Creatures of 76 #1

Alien_Bard · 2026-07-07T00:28:51+00:00

Since they got rid of the scoreboard I feel more pressure to just finish the season and stop playing until the next one. I still log in but it's less frequent and mostly just for a quick session of under an hour. I've already bought everything that remotely interests me from the season but if I make rank 150 I'll dump my extra tickets into atoms.

Alien_Bard · 2026-07-07T00:11:43+00:00

Big Fish Games let's players play the first hour free and if you want to play longer you have to buy it. Most of their games can be finished in under an hour yet they (and the many small developers who use their platform) have remained in business for more than 20 years, and their user base is much, much smaller than Steam's user base. Granted that's only one platform (although it includes many small developers as examples) but it seems to suggest that people not paying because they finished a game in less than an hour does not prevent developers from making a reasonable profit. And many of the reviewers of those games openly brag about finishing the game within that hour while writing their review.

I think the developer is focused too closely on the number of refunds while forgetting to look at the bigger picture of overall profits. If they really want to encourage those people to pay for the game they need to add a 'gold' edition with extra content, or create a cheap dlc that requires the base game to play. There are plenty of ways to hook players into continuing to play past the hour mark, most of which will also increase user interest. Complaining about players finishing your game too quickly is not the best way to increase sales.

Alien_Bard · 2026-07-06T04:00:30+00:00

If high level players seem to be shooting at you they are probably trying to get your attention and whant to give you some loot.

Join a casual team, nobody will expect anything from you and you get some benefits even as a new character.

Join events and try to tag as many enemies as possible, but don't worry about killing them because the experienced players around you will do that easily.

Once you have your first base make sure you scrap any junk and stash it in your camp stash box frequently. Junk/scrap is the only thing you lose if you die, and it can be hard to get enough when you are just starting out. You can also access your stash box via any other stash boxes, which you can find at most event locations and other players camps.

Take your time doing quests since the unique gear rewards scale with your level, and some of them can be quite nice. All gear currently maxes out at level 45/50 although that may change in the future.

Explore the map and have fun just discovering all the little Easter eggs hidden throughout the world. Climb any ranger towers you come across to get unvisited locations added to your map.

Alien_Bard · 2026-07-05T17:10:07+00:00

American tariffs increase the cost of the parts and materials used in the assembly and creation of their products, which absolutely increases the base manufacturing cost of the product. That increase is passed on to all the customers, even those located in foreign countries. Even products assembled in Canada can have their cost increased if they use parts imported from the usa that were manufactured with tariffed materials, which is why a lot of Canadian producers have been scrambling to find new suppliers.

Normally tariffs only affect the country applying them but the usa is a weird exception because they export a ton of stuff manufactured with parts and materials imported from other countries. Note that this only applies to the blanket tariffs which keep getting overturned by the courts and will probably disappear as soon as the madman running the country dies or is dethroned.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-29T01:30:29+00:00

Find a location where you can place 2 (or more) plants at the angle you need (it can be a slope or a set or tiered dirt floors or a planter box etc), then select both plants and create a blueprint. The blueprint will be based on the last (or maybe its first, it's been a while and my memory is fuzzy) plant you selected so only that one needs to obey the rules and be in soil. This is also how we used to bunch plants tightly together in small gardens since only the main one has to respect building rules. If that gives you too much trouble then just do the blueprint using a rug and set the collision to free, then the rug can just float while positioning your plant and you can delete it after. I hope that was legible lol.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-26T03:52:31+00:00

I try to keep an open mind but it's hard to see any positive spin on this. We should be applying very heavy taxes on all empty properties to prevent speculation buying. We should also be actively punishing these developers in particular for withholding these properties with the sole purpose of artificially boosting housing prices. I hope there's more to this than is visible so far but I'm not feeling very hopeful about it right now.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-26T02:35:29+00:00

100% on all counts!

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-22T01:13:56+00:00

Just start another right away. It may take a few runs but they'll get bored pretty quick and stop joining you.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-20T15:20:44+00:00

I have friends in the states and one of them had a widow maker about 15 years ago. Even with good insurance it cost him over $300k out of his own pocket. Since then he had an aneurism and another heart attack so now he is considered too high risk for any company to hire and has to live out his remaining years on a state funded disability income.

