BeardyHat'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 There's a new Elder Scrolls MMO in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentM&M is basically a copy of EverQuest as it existed in 1999. It has significantly better controls, but that's about the only QoL that was added, otherwise it's a pretty close replication.M&M is basically a copy of EverQuest as it existed in 1999. It has significantly better controls, but that's about the only QoL that was added, otherwise it's a pretty close replication.
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Comment on I deliberately bet like a problem gambler. DraftKings made me a VIP. in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentMy sister in law was with a problem gambler for many years and I'll say this much, it's literally an addiction. These people cannot help themselves and anytime things get stressful for them, they...My sister in law was with a problem gambler for many years and I'll say this much, it's literally an addiction.
These people cannot help themselves and anytime things get stressful for them, they turn to it, just like any other addiction. There is no rationale to it.
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Comment on Was watching a history YouTube video when I realized they are all AI in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentMy wife and I were just interviewed for the news last week. We spoke and spelled our names into the microphone pre-interview and they still misspelled by wife's last name when it got time for them...My wife and I were just interviewed for the news last week. We spoke and spelled our names into the microphone pre-interview and they still misspelled by wife's last name when it got time for them to transcribe them.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, trying to get in with one of the factions is where I last lost steam with it. But also because my Steam Deck config got a little janky and I struggled to it back to where it was.Yeah, trying to get in with one of the factions is where I last lost steam with it. But also because my Steam Deck config got a little janky and I struggled to it back to where it was.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI've been pretty obsessed with Monsters & Memories a new MMO that just hit Early Access on October 1st. It is basically a pretty faithful recreation of Everquest back around 1999-2000-era, a game...I've been pretty obsessed with Monsters & Memories a new MMO that just hit Early Access on October 1st. It is basically a pretty faithful recreation of Everquest back around 1999-2000-era, a game I played a whole load of, but don't necessarily have a ton of nostalgia for.
But my friends have been very hyped for M&M for well over a year now and I've participated in a couple of their private server stress tests over the summer. Initially I found myself rolling my eyes a lot, because I don't see a lot of value in Everquest as a systems game, as it was pretty simple overall and had a lot of pain points that WoW in 2004 really resolved for me.
To my surprise, I'm finding myself very addicted to it. I ended-up subscribing and making my character before all my friends and I've been playing somewhat obsessively as I have time and gotten my first character to level 9.
It's painful. Things are slow. It's difficult to level. Money is always tight. Gameplay is unforgiving. You lose EXP when you die and can delevel. You often need to find a group of people to level with. It is utterly not my type of game anymore.
Yet, I cannot stop thinking about it and playing it, it is all I want to do. But maybe this is just a general headspace change for me. I'm not trying to Min/Max anything and even if the majority of the game is just combat, it's still fun to explore and find new places around the world. And even if leveling and travel is incredibly slow, it's fine, I just take it as it comes. I do not need to hurry to level or do anything, I can just exist within this world and enjoy my time with it. If I end-up only playing for a week or a month, so be it, I'm having fun now and I'm excited for the weekend to play some more with my friends.
I don't know what's come over me.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentGothic 2 was my first Gothic game, back when it released and it was an utter revelation for me at the time. I've played all the Gothic series now (and a good amount of Risen, some of Elex) and...Gothic 2 was my first Gothic game, back when it released and it was an utter revelation for me at the time.
I've played all the Gothic series now (and a good amount of Risen, some of Elex) and always meant to go back to it, but for whatever stupid reason, I feel compelled to finish the first game initially, which I always peter out on. I need to just jump in and get back to 2, because it's easily my favorite, even though I've only played it once.
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Comment on Why do we find Tildes (and Lobsters) more interesting than the alternatives? in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentAll that. Tildes reminds me of all the time I spent on forums from the mid 90s into the 00s. I like that I recognize people. I like that it's text only and that there's a variety of topics to...All that.
Tildes reminds me of all the time I spent on forums from the mid 90s into the 00s. I like that I recognize people. I like that it's text only and that there's a variety of topics to discuss; it's not just a bunch of hot takes, one liners and non-sequiters. There's no memes, little low effort posts, etc.
First place I refresh in the morning and last one at night.
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Comment on Blocking of unverified apps on Android starts in Brazil and other three countries in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentYup. It still pisses me off I can't manipulate my data in the Android folder without silly workarounds. Maybe I just want to grab a save file or mod a game? Why can't I access the shit on my device?Yup. It still pisses me off I can't manipulate my data in the Android folder without silly workarounds.
