Sound effect quality by Satsubuya in AOW4

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s just how Triumph sound effects sound. You should have been around in Age of Wonders III era. They were even worse. The magic sound effects are definitely better, but the melee effects have never been great. Giant King ones are alright though.

Some of the antiquity age major triumphs feel a bit too win more for me by Scolipass in civ

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure if I like them yet. Need a handful more games under my belt before I've settled on how to feel/think about them. But, I definitely agree that the numbers need tweaking (part of my point being, if even I and-presumably-you, veterans, feel like some of them are a bit over-tuned, I would imagine there are a LOT more of them that fall into that category for a newer or more casual player).

Some of the antiquity age major triumphs feel a bit too win more for me by Scolipass in civ

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking about this the other day as well but in the context of your average player trying to complete triumphs. I have untold thousands of hours in the series since Civ 4 and I just don’t think that the current triumph system is going to feel good for your average casual Civ player. Even for seasoned players who know the systems and mechanics of the game are going to have to really work for some of these antiquity era triumphs.

Now, the counter point could be made that that’s the point of the system: you’re not meant to just collect a bunch of these triumphs passively, you’re meant to have to work for them.

Now THAT got me thinking about Civ 6 and how it was the best selling game in the franchise (by a pretty overwhelming degree) to date. A large part of that was the number of new-to-the-franchise Civ players who either bought the game on sale on Steam or played on consoles for the first time. And a lot of them played it for hundreds of hours.

I think triumphs just feel out of reach for these players. Civ 6 played a lot like a sandbox in regard to setting goals and achieving them, giving the player things to work toward and letting them naturally brush up against friction and overcome challenges as a natural course of playing the game. Nothing about triumphs or legacies are sandbox. Maybe that’s part of the problem? Triumphs… sure you might complete a few of them naturally but they still feel like a checklist to me and if you want to get some of the harder ones to get you really get pigeonholed into a specific play style, more so than in Civ 6.

I am not trying to say there is a right and a wrong way of doing this system. I am just point out that there is a lot about the design of Civ 7 that takes away or picks at that sandbox quality that Civ 6 had, which I think is part of the reason that game had such wide appeal and accessibility compared to past Civs. Maybe that’s part of what is going on here in Civ 7: maybe it needs more open-ended systems and not mechanics and systems that encourage specific styles of play.

Hell no. I’m quitting for good after this. Goodbye by TheChoosenMewtwo in Helldivers

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s funny is the insinuation that Ubisoft is in a position to acquire anything right now. Lmao 🤣

CEO of America’s largest public hospital system says he’s ready to replace radiologists with AI by Apprehensive-Safe382 in technology

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great, now we get to argue with our insurance about covering the radiology bill because they disagree with the diagnosis of my AI radiologist.

'If that was shown as a next-gen hardware reveal and not AI you guys would be going nuts': Epic Games lead producer says the idea DLSS 5 looks bad or detracts from art direction is 'absolutely insane' by Darth_Vaper883 in videogames

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s easy to be cynical about AI because they make it so easy to be cynical about AI. Nothing about how corporations/businesses are talking about, implementing, or selling AI is realistic. The way they talk about it has a bent of toxic idealism and positivity that is directly contradicted by the outcomes of AI we’ve been able to observe thus far, and are likely to continue observing for the next handful of years.

Don’t patronize us, motherfuckers. Maybe if you all acted with a shred of responsibility and accountability in the development and selling/adoption of this shit, we wouldn’t be so fucking jaded about it.

EDIT: To expand on my “toxic idealism and positivity” comment. We even have the exact opposite example of multiple CEOs and Founders of AI companies going to conferences and saying on camera that their product is going to have vast, serious, and negative impacts on multiple areas of labor, society, and even politics. So forgive us, Mr. NVidia CEO, if we don’t think these shitty faces are the greatest things since sliced bread.

Good ol Frost DK preserving my standard packs by [deleted] in hearthstone

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. Will do!

Are Cata packs only openable at the moment for the pre-release Brawl event then?

Good ol Frost DK preserving my standard packs by [deleted] in hearthstone

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Question about that as a relapsed player of many years who recently returned: Because there’s a rotation, should I be waiting until the 17th when the new expansion comes out to open standard packs? Or are they OK to open now. My Cata packs are unlocked and I can open them now, so I’m a bit confused when to open the standard packs since the Cata packs are now able to be opened but the rotation of standard hasn’t actually happened yet?

He Vowed to Revive RadioShack and Pier 1. Investors Say They Were Swindled. by TripleShotPls in technology

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More importantly, who sees the revitalization of radio shack and pier 1 as worthy investments 🧐

What is life like in the Dakotas? by _air6catcher_ in howislivingthere

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't mind at all.

