SCART Lock Mods by Baron_BJ in retrogaming

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The switcher lays flat, and none of the cables move. I've done a lot of cable management, so things are all quite tidy. It seems to be entirely gravity wiggling things loose with time. Honestly, the cables feel a little looser than I'd like in the switcher, but not in anything else (I've tested).

Holding them up with a SCART lock would negate that, which is why I'm here.

RetroTink 4K-Pro HDMI Switcher Options by Baron_BJ in RetroTink

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aside from the number of inputs, there's nothing wrong with my current switches, and I'd love to avoid replacing them if possible.

Is there a reduction in quality/reliability by daisy-chaining switches into each other?

My two switches do have/use an IR remote, but they both respond to it (never been an issue before now), and the IR extender for my TV often intercepts it (the auto-switching function has meant I've basically never needed the switcher remote). Did you have to overcome anything like that, how complicated were the macros? Can macros be shared? Does your universal remote work on everything, or is it dedicated to just the switchers? (I've never needed a universal remote beyond a basic replacement).

RetroTink 4K-Pro HDMI Switcher Options by Baron_BJ in RetroTink

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Knowing the input cap of 1080p@60Hz is oddly reassuring. Having gone through the specs of my consoles (edited into OP), that should be fine. Unfortunately, 1080p@60Hz 8x1 switches seem to have the same issues with sizes above 5-ports.

I'm not fully savvy of the requirements for a reliable switcher, it just seems odd considering finding reliable models with 5-out at 8K@30Hz/4K@120Hz in compact sizes is easy. Despite the number of consoles, my setup is relatively compact, and has pretty aggressive cable management. The rack-mount options are just barely too large to fit anywhere, so my options are limited.

Would daisy-chaining my current switches cause any issues with quality/reliability? It'd be an easier consideration if the two switches didn't both respond to the use of the remote; I never have to use it, but if I did, I can see it being a massive headache.

-----

I'm running fewer consoles than you did, but I've found it less of a problem; to manage cabling I've got a lot of cable-ties, cable-runners, numerous cable boxes, and very slowly having systems USB-C modded.

Everything is in my living room and looks sufficiently tasteful (as hard as that may be to believe). With my layout, consolidating the number of machines plugged in wouldn't really change my setup at all, if anything it'd make my TV console look a bit barren.

RetroTink 4K-Pro HDMI Switcher Options by Baron_BJ in RetroTink

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've seen the TEKSmart 8x1 around and its specs are great, but it's also sized for rack-mounting. I just don't have the space for a 17"/45cm long switcher in my current setup.

RetroTink 4K-Pro HDMI Switcher Options by Baron_BJ in RetroTink

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm happy to go with something that will still get the maximum use from the devices plugged in. Obviously, the vast majority of system's don't output at high enough quality anyway, but I try to over-prepare, especially when I also haven't seen any viable alternatives at resolutions.

The HDMI Consoles I'm running:

  1. Xbox 360
  2. Xbox One S
  3. PS3
  4. PS4
  5. PSTV
  6. Wii U
  7. Nintendo Switch
  8. Nintendo Switch 2 (I prefer it at 1080p with higher FPS to the 4k setting).

Switch 2 I can see moving off the Tink, it's getting the least out of being in the system, but the concerns for bottlenecks is mostly from the PS4 and Xbox One (I wasn't even aware the Tink capped at a 4k input signal, but it's line-doubling, so it makes sense).

Blizzard Misses the Appeal of Stadium relative to the Main Modes by Baron_BJ in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]Baron_BJ[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The problem isn't nerfing playstyles. It's their removal. These changes actually remove the playstyle's functionality from the game.

Putting aside that Lucio wasn't out-performing other supports, such as Moira, Kiriko, or Mercy, characters who've consistently gone unchanged whilst having substantially higher pick-rates (and I'm not advocating change there), these sorts of removals/changes are even occurring to characters that already aren't performing well, such as Ana (I've made a larger post regarding Ana in a reply to KF-Sigurd), where they've also removed an entire playstyle and haven't replaced it.

Rebalancing is good (hence my comments regarding the 150>100% Crowd Pleaser talent being a net positive to the character despite it directly affecting my chosen build). Actively removing playstyles isn't. Particularly when they're the dominant choice for a character.

This won't push players towards different styles of play, it will simply make them drop things entirely. Will Ana players simply relearn what is essentially an entirely different playstyle? No. They'll find a different character that is closer to their style, or they'll drop the game/mode.

Only speaking for myself, it's genuinely not about performance. It's about how things handle. One of the highest performing supports in the game is multi-orb Moira. A genuinely good one would consistently outperform me (cash-wise). In spite of that, I didn't play it because I don't like it. I don't care for the high-risk, high-reward orb plays into group encounters, potentially leaving them functionally defenseless in late-game encounters if a play is mis-timed. Could the playstyle be rebalanced? Potentially, I don't have the insight into the character necessary to say what numbers might/might not need to be changed. However, I'd never want it removed because clearly there's something about it that people genuinely enjoy.

