emnii's recent activity
-
Comment on Does Linux need antivirus? in ~tech
-
Comment on Does Linux need antivirus? in ~tech
emnii LinkAt one point in my career, I was tasked with evaluating how to deploy Symantec Endpoint Protection on Red Hat. I put the brakes on as soon as I learned SEP required a Java runtime engine on Linux....At one point in my career, I was tasked with evaluating how to deploy Symantec Endpoint Protection on Red Hat. I put the brakes on as soon as I learned SEP required a Java runtime engine on Linux. That's the definition of the cure being worse than the disease. IIRC SEP didn't have any signatures for viruses affecting Linux either. We'd be installing a JRE and AV client with signatures to detect Windows viruses just to check an "asset has AV installed" box. No thanks.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii Link ParentI saw all your Steam achievements over the weekend and I thought "wtf is kfwyre doing?" But I do the exact same thing sometimes, typically after I've finished something I really liked and don't...I saw all your Steam achievements over the weekend and I thought "wtf is kfwyre doing?" But I do the exact same thing sometimes, typically after I've finished something I really liked and don't know what to play next.
How Peggle is Roundguard? Would someone who's played like 100 hours of Peggle get into it? Does it ever play Ode to Joy at the end of a level?
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI bought Doom Eternal and spent my weekend beating Doom 64. Doom 64 is the Doom game I've spent the least time with. I didn't own an N64. I only recently beat Doom 64 for the first time last year,...I bought Doom Eternal and spent my weekend beating Doom 64.
Doom 64 is the Doom game I've spent the least time with. I didn't own an N64. I only recently beat Doom 64 for the first time last year, thanks to Doom 64 EX. I find most of the sprite redraws terribly ugly, but the gameplay is close enough to Doom. The levels rely on traps more often than I like, but it's still fun. The Lost Levels in this new release are rather fun, and a good challenge. The last "lost" level is infinitely better than the conclusion to the original game, if only because it doesn't rely on the player having found secret items on secret levels. The fully powered Unmaker absolutely melts demons and that's fun.
I guess now I should play Doom Eternal.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii Link ParentThat's hilarious. The gear score thing is a bit funny but it is summarizing something like six different weapon stats, so not terribly surprising that it's inconsistent. I remember in previous...That's hilarious.
The gear score thing is a bit funny but it is summarizing something like six different weapon stats, so not terribly surprising that it's inconsistent. I remember in previous games, if a new gun had better stats in something like 3+ areas, I'd switch to the new one. But I wouldn't toss the old gun, just in case I had to roll back or needed it for elemental damage. The same is true here but I'm only comparing gear score.
I don't think I've been bitten by a bad gear score yet, but I experienced the Jakobs phenomena. They're definitely powerful. The issue with Jakobs guns is that they're universally low ammo count magazines and iron sights. But if you're shooting from the hip anyway, their only detractor is the constant need to reload. Maybe Gearbox had a hard time accounting for that in gear scores and undersold them? At one point, I was either out of ammo or using the wrong element and switched to a Jakobs gun with a lower gear score. It did the job really well, but the constant reloading drove me nuts. Big fat Dahl magazines, please.
I finally found a shotgun that works as advertised. It's a Tediore.
It's also funny because he's very unhappy about Skywell-27, which is the area of the game I just entered. In fact, the whole span between Lectra City -> Athenas -> Skywell-27 is pretty much all linear manshoots. Lectra City is the least linear of them, but it's absolutely a slog.
Oh well. If Skywell-27 sucks, I'm only two days away from Doom saving me.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI bought Borderlands 3 because, despite knowing I'll drop it for Doom Eternal by the end of the week, I was bored. And the deal on Steam was rather good. BL3 is almost exactly like Borderlands 2,...I bought Borderlands 3 because, despite knowing I'll drop it for Doom Eternal by the end of the week, I was bored. And the deal on Steam was rather good.
BL3 is almost exactly like Borderlands 2, except they added the buttstomp from The Pre-Sequel. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense because it doesn't take place on a low-gravity moon, but whatever.
The inventory is kind of a nightmare. I don't remember it being this bad in BL2 but comparing what you have in your hands to what's in your inventory is too painful. They did add a simple "gear score" to every item, but it's the same problem; not easy or quick enough to compare gear scores without doing it in your own head.
The early guns suck ass. I'm nearly 10 hours in and I'm starting to get guns I want to use. I'm not just talking about rare guns, but guns that feel effective. The first few shotguns I got felt absolutely pitiful. Emptying a magazine into an enemy at point blank range with a shotgun shouldn't result in an enemy still standing, but it happened a lot.
