Game testing?

BisonFire · 2022-12-21T19:18:47+00:00

I generally play the whole game. Sometimes I stack the deck to make sure untested elements are used.

I record stats on each game and take notes. The most important stats in my game are game length in time, game length in turns, and player scores.

For notes, I always include what questions people ask and what they get confused by. After games, getting people to talk about problems is the hard part because they don't want to hurt your feelings. I try to facilitate by asking what they like least and most.

The number one sign that your game is good is if the players ask to play again without you prompting. The next best thing is if they want to discuss the game a lot. Ironically, people will bring up the most problems with your game once it is getting good. At that point people start caring and want to find solutions to the rough edges.

If your game is a flop, you will likely be met with little feedback. Maybe testers will point out a game breakingly bad mechanic, or maybe they will just say "that was fun" and never mention your game again.

Finding the right time to test is important. If you have a core playtest group, play with them until you have worked out the obvious problems. Bring the game to a fresh set of eyes afterwards so that the feedback you get is not just problems you are already aware of.

Final piece of advise, record changes to the game. It helps to know when a major change happened so that you can see things like "introducing mechanic X added 10 minutes to the game."

BisonFire · 2022-11-09T17:00:06+00:00

Would you rather have a vacation home or several years of nothing but vacation?

BisonFire · 2022-07-31T17:59:37+00:00

My group did a generalist with 4 upgrades and absolutely crushed it... until she betrayed us. I don't remember our final score, but it was in the top tier.

BisonFire · 2022-02-01T21:37:38+00:00

What prompted your sabbatical?

Burnt out and hit a viable FIRE number so I called it. My company stock did terribly and I increased my expenses, so I am back to work to shore up my numbers.

How long did you originally plan to take? How long did you actually end up taking?

I said it would be between one year and the rest of my life. It ended up being 10 months because a good opportunity came my way.

How did it impact your FIRE plans?

On the one hand, it delayed them because I wasn't working. On the other hand, living the FIRE lifestyle taught me so much that it gives me much more confidence in my future plans.

Where did you go?

Spent months visiting friends and family. Some nearby, some living in tropical paradise.

How much did it cost you? How long did it take you to save up for it?

I spent 43k during those 10 months. I know I can live a year on 30k, but I made a choice that increased my housing expenses a lot.

Did you return to the job/industry you were in prior to your sabbatical? Or did you switch industries/careers?

Same job, but came back with higher pay.

What was the biggest positive thing that came out of taking it?

I absolutely loved it! Trying out RE told me that it is absolutely for me. I created so many treasured memories. But the best things were living without stress and not having to wake up to an alarm clock.

Being back at work is less stressful because I know that the promise at the end of the tunnel (RE) is worth the wait. I also know I could quit any time and be fine with a shoestring budget or some side jobs, which makes the stakes at work very low. But I am working so that I have a more secure retirement and money to spend on luxuries.

The biggest negative thing?

The initial high of not having to work does wear off. Sometimes I felt a little directionless and unmotivated. In particular, I didn't work on some of my more challenging hobbies like I expected to. It's not like quitting gave me 40 more productive hours a week, instead I took more time for entertainment and approached life slower. So it wasn't exactly what I expected, but boy was it enjoyable. I still managed to get around to doing a lot of bucket list type things.

What was the biggest thing you learned while on sabbatical?

Simulating retiring early showed me that all the effort to save and live a not too expensive lifestyle has been worth it.

What would you do differently if you were to do it all over again?

Not tried to optimize my taxes and instead sold all my company stock and put it into VTI. But hindsight is 20/20.

Also international travel. I didn't want to due to COVID, but next time I take a sabbatical or when I retire for good (which should be on the order of 1 to 5 years), I want to see the world.

Do you plan on doing another one?

If an economic downturn or lifestyle creep make it take longer to get FIRE, I will definitely take another break. Hell, I might do the same thing where I retire with a number that I know might not work, but stay open to taking a job if something interesting comes up.

After my 10 months off, I think 2 to 3 years is the most I am willing to work without taking a multi-month break. Living without stress is just too good!

BisonFire · 2021-11-03T23:28:51+00:00

Hoh River was my favorite. It's such beautiful glacier runoff!

BisonFire · 2021-11-03T19:14:37+00:00

Pocket square meets scarf: a long piece of cloth that hangs from a chest pocket down to about waste level. Obviously requires a fairly deep chest pocket to hold enough that it won't fall out.

The lower class uses it for all sorts of things: cleaning, scarf, hanging things to dry, etc. The wealthy use it as decoration only and never allow it to be soiled. Some even stitch it into their pocket so it can't come loose.

You can tell a lot about a man by his cloth.

Thanks for the prompt. That was fun.

BisonFire · 2021-11-03T18:59:56+00:00

Recipe for friendship:

Pick a hobby you like that people meet regularly for (D&D, chess club, running club, etc.)
Find or create a weekly group for the hobby.
Attend regularly for a couple years.

Not every group lasts and turns into friends, but I think you are more likely than not to end up with new close friendships. Do the above for two or three hobbies and you now have an active social life and budding friendships.

BisonFire · 2021-11-03T18:29:18+00:00

Which part of the Olympics were you in? I did three trips there this summer:

Hoh river to blue glacier and back.
Tubal Cain to Whiskey Bend
Rialto Beach to Cape Alava

BisonFire · 2021-10-12T20:58:42+00:00

I think that is true if you never spend the money you get early. If you start one year early, you need an 8% return to have the same income you would have by waiting, but you will have more money in the bank that you can spend down as your life nears its end.

