TheJorro's recent activity
-
Comment on What game(s) have you tried to repeatedly get into but ultimately could not? in ~games
-
Comment on Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Visual improvements in ~games
TheJorro (edited )Link ParentI still don't know why they felt the need to change to a traditional ammo system instead of just refining the first game's mechanics to be tighter and make a bit more sense. Interestingly, that...I still don't know why they felt the need to change to a traditional ammo system instead of just refining the first game's mechanics to be tighter and make a bit more sense. Interestingly, that seems to be exactly what they're doing for this remaster of the first game!
-
Comment on Mask off in ~misc
TheJorro Link ParentUltimately a professional, high quality, and honest video will remembered in five years, not a bunch of disingenuous takes from random people on Twitter.Ultimately a professional, high quality, and honest video will remembered in five years, not a bunch of disingenuous takes from random people on Twitter.
-
Comment on Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Visual improvements in ~games
TheJorro Link ParentI'm sure it was signal boosted to the stratosphere by people who engage in outrage as a sport. But at the same time, I think Mass Effect 3's ending actually was also just that genuinely disliked,...I'm sure it was signal boosted to the stratosphere by people who engage in outrage as a sport. But at the same time, I think Mass Effect 3's ending actually was also just that genuinely disliked, even once you remove the people engaging in it for sport. I don't think it could have gone that far if it wasn't so widely disliked.
Of course, the intensity of the reaction has overshadowed most of the issues people had with what ME3 presented with the ending, and enough time has passed that it's hard to remember what disappointed people so greatly compared to how people responded (which was definitely extreme), especially after they modified the game with an extended ending and released DLC to soften it. But also I can't speak to the level of hatred people responded with because I just stayed out of it entirely. Admittedly, I don't really know how the in-depth mechanics of that response went and can only really speak for how pretty much everyone I know who was a die-hard ME fan just suddenly wasn't overnight.
I think through all these years, MrBTongue's video (which was fresh around launch and before the announcement of any changes) preserved what people who were genuinely disappointed greatly by the ending felt about the game itself, independent of the hubbub happening around it. Basically it was just so contrary to what many enjoyed about the previous games that it left many feeling unsatisfied or, in more extreme cases (admittedly like myself), left them feeling hollow about it.
I recall the entitlement thing because because some people were outright demanding a redo of the entire game (!!!), or that EA owed them all their money back, or any number of inane demands. And those all really are patently ridiculous demands. I noticed that was the same group of people who also somehow thought all that needed to be fixed were the three coloured buttons or the lack of 50 different endings for all your choices for everyone. I think the only thing most people who were genuinely disappointed by the game wanted back was the sentiment squad camaraderie back because the ending really biffed that one.
I suppose the simpler way of saying this is that I can't think of another game where such a large proportion of its players just straight up felt they did not get an emotional return of investment on a story, even the many that didn't engage in gaming forums or subculture. Anecdotally, many of the people I know who consider themselves casual gamers but enjoyed the series came away disliking how it ended and the ones that didn't simply just were never all that invested in the first place.
-
Comment on Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Visual improvements in ~games
TheJorro Link ParentOh for sure, I think those two situations got the notice of the people who eventually stoked GamerGate into becoming a thing to take notice of this particular group of people and see if they could...Oh for sure, I think those two situations got the notice of the people who eventually stoked GamerGate into becoming a thing to take notice of this particular group of people and see if they could rally them into a hateful weaponized mass. It took a couple of years, but I can't even remember what the situation was that launched the mass publication of "gamers are dead" articles that ended up being the spark that set it off.
That said, these two are the proto-examples of the possibility of GamerGate. The ME3 ending thing is what started the whole "entitled" thing, I remember, and that spawned a period of hostility itself. It was pretty wild that they even made an extended ending for the game to address the backlash but I have to believe that was more the result of ME3's ending being so universally hated, and not just a product of manufactured outrage.
I'm hoping gaming in general learned its lesson about letting hate mobs take over the conversation, anything close to it has been shut down quickly everywhere in recent years, but I suppose it remains to be truly tested again.
