worldling's recent activity
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Comment on How hidden Nazi symbols were the tip of a toxic iceberg at Life Is Strange developer Deck Nine in ~games
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Comment on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | Official teaser trailer in ~movies
worldling LinkIt's hard to approach even cautious optimism about yet another 80s reboot, but goodness gracious is that a phenomenal one-liner.It's hard to approach even cautious optimism about yet another 80s reboot, but goodness gracious is that a phenomenal one-liner.
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Comment on How much does a creator's worldview influence whether you use their tech or consume their media? in ~talk
worldling Link ParentI don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be. It's one thing to stop shopping at a grocery store because of a random cashier. That's a decision I can make for myself and keep to myself,...I don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be.
It's one thing to stop shopping at a grocery store because of a random cashier. That's a decision I can make for myself and keep to myself, because I'm not of the opinion that I should give money to people who deny my right to exist (🏳️⚧️).
When it's a celebrity, it's different. Here I'm making the same decision as above, but more importantly, I have the opportunity to hijack their popularity to take a stance against transphobia.
At the same time that I can personally boycott against someone, I can piggyback off of that person's fame to call attention to the homophobia or transphobia of both themselves and others. Because, let's face it, cisgender straight people most likely aren't going to be looking up those issues on a whim.
To me, using the undue attention some people get to call attention to an important issue is a noble thing.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
worldling Link ParentThis is a little bit of a tangent, but Elite Dangerous is the only game I've ever returned on Steam. It seemed so cool, but I could not -- could not! -- clear the flight tutorial. I spent about an...Elite Dangerous with slightly less demanding flight controls and docking sequences, and no multi-star systems. And frankly...a still large, but smaller galaxy. Something on the thousands, not millions and billions.
This is a little bit of a tangent, but Elite Dangerous is the only game I've ever returned on Steam. It seemed so cool, but I could not -- could not! -- clear the flight tutorial. I spent about an hour and a half on it and felt like an absolute fool.
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Comment on Scholastic to separate books on race, gender and sexuality for US book fairs in ~books
worldling Link ParentFor those who are unaware, the conclusion of the series (book 54) is a real trip and leans hard into what I would say is an effective antiwar message. I was one of the few kids who actually read...For those who are unaware, the conclusion of the series (book 54) is a real trip and leans hard into what I would say is an effective antiwar message. I was one of the few kids who actually read that far and remember feeling like it came out of nowhere, but it was more powerful because of that. It's been years, though.
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Comment on The NHL has banned Pride Tape, creating its own ‘Don’t Say Gay’ policy in ~sports.hockey
worldling Link ParentRight? Way to kick me while I'm down. I'm trans and grew up playing hockey and watching the Blackhawks.Right? Way to kick me while I'm down. I'm trans and grew up playing hockey and watching the Blackhawks.
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Comment on I got a pokemon tattoo in ~life
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Comment on Alliance Defending Freedom has won fifteen Supreme Court cases. Now it wants religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws—and is going after trans rights. in ~misc
worldling LinkI'm trans and living in a state mentioned several times in this article. I feel more in danger with every day that passes. It's a good article, but it is all so terrifying.I'm trans and living in a state mentioned several times in this article. I feel more in danger with every day that passes.
It's a good article, but it is all so terrifying.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
worldling LinkI'm playing Outer Wilds. I know it's Wednesday so I'm a little late, but thought that I would write this as I feel close to completing the game. I have learned a lot -- and am both excited and...I'm playing Outer Wilds.
I know it's Wednesday so I'm a little late, but thought that I would write this as I feel close to completing the game. I have learned a lot -- and am both excited and afraid to see what's coming next.
Extensive Outer Wilds spoilers
It's hard to know where to begin with all that I've learned from the game in the last week. One of the first things I did after posting my last update was meet Feldspar! Like (almost) everything, I figured it out by myself. I was kind of starstruck meeting him, even though he's really just a random NPC. Learning about the jellyfish trick was so satisfying, too. I mentioned in my last post that I thought I might be Feldspar, but didn't mention why: I'm pretty sure that in the Outer Wilds museum, there are four people in the picture but five names listed. I could just be silly, though; this week of playing had a whole lot of silly mistakes.
One of the last places I visited for the first time was the Sun Station. I think that explains a lot of why I was in the dark for so long about the plot. I only just got there yesterday, and read all the messages. Even though I'd learned a lot about the Nomai, somehow I wasn't thinking about that angle of it, that they were trying to blow up the sun intentionally. That was one of the more powerful experiences I've had with the game so far. I got chills.
