Trobador's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on Which content-recommending algorithms are actually good? in ~tech
Trobador LinkI don't think the issue is that they don't benefit people in the short term. I sometimes benefit from them. Spotify recommendations usually do fit my tastes, and YouTube related videos have...I don't think the issue is that they don't benefit people in the short term. I sometimes benefit from them. Spotify recommendations usually do fit my tastes, and YouTube related videos have exposed me to a lot of interesting things. The problem isn't that in my eyes : it's the long-term, more discrete effects.
The existence of a recommendation algorithm on a platform, no matter its inner workings or its implementation, will inevitably push the media produced for that platform into one specific mold. The only thing you can actually do to make that less detrimental is to make sure that mold is a decent one for good content, but obviously, that's a subjective notion that will most likely be affected by the designer's opinions. (tbn: even without an algorithm, systemic factors will also sculpt the content being produced but at least those factors are directly observable)
And then there's the issue of privacy, since these algorithms rely on personal data collection, and the reliance on them encourages the practice to become more and more invasive.
But we're on Tildes and I'm rambling about crap that everyone here knows. The one question I still have about this stuff is... did anyone actually want recommendation algorithms in the first place? I'm not that old of a web denizen so perhaps I was just too young during the Web 1.0 -> 2.0 to know, but I don't remember ever wishing the Internet could magically know and give me things that could interest me, nor do I remember it being a big thing people wished for. I think we were all fairly content with what Google showed us, and we used to know sites tied to our interests that would lead us to what we might be looking for.
Shouldn't that be telling? It was never born from the end user's need, so it's not surprising it wouldn't be a net benefit for the average person. It's a tool for marketing and nothing else.
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Comment on Let's hear some Tabletop RPG stories! in ~games.tabletop
Trobador LinkI play a kenku bard in a 5e campaign ; a scholar of folklore who, despite me initially intending him as a cool eloquent wandering scholar type with 18 charisma, became more of a socially awkward...I play a kenku bard in a 5e campaign ; a scholar of folklore who, despite me initially intending him as a cool eloquent wandering scholar type with 18 charisma, became more of a socially awkward nerd, possibly due to being played by a socially awkward nerd. A relevant detail is that, at the time of this story, we were four* and aside from our goliath barbarian, we all have a measly strength of 8.
We're working as investigators for a certain organization. By looking into the death of an aristocrat in a certain town, we discovered a plot by a cult of werewolves to summon a demon prince, and accompanied by a friendly NPC ranger and former hunting buddy of the victim whom we like a lot, we go to the very, VERY high cliff it's taking place at to prevent it.
Big session-long fight ensues. Lots of werewolves. Climatic fencing duel between our half-elf warlock and some mysterious swordsman. One of the bigger henchmen gets thrown off the cliff and will be falling for the rest of the fight. Halfway through the fight, our NPC friend starts throwing insults at the werewolf leader, something like "You'll pay for what you did to Erick, you monsters!".
To which he answers, "But do you not remember? It was you who killed Eric!". And suddenly, our friend starts unwillingly transforming into a gigantic werewolf. Big reveal!
I liked the guy a lot, and didn't want us to kill him, but we were in the middle of a massive fight and if we had to contend with him alongside the rest of the enemies, someone would most definitely die. At this point in time, we didn't have a ton of crowd control except for my Sleep spell, and there was no way I'd roll high enough to put him under. The others tried to talk him out of it, but it was not working.
But it happened that we obtained a potion of hill giant a few sessions ago which I was carrying (when drank, get 20 strength for a minute), and he was standing right next to the edge of the cliff, which lead into an idea. I drank it, gained humongous bird muscles and after making an insight check to be confident he'd survive the fall (somehow, yes), I tried to shove him with a strength check...
Natural fucking 20. My nerd bird did not just shove that dude ; my nerd bird gloriously suplexed that werewolf off of that cliff like his name was John Cena. This canine took, like, 3 or 4 rounds to hit the ground and was taken out of the fight entirely, allowing us to finish up with the other enemies and save the sacrifical hostage.
