PIA is pretty shady. I’m only still using them because I paid for multiple years of service and while they’re a bad choice for privacy, it does the job of not making my ISP angy.

What ended up happening with all the massive security problems in the -arr programs that were used to take over all those VPSes, anyway?

You’re right, of course. I detest capitalism and while I obviously understand why people and the institutions they build operate under its rules, I see not doing so as a generally good thing. I’m under no delusions that this will bring the change we deserve, that requires actual political action. But liberating art and information is actually possible thanks to filesharing and so we ought to do so.

People seem to be missing the point about Bethesda’s guilt. I know that Bethesda cannot give this game for free and I take for granted that you know they cannot, my point is that because they can’t, they should not exist. I’m not a fool, I know how the world around me works and that games would not be made at this scale (but they would still be made…art LONG predates the profit motive and exists even today where no profit is to be had, and no one could possibly snuff out the human drive to make art) and am willing to take those consequences. I believe withholding art from the public is stealing from the common heritage of mankind, and so we ought to strive for a system in which art can be made and shared freely because people’s needs are taken care of. And yes, I focus on art and information because it is the topic here and it is particularly close to my heart, not because my beliefs stop there.

I just want to say one more time that I wasn’t trying to preach here or start a fight. I just wanted to express my sadness at this situation. That’s it. I only respond because I don’t like having my views misrepresented.

Like I said downthread, I wasn’t really looking at derailing this thread by starting a debate, but to clarify my position, the industry as it exists today collapsing is entirely okay with me. I’d be happy to live in a world where all games were freely distributed public domain solo endeavors, small collaborations, and the rare larger (but still not this large, likely) productions organized as public works or naturally-occurring oddities.

That would be a nice feature. I don’t always want to comment or post with my mod hat on. That said, I’m not seeing it on anyone here. Is it an instance-based thing?

This is not bait, I truly believe that all non-private art and information should be freely available to all for any purpose and liberating it is always a good thing. I’ll leave your report unresolved for another mod to weigh in on, but I’m not looking for an argument and gave a minimal response precisely because I did not want to encourage shit-flinging.

Yes.

Deeply frustrating to see. Their only sin in my book is selling it instead of freely distributing it, something Bethesda is equally guilty of. I only hope they make it out of this okay.

Possibly. You should be fine as far as apps go. The setup is a little more involved but the work is front-loaded. Once it’s set up, it’s very similar, if a bit less visually appealing. It supports some extra media types and such but really the main advantages are it being FOSS, privacy respecting, and having all features completely free.

That wasn’t live action or a remake :P

It’s really satisfying having someone to share your collection with. I moved in with my now-fiancée late last year and it’s so fun watching it grow to suit us both. Currently still using Plex since there isn’t a Jellyfin client for the Xbox One and we have yet to get a Shield or something else superior to it, and I don’t feel like figuring out the networking side of things until we’re at our next apartment.

It’s a FOSS alternative to Plex, if you’re familiar with that. Less like a tv channel, more like a streaming service you populate yourself.

From what Madison said it sounds like it goes far too deep for this to change much. I hope things get better (since it’s unlikely LTT just up and disappears immediately), but from what we’ve seen this culture of dismissal goes right to the top.

I was willing to watch along and hope they do better with the initial stuff from GN since it was ultimately junk food entertainment for me, but at this point fuck them and I hope the innocent people there get away and end up okay.

I dunno, I’d expect journalists to provide that information instead of assuming you’re familiar with a charity which has a name that sounds like any ol gaming event. I don’t think it was done out of malice but I do think it’s your job as a journalist to recognize how that will sound to people unfamiliar with the charity and to inform them in turn. Leaving that ambiguity makes GN’s argument’s sound stronger to those uninformed and I think most writers are familiar with that effect. You aren’t saying anything untrue or even really lying by omission, but you are making use of people’s ignorance.

My point isn’t that that was some major deception or a massive problem, just that if I was on the other end of that I would want it to be very clear what that auction was being run for, as it can impact if people think you’re being malicious or if you’re just incompetent. God knows LTT makes bigger mistakes regularly nowadays.

(and yes, I do think Linus pinpointed the issue about the block because it’s the easiest to address without changing anything or addressing any real problems)

I don’t even think he’s pulling it out as an intentional tactic, I get the feeling he legitimately wants to be a good guy and is barely able to handle the suggestion that he isn’t acting like one. Just a fragile ego and self-image.

I don’t know why you say “pretend” there. Having seen the GN video first, the tone and lack of specificity definitely led me to believe it was being sold for profit (I was surprised when I found out it was for charity), and I would totally want to clear that up if I were in Linus’ position.

