borntyping's recent activity
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Comment on What do you think about Destiny 2’s imminent death and games as a service? in ~games
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Comment on Do you prefer to 100% games, or to move on to new experiences? in ~games
borntyping LinkI love the idea of 100%-ing games, but in practice almost never do it. I've only done it for games I've really loved like Death Stranding (and even then, didn't get round to finishing every...I love the idea of 100%-ing games, but in practice almost never do it. I've only done it for games I've really loved like Death Stranding (and even then, didn't get round to finishing every mission on my spreadsheet, but got every achievement) or games where once I reach the end the last few achievements are in reach.
In practice, the novelty of a new game and learning the mechanics and world is a lot of what I enjoy in games.
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Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books
borntyping Link ParentKitty Cat Kill Sat is a real favourite of mine - one of a few that I'd recommend to someone who doesn't normally read webfiction. Chasing Sunlight sounds right up my alley as a Fallen London...Kitty Cat Kill Sat is a real favourite of mine - one of a few that I'd recommend to someone who doesn't normally read webfiction.
Chasing Sunlight sounds right up my alley as a Fallen London
adictplayer. That and a couple other of your recommendations have gone straight on my reading list, so thanks! -
Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books
borntyping Link ParentI've always thought of LitRPG/webfiction as chocolate - enjoyable, varies in quality, available in large quantities, and probably best as part of a balanced diet/reading list.I wouldn't say gems but like, cubic zirconia at least.
I've always thought of LitRPG/webfiction as chocolate - enjoyable, varies in quality, available in large quantities, and probably best as part of a balanced diet/reading list.
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Comment on A Parade of Horribles - Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #8) in ~books
borntyping Link ParentI always find it hard to criticise the books—a bit like you said, I think they're enjoyable but far from perfect—because it's so nice to see something that started as self-published online fiction...I always find it hard to criticise the books—a bit like you said, I think they're enjoyable but far from perfect—because it's so nice to see something that started as self-published online fiction break out into such widespread popularity. I've had a few coworkers who've never mentioned any books before ask if I've read them!
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Comment on Bungie announces final update for Destiny 2 in ~games
borntyping LinkThis gives me some complicated feelings. I stopped playing a couple years ago when it started to feel like an increasingly demanding game, and watched as bungie really struggled to keep an...This gives me some complicated feelings. I stopped playing a couple years ago when it started to feel like an increasingly demanding game, and watched as bungie really struggled to keep an audience after removing the first half of their story (how on earth were players meant to get into the plot after that!?). On the other hand, the end of seasonal content might make returning to play the expansions I missed more forgiving without having to constantly keep up with the increasing level cap.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
borntyping LinkI'm not sure I get the surprise at the price I've seen across the internet. I'm looking at prices in GBP (where the Steam Controller would be ~£75), but it seems to be almost exactly the same...I'm not sure I get the surprise at the price I've seen across the internet. I'm looking at prices in GBP (where the Steam Controller would be ~£75), but it seems to be almost exactly the same price as a PS5 controller (~£75) and a bit more than an Xbox Controller (~£50, though the offical store suggests it's normally ~£60).
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Comment on Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold | Teaser trailer in ~games
borntyping LinkFrom the keynote, it's nice to see the combat is getting a refresh—after not playing for over a year now, one of the big reasons I've not returned is that playing the level 90 story content is...From the keynote, it's nice to see the combat is getting a refresh—after not playing for over a year now, one of the big reasons I've not returned is that playing the level 90 story content is tough when you can't remember how each class works, and it's hard to re-learn without spending a while playing lower-level content.
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Comment on The Triple-i Initiative 2026 in ~games
borntyping LinkI wasn't expecting to be excited about much, but I ended up with a good 50% of the games presented on my wishlist. I'm particularly excited about Graveyard Keeper II and an expansion to Cairn.I wasn't expecting to be excited about much, but I ended up with a good 50% of the games presented on my wishlist. I'm particularly excited about Graveyard Keeper II and an expansion to Cairn.
