adam_kadmon's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival - GG no re (End of an era) in ~games
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Survival - GG no re (End of an era) in ~games
adam_kadmon LinkI know current server is still alive and there is no definitive visions for the next iteration if it'll happen, but, after reading this thread and walking around the server map, I want to through...I know current server is still alive and there is no definitive visions for the next iteration if it'll happen, but, after reading this thread and walking around the server map, I want to through an idea of making next server use Create-based modpack.
I think features which Create provides will work well with the developed server culture - large scale community builds and interconnected design. Actual working trains, windmills and true movable blocks from Create seem like a good fit, automated farms look very cool, and, more importantly, Create also looks good, which isn't something you can usually say about tech mods. It also has addons for almost every mod under the sun, meaning you can tailor the modpack to any taste and expand it easily without regressing into disconnected unfocused kitchensink type of experience.
It being available for Fabric is a bonus, since you can get performance benefits from all the optimization mods for it, hopefully to offset the cost of running heavy mods like Create.If people are interested, I can throw a custom pack to playtest for a week or two, although I can't host.
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Comment on Gazans bombarded by Israel have no hope and no escape in ~news
adam_kadmon Link ParentThere has never been any confirmation, video proof or elaboration on this. It was said by a live reporter on Israeli television as something one of the soldiers told her, and then Israeli military...In a single village they have deliberately slaughtered 40 kids along with their parents. Babies with their heads cut off.
There has never been any confirmation, video proof or elaboration on this. It was said by a live reporter on Israeli television as something one of the soldiers told her, and then Israeli military straight up told that they don't have any reports of 40 beheaded babies. But it sure does make a nice headline.
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Comment on Starfield - what are your thoughts? in ~games
adam_kadmon Link ParentI don't understand how this point of view can exist at all. Fallout 4, with all it's drawbacks, is a handmade experience, start to finish. It's packed. Locations are handmade, paths between...I don't understand how this point of view can exist at all. Fallout 4, with all it's drawbacks, is a handmade experience, start to finish. It's packed. Locations are handmade, paths between locations are handmade, Fallout 4 is dense to the point there maybe it shouldn't be, but it's still a designed experience, straightforward and continuous experience. Starfield is anything but continuous, it's jugged, separated and, honestly, empty. The only things in common between Starfield and Fallout 4 is gun-based combat. And junk.
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Comment on Starfield - what are your thoughts? in ~games
adam_kadmon LinkIt's honestly the worst Bethesda game I've ever played, and the most worrying thing - it's the worst Bethesda game at the one thing Bethesda usually does right - exploration. There's none of that....It's honestly the worst Bethesda game I've ever played, and the most worrying thing - it's the worst Bethesda game at the one thing Bethesda usually does right - exploration. There's none of that.
Here's how travel works in this space exploration videogame:
- You climb into the cabin of your ship and hold a button.
- You watch a cutscene of a ship taking of from the planet. You can't actually fly in the atmosphere, this is just a loading screen.
- You load into near orbit of the planet. This part of the game serves zero purpose. You can't fly fast enough to travel between planets, or even around the planet you're orbiting to land on the other side.
- You open the map, and then painfully slowly zoom out a couple of times to the galaxy view, then zoom into whatever star system you need to go into, pick a planet a hold a button.
- Watch you ship's drive charge, when watch a cutscene. When a loading screen.
- Open map again to pick a point on the planet you want to land at.
- Run around, on foot, a boring procedural landscape, sometimes scanning some stuff you encounter or visiting copypasted "dungeons" with no relevance to the story. Hit the invisible border of the cell. Fast travel back to your ship.
This is repeated forever, because there's a thousand of empty procedural planets for you to explore, and a few handcrafted cities with barely enough in them to compare them to something like Whiterun. Bethesda dipped their toes into procedural generation just enough to not have enough hand placed stuff, but not enough for it to actually be cool like something in No Man's Sky.