-
Comment on Mass Effect Legendary Edition - Visual improvements in ~games
TheJorro LinkI'm looking forward to checking this out but I'm also bracing myself for a whole new wave of people who hate the Mass Effect 3 ending all over again. It was... quite a phenomenon the first time...I'm looking forward to checking this out but I'm also bracing myself for a whole new wave of people who hate the Mass Effect 3 ending all over again. It was... quite a phenomenon the first time around and I wonder how it will end up this time around, now that there's probably a whole new cadre of gamers who weren't there to experience the firestorm the first time. I doubt it'll be even a tenth as bad as before but I'm betting there's going to be a whole bunch of people stunned to see that that's how it goes.
I wasn't one of those people who were furious about it, writing pages and pages about how terrible it was, or demanding Bioware change it at all. But at the same time, I was more than ready for Game of Thrones' ending as a result—that one still doesn't top Mass Effect 3's ending for me.
I'm hyped for a remaster of the entire trilogy with the DLC because I actually never played most of the DLC. But I didn't end up doing that because I always planned to replay the entire series with all the DLC once it was all released... until I finished ME3's base game on launch. I guess I'm of two minds about this remaster. On one hand, the first ME holds some of my fondest gaming memories (and it's still my favourite of the three) but, on the other hand, ME3 gave me some of my worst ones.
I guess I'll just hope these new graphics are shiny enough to distract me this time. And hey, between the extended ending and the Citadel DLC, maybe it'll soften the blow enough for everyone, including me.
-
Comment on Cambodia condemns Vice for edited photos of Khmer Rouge victims smiling in ~humanities
TheJorro Link ParentMeanwhile, here's a family member saying that the bio the artist claimed for their relative is inaccurate. It's verified by that same Alastair McCready too.Meanwhile, here's a family member saying that the bio the artist claimed for their relative is inaccurate. It's verified by that same Alastair McCready too.
-
Comment on Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is very excited about the Epic Games Store losing a ton of money in ~games
TheJorro (edited )Link ParentSKIF is actually the latest from one of the most popular gametime injection authors, Kaldaien. He's the one who made the FAR mod for Nier Automata and made critical improvements to a number of...SKIF is actually the latest from one of the most popular gametime injection authors, Kaldaien. He's the one who made the FAR mod for Nier Automata and made critical improvements to a number of Japanese ports. SKIF is notable because it's the only widespread HDR injection method right now. A bit niche but quite a feat of engineering, Digital Foundry even covered it to assess its results. It's like a more manual version of Microsoft's AutoHDR technology that can be tweaked, fine tuned, and debugged by a user.
It's certainly not locked to Steam but it features native integration with Steam. When you install it, it works across all your Steam games and presents you with a list of your compatible Steam games. It's not just this, but there are many other tools and add-ons that take advantage of Steam's APIs and extensibility to add or manipulate functions, like AugmentedSteam, SteamDB, SteamSpy, and more.
It's not really something that should be Steam exclusive but they really have been the only launcher even planning for such things from the outset and have only encouraged it. I haven't seen any of the other launchers become able to support so many third party tool integrations, if any at all. I don't think this is something that can just be added to a launcher either, this is something that has to be built-in throughout its design. I think this is something that kind of gets lost when people point to launchers as being nothing more than storefronts with skins—it's something that is true of every launcher except Steam because Steam did not start as a video game storefront but as a way to unify games together behind the scenes.
To be clear, it's not that I'm opposed to EGS or think they won't improve. It's just that I think people have started thinking about Steam the wrong way because of what the market looks like. The reason it's so successful and widespread is because it's specifically not trying to compete with other storefronts and launchers.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
TheJorro (edited )Link ParentI believe the console versions support mods, so look into some popular gameplay mods that could augment a new character type. By this point in the game's life, people have played all kinds of...I believe the console versions support mods, so look into some popular gameplay mods that could augment a new character type. By this point in the game's life, people have played all kinds of characters and then have spent time identifying problems playing as them with the game's stock mechanics and created mods to better the experience.
There are many that simply seek to improve certain playstyles without making them overpowered, especially when it comes to magic. There's a lot of weird limitations in the base game that make some playstyles less ideal than they could be. People have modded those limitations out, like the ability to cast spells while holding up a shield. These aren't big mods that can cause instability either, just simple scripts.
-
Comment on Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is very excited about the Epic Games Store losing a ton of money in ~games
TheJorro (edited )Link ParentSteam lacked chat five years ago? 2016? More like 15 years ago, Steam has had chat since the mid-2000's. Steam Community was launched in 2007, chat existed before it. Steam has many more features...Steam lacked chat five years ago? 2016? More like 15 years ago, Steam has had chat since the mid-2000's. Steam Community was launched in 2007, chat existed before it.
