that are online most often are a hunter and a warlock, so now we have one of each class.

    Also, it's a fucking bummer that Civilization 7, of all series, is falling victim to what I hate about many AAA games these days, where they just come out unfinished and super monetized (some civs being behind ultra expensive versions of the game). I looked at a number of reviews from critics, users, and a friend, and it's just a bummer. I'm going to be holding off for at least a few months and I might break if Avowed is also bad on launch, I've passed on the last 8 or so AAA games that I had wishlisted and wanted to get at launch.

  6. Comment on Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in ~sports.basketball

    EsteeBestee
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    That and they said they didn’t like his conditioning. What I still don’t get is why they didn’t go open market. Surely they could have got better offers. Maybe this GM is just dumb and he...

    That and they said they didn’t like his conditioning. What I still don’t get is why they didn’t go open market. Surely they could have got better offers. Maybe this GM is just dumb and he convinced himself that AD is his guy no matter what. I mean, the Mavs GM is the same dude that fucked up Nike’s presentation to Steph Curry and caused him to go to Under Armor.

    6 votes
  7. Comment on Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in ~sports.basketball

    EsteeBestee
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    I'm a Timberwolves fan and I'm more in shock about this trade than when KAT was traded away earlier this season. The only things that make sense are locker room drama (of which none was reported...

    I'm a Timberwolves fan and I'm more in shock about this trade than when KAT was traded away earlier this season. The only things that make sense are locker room drama (of which none was reported and Luka would still be way more valuable than AD), them not wanting to pay Luka a supermax starting this summer, or conspiracies. The Mavs GM did say "defense wins championships and we want to win right now" in regards to the trade, which seems insane given that they were just in the finals because of Luka and would likely win a championship with him in the next few years. It was also reported the Mavs were unhappy with Luka's conditioning (they're calling him fat lmao) and they don't want to pay him a supermax starting this summer. But even with all of this, you'd think they could get a bit more for him? They could have done Kyrie and Powell for AD and Christie if they wanted defense. Yeah they're giving up Kyrie, the second best scorer on the Mavs, but the Mavs are deep on shooters and AD would genuinely be a great defensive boon and and upgrade on center and I think the Lakers would still take that deal as they need to get a replacement for LeBron (Kyrie isn't as physical but has some similar traits to his game).

    With this trade, too, the Mavericks are WAAAAY too deep on center. They have AD, Lively, Gafford, and Powell. Lively and Gafford are both more traditional centers and both see significant play and now a third traditional center is being added? There has to be plans for another trade here.

    One of my Mavs friends said that one of the new owners was counting on Texas legalizing gambling to build a casino arena complex in Dallas, but now that isn't happening, so they're sabotaging the team in order to move to Vegas. As crazy as this sounds about a team that just made the finals, it's almost more believable than the GM just being petty or stupid.

    I really don't understand and my two Mavs friends are completely jaded right now.

    6 votes
  8. Comment on Dallas Mavericks trade Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in ~sports.basketball

    EsteeBestee
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    The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick What the absolute fuck? The...

    The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick

    What the absolute fuck? The mavericks are morons, lol.

    For those unfamiliar with basketball, this is perhaps the craziest and most unexpected trade of all time. Luka is a top 5 player right now and is just hitting his prime. Dallas got Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson to build around him, the Mavericks were in the finals last season. And now the mavs are giving Luka away for an aging center with injury issues. AD is great, but he isn’t anywhere near Luka. I honestly don’t know what they were thinking, it sounds like the Mavs just didn’t want to pay Luka what he’s worth next year.

    16 votes
  9. Comment on Snacks that aren't just sugar or crazy salty in ~food

    EsteeBestee
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    My mouth is watering reading that recipe, I love granola!

    My mouth is watering reading that recipe, I love granola!

    1 vote
  10. Comment on Snacks that aren't just sugar or crazy salty in ~food

    EsteeBestee
    Link Parent
    I’m going to have to try both of those recipes, thank you!!

    I’m going to have to try both of those recipes, thank you!!

    1 vote
  11. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental

    EsteeBestee
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    Hey smoontjes! Firstly, that cake is incredible, holy shit. Secondly, that tattoo is so cute and I'm happy for you that you were able to put that over your scars. I'm sorry to hear that you're...