People will also tell about how it's "the best gunplay it's ever been", and, yeah, but it's still bad. Guns aren't fun, enemies are VERY dumb and are basically bullet sponges. The quests aren't good either, secondary or main. Here's a few examples:
- You hear the local police force recruits help. You go to the police force guy and tell him you want to help him, an he goes "okay, you're hired".
- He immediately sends you to the local FBI chief. You go to the local FBI chief, and he dumps some exposition on you. Afterwards, he tells you to go to some random bench, get the hidden package, and give it to the police guy.
- You do that.
- There's no twist.
Oh, but there's a bigger one, check this out:
- You hear the local science guy needs help. You go to him, and he asks you to bring him 6 thingies scattered around the city.
- You do that. He tells you "thanks, come back tomorrow".
- You do that.
- He asks you to get some data from the other science guy who hates your science guy.
- The other science guy tells you he will give you data if you delete his work records because he's been naughty. Your options are do that, or persuade him to let you skip game content.
- You go to the empty copypasted apartment floor where you can delete his work record. You delete the first science guy's record too, because you wanna see whether it will do anything(it will not).
- The other science guy gives you data. You give data to the first science guy.
- You come back the next day.
- This goes on longer. It doesn't get better. The "twist" is flavour purely and genuinely doesn't actually affect anything. You're not changed after quest completion. It's all space dust.
Main quests are worse. At some point, someone said "starborn" and I just gave up. It's the most sterile Bethesda game, it's the most sterile sci-fi game, it's just a bad game overall. The only things good about it are some designs of science thingies like ships and guns. The performance is straight up atrocious. It is the most bugfree Bethesda release, I guess, but the rest is so depressing it made me very pessimistic about TES 6.
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Comment on Do you replay video games? in ~games
adam_kadmon LinkUsually I don't, but those few games I do replay I can probably do infinitely. Sit me down in front of first Mass Effect, Witcher or Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, give me 30 free hours and...Usually I don't, but those few games I do replay I can probably do infinitely. Sit me down in front of first Mass Effect, Witcher or Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, give me 30 free hours and I won't need to stop for sleep. I don't even change much between playthroughs, on the contrary trying to follow this ideal mindmap I have of how the story should really go, to the point of killing enemies in the correct order in specific encounters, or what quests I should do first.
Strangely enough, it's never newer games, or sequels. I can't really explain, but those are, kinda, too much for me? Too many things, too many systems, to many things.Baldur's Gate 3 seems to be a second game in the decade which I will add to list, first one being Disco Elysium. I guess I have a type.
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Comment on GitHub slated to mandate 2FA in ~comp
adam_kadmon Link ParentCompromised how? Even if github leaks password hashes you'll be fine with your randomly generated 20 symbols long password from password manager of choice.Compromised how? Even if github leaks password hashes you'll be fine with your randomly generated 20 symbols long password from password manager of choice.
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Comment on ‘Ahsoka’ viewing numbers are well below ‘The Mandalorian,’ ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ in ~tv
adam_kadmon Link ParentAndor was practically an original character and people watched his tv-series just fine. The quality just isn't there, especially with the budget they have.Andor was practically an original character and people watched his tv-series just fine. The quality just isn't there, especially with the budget they have.
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Comment on Losing my patience with chess in ~games.tabletop
adam_kadmon LinkIt's hard to give advice without actually knowing how you play. Can you share a few of your games in this thread?It's hard to give advice without actually knowing how you play. Can you share a few of your games in this thread?
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft server launch - Java Edition SMP in ~games
adam_kadmon Link ParentThere's a pretty nice place for a small lighthouse at 650/-180, does anyone mind if build it?There's a pretty nice place for a small lighthouse at 650/-180, does anyone mind if build it?