But, despite my complaints, it's still Borderlands and it's enjoyable enough to keep playing. Until Doom Eternal is available.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI didn't intend on doing this, but I bought Metro Exodus shortly after it hit Steam. I've owned Exodus since it released but on Xbox One. I didn't get very far before getting slightly frustrated...I didn't intend on doing this, but I bought Metro Exodus shortly after it hit Steam. I've owned Exodus since it released but on Xbox One. I didn't get very far before getting slightly frustrated by the tiny FOV and console controls.
Now that I'm playing it on PC, where the Metro series began, I've gotten much further into it. I still have some complaints about the tight FOV being applied to an open world, but at least I can snap the mouse around a bit quicker. Gorgeous game but it's doing Metro so differently that it's almost a different game. I can't even trade good bullets for worse, but more plentiful bullets!
I also checked out Kingdom Under Fire II as it was on a free weekend, and it only took the 15 minute tutorial to tell me that game wasn't my thing.
-
Comment on Tildes' Valentine's Day Game Giveaway: Gaming Blind Dates! in ~games
-
Comment on The Division 2’s new expansion will rev up the story, revamp gameplay in ~games
emnii Link ParentIt's Uplay and EGS exclusive for a while. We're past the 1 year mark, so there's no telling for how long it'll remain exclusive to Uplay and EGS.It's Uplay and EGS exclusive for a while. We're past the 1 year mark, so there's no telling for how long it'll remain exclusive to Uplay and EGS.
-
Comment on The Division 2’s new expansion will rev up the story, revamp gameplay in ~games
emnii LinkI found this interesting following yesterday's post about Anthem revamping. Given Ubisoft's support for Ghost Recon: Wildlands, I guess this was to be expected. I personally fell off of The...I found this interesting following yesterday's post about Anthem revamping. Given Ubisoft's support for Ghost Recon: Wildlands, I guess this was to be expected. I personally fell off of The Division 2 about 3/4ths through the main quest so I'll probably jump back in at this new expansion, if only to see if I can get other players to help me through the rest of the main quests.
-
Comment on The Division 2’s new expansion will rev up the story, revamp gameplay in ~games
-
The Division 2’s new expansion will rev up the story, revamp gameplay
6 votes -
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
-
Comment on One year after Anthem's launch, BioWare is stopping work on seasonal content to let the team focus on a "substantial reinvention" of the gameplay in ~games
emnii LinkJason Schreier at Kotaku had this scouted back in November. I played Anthem and the problems that game has preventing it from becoming the type of game that it wants to be are deep. It's not just...Jason Schreier at Kotaku had this scouted back in November.
I played Anthem and the problems that game has preventing it from becoming the type of game that it wants to be are deep. It's not just a tweak of drop tables. There's not a lot of incentive to run the repeatable quests and missions because there's not much to collect or show off. Games like Diablo and Destiny have hundreds of different weapons and cosmetics. Anthem has much fewer weapons, and the cosmetics are sold, not earned or found.
The scale of the environment is also a challenge. The open map is much bigger in size than any Destiny world but there's only one and it's sort of bereft of landmarks. There's no point to wandering because you're unlikely to stumble upon anything cool, so everyone's just jetting from point A to point B.
My question is how much will they charge for this? While I don't doubt that they want to fix Anthem, I don't know whether they can do it for free, and they turned off so many of us early players with this now beta release that they've got a lot of work to do to bring anyone back. They have to convince new players that this one is actually good (the same thing every game has to do and that's difficult enough without the negative hype) and they have to convince old players that this one is different.
-
Comment on BioWare Plans A 'Substantial Reinvention' Of Anthem in ~games
emnii LinkJason Schreier at Kotaku had this scouted back in November. I played Anthem and the problems that game has preventing it from becoming the type of game that it wants to be are deep. It's not just...Jason Schreier at Kotaku had this scouted back in November.
I played Anthem and the problems that game has preventing it from becoming the type of game that it wants to be are deep. It's not just a tweak of drop tables. There's not a lot of incentive to run the repeatable quests and missions because there's not much to collect or show off. Games like Diablo and Destiny have hundreds of different weapons and cosmetics. Anthem has much fewer weapons, and the cosmetics are sold, not earned or found.
The scale of the environment is also a challenge. The open map is much bigger in size than any Destiny world but there's only one and it's sort of bereft of landmarks. There's no point to wandering because you're unlikely to stumble upon anything cool, so everyone's just jetting from point A to point B.
My question is how much will they charge for this? While I don't doubt that they want to fix Anthem, I don't know whether they can do it for free, and they turned off so many of us early players with this now beta release that they've got a lot of work to do to bring anyone back. They have to convince new players that this one is actually good (the same thing every game has to do and that's difficult enough without the negative hype) and they have to convince old players that this one is different.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI am floundering after finishing Kentucky Route Zero so please excuse me if this is a bit scatterbrained. I probably spent the most time last week playing Blade Runner. I also rewatched Blade...I am floundering after finishing Kentucky Route Zero so please excuse me if this is a bit scatterbrained.