    Hey smoontjes! Firstly, that cake is incredible, holy shit.

    Secondly, that tattoo is so cute and I'm happy for you that you were able to put that over your scars. I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with isolation a bit and I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with money, but I'm glad that it sounds like you have some friends there for you online at least. I'm not sure that there's much I can directly do to help, but if I'm ever in Denmark, I'll make sure to drop by to Odense if you'd have me.

    6 votes
  12. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental

    EsteeBestee
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    I'm sorry for your loss :( It sounds like he lived a good life and had many good times with you.

    I'm sorry for your loss :(

    It sounds like he lived a good life and had many good times with you.

    7 votes
  13. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental

    EsteeBestee
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    I'm sorry you're going through that. I know some people with federal jobs and what's going on right now is wild. I empathize with your situation and I also fully understand your frustration with...

    I'm sorry you're going through that. I know some people with federal jobs and what's going on right now is wild. I empathize with your situation and I also fully understand your frustration with your fellow americans, I'm in the same boat of still trying to come up with reasons as to why a third of the country just didn't vote and was okay with this? Not that I'm only running on hope at this point, but I hope at the end of all this, regardless of if that's in 4 years or 20 years, that americans will finally realize how important it is to at least do the bare minimum civic duty of voting and on top of that how important it is to organize and fight authoritarian governments.

    "I'm still trying to enjoy things and take time to appreciate what I've got"

    Same, fam. I'm hitting the gym a lot. Having a third space where you can chill out can be pretty important if you don't have one already. It's nice for me to be able to just shut everything out for an hour or two a day.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (February 2025) in ~health.mental

    EsteeBestee
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    NGL fam, I'm not doing well. I'm not on the verge of self harm or anything like that, so no worries there, but after having a fantastic last couple of years for myself, my mental health is back in...

    NGL fam, I'm not doing well. I'm not on the verge of self harm or anything like that, so no worries there, but after having a fantastic last couple of years for myself, my mental health is back in the dumpster a little bit and I'm just trying to do what I can in my day to day to keep some happiness and routine in my life.

    The changes in the US have yet to affect my family, friends, or myself personally yet, but I know that's coming. But even now, I'm just depressed and crying at what's happening to immigrants, for example. I'm trying to find a balance of staying informed, being caring, but also trying to keep myself healthy and it's hard.

    I was doing an okay job of it, but I got the news this week that my otherwise progressive workplace is now forcing us back into the office three days a week and the timing of this announcement is so immaculately terrible and tone deaf that I don't think it's an accident (I think it's coming right now because our leadership knows we're too exhausted and depressed to fight it and many of us can't afford job insecurity under trump's reign). There was no discussion, no surveying, just a mandate. Our CEO met with us yesterday and gave us a bunch of bullshit corpo non answers, which is disappointing because we're still a small company, could still be considered somewhat of a startup, and this is one of the first times I've felt our leadership is truly out of touch. We brought up as a group many good points and he just kept deflecting. He verbatim claimed "studies show that return to office is a good thing for everyone" and when challenged on it, he retracted that and said he got his info from executives and investors from "successful companies", the ones named being ones that performed mass layoffs and turned over their senior employees to save $ on employment costs so that their stock price would go brrrr for one quarter. He's feeding us bullshit to a room that is smart enough to completely see through it.

    Personally, I was planning on buying my first house this year so I literally cannot change jobs right now or I won't be able to get a loan. I also have a ton of equity in the company, but not all of it is vested yet. I want to hang out until its vested because if we eventually do grow enough to go public or get acquired, I could be rich off my asshole (and at the bare minimum get a huge nest egg), but I was miserable when I last worked in an office so I'm trying to weigh mental health against financial stability.

