Douglas's recent activity

  1. Comment on Without saying where you live, where do you live? in ~talk

  2. Comment on What's a sequel you were disappointed by? in ~games

    Douglas
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    I tried playing that game again after I beat it back in the day as I recall enjoying it at the time. Boy howdy, I think I just had low standards because I had less games to play back then and my...

    I tried playing that game again after I beat it back in the day as I recall enjoying it at the time.

    Boy howdy, I think I just had low standards because I had less games to play back then and my bar hadn't been raised to where it is today. Ye gods was that voice acting terrible and the writing ho-hum in comparison to the first one. Also I think it was the bloom effect, but everything in that game just felt very... sleepy? It does make for very relaxing background noise (as does the first one) putting on a no-commentary playthrough from YouTube while I work.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Film soundtrack discussion in ~music

    Douglas
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    I enjoy a variety of soundtracks m'self, but I think mine are a bit lesser known compared to the types I'm seeing listed so far: Conspiracy Theory -- Aside from a shoehorned romance (and Mel...

    I enjoy a variety of soundtracks m'self, but I think mine are a bit lesser known compared to the types I'm seeing listed so far:

    • Conspiracy Theory -- Aside from a shoehorned romance (and Mel Gibson being who he is), it's a good movie with a great soundtrack
    • The Vagrant -- A satirical movie about a homeowner being terrified of a homeless person outside. Kinda fizzles out by the end, but the soundtrack goes full Danny Elfman.
    • The Untouchables -- A very good movie with camp/cheese out the ears. Treats prohibition like Lord of the Rings with its soundtrack (e.g. playing heroic fanfare while... just stopping some booze smugglers)
    • Prometheus -- While the movie's story was subpar, I love its soundtrack (and production value in general).
    • Bourne Supremacy -- I listen to this track in my instrumental playlist that gets me to speed up my walking pace.
    • Road to Perdition -- Great movie, great soundtrack, I just really love this track paired with the scene it's in, which is a zolly shot of Jude Law walking through an underpass to show he's going nowhere. The music is just this repeated tone with evil accompaniments. Edit: found the scene. Just a great movie.

  4. Comment on “Sims 5” job listing suggests freemium, live service model in ~games

    Douglas
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    I have it on good authority that it'll also be multiplayer. I know I'm just some schmuck on the internet, so take that information with whatever grain of salt you want.

    I have it on good authority that it'll also be multiplayer. I know I'm just some schmuck on the internet, so take that information with whatever grain of salt you want.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies

    Douglas
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    My watchlist is ginormous and every now and again I make an effort to watch movies from the back of my queue which have been in there sometimes for upwards of 10+ years. I recently watched The...

    My watchlist is ginormous and every now and again I make an effort to watch movies from the back of my queue which have been in there sometimes for upwards of 10+ years.

    I recently watched The Searchers, dubbed one of the greatest Westerns of all time...

    ...meh. It was OK, but it had an unnecessary romance subplot and an odd choice of humor that just didn't pair well with everything else. Beautiful scenery, some great shots, and I enjoyed the themes explored, but overall I just thought it was fine. Probably not going to recall much of it a few years from now other than the getting-shot-in-the-butt joke cracked minutes before the credits rolled.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on So what's the VR scene like for the people who have invested into it? in ~games

    Douglas
    Link
    I've been into it since PSVR days; I was worried I would consider it a fad for myself-- like I'd get into it and it'd collect dust. My rationale for buying one at the time was I was struggling...

    I've been into it since PSVR days; I was worried I would consider it a fad for myself-- like I'd get into it and it'd collect dust.

    My rationale for buying one at the time was I was struggling with some unusual medical issues that were keeping me indoors, so I figured I'd get VR and it'd satisfy the feeling of leaving the house.

    It does collect dust for some weeks at a time, but every now and again I revisit it and I'm glad I do every time. I would recommend it if you:

    • Enjoy being scared. RE7 in VR (though only available on PSVR) was easily the most scared I've ever been in my goddamn life. LOVED it. VR just really immerses me into the horror like no other and I feel truly terrified. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I love that-- if ever I'm feeling very cocky and want to get my pants scared-- I can just put on my VR and walk into any half-assed horror game (not meant to be an insult, but the games don't have to try hard to spook you once you're in VR, like Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion or Hospitality VR)
    • Enjoy watching movies. Especially during COVID's peak it was nice to just get snacks at the corner store and hop into my VR cinema (BigScreen VR nowadays) and watch anything on a "big" screen with other people live, or by myself.
    • Want to gamify your exercise. Others have said Beat Saber, my preference is Synth Riders. There's Knockout League. Even games that aren't centered around wearing yourself out can still be a workout: Superhot is surprisingly tiring. I very much enjoy Laser Tag and Paintball in Rec Room. Even just crouching in games is enough for me lol -- if a game has an option to use a button I opt to not use it 'cause I feel like I'm cheating.