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Comment on Sam Altman may control our future—can he be trusted? in ~tech
borntyping Linkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines -
Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv
borntyping LinkI'm a bit conflicted on the pacing. I felt much the same way about Pluribus and Severance, though I liked Pluribus a lot more. They're both shows that have very interesting setting, but are...I'm a bit conflicted on the pacing. I felt much the same way about Pluribus and Severance, though I liked Pluribus a lot more. They're both shows that have very interesting setting, but are focused on the story of the characters and their emotions. I find I end up frustrated because my interest in finding out more about the setting—"us" in Pluribus, the company in Severance—ends up distracting me from the character focused storytelling. I'm not sure it's fair, but I got to the end of both shows feeling like story hadn't actually gone anywhere.
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
borntyping Link ParentFirefox Sync has a surprising number of gaps - a recent example I found was that the search engines you can add and remove from the address bar don't sync.Firefox Sync has a surprising number of gaps - a recent example I found was that the search engines you can add and remove from the address bar don't sync.
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
borntyping Link ParentThis does seem to be where Mozilla is coming from on the topic. I recall one of their earlier posts this year discussing that they felt if they wanted to have any positive impact on the AI...I may be the outlier here, but in the event that somehow AI is a key component of browsers in the future, then Firefox not developing these features would be the final nail in the coffin of the browser.
This does seem to be where Mozilla is coming from on the topic. I recall one of their earlier posts this year discussing that they felt if they wanted to have any positive impact on the AI landscape they couldn't do that by avoiding AI entirely.
I don't really like it at all, but they are the one non-niche software product that seems to be letting me entirely opt out of AI features. I'd like to see that approach get picked up by other software products.
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Comment on Elite Dangerous discussion in ~games
borntyping LinkI used to play a lot years ago, but I've always had trouble getting back into it. I gave it a try with Odyssey and found it took so long to get to and from short ground encounters that it almost...I used to play a lot years ago, but I've always had trouble getting back into it. I gave it a try with Odyssey and found it took so long to get to and from short ground encounters that it almost felt like it was intentionally wasting my time. I loved flying cargo around and even got a HOTAS for it at one point, but I'm not sure anything else in the game ever really clicked for me.
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Comment on Overwatch 2 now: how does it look to you? in ~games
borntyping LinkI played OW1 at launch, but not much more after that. It was incredibly fun while it was still new, and no-one knew the maps or characters well, and you could do silly things like stacking the...I played OW1 at launch, but not much more after that. It was incredibly fun while it was still new, and no-one knew the maps or characters well, and you could do silly things like stacking the payload with tanks / turrets / bastion.
The lore seemed good in a TF2 style way, but over time it became pretty clear they weren't doing anything interesting with it. Same with the balance changes, every time I heard about a character being reworked they sounded far less interesting and the mechanics in play became far more narrow.
I might have returned for the PvE mode but since that never materialised... I figure OW2 seems basically an entirely different game, something much closer to competitive shooters like CS:GO or Valorant, and I'm entirely disinterested in those games.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
borntyping Link ParentI normally hate PvP, but I've been having great fun with AEC Raiders. I pretty rarely encounter aggressive players (when solo) and usually make it out alive, which feels like a nice balance and...I normally hate PvP, but I've been having great fun with AEC Raiders. I pretty rarely encounter aggressive players (when solo) and usually make it out alive, which feels like a nice balance and has avoided any frustration on my part.
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Comment on You don't need Anubis in ~comp
borntyping LinkMy thoughts on Anubis after reading the article: Anubis seems best combined with other approaches. While you could generate a proof of work for all the anubis-enabled sites you want to scrape,...My thoughts on Anubis after reading the article:
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Anubis seems best combined with other approaches. While you could generate a proof of work for all the anubis-enabled sites you want to scrape, that also means you now have a single identifier that can be tracked by a traditional rate-limiter. The computation cost goes up rapidly when you want to pretend your scraper is millions of different clients, which seems to be the approach some of them have been using.
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There's some value in Anubis beyond just DDoS protection. I think some subset of it's users deploy it more as a political statement than as a necessity. There's a lot of frustration against "AI" right now, and a recurring theme is people feel powerless to do anything about it. Solutions like Anubis or Nightshade or Glaze get a lot of attention because it lets people do something about the AI industry.