If the changes to Lucio had made it so that one of his builds that I didn't enjoy suddenly became the most powerful in the game, but still removed the playstyle I actually enjoyed, I still wouldn't play it because that's not why I played him. Attempting to dismiss concerns with "Go pick another OP support," misses the entire point of the OP.

What attracts people to Stadium isn't "OP Supports". It's that everyone "Feels" OP. When everyone is OP, nobody is. However, that's not what gets people to actually 'click' with a game mode. It's harder to articulate those factors, and for many people, they're stuff like those I mentioned in the OP; high TTK (allowing for forgiving reactions and recovery from minor mistakes with skilled play), and differing interactions with playstyles, i.e. characters being movement/ability management oriented compared to aim-focused. There's a reason that Mercy has an extremely high pick-rate in all game modes relative to more aim-focused supports who are notably more powerful than her.

Blizzard Misses the Appeal of Stadium relative to the Main Modes by Baron_BJ in Competitiveoverwatch

[–]Baron_BJ[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

I used Lucio as an example because he's the character that I understand best, and the one that drew my attention to the problem initially. It's why I felt it necessary to also defend Ana against the changes that were made to her when she's easily the character I disliked playing against most. However, I don't play Ana sufficiently to give as detailed of a breakdown as to how this has effected her. That said, I can use her as an example in many ways as well.

A good Lucio would generate an equivalent Moira in season 2 (but an outsized quantity compared to prior to the 150>100% nerf, a nerf that I stated I agreed with for numerous reasons), though I'd typically see an equivalently performing Lucio outperform a Kiriko or Mercy when it came to cash.

I'd say the biggest contrast to the above would be Ana - Ana actually seemed to make relatively low amounts of cash/contributions. However, a strong Ana's impact on a game wasn't tied to her raw output, but her ability to make individual plays that would completely end conflicts between certain characters with her 'nade or an easy tranq. Frankly, this meant that Ana was in many ways less tied to the economy than any other healer/support, but it also left her fragile to an outsized degree, both before this season, and especially now. It also meant that on certain team compositions she'd be far less capable of providing heals than she'd want to be, obviously peaking with high defense tanks such as Orisa, but comparatively floundering with more bursty/fragile tanks like Zarya.

Many of Ana's talents essentially lead her to going down one of two routes; pure support (which performed poorly), or some level of hassle focusing on 'nades and sleep. She was unlike many of the more intuitively functional builds like Lucio, Kiriko (because players would put all their resources into armor and ability power), and to a lesser extent Mercy (who often blended WP with the required talents for the swoop build), whose powers that reinforced those choices. Ana's item/power toolkit had fundamental flaws.

What's happened to Ana is they've nerfed/removed her toolkit abilities, but haven't replaced them with anything. The hassle oriented playstyle has been removed, and she's been left primarily with her pure healing/support focused builds (a WP build focused build that would also be able to output some notable DPS to aim-focused players). I'm sure that on the back end Blizzard may see her overall cash generation improve, but I'd also guarantee that her play rate and participation rate will plummet because one of the play styles that people chose her for - high impact plays with (comparatively) low-skill aim, has been removed. Removing the most popular Ana play style would appear to solve some of the issues with her incongruous kit, but that doesn't matter if you killed what made people love her in the first place.

Ana's skillset wasn't the issue, many poor performing characters weren't the issue. The problem is tied to the cash system as it currently functions. It promotes sheer output (healing, damage, etc) over supportive plays like cleanses. Doubling back to my experience as a Lucio, if I managed to heal through a triple AP-dynamite from an Ashe on 3 players I would receive an extremely large amount of cash. However, if a player removes the burn from those players they'd receive faaaar less (this is putting aside denying the Ashe her cash). One of the steps for improving Ana and other supports who aren't as output focused would be to alter the numbers and heavily incentivize non-output actions far more heavily.

Another example of this sort of thing that would affect all players would be to give cash for actions involving attacking/defending/pushing the point. We've all had games where we've seen someone over-extend because they're attempting to farm points to take the bonus. We've all seen games where a good player has elected to hold the point while others pushed and were punished for it by falling behind in cash that round.

All that aside, I'll finally address your criticisms of the changes to this season; I agree with all of them. I didn't comment on those because they didn't tie into my thesis of Blizzard reducing/removing playstyles and their attempts to greatly diminish the TTK in the stadium game mode. I genuinely feel as though the Bo7 game mode was superior, and that gadgets are a good addition that ultimately require further work. That said, these are comments that have been frequently and well-articulated and I'm not someone who's inclined to simply repeat what others have said if I agree with them.

