Grzmot's recent activity
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Comment on IOC enters a new era with the creation of Olympic Esports Games – first Games in 2025 in Saudi Arabia in ~games
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Comment on Russo Bros in talks to direct next two Avengers film in ~movies
Grzmot Link ParentImho the Thanos plot worked because it was contained. You had the Avengers and their movies and then the team ups. If you missed one it didn't matter much. But House Mouse is public and needs to...Imho the Thanos plot worked because it was contained. You had the Avengers and their movies and then the team ups. If you missed one it didn't matter much.
But House Mouse is public and needs to grow. So expand the scope, more movies, more shows, more interconnection. You can't keep up unless you give them all the attention. Plus the increased volume of content will quicken fatigue development.
James Bond works for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that he only shows up every couple of years.
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Comment on The line between pricey and predatory | Cold Take in ~games
Grzmot Link ParentIn a conversation with a friend about why Coca Cola still does commercials when they are probably one of the most well known companies on the planet, he told me that they tried, and found out that...In a conversation with a friend about why Coca Cola still does commercials when they are probably one of the most well known companies on the planet, he told me that they tried, and found out that stopping advertisement lowers purchase numbers.
That was insane to me. You'd think that people buy it because they like the taste, but it seems that the advertisement is needed specifically to keep them hooked.
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Comment on The line between pricey and predatory | Cold Take in ~games
Grzmot LinkBackground: The video game League of Legends (LoL) has recently created a hall of fame for its most famous e-sports players and added the first player to it. In his honour, a "micro" transaction...Background: The video game League of Legends (LoL) has recently created a hall of fame for its most famous e-sports players and added the first player to it. In his honour, a "micro" transaction is available to be purchased in LoL in the form of a skin for about USD 500. Of course, people are rioting.
I find this to be a very balanced take on the situation. In particular, the phrase the following quote has stuck with me.
I once said the world is full of stupid people. I may have been right the first time, but that's not way to live. A more charitable opinion I hold now is that people don't bring their mental A game to every situation.
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The line between pricey and predatory | Cold Take
21 votes -
Comment on The misplaced incentives in academic publishing in ~science
Grzmot Link ParentSolving any problem is comparatively easy as opposed to solving a problem systematically. Any incentives you create will, over time, lead to the system adapting to maximize the profit out of those...Solving any problem is comparatively easy as opposed to solving a problem systematically. Any incentives you create will, over time, lead to the system adapting to maximize the profit out of those incentives, even if the individuals in it are well-meaning. Something similar happened in the German healthcare system, where specific treatments like surgery were incentivized over others, which over the decades lead to a system where for specific ailments invasive surgery is prioritized over other, better, less invasive treatments for those ailments.
I think solving any problem at scale is always immensely difficult. You will always have a select (often very small) percentage of people in the system abusing it for their own gain, which will often be used by populists to say that the entire system is flawed. I don't know where to place the threshold upon which to say "Well, the system works!". It might seem trivial to say, but the easier an exploit is, the more people will abuse it, viewing it as "free money". People who are otherwise fine upstanding citizens.
I think hiring academics to just review stuff would be good. I wouldn't want it to be payment per review, that seems easily exploitable, but the range of academic publications seems to broad to settle on some performance requirement, so how would you measure that these hired people aren't just schmoozing, but working to review stuff?
It's a similar problem that comes from measuring productivity for programmers. Not all lines of code are created equal, there are days where I produce just ten for an entire workday because of the amount of research, testing, writing, rewriting that is required to get to that spot. How do you balance oversight against micromanagement?
It's a tough nut to crack.
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Comment on Norwegian government has called off a plan to sell the last privately owned piece of land on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in order to prevent its acquisition by China in ~misc
Grzmot LinkEither whatever software is doing the conversions for the guardian fucked up or someone forgot to put in some units. On topic; good. I'm not interested in Chinas geopolitics getting closer.The remote Sore Fagerfjord property in south-west Svalbard – 60 sq miles (sq km) of mountains, plains and a glacier
Either whatever software is doing the conversions for the guardian fucked up or someone forgot to put in some units.
On topic; good. I'm not interested in Chinas geopolitics getting closer.
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Comment on Microsoft CEO of AI claims online content is 'freeware' [and can be used to train LLMs in the absence of a specific directives from the author against this] in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentScrapers don't click the ads you show next to your content. If they even load in the first place cause scrapers tend to be HTML only. So they actually maker your life worse as someone showing ads,...Scrapers don't click the ads you show next to your content. If they even load in the first place cause scrapers tend to be HTML only. So they actually maker your life worse as someone showing ads, because they reduce your conversion rate (percentage of people who have seen the ad and clicked on it).