We didn't find him again after that, his camp was empty when we returned there, but know he survived the fall, which was the goal ; we still have him as a loose plot thread since he's now got a bounty on his head placed by the victim's wife (who is the hostage we saved), and we'll hopefully get back to that. In any case, my kenku still longs for the day we find another potion of hill giant so he can experience the bliss of having humongous, perfectly sculpted bird biceps again...
- Funnily enough, we now have a 5th party member, an elf wizard, who, with her strength of 10, is now the second beefiest member of our party
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Comment on What game do you consider an unconventional masterpiece? in ~games
Trobador Link ParentHonestly? No, it's not difficult to share or niche. It's popular enough that, as a student, I've met several unrelated people in my uni that would spontaneously bring it up during conversation,...Honestly? No, it's not difficult to share or niche. It's popular enough that, as a student, I've met several unrelated people in my uni that would spontaneously bring it up during conversation, and that one would have a hard time avoiding info about it while browsing the web. It's been praised by every reviewer under the sun and included in every recommendations thread everywhere, even when it's off-topic.
It's a boldly designed game for sure. But it's not niche.
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Comment on What game do you consider an unconventional masterpiece? in ~games
Trobador Link ParentIf we're talking open-source games... aside from the infamous Space Station 13, I think a shoutout is needed for Teeworlds, one of my favourite free games growing up. It gave me a taste for fast...If we're talking open-source games... aside from the infamous Space Station 13, I think a shoutout is needed for Teeworlds, one of my favourite free games growing up. It gave me a taste for fast Quake-y movement back when that was going away, which has stayed with me to this day.
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Comment on I'm visiting the region you're from, what's your favorite food I should try? in ~food
Trobador LinkBorn and living in the Charente-Maritime region of France. I'm not super well educated on food, and I'm not great with the seafood that's common in my coastal hometown. But... around these parts,...Born and living in the Charente-Maritime region of France. I'm not super well educated on food, and I'm not great with the seafood that's common in my coastal hometown.
But... around these parts, there is a thing called a tourteau fromagé. It's a cake, or arguably, a pie usually made with goat cheese, eggs, flour, sugar.
It looks burnt, but that's on purpose : if you open it up, you'll see that only the top dome is burnt while the inside is cream white and very fluffy and soft. The origin of this thing is unclear, but the folk story goes that a cheese maker burned one of the cheese pies she was making and tried to give it to her neighbours, only for them to cut it open and find it was not burnt on the inside, and that the sealed in moisture gave it a unique texture.
Even though it's a cheese pie, it's light, refreshing and delicious. It's often eaten with jam. I once tried it with some maple syrup, though, and it was absolutely exquisite ; hugely recommend it.
You can find this thing in a lot of stores where I live or you could even make it yourself ; it's not expensive to make but I hear it can be finicky to get right since the baking time and temperature has to be very specific. I've been thinking of trying to make it so that I can make some for friends when I'm away from home.
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Comment on Steam Summer Sale 2024: Hidden gems in ~games
Trobador LinkI don't have many recs that come to mind at the moment, here's 3 : Under Cult Classic, I recently played Jet Lancer and it was a blast. It's a dogfight action game using the same gameplay concept...I don't have many recs that come to mind at the moment, here's 3 :
Under Cult Classic, I recently played Jet Lancer and it was a blast. It's a dogfight action game using the same gameplay concept as Luftrausers, but it has a whole campaign and is a lot more developed. Very fast paced and extremely gratifying, though the thing that got me interested in it in the first place was the ridiculously good soundtrack.
Also under Cult Classic, there's Cloudbuilt. Fun TPS/platformer hybrid focused on speed, with a fairly large community of speedrunners if I recall. I actually played a different version, Super Cloudbuilt, but it is, for some reason, no longer for sale on Steam...? I'm not sure how they differ, but I am aware that Cloudbuilt first of its name is great too.
Then under Under the Radar, I highly recommend Petal Crash (though I'd suggest buying it on itch.io instead!). It's an all-new arcade action puzzler in the vein of Puyo Puyo, Panel de Pon and all the ones that originated in the 90s on 16-bits and arcades. Deep and satisfying gameplay, but also a decent amount of content with several game modes, as well as essential modern amenities like rollback netcode. And it's so cute-looking! I'll add, the developer worked on the Freedom Planet games and there's a Kickstarter going on for a sequel!