I probably spent the most time last week playing Blade Runner. I also rewatched Blade Runner: The Final Cut and it's a bit hilarious how parallel they are. Regardless, it's really interesting playing an adventure game where I'm not choosing dialog options and there's no particular positive feedback loop. Maybe I'm on the right course, maybe I'm not. At one point, I died and had to re-do a large chunk of act 2 with knowledge of some time-sensitive events. I tried to short circuit it and got the same results as I did the first time. So maybe it's less open than I was led to believe.
I also spent some more time with Chasm, which is an okay Metroidvania. I had previously gotten stuck at a boss, went back to town to get a magical weapon because I thought it'd help, but then I beat the boss with just a bit more caution and my regular sword. It pushes checkpoints a bit too far out for my enjoyment and I've had to re-do some runs just skating past enemies because I want to get progress more than XP.
I started The Red Strings Club, because that's a game I've owned for a while and I can finish it for my backlog completion goal. I never got much into Gods Will Be Watching but I'm already enjoying Red Strings Club more. The mini games are fairly interesting and the conversation quizzes mean I'm actually paying attention to the dialog bits.
And finally, I saw some Dirt Rally 2.0 gameplay and that looked cool but I realized I own and already have installed Forza Horizon 4. That's a fun racing game. I never want to get into the tuning parts, but it seems to be fine with me just picking a car and racing. I'm not exactly a huge fan of driving to far off events just to race in another direction, but I also haven't mucked with the fast travel options much.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI finished the last act of Kentucky Route Zero. And then I went back and replayed all of the previous acts and the interludes. I didn't Kickstart it, but I've owned it since 2013 and I've been...I finished the last act of Kentucky Route Zero. And then I went back and replayed all of the previous acts and the interludes. I didn't Kickstart it, but I've owned it since 2013 and I've been looking forward to seeing the conclusion. It's really a beautiful, incomparable experience.
And then I tried to play Syndicate (2012) and found out it doesn't run well on modern PCs without constantly crashing.
I'm not sure which of those two events made me more sad.
-
Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
emnii LinkI recently finished The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. It's a good novel about trying to find the middle ground between extremes and what that could cost. What I...I recently finished The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders. It's a good novel about trying to find the middle ground between extremes and what that could cost. What I particularly appreciated was the character development. Another review I read compared it to The Left Hand of Darkness, and while I liked this novel a lot more than Left Hand, that's a very apt comparison. People change in this book.
I just started The Traitor Baru Cormorant. I'm too early in it to form an opinion really.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii Link ParentIt's unfair for me to call this a backlog, because that implies I intend on actually finishing all of these games, which I don't. But my "maybe someday" collection on Steam is over 900 games. So...It's unfair for me to call this a backlog, because that implies I intend on actually finishing all of these games, which I don't. But my "maybe someday" collection on Steam is over 900 games.
So since I don't intend on finishing all of those, the games I want to finish this year are games I've started and liked but didn't finish for some reason. Also, since I started this at the beginning of the year, I'm forcing myself to choose games I bought more than six months ago. Everything else that I'll actually play is mostly stuff I just haven't started yet.
Most of the potentials on my list are games I've owned for quite a while, and finishing them this year will either give me a prompt to play a newer sequel or get me ready for something else coming out this year.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
emnii LinkI've taken on a quest to reduce my backlog of unfinished games in 2020 by 12. The first game toward that goal was Homefront: The Revolution. I chose it because I played the first Homefront,...I've taken on a quest to reduce my backlog of unfinished games in 2020 by 12. The first game toward that goal was Homefront: The Revolution. I chose it because I played the first Homefront, started Revolution but never finished it, and knew I could slog through it because it's a FPS. Yesterday, I finished it.
I recall it getting critically panned, and that's for good reason. It's kind of a bore, kind of repetitive, and rather buggy (lots of objects clipping through each other). The ending is bad and it's absolutely forgettable. But at its best, I was a guerrilla fighter, hiding in plain sight, in a fascist state and undermining them at every opportunity, from assassinating officials, to just breaking their stuff. There are good ideas in here, but they're completely buried by no-stakes design (there's basically no punishment for failure) and setting most of the game in dull battlefields where there's no need for stealth or strategy.
A lot of InfoSec professionals are 'no' people. No you can't do that, think about the risk! No, you do what everyone else does. No exceptions. And then they complain about being left out of discussions and shadow IT.