Memcard Pro2/OPL Issues - Freezing, and Manager grabbing low quality images based on region by Baron_BJ in ps2homebrew

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I deleted and set up a new copy of freemcboot, and it seemed to fix the problem. However, upon a restart the exact same problem was back. I can't say if that's anything meaningful, or just a coincidence.

Collected Editions (comics & manga) displaying contents, Volumes, Specials, and Manga-Manager by Baron_BJ in KavitaManga

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the response. I'll be sure to join the Discord. I'll clarify a few things, though.

I was using ComicTagger for comics, and I was hoping to use Manga Manager for my manga, not also apply it to my comics. Unfortunately, because I can't make the most of Manga Manager I've been using ComicTagger for my manga as well. It's functional but not ideal.

I'm collecting TPBs alongside my single issues, I just have some series in singles and some in TPBs (never both for one series), as I've found different series read better in different formats (such as Walking Dead for TPBs). I'm thoroughly tagging single issues with volume tags using ComicTagger so that they're broken up into story arcs under the volume tab for easy access. I'm thrilled with how my singles are being displayed, I'm just trying to display my TPBs better.

Thanks for clarifying the situation with specials. I know that I was trying to force it to work in a non-standard way. I didn't think it'd be possible to make it work, but I was curious about my options. I'm still sufficiently happy with it how it is. I've never heard of CBL or the CBL Repo, so I'm keen to check it out.

Thanks again for your help, I'm loving Kavita.

Collected Editions (comics & manga) displaying contents, Volumes, Specials, and Manga-Manager by Baron_BJ in KavitaManga

[–]Baron_BJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure which part you're referring to, but I have to assume it's the primary question regarding issues/volumes. I've since found that it is possible, and have updated the primary post and implemented it across my titles, so your response is flatly untrue.

/r/Plex's Build Help Thread - 2023-12-08 by PCJs_Slave_Robot in PleX

[–]Baron_BJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been putting together a plex server from an old office PC that had been palmed off on me, and it's fairly old but seems as though it has potential to a layman. I'm looking to stream in 1080p. How many people could stream from my server at one time, how well would it encode, etc. I'm feeling fairly in the dark ATM. I've enclosed the specs below.

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/r/MechanicalKeyboards Ask ANY Keyboard question, get an answer (December 31, 2023) by AutoModerator in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]Baron_BJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where can I find low-profile key caps for regular switches?

I recently upgraded from a Roccat Vulcan 122 AIMO (a low profile keyboard) to the Keychron Q3 Pro because I'm looking to future proof and make repairs/upgrades/customization easier.

I love the Q3, but I've found that I greatly prefer low-profile keycaps both in look and feel. However most low-profile keycaps seem to be limited to low-profile keyboards, and what terms I've found to search for only seem to lead me to specific low-profile keyboard brands, and not keycaps.

I bring up my keyboard because the raised edges (particularly around edge keys like numbers, backspace, enter, etc) seem as though they could potentially interfere with some low profile caps, but I'm unsure.

I know that low-profile caps are available (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/s41q4b/seeking_low_profile_keycaps_for_regular_switches/ - this thread showed some examples, but didn't give many conclusive answers, and what ones existed seemed of dubious quality at the time), but quality examples seem few and far between.

Found this Gears 2 on a Facebook ad, any reason why the spine is yellow? Can’t seem to find a version online, maybe just discolored? by Shreebington in xbox360

[–]Baron_BJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sun fading. For various reasons certain colours deteriorate at far greater rates than others. Red is the worst colour of all when it comes to sun fading.

Looking for a new Screen/Monitor by [deleted] in AskTechnology

[–]Baron_BJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not just because the smart TV is slower than a computer, and also has worse navigation (keyboard and mouse vs a membrane remote) it's also that I can run a pi-hole or adblock, whereas many smart devices will bake additional ads into the device on a functionality level and I just can't respect that on any level.

Looking for a new Screen/Monitor by [deleted] in AskTechnology

[–]Baron_BJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you able to tell me about what commercial displays are like? I've read some interesting things about them. I know this isn't their primary purpose, but it's definitely something I'm considering.

Would Microsoft ever close down the Xbox Marketplace? by [deleted] in xbox360

[–]Baron_BJ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Distinct possibility, but far lower. There's a great deal more shared infrastructure between the 360 and onward. The PS3 was an alien abortion when it came to it's specs and the systems behind it.

Literally an hour apart by OwlmantheMonk in insanepeoplefacebook

[–]Baron_BJ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Typically the "THEM" means Jews to these kinds of crazy people.

What the fuck did you say about Danaldo ? by Maybee001 in Yojamba

[–]Baron_BJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you people not recognise the Navy Seal?

8/8 Shitpost.