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Anubis is relatively easy to set up. We've all seen the blog posts where people ask "why use {{project}}, you could just write 10 lines of code?", but people use the project because it's maintained, comes with instructions, is easy to setup, etc, and most importantly means they don't have to maintain something themselves.
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Comment on Fortnite | Simpsons: Drop into Springfield in Battle Royale and Delulu! in ~games
borntyping LinkThere's something that feels very weird about a company using slang like "delulu" so front and centre. Not making any judgment, it's just strange to me.There's something that feels very weird about a company using slang like "delulu" so front and centre. Not making any judgment, it's just strange to me.
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Comment on Charlie Kirk's murder reveals a cultural sickness (Just Asking Questions podcast episode) in ~society
borntyping LinkThis seems exactly the perspective you might expect from a podcast named "Just Asking Questions" on a site named "Reason".This seems exactly the perspective you might expect from a podcast named "Just Asking Questions" on a site named "Reason".
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Comment on Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing in ~tech
borntyping Link ParentAgreed, the style and tone of AI-written content is always the first thing that stands out to me. No human talks like that! Companies do, and it's always been really obvious. I've found when...Agreed, the style and tone of AI-written content is always the first thing that stands out to me. No human talks like that! Companies do, and it's always been really obvious.
I've found when scrolling YouTube Shorts or TikTok, there's a very specific way of talking that makes me scroll past immediately, and whenever I've cared to double check my intuition it's been corporate content like adverts or sponsorships every single time.
If I accept the premise that AI chatbots are useful, the choices behind the style and tone they use still seem really weird to me. I don't want to have a friendly, casual conversation with a computer that sounds like an advert! Star Trek got it right with "Tea, Earl Grey, hot".
I played Destiny 2 very heavily for a couple years in the middle of it's lifetime (I was around for the releases of Beyond Light and The Witch Queen). It was a great mix of something that felt really fun to play moment-to-moment, had interesting worldbuilding/plot/lore/etc, and had a huge amount of quests and areas to explore. None of those things were unique, but I think the combination was rare and something usually only found in non-shooter MMOs.
After The Witch Queen there was a shift in gameplay design towards chasing specific "god rolls" of weapons, and that was the point where I felt that - for me - I was no longer the target audience of the game, and they were really optimising the game for the players who were spending a huge amount of time on the game. It wasn't entirely a new idea for the game, and they'd already sunset early campaigns by then I think, but that was the moment I fell out of love with the game and I started to lose interest.
I already had a running joke at that point that Destiny 2 was the best came I could never recommend as you couldn't start playing it anymore as you'd have missed most of the story - even if they'd not sunset the early campaigns, a lot of the story and content was "seasonal" releases that were only around for a couple months, and unless you made sure to play for most of that time you'd miss out on a lot of gear (I particularly cared about getting some of the cosmetics).
I don't regret the time I spent playing. I certainly got a lot of enjoyment out of it, and in hours-to-pounds it was money well spent. But I did still come away feeling like a bit of a sucker for having so much emotional investment in a game that was clearly made by a company that prioritised making money from consumers over making a good experience.
They didn't have to rely on FOMO (fear of missing out) and didn't have to do ephemeral seasonal content or remove older campaigns. I'm currently really impressed by Dune: Awakening, where the developers have listened to their community of players and made a first-class PvE experience in a game that originally pushed players into PvP, and recently announced an upcoming single-player mode (the game is usually played on public or private servers). Sea of Thieves also comes to mind, a game which I loved but has focused really heavily on a specific subset of it's audience and - in my opinion - alienated a lot of more casual players who aren't interested in PvP. It's a game that's fantastic fun without it, but if you play in the PvE-only mode it disables so many features of the game that it really feels like they don't want to.
To come back around to where I started, I feel like these things are tied together: once a company starts focusing on making as much money as they can from their consumers, they start to focus on a single audience, and games that originally attracted a broad audience get transformed into something that alienates a lot of their audience. It's not necessarily bad business, but it certainly makes for bad games.