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Comment on 'Arc' browser is now available to download without a waitlist (for macOS) in ~tech
adam_kadmon Link ParentBecause it's a slow and unsafe experience for day-to-day usage. You might want to login into your work gmail while still having some privacy features without using Tor.Because it's a slow and unsafe experience for day-to-day usage. You might want to login into your work gmail while still having some privacy features without using Tor.
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Comment on Man found guilty in 2012 of supporting distribution of child porn, because he ran a Tor exit node – the story of William Weber in ~tech
adam_kadmon Link ParentIt really seems to me like it should be classified under the [crime] tag, not [pornography].It really seems to me like it should be classified under the [crime] tag, not [pornography].
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Comment on Where do you stand on climate change? in ~talk
adam_kadmon Link ParentThe logic isn't to stop having children, it's - have less children, there are too many of us already. Humanity won't die out if the world's average fertility rate per woman drops from 2.27 to...The logic isn't to stop having children, it's - have less children, there are too many of us already. Humanity won't die out if the world's average fertility rate per woman drops from 2.27 to something like 1.5 for a generation, but it will help stabilize population in the long run. It won't be comfortable to be old in a world with not that many young people, tho.
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Comment on Where do you stand on climate change? in ~talk
adam_kadmon Link ParentWalk. Bike. Use public transport. Prioritize closer to home destinations. The necessity of owning private transportation is largely created by car manufacturers propaganda. You can find some...What climate friendly alternative is there for daily travel which is as economical as the ICE?
Walk. Bike. Use public transport. Prioritize closer to home destinations. The necessity of owning private transportation is largely created by car manufacturers propaganda. You can find some households owning multiple cars, which is completely unnecessary.
What if you live somewhere where the electricity is generated by fossil fuels?
That's simple - use less electricity.
To then ask that individuals bear the brunt of the responsibility in reversing society's course is ludicrous.
It's really not. Yes, corporations and governments will have to take drastic actions to combat climate change. It doesn't in any way means individuals shouldn't take actions to lessen it - change their diets, be less wasteful, prefer products with less negative ecological impact, do not overindulge. You can't benefit from industrial society's benefits and then just wait for big corporations to decide to fix it all by themselves - you have to vote with your wallet, and sometimes it's gonna be painful.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
adam_kadmon Link ParentThanks for saying this, I agree 100%. Personally felt crazy when reading people calling it Disco Elysium-level of writing. It just didn't touch that part of my heart there I go - yeah, I feel...Thanks for saying this, I agree 100%. Personally felt crazy when reading people calling it Disco Elysium-level of writing. It just didn't touch that part of my heart there I go - yeah, I feel that. And am I sympathetic to the themes and aesthetics, too, but it just wasn't - honest? personal? vulnerable? - enough for me.
It does still warm my soul games like this are being made and get successful.
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Comment on Thoughts on romance in video game RPGs (no major spoilers) in ~games
adam_kadmon LinkIn my lanky, awkward and horny teenage years a game having romanceable companions would've been enough to sell it to me. I've become a Bioware junkie for that reason, although I stayed for...In my lanky, awkward and horny teenage years a game having romanceable companions would've been enough to sell it to me. I've become a Bioware junkie for that reason, although I stayed for different ones.
Nowadays, whenever I see a developer say something "and you can romance most of your companions", like they did with recent BG3 announcement, I just sigh. It usually means "you can flirt a little, talk about feeling around campfire/keep/base/spaceship, watch a sex scene and get a written epilogue if you're lucky". The progression is identical, the way party members open up is identical, they will come to you to shag dramatically at equal points in the story, saying something like "we might not survive tomorrow, so let's do the sex scene today, that's narratively convenient". It's very... gamey. It doesn't feel like a real relationship, and, because it's always optional, it can't really affect the story in any significant way. It's a subplot. It's variety over depth, quantity over quality. It also doesn't help that, despite RPGs being one of the more story and text heavy genres, most of them aren't actually written that well. Or they are written well for some parts and not that well for others.
