mimic's recent activity
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Comment on Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days in ~tech
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Comment on What's your favorite music album to get high to? in ~music
mimic (edited )LinkSo strictly answering the question, The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium. However, while it has slower moments it is frantic for lack of a better word (and there's a reason for it) and in...So strictly answering the question, The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium. However, while it has slower moments it is frantic for lack of a better word (and there's a reason for it) and in sections might be considered dark. It's a concept album and was mind blowing and eye opening when it dropped. Still my favorite album to listen to while high and possibly on other things.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
mimic Link ParentHaha, this is a fair question. I can only speak to the departments that I am responsible for. So I guess to answer directly, I simply don't know. I have not heard of instances of PTO abuse or...Haha, this is a fair question. I can only speak to the departments that I am responsible for. So I guess to answer directly, I simply don't know. I have not heard of instances of PTO abuse or being strict, but I cannot say it hasn't happened because maybe I just wasn't involved in the conversation.
This also goes back to my statement that it's highly dependent on the manager and how they operate. Everything is subject to a manager's approval, even if company policy is a specific amount of PTO. Which I think might be where "Unlimited PTO" can go very wrong. Managers tend to be risk adverse and conservative. Myself, having been in early stage startups for about a decade (Pre/Post Series A) am just used to a different kind of environment, so I can't speak to larger more mature company cultures (unless you want to talk about Fintech 15 years ago lol).
I do not have any directive or guidelines from my bosses on about how much I should give each employee. It's very results driven. If I gave everyone a month off and we don't deliver on our committed timelines, it's my head on the chopping block (which is why I think as a company grows, they tend to become more controlling and conservative in their policies).
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
mimic Link ParentI lean toward it being pedantic because I feel like no reasonable person would have this take when they see "Unlimited PTO" being advertised by a company. This thread feels rather polarized, like..."hey boss, next month I'm going to go down to South America. I'll be taking the year off. Should be back around this time next year."
I lean toward it being pedantic because I feel like no reasonable person would have this take when they see "Unlimited PTO" being advertised by a company. This thread feels rather polarized, like people are just missing the entire middle ground. Pretty much everything in a work contract is "subject to the company's approval." I don't see the need to append that to every single statement made in a company handbook.
I agree that some companies do use it as a way of attracting talent into a suppresive and abusive work environment and that's obviously a bad thing and those employers should be named and shamed as much as people can while keeping themselves safe. I'm not trying to say that never happens, however there is a massive middle ground where the policy is done in a reasonable way and not used as a lure to entrap people. Calling it a scam tilts the scale so far to one side that it doesn't leave room for any nuance.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
mimic Link ParentI get what you're saying, but this just goes back to the original thing I'm saying (and the OP I was replying to), that I feel like people are being a bit pedantic about the word "unlimited". No...I get what you're saying, but this just goes back to the original thing I'm saying (and the OP I was replying to), that I feel like people are being a bit pedantic about the word "unlimited". No reasonable person is going to assume they can just not work at all and be paid.
To turn that around a little bit, should a company have to list every single thing you can and and can't do while "on the clock?",Everything you can and can't say, If you can wear brown shoes with slacks, or if they have to be black? On the third thursday of the month, you need to wear a clown suit. Sure they have section that will outline expected behaviors and attire, but it's far from exhaustive. It's usually amended as problems come up. I'm being a bit extreme to try to make the point, reasonable people should have reasonable expectations even if the policy title is "unlimited". The point, to me, is to allow room for managers to have discretion and not be rigid.
If they have the leave, as long as we have coverage for their role, they can take the leave, no questions or strings attached.
Does you policy state that PTO is three weeks, or that it's three weeks with the string attached that it's only if there's coverage? I'm honestly genuiely curious because I've worked in plenty of companies that had strict levels of PTO and none of them outlined anything that explicitly.
I do agree that social pressure can be a thing, probably more often than not, I've personally only seen it once in my start up tenure and it was crazy. I personally just took the time when I felt I needed it, screw social pressure, but I definitely also understand I'm probably speaking from a place of privilege especially being a software engineer (at the time at least, the market is trash now lol).
Apologies if I'm coming off agressive or dismissive, it's not my intention, this just feels like a kind of pedantic argument over the term unlimited. I can definitely be in agreement that it's easily abused, and probably is at a majority of places that implement it.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
mimic Link ParentThis is about where I'm at. I feel like most of the comments in this thread are just hanging on the word "unlimited" and to be fair, it could be warranted based on everyone's personal experiences...This is about where I'm at. I feel like most of the comments in this thread are just hanging on the word "unlimited" and to be fair, it could be warranted based on everyone's personal experiences with the topic.
At my company, we have an "unlimited PTO policy". I see some people take two weeks, I see some people take six weeks. I wonder if people would have less of a knee jerk reaction if it was phrased as something like "PTO is at your manager's discretion". It's heavily dependent on your manager and how they operate, hence why it's easy to abuse.
Full disclosure, I'm the person that approves/denies PTO for my team (slightly over a dozen engineers). When requests come in I don't refer back to some tally and approve/deny based on that. All I care about are results and people not abusing policies that are trying to be generous because we all work in a rather high pressure environment. I have denied PTO before, but it was because of conflicts, whether it was a hard deadline during that request period or I wouldn't have enough coverage on specific teams, but outside of that unless "I feel" like it's not being abused I let people take their time to relax and recharge because, again it's a high pressure environment. If someone was putting in a request every other week, I would end up noticing and probably have a discussion with the person, but definitely not some kind of dressing down or complaint. In all my time of being this person, I've only seen it abused once, and that person was a poor performer in the first place. Not a bad person, they just did not acclimate well to the environment. Ultimately if I let people take too much time off, it's on me and I have to answer for it, not my team and I've never had a single instance where I've gotten push back from my bosses about my or my team's PTO.
