Venko's recent activity

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

    Venko
    Link Parent
    There are only two servers in Turtle: The RP-PvE one and the PVP one. Pretty much everyone, myself included, plays on the Nordanaar PvE server for which a lot of features are exclusive. Also in...

    There are only two servers in Turtle: The RP-PvE one and the PVP one.

    Pretty much everyone, myself included, plays on the Nordanaar PvE server for which a lot of features are exclusive.

    Also in TurtleWow, although quests and such are faction exclusive you can group with the opposite faction.

    1 vote

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

    Venko
    Link Parent
    Yes, thank you. I think it's possible that Tildes stripped out everything except the final part of the URL from my bbcode link.

    Yes, thank you. I think it's possible that Tildes stripped out everything except the final part of the URL from my bbcode link.

    1 vote

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

    Venko
    (edited )
    Link
    Turtle WoW - I saw a post a while back about how the private World of Warcraft server, Turtle WoW, was remaking the WoW classic engine in unreal 5. This is still quite a way out but on the mention...

    Turtle WoW - I saw a post a while back about how the private World of Warcraft server, Turtle WoW, was remaking the WoW classic engine in unreal 5. This is still quite a way out but on the mention of Turtle WoW I decided to check it out.

    It's basically an expanded version of classic WoW with lots of tweaks, balance changes (including talents revamp and more class skills) and so, so much extra content. It knocks Season of Discovery out of the park and there's no rush/fear of missing out.

    It took me a while to apply optional patches to the client and set up some addons to my liking but since then I've been enjoying playing a High Elf paladin. I plan to set it up on my Steam Deck next.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on United Kingdom's new Prisons Minister, James Timpson, thinks 'two thirds of inmates shouldn't be there' in ~society

  6. Comment on Nebula strikes deal with Spotify to stream video content in ~tech

    Venko
    Link
    It looks like the the selection of episodes on Spotify is very limited. For example, Game Maker's Toolkit has only thirteen videos on Spotify as opposed to hundreds of videos on Nebula and...

    It looks like the the selection of episodes on Spotify is very limited. For example, Game Maker's Toolkit has only thirteen videos on Spotify as opposed to hundreds of videos on Nebula and YouTube.

    This strikes me as really odd from Spotify's business perspective. I've watched through quite a few episodes of Game Maker's Toolkit whilst working and now, if I want to watch more, I have to leave Spotify and use one of their competitors: YouTube or Nebula directly.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on Nebula strikes deal with Spotify to stream video content in ~tech

    Venko
    Link
    Links to the first slate of Nebula creators kicking off the content partnership on Spotify: CinemaWins Charles Cornell Hello Future Me Captain Midnight Tale Foundry Game Makers ToolKit Todd in the...

    Links to the first slate of Nebula creators kicking off the content partnership on Spotify:

    Does anyone watch any of these channels and, if so, would you recommend them? Why do you think we should check out a particular channel?

    12 votes

  8. Comment on Spotify hikes fees, passing on its tax burden, after the French government introduced a levy to support the nation's music industry in ~music

    Venko
    Link
    As per the article it's still substantially cheaper than Spotify Premium in the UK. Country Premium in USD France 12.02 USD (11.12 euros) UK 15.24 USD (11.99 pounds sterling) USA 10.99 USD The...

    As per the article it's still substantially cheaper than Spotify Premium in the UK.

    Country Premium in USD
    France 12.02 USD (11.12 euros)
    UK 15.24 USD (11.99 pounds sterling)
    USA 10.99 USD

    The French and UK numbers include taxes which the USA does not. I suspect that Spotify is actually cheaper in France than both the UK and USA after taxes.

    17 votes

  9. Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election in ~news

    Venko
    Link Parent
    We did have fixed election dates via the Fixed-term Parliaments Act but, as parliament is sovereign in the UK, it didn't really mean anything. One election was called despite it using a...

    We did have fixed election dates via the Fixed-term Parliaments Act but, as parliament is sovereign in the UK, it didn't really mean anything. One election was called despite it using a notwithstanding claused act of parliament and then parliament later used its sovereignty to repeal it.

