BeardyHat's recent activity
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Comment on RIP Cybertruck. You were unloved, unwanted, and utterly absurd. in ~transport
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Comment on RIP Cybertruck. You were unloved, unwanted, and utterly absurd. in ~transport
BeardyHat Link ParentI won't say I like how it looks, but I'm so appreciate that it's something different in a sea of generic crossovers and massive trucks and SUVs.I won't say I like how it looks, but I'm so appreciate that it's something different in a sea of generic crossovers and massive trucks and SUVs.
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Comment on Cyberattack disrupts blood storage refrigeration systems in France in ~tech
BeardyHat Link ParentPrevious company I was a SysAdmin for stored customer credit card data in plain text. But it wasn't a priority to fix it.Previous company I was a SysAdmin for stored customer credit card data in plain text. But it wasn't a priority to fix it.
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Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections distractions topic in ~talk
BeardyHat LinkHonestly, I'm just waiting for WoW: Forever to release. I already voted like two weeks ago and am curious to see how my local ballot issues come out, but I'm not much thinking about it because I...Honestly, I'm just waiting for WoW: Forever to release. I already voted like two weeks ago and am curious to see how my local ballot issues come out, but I'm not much thinking about it because I just want to play WoW.
I full expect Microsoft (They're Blizzard in name only and I refuse to call them that anymore) to absolutely butcher it in due time with microtransactions and dumb decisions, several of which we've seen already between Sky Elves (really?) and Sharding rather than proper servers. But I've been playing on Private Servers so long, I absolutely have no issue going back to them if they absolutely screw this one up.
Reservations aside, I'm looking forward to getting into an MMO again. I tried with Monsters & Memories when it released on Oct 1st and it's a great game in lots of ways, but a little too beholden to the Everquest philosophy, which means I just do not have the time or the inclination to play it much beyond the probably 20-30 hours I put into it. WoW has always been my mainstay since beta back in 04; it's been an on again, off again game for me in those 22 years. I remember being pretty skeptical of it at the time, because I was deep into Final Fantasy 11, but after playing the beta for WoW, I pretty much quit playing FFXI altogether and never looked back.
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Comment on Has anyone here experienced a tv show slump? in ~tv
BeardyHat LinkI was big on TV shows for a long time, I grew up with them and continued watching them well into adulthood, but anymore? The list of TV shows my wife and I have abandoned is ever growing, even...I was big on TV shows for a long time, I grew up with them and continued watching them well into adulthood, but anymore? The list of TV shows my wife and I have abandoned is ever growing, even classics like Next Gen where there isn't necessarily a consistent plot to follow, we kind of just petered off around Season 4 and it's been like this for us for years.
These days, when we sit down in the evenings to watch something, it's usually Youtube videos, because it allows us to kind of move our attention around in 20ish minute increments. Often I might pick a video that I'm interested in and so she'll play a game on her phone or something for that time period and then after that, she puts on whatever she wants that I don't necessarily care about, so I play a videogame during that time.
But then we also have our "Movie Nights", which used to be on a schedule, but now we kind of just do it randomly when one of us feels like watching a movie. That's been more enjoyable than TV, simply because yeah, we're not going to dual screen while we watch it, but it's one and done. It's something we can continue talking about and analyzing over several days and it's not something we end-up feeling like we need to binge or watch night after night with something that has a lot of episodes.
And maybe it's always been like this? I recall when I was a kid, my parents would turn on the TV after dinner and maybe watch a show if there was something on, but maybe would flip channels or turn on something random for the noise and then either talk or wander around, etc. There were a few shows, of course, that were weekly new episodes like Next Gen or some Sit Com or something, but that was all they got; that half hour or hour a week where they wanted to really pay attention to the thing and then move on. Maybe it's our modern setup that's weird, where we always expect to have "content" and have a thing consume our attention constantly and fully, a thing we do every night or where we watch multiple episodes and binge, etc. I don't think we're built for that and the modern context of it has fooled us into thinking we need to "Get stuck in" to any given thing and have it consume us wholly.
Even well into my 20's, the context was different. I was waiting for the new episode of Lost every week or the new episode of Arrested Development, Game of Thrones, etc and I'd put everything down and watch that one thing for the period it was on and then talk about the episode that week with friends or family. Bingeing wasn't really a thing, even if you had DVD's, it wasn't necessarily super common. You might go weeks, months or years without a new TV show you were really super interested.
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Comment on Halloween night! in ~talk
BeardyHat LinkAbsolutely bumping in my neighborhood. Maybe not crazy, but I was excited when I exited my house at 630 with my oldest and the street was full with kids. My oldest only hit about 7 houses before...Absolutely bumping in my neighborhood.