And for full disclosure, I usually end up taking around six weeks and I take all major national US holidays as well.
I'm willing to admit that maybe my company is an outlier (it probably is to a degree), but after a decade in software engineering startups, I've never seen unlimited PTO policy abused to the level that most people discuss, though I'm sure it does happen because if there's one thing I can agree with most people about in this thread it's that American work culture absolutely sucks.
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Comment on Your favorite game OSTs in ~games
mimic Link ParentYea that mechanic was upsetting. 250 hours across two playthroughs and I never pulled KOSMOS. The Xenosaga trilogy also holds a special place in my heart, I was upset it got cut short.Yea that mechanic was upsetting. 250 hours across two playthroughs and I never pulled KOSMOS. The Xenosaga trilogy also holds a special place in my heart, I was upset it got cut short.
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Comment on Your favorite game OSTs in ~games
mimic Link ParentXenoblade Chronicles 2 holds a special place in my heart. The music across that entire trilogy is amazing and I feel like it never got the recognition it deserved.Xenoblade Chronicles 2 holds a special place in my heart. The music across that entire trilogy is amazing and I feel like it never got the recognition it deserved.
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Comment on Looking for slim wallet recommendations in ~life.style
mimic Link ParentI love mine! I've read the quality might not be what it used to be, but I've had my Saddleback ID wallet for 12 years and the leather and stitching are just a tight and nice as it was on day one.I love mine! I've read the quality might not be what it used to be, but I've had my Saddleback ID wallet for 12 years and the leather and stitching are just a tight and nice as it was on day one.
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Comment on Former Square Enix exec on why Final Fantasy sales don’t meet expectations and chances of recouping insane AAA budgets in ~games
mimic Link ParentThis is my take on the new ones as well. I've always described it as it's trying to be too cinematic. It's like it wants to be a movie and it's frustrating as hell. It has so many great aspects to...As someone who has a long history enjoying Final Fantasy games, FFXVI and the VII remake games are painful for me to experience; they feel like they are trying to play the game for me.
This is my take on the new ones as well. I've always described it as it's trying to be too cinematic. It's like it wants to be a movie and it's frustrating as hell. It has so many great aspects to it, but one of my biggest pet peeves in video games is constantly taking control away from the player and constantly forcefully moving the camera.
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Comment on What's your favorite dinosaur? in ~science
mimic Link ParentMy name is Stegosaurus. I'm a funny looking dinosaur. That was an unexpected nostalia hit.My name is Stegosaurus. I'm a funny looking dinosaur.
That was an unexpected nostalia hit.
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Comment on What are your favorite funny, silly or wacky games? in ~games
mimic Link ParentIn a similar vein, Donut County is not very long, but a hilarious game. It's a small twist on the Katamari Damacy mechanics, but very enjoyable and the dialog is fantastic.In a similar vein, Donut County is not very long, but a hilarious game. It's a small twist on the Katamari Damacy mechanics, but very enjoyable and the dialog is fantastic.
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Comment on What games do you most wish had a remake, or a sequel or both? in ~games
mimic LinkA ton of PS2 era games didn't age well, but I would love a graphics upgrade to the Xenosaga trilogy. I would do dirty immoral things for them to complete the last three parts.A ton of PS2 era games didn't age well, but I would love a graphics upgrade to the Xenosaga trilogy. I would do dirty immoral things for them to complete the last three parts.
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Comment on Thoughts on Final Fantasy 16 in ~games
mimic Link ParentVery fair point about making so many games that something has to change or people would be complaining that it's just "another clone." I do however think there's still room to innovate with the...Very fair point about making so many games that something has to change or people would be complaining that it's just "another clone."
I do however think there's still room to innovate with the various mechanics and subsystems in a turn-based RPG. FF7's Materia system was extremely good in my opinion. The job/class system of FF2 was similarly really good. Chrono Trigger was able to break the "line up on either side" while keeping it turn based. And then you can add on top the "active" battle systems to break up the strictly turn based style. Even in modern games, Octopath 2 is graphically stunning while keeping it's old school sprite style and the battle system is really great, just be prepared for a mountain of dialog.
I do take your point on tradition vs necessity. I think it probably started off as more necessity because of the extreme constraints of the hardware systems at the time, but as the hardware got better and better the battle system stayed out of nostalgia or tradition and since I grew up in that era, I definitely concede that a lot of my opnions probably revolve around nostalgia.
All of this is not to stay I dislike all ARPGs. The complex combat systems in games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 were highly enjoyable and wrapped in rather good story telling.
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Comment on Thoughts on Final Fantasy 16 in ~games
mimic LinkI'm probably even more aged out with my opinions on the series. Ever since Final Fantasy went ARPG I feel like it's lost it's way. In my opinion Final Fantasy XII was the last good game in the...I'm probably even more aged out with my opinions on the series. Ever since Final Fantasy went ARPG I feel like it's lost it's way. In my opinion Final Fantasy XII was the last good game in the main line non-MMO series (XIV is absolutely fantastic). I grew up on 2 and 3 (US) then 7-10 and I have a very strong love of turn based RPGs so I know I'm pretty biased.
I was also not very into XV, but I still played it because of my residual love for the series as a whole. XVI is very likely the first in the series I won't be buying.
Just to throw out there my use case. I kept my old Android phone after upgrading and I use it to play white noise/forest type sounds in my bedroom all day for my cats who like to chill and nap in there. It sits on a wireless charger and I never have to touch it. I think it's been playing for 3+ months now.
This is definitely an edge case and to be fair the release notes do say "Enables a future optional security feature" implying I can opt out. If that's the case then I'll probably be alright.