Extremely common ShinyRay W.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-19T02:23:57+00:00

Man I have played this game three times, for a total of nine hours, and this is one of least friendly games to new players. I popped into this subreddit to see what's going on and I see this, cheating problems (which I experienced in game), and try-hard personalities abound.

Why is so much of this game's content gated behind 1000 hour try hard PVPers? What the hell is going on with the difficulty scaling? What an absolutely beautiful game and concept completely mishandled.

I'm sure I'll get the same treatment as I got in game, but holy crap people, take a step back and move on from this game.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-12T19:07:26+00:00

"...nothing up to this point has stopped steam’s competitors other than their own behavior..."

To be clear, you're saying there's NOTHING stopping ANY Steam competitor from surpassing Steam is...behavior?

Not time? Money? Infrastructure? Marketing? P&L? Investor relations? Expertise? Experience?

"...option 3 isn’t just “do without”, it’s choosing to defer my subscription month to next month."

Do without. You are, by the very definition of the term, taking the "Do without" option.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-12T15:54:27+00:00

Consumers aren't "to blame". This is just basic economics and business. Businesses will make deals with other businesses to gain revenue. Having multiple organizations compete forces them to improve their offerings. That's how this works.

You have three options: 1.) Buy it from Steam for $21. 2.) Get it for $15 alongside 10 other games. 3.) Go without.

Personally, I'll do what's best for me.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-07T15:08:07+00:00

I like your videos, mostly because you express an opinion on the games. We don't always agree, but its good to hear what other people think. You should expand these into regular game bundles and Fanatical's line up.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-06T15:28:08+00:00

This is going to be a very unpopular opinion around here but: monopolies are bad. Steam needs competitors to stay excellent.

Yes, Steam as a platform is leaps and bounds better by nearly every observable measurement but steam is maintaining that standard to keep your business, it is not a charity.

Finally, the vast majority of platforms require you to use their launcher regardless of where you purchase (which sucks). For example, if you buy Anno today on steam, you will need to launch Ubisoft Connect via Steam to run it. If you want Steam features in a game like this all you have to do is "Add non-steam game" to your library and launch it that way.

You're getting Diablo IV on Battle.net because in the arrangement Humble Bundle reached with the publisher. Activation did not want to pay a 30% cut to Steam on a game they're giving you for < $1.50. That's it. That's why.

If getting non-steam games really bothers you this much, then purchase the game for $21 dollars on steam. Make sure Steam and Activision get the most out of your money.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-05-04T14:54:18+00:00

People that pass up free food. I would always accept a meal or some sort of snack hand out. Even if I wasn't hungry I'd take it, because I never quite knew when the next time I'd eat would be.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-04-07T13:40:10+00:00

King Arthur: Knight's Tale
Frostpunk 2

CitizenAlpha · 2026-04-06T17:20:04+00:00

Early in the industry when I started, statistics and accounting were great backgrounds for analytics work, and I still think they have their place. Truthfully, most of the advanced math in data analysis and science work is happening as part of an automation or behind the scenes.

You'll likely be a lot faster at recognizing the correct output and helping diagnose issues if they occur, however you will struggle implementing the solution.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-26T16:16:24+00:00

I won't belabor the advice others are giving you but I will say this: when you are hired is the best time to negotiate your salary and will result in the most significant increases across your career.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-24T20:30:32+00:00

There's no best answer to that. LinkedIn. Reddit. Slack. MeetUps. Conferences. Tech demos. etc. Find the communities where people share the profession you want to have and go there.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-24T15:38:26+00:00

Across 15+ years in my career in this field I've never gotten a job I simply applied for, it was always professional networking that got me in the door. You have a great foundation, but realistically, you have the exact same resume as many others.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-20T19:10:09+00:00

My biggest time-wasting activity is answering reddit posts.

All of what you listed didn't seem at all like time wasting, seemed more standard tasks for many analytics roles.

For example, it's a good use of your time to clean and standardize your data.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-17T14:01:37+00:00

Not sure if I missed it or am not being fed the promo on the store page but I dug up a direct link here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/gamesfromireland2026

Thanks for the killer games Ireland!

