Remmock

@Remmock@kbin.social

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The Biden Campaign Has a Trump-Fatigue Problem (nymag.com)

Joe Biden’s campaign is facing a strategic dilemma. Since the president’s job-approval ratings have been consistently low, his path to reelection depends on making 2024 a comparative choice between himself and Donald Trump, his scary, extremist predecessor. That task is becoming more urgent as evidence emerges that a sizable...

Remmock,

Yes, hello. I understand you’re giving out Presidental Campaign starter packages?

I’ll take the Newport parents, Ivy League College, multi-millionare basic bundle. That comes with the limited-time “My Parents donated to most of my future colleagues’ war chests” add-on, right?

Do I have to upgrade to get rid of the early-to-mid-life scandal?

Remmock,

I’ve watched it several times and the first person you responded to is right.

Remmock,

I’m SHOCKED. Shocked I tell you!

Remmock,

My wife and I are part of a younger generation whose culture revolves around NOT having children until all those things you mentioned are attained. The stress of even having a kid, let alone multiple, is not something we’re going to address until we hit financial security.

Remmock,

S

Remmock,

Always thought the Sun-Maid mascot was Hispanic, but so am I.

Remmock,

Skyrim, Fallout 4, RDR2, Witcher 3, The Sims, Dark Souls, Civilization, Borderlands 1/2, Stardew Valley, Persona…

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean there aren’t people that come back again and again between games to dust off an old favorite. While I personally never touched Fallout 4 again after beating it, I’ll break out my XBox 360 and give New Vegas a whirl to see what character concept I’ll try this time.

Remmock,

To be fair nobody plays just one single game for 3 years.

Where’s the confusion?

Remmock,

Yes. I am explaining that the opposite value of that statement doesn’t go far enough.

Remmock,

I never mentioned age. I mentioned games that are played for thousands of hours. Meaning that the value of those games far exceeds the value of the subscription. Furthermore, then the subscription ends (including when pulling games that are too old) and you are left without the game you have been sinking an incredible amount of time into just because some suits determined that not enough people play X game to warrant providing server space.

Remmock,

You’re also not taking into account subscription price hikes, policies dictating what you can and can’t do with the software, media availability without internet, surveillance and data selling.

Netflix has doubled their fees in the last ten years while hemorrhaging beloved content to other streaming services.

Netflix and others dictate that you’re not allowed to siphon the shows and movies to watch later, at a time and place that may be inconvenient for the service (such as removing it).

Go anywhere without internet and suddenly all of your paid options don’t exist. That may be resolved one day by unlimited internet everywhere, but that leads into…

These streaming services will know where you are and what you’re doing all the time. Surveillance in general has only gotten worse, and watchdogs may be vigilant but it’s not blunting how much privacy is being stripped away from you on a regular basis.

The price you’re paying isn’t just dollars and it’s not locked in forever.

Remmock,

Star Wars: Racer

It was a return to nostalgia for me. My wife bought this for me for Christmas. I was worried that I would lug into a very dated game, however:

The gameplay is so exquisite and the track design so carefully thought out that it’s really an exhilarating game. The tracks never get boring because they sprinkle in just enough variation and style to keep them engaging. The tricks you can pull in a podracer do not break suspension of disbelief the way normal car games do when pulling amazing stunts. The flow is smooth and fluid even now.

Between the minimap, rearview, braking, air breaking to sustain airtime and cushion landings, self-determined boosting (rather than relying on external powerups or boost zones), and repair management you’re never not adjusting to something. The game keeps you busy while you’re flying along the track.

To boot, the obstacles and shortcuts are carefully distributed and used, playing into the themes of the tracks. Most are small influences, but useful or interesting. One track will force you to reconsider your playstyle for it, however. Despite that it’s not so jarring that you want to stop playing.

You also get a bevy of racers to choose from and the ability to buy and juggle upgrades and pit droids keeps your gameplay evolving. You can even be rewarded for being a skilled player by adjusting the finish placement payouts.

Unfortunately due to careful planning and purchasing, as well as a better sense of how to play as an adult, the game has some shortcomings. Instead of being neck and neck, I was regularly 7-12 seconds ahead of the second place racer, regularly unable to see them in my rearview. A complete lack of a story mode and a low difficulty bar meant I was done in three days even with limited play time and inconsistent access. While this could have been saved with an Online mode added, I still had fun completing Tournament mode and would gladly give this to anyone who wants high-velocity adrenaline with more complex mechanics than your average racing game.

Remmock,

If that’s what you want, why not just get Bomb Rush Cyberfunk? Sega’s just the publisher after all. Since the original team couldn’t get them to agree to a sequel, they made a spiritual successor.

Remmock,

If that’s what you want, why not just get Bomb Rush Cyberfunk? Sega’s just the publisher after all. Since the original team couldn’t get them to agree to a sequel, they made a spiritual successor.

Remmock,

I’m not surprised they didn’t get any traction.

Nobody would be if it was up on wood blocks.

Remmock,

When StarCraft was still relatively new the Blizzard games had a Chat function that spanned all of their games. If they belonged to another game you would see that Chatter’s game as an icon to the right of their name. You could speak to someone playing Diablo at any time. The social setup drove high engagement between players who regularly used to seek playing at a time when the gameplay was typically hosted on a player’s computer rather than on a server.

Clans didn’t have a ready in-game functionality, but fortunately Blizzard had allowed Chatters not only the freedom to change their username quite easily, but to also create Chat Rooms with custom names. By holding the Chat room, you could maintain Administrator rights over the channel.

Early Guilds had to have their users change their names to include the tags in their names, which meant virtually anyone could edit their name to include the tag they wanted. The expanded tag would be used as the name for the Chat Room, which allowed both members and non-members to find it easily enough.

The advent of bots using a Battle.Net login to hold the Chat Rooms and provide admin rights regularly to specific users spiked a new age as Clans became more stable. The bot would be used to blacklist trolls, recognize officers in the Clans, and create rosters to stop people from masquerading.

It created a boom, and in these early days clans rose and fell like the sun. Smaller clans were quicker to join other larger clans and conglomerate into new structures that would require testing and vetting of player skills. Friendships between real players, who formed clans only to incorporate better players from absorbing other clans, were sorely tested as some friends found their skills did not allow them to play regularly any more.

I was in one of these early guilds at the time, a group called the Silver Arrows. I had recently proved that while I lacked strategy for unit construction (as we were playing StarCraft) and combat, I was methodically organized in base construction and could start generating Protoss Scouts while Zerg players were still searching for others to conduct Zergling raids. I was still new to the game at that time and was flounderIng my way through the Campaign. As part of the Clan I found myself playing more often and seeking out games if only to spend time with my clanmates.

I was a member of the -[SA]- clan for about a month when the Silent Assassins {SA} entered into talks with our clan. Different clans with the same initials claimed different forms of their tags. We folded into their ranks and with the additional experience under my belt I found myself joining their first line. I played for a while, but as the boom/bust cycle continued it wasn’t long before I found myself playing relatively alone. Without a support group I gravitated towards Diablo and ultimately Diablo 2, only playing StarCraft socially with my real life friends.

Remmock,

I have no idea anymore, but I do distinctly remember some bots having red names instead of green.

Glad to bring that all back for ya.

Remmock,

The actual story portion was way too short. I prefer Tears of the Kingdom, because the story is longer and more involved.

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