I think the problem also stems from the WRPGs desire to have as many companions as possible, which was inherited from the days then companions were a portrait, stat list and a few dialogue lines. It's just unmanageable for any single game to have ten companions with equal work put into, with relevance to the story, with dynamics between them and with the main character. You know who I consider the best companion in all the RPGs I played?
Kim Kitsuragi. Because he's an amazing character and was masterfully written, but also - because he's important. He's a counterbalance for the detective, he's a support, a helper, a quest giver, a direction setter, and sometimes - an obstacle. The game wouldn't play even closely the same without Kim, and that affects my relationship with him as a player, and as a character, and it's only possible because the developers knew they can only put such care into one companion, and they stopped there. He's alone, but he's also enough.
tl;dr: I don't care if there's a romance in the game, what I care about are interpersonal relationships and overall story, and devs should stop adding romances just to mark the checkbox. And if they do they should let me romance actually cool characters, like Khem Val from SWTOR.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
adam_kadmon LinkHonestly, I'm kinda happy. I've missed the days of localized, small forum communities. I still remember fondly being a part of close knit online group stemming from a fansite of a, like, 10k subs...Honestly, I'm kinda happy. I've missed the days of localized, small forum communities. I still remember fondly being a part of close knit online group stemming from a fansite of a, like, 10k subs videogame reviewer back in the 2000s. There were, like, 30 regulars, and you knew where everyone was from, what pets they had, what were they doing for a living. Like a digital neighborhood.
It wasn't unusual to design you own website for a blog, posting art, news, reviews. Personal link aggregators were a thing. Better times, I feel.And now you're just create a reddit account and are thrown into thousands of discussions where you can act like a fool, because no one will even bother remembering your username, where popular topics drown in thousands of comments across thousands of post and the most upvoted thing is a pun or a reference or a joke. The more people there are on the platform, the less individual input matters.
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Comment on What is "that part" for you in any game? in ~games
adam_kadmon LinkSewers from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is a classic example of this, but you can skip this with the unofficial patch now. Everyone also hates mage's tower fade sequence from Dragon Age:...Sewers from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is a classic example of this, but you can skip this with the unofficial patch now.
Everyone also hates mage's tower fade sequence from Dragon Age: Origins, but there's a mod to skip this too. What there is no mod for is a Redcliffe defense, an infinitely more annoying, if short, wave survival battle in a tactical party based RPG. Although I'm of the opinion DA:O is full of those unnecessary "go through linear corridor levels and fight enemies in sequential order" levels and if you cut away half of those the game would've been two times better.
Red Dead Redemption 2's prologue is just too long. It was cool the first time, but I will never ever replay this game in my life.
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Comment on Practically no one's buying current generation video cards in ~tech
adam_kadmon Link ParentI didn't mean for my comment to come off like that, sorry. There are a lot of possible reasons someone might want or need top of the line GPU. Specific games and setups require it, some jobs too,...I didn't mean for my comment to come off like that, sorry. There are a lot of possible reasons someone might want or need top of the line GPU. Specific games and setups require it, some jobs too, but it's still insane for Nvidia to expect great sells for $2k card after the decimation of cryptofarming. Those powerhouses have their place, but really, what consumers want are decent cheap cards, while corporations are intent on producing homemade jet engines.
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Comment on Practically no one's buying current generation video cards in ~tech
adam_kadmon Link ParentBut you have to agree, this is a very specific scenario which vast doesn't apply to vast majority of users. It's a rather niche title with an incredibly niche hardware configuration.But you have to agree, this is a very specific scenario which vast doesn't apply to vast majority of users. It's a rather niche title with an incredibly niche hardware configuration.
Maybe at least consider running a poll to gauge interest? I see your point, but I think player retention is easier if people have a definitive stuff to strive for, and on server focused on building first mods can really prolong it's lifespan, as opposed to something like pvp/faction wars/roleplay-focused servers there you really can expand your goals organically without intervention.