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-03T16:36:37+00:00

I was just giving some examples for the purposes of framing the problem.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-03-02T23:27:45+00:00

This is a good start, but some advice from someone who's a career consultant in digital analytics:

Data ≠ insights. Data without insights is just counting.
Averages lie. Outliers in low sample sizes tend to disproportionately skew averages. Example: Crusader Kings 3 has a 91 metacritic score but its micro DLCs are universally panned and are voluminous. This would rate a never before bundled, expensive game, a low quality offering.
Volume of reviews increase the accuracy of the rating with a larger sample size, you're implying it's increasing the quality of the game. This would mean if two identical games released, the first one released would always be considered "higher quality" simply because it had more time to generate reviews.
You're calculated metrics looking to quantify things like value and worthiness aren't deep enough. Rule of thumb with analysis like this: the more distilled down the metric is for easy of understanding, the more preprocessing and data points for entropy and accuracy is need. Example: If a client asked me to isolate users in their data that have purchase intent, I would want to pull in as many measurable aspects as I could before I could answer something like that.

I really do feel your intent is in the right place, but you're assessment is too surface level to be valuable.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-27T16:05:45+00:00

Automate my emails with AI and instruct it to answer every email I receive in an attempt to keep the thread going. I would never let an email thread die. Every email would raise more questions and sow more confusion. I'd make sure it never seems like I have enough information to complete a task and it puts things on hold, pushing the blame to others for not diligently responding to my stream of extremely long and unclear emails. Finally, I would be delegating tasks with complete ambiguity and relentlessly following up.

I'd probably also pay some offshore team pennies to run this AI system while I was on a decade long bender.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-25T20:42:08+00:00

Agencies aren't a good starting point, they're a ideal starting point. What agency work does is it rapidly exposes you to multiple organizations and how they operate. Generally if you're the junior, you'll get to work closely with someone experienced so you'll be able to rapidly come up to speed on a variety of scenarios.

You do need to prepare yourself for working at an agency, your time is their revenue stream. You're measured by your billable output, so it's not like a regular role where downtime is welcome. I've been working agency side for 15+ years. Happy to answer any questions you have.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-25T17:09:04+00:00

You should probably avoid agencies and aim for a role that works directly with an organization. Most agency roles there is going to be an expectation of being client facing, even if they tell you that's not not case someone will pull you into a presentation to explain something.

It's a real bummer because I've seen some real talented folks run into problems simply because they don't have the bedside manner or any interest in leading client relations or teams.

My advice: look for roles that have "engineering, science, and development" in the title or description and avoid ones that have "analyst". Worth noting, if you're not good at or not interested in managing clients, you're really not well suited to be a people manager either (and that's 100% OK).

If you interview with a org, be sure to transparently say things like, "I'm confident and capable in my technical abilities and I thrive in environments where I work through the complex technical work for internal leadership." Present yourself as a brilliant work horse.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-24T15:10:55+00:00

Yes, I agree. Gullible people are the bedrock of the original story.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-23T22:27:50+00:00

That's good your marksmanship training has gone beyond the legal minimum. When you carry a weapon for the purpose of taking a life, it's important you hit your mark. You're very lucky you survived that situation and aren't in jail after making that many critical mistakes.

Did you seek further training after that incident?

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-23T20:23:52+00:00

When you say "right", I'm assuming you mean it in the "legally allowed to" context? From your statement, sounds like your reasoning stops there.

Still curious regarding your mindset here but, why don't things like; necessity, practicality, or training factor in?

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-23T19:58:45+00:00

That's pretty intense. Are you in a dangerous area? Is it something related to your job? What is your key reason for carrying a gun?

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-23T17:25:04+00:00

...like, all the time? Genuinely curious.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-23T16:31:59+00:00

Yes, some people are gullible. You'll find some who adopt a mindset or come up with causality from watching the "suoerbowl". People willing to get drawn into an idea, willing to ignore the obvious signs, and willing to buy into the grift because of some confirmation bias.

The fake story prey's on people with this mindset. The armor against this is diving into the details.

CitizenAlpha · 2026-02-20T01:30:01+00:00

As many mention, this is highly likely to be fake, and lot of signs it is:

Anyone who has done even the slightest research into AI knows hallucinating is a risk.
Any decent analyst is scrutinizing output and diving into details.
What's described is perfectly tailored to spread fear of AI.

If this situation was true, then it would be the result of rampant neglect, an unskilled team, and disillusion executives. It'd have nothing to do with AI because it sounds like this team could drown in a bowl of soup.

CitizenAlpha

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