    7 votes

  10. Comment on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces a 4th July general election in ~news

    Venko
    Link Parent
    Inflation has dropped but it's still over the bank target rate which means the Bank of England is unlikely to cut rates. So there's no big mortgage rate drops to look forward to for the...

    Inflation has dropped but it's still over the bank target rate which means the Bank of England is unlikely to cut rates. So there's no big mortgage rate drops to look forward to for the Conservatives.

    As for the Rwanda deportations: there has been a lot of press in the UK and Ireland that makes it appear that the Rwanda scheme will have an impact. But every successive summer the number of boat crossings increase so the longer the Conservatives wait, the more the Rwanda scheme will likely be shown to be ineffective.

    15 votes

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

    Venko
    Link
    Oracle of Ages & Seasons Platform: Gameboy Colour / Nintendo Switch Online Subscription (played on Steam Deck) The oracle games were two Zelda games developed by Capcom, with a similar playstyle...

    Oracle of Ages & Seasons

    Platform: Gameboy Colour / Nintendo Switch Online Subscription (played on Steam Deck)

    The oracle games were two Zelda games developed by Capcom, with a similar playstyle to the earlier Link's Awakening gameboy game. Although they use the same underlying engine they are two separate games with separate mechanics, items and stories. Ages focuses on puzzles and uses time travel as a core part of its puzzles and storyline. Seasons focuses on combat and uses the four seasons as a core part of its puzzles. You can play the games in either order and, once you've completed the first game, you can start the other game with some unlocks and a link to the story and characters from the previous games.

    I started with Oracle of Ages and, having recently completed it, have moved onto Oracle of Seasons. The puzzles and mini-games are definitely easier in Seasons but the combat is noticeably harder. The Ages games have some tricky puzzles and I referred to a guide a few times to progress. The total playtime for each game is under 20 hours and you can break up the playtime easily to fit small gaps in your free time.

    I strongly recommend playing through both games but make sure you complete one first so that your playthrough of the second counts as a "linked" game.

    World of Warcraft Remix: Mists of Pandaria

    Platform: Windows/MacOS

    Blizzard Activision recently released a new gamemode called "WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria". This is a time-limited, three month system exclusively for new characters. These characters are locked to the continent Pandaria until the gamemode is retired. You start the game with flying and dragonriding (the more fun version of flying, added in the latest expansion) and work through the quests and storyline from the Mists of Pandaria expansion. This expansion has aged very well and is a lot of fun to play through.

    Every quest reward has been changed to a chest that contains gear and gems. There are two kind of gems:

    1. Stats e.g. critical chance, haste (ability speed/recharge), leech etc.
    2. Ability/passives - either whole new abilities or passive effects, some of these are from other classes
      The gear has categorised gem slots for the different types of gems above. Gems can be transferred between gear and stat gems can be combined to create more powerful gems (much like Diablo).

    You can unlock a lot of collectables (mounts, transmogs, toys) for the main game by playing and level new characters. If you're a fan of WoW then I recommend giving it a try but I can't see the main gamemode ever being fun again compared to this.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision as UK comes 18th in ~music

    Venko
    Link
    The detailed results are interesting with the public and jury votes varying substantially. The top 5 performances for each group are as follows: Combined Votes (Jury+Public) Switzerland's Nemo...

    The detailed results are interesting with the public and jury votes varying substantially. The top 5 performances for each group are as follows:

    Combined Votes (Jury+Public)

    1. Switzerland's Nemo (591)
    2. Croatia's Baby Lasagna (547)
    3. Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (453)
    4. France's Slimane (445)
    5. Israel's Eden Golan (375)

    Jury Votes

    1. Switzerland's Nemo (365)
    2. France's Slimane (218)
    3. Croatia's Baby Lasagna (210)
    4. Italy's La noia (164)
    5. Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (146)

    Public Votes

    1. Croatia's Baby Lasagna (337)
    2. Israel's Eden Golan (323)
    3. Ukraine's Teresa & Maria (307)
    4. France's Slimane (227)
    5. Switzerland's Nemo (226)

    I was curious to see if the Jury and Public disagreed with each other so much in previous years or if this year was for political reasons on either party. Take a look at the data for 2023, 2022 and 2021 and you'll see that the general public and the jury always vote completely differently. It looks despite having half the voting power the jury usually fail to crown the winner with this year the exception.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news

    Venko
    Link Parent
    Well the UK government says that it's too early to judge the impact of the Rwanda plan on Ireland but the Irish deputy prime minister, and foreign minister, said it's impacting Ireland. See BBC...