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Comment on Digital note-taking system? in ~books
Trobador Link ParentDidn't get the mobile part ; you may be right, I wasn't able to set it up myself on mobile, only on desktop. OP, listen to this user over me.Didn't get the mobile part ; you may be right, I wasn't able to set it up myself on mobile, only on desktop. OP, listen to this user over me.
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Comment on Digital note-taking system? in ~books
Trobador Link ParentObsidian has a paid sync service but a preferable solution might be Obsidian Git. It uses a remote git repo to back up your vault automatically.Obsidian has a paid sync service but a preferable solution might be Obsidian Git. It uses a remote git repo to back up your vault automatically.
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Comment on Webcomics recommendations in ~comics
Trobador LinkI've enjoyed The Other End as of late. Very clever absurdist humour. Can get crass but never offensive. Granted, it's been popular on reddit for a good while. Not sure how much good I'm doing by...I've enjoyed The Other End as of late. Very clever absurdist humour. Can get crass but never offensive.
Granted, it's been popular on reddit for a good while. Not sure how much good I'm doing by adding it in.
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Comment on Just wanna talk about drinking less in ~talk
Trobador Link ParentI didn't know of this drug before but I'm also a bit skeptical here. I understand from Christian's explanation that it blocks endorphins so you don't get a reward from consuming the addictive...I didn't know of this drug before but I'm also a bit skeptical here. I understand from Christian's explanation that it blocks endorphins so you don't get a reward from consuming the addictive product. Coolio. But like.... what about the rest of the activities you do all day? It's not like the drug can block endorphin release for only your bad, destructive habits. Wouldn't it just lead you to depression?
I may have undiagnosed ADHD (questioning) and I'm thinking this thing would ruin me if I had a physical addiction and tried treating it like this. My dopamine baseline is already low enough that I struggle with most daily tasks ; if I had no endorphin either I might just end up lying on the floor all day
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Comment on Mozilla is adding vertical tabs, profile management, and local AI to Firefox in ~tech
Trobador Link ParentThe usage they mention here, using it to generate alt text for images, seems more than fine to me. Lets some users access content they wouldn't be able to otherwise, and I don't think it will lead...The usage they mention here, using it to generate alt text for images, seems more than fine to me. Lets some users access content they wouldn't be able to otherwise, and I don't think it will lead to miscomprehension nearly as much as all the summary generators would. If it's truly entirely local and doesn't kill performance, I'm for it.
Although I would want to know what that model's trained on.
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Comment on Which anime or manga transcend the boundaries of genre and medium? in ~anime
Trobador LinkNot the point of the thread, but... I dislike this wording. More generally, this whole premise. Any piece of fiction I've enjoyed is one I'd consider 'worthy' of existence and one I'm glad to have...Not the point of the thread, but...
truly worthy piece of fiction you're glad to have experienced
I dislike this wording. More generally, this whole premise. Any piece of fiction I've enjoyed is one I'd consider 'worthy' of existence and one I'm glad to have experienced. You wouldn't talk about a film or a book being so good that it 'transcends genre and medium' so why say this about animanga? Does it need to transcend its medium to be any good?
I know the point is to talk about animanga that are important to us but it's a bit 'ghetto-ifying', so to say. Animanga is obviously inundated with a lot of complete shit, but so is any medium, and it's not like there's an inherent flaw to the medium that would make it bad.
All that to say, anime and manga are good. Period.
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Comment on It annoys me that so many PC games feel like they're intended for consoles in ~games
Trobador Link ParentVim isn't a game, though, it's software made for productivity. It's also known to be unintuitive. In addition, unless I'm looking at the wrong game, Vambrace: Cold Soul is a turn-based RPG, not...Vim isn't a game, though, it's software made for productivity. It's also known to be unintuitive. In addition, unless I'm looking at the wrong game, Vambrace: Cold Soul is a turn-based RPG, not something you'd particularly benefit from the fastness of a keyboard-only control scheme in.