Maybe I just want to grab a save file or mod a game? Why can't I access the shit on my device?
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Comment on With most information hidden, the game Stratego had stumped AI—until now in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentAs a US kid, sometime around 1994 or so, I played it nearly everyday with a friend in after school care. Still have very fond memories. Actually bought the fancy pants version in a wooden box well...As a US kid, sometime around 1994 or so, I played it nearly everyday with a friend in after school care.
Still have very fond memories. Actually bought the fancy pants version in a wooden box well over a decade ago now. Don't think I've actually played it, but I should introduce it to my 9 year old, as he likes wargames; I've taught him to play a couple tabletop ones I play.
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Comment on When do you know that you've found "the one"? in ~life
BeardyHat LinkMy wife and I have been married 14 years, together for going on 20. "The One" doesn't exist. I picked my wife (and she picked me), because I found her interesting. I wasn't really sure I wanted to...My wife and I have been married 14 years, together for going on 20.
"The One" doesn't exist.
I picked my wife (and she picked me), because I found her interesting. I wasn't really sure I wanted to date her in the first place; I thought she was cute, but not the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. But, she had these things about her that I really enjoyed;, she was (is) sarcastic and could rip me to shreds, which is a personality trait I enjoy in people (and myself). She had a dark sense of humor and would laugh at my dark jokes.
She had some traits I really wasn't into; she's extroverted (that's grown on me over the years) and likes to go out, travel, etc, compared to my introversion and homebodied nature. She loved to go to parties and would constantly drag me to them, much to my chagrin.
But I stuck it out, because I hadn't met many women with that sense of humor that connected with mine. I figured, "Well, let's try this out. I really like that about her, even if there's other stuff I don't care for." And yeah, we are and were compatible, but it's also work. It was always work and still is work. I'm thankful she's willing to compromise and do some self-examination, just as I am, so we're both amenable to changing our behavior and looking at things from each others perspective; I believe this is what has kept our relationship strong. We fight, absolutely. But we calm down, we apologize, we talk about it and say sorry when we understand we're wrong or we explain to each other why we might have been angry and our reasoning behind it and we listen.
I think I could be happy with another person and I think there's plenty of other people out there who I could build a good relationship with. There's no, "The One", it's just finding someone who has some traits you rank highly (such as that sense of humor for my wife) and then building out from there. But we've been able to build this relationship through mutual trust and understanding and it's been a strong foundation for the both of us. I'm kind of getting mealy mouthed here, I guess, but what I'm trying to say is:
The grass is greenest where you water it
To put things simply.
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Comment on Human contractors are seeing all your horny — and creepy — AI prompts in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentDepending on what you've got, you may be able to use it as is. I have an all AMD desktop from last generation, Ryzen 5600 (since upgraded to a 5800x3d, but haven't tried that yet) and a 6700 XT. I...Depending on what you've got, you may be able to use it as is.
I have an all AMD desktop from last generation, Ryzen 5600 (since upgraded to a 5800x3d, but haven't tried that yet) and a 6700 XT. I installed Zluda, which is an open source implementation of Zluda via software, a translation layer or something (I'm not a programmer) and local LLMs ran pretty well on that. It's not blazing fast or anything, but even just running off the CPU, it worked pretty well.
It's not going to be as quick as having a conversation can and forth with a corporate LLM, but it keeps your data on your machine.
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI wouldn't call myself a completionist, but I am obsessive about completing projects I've started, which is how I ended-up playing this game and not necessarily making it very far. I unlocked the...I wouldn't call myself a completionist, but I am obsessive about completing projects I've started, which is how I ended-up playing this game and not necessarily making it very far. I unlocked the second level, but had to obsessively finish Hanger before I could move on, which I eventually did. I later unlocked France while playing the School level, but only actually tried it once, because I got focused on trying to complete the School.
Ultimately, I didn't make it very far and probably played less than 4-hours of this game. I did expect to play more, as I did enjoy what I was playing, but I do find the timer pretty off-putting. I'm an Explorer at heart and to have to restart a level every 2 minutes so I could continue trying to find stuff just put me off the game ultimately. I can see why it's appealing, as it gives you little chunks to play the game in, which should appeal to me, but I always felt like I was just getting started exploring when the level ended and I needed to restart.
So, it ended-up being fun enough, but I ended-up getting distracted by other things.
I kind of also think I have a mental block where when I feel "obligated" to a thing (such as with the CGA), my brain automatically just begins to reject it. But also, I tend to flit from game to game anyway and don't tend to fully complete much.