    Well the UK government says that it's too early to judge the impact of the Rwanda plan on Ireland but the Irish deputy prime minister, and foreign minister, said it's impacting Ireland. See BBC Source.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on UK asylum seekers will be deported to Rwanda in ~news

    Venko
    Link Parent
    It's clearly working for the UK even though nobody has actually been sent to Rwanda. Ultimately I think that this all comes back to the EU being extremely weak on migration. As bad as things are...

    It's clearly working for the UK even though nobody has actually been sent to Rwanda.

    Ultimately I think that this all comes back to the EU being extremely weak on migration. As bad as things are in the UK and Ireland they're far, far worse in mainland Europe.

    2 votes

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

    Venko
    Link
    Stardew Valley, 1.6 update This update really is fantastic. There are so many quality of life improvements over the previous version of the game with dynamic dialogue and seasonal events that...

    Stardew Valley, 1.6 update

    This update really is fantastic. There are so many quality of life improvements over the previous version of the game with dynamic dialogue and seasonal events that change every year. I won't touch on all of the new features because that topic is spoiler heavy. What I will say is if you enjoyed Stardew Valley in the past then you'll really enjoy the new content.

    Whilst you can play the 1.6 update on PC/Steam Deck it's still in active development for consoles. I strongly recommend waiting for the update if you're a console player.

    Brotato

    I've been playing this on the iPhone but it's also available for Android, PC and consoles. If you pick it up on iPhone/Android then make sure you buy the version with "Premium" in the title as the other version is riddled with "micro"transactions.

    This is a similar concept to Vampire Survivors but it's far less rough around the edges. There are twenty rounds and within each round have to kill as many monsters as possible and pick-up the currency that they drop. Doing so gives you experience to level up and money to spend within the shop. Between rounds you select a stat to increase for each level up and purchase items from the shop. If you reach the twentieth round then you'll face a boss.

    On the "danger" settings (harder difficulties ranging from 1-5) you'll see harder enemies and mini bosses. The first time that you beat each difficulty or beat round 20 with a character you'll unlock an item or another character. There are 44 different characters each with their own playstyle. It's a lot of fun although perhaps too addictive.

    Persona 3 Reload

    I've been playing this on Xbox via Game Pass. It's an apparently faithful remake of an old Persona game and it shows. The combat itself is decent and very similar to Persona 5 Royale but the in-game dungeons are randomly generated and very dull.

    The main story seems interesting but a lot of the side content is just generic Japanese tropes. I'm trying to push through to finish the game.

    Every time I play a Persona game it makes me think about how a good a similar game from western studio with a western focus and characters could be with the same kind of gameplay loop.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on The migrant highway that could sway the US election in ~society

    Venko
    Link
    As a European with no prior context on American migration I found this visual report very informative but be warned that there are some very distressing things happening to the migrants and that...

    As a European with no prior context on American migration I found this visual report very informative but be warned that there are some very distressing things happening to the migrants and that is reported on within it.

    5 votes

  19. Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games

    Venko
    Link Parent
    I found that the default settings were great for vanilla 1.5 but with mods installed (especially Stardew Valley Expanded) the battery life massively drops. However you can set a TDP limit and,...

    I found that the default settings were great for vanilla 1.5 but with mods installed (especially Stardew Valley Expanded) the battery life massively drops. However you can set a TDP limit and, although the load times will slightly increase, it will drastically improve the battery life when mods are installed.

    Playing with a controller takes a little getting used to after playing with a keyboard and mouse. I didn't experiment with controller mappings or the touch screen though.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games

    Venko
    Link
    Warning: the full changelog does contain spoilers. This looks like a massive overhaul of the game. I can't wait to check it out with a new save on my Steam Deck once I can find a spare few hours....

    Warning: the full changelog does contain spoilers.

    This looks like a massive overhaul of the game. I can't wait to check it out with a new save on my Steam Deck once I can find a spare few hours. What does everyone think?

    15 votes