Ixa's recent activity
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Comment on Klei Entertainment has agreed to a deal for Tencent to purchase a majority stake in the company in ~games
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Comment on What are some RPGs that really capitalise on player choice and branching story? in ~games
Ixa LinkI think this is a discussion that's going to be very colored by people's individual interpretation of the words "player choice", unless you specify what you mean. There are games with non-linear...I think this is a discussion that's going to be very colored by people's individual interpretation of the words "player choice", unless you specify what you mean. There are games with non-linear stories, where the "path" you end up on can change and alter the outcome of the story. There are also games with entirely linear stories that try to account for and react to how you play. Both of those are some form of "player choice", but they're not the same kind of player choice.
Some games do one and not the other, some games do both. Either is fine, we just need to agree on what we mean when we say "player choice". That being said, if you're looking for a masterclass in both, go play Alpha Protocol. Preferably twice. It's an RPG about spies, and sometimes I can't believe it exists.
The basic structure of the game has three "level hubs". After completing the tutorial area, you get to complete the three hubs in whatever order you want. The story of each hub changes to accommodate what you already know, as the plot unravels. It's more or less the same plot every time, but the parts of it you see will change - sometimes drastically so. When it released, reviewers panned the game for being short, but it's really a game that begs you to play it multiple times just to see it all.
On top of that, the game is also uniquely reactive. It cares a lot about how you play it. All the major characters will like you or dislike you depending on how you approach situations in the game. Some want you going in guns blazing, some prefer being a bit more subtle about it. Some want calm and professional, some enjoy chaos. Major details in the plot will change depending on who likes you and dislikes you at any specific time. Minor details in cutscenes will change depending on your skills, previous choices, casualties during the most recent mission, relationships with other characters, how far along in the plot you are, your clothes and weapons, what email signature you use, favorite ice cream flavor...
I bought it on sale for like 2€ years ago and it completely changed my perspective on what "player choice" can even mean in video games. Sometimes it's not having the choice of who lives and who dies, or the choice of good or evil. Sometimes it's choosing to ditch the body armor in favor of a Hawaiian shirt because kevlar looks really out of place in a subway station.
If nothing else, go play it just to experience Steven "brought a flame thrower to a hotel lobby gun fight" Heck.
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Comment on Are software engineers "engineers"? in ~comp
Ixa Link ParentAmerica seems to have an underlying assumption in the software world that, If you know how to program and you want to do it for a living, you're probably going to college/university and getting a...America seems to have an underlying assumption in the software world that, If you know how to program and you want to do it for a living, you're probably going to college/university and getting a degree. More importantly, that everyone who codes for a living are either some sort of self taught geniuses, or they're fresh off some three week bootcamp that does nothing to prepare them for real development, or they went to college.
Where I'm from, you can also become a software developer by learning it as a craft - you go to coding school for three-four years, and get a lot of practical experience with whatever languages and frameworks are popular in enterprise software at the moment. When you look for a job, some positions will be looking for a software engineer - who understands computer architecture, discrete math, all that stuff - and some positions will "just" be looking for a programmer, who knows a specific language or framework and can code to spec.
(That being said, lots of people who graduate as software engineers still end up doing the "just programming" stuff for a living, but that's true of regular engineers as well. Lots of people just enjoy being hands-on in their field and work as technicians.)
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Comment on Special counsel Mueller has submitted a report to the attorney general, signaling the end of his Russia investigation in ~news
Ixa Link ParentI know this isn't a particularly good contribution to the conversation here, and I also know that there aren't really that many contributors to the site yet, but I just want to say that it's very...I know this isn't a particularly good contribution to the conversation here, and I also know that there aren't really that many contributors to the site yet, but I just want to say that it's very refreshing to see the "top brass" being an active part of the community. Thank you!
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Comment on "I didn't have control": A 14-year-old on why she quit social media in ~misc
Ixa Link ParentI'm young enough that I was still a kid when social media exploded. I also really dislike the thought of pictures or videos of me being shared online, and I pretty much always have. When I was a...I'm young enough that I was still a kid when social media exploded. I also really dislike the thought of pictures or videos of me being shared online, and I pretty much always have. When I was a teen I decided that my "teenage rebellion" would be deleting my online presence and not signing up for any social media at all, which is a decision I've stood by since I was 13. Now that I'm older, I'm so happy that my years as a kid/teen are nowhere to be found online.
Speaking from that point of view - thank you so much for what you're doing!
