snakesnakewhale's recent activity
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Comment on Would I enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 if I hate D&D? in ~games
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Comment on Would I enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 if I hate D&D? in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentThis is cool to read. I haven't played BG1/2 because I bounced (very softly) off Planescape: Torment due to how how clunky it felt. I understand that BG is less of a visual novel & more of a...This is cool to read. I haven't played BG1/2 because I bounced (very softly) off Planescape: Torment due to how how clunky it felt. I understand that BG is less of a visual novel & more of a straightforward CRPG than PS:T, but I didn't enjoy Planescape enough to want to plunk money down on the remasters.
And I bounced (less softly) off Divinity: Original Sin 2 because I found all the characters a little goofy, but I was impressed by what Larian is doing with its updated CRPG format.
Maybe BG3 will be the sweet spot that lets me finally get into the genre. I've always had a mild interest in D&D, but have never come closer to connecting with a CRPG than the Elder Scrolls series.
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Comment on Historian finds evidence for use of y'all in London from 1600s in ~humanities.languages
snakesnakewhale Link ParentYou might also enjoy "The Unfolding of Language" by Guy Deutscher. It's thorough but accessible, and totally fascinating.You might also enjoy "The Unfolding of Language" by Guy Deutscher. It's thorough but accessible, and totally fascinating.
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Comment on US movie-theater behavior has gone off the reels in ~movies
snakesnakewhale (edited )Link ParentI've long had a policy of only doing weekday matinees to avoid other theatergoers, but even that's not enough anymore. The last thing I saw during release was Furious 7. It was a nearly-empty...I've long had a policy of only doing weekday matinees to avoid other theatergoers, but even that's not enough anymore.
The last thing I saw during release was Furious 7. It was a nearly-empty theater on a scorching day and I had perfect seats. As the movie starts, an older dude walks in and sits directly in front of me, like this, and proceeds to spend the whole movie with his phone held high, reading emails. I think he was just trying to beat the heat.
I was apoplectic because I can't keep any kind of perspective on these things, and so I've never gone back to a theater. A smaller screen in a controlled environment is so much better that it doesn't feel like a compromise.
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Comment on US movie-theater behavior has gone off the reels in ~movies
snakesnakewhale Link ParentThe story goes that the Alamo banned Madonna for texting. I imagine those employees can still feel that rush.The story goes that the Alamo banned Madonna for texting. I imagine those employees can still feel that rush.
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Comment on Meta is releasing AudioCraft: Generative AI for audio made simple and available to all in ~tech
snakesnakewhale Link ParentI'd be interested to read more on this. My first thought, because IANAL and I'm just spitballing, is of Tom Waits' successful suit over a sound-alike used in an ad. Do you happen to know what the...Furthermore, there is already legal precedent that voices cannot be copyrighted
I'd be interested to read more on this. My first thought, because IANAL and I'm just spitballing, is of Tom Waits' successful suit over a sound-alike used in an ad.
Do you happen to know what the precedent is?
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Comment on What are some ideas for what can or should be done to facilitate kids’ independence and social life? in ~life
snakesnakewhale Link ParentI was speaking more to the other commenter's "when we've reached the point where we're tracking our kids like they're a felon we really need to do some soul searching." My point isn't that an...I was speaking more to the other commenter's "when we've reached the point where we're tracking our kids like they're a felon we really need to do some soul searching."
My point isn't that an airtag will be of use during a shooting, but that parents who use them aren't necessarily practicing orwellian surveillance on their families. Murders might be down, but mass murders are sure as hell up, and they happen at venues like clubs and concerts and shopping centers where teens are also likely to be.
Slapping airtags on your kids' shit isn't helicoptering, is all I'm saying.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
snakesnakewhale Link ParentIt was Jemisen's prose that couldn't hook me unfortunately :( There was a post here on Tildes recently where the author was complaining about Three Body's prose being a problem as well, with an...It was Jemisen's prose that couldn't hook me unfortunately :(
There was a post here on Tildes recently where the author was complaining about Three Body's prose being a problem as well, with an accompanying and informative conversation about Ken Liu's translation. The comments hinged on whether Three Body is just "hard sci-fi"-enough to not need deeply-written characters, or whether the depth of prose is totally comprehensible in the original language but less-so in English.
Anyway, I found that encouraging because I like dry sci-fi, e.g. Foundation, Dune.
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Comment on What are some ideas for what can or should be done to facilitate kids’ independence and social life? in ~life
snakesnakewhale Link ParentI mean, the US had 400 mass shootings in the first 200 days of 2023. I don't necessarily think the airtags are a symptom of paranoia over what the kids are going to do. I'm child-free but I'd have...I mean, the US had 400 mass shootings in the first 200 days of 2023. I don't necessarily think the airtags are a symptom of paranoia over what the kids are going to do.
I'm child-free but I'd have my kids wearing airtags any time they went to a mall or a venue, and from there it's quite easy to imagine just stitching the airtags into their backpacks or whatever. Disneyworld? Airtagged. School trip? Airtagged. I'm worried about a kid getting lost or kidnapped. I'd want to be able to locate my kid if there's a shooting.