As for the emotional stuff, there's one small detail that really got to me. At the Nomai Grave, there are two Nomai in their spacesuits holding hands and looking at each other. I teared up to see that, as I did reading their story about dying so close to the Vessel without finding it.
But by far the best moment in my playthrough this week was meeting Solanum! Oh my gosh. I was totally alone and I still gasped when I saw her. A real Nomai, live and (sort of) in the flesh! I've been reading their messages and walking through their ruins for so long that it was such a treat to see her. Seeing her ruined space suit after floating away from her was bittersweet.
My main difficulty? Still those Anglerfish. I had read that they were blind but it took me an embarrassingly long time to put it together that that's how to avoid them. This is especially scary because I'm pretty sure I have to take the Warp Core from Ash Twin, go to the Vessel, and use the Eye's coordinates the probe received to travel to the Eye. But I am really, really dreading going all that way to get the Core and then getting eaten by the fish again. They just terrify me for some reason.
I still have one place that I've never visited: Hollow's Lantern. I'm convinced that there's a way to get there, but I haven't looked it up.
Earlier I mentioned figuring out "almost" everything by myself. There's one thing that I've looked up so far, and I don't feel particularly bad about it: looking up the location of the Southern Observatory. I had tried and tried for hours, and felt so ridiculous when I realized that I was going to the right place each time -- but that I was just forgetting to look up and see the gravity field leading up to it. D'oh.
As for the DLC, I did finally figure out that it's associated with the new museum exhibit. My only theory right now is to go to the exact angle at which the satellite captured that weird thing in front of the sun, and then see if I can see it, too. But for the time being I've been busying myself with the main game. I still haven't decided if I'm going to tackle it before the main game ending or not.
I expect my next post will be a reflection on the ending. Exciting times.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
worldling (edited )LinkI'm still playing Outer Wilds. I'm a little better at piloting the ship now, which is a relief, and have actually managed to avoid ghost matter a few times. I'm working on filling out my Ship Log...I'm still playing Outer Wilds.
I'm a little better at piloting the ship now, which is a relief, and have actually managed to avoid ghost matter a few times. I'm working on filling out my Ship Log until I figure out what to "do," although I'm running out of items with the "more to explore here" note. I still have a lot of question marks in the log, too. I'm not sure if all of them get a little picture when I visit the right place. If so, I probably have more to explore than I realize.
I'm still very, very perplexed as to what's going on. In case it's interesting to people who have played the game, I'm going to write out my current theories below in a spoiler. I expect to be wrong, so please don't correct me! I'm completely unspoiled about this game. This is just in case you find my clueless speculations interesting.
Extensive Outer Wilds spoilers
Okay, so. The Nomai had a Vessel that crashed while following a signal from something they called the Eye. The signal coming from the Eye was older than the universe itself. There were three escape pods that jettisoned from the Vessel. I've found two of them, and the third is in the Dark Bramble. Feldsparr is also probably alive and in the Dark Bramble.
At some point, the Nomai started research into warping at the White Hole station. They found that people who use the warp arrive before they left, already realizing that something unusual was going on with time. Their research on warping is somehow tied to the Quantum Moon. One of the Nomai landed on the Quantum Moon. I tried to "pilot" the shuttle as much as you can, but couldn't go to the Quantum Moon. I also had no luck trying to approach it in my ship from the south pole.
The Nomai were very worried about building a Sun Station. I think the Sun Station is tracking the Eye? I assume that it got built, because there's definitely something near the sun that I can't go to without burning up. I think that the Sun Station is what explodes at the beginning of the game, and that the catastrophe that the Nomai were worried about keeps happening over and over again. Something went wrong at the Sun Station.
There are a lot of Nomai skeletons in the Sunless City. I'm not sure what happened to them.
I have absolutely no idea what the Projection Stones are for, the ones that give you that trippy visual when you put them in the right place. Am I seeing through walls? The past? A parallel universe? Absolutely no clue.
As for what I'm supposed to do, the only thing I can guess right now is that I'm supposed to recreate Feldsparr's route. This is a little ridiculous, but I think I might be Feldsparr, just caught in some time bubble thing. Probably not, though, as I assume the older people on Timber Hearth would recognize me.
Right now, the things that I most want to do are:
- Reach the High Energy Lab. You really have to book it over there before the sand makes it inaccessible. So far I haven't been able to get there in time.
