XeroxCool @ XeroxCool @lemmy.world

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2 yr. ago

Far Cry 2 brought me joy experiencing the open world format. I fell in love with the desert at night there and now I try to visit real life arid regions at night.

FC5 didn't have towers and FC6, as far as I know, has a single tower that makes a joke about it. I don't beleive AC Odyssey had those towers, either. Can't remember Origins. The tower mechanic was also only used to visualize parts of the map, sometimes with a unique goody at the top. It's back to foot-based map discovery. The busy work here is talking about all the bullshit collectibles and similar scavenger mini quests. AC is full of chests and AC4 had some cave clearing missions and deep sea dive puzzles. You have to go to certain locations or complete a certain number of collectibles to unlock some equipment rather than relying on the campaign alone. 20 hours of story, 100 hours of fetch.

I've played this for the first time on and off over the last couple years. This looks the same as my Xbox One playing the One digital version.

I feel like a detail got added and then missed. "Have you tried a TV" means using a TV as a display. The reply jumped to Smart TV with the Netflix app.

Welcome to the 1950s. They used quotes to make it clear it was the pictured character saying that. They also standardized using quotes to identify the motto on businesses and trucks. The SomeECards meme format is a caricature of that.

Bill's Burgers "We serve pleasure"

Jack's towing "Reliable hookers"

Manny's Milk "We'll deliver that white cream that puts a smile on your wife's face"

How do you think that's any different than using a 120VAC fixture?

30s, New homeowner, wife, house needs repair, cars need repair, wallet needs repair, someone has to cook, full work week, 90 minutes spent on commuting. No kids or pets, but I feel we might have similar availability. And I'm always wondering the same because I'll never have the time to play like I did as a teen. But, here's what I have. PC and Xbox.

I generally play one story game at a time. I'll play for a couple weeks or couple months. I just try to make progress and enjoy it for what it is, not set any goals. How would I know how much time I need anyway? Could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours per session. Something like Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider(don't worry, I have bigger triggers next). I'm hoping this month I "finally get around" to Fallout 3, NV, or 4.

I have other options, though, depending on immediate time availability. Some borderline storyless games (maybe with cosmetic reward progression) for the shortest of times or highest of mental fatigue (forza horizon, fortnite, rocket league, ace combat, borderlands). My two slow burn games are Valheim and Elite Dangerous. They both take probably an hour to get up to speed if I've been out of it for a few weeks, but I'll be good for a week between sessions after that. I'll sink 2+ hours per session into those. Regarding remembering controls, ED amuses me because I use an Xbox controller to play. Every button is mapped and there's a combo for every (ABXY) + (D-pad or bumpers). 14 buttons and 24 combos. Putting the controller in my hand unlocks subconscious memory of most of them. Even in other games where crouch and jump are shuffled around, it only takes a couple mistakes for me to remember.

It's not an impressive list, but I try to not beat myself up over it. I'm busy, I'm tired. I stopped being elitist about the Epic and Ubisoft bullshit because I don't have time to waste giving a fuck. There's 100 better similar games but this is what I'm doing. I'm sitting down for a good time, not a long time.

Another aspect I had to reexamine was my notion of productivity, progression, and entertainment. Did gaming fulfill a fantasy version of real "campaign" progression? Does the building and repair I do in real life actually contribute to the same feeling of accomplishment as beating a game? Does socializing in real life fulfill that need for story progression? So far... Yes. Mostly. The fantasy game version definitely looks cooler.

Only other comment is about not choosing a title. I wouldn't play a game I started because I needed to play a newer game before I was left behind. I think it's been 2 years since I last bought a game. I can't keep up. I can't finish what I have. So I more or less decided to work through my library for now. It's hard to get over the fomo of skipping titles or being multiple titles behind in a series. But so what? I have hyped games from 2015. I have hyped games from 2020. And from 2010. And from 2005. I'm missing newer games hyped in 2023. But in 2026, there will still be hyped games. And 2030. And 2035. I don't have the time for every title. So I'll see what's out when I have room again. For now, it's just about 4 story game so cycle through. Doesn't really help you decide, but maybe makes it easier to avoid not deciding.

