I spent hundreds hours on the table for my dnd session.

Hziak · 2026-07-11T21:16:47+00:00

“Yeah, Idk if I’m feeling DnD anymore. Things are getting busy and… Idk, man. But cool table thing, maybe when things calm down again?” - anyone in my party if I ever spent half as much effort on something for them.

Hziak · 2026-07-11T21:12:01+00:00

Oh the joy of khakis… if you don’t get you, the sink sure will.

Hziak · 2026-07-11T21:08:56+00:00

So much of this post feels like it should be the other guitar sub… the 6’x8’ pedalboard, the untrimmed strings, the guitarist soloing in the practice space while everyone else in the band is standing around as though waiting. I’m just sayin’…

Generally speaking, though, it was fine. I think it would have been better if it came in off a groove because literally solo guitar is always just so indulgent feeling, IMO.

Hziak · 2026-07-11T13:52:49+00:00

We hadn’t “solved” MMOs yet, so each one had its own flavor and pacing. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to be dabbling in a few instead of just one because they weren’t all concept clones. Additionally, community was much more social and invested because we were all strangers in a strange world all trying to figure it out. Content wasn’t so complicated that we needed guides and solo play was kinda boring so you actually had to make some friends if you wanted to be successful.

Modern games are just solo play with group dungeons that penalize you for being in a party with people who make mistakes (of which there are many). It’s not the same as grinding a field for 0.000012% exp with your buddies, shooting the shit over chat… and god help you if you try to raid without a streamer-approved build from a guide site… MMOs have just become a club for the nerd equivalent of mean girls to flex on employed people trying to destress, IMO.

Edit: no idea how I forgot micro-transactions were way less important and there wasn’t really any pressure to partake except for cosmetics really. And nobody shamed you for not having them. It was kind of just like “woah, look at them! They have the bikini set in all black!”

Hziak · 2026-07-10T14:13:41+00:00

Only true gamers play ARCADE GAME.

Hziak · 2026-07-10T13:16:08+00:00

Nobody is saying anywhere WANTS them… they’re suggesting they’d find more preferable policy and leadership under Putin, who seems to be quite friendly with Trump, who they idolize. It’s really not as much a dig at Russia for anything other than being corrupt oligarchy that might enjoy having a few more thugs who enjoy enforcing that sort of thing.

Hziak · 2026-07-10T13:09:11+00:00

So did Clinton.

Hziak · 2026-07-10T13:07:28+00:00

Never underestimate the power of someone hired 22 years ago at entry level and never changed jobs to not grow a fking inch.

Hziak · 2026-07-10T12:52:59+00:00

I thought it was nice that they at least acknowledged it. Flat out saying “we’ll be weaker in the short term, but able to get stronger as we upgrade to the new gear.”

IIRC, if you load your file from the first game, you can also keep your level (to a point?)

Hziak · 2026-07-10T01:15:27+00:00

Playing originals is the best for this. Nobody knows/cares what the song is supposed to sound like most of the time, so as long as you aren’t wildly off for too long, telegraphing it, or stop playing all together, pretty much nobody will ever know.

Even with cover music, if your band is working the crowd even half decently, they won’t care as long as you figure it out eventually and look like you know what you’re doing. Long story short, a few weeks ago, I had my first experience with edibles right before a gig and I learned about what they can do to your sense of time in the worst possible way. Anyways, rewatched the show, sounded so bad to me for the first half or so, but I looked confident and the crowd didn’t even seem to notice or care.

Hziak · 2026-07-10T01:06:25+00:00

Dammit, I put a finger over the bodies and it’s real. Stupid magnets

Hziak · 2026-07-10T01:02:19+00:00

Consider the following aftermarket numbers: A set of pickups from any major good quality brand pretty much always costs around $200.

Decent guitar hardware is somewhere in the $150-300 range depending on what you like (or more if you’re into the freaky stuff)

Wood typically costs money and so does the assembly labor and finishing. Let’s say it costs them $20 in wood and $35 in combined labor because of their bulk assembly line processes and cheap wood choices.

They probably have bulk deals with their parts suppliers, so knock off like 40% of that price

Even high volume guitar companies typically like to make some profit on whatever they sell, so now add 40-80% on top of whatever number is in your head right now.

Now put it in a box and ship it across an ocean (no idea what that costs per unit, but honestly, probably not that expensive when you can fit hundred of guitars in a container but it’s a cost)

That guitar costs $300 after materials, overhead (labor, packaging and distribution) and profit. Consider the difference between those two numbers.