I'm 43 so I remember parents passing out beepers, and then cell phones, for the same reason. Were there some dicks who used a beeper to treat their kids like parolees? Of course, but those people exist and will be bullies no matter what.
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Comment on Twitter’s future is a return to Elon Musk’s past in ~tech
snakesnakewhale (edited )Link ParentHaving this article's context, the "X" rebrand seems like an even weirder pivot than it already did -- simply because X feels like a legacy one-that-got-away thing for Musk, whereas he has made...Having this article's context, the "X" rebrand seems like an even weirder pivot than it already did -- simply because X feels like a legacy one-that-got-away thing for Musk, whereas he has made such a show of treating Twitter like it's beneath contempt.
Just feels strange to throw your baby on top of a garbage fire you've spent months keeping ablaze.
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Comment on Path of Exile 2 | Gameplay trailer in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentOh, I didn't mean that it launched with a whimper, just that there don't seem to have been any monumental, day-one missteps like the RMAH or the controversy over always-online (we knew D4 would be...Oh, I didn't mean that it launched with a whimper, just that there don't seem to have been any monumental, day-one missteps like the RMAH or the controversy over always-online (we knew D4 would be always-online, so no scandal there).
I just meant that Blizz doesn't seem to have belly-flopped the release. But it wouldn't have been a surprise if they had.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
snakesnakewhale Link ParentI bounced off book 1 of the series & didn't try the others. I'm about to start The Three Body Problem and am hopeful I don't feel the same---it's been a while since I read a straight-up SFF novel...I bounced off book 1 of the series & didn't try the others. I'm about to start The Three Body Problem and am hopeful I don't feel the same---it's been a while since I read a straight-up SFF novel and my impending midlife crisis doesn't want me to have lost the taste for it.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
snakesnakewhale LinkHad my interest piqued by an article that mentioned The New Weird genre, a term I hadn't come across before, and ended up buying Going Bovine by Libba Bray. I think it might technically be YA...Had my interest piqued by an article that mentioned The New Weird genre, a term I hadn't come across before, and ended up buying Going Bovine by Libba Bray. I think it might technically be YA fiction, but whatever -- hopefully that just means the sex and violence is dialed back, and not the storytelling.
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Comment on Path of Exile 2 | Gameplay trailer in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentThat just seems like good business sense to me, no tinfoil necessary. I'm personally astonished that the D4 launch came and went without my really registering it -- I imagine everybody, including...That just seems like good business sense to me, no tinfoil necessary. I'm personally astonished that the D4 launch came and went without my really registering it -- I imagine everybody, including GGG, was waiting to see how Blizzard was going to step in it this time.
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Comment on The world's newest metro is here! | Montréal REM in ~transport
snakesnakewhale Link Parenthttps://imgur.com/MMUXyvC -
Comment on Any popular game genres you just can't get into? in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentI think an important detail about Another World and similar is that they were effectively point-and-click/QTE games with (for the time) mind-blowingly smooth rotoscope animation. It was forgivable...I think an important detail about Another World and similar is that they were effectively point-and-click/QTE games with (for the time) mind-blowingly smooth rotoscope animation. It was forgivable because it was so groundbreaking that there was nothing to forgive. Nobody had done anything like it before!
They felt like more fleshed-out versions of Space Ace/Dragon's Lair, with less studio-quality art and more substance (those Don Bluth arcade games were truly just QTE games, iirc).
An example that I think fits your bill is the recent Tomb Raider trilogy. There are so many little cinematics, and the games contain so many QTEs, that the transitions from regular play to scripted/timed bits make it hard to get into, and stay in, a flow with the game.
Because there's no cue that a scripted scene is a) a perspective-shift in regular play, like squeezing through a gap, b) a QTE, or c) just a cutscene, I don't think I survived a single QTE in any of the games on my first try. I never knew if I was supposed to be waiting for a button prompt or watching a movie until I was dead!
I liked the games, but I groaned at every QTE. Dragon's Lair required them in the '80s, but who thinks those are fun in 2023?
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Comment on Any popular game genres you just can't get into? in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentThis thread is my first time hearing about it, which is surprising because the original VTM stays high on everybody's best-of RPG lists year after yearThis thread is my first time hearing about it, which is surprising because the original VTM stays high on everybody's best-of RPG lists year after year
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Comment on Any popular game genres you just can't get into? in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentHideo Kojima will remember that.Hideo Kojima will remember that.
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Comment on Any popular game genres you just can't get into? in ~games
snakesnakewhale Link ParentSo Slay The Spire isn't a turn-based card game? I've glanced at screenshots after hearing its praise, and I got the impression that it was fantasy Yu-Gi-Oh, or something.So Slay The Spire isn't a turn-based card game? I've glanced at screenshots after hearing its praise, and I got the impression that it was fantasy Yu-Gi-Oh, or something.
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Comment on When did people stop being drunk all the time? in ~humanities.history
snakesnakewhale Link ParentWell, there you go. Thank you for sharing!Well, there you go. Thank you for sharing!
TBH I'd estimate that a full 2000 of my 2200 hours in Skryim has just been spent modding/breaking the game. I've never gotten further than Paarthurnax in the actual campaign.