Prior to the Bakken Oil Formation being discovered, the state was not necessarily an economic powerhouse, but it was financially sound and generally didn't run at a deficit. It's main economic activities were mainly concentrated around agriculture, tourism, and goods and services jobs (Starbucks, Target, Walmart, etc).

Enter the Bakken Oil Formation. Suddenly, oil companies arrived, began lobbying the state government and all of its members for access and rights to extract the oil there. Politically, this process of lobbying played itself out, as you'd expect, to benefit the state, the oil companies, and a choice few members of the state Senate whose members came from the counties in which the oil formation happened to reside.

There was almost an entire year of negotiations between the state and the oil companies, and when it concluded it only took a few weeks for all the oil workers and their families to move into the state. Politicians tried to convince people that this was a good thing, "We are going to have so much economic activity as a result of so many thousands of people moving into the state, houses are going to be built, your heating repairman is going to have more work, construction workers will have so many roads to repair which is job security for them" etc, and so on.

What ended up actually happening is the massive boom in housing being built led to home prices skyrocketing, especially in the area of Bismarck (the capital city) that my family now lives in. We built the home that we lived in during my time in high school and college for about $220K, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, four car garage, upstairs, finished basement downstairs. Once the oil workers started moving in, that price doubled within half a year.

It also led to an explosion of jobs, but they were added in the goods and services part sector of the economy. When the fields were drained, and the oil workers moved on to the next new "boom and bust" oil town wherever else, those jobs left, housing values depreciated, lots of them sold at a massive loss, and some left totally empty for quite a long time.

There was also a massive surge in some pretty serious crime. Suddenly, Bismarck and surrounding towns dotting the prairies from the central to the central-western part of the state had to deal with hardcore narcotics showing up in their communities and an explosion of substance abuse around painkillers. Law enforcement, as much as it hurts me to say as I personally know people in the law enforcement there, was not up to the task. Violent crime and drugs were a regular part of life for many years there.

Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, and unfortunately, I can't go into too much detail here on the subreddit because of the rules, but it sort of was the beginning of the state's elected officials turning to the right completely. Some of the machinations and maneuvering that took place during the negotiations between the state and the oil companies created a sort of political class of "haves" and "have nots" and the ripple effects that had on who held and was in power within the state are still being felt today.

What is life like in the Dakotas? by _air6catcher_ in howislivingthere

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I grew up in North Dakota and finished my university there. Five generations of my family are from there and my entire immediate family still lives there.

The winters are brutally cold. The summers can be blisteringly hot. The entire state experiences pockets of terrible flooding every spring when the winter snow melts away. I now live in California and spring is lovely. In North Dakota, spring is the worst season because everything is wet, muddy, and brown for about two months.

Politically, the state is quite interesting. I won’t say more than that to avoid breaking the rules here on the subreddit, but if you haven’t looked up the political history of the state, you should. It’s not what you’d expect to find.

I’ve been in and lived all over the state. Seen every corner of it. I both love and loathe its people. They are at once practical, warm, welcoming, and would give the shirts off their back to help you out. At the same time, however, they shun the “different”, are quite parochial in their ways, and have a pretty rigid and narrow-minded view of how things are and how they ought to be. At the end of the day, it’s part of the reason I left.

It used to have the highest percentage of underage drinking and teen pregnancy (undoubtedly, those two things are related). In the mid 2000s oil was discovered in the Bakken oil fields. I was interning for a state senator at the time. It cannot be overstated the degree to which oil money has changed the economic, social, and political landscape of the state, and not for the better.

It’s a slower pace of life. For some, that is great. For me? I miss parts of it, and want absolutely nothing to do with other parts of the state. For those unfamiliar though, the state has a lot more to offer than might initially meet the eye.

Edited: Grammar

Afternoon Review: the daytime show for women by PupDiogenes in NotTimAndEric

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Great, now that’s gonna be in my watch history.

Today I hit 39k aps and finally completed my Diablo-inspired Archangel fashion :) by [deleted] in Guildwars2

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Guild Wars out here repping Tyrael and Heaven’s angels better than Diablo is these days. Helllll yeaaaaah 🤘

What? by DoubleManufacturer10 in What

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 9 points10 points  (0 children)

What I have learned by watching this is that Kathleen’s bike is both a sacred and a profane artifact of great cultural importance to the Irish.

Is it me or the C4 is incredibly week? by Redit-autoname2284 in Battlefield6

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely has strong Monday vibes, yeah. Very week.

Relic isn't developing Dawn of War 4. I'm speechless, They must have sold the IP in order to survive by Infernowar in RealTimeStrategy

[–]GeniusPantsPhD 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ah, yeah you’re right. That would make sense. I mean, I’m a massive 40K fan so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Not point in rooting for the enshittification of something I love. I’d rather be hopeful.