I dunno, I don’t really care that much about a company screwing over another company and then paying them back once it’s publicized. Both options come off to me as the kinds of minor transgressions that I assume happen regularly and aren’t really the kind of thing people who aren’t personally involved should care much about. For me, the big problems are the slipping quality of their test results and other issues caused by their release schedule and I wish GN didn’t even bother bringing up the auction in the first place. Doing it for profit impacts my view differently from doing it for charity, but it’s all just peanuts in the end.

Eh, I’d say the difference between selling it for themselves and for charity is meaningful. One seems like a play for dollars taking advantage of their connections while the other just sounds like a communication fuckup where the ones taking care of the block weren’t in contact with the ones making promises to return it. Neither is good, of course, but to someone outside the situation they do impact my view of the company differently.

Regardless, the main issue is their absurd pace and he doesn’t address that at all. I hope their new CEO is more willing to budge on that than Linus has been, but it’s too early to tell.

It seems most likely to me that it’s prep for the rest of the Microsoft deal so they can claim to regulators they aren’t using their ever-growing control to choke out other platforms. Same reason they’re making those promises about Call of Duty on Switch.

My build was around one of those custom boards, so no soldering for me. It’s perfect for me since I play on PC only and the web configurator is really nice to have for easy SOCD cleaning functionality swaps for different games. I’ll need a Brook adapter if I ever find and go to locals, but I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.

That seems fun! I’ve mostly been playing in beginner/intermediate brackets in this trans fighting game Discord server I’m part of. I have a lot of hours in this game but I never took learning all that seriously until recently.

Sanwa are the default for Japanese-style buttons, and they’re the most common at all levels of play. If you don’t know what you want, they’re probably the best place to start and with how modular sticks and hitbox-style controllers are, you can always change down the line if you find that you have different preferences. Personally, I find Sanwas just a bit too light for me since they’ll accidentally actuate if you brush up against them. It makes it difficult to rest your fingers on the buttons and it’s a bit harder to “ride” the actuation point, if you’re the kind to do that.

I’d say there is a general vibe to JRPGs that you can’t really get at by just describing the combat system.

It’s easy to imagine someone who like Final Fantasy may like a game like LISA. But harder to suggest someone who like Final Fantasy will like Kingdom Hearts

If anything, I’d say the opposite. Even setting aside the developer and series overlap, I would expect a Final Fantasy fan to be much more receptive to Kingdom Hearts than to LISA. While classic Final Fantasy may be closer to LISA mechanically, FF and KH are working in a related tradition that LISA is a bit farther from. There’s connective tissue between JRPGs that go beyond their mechanics, and this is part of why FF as a series has gone between so many radically different systems while still feeling united in some way. JRPG may not be a perfect term, but it carries historical reality, not just bland mechanical descriptions. If you look at music for example, genre titles are just as often describing the scene something came up in (or is emulating) as they are describing the sound itself. If genres are to give us helpful groupings of games that are related to one another, just describing their bare mechanics isn’t enough on its own.

That’s so sick!! I just built this leverless in a modular 3D printed case for SF6 and Skullgirls :) Currently experimenting with the buttons but I really love Crown 202s

Hope you’re enjoying EVO if you’re watching!!

Every group their administration is oppressing lives in the state as well, as well as plenty of innocent people who don’t belong to those groups. They’re all actual human beings living their lives and suffering under a government that actively targets them.

I’m sick of people damning those of us who live places with shitty governments for what they do. So many are assholes to people from the south or the midwest, when we’re the ones who suffer the most from their bullshit. Everywhere you look there’s some smug liberal talk show host or internet commenter cracking jokes about the stupidity of the people they claim to care about and how we’re all cousin-fuckers who deserve no sympathy. Instead of trying to feel superior over us because you know our states suck, have a damn heart.

That’s absurd. Political apathy doesn’t just come out of nowhere. Nearly everyone who doesn’t vote will tell you it’s because both of their realistic options are out to fuck them, and in most locales they’re right. Give them something to hang onto, have a candidate that offers them literally anything other than not being the other guy or not actively making things worse, and a whole lot more will bite. You might think they’re wrong for having that apathy, but to be completely honest what you think about them doesn’t matter. What matters is getting people moving.

The reason they don’t campaign like that is obvious: the things the people want are not what the ruling class will allow. It’s foolish to think that politicians are simply optimizing for what gives them the best chance of winning. Those sorts of considerations only happen within the bounds of what their backers allow.

You’re missing a whole lot of people who don’t approve but are not served by the alternatives enough to get out there. You may disagree and say they should just vote for the lesser evil, but we see time and time again that just presenting people lesser evils is not effective. They need to have a positive reason to go vote FOR someone, not just negative ones to vote AGAINST someone.

Any would be a start.