- Go below the water in Giant's Deep. I know that Feldsparr found a way to go down there, but I have no clue how to do it.
- Land on the Quantum Moon. Obviously!
- Go into the Bramble. I can fly in there, but get eaten by an Anglerfish every time. They're by far the scariest part of the game for me, so I'm really trying to avoid going there until I have an idea how to survive.
On @Stranger's suggestion I'm going to try to fill out my Ship Log, then do the DLC, then finish the main game. One problem is that I can't delineate between the DLC and the main game, as I've always had it and don't see some extra option for it in the menu. I hope I figure it out!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
worldling (edited )LinkI'm playing Outer Wilds (not Worlds). I hated it at first because I found piloting the ship really stressful. I crash more times than I land. Like, seriously. I'm pretty bad at it, even knowing...I'm playing Outer Wilds (not Worlds). I hated it at first because I found piloting the ship really stressful. I crash more times than I land. Like, seriously. I'm pretty bad at it, even knowing what direction to steer. I'm slowly getting the hang of it, though.
People are constantly and probably rightly saying that you shouldn't give absolutely any element of the plot away, so I'm hiding what I've figured out behind a spoiler.
Outer Wilds spoilers
I only have a vague idea of what is going on, but am curious to learn more. So far, I've learned that the Nomai did some kind of "ancient alien" thing on the Hearthers, finding them in their tidepool and helping them to flourish in some way. I've found Escape Pod 1, but not the others.The thing that I'm the most curious about is the explosion at the beginning. I tried following the purple thing that it jettisons, but I couldn't figure out a way to get to it. It goes out into space too quickly.
I've tracked the harmonica to the Bramble seed, but don't know how to go inside there.
I suspect that the way that you land on the Quantum Moon involves taking pictures of it so that it's being "perceived" and stays in place. I could be totally wrong, though. I think that I've flown through it, but I couldn't land.
I have no clue what the poem in the grove on the home planet means.
I'm totally unspoiled about the game. I haven't come across any of the "gutpunching" moments that people talk about, except one of the readings near the black hole gravity crystals on that one planet, which I still can't cross without falling into the black hole.
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Comment on WoW Classic's hardcore servers have launched, giving Blizzard fans a whole new way to punish themselves in ~games
worldling Link ParentJust a side note: I play Everquest as it was in 1999 on a private server, and while losing your experience and de-leveling is as extremely stressful as ever, people aren't quite so toxic about it...Just a side note: I play Everquest as it was in 1999 on a private server, and while losing your experience and de-leveling is as extremely stressful as ever, people aren't quite so toxic about it in chat on my private server. Maybe that was unique to Live in some way. My experience is of folks being chill, although at the highest raid levels there's bound to be toxic behavior.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
worldling LinkI'm playing classic EverQuest on the Project 1999 server. I'm too young to have played this era live, and actually hadn't played EverQuest at all before coming to P99. P99 is permanently locked at...I'm playing classic EverQuest on the Project 1999 server. I'm too young to have played this era live, and actually hadn't played EverQuest at all before coming to P99. P99 is permanently locked at EverQuest's second expansion, Scars of Velious.
I had tried P99 a few years ago on one of their servers that isn't as popular anymore, Blue. I unwittingly quit just a few months before the Green server came out, which now has roughly twice the population of Blue. (There are typically ~800-1000 people playing this MMO from 1999 on Green at any given time.) When I logged into my old characters, it was basically a ghost town, so I started over on Green. It was a shame to leave my old characters, but the highest I've ever been is level 12, so it wasn't a huge loss.
I rolled a High Elf Cleric and an Iksar Shadow Knight. So far, I haven't really been able to decide between them. Healing's what I usually do in games, but so far I've struggled to find a group. I'm very shy. Some players gave me a bunch of gear for my SK, though, so that's something.
I've heard there's a new classic EverQuest server coming out on October 1, Project Quarm. There's going to be such a huge rush over there that I'm going to wait a while before joining if I join at all.
Right now on P99, there's a 50% EXP bonus active for the holiday. Given how much of a grind classic EQ is, that's an awful lot, so I've been playing most of the weekend.
If you play EQ on P99 or any other server, PST! I'd love to group with you.
This is mentioned in the article early on, but just as a reminder to people: this is not about Dontnod, the developers of LiS, LiS2, and Tell Me Why, but the company who took the series over after them.