Maybe not crazy, but I was excited when I exited my house at 630 with my oldest and the street was full with kids. My oldest only hit about 7 houses before they were telling me they were ready to go home, but I encouraged them to go further, since it's only one night a year.
We ended up going for an hour and a half and made a good loop around our local area in the neighborhood. Saw a few neighbors I haven't seen in awhile and met a lot of new ones, which was exciting and I had a great time hanging out with my oldest while we walked around the neighborhood.
My wife stayed home and said we had a solid amount of kids while I was gone. Things are slowing down quite a bit now, which makes sense. I think it's largely younger families in our hood these days, which is a marked changeover from when we first moved here eight years ago.
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Comment on Opeth - The Grand Conjuration (2005) in ~music
BeardyHat LinkOpeth was pretty massive for me. I had listened to a lot of metal prior to them, but they really exposed me to the progressive stuff. Saw them on tour in support of this album in 2005. I'd tell...Opeth was pretty massive for me. I had listened to a lot of metal prior to them, but they really exposed me to the progressive stuff.
Saw them on tour in support of this album in 2005. I'd tell you the exact date, but it's on the back of a T-shirt which I had my wife make into a quilt of all my old metal shirts. She's currently taking a nap on said quilt.
It's funny though, I was having a conversation with another metalhead last week and we were relating the fact that we can no longer tolerate such long songs. I cut my a lot of my Metal teeth on stuff like Symphony X, but these days, I much prefer a tightly written 3 and a half minute song to anything ten minutes or more.
Still a fantastic song though.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI see what you're getting at, but I definitely think this a series that really relies heavily on memorization, which just isn't for me as a guy with an awful memory. I've been playing Bloodlines...I see what you're getting at, but I definitely think this a series that really relies heavily on memorization, which just isn't for me as a guy with an awful memory.
I've been playing Bloodlines periodically (mostly because I was a Sega kid) the past few days after conversing with you and I do really like it. It's a beautiful game and fun to play, but I find myself unable to get any further than Stage 2, where I end up burning pretty much all my lives and continues in the course of the stage.
Especially in the part with the rising water, where I can't see what's above me as I climb higher and higher, I feel like I need to memorize what's above me and where the enemies are in order to effectively navigate the level.
But I've also been thinking about the Igavanias after you mentioned them and I can absolutely see why someone might not find them super appealing. After playing the GBA series, I've found them largely pretty boring. The exploration can be fun, but it doesn't feel like there's a lot of meat or replayability to them, especially as someone like myself who came to them really only recently. Much as I loved Aria of Sorrow, I had to force myself to finish Symphony of the Night and haven't really been able to get through any of the other games later in the series.
But I also think in general and this applies to all of the Castlevania series, I'm just not big on 2d platformers. I like them alright, I grew up on them and there's several I still return to, but I also don't generally find them very interesting or fun on a personal level. So there's also a taste component of it for me.
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Comment on CGA-2026-10 đšī¸đī¸ đĻđģ REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ Spooky Mansion Adventures in ~games
BeardyHat LinkI ended-up not bothering at all this month. I picked-up Alone in the Dark, fully intending to play it and then an MMO I'd been waiting for released and I got hooked on that. Then I ended-up...I ended-up not bothering at all this month. I picked-up Alone in the Dark, fully intending to play it and then an MMO I'd been waiting for released and I got hooked on that. Then I ended-up getting hooked on some other stuff when I started to find that MMO boring.
I still want to play Alone in the Dark someday, but this month just wasn't it for me.
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2026: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
BeardyHat LinkThanks for running these things @kfwyre I'm going to try and participate, but I have stuff in my library I'm already playing, which was neglected! Though two of the games I am playing, I did just...Thanks for running these things @kfwyre
I'm going to try and participate, but I have stuff in my library I'm already playing, which was neglected! Though two of the games I am playing, I did just buy recently. But I have a lot I've bought in the last year or so that I haven't touched.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in in ~tech
BeardyHat LinkI guess I'll say: This doesn't really bother me. I user reddit fairly intermittently these days and when I do, I only ever go to specific subreddits for whatever I'm interested in at the moment. I...I guess I'll say: This doesn't really bother me.
I user reddit fairly intermittently these days and when I do, I only ever go to specific subreddits for whatever I'm interested in at the moment. I like being logged in, because I do occasionally upvote and comment; usually just to help people out. I helped a guy fix his handheld the other day with a quick explanation.
I can't recall the last time I went to the frontpage, just to look at my subs.
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Comment on Why are there so many topics about Denmark? in ~tildes
BeardyHat Link ParentBe thankful that @mycketforvirrad Daned to give you an answer.Be thankful that @mycketforvirrad Daned to give you an answer.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentYeah, that's a fair point. I meant I tried whichever one is the remake on PSP. Made it as far as the boss on, I think it was like a ship or something? Kept trying and trying, but never really...I like the Igavania games as well, absolutely, but it seems a shame that that's ALL the series has to be, you know?