    Obviously with a possible economic collapse coming, I'm not a huge fan of leaving a job where I'm one of the most tenured employees at the entire company, but I also know that I'm going to just hate the three days a week I'm forced into the office. I'm hoping that we can all have the balls to band together and collectively bargain on this, but as much as I want to be a ring leader for it, I am fairly vulnerable right now (single income, no assets, barely any savings). Personally, I think I just have to suck it up if nobody else is willing to lead (though I'm sure half of the people affected have this same mindset). My direct boss is amazing and he is not going to police us. Yes I'll have to be in the office tue-thur each week, but I can be in a corner with my headphones on if I like. The thing I'm most pissed about is that I started looking at houses and I had the freedom to pick any neighborhood I wanted in my city, but now everyone within a HUGE radius is "required" to return to office, so that absolutely nukes half of my neighborhood choices as I just cannot do an hour commute each way in traffic.

    It seems a bit quaint to be worrying about this when we have literal concentration camps being put into service in the US, but at some point I have to take care of myself too.

    I am trying to look at the positives right now, though. I have been going to the gym consistently since November. Even when I aggravated an injury and had to take a few weeks off, I still got back to the gym after. I'm down 10 lbs and have built considerable muscle up already. I genuinely look forward to the gym instead of it being a chore and I love it as a third place for me.

    And I'm finally maybe going to buy a house! I am still struggling with thoughts on if I should or not. On one hand, when I know that goods and services are about to get extremely expensive, this seems like an awful time to buy, but on the other hand, this might be the last opportunity to get in on a house with current property prices and loan rates before another housing crisis hits and investors scoop up everything. I guess the way I'm looking at it is that I'm a 6 figure earner and if I get to the point where I can no longer afford a mortgage payment on a modest house, I wouldn't be able to afford rent anyways, and the world is probably collapsing around me if I can't financially keep up, so what does it matter if I lose the house? I'm kind of just counting on my tenure at my current company as being as secure as I possibly could be given our future outlook.

    Part of me is considering instead using my down payment funds as an emergency fund for emigration if I need to leave. I do not want to start over in another country and lose in person contact with all of my family and friends, but if I end up being targeted, it's an option I may have to take. I love my state and I love where I live and life has been pretty good for me in other years, but shit is starting to hit the fan pretty fast in the US now and it's basically a coin flip on if I'll be safe and protected in my state or if we'll be rolled over like half the other states.

    I am at least going to start going through the motions. I talked to an LO at my credit union and will be filing an application late feb, early march, and will start looking at homes and finding a realtor. If I can get this done and get a house this year, I'm really looking forward to having my own garage that's finally big enough! My garage space at my townhome is fine, but it's just a single stall (though big enough to work on a car and have all my tools). I'm trying to find a house that has a large 2 car garage or 3+, I want to be able to have a project car or a race car! I have so many dreams for a garage, like putting in heating, a lift, etc. I'm very excited at the thought of having my own!

    At the very least, I'm getting dinner with my sister (my favorite person) at my favorite restaurant tonight, so that's a nice little thing to look forward to.

    5 votes
  15. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
    Link Parent
    My clan also 80% fell off (including myself until last week). There are still three or four of us playing at least once every few weeks and three of us will be getting together for the dungeon...

    My clan also 80% fell off (including myself until last week). There are still three or four of us playing at least once every few weeks and three of us will be getting together for the dungeon next week (thankfully I cleared Salvation's Edge enough to get the exotic and red borders with another group). After July 5th, I only played about 10 hours until October 8th (revenant release) (using https://d2scrub.land to see my heatmap), then I played until the end of October and only just logged in again on Jan 12 and have played about 15 hours since then.

    To answer your question on the game's quality, the seasonal content is a noticeable step back in quality and engagement from prior seasons, but it's still ultimately Destiny 2. I really only played the seasonal content starting with witch queen (I previously only played D1 and vanilla D2), so I can't speak to seasons before that, but this is not a Season of the Seraph or Season of the Witch, it's the least engaged that I've personally been since I started playing. The story in Echoes and in Revenant were both sub-par and Bungie have been playing a bit with content delivery and it just made for a less fun time.

    I am, however, still somewhat optimistic for Heresy (starting next week) and for upcoming expansions. I think the golden age of the game is dead, gone, and never coming back (even if a Destiny 3 came out in like 6 years, I doubt it would feel as special as D2), but I think it can still be an enjoyable game going forward. I don't expect it to ever feel like it used to, the community has dropped off pretty hard, but I expect to be coming back to this game at least every few months over the next few years. Heresy's setting (the dreadnaught) has me more interested potentially and I'm a sucker for hive aesthetic and lore, so there will probably be something for me in this season, especially if Bungie dials in the content delivery to make it more engaging on a weekly basis.