Steam has many more features than Proton though, their controller API is still the best in the industry and it doesn't seem like anyone else is even trying to fill that gap. Trying to get a non-Xinput controller working through other games in other launchers can be a pain, especially older titles. Their Remote Play feature is also quite a huge boon. Of course, Steam also offers these to non-Steam games in quite an act of non-competitiveness.
On top of that, Steam has proven to be extensible in ways other launchers are not. SKIF is a tool that can automatically act through Steam-launched games to add SpecialK features including some in-depth HDR configuration onto games that otherwise do not offer it. Otherwise, the Steam Workshop is still almost entirely unmatched by any game store launcher.
Steam's Marketplace will probably never be copied by any other launcher either, since the appeal of direct MTX payments is too great and it would have to take a company like Valve, who seemingly don't care about ROI, to eschew a greater payday in order to provide a user-run marketplace. Outside of Diablo 3's real-money auction house, I've never made a dollar playing a video game like I have with Steam's marketplace and cards. I've made at least $400 playing CSGO. Any other game, on any other launcher, by any other company, and I'd be sitting with a stockpile of worthless cosmetics for a game I don't play anymore.
The important thing here isn't quite what the features are so much as how Steam has approached these features. They don't seem as interested in locking in users and applications so much as they seem interested in making everything work together in increasingly seamless ways.
-
Comment on DMX has died at 50 in ~music
TheJorro LinkRIP A selection of his best known songs, from reddit: X Gon' Give It To Ya Ruff Ryders' Anthem Where The Hood At? Slippin' What These Bitches Want Party Up (Up In Here) How's it Goin' Down Get At...RIP
A selection of his best known songs, from reddit:
-
Comment on Xbox is supporting old games, while Sony and Nintendo are leaving them behind in ~games
TheJorro LinkI've been super impressed with Microsoft's approaches to gaming recently and I don't even have an Xbox. I installed a dev build of Windows 10 just to try out the Auto HDR feature and it's...I've been super impressed with Microsoft's approaches to gaming recently and I don't even have an Xbox. I installed a dev build of Windows 10 just to try out the Auto HDR feature and it's incredible. I don't even have a good HDR monitor but the feature's relatively subtle affect really makes older DX11 games pop just that little bit more that it makes a big difference to myself as an image quality snob. They didn't have to do this at all but I'm super grateful.
-
Comment on How do I opt out of the culture wars? in ~life
TheJorro LinkYeah, tell me about it. I like video games and Firefox and cyber privacy and security, but I can't say I like any of the large communities of any of those things because they're filled with...Yeah, tell me about it. I like video games and Firefox and cyber privacy and security, but I can't say I like any of the large communities of any of those things because they're filled with wannabe South Park writers who seem unable to correctly identify a proportional response. Especially tech communities.
I just ignore it now. There's no helping groups that choose to rile themselves up. I think we all got sucked in at one point or another and eventually learn that the healthy thing to do is step away and be at a level removed from down in the weeds. This is pretty much universal. Something less impactful and important I can think of but with the same effect is the general meme culture: how many times have gamers heard about "follow the train CJ!" and now have the impression that this is the hardest mission in any GTA game? It's not, at all. It was just a funny joke that got repeated so much that the joke is gone and now is seen as some kind of truth. When a community repeats something over and over, it becomes all-consuming despite themselves. The prominence of culture wars in a lot of tech communities feel to me like they followed the same path of Star Wars prequel memes and gamer memes: repeated ad nauseum until it's taken as truth. It's how the "attack helicopter" meme became the templated One Joke that is always used in reponse to anything to do with gender.
I see it happen in these communities, and I just stop paying attention. Not just with culture wars though, pretty much with any issue that gets overblown immediately. I dropped out of Firefox communities around the time they started treating the Megabar like a human rights violation, I dropped out of privacy communities pretty much as soon as it's clear they lost the plot with personal risk factors and tolerances and started responding to anything that didn't run on CLI only three VMs deep with castle doctrine.
I think it's gotten worse as communities got fewer, larger, and more homogeneous. It used to be that the world was a constellation of millions of little groups that all had their own little jokes, views, perspectives, approaches and more that skewed all over the spectrum depending on many, many factors. Didn't like how one group was going down a rabbit hole? No worries, there were five other ones that took the same information and went in a different direction. Now we're down to a fraction of a fraction of number of groups, and everyone is writing for a mass audience instead of a trusted few, with the subconscious fear that going against the grain will mean they not only lose the platform but the entire community.