    I would not buy a VR if you:

    • Don't have AC/it's hot where you are all the time. Ironically I want to play VR more during summer months, but boy howdy does that headset get sweaty no matter what I'm playing
    • Get motion sick easily. I don't know why I have the sea legs for it, but everyone I've had try out VR got really sick really fast, and I've never had that problem.
    • Are bothered by things on your head that weigh a bit. There are things you can do to mitigate this, like counterweights, but my wife's neck gets especially strained no matter what we've tried on both the Index and the Reverb.

    No regrets on me buying the one(s) I did when I did, but as others have said, it does feel like it's due for a new milestone soon. Maybe the Vision Pro will help, we'll see.

    I would like to see more flight sims with HOTAS support (No Man's Sky, where are you?); more AAA VR titles, I'm part of the problem in that I'd gladly shell out another $60 for an official port of the Dead Space remake or Alien Isolation (I know there's mods, it's not the same).

    1 vote

  7. Comment on What password management solution do you use and why? in ~tech

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    I do absolutely no programming/coding and just enjoy piggybacking off the makeshift things other people do and advertising; setting up Keepass + Syncthing to avoid monthly subscriptions a while...

    I do absolutely no programming/coding and just enjoy piggybacking off the makeshift things other people do and advertising; setting up Keepass + Syncthing to avoid monthly subscriptions a while back makes me feel the sense of pride and accomplishment I feel like one might get from building a shed, I'm just glad I wrangled my crappy attention span around enough to do it. Love the results.

  8. Comment on Favorite "cozy" games? in ~games

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    Good recommendation/I have played and enjoyed that game very much.

    Good recommendation/I have played and enjoyed that game very much.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on Raunchy comedies try for a comeback in theaters in ~movies

    Douglas
    Link
    I was thinking about these earlier after I rewatched American Pie and I was trying to think: is there a movie like American Pie wherein, after chasing sex throughout the entire film, the...

    I was thinking about these earlier after I rewatched American Pie and I was trying to think: is there a movie like American Pie wherein, after chasing sex throughout the entire film, the protagonists don't get laid, and they are OK with it? I appreciate the message some of them try to do wherein it's like "just be yourself and you'll find someone," but I feel like that leads people to think that sex is still a guarantee in the near-future-- or maybe that's just the vibe I get from seeing the premise condensed into a movie's runtime.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Favorite "cozy" games? in ~games

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    My kingdom for a VR Stardew Valley rip-off... or any VR Life-Sim game, really. The ones that've come out feel very abandoned/half-assed.

    My kingdom for a VR Stardew Valley rip-off... or any VR Life-Sim game, really. The ones that've come out feel very abandoned/half-assed.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Favorite "cozy" games? in ~games

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    It sounds really silly, but if games like The Division had like... subgroups of players who wanted to play the game as we all know it and... and a game for a different subgroup of players who...

    It sounds really silly, but if games like The Division had like... subgroups of players who wanted to play the game as we all know it and... and a game for a different subgroup of players who wanted something more life-simmy wherein we could clean up the city by hauling away all the bodies in trucks and trash bags, and somehow gamifying the city clean-up, I would probably never put that game down.

    It did a little bit of doing-missions-to-make-settlements-cozier but it wasn't enough. I wanted a full MMO where I just made people cozy as the game went from trash-ridden decrepit city to livable colonies with flourishing, adapted life.

    ...so yes, I very much have my eyes on Palia. MMO for crafting and community 😍

    8 votes

  12. Comment on Dan Stevens replaces Justin Roiland in Hulu’s ‘Solar Opposites’ in ~tv

  14. Comment on With rising costs of just about everything, what are some frugal things you do to save some cash? in ~life

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    imo it's no more morally wrong to pirate (esp if you can't afford it) than it is for producers to make considerably more money off of productions and not pay livable wages/overwork the people at...