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Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, maybe I needed to do the Free Skate a little more (never actually did try it), but the 2-minute timer never left me enough time to really explore the levels and enjoy myself. I probably...Yeah, maybe I needed to do the Free Skate a little more (never actually did try it), but the 2-minute timer never left me enough time to really explore the levels and enjoy myself. I probably would have had more fun with the game--I still enjoyed my time--if I could have just gone at my own pace and not repeated the levels in 2 minute increments.
I never found the third rail in the second level, because I never felt like I had enough time to simply explore and tinker. I can see the appeal of the timer, but it just doesn't do it for me.
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Comment on Wikipedia's list of the best video games: how many have you played, and what's missing? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentIt's excellent and not too long. It quickly became one of my favorite games the moment I played it and I love the choices it foists upon you; Obsidian is unmatched when it comes to that stuff.It's excellent and not too long. It quickly became one of my favorite games the moment I played it and I love the choices it foists upon you; Obsidian is unmatched when it comes to that stuff.
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Comment on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered - performance benchmarks in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI think it's just the long game problem. I've played hours upon hours of it, but after something like 50-hours or whatever, I find my mind wandering to other stuff and just wanting to other spend...I think it's just the long game problem.
I've played hours upon hours of it, but after something like 50-hours or whatever, I find my mind wandering to other stuff and just wanting to other spend time with other things or finding myself wanting a different gameplay experience.
I generally game maybe half an hour to an hour at best a day, sometimes not at all. But even 50-hours means multiple months of playing the same thing, so to extend that further to 100-hours is just a big ask. I want to play and finish those games, but I also want to take breaks and when my break consists of months to a year or more, by the time I'm ready to return, I can't remember what's happening or what I'm supposed to be doing, so it just seems more prudent to start over, which kills any and all motivation.
The only long, RPG game I've really found recently that I've been able to stick with, quit for a long period and return to, is Pillars of Eternity. While I like Witcher 3, the characters and the world don't compel me in the same way. I have the memory of a fish, so I often forget story beats, but one thing I don't often forget are characters and Pillars has very strong characters, compared to Witcher 3's strong story, which my brain just will not hold on to.
Also, I think I just generally like the gameplay more in Pillars, especially given the turn based mode added earlier this year. Turn based games just click with me in a different way these days.
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Comment on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered - performance benchmarks in ~games
BeardyHat LinkWould have been curious to see how it performs on older hardware. That said, Ray Tracing looks good, but once I'm playing the game, I'd be unlikely to actually notice that path tracing "looks...Would have been curious to see how it performs on older hardware. That said, Ray Tracing looks good, but once I'm playing the game, I'd be unlikely to actually notice that path tracing "looks worse" as per this video.
Performance overall seems pretty good and I'm curious how it'll perform on Steam Deck, though I have several PCs with which I could run this on. I still have never finished this game.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered - performance benchmarks
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How mods changed video games forever
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Comment on Do you think you're special? in ~talk
BeardyHat LinkSpecial? I'm not sure what that means. Incredibly fortunate and lucky? Absolutely. Does that make me special? I'm not sure. I'm in a better position than a lot of my friends and cohorts, but I...Special? I'm not sure what that means.
Incredibly fortunate and lucky? Absolutely. Does that make me special? I'm not sure. I'm in a better position than a lot of my friends and cohorts, but I don't believe I've worked particularly hard or sacrificed much to be where I am.I guess maybe I'm special in so far as I tend to get along with most people and am able to empathize and find common ground, which seems generally uncommon. I think that's helped me be lucky and fortunate.
A lot.
I finished Donkey Kong (1994) a game I've owned the cartridge of for several years now. I previously made it to world 3 or so on that cartridge and hadn't gone back, but I recently decided to play it via emulation on one of my handhelds, so I restarted it. I found it completely addicting and an utterly perfect fit for what I needed it for, playing it over a couple of weeks, finishing levels either one at a time or sometimes in a small chunk. Eventually made it to the final stages, which were damn tough and which I cheated a little bit (save states), though I came into those final stages with the maximum amount of lives (99) and could have simply brute forced it anyway. Fun game. I like it a lot more than Mario vs Donkey Kong on GBA which I played a number of years ago and is quite similar.