Besides, someone is using your art/text/whatever for their own very financial gain. I don't think artists would mind as much if their art got trained to be used by an AI that produces character images for people in DnD campaigns, because most of those people are not gonna be able to pay the amount of money that for every campaign/character. There at least the financial gain aspect is removed, and artists might still have an issue with it, which is fair.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival - Returning blockier than ever on Friday July 12th (1.21 update) in ~games
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Comment on Steam - Game Recording Beta - A new built-in system for creating and sharing your gameplay footage in ~games
Grzmot Link ParentI mean, it's a good call on their end. Fortnite is very popular with kids who, to some extent, have not even entered puberty yet. Once they do, they will want to differentiate themselves from...They know the Fortnite gravy train isn't forever.
I mean, it's a good call on their end. Fortnite is very popular with kids who, to some extent, have not even entered puberty yet. Once they do, they will want to differentiate themselves from "children" by playing something else. It's a huge, but fleeting success.
And while I give them props for that, I think the lack of development that the epic store has seen makes me think that they aren't reacting properly to it and will keep relying on exclusives to push it. Personally I think Valve should start publishing games too. Not make them exclusive, but say that they have to release on Steam, and beyond that just focus on giving good people money to make good games. Valve has basically infinite money and could publish some real avantgarde shit of they wanted to.
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Comment on YouTube is testing "Premium Jump Ahead" (built-in sponsorblock) in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentI mean, creators started doing sponsored segments and Patreon because Youtube ad money started being really fucking shit. The Adpocalypse was real and happened a while back. This is all just an...I mean, creators started doing sponsored segments and Patreon because Youtube ad money started being really fucking shit. The Adpocalypse was real and happened a while back.
This is all just an eternal back and forth between the platform and the people what make the platform worthwhile, but it's youtube, so where else are you gonna go? The only other companies that could pull up a competitor would likely be Microsoft (ew), Amazon (more ew), or Apple (ew as a subscription service). Even if those platforms started out really good and free to entice people to jump over, evensually they would be pulled into an Enshittification pattern. It's just the only way that big tech companies roll, and only big tech companies can produce a youtube competitor.
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Comment on Mirror's Edge Catalyst and empty worlds in ~games
Grzmot Link ParentFirst of all, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to watch my video and respond to it! You're right, a lot of the details in ME1 are Japanese, like manufacturing notes and...First of all, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to watch my video and respond to it!
I really liked about the aesthetics, was usage of multiple languages. I really enjoyed the Japanese vibe to it. I think they really inspired themselves on Tokyo, most probably.
You're right, a lot of the details in ME1 are Japanese, like manufacturing notes and such. It's really cool and easy to forget.
They use the same "tricks"! You are kinda of alone in the world, but it feels lived in with background stories. On Max Payne 2 it was always fun to wait in the corner and let the enemies just talk about random things or listening to the radio. (maybe a new suggestion for a video from me ;) )
This is called environmental story telling, and it does also play a role in the next video I want to make about the new Wolfenstein games. ;) No promise on when I'll be able to make it though. Generally the top games that use this technique are said to be the From Software games; Dark Souls, Elden Ring, etc, but they are not really my vibe as games unfortunately.
But even the fetching of the yellow bags had a hidden story behind it! Did you know? The story about the janitor runner. I always wanted to know more about the guy! I had the hope we would meet him in Mirror's Edge 2. He left some graffitis close to the runner bags. There were even mentioning him in one of those elevator news, I remember. See more about him: https://mirrorsedge.fandom.com/wiki/Janitor
Oh I didn't know that the Janitor was supposed to be a runner! I remember in ME1 there was the janitor closet with the pet rat in it (which by the way, returns in Catalyst in the final level). The giant rat easter egg returns as well, if you run along the rails in the final level away from the skyscraper, dodging trams going your way, you will eventually meet a gigantic rat blocking your way, and then you teleport back to the start of the level.
Damn, Mirror's Edge 1 was truly a game made with love, in my view. Catalyst feels really MBA-type developed game...
The worst thing is and that's one of my main points: It doesn't entirely. You can see that even under all those wrong choices, a lot of love has gone into making it, and in certain aspects, it is brilliant. I'd be fine with the futuristic take if it all was just done better. And I haven't considered it before, but you're right, you do feel like a super human in Catalyst, you're taking down so many enemies and zipping around on grappling hooks and such. Toning it down would have been a lot better.