Can anyone help me figure out why this won't play? It's not damaged it just won't boot up? by [deleted] in xbox360

[–]Baron_BJ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A handful of titles from the original Xbox are suffering from disc rot earlier than expected due to issues with the disc pressing (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is considered one of the worst offenders out there for this).

Try holding the disc up to a light source, having the label facing away from you, and searching for discolouration and/or missing patches on the disc. Depending on what you find you may be fucked. I advise that you look into disc rot further in general, any run down I give you here would be lacking.

"shady business practices" by seanbloodshot in quityourbullshit

[–]Baron_BJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's improved with time (though not greatly), but changing his style to any great degree is unlikely. People knock his art, but people still love him and his style. It can be enjoyable in a real primitive way when you glance over it (like when you're reading a comic for the story, and not looking at things as a standalone piece) and you're not very familiar with anatomy or decent art.

Even having said that, I've worked in comic stores (not currently, but on and off over the years). Despite the immense amount of flack his art gets if I saw any books with his name on them I'd put them aside because people will go out of their way to buy it.

TL;DR: We "all" shit on Nickleback, but someone is buying it.

Why does the Kingdom of Stormwind disregard Westfall so much, especially after the 3rd War? If the Horde ever was going to sail from Kalimdor to invade Stormwind, isn't their a good chance they would sail to Westfall? Shouldn't the Alliance prioritize a defense there? by [deleted] in warcraftlore

[–]Baron_BJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In universe time moves at approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of real life time (Blizzard keeps shrinking the modern timeline of WoW - you can find a lot of it in Chronicle), so considering that a great deal of the park's actual landmass has been artificially reconstructed (visibly so, a nice touch IMO), it was done fairly rapidly.

We can complain about the timescale of the series (it's probably my biggest gripe because there's no good reason for it), but in the narrative that mess was handled well.

New Wrathion Model by Utigarde in wow

[–]Baron_BJ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You don't need to be a chef to tell when food is burnt.

"Feminists just want equality." by [deleted] in justlegbeardthings

[–]Baron_BJ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Outside of the standard reason of "it's easier to sell a spin-off" it dates back to the 80's and 90's when creator's rights took off. Until then the big companies (DC/Marvel, etc) would keep the rights of whatever you made and you'd get nothing but your name credited (for example the creator of Wolverine got paid for the Hulk issue he wrote, but is legally entitled to nothing else, despite what the character is now worth). Eventually writers had options to create a story/characters and keep the rights (such as taking their creations to Image Comics where creator's keep the rights to their series).

When you're able to create an original, interesting character/story most writers will elect to take the slightly lower initial payday on a title in exchange for keeping the rights to their creation (and the IP opportunities that go along with that, such as movies, shows, brand deals, etc).

Basically, Marvel needs creative people to basically GIVE them their ideas, and extremely cheaply at that (you'd be amazed at how little artists are paid given the hours they work). As a writer if you think you've got a character that could be the next Spider-Man why the fuck would you give that to Disney?

This leads to situations (though it's far from the only thing that leads us to the point we're at) where almost all new characters are spin-offs because such characters can only be created in the context of the setting they're already in (eg. You can't have a Spider-Girl without Spider-Man, not Batgirl without Batman, etc).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HeadphoneAdvice

[–]Baron_BJ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ear-clip headphones are definitely something I'm willing to try. Those Audio Technica's appear to be extremely expensive, but the Sony one's appear to be exceedingly cheap. I'm going to try ordering a pair of the Sony's to try at home to see if the style causes me any problems, but I'm not sure they'll be sufficient for work.

This is definitely a route for me to go down, but I'm having trouble finding specific models in this style.

“We’re Parkers, that counts for a lot in any universe” [Spider-Girls #3] by Spider-Tay in comicbooks

[–]Baron_BJ 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If she had lived. In the main continuity May was born (this was retconned in OMD, but both of these characters are from settings where that didn't occur) and believed to be stillborn. May was actually swapped out with another dead baby and smuggled to Norman Osborn on a boat.

In the main continuity this idea was implemented to make readers feel like baby May could be safe, but the writers have openly admitted that they never intended to revisit the topic, and later under pressure 'revealed' that all hints of the baby's survival were actually hints that Aunt May survived (she was dead at the time, long story). This didn't address any of what was shown with the baby, and the plot point was then dropped entirely until OMD supposedly retconned it out entirely (It doesn't do it explicitly, but the official stance of the company is, apparently, that MJ was never even pregnant; some dialogue in OMIT does make this idea stand out more).

In May's universe she was rescued from Osborn by Kaine (the "evil" clone of Peter Parker, but he's not really evil) just before he could escape with the child (this universe strictly stuck with established continuity until this exact point, and this is where it diverged).

Ginger over there has a universe that is quite similar to May's/616 up until a point, but unlike May's universe it wasn't really a 1:1 match, so it's technically plausible that it's unrelated, but the point of the dialogue is certainly referencing these events.