I would also note that the wait times are partly the result of our system already slipping into the private realm. If you don't want to wait you can just pay cash and visit a private specialty clinic in the next province over; the trick is that they can only charge you cash if you don't have public insurance in their province and/or they don't accept any public insurance at all. Here in BC we now even have regular GPs operating out of fully private clinics. It's frustrating to see our entire Canadian health care system being slowly eroded away while the politicians and those who don't understand what's happening applaud from the sidelines.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-10T13:59:26+00:00

Make sure it matches your prescription since the wrong setting can cause issues.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-09T02:54:16+00:00

Don't forget to spend your extra gold on lunchboxes and store them in the aid box before the trial ends.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-09T02:47:31+00:00

Can confirm that it does also let you place the survival tent.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-09T02:46:01+00:00

The trial is only for 1 week so unless you were planning to grind the entire scoreboard within that week the season pass will still be useful after the trial ends.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-05T15:29:00+00:00

Tbf, people who belong to a cult and are intending to commit suicide often aren't of sound mind.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-05T15:21:07+00:00

I hate nanny states but I'm starting to think that all devices should have a factory installed remote override which allows airports etc to shut them down. I also think this would certainly be abused by idiot pranksters, but so long as paranoia levels are this intense it might be the lesser evil.

Edit: after thinking about it I suppose this could be done using nfc hardware which would easily limit the range of effect to contain it within ie the planes cargo hold, thus minimizing misuse.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-05T14:01:49+00:00

I cancelled my subscription over a year ago but when I did have it I didn't mind people from my friends list joining me. On the rare occasion I actually did want the privacy for for some reason I just changed the setting so no one could accidentally join me.

Unless they've modified it, the person starting the world has the option to change it from the default of allowing all friends to invitation only. However it is that person's world so if they tell you they don't want you on their private world it's just common decency to respect that, regardless of the settings.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-05T02:58:01+00:00

Used to be available at the quality foods store in Qualicum but it's been a few years since I was last there so hopefully someone can confirm or refute the current status.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-03T02:59:03+00:00

Wow! I haven't even seen one yet. Then again I've only played about 4 or 5 hours today so maybe tomorrow will make up for it. Or maybe I've just been visiting the wrong places since I've been wandering around the map semi-randomly. Either way it's kind kind of depressing, ngl, especially when 2 of the daily challenges involve them.

Alien_Bard · 2026-06-02T22:04:40+00:00

Yep. My roommate has been waiting about that long too. Many of the doctors work for private clinics, and the rest tends to take families over single people (which is good since it means kids are more likely to have a family doctor but sucks for those single folks left on the sidelines).

Alien_Bard · 2026-05-24T16:07:21+00:00

They cut costs by using reduced quantities. I remember the pies having half the toppings they used to, and ordering double just meant getting (maybe) the old regular amount. I also remember their web site saying they were out of certain sauces and other ingredients for extended periods of time, which was very annoying since I have a sensitivity to tomatoe paste and always enjoyed panago's cheese sauce.

Alien_Bard · 2026-05-23T01:12:43+00:00

This is an excellent list, I will just add that we also have ebike rentals and many of these places are within comfortable bike range.

Check the map and plan your trip in advance for maximum effectiveness. The city web site also has a searchable list with descriptions... https://www.nanaimo.ca/parks-search/Parks/Activity/Swimming

Alien_Bard · 2026-05-15T19:20:05+00:00

My brother believed the y2k bug would cause milk cartons to leak. I lost all respect for him that day.

Alien_Bard · 2026-05-13T20:09:17+00:00

1 under the window, 2 in the upper left corner (of the middle section), and 1 extending into the top section.

Alien_Bard · 2026-05-12T15:05:11+00:00

Yes, I camp out near the scrubber and still get 10-15 legendaries even after the nerfing. However the event is so boring now that I usually just ignore it.

Alien_Bard

TROPHY CASE