    3.) Piracy. I pirate like, everything, except Spotify. Is it morally wrong? Maybe?

    imo it's no more morally wrong to pirate (esp if you can't afford it) than it is for producers to make considerably more money off of productions and not pay livable wages/overwork the people at the bottom. This is coming from a former set and office PA: I wouldn't see a dime regardless if you pirate or not, and they incorporate piracy prevalence into the show's ratings (which affect whether the show gets renewed or not), so have at it. I know that opens a whole can of worms on morals and theft and what-not, but I'm just saying don't feel too bad about it.

    ...in fact if the thing I want to watch stars or has behind the scenes some known toxic pos person who actually might make money off residuals, I go out of my way to pirate.

    Fun fact kind of related: my dad used to work as a forensic software analyst getting hired by various firms to various clients in cases that involve recovering/discovering/whatever digital software evidence that could be used in for/against clients in a court of law. One of the things he told me was that various studios really care about piracy while others do not give a shit, and it's such a coin toss on the ones that care vs. the ones that don't-- like for whatever reason, anyone who pirated the movie Mud (starring matt mcconaughey) would get the shit snooped out of them and hunted down to the best of the studio's ability. Meanwhile other movies from around the same year like Dark Knight Rises they did not care at all that it was the top pirated movie. IIRC the word was something like "it's their loss not seeing it in theaters."

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What would be the absolute worst video game world to end up in? in ~talk

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    That’s the one! Holy crap, haven’t seen that in ages!

    That’s the one! Holy crap, haven’t seen that in ages!

    2 votes

  16. Comment on What would be the absolute worst video game world to end up in? in ~talk

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    One of the oldest DOS games I remember my dad getting was a first-person Pac-Man game wherein you could pause and look at the map, but otherwise had to pilot in first person. It was very crude,...

    One of the oldest DOS games I remember my dad getting was a first-person Pac-Man game wherein you could pause and look at the map, but otherwise had to pilot in first person. It was very crude, but boy was it a terrifying concept. Can't find it anywhere.

    13 votes

  17. Comment on What gaps for content, news, or community currently exist for you? in ~tech

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    Nextdoor would be an ideal candidate for me if it weren't chock-full of nimbys. Meetup is OK, but while it has a lot of groups, none of them have a consistent forum. There's Discord servers I'm a...

    Nextdoor would be an ideal candidate for me if it weren't chock-full of nimbys.

    Meetup is OK, but while it has a lot of groups, none of them have a consistent forum.

    There's Discord servers I'm a part of, but something about my old brain doesn't like how dynamic a chat client feels (even if there's channels devoted to more static updates) vs. a website-- I think it's a me problem, but it's the closest replacement I have right now.

    10 votes

  18. Comment on Favorite ambient / instrumental music? in ~music

    Douglas
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    I have a playlist of lute music I put on the background and pair with tavern background noise. Helps drown everything out while not being too distracting like something with a beat might have...

    I have a playlist of lute music I put on the background and pair with tavern background noise. Helps drown everything out while not being too distracting like something with a beat might have (...I'm easily distracted).

  19. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    Douglas
    Link
    Some sci-fi mystery novel called Six Wakes I impulsively bought wherein six people in the distant future-- who extend their lives by cloning themselves and their mindmaps-- wake up and discover...

    Some sci-fi mystery novel called Six Wakes I impulsively bought wherein six people in the distant future-- who extend their lives by cloning themselves and their mindmaps-- wake up and discover their previous selves were murdered by someone within the group in the middle of a sabotaged interstellar flight and they have to figure out who it was lest they fail their mission and die for good.

    It's pretty good and explores some fun concepts and implications about what a society would look like wherein people could clone themselves and their mindmaps (i.e. no inheritance/it just stays with the person, more hoarding of wealth, death means nothing to the rich/people with access to cloning). The mystery is a little lightly delivered/not as much dread as you might think, but I'm enjoying it.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Lego - what do you do with it afterwards? in ~hobbies

    Douglas
    Link Parent
    Are we talking all the sets like even the behemoth ones? Or just the smaller ones? I might take apart my behemoth ones someday, but what an audiobook's worth that'll be.

    Are we talking all the sets like even the behemoth ones? Or just the smaller ones? I might take apart my behemoth ones someday, but what an audiobook's worth that'll be.

    2 votes