Thanks for the suggestions! :) While I was looking I also stumbled across Monomyth. That seems like it could scratch my Stygian Abyss itch as well.

Historically, once a popular movement had taken to the streets in large numbers, a dictatorship’s only move used to be ultra-violence. Now, in a hyper-connected world they have to do a much more detailed cost/benefit analysis. So, the pride march was in defiance of the governments wish not wishing for a different government. Basically, this didn’t rise to the level of an existential crisis for the leadership so they are pulling back and using PR to deal with the image issue. The real cost for them, I suspect, is that now there’s precedent, so the next pride march may have an easier time. Let’s hope so 🌈

Man… Woody Allen has had quite the story arc hasn’t he.

When I read this I wondered if this disgusting man did what he did because of his Muslim beliefs so I looked up the connection between honour killings and Islam. Turns out it has very little to do with Islam and a lot to do with just being a horrible, poorly educated human being. What I found out was that people be killin their wives and daughters for what they perceived as dishonouring them since way before Islam came along. If anything, Islam tried apply some brakes on that whole idea. For example demanding that four male eyewitnesses had to actually have seen the act for it to be recognised as legit. This article is quite interesting.

Edit: Sorry. I just saw this post getting re-posted in a bunch of other places. Hadn’t realised it was part of an anti-islam social media push. Didn’t mean to get in the way. Carry on.

I feel exactly the same as you. I have ADHD so fluff is painful and pointless grind is just depressing. I thought the most obvious way to recommend my favourites would be to go by hours played, so here’s my top four:

My Time At Portia - 594hrs Hardspace Shipbreaker - 498hrs Kingdom Come Deliverance - 370hrs Just Cause 3 - 255hrs

Special mention too for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (164hrs) because that is one well made game in almost every respect. Very little fluff, grind and you’re always in control of how big a challenge you feel like facing. To my mind it makes all the other AC games look clunky and drab.

Also I hate difficulty spikes so much that whenever they happen and just seem to be there so the devs can grind a few more hours of playtime out of you for their analytics, I just reach for WeMod. Big shout out to WeMod in fact :) It’s made so many games I’d abandoned fun again.

I give up, you win.

You’ve misunderstood me (let’s just say “not deliberately” for a moment). What I’m saying is that regardless of what Google does in terms of long term plans or nuanced anything not all searches are equal. Neither you nor I can say at this point how this will shake out. Also, what have you eaten today? You know what you’re like when you don’t eat…

It might be harder than you think…

What kind of information are you talking about? Let’s be specific. The phone number for a garden center or how a rocket engine works? This won’t affect every search the same way. This is actually a fantastically complex question and we’ll only really see what happens when it does.

This headline is so messed up. AI is making searching easier and more convenient and reducing the amount of clicks (often to zero) you need before you get the information you want. For people searching the web for information that’s a clear improvement. If you make your money from SEO then it sucks but if the headline was “Is Google about to decimate the SEO/PPC industry?” Then we’d be reacting in an entirely different way I imagine.

I once read that people judge others by their actions and themselves by their intentions. I think about that a lot.

Laughs in Steadfast Defender 2024 🤣

This makes no sense unless Russian leadership is getting desperate (which they may well be I suppose). They’ve lost over a million people just trying to invade Ukraine. Opening up a second front with a well trained new enemy just seems unwise in the extreme. It would be like fighting a baby elephant and messing that up so deciding to fight the enraged elephant’s Mum as well.

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I know right. I think it’s the worst I’ve ever seen. I kept scrolling through for something good but all of it is was like those bargain bins you used to see in petrol stations full of old DVD’s. Honestly they should be ashamed of this. I went through my whole wishlist to check if any of the games on there had demos and literally none did. Last Next Fest most of them did. That’s some impressive enshitification right there…

Actually I was wrong… Probably just needed to eat something and be less grumpy lol. Just found a fantastic demo that I’m downloading now. it’s called Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream. Amazing people animation and great dialogue. I love top down games and this is easily better than anything I’ve seen before. Thanks to a NextFest roundup from Nookrium or I would never had spotted it.

Great, I think I got it, but just in case tell me the whole thing again I wasn’t listening.

I’ve tried to guess what prmart means but I just can’t imagine what you meant to type hehe can you clarify?

There must be so much paid review manipulation out there but I don’t know if it amounts to much. At the end of the day, if the game is good people will play it. I mean No Man’s Sky came back from the entire world dumping on it from the stratosphere. Also, often overly negative reviews will actually make me more interested in a game, specially if all the negatives don’t sound that bad “Horrible game! I didn’t continuously die and how dare they allow the player to explore anywhere!”.

“We’ve been trying to contact you about your car’s extended warranty”.

I’m not too familiar with those. Top of my head reaction to Googling them just now is that I can’t stop feeling there’s something a little sneaky about them. “What? these totally normal looking yet suspiciously thick sunglasses? No no no… I’m totally not filming you right now”.

I think if it’s a VR contraption then it needs to be honest about it which is why the Beyond 2 seem to be going in the right direction. I just re-watched a review of the B2 and saw that it only weighs 110g (less than a peach) which is so much less than the Apple Vision Pro at 600g. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on how the VR industry decides to compete with the B2.

VR will never become mass market until it no longer means wearing a big silly looking thing on your head. Source: Used to work for a game developer who tried (and like so many… failed) to make their own headset during the VR goldrush in the 90’s. Also around that time bought a Forte VFX (screaming headache and eyestrain) headset and can’t believe no one’s managed to shrink the technology down to a pair a glasses yet in any kind of successful way. Kind of excited by the Bigscreen Beyond 2 though. Still a long way to go. I think the test is simple. Can I wear your VR technology out in public (so no wires, tiny form factor, battery life on par with a smartphone) and not look like I want to be robbed immediately?

Sorry for being so salty about this. It’s just bitterness from being a ridiculously early adopter lol