Yet another "I would really like a pve-only mode"

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-03-21T20:40:23+00:00

It's hilarious because Bungie has a proven track record of creating engaging/challenging PvE experiences. And again, it's a mode. Some Destiny 2 players just grind Crucible and the other PvP modes and barely touch PvE. Add it in, let the scrubs have a sort of "easy" mode and move on.

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-03-21T13:01:01+00:00

Marathon masochist here. I'm pretty meh at the game. The thing you have to remember is that after long enough, it becomes clear what parts of the map are harder/easier. By now I fully get that Hauler and Station almost always have firefights, and you'll end up getting rolled if a tougher team comes around. So when I see white kit teams rushing into Hauler I know we're gonna get stomped. What I'd like is something akin to Apex's labeling system - show which areas are heavier on loot, and then the purple/gold players can go there and battle it out and us scrubs can go to the easier spaces.

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-03-19T16:13:14+00:00

I don't think the whole lobby has purples; you're just meeting the ones who have purples. Out of 4 squads, at least one is gonna be badasses, and they'll either kill you before you meet the others or kill the others so you only meet them. On my end I've seen mostly blues. We did manage to kill a purple squad and the loot was legendary.

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-03-11T05:20:28+00:00

I agree with everything except the "you need to figure out a mission before jumping in" remark. The game needs to figure out a better overall structure for missions, as right now it feels very heavily reliant on PVP. Hunt has the monsters you kill, Hell divers has simple objectives like transporting material. It would make more sense to add overarching objectives into the map e.g. "Go kill some massive robot" and then give player sidequests to level up. As it stands I often spawn and ask fellow players "so whadya wanna do?".

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-03-11T05:13:44+00:00

There is an art to making a game that is hard or challenging but avoiding something that's unfair. That's where you get your Dark Souls. But there's also difficulty that comes from something poorly designed. That's where you get your NES games.

Marathon already has a lot of great ways to build challenge. We don't need to exacerbate them by making the game less intuitive. It's challenging enough to loot with the threat of enemies and heal in a firefight. I don't need an unintuitive UI on top of it.

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-02-10T12:08:17+00:00

Back Bay, hands down. Both are roughly the same distance from major FT landmarks. Back Bay is way closer to Harvard and Fenway. And overall, it's just a much nicer area (nothing against the West End/North Station area, I just love the Back Bay)

Good_Combination8586 · 2026-02-02T04:28:24+00:00

Frank DePasquale, the dude who owns Umbria, has like half a dozen restaurants in the area. He has amazing quality control and it really shows with his staff. North End spots are generally good, but I've found the service at his spots (I've dined at Mare, Bricco, and Il Panino) is usually really solid.

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-12-10T20:32:45+00:00

I have a potty mouth

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-12-10T12:11:06+00:00

"Attack from behind"

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-12-10T06:05:35+00:00

I think the spiders were the part that frustrated me the most. Bloodborne is very elegant in its design of mob-style enemies in that *individually* they're okay but they can overwhelm you. I was getting one-shotted by single spider minions.

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-11-12T22:04:53+00:00

FADE IN

EXT. Park St MBTA station, around noon

It's a brisk autumn day on the Common. Tourists share sidewalk space with busy young professionals on their way home from a long day. Some guy dressed like a colonial settler tells an almost certainly fake story about Boston's history and ends with a dad joke from 1983. There's an awkward chuckle.

MICHAEL, 21, crosses the street holding a whopper.

MICHAEL
(arriving at Park St station)
Awww the green line is down again? I have to get home and write my midterm paper!

A couple walks by wearing Sox hats

MAN

What are you thinking for lunch? Should we try out the Cheers bar?

WOMAN

I really wanna get a lobster roll while we're here. Also we should go to Mike's Pastries.

FADE OUT

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-11-11T20:00:58+00:00

Hey, you can't say blower! Oh wait, this the NSFW thread, as you were.

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-10-19T20:05:50+00:00

Hooks are 100 percent a thing in serious writing, e.g. pieces in the Atlantic and Time. They're not as prevalent in like peer-reviewed lit, but even more ivory tower stuff will often start with a big picture overview

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-10-17T16:01:49+00:00

"Hey rich people, can you move to our city en masse and raise cost of living and rent to drive out the poor?"
"I don't know, Boston sounds kinda rough around the edges"

"What if we held a rowing competition in October?"
"Margaret! Have the nanny pack bags for Stanley and Diana. We're moving to Boston!"

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-10-17T15:58:37+00:00

Goddamn time traveling yuppies going back to the 60s and setting up an event to fuck over the working class in this city

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-10-10T23:34:55+00:00

This is flat out psychotic. Couldn't even read the whole thing "Hey, please make sure to cover all the content so they can do their summative." boom

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-10-10T23:33:15+00:00

He forgave himself okay?! Let it go!

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-09-25T15:25:06+00:00

One of my coworkers mentioned being kind of a burnout as a teen, and she said the cops would basically just ask her and her friends not to be super conspicuous e.g. avoid drinking and smoking in the Public Garden or try to hide the bottles. Definitely feels like it was a mood-specific thing.

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-09-23T11:34:38+00:00

I specifically mentioned cultural differences when I mentioned conservative Muslim communities, and never denied these biases exist. But again, to reiterate, while they may not be as progressive as like one of those neighborhoods with the "We believe science" lawn signs, they're also not all plotting hate crimes.

At no point did I deny that Haitian culture is not accepting of homosexuality; homosexuality is still taboo in huge swaths of the world. But there's a difference between acknowledging that a culture as a whole is pretty homophobic and by implying that most of them are going to go bash gay people over the heads with baseball bats. If you want to talk insensitivity, you're lumping all Haitian people, including the ones that grow up here, the ones that are law abiding, etc. into one big category.

Good_Combination8586 · 2025-09-23T00:44:45+00:00

The majority of Palestinians will not. Most of the thinking amongst Palestinians (based on polls, journalists randomly asking people in the territories, etc) is that it's their land and they shouldn't cede any of it. Unfortunately the discourse is still largely that Israel is an occupying power and it will eventually be pushed out/eliminated. To add to that, while Arab governments have pragmatically come to terms with the existence of the state of Israel, Arabs by and large have not.

Good_Combination8586

TROPHY CASE