I really don't like the trend of parents sharing everything and anything about their kid online - your kids are people too, treat them with the same respect you would anyone else. Don't upload their pictures without their permission, that's a dick move.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~games
Ixa Link ParentDoes the Humble Store still offer a local copy for some titles? I don't think I've bought a game on Steam since 2015. The local copy that I get from GOG is just too much of an insurance policy for...Does the Humble Store still offer a local copy for some titles?
I don't think I've bought a game on Steam since 2015. The local copy that I get from GOG is just too much of an insurance policy for someone like me who mostly plays single-player games - knowing that I can download offline installers as backup for most of my library is great. I know Humble used to have a similar policy at some point, but I also haven't bought a game from them in a while now.
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Comment on Patreon announces upcoming tiered "creator plans" with different fees and features - current creators can grandfather in with lower rates in ~tech
Ixa Link ParentHonestly, having now gone back and read it more thoroughly I agree with you - not as bad as it first seemed to me. Especially the low fees on small transactions. I don't like the positive spin...Honestly, having now gone back and read it more thoroughly I agree with you - not as bad as it first seemed to me. Especially the low fees on small transactions. I don't like the positive spin that their announcement is trying to put on it, though.
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Comment on Patreon announces upcoming tiered "creator plans" with different fees and features - current creators can grandfather in with lower rates in ~tech
Ixa LinkSo they're making the service worse for new users and grandfathering in old ones to what used to be the standard to keep the outrage down? Great. Just, great.So they're making the service worse for new users and grandfathering in old ones to what used to be the standard to keep the outrage down?
Great. Just, great.
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Comment on Google announces "Stadia", a new game-streaming platform with deep YouTube integration in ~games
Ixa Link ParentEven if it did get widely adopted, it would probably also face a lot of opposition. I have no doubt that Google has some of the most skilled networking engineers and software developers in the...Even if it did get widely adopted, it would probably also face a lot of opposition.
I have no doubt that Google has some of the most skilled networking engineers and software developers in the world working for them, but streaming games is a really hard task to get right.
Even if their implementation is flawless, gaming is a hobby that has people actively advocating for data ownership, with GOG and its supporters and their anti-DRM anti-online movement, and its a hobby that's pretty well known for causing a big PR storm if companies screw up.
This wasn't going to be an easy market to break into for Google, and definitely not in this way.
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Comment on IMO, Trump 2020 is better than a non-progressive Democrat in ~talk
Ixa Link ParentI think this is a strong point. I say this as an outsider looking in: America has lost a lot of respect in world politics since Trump took office. Even with the surge of right-wing populism in...I think this is a strong point.
I say this as an outsider looking in: America has lost a lot of respect in world politics since Trump took office.
Even with the surge of right-wing populism in most of the world, American politics still leans right compared to most of the western world. Where I'm from, all of American politics exists right of our center. Nobody in their right mind would vote for republican policies over here. Less than 5% of our voters approve of Trump, almost 80% think he hasn't improved or has been getting actively worse over the course of the term. He's widely ridiculed.
You guys electing an American centrist (read: right-leaning) politician would maybe not cause you to gain much in terms of cold hard politics, if what you want is Warren or Bernie, but it would at least stop a lot of your allies from abandoning you completely.
"Don't worry, we got this" is a very powerful signal to be sending after four years of Trump.
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Comment on Is computer code a foreign language? in ~humanities
Ixa Link ParentI would probably go with them being part of the math curriculum, if I had to pick somewhere to stuff them into current schools. Many of the same thought processes that are needed for good math...I would probably go with them being part of the math curriculum, if I had to pick somewhere to stuff them into current schools.
Many of the same thought processes that are needed for good math education is also a part of programming - being able to break down a big task into small manageable steps where you know how to complete each step in turn, reasoning about a problem before you start trying to solve it, etc.
Additionally, comp sci is a lot of math. So there's also that.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~misc
Ixa Link ParentI'm gonna go full corporate buzzword for a moment: Wouldn't this be one of the places where a blockchain could help? I'll admit, I don't know much about it, but from my understanding of...I'm gonna go full corporate buzzword for a moment:
Wouldn't this be one of the places where a blockchain could help?
I'll admit, I don't know much about it, but from my understanding of blockchains, they're constructed by every additional block being required to verify the entire previous chain of events before being added, meaning the entire voting record would be public and verifiable. Not who voted for what, just in what order the votes were added. Tampering with the votes on one machine would invalidate that machine automatically, since its records wouldn't match with the rest.
I'll expect someone to now call me out on why this is a terrible idea.
Seems like the kind of thing that will go over really poorly with people who only read headlines.
This reads a lot more like "We're just making a previous unofficial partnership official now" than "We're getting bought out". If anything, the guy running the place seems like the type of person to leave if Tencent wants too much creative control.