There's definitely a set of design principles that a game made for PC supposed to support keyboard/mouse controls should follow and this is not it
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Trobador LinkI finally picked up and played Bomb Rush Cyberfunk at the end of spring sales, among a few other games. Never played either JSR game, but I love anything with good movement and I've always admired...I finally picked up and played Bomb Rush Cyberfunk at the end of spring sales, among a few other games. Never played either JSR game, but I love anything with good movement and I've always admired the aesthetic, and having played a bit of Team Reptile's Lethal League (/Blaze), I was very interested ever since the first teaser. Was on the fence because of the price but I finally caved in when I saw how the modding scene was developing.
I've put a good ~23 hours into it now, finished the main story and a good bit of the side content. What a great experience! It's not perfect ; the combat is weird and not very relevant to the experience and it kinda lacks difficulty, but the gameplay flows so ridiculously well and every part of the aesthetic is splendidly done.
One big thing I've learned that bothers me, though. I came across a comparison video of BRC and JSRF and when you put them side to side, it seems like the similarities in the different locations goes past just plain inspiration. I had noticed Brink Terminal looks a lot like that one zone I saw in gameplay of JSRF, and just thought that was kinda cute, but when you look at it, even the layout is super similar. Even if I enjoyed the different buroughs, I'm bothered by the idea they might not be so original after all... I may have to play JSRF to find out.
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Comment on What learning do you find easy or difficult? And why? in ~talk
Trobador Link ParentI've heard of this in passing. I'm curious if you or anyone else has ways to deal with learning things that don't nicely fit into this? Can you force something into feeling novel, interesting,...ADHD "NICE" scale
I've heard of this in passing. I'm curious if you or anyone else has ways to deal with learning things that don't nicely fit into this? Can you force something into feeling novel, interesting, challenging or urgent?
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
Trobador Link ParentSTALKER series, maybe? As a general tip, most games with a modding scene have mods that make the game harder, but also ones that make it easier. Mods are for personalizing your experience and...STALKER series, maybe?
As a general tip, most games with a modding scene have mods that make the game harder, but also ones that make it easier. Mods are for personalizing your experience and there'd be no shame in modding out parts of the challenge that you don't want to engage with.
I love hard games and I still modded Stardew Valley to have more time each day, because I didn't wanna deal with stress from time constraints.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
Trobador Link ParentStardew Valley only allows you to save when the day ends, which can take around 20 minutes (?). Not ideal for short sessions during breaks.Stardew Valley only allows you to save when the day ends, which can take around 20 minutes (?). Not ideal for short sessions during breaks.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
Trobador Link ParentThis looks fun, but this is also far from it. It may be fast for MoHu, but it's slow and committal in comparison to anything else. We're talking about a game that plays like this. Also, a note: it...This looks fun, but this is also far from it. It may be fast for MoHu, but it's slow and committal in comparison to anything else. We're talking about a game that plays like this. Also, a note: it doesn't have to be an ARPG at all! It can just be a beat 'em up!
I'm sorry, I'm aware I'm being a bit difficult, I can't express the thing I'm looking for better than this :(
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically (round 2) in ~games
Trobador Link ParentI knew of Ys 8 and it does seem to have fun combat (after looking up high level gameplay, it seems like it has more room for expression than I previously thought) but it's not the feel I'm looking...I knew of Ys 8 and it does seem to have fun combat (after looking up high level gameplay, it seems like it has more room for expression than I previously thought) but it's not the feel I'm looking for. Doesn't seem to be as mobile and seems overall more heavy than KH2. It reminds me more of PSO2, actually, which isn't a bad thing!
Astlibra, I'd also heard of. I wanted to try the demo because it looked fun. Definitely nothing like KH2, though; the wondrous mirage of a game I'm looking for would need to be 3D. "Crunchy" isn't exactly the specific quality I'm looking for either, even if it's a positive one. It's all about how the character moves, I'd say.
I played the Rivals of Aether 2 semi-open playtest and really enjoyed it, prompting me to get back into Rivals 1. I actually feel a bit more at home in Rivals 2 than 1 because I've always struggled a bit with the lack of shields in the first game but I did notice that I was playing with more intentionality than in my last Rivals phase, which is pleasant. And of course, the workshop modding scene has produced a ton more awesome characters since I last looked at it, especially since they had a contest. Splendid experience!
Also been playing Slay the Spire! Fuck Time Eater.