That was my take. Still is, but was before, too, although I have concerns about it. I don't even use xitter. It's an unfortunate conundrum and I don't know the answer. We are clearly seeing the results of channeling government communications through private platforms where information can be gatekept. But what's the alternative? I agree that the government website should be the primary source and private platforms the secondary source, but, much in the way US-market cars hide the "real" tail lights in/under the trunk in order to put "aux" tail lights on moving trunk/tailgate panels, that's just not how the general public will use it.

People want to be entertained. Getting info through private media is the most we can hope for. People don't want to get real news media, let alone their local government's attempt at a blog site. I know we get amber alerts direct from the cell network to some unique software on phones, but I imagine rolling out some more-frequent alert system will cause a ton of privacy/freedom backlash crying about being one goosestep away from China.

I vaguely remember, as a kid, older people would sometimes pray with open, upwards palms extended forward from the elbow. Catholic school said something like it was acceptable, but school and peer pressure made me feel like anything other than flat, clasped hands were illegal. No woven finger fistballs, either. But this is anecdotal from 30 years ago in one particular region.

Nothing embarrassing about it. It is creepy. Fog like that creates an unusually tangible limit to our view.

All devices are rated in both voltage and amperage. The reason the voltage is not typically listed is because the market defines the voltage available and the plug on the device is what tells you the device's voltage rating, if nowhere else. It's still important to tell you if it requires an adapter, ignoring the part where the average consumer isn't going to try to wire a NEMA 5-15 (regular north American plug) to a 12v barrel plug.

This next part is not me trying to be a know-it-all, but to dispel an incredibly dangerous misconception. Amperage is not necessarily what kills you. That is a myth, and a dangerous one at that. Amperage is what causes burns, including internal burns, and is what kills you later at the hospital. Higher voltage is what kills you NOW by finding more paths. If it crosses your heart or brain, it's probably over. Electricity does not seek the path of least resistance, but rather it travels across each path inversely proportional to the resistance. If you complete a circuit with opposite hands, you'll probably be safe because your chest cavity of blood vessels will conduct the majority of electricity in paths other than through your heart or brain. AC power and higher voltages increase this risk. Low voltage is not entirely safer, but for most consumer use, "low voltage" is mostly below the breakdown voltage of dry skin, about 30-40v. Wet, and especially sweaty skin will conduct far lower voltages - licking 9v batteries is a normal example, but I've also been shocked by a 12v car battery the first time I worked around a side-terminal battery. Opposite forearms, too, so you can bet I took a minute to monitor my pulse. But the Lethal voltages and amperages are in the milli-unit range if they find the correct path. That's not a high threshold, even with the significantly lower resistance pathways across your chest taking the majority of electricity. And, even if it was just amperage that kills you, you have no control over it because you'll never know how much resistance you're creating for the circuit to travel. It's an unknown variable that's supposed to be infinitely large but, if you're getting shocked, it's something lower than infinity. I household circuits, your drawn amperage will be much lower than the 15a circuit breaker and it won't trip to save you. That is where GFCI circuits come into play by detecting incorrect electricity paths rather than amperage overload. 15a circuit breakers prevent fires. GFCI prevent death.

110/120 is the voltage. That's irrelevant to the amperage, which is somewhat standardized as 15a on normal outlets and 20a on kitchen or garage outlets.

Extension cords do not have fuses/circuit breakers. That's found in some power strips but it's neither required nor necessary with proper use.

And I can literally only reach my car with a welder if I use an extension cord...

The risk of daisy-chaining power strips is it become very easy to overload it, so yes, a circuit breaker would be nice as fire protection. 17 phone chargers would be fine but heating appliances will overload it fast. With no internal breaker, it's easy to cause a fire with really cheap strips but, if life was ideal, they'd all be made to handle 20a loads like the receptacle in the wall.

The risk of daisy-chaining extension cords is the extra resistance incurred at each connection. There's a varying amount form the imperfect contacts and a varying amount from pulling the cords apart over the time of device use. If you keep burning plugs with your yard care equipment, it's probably not normal. It's usually from partially unplugged cords trying to carry 10-20a across half the planned plug contact. You can readily buy 10-16 awg cords in 110v markets. It's up to you to determine the appropriate gauge. In an ideal world, they'd all be 10awg. But we don't have that, we have a world where you can actively choose to save money and increase risk.