After that, I was looking for something to play on a handheld. After messing around with the DS, then 3DS and finally settling on the PC version (via handheld emulation), I'm playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. Now, I've played this a decent amount before. I played one of the DS games (can't recall which one) a long, long time ago and I had been playing the trilogy on my 3DS a handful of years ago, having made it to, I think the second game after getting stuck on Turnabout: Big Top (I struggled, because I hate circuses for some reason and just found this one so fucking boring). But I was looking for something to play again and for some reason Phoenix Wright popped into my head and I thought it was time to give it another go. I just picked-up the Steam version for less than $10 on Humble Bundle and I've been emulating it on my android based handheld, so I can have it still to carry around with me. Still like it and it's very much a chill game to play, but I haven't made it very far; I ended-up playing the first case three times on all the different platforms, so I'm just now properly getting into it after settling on the PC version.
Monsters & Memories I've been starting to lose interest in. It's basically a pretty faithful (for good and ill) recreation of Everquest circa 1999. I do like the game quite a bit, but in spite of Everquest being a big fixture of my Mid-Late teens, I have almost no nostalgia for it, because it was just such a slog. M&M is very much like that. I am enjoying the game and I've had a lot of fun grouping up with my friends on Friday night and finding a dungeon to grind in, plus the general progression hook of an MMO always gets me, but I find myself pretty damned bored between those Friday play sessions. I could be leveling my tailoring or another character or whatever, but I just have almost zero desire to go out into the world and grind all by my lonesome or attempt to find a group and sit in the same spot for an hour or three and grind the same handful of mobs over and over again. I really like what the game is doing, but again, I just don't have the nostalgia for endless grinding, corpse runs, begging for binds and SoWs, slowly upping tradeskills, etc, etc. I'll probably keep playing it for a little bit, but I've already tapered off substantially and I see myself probably completely quitting in the next week or two. I will say it's primed me for WoW: Forever, which I've been rather cynical about. I don't have a lot of faith in Blizzard or Microsoft and I'm still especially annoyed with MicroBlizz for going after my favorite private server, but Vanillla WoW has been my game for 22 years now and so I see myself probably playing Forever for at least a month, because now I'm definitely chomping at the bit for an MMO.
I finally reorganized my home office, including cleaning-up, selling a bunch of stuff, hanging my art works and moving my desk across the room. This compelled me to start using my Desktop PC a lot more, where I had been previously using my laptop quite a lot around the house. However, this saw me in a bit of a frenzy to start upgrading it. It wasn't exactly a slouch, but it's always been kind of a mid-budget rig, which is what I've always shot for since I started building computers in the 90's. But I got this compulsion to make the best of what I could on my current platform, that being AM4, so I upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 5600 to a Ryzen 7 5800x3D, in addition to a new case and because I had a new case, I upgraded the motherboard to a proper ATX-sized board over my previous ITX-sized board. I was mulling over a GPU upgrade from my 6700XT, but I'm a 1080p gamer anyway and deliberately chose the resolution so I wouldn't have to spend heaps of money on a GPU back when I upgraded last in 2023. Anyway, in order to prove to myself that my PC was a fine and capable gaming machine, I bought a new game that I know can be pretty tough on PCs, that being Stalker 2 and it's still the same game I fell in love with back when I picked-up the original on release. I have a vivid memory of going into Best Buy on release day, finding STALKER and being surprised it was only $40; a brand new game I'd been looking forward to and priced like a budget title.
One of my favorite things about the game is the fact that the enemies do not have perfect knowledge of the player. Yesterday, I had a little mission to go collect something or other that some bandits stole; they were camped out in some sort of small factory. I approached in the evening and was immediately spotted by two of the bandits, but I managed to kill them with shots to the head via my silenced pistol; though they had already fired a little bit at me and revealed my presence to their buddy's.
But after I shot these guys, I quickly clicked off my own headlamp (enemies will see it) and sneaked around the opposite side of the building. Through some cracks in the wall, I could see a couple of enemies advancing on my previous position, though I couldn't quite get a solid shot off at them. I ended-up sneaking around the building a little more, climbed up to the roof where I had previously killed one of the initial guys and peered down. I saw the enemy I had just seen, scouting my last location and finding nothing, then turning around and looking around the general area, but he never saw me on the roof when I shot him in the dome with my silenced pistol.
I then dropped down to the second level of the factory and got the drop on two other enemies...sort-of. One of them had their back to me and the other was facing that guy, so the guy who was facing me saw me first and brought his weapon up to attack, so I shot the guy in the head who had his back to me and then pumped the other guy full of bullets immediately after and that was that.
I just love how they had seen me initially, shot at me and then completely lost me after killing the guys who spotted me. Makes the game feel so much more alive and interesting when it doesn't feel like the NPCs are perfect little murder bots.