I think I could have tolerated it all though if the story was great, and I partially hate the fact that the sidequest with Beatrix Blooch is in the game because it made me glimpse at something so much better.
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Comment on AI will become mathematicians’ ‘co-pilot’ in ~tech
Grzmot Link ParentIt's a bubble right now, and anything AI gets clicks. Such is life.It's a bubble right now, and anything AI gets clicks. Such is life.
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Comment on Mirror's Edge Catalyst and empty worlds in ~games
Grzmot LinkHi guys! I have finally finished my firsr video essay. Life got busy and technical issues had to be overcome, but I'm proud of this one. Please enjoy!Hi guys! I have finally finished my firsr video essay. Life got busy and technical issues had to be overcome, but I'm proud of this one.
Please enjoy!
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Mirror's Edge Catalyst and empty worlds
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Comment on Team Fortress 2: Nobody's home in ~games
Grzmot Link ParentI think to extrapolate from what is essentially abandon-ware to a new game when CS2 and Dota 2 work pretty well is going a bit too far. I disagree with ZJ on one thing in the video: Valve is still...I think to extrapolate from what is essentially abandon-ware to a new game when CS2 and Dota 2 work pretty well is going a bit too far.
I disagree with ZJ on one thing in the video: Valve is still providing game servers for TF2, which cost something, they do have a moral right to get some cash out of it. Obviously, the current state of TF2 is a joke though. The problem is that Valve has zero incentive to fix it, because using the steam market they can monetize all item trading pretty well.
If they'd really care (and Valve is a private company, they can do what they want), what I would do is stop all item drops and give every TF2 player one item each except for like the special untradeable ones that are rewards, like that golden statue you get for winning their short film contest. Stop the lootbox bullshit and do regular item releases from the workshop for a sensible fee in the ingame store. The game's community is small enough that they deserve it tbh.
The problem remains that there's a significant portion of bots that exist seemingly just to ruin the game for others, which are the cheater bots. For those I would deploy hidden features to root out the actual accounts connected to them and ban them completely, no more trading, no more nothing. Dota 2 did a similar thing a while back where they made a honeypot that cheat developers got in on and using that they banned a shitton of cheating accounts. All cheating ruins the game for others, but the people who use cheats to beat others I at least have some tangible understanding for why they do it (obv still deserve a ban), but people who run a bot that 24/7 exists for no other reason other than to ruin the game for someone else are the lowest of the low.
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Comment on Valve's next game may have just leaked / Deadlock appears to be a multiplayer hero shooter that combines elements of Overwatch, Valorant, and Dota 2 in ~games
Grzmot Link ParentThat market is pretty much entirely cornered by Call of Duty. The people who complain on reddit about SBMM are not the target demographic of the game. It's the people who buy 1-2 games a year and...That market is pretty much entirely cornered by Call of Duty. The people who complain on reddit about SBMM are not the target demographic of the game. It's the people who buy 1-2 games a year and it's usually CoD and FIFA.
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Comment on Team Fortress 2: Nobody's home in ~games
Grzmot LinkAn extremely interesting view into the massive botting problem that Team Fortress 2 has. The creator comes to the conclusion that at least 70% of official steam user numbers on TF2 are bots...An extremely interesting view into the massive botting problem that Team Fortress 2 has. The creator comes to the conclusion that at least 70% of official steam user numbers on TF2 are bots farming items.
There's a follow up video where the creator goes out and finds around 60k bot accounts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnuxHZm73PU
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Team Fortress 2: Nobody's home
33 votes -
Comment on ‘Furiosa’ fires up Cannes with six-minute standing ovation for Anya Taylor-Joy and teary Chris Hemsworth in ~movies
Grzmot Link ParentSicario is probably the best thriller I've ever seen. The level of tension that movie produces was only rivaled by Baby Driver's second and third act for me.Sicario is probably the best thriller I've ever seen. The level of tension that movie produces was only rivaled by Baby Driver's second and third act for me.
It's a baffling attempt that will go nowhere. Some decision makers on the side of the olympic games probably getting hefty "donations" or "seats at the board" to wire them great amounts of cash from Saudi Arabia.
Unless the actual most popular e-sports are represented here- LoL, Dota, CSGO, a number of fighting games, etc. no one relevant will care.
I think properly done this could be a great project. I hate to see it squandered like this, but then again, Saudi Arabia has been squandering pretty much all of their cash. I can't believe the amount of stupid shit they do with the actually infinite amount of money that they have.