Well, they have a flag. Not gonna be easy

You'd think he'd have enough head, but I guess fivehead wasn't enough. Seventeen was about right for him

The Thargoid war seemed pretty exciting. I did some ground-based ship battles and was decent at it, but I couldn't commit the time for a space battle, for a titan battle, or for a foot battle. I can't say I want to walk around my ship, but I'd take it if it meant a more realistic transition between ship and foot, though. I still pop in for quick pirate hunting at nav beacons. I'm always getting fomo about the latest credit farms but have given up on owning a carrier. I appreciate the bio exploration as an expansion on long distance exploration since the payout is comparable to casual combat, at least.

But yeah, ultimately, it's a fairly empty game. Lots of space, little variation. Obviously I enjoyed it enough to put 1000 hours into. No regrets there. But I was very into the lore and community stuff so it was as much roleplay as it was gameplay

From someone who made the screen trippier and trippier as a kid until he Icarus'd it, strong magnets taped to a drill bit and spun at high speed around the screen can degauss it. But this type of information basically has no application anymore

Speaking of Icarus, the Parker Solar probe has made its closest approach to the sun this morning. It cut contact (as planned) on Monday and it's probably reconnecting on Friday. That little guy is great. 3.8 million miles from the surface at 430,000mph.

I'm guilty of this. So many times, I'll see something at full price and say I'll wait to buy it on sale. Then it goes on sale and I don't feel like spending the money at all. Granted, I'm not trying to sway the market and screaming my bid, this is just my internal monologue. I have a backlog of games and a busy adult life, so it's not like I'm game-poor. Just regular poor.

About 1000 hours in Elite:Dangerous, my most-played Steam game. Kinda bums me out that it was all 2020-2022 gameplay for the first 900 hours but I haven't had time to get back into.

Valheim continues it's slow burn at about 400 hours since 2020.

No times on Xbox games, at least not from the OS. Fortnite has probably become my top game there. Whatever. It's not just for my entertainment. Assassin's Creed Odyssey I think had somewhere over 200 hours in the save file time. I'd love to know how many hours I put into Forza Motorsports 4 when custom paint schemes was a technological feat. Ace Combat 4/5/7 also have a ton of replays for me since the bonus medals are so tangible. Far Cry 2 doesn't have a ton of hours, but I was definitely infatuated with it circa 2010. That night time desert still calls to me

What are you seeing that I'm not seeing to the same degree? We're talking about subconscious biases here. I am aware the one city I visited does not represent a whole country, but being a large city, likely has significant representation in extranational communities. I do not assume a particular vehicle has a particular driver. All I assume is when someone drives unpredictably in sight (in comparison to the rest of the driving culture present), they'll be just as unpredictable when I'm near them. Like, I'm trying to keep growing here and try to talk about why racial stereotypes often "feel" correct. I don't see it as any different than judging your own race from a different region - for me, that'd be rude NYC people vs slow southerners or optimistic coastal Californians. I'm only talking about mannerisms that unintentionally get construed as racial.

It sounds like one of the items you're getting at may be separating nationality/ethnicity stereotypes from race stereotypes. Immigrants or children born in another country will have varying degrees of that cultural as part of their personality. Bartering comes to mind with Indians.

One I experienced recently was Hispanic drivers. We have a fairly large Mexican population here but I obviously can't tell by appearance. There's a certain combo of vehicle, modifications, and asshole driving style that would indicate to me the driver was probably hispanic. I took a trip a manufacturing Mexican city (read:non-Resort) and was shocked by the drivers. I saw the wildest maneuvers to get 2 cars ahead, every peice of pavement was valid for driving, and speeding is only avoided at checkpoints. Yet, I didn't see any accidents, I didn't hear any horns, I didn't see any road rage. It was aggressive driving, but everyone just existed and cooperated. Obviously, if you're the only one doing it, it makes you unpredictable and therefore it's reckless, but damn, that adjusted my opinion so fast