    Along with the story is some sandbox updates and new arc aspects to spice things up a little. I do suspect even with all the changes, I will still probably only login for the first few and last few weeks of the season. The current plan is still for them to release an expansion after Heresy ends this summer (presumably), but there's very little info on what it is. They did previously mention wanting to explore almost a roguelike space for the game, which they somewhat did with "The Coil" in season of the wish, and I do think something like that could get them in a place where the game is fun to play repeatedly while Bungie not necessarily needing to put in the amount of work that something like The Final Shape takes. Unfortunately I think we're either going to see this delayed or the expansion will be Shadowkeep tier or worse.

    I'm willing to see what they have planned, but the vibe I kind of get from the community right now is that people are burned out after 10 years. I think it's okay for Bungie to release some smaller expansions and seasons to keep some of the daily players satisfied while hopefully working on something bigger and better for the future (whether that be another great expansion like Forsaken or TFS or something else). But the game, both in the community and because of what Bungie is/isn't working on, isn't quite as special anymore, even if it's still fun.

  16. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    I haven't heard of Patheon, but you have my attention. I suppose I can just look up some streams or let's plays, but how early is the early access? I'd like to potentially get into another MMO...

    I haven't heard of Patheon, but you have my attention. I suppose I can just look up some streams or let's plays, but how early is the early access? I'd like to potentially get into another MMO (especially if it stylizes itself a bit as old school), but if the game is still very jank, I might have to pass on it until at least summer. I've been thirsty for another adventure MMO (rather than what WoW is these days of do the campaign and then just queue for dungeons and raids and never talk to people), so I'd definitely be curious about this one.

    Also, if they're trying to be reminiscent of EQ, are there at least some modern quality of life features (like good control and graphics settings, a good UI, etc.) to make a game like that more playable in modern times?

    2 votes
  17. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    EsteeBestee
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    I am still hitting Destiny 2 pretty hard this week to wrap up some season 2 stuff and get ready for the new season next Tuesday, I'm pretty excited for it! There's a new dungeon coming, so I'm...

    I am still hitting Destiny 2 pretty hard this week to wrap up some season 2 stuff and get ready for the new season next Tuesday, I'm pretty excited for it! There's a new dungeon coming, so I'm sure I'll no life that with my clan mates for a few weeks before falling off again until the upcoming expansion (that we don't really have details or a release date for yet).

    Season 2 for Black Ops 6 comes out tomorrow and has a bunch of new maps, weapons, and a few new perks, so I'm excited to also try that! We're also getting a belt fed attachment for LMGs that makes it so you don't require reloading, but can overheat, I'm ready to be a bullet hose.

    I'm still plugging away on Super Mario Odyssey for an hour every couple nights or so, it's a relaxing game to play when I don't want anything too complex.

    Other than that, I'm waiting for Civilization VII to come out next week (holy shit, it's next week already) and Avowed on the 18th. I've been still eyeing up Caves of Qud, but I don't think I should buy it when Civ and Avowed are right around the corner and while I'm still working on Veilguard and have new seasons for both CoD and Destiny....

    3 votes
  18. Comment on What fictional world would you live in, if you could pick any one? in ~talk

    EsteeBestee
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    That’s such a good answer as long as it’s not during the tail end of the war of the ring, but there are thousands of years before or after that would be perfect! It would be so peaceful to live in...

    That’s such a good answer as long as it’s not during the tail end of the war of the ring, but there are thousands of years before or after that would be perfect! It would be so peaceful to live in a hobbit hole and your job is fishing or farming or being a jeweler or a tailor and you just party and eat and drink all the time!

    4 votes
  19. Comment on What fictional world would you live in, if you could pick any one? in ~talk

    EsteeBestee
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    This sounds like a very fascinating setting and I think I’m going to have to read up on it. 80’s and 90’s retrofuturism is my jam!

    This sounds like a very fascinating setting and I think I’m going to have to read up on it. 80’s and 90’s retrofuturism is my jam!