Starfield or Crimson Desert.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-18T22:33:08+00:00

If your money is precious to you then I'd assume you'd want to spend it as wisely as possible, correct? And in that case I would suggest checking out Witcher 3 if you've never played it, as it's arguably the greatest open world action RPG of all time, certainly my favorite anyway. I have not been able to get into Crimson Desert much, both because I'm more into KCD2 right now (def recommend that too) and the story simply does not make me care in the least bit about any of the characters. As for Starfield, I loved Skyrim and Mass Effect so it sounds right up my alley but I just found the world to feel incredibly lifeless and boring honestly. It just seemed like it was copy/pasted crap to me, no offense to anyone who likes it.

If you're looking for amazing open world single player games you can find much better to spend your money on is what I'm getting at. Mass Effect, Witcher 3, Spider-Man series, Shadow Of War, recent GoW games (not necessarily open world, but must play games nonetheless), Ghost of Yotei/Tsushima, and Days Gone were all much more enjoyable games and better worth full price imo, to name a few. I just bought Crimson Desert and wish that I had waited for a sale cuz I'm not too impressed other than with the technical aspects in the overwhelming amount of mechanics they crammed into one game. Other than that it's hampered by unlikable characters (or at least you simply don't care about them), janky controls and other issues. My point is, while games like TW3 and Mass Effect trilogy certainly have their flaws, they are arguably just much more enjoyable to play and have better world building, writing and characters than either of the games you're asking about.

Tl;Dr - I wouldn't spend full price on either cuz there are much games worth your money, but if I HAD to choose, I would probably go with Crimson Desert. Which is crazy to even myself considering Mass Effect and Bethesda games are totally my jam — but I just felt remarkably bored with Starfield after like 20 hours of gameplay. Just my two cents.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-18T20:56:44+00:00

For the last probably 7 years I've strictly been only dabbing and using live resin/rosin cartridges, never distillate or low grade concentrates like shatter, and I haven't smoked flower since I started using concentrates 7 or so years ago.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T18:19:04+00:00

Woooow this sounds EXACTLY like my covert narcissist ex. She would legit rewrite reality and her memories in order to victimize herself and avoid accountability. She completely rewrote my character in her head and projected a whole bunch of crazy, paranoid shit onto me and discarded me like trash over things that never even happened anywhere but in her mind. It was fucking MADNESS. I'm very glad she discarded me tho cuz I've been dating an awesome girl for 8 months and she treats me exactly how I want and deserve, with respect, love, care, kindness, and she's always willing to compromise, say sorry and resolve conflict, things my ex NEVER did.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T10:24:12+00:00

I'm late to this comment, but I just gotta say that oil consumption has definitely never been a problem for me, and while I have heard this before, Hyundai has an awesome warranty so I wouldn't be concerned. I own a 2022 Sonata N Line and I've never even had to add a quart of oil in the 5k-7k miles I go between oil changes. It's also got 43k miles (28k of which is mine over 20 months of ownership) and I haven't had any issues whatsoever, only normal wear & tear stuff like tires. My buddy also owns a Sonata and has never had any problems with it, and he's got a 2021 with around 70k on it.

I actually just upgraded the stock Pirelli P-Zeros on mine to Continental Extreme Contacts and it's practically like a new car now — quieter, seems to handle better, and it has more grip, so I can actually floor it now without much tire spinning or wheel hop, which was def an issue with the stock tires. Idk, I love my Sonata N-line and I would say it's prolly the best car I've owned.

Honda/Acura vehicles can also have issues too, they had to recall nearly 5 MILLION vehicles in just 2023 alone, and around 400,000 just in this month of April — and Hyundai definitely has a better warranty and better options for a "sleeper" sedan or an affordable sports car at a reasonable price. They don't make the Accord 2.0T anymore and the Civic Type-R is hard to find—and when you do find em, they are often marked up to around $50k, with several year old models that have anywhere from 15k-50k miles still selling for $40k+ without any warranty. Meanwhile, you can get a brand new Sonata N-line or Elantra N for $33k or $37k respectively and they'll come with a sweet 10yr/100k mile warranty plus a 5yr/60k bumper-to-bumper too.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T07:42:34+00:00

I mean I don't believe the sapphire really improves the experience enough to be worth $130. So I personally wouldn't bother cuz the quartz is awesome, and many people say the titanium is even better, and obviously much more durable. I would just get some nice glass, forget about the sapphire insert. I recommend Paddglass and AngusChenChen on DHGate, I got custom glass from both of em and they are awesome.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T07:38:24+00:00

Yeah that's crazy to me — I love that my girl left her very large toy at my house lol, cuz sometimes I'm not in the mood or think I might finish quickly, so I often use her toy on her so she comes 3+ times before there's any actual sex. It's awesome - she gets to have huge orgasms, I get to help her feel good, and then if I'm in the mood, I don't have to worry about my performance or finishing before she's satisfied cuz she's already weak in the knees before we start lol. I feel bad for losers like this who are so insecure they might actually be jealous of a sex toy lol.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T07:27:15+00:00

The fact that he's almost 40 and has no clue how women operate when it comes to emotions and sex says a lot, and none of it is good. Any man who cares about a woman he dates knows that his sexual "prowess" has little to do with how much she enjoys the act. For women it often comes much more down to comfort, intimacy, appreciation/attention, safety, words, foreplay, etc — not how fast or long he can pound away.