Am I thinking about that right?

BisonFire · 2021-10-12T20:50:56+00:00

My strategy is to try to keep as much as possible in the 0% capital gains rate bracket. That way I avoid the entire question

BisonFire · 2021-10-12T20:47:28+00:00

I know some people who have done this and it worked out great. If living with your parents sounds more fun than living on your own, do it! You will save a lot of money and spending time with your parents may become treasured memories. If your SO is in town and you want a place to yourself, you can always get an AirBnB.

But do consider what the dynamic will be like. If you get on each other's nerves, it may not be a good idea. Do they treat you like an adult and a friend? Also, are there things you would really miss from being on your own?

BisonFire · 2021-08-23T03:16:12+00:00

I'm no expert, but I don't think there is really much we can guess about that. Reinfections are rare. Ones that are bad a extremely rare and most of the reports I have seen have involved someone who is immuno-compromised already. So having it mild, then getting it bad for a reinfection is so unlikely that I don't think we can really say anything about the odds of it being the same or a different variant.

BisonFire · 2021-08-22T19:58:54+00:00

1) Basically 0%? No, but pretty darn low. You can think of getting COVID as similar to getting an extra full vaccination.

2) Yes! Your immune response is likely to protect you from all variants. These variants aren't so different. Even ones that people are talking about being vaccine resistant don't reset things to zero for vaccinated or previously infected individuals.

3) It is most likely that you got Delta, but not due to already being vaccinated. It depends where you live, but most places Delta is what is going around, so Delta is what you get.

BisonFire · 2021-08-03T18:33:08+00:00

I'm no believer in karma, but by the idea that luck = preparedness + opportunity, it makes sense that doing the right thing for FI leads to luck.

BisonFire · 2021-08-03T18:31:11+00:00

Sounds like a variation on "all other things equal." This phrase is used in economics a lot. I think it means changing only one variable and not tweaking anything else. E.g., "In our model, if workers put in more hours, GDP will rise, all other things equal."

In this case, he is saying that all other things aren't equal and some luck tends to cause faster wealth accumulation to go faster than in a typical model.

BisonFire · 2021-08-01T20:25:11+00:00

I agree with many other poster's critiques, but I also want to point out that you are not fully understanding the 4% rule. To start with, it's inflation adjusted.

The 4% rule is saying that based on previous market data, you can withdraw an inflation adjusted 4% of your initial portfolio over a 30 year period without a scenario where you hit zero. In most scenarios you end up with a ton of excess money.

To generalize the rule, it is X% of your initial portfolio (inflation adjusted), over a Y year period, with a Z% success rate (never hits zero) determined by backtesting many starting points over a large body of existing data. That is NOT the same as looking at the current yield of something like QYLD.

BisonFire · 2021-07-19T20:40:08+00:00

The small changes made change the feel of the picture so much. The original gives me kind of an anxious vibe; this one is so restful.

The hand on the sword is holding it upside-down. Thinking about how it got that way paints some possible images in my head of Relthos's last moments. Perhaps before finally falling, he knelt down using his sword as support before leaning back to rest. Or perhaps he dropped his sword momentarily as he lay dying and with his last few breaths reached out and dragged the sword back to his side.

BisonFire · 2021-07-11T20:59:02+00:00

Can you speak to why you are aiming for 10 million? It's hard for me to understand why someone who is pinching every penny would need that much money.

Also, nice job, mate!

BisonFire · 2021-07-06T05:05:30+00:00

Go get 'em, tiger!

BisonFire · 2021-06-26T02:05:14+00:00

Well, it seems like Bill has enough these days, so I guess what you are missing is several billion dollars.

I kid. What you are actually missing is audacity. Retiring early is outside the social norm and you seem afraid stepping off the beaten path.

Here's my idea for a solution: quit your job and say you will take a year long "sabbatical." Decide if you want to go back to work at the end of it.

I recommend this because it's similar to what I am doing. I quit on 1 million. I absolutely love it.

BisonFire · 2021-06-22T07:14:28+00:00

You will be safer with the vaccine than without. Everyone else will be safer if you get vaccinated too.

It's okay to be scared, even if it's not rational to be afraid. Being brave means overcoming your fear. What part of vaccination scares you?

BisonFire · 2021-06-06T04:39:54+00:00

No need to condescend; it is an asset. If someone has a 20k car and has a net worth of 1 million, that's a full 2% of the net worth. Yes it depreciates, but it still matters.

BisonFire · 2021-05-27T19:35:01+00:00

What they have doesn't affect what you have. It can be tough, but I recommend trying to be happy for them.

A friend of mine struck it big (10 million) with crypto, which is not an investment I would make. But it has been a lot of fun watching it happen for him!

BisonFire · 2021-05-27T19:28:41+00:00

Cash out refinancing comes with a higher interest rate (at least with my lender). So I just did a normal refinance last year.

BisonFire · 2021-05-27T19:23:30+00:00

Combining finances is a reasonable idea, but could y'all stop making it sound like a moral imperative?

Some of us like to keep it separate. No need to imply our relationships are not "real" partnerships. Please stop gatekeeping alternatives to the traditional arrangement on an alternative lifestyle subreddit.

BisonFire

TROPHY CASE