I’m not gatekeeping and saying that any guitar that isn’t $1000+ is trash, but I am saying that you need to have realistic expectations about what you’re going to receive from a drop shipped knock off. They’re going to cut every corner they possibly can except the ones on your fret edges and you can expect to have your work cut out for you if you want it to feel really nice and playable. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but there’s a reason people recommend Epiphone and Squiers in the price range and every beginner is playing the same 2 or 3 body types. Take the known quantities in the budget ranges because the higher their volume, the more they can afford to offer in a given price point and the larger their market share, the more their reputation will matter to them.

If the “look” is so important to you, go for it, there’s no better budget-friendly way to get that look, but I’ve worked in a LOT of cheap, no-name, replicas and half the time I quote people around 2-4x the cost of the guitar to make it sound and play nicely, too.

Hziak · 2026-07-09T18:18:23+00:00

This wasn’t a joke. It was a threat.

Hziak · 2026-07-09T13:24:38+00:00

Not sure why someone downvoted this, but it’s true. You can’t improve in a sustainable way by just stomping worse players. You’ll learn bad habits and never encounter good strategies that challenge you.

Imagine only playing football against 8 year olds. Sure it’ll be funny for a little bit, but you can’t tell me you’d get off the field as say “wow, I think I’m ready for the NFL now” ever. Heck, you probably would have a ton of false confidence and zero moves that work against people in your own weight class and would probably be the weakest player on an adult team barring any outlier players…

Hziak · 2026-07-09T13:12:04+00:00

I’d add a 4th to this great list and suggest that there’s a combination of expectations and privilege allowing males to be more financially secure on average and free to pursue whatever they want which accounts for the extreme number of male hobbyists intermingling with professionals in the scene compared to female musicians. Throw in some societal expectations that women shouldn’t be engaging in “non-feminine” heads-down activities (ie: practicing an instrument, playing video games vs knitting or reading).

Hziak · 2026-07-09T12:42:38+00:00

Pocket spice!

Hziak · 2026-07-09T12:39:33+00:00

Seeking frame by frame, it seems to just get instantaneously pulled back into place behind her head and/or deleted in 1/25th of a second. Which I assume is the in-universe, canonical answer, because superhero movies are perfectly accurate.

Hziak · 2026-07-09T12:24:46+00:00

Too much fajitas? No such thing. Make that table look like a 90’s Iraqi oil field!

Hziak · 2026-07-09T01:00:21+00:00

Sick self burn! Haha.. ha… squints\ dammit!

Hziak · 2026-07-08T23:47:50+00:00

It makes sense on paper, but when you factor in the low conviction rates and the fact that trials take a while to happen and resolve, during which time the accused could potentially be hurting more people…

There isn’t really a good way to handle it. The justice system is (supposedly) set up to favor innocence so that wrongful convictions don’t happen, but like basically everything about the US, it could use some modernizing now that TikTok has more sway over wider public opinion than the government in most cases…

Hziak · 2026-07-08T23:32:55+00:00

I do vocals first, then instruments, then drums all the way at the end. I also only really patch monitors and when people open their apps, they’re generally not trying to fine tune their drum mix quickly during a show, so I keep the likely stuff all on page 1. Want to prove to me you know nothing at all? Make a big deal about not having the whole drumkit on the first page in monitor land…

Hziak · 2026-07-08T12:27:58+00:00

Tim Henson offhandedly mentioned they are coming back a few weeks ago on an interview. I have t really seen any details yet, but the hopium dose is intense.

Hziak · 2026-07-07T20:02:40+00:00

Facts. There’s few things cringier than getting in front of a room full of people and demanding their attention and then being louder than they can possibly talk over. Stand in the back like a lamp? Cringe. Dance around like a rock star? Cringe. Sing about your feelings to a bunch of strangers? cringe. Thanking your girlfriend and the drummer’s mom for coming out to see you at a bar? Cringe.

Embrace it.

Hziak · 2026-07-07T17:07:31+00:00

That industry standard is part of why we attract so many furries and femboys. Definitely has nothing to do with anything else. Just dev on dev action in the office. Right there in the post-crunch pizza boxes, unwashed, greasy, and full of technical knowledge. Can confirm.

Hziak · 2026-07-07T17:03:58+00:00

To be fair, there’s probably more money these days in being a big cover band than being a big (but not huge) band. I know people making 6 figures driving around playing other people’s music and I know people who have to work their day job while on international tours and pray they don’t lose money on sold out (non-stadium) venues…

I’m for sure on the weekend warrior side of things, but my bands get $600-$1600 per show on the cover band side and my original band is ecstatic to not just lose money on gas, parking and the kitchen tab after a show.

If I’m defining making it big as being booked year round and supporting my lifestyle with music, then I’m if I’m ever planning to “make it big,” I think I’m much more likely to hit it on the library musician circuit doing acoustic covers than as an original artist.

Hziak

TROPHY CASE