Yeah, that's a fair point.
I meant I tried whichever one is the remake on PSP. Made it as far as the boss on, I think it was like a ship or something? Kept trying and trying, but never really could beat him and ended-up giving up. I'll have to give Super Castlevania IV a try. I have played a bit of Bloodlines, but never did make it very far with it; I do feel like these games should appeal to me, but I also feel like it's a bit of memorization, which is not my forte.
And actually, thinking about it a little more now, I think I made it as far as a boss rush on the PSP game? Does that sound familiar? I actually kind of hate boss rushes, so that actually may be where I gave up at.
The one that I keep bashing my head against on DS is Dawn of Sorrow, with the DS fix. Maybe I should try a different one instead, given that that one just isn't taking for me.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentI try and I try, but I just can't get into Classicvania. I've played a good amount of Dracula X, as well as the first game on NES and I very much like them, but the Iggavania style just appeals to...I try and I try, but I just can't get into Classicvania. I've played a good amount of Dracula X, as well as the first game on NES and I very much like them, but the Iggavania style just appeals to me so much more.
With caveats, I guess. I keep trying to play the first DS game and while I've made good progress, I just don't like it much. I get bored of exploring after awhile and the alternate castle these games always include makes me feel pretty bored.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat Link ParentThey're fun. I've always loved/hated Edgeworth, Phoenix is fun, in so far as he kind of reminds me of myself; constantly questioning himself and his competency, but is actually quite capable. Maya...They're fun. I've always loved/hated Edgeworth, Phoenix is fun, in so far as he kind of reminds me of myself; constantly questioning himself and his competency, but is actually quite capable.
Maya is fun, Mia has giant boobs and I've always had a soft spot for Gumshoe.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkWhat I've been playing the most is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney the first game, on PC. I've played it before, but I don't remember a lot of it and it's been nice to have something very casual that...What I've been playing the most is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney the first game, on PC. I've played it before, but I don't remember a lot of it and it's been nice to have something very casual that is mostly reading and isn't something I need to sit up straight and intensely focus on. I've been playing it on a smallish handheld via PC emulation and it's been great so far. I just finished the....second case? I think. Turnabout Samurai or something like that. Looking forward to playing some more and eventually getting distracted and putting it down for years again. But that's just the nature of my gaming life.
In between, I've been playing Stalker 2 an hour here and an hour there. I really like it, not much else to say. Though one thing I do find interesting is that the Bloodsucker creatures are far less scary than they were in the original game. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that I'm almost 20-years older than I was when I played thef first game or if something changed, but they just feel a lot more obnoxious than scary.
I also put down Monsters & Memories. I quite like the game, but it's maybe a little too faithful to Everquest. I would love to keep playing, but unfortunately, I do not have the time to try and find a group for an hour and then sit in the same spot for an hour or more and kill the same creatures over and over, even if the social interaction is fun. I often need to be able to set a game aside at the drop of a hat and this MMO is just no conducive to that at this point in my life and it's not terribly fun or interesting to go off and try to solo stuff. I think there's a lot to love about it, but I just don't have the kind of time or energy for gaming I did as a teenager.
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Comment on #YesAllMen #NotAllMen #MaybeSomeMen How to be better? in ~life.men
BeardyHat LinkMan, just shut up and listen. Stop getting so fucking defensive. Accept that this is a person's experience and try to be empathetic; many women are distrustful of men because they've had bad...Man, just shut up and listen. Stop getting so fucking defensive. Accept that this is a person's experience and try to be empathetic; many women are distrustful of men because they've had bad experiences and that's ok, it's not about you.
Pitbulls are wonderful dogs, they're sweet and gentle, great with kids. My dog is a Pitbull and he's been with me for over 11 years now, but I can understand why someone might be cautious around him. I'm still cautious around other Pitbulls, even though I trust my dog fully with myself, my wife and my young children. But I don't get all angry and defensive when people might be scared of my dog just because he is what he is. It's not his fault, but I can absolutely understand why one would be mistrustful of him.
So calm the fuck down. Stop being defensive and stop self-flagellation. Boo fucking hoo your feelings got hurt because someone who doesn't know you might distrust you. It's warranted, because most women have these bad experiences and if you'd just talk to them and treat them like fellow humans and not objects you want to stick your dick in, maybe you'd be more empathetic.
Signed: White Straight Man
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
BeardyHat LinkA 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...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.
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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.
Oh uh, hey.
I mean, at least my Nazi helmet fits in alongside my British and French WW2 helmets. I came into all of them sort of by accident and I happen to be a WW2 buff.