-
Comment on Evil Genius 2 released in ~games
TheJorro Link ParentOff the top of my head: StarCraft 2 (2010), 12 years after StarCraft (1998) Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019), 14 years after Kingdom Hearts 2 (2005) Age of Empires 4 (2021?), 16 years after Age of Empires...Off the top of my head:
StarCraft 2 (2010), 12 years after StarCraft (1998)
Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019), 14 years after Kingdom Hearts 2 (2005)
Age of Empires 4 (2021?), 16 years after Age of Empires 3 (2005)
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
TheJorro Link ParentRyse is a weird game. It's made by Crytek, so it has all the fanciest tech at the time, but it was also originally a Kinect game for the X360. By the time it was solidified as a non-Kinect game...Ryse is a weird game. It's made by Crytek, so it has all the fanciest tech at the time, but it was also originally a Kinect game for the X360. By the time it was solidified as a non-Kinect game for the launch of the Xbox One, it was clearly too late to re-adjust entire swaths of the game or add to the small amount of content in the game.
It should have always been a budget title, really. It makes so much more sense to consider it a small-budget bargain bin game than a full-on $60 AAA release.
-
Comment on Looking for recommendations for half-hour shows in ~tv
TheJorro Link ParentScooby Doo Mystery Incorporated is very, very good for what should have been yet another throwaway Scooby Doo show. Unfortunately I think it's going to be forgotten over time as a result but it's...Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated is very, very good for what should have been yet another throwaway Scooby Doo show. Unfortunately I think it's going to be forgotten over time as a result but it's the best thing Hanna Barbera has put out in decades at this point.
-
Comment on Microsoft in talks to buy Discord for more than $10 billion in ~tech
TheJorro Link ParentI'm just waiting for people to realize that records aren't being recorded properly because of the way Teams is built, especially when it comes to governments where those records have to be...I'm just waiting for people to realize that records aren't being recorded properly because of the way Teams is built, especially when it comes to governments where those records have to be findable, exportable, and searchable by law. That's going to cause some issues.
But first it's going to take journalists to catch up with how they file information requests because I don't think most of them realize they have to specify beyond emails now.
-
Comment on "Why is this subreddit private?" or why some large subreddits are protesting the censorship of discussions about a reddit admin's ties to pedophilia. in ~tech
TheJorro Link ParentIt's not like you're required to provide government ID and a submit to a police check to moderate subreddits.It's not like you're required to provide government ID and a submit to a police check to moderate subreddits.
-
Comment on How do you choose a desktop wallpaper? in ~tech
TheJorro Link ParentI checked it out after reading yours and @GoodBob's comments. This is everything I didn't know I wanted. It even takes advantage of Razer Chroma to get my keyboard colours to match! I've been...I checked it out after reading yours and @GoodBob's comments.
This is everything I didn't know I wanted. It even takes advantage of Razer Chroma to get my keyboard colours to match! I've been really impressed by this software, I'm glad I finally checked it out thanks to you two.
-
Comment on Firefox 87 released in ~tech
TheJorro Link ParentAh I'll wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to answer, I'm honestly not sure. Every so often I find out that some of the tools I use are redundant so I try to stay on top of it, but I'm...Ah I'll wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to answer, I'm honestly not sure. Every so often I find out that some of the tools I use are redundant so I try to stay on top of it, but I'm not technically inclined enough with browsers and web tech to know when and where it's happening.
Ori and the Blind Forest.
Nothing wrong with the game but it's just not what I thought it would be. It was originally advertised as a Metroidvania but it is not really that, it's more a straight 2D platformer which is not a genre I'm particularly into. Great art and music but I just don't enjoy its gameplay. I find it a weird mix of platforming that requires extremely precise timing and aim, but then it also has automated combat that is imprecise and inconsistent.
The worst part of it for me is when it throws both in at once and then forces you to run through a marathon gauntlet that ends up having some elements of RNG as a result to get through it. I always drop the game during the tree escape sequence because it invariably ends up as an exercise in frustration at the game's mechanics. There's always some part where, a dozen attempts in, my sparkly attack decides to go the scenic route to an enemy which lets him kill me and I decide that it's time to uninstall the game.