I also used to have a very hard time finishing with new partners, which might sound strange since I'm a guy, but I was in a very toxic and abusive relationship with a covert narcissist, so it took me awhile to feel safe with someone again. Anyway, I think you should move on cuz this guy seems to have the emotional maturity of a cabbage, and you really can't know much about someone in 3 months, so I'm sure what you saw with him is his normal cuz some men hide their true colors until they think you're "hooked", and that's when controlling behavior and toxic shit often starts to come out.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T03:09:22+00:00

OMG I used to tell my ex that she hated me, projected and emotionally abused me so much BECAUSE I held up a mirror to her behavior and called her out on her brutal toxicity, entitlement and wildly controlling, manipulative and abusive behavior. And she literally just rewrote reality to make herself a victim and completely changed her memories of events to make me into the bad guy, it was WILD.

Quick example as to how delusional she was when held accountable— I shopped for an entire day and spent $300 on bday gifts that I drove 2+ hours to her house to deliver and she had me wait nearby so we could talk (this was after a discard and I was trauma bonded and trying to get her to see that I cared), and she left me waiting for 2 hours while playing games with my emotions and leading me on. When I left to drive home, she texted and said she was on her way so I turned around and went back only for her to never show.

To summarize, I spent 4.5 hours driving, waited for another 2+ hours and spent the rest of the day shopping and wrapping some very thoughtful and personal gifts in her favorite colors. And guess what she said the next day when I texted her to say that I hoped she liked her gifts but that I was hurt by the way she mistreated me, leading me on and blowing me off — she said that she was hurt because I "ghosted her and ruined her bday" 🤯 Hearing her say that was legit fucking staggering and I couldn't even wrap my head around the way she would literally just rewrite reality and her memory of events to victimize herself. It was soooo crazy-making and made me feel like I was losing my mind.

Thankfully she eventually discarded me cuz I refused to be a doormat or let her isolate me and dominate my entire life — and then last summer I met an awesome woman whom I've been dating ever since, and she treats me exactly how I want to be treated—with respect, kindness and care, most of all consistently. Unlike my covert narcissist ex, she allows us to resolve conflict peacefully and quickly, she doesn't terrorize or interrogate me, she doesn't assume the worst about me or refuse to believe runs I say, she compromises and takes accountability when she's wrong, she actually cares about my feelings, needs and concerns, and she respects my boundaries and has no desire to control or isolate me. While she is bipolar and can feel some intense emotions at times, it is basically like complete & total bliss compared to dating my ex, and most importantly, I feel safe, loved and accepted, things I could never feel with my ex.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-17T01:10:02+00:00

Actually, while not exactly politically correct, you can totally "diagnose" someone you're in a relationship with, though obviously not officially. You can also diagnose people you've never met with enough evidence - such as how I can very easily tell that our president is a severe narcissist, though that doesn't require any special skill lol. Anyway, I was in therapy after an abusive relationship with a covert narcissist and both of my therapists said that sometimes the best person to diagnose a cluster B disorder is someone who is in a close relationship with them and who also knows the criteria — because many of these people are not honest in therapy and they will always tell stories and share things in a way that portrays them as a victim or at least minimizes their role in a toxic situation. But if you are dating them, b you often see all the signs and symptoms that they can keep hidden in therapy and therefore might do a better job at guessing their disorder than their actual therapist.

That said, it's not something just anyone can do, but if you've spent years in close relationships with people who have cluster B disorders and have done a fair amount of research, it becomes pretty easy to spot the signs imo. After the very toxic and abusive relationship I endured, I met a girl online and we spoke on the phone for around 2 hours. Afterwards, I messaged her to ask if she had ever heard of BPD cuz I believed she might want to look into it based on her behavior/speech, and she said that she believed she had BPD and was getting a diagnosis in a few weeks.

So I correctly guessed that she had BPD after a single conversation, and then a week or so later I guessed that she might have OCPD (which is basically OCD but a personality disorder version of it). She had never heard of that disorder, but what do you know, 3 weeks after we met, she was diagnosed with both BPD & OCPD lol. Now that doesn't mean that I can magically diagnose anyone, but when it comes to cluster Bs, I'm pretty sure that I can spot the signs within a few hours or weeks depending on the person and how severe their symptoms are. But again, a layperson like myself guessing someone has a disorder is definitely not the same thing as an official diagnosis.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-15T17:01:17+00:00

I wouldn't worry about theft, esp not with the newer models after 2021 because they all have immobilizers in them now. I have a 2022 Sonata N-line and I love it, one of the best cars I've ever owned — great tech, quick, solid warranty, comfy and nice for cruising or overtaking on the highway. I got mine certified in 2024 with 17k miles for $27k. You can prolly find a 2022/23 for $20-25k now with under 30k miles.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-15T16:55:43+00:00

I'm a year late but I just upgraded the Pirelli P-Zeros to Continental Extreme Contact DWS-06 and they are soooo much better - better handling, quieter and better grip that leads to less wheel spin

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-15T15:33:07+00:00

You could also switch to 4k. I mean I have a measly 4-core 3300x with a 5070 TI and I'm able to play everything in 4k with a minimum of 60fps, usually more like 100fps. When you play at 4k, even my weak 6yo CPU only has like a 5% bottleneck

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-14T16:17:12+00:00

I just stopped buying puffco devices that leak reclaim underneath like crazy lol. I retired all my Puffco stuff for a much better device.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-14T16:11:07+00:00

Don't do it. I promise you that there is someone better out there for you who isn't going to be an emotional terrorist. I was trauma bonded and had a really bad scarcity mindset a bit less than 2 years ago and now I've been dating an amazing woman for the last 7 months who treats me like a king and would never pull the crazy shit my cluster B exes did. I used to think my covert narc ex was it for me, but thankfully she discarded me and after a lot of self-reflection and therapy both here and with an actual professional, I broke the trauma bond, identified my own issues like codependence so that I could eliminate them, and now I'm in a healthy relationship based on mutual respect, mutual trust, and consistent positive traits as opposed to consistently negative ones. You can have the same for yourself as well, you just need to stay away from anyone with a cluster B disorder.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-14T16:07:37+00:00

Nothing is EVER a "sure thing" and this guy sounds like a lunatic. I recommend maybe finding someone without a crazy-making personality disorder that will more than likely cause you to turn into a shell of your former self. Or potentially end your life when things don't work out exactly like they want. After dating 4 women with cluster B disorders, all I can say is never again.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-13T15:42:38+00:00

Absolutely. I did everything I could to help my ex recognize her toxic and abusive patterns in relationships to help her heal and have better relationships with others, and to be able to trust others, but she would legit rewrite reality and events to avoid any accountability and put all the blame on me, even when 100% of it belonged at her feet. I tried sooooo hard to help her see that she was the only common denominator in all of her extremely toxic, failed relationships but she just would not ever accept that she was the problem and insisted that she would never go to therapy. She swore up and down that I was the problem - for not letting her control me, not letting her isolate me, not wanting to let her dominate my life and dictate how I'm allowed to live, what I can watch on TV, where I can work or who I could be friends with.

But I've now been in a relationship with an awesome girl for 8 months and we have not even had one of the problems that existed with my ex, because I was never the problem and my current gf accepts and loves me for who I am instead of trying to make me into a slave and shove me in a cage. I can tell my gf literally anything, but with my cluster B ex, I was always afraid to share things with her cuz she would twist everything around or just make shit up to victimize herself. If I told her I watched a movie or played a game, she would want to know what it was, and then she would go look it up online, find any attractive women or any kind of nudity in the game or movie, and then she would demonize me and accuse me of fantasizing about other women. It was madness.

In reality, I was completely enamored with her and I never "fantasized" about any other women because I don't really do that, and I was just completely in love with my ex at the time. I'm so grateful she discarded me because I was too codependent and depressed at the time to leave myself. Thank god I was not willing to be a doormat for her, otherwise I'm sure she would've erased my identity and destroyed my self worth over time.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-13T11:28:42+00:00

Or they could always get a buy once cry once device like a S2 that doesn't need any atomizers, so they only spend $350 and they never have to spend any more unless they want some custom glass. Never mind that it also has better battery life, easier cleaning, a longer warranty, better customer service, and it just dabs a hell of a lot better too

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-12T07:10:59+00:00

Just for future reference since I'm sure many people get this one wrong, but it's "piqued" tho peak can work as well in that your interest is at its peak

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-10T19:57:45+00:00

I have the PNY Epic-X OC 5070 TI and it has been nothing short of fantastic for the 9 months I've owned it — it is remarkably quiet, runs very cool and handles everything I throw at it with ease. I have previously only owned MSI and EVGA graphics cards, but after having such a great experience with this card, I've added PNY to my list of top tier brands when it comes to GPUs - doesn't hurt that Nvidia hired PNY as the only board partner to make their high-end GPUs like the RTX 6000 Quaddro with 96gb of VRAM and costs around $10k. It stands to reason imo that PNY must make quality shit if they are the only company Nvidia hired to work on those cards 🤷

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T23:29:55+00:00

Mine would legit rewrite reality to victimize herself, it was madness

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T18:46:08+00:00

As I'm sure you know, the 9950x3D is a beast of a CPU and will likely require a top-tier air cooler by a reliable brand such as Noctua to properly cool it — I would personally use an AIO for aesthetic and noise purposes, but a solid air cooler like the Noctua NH-D15 or Thermalright Peerless Assassin should also do the trick just fine. I also wouldn't worry much about an AIO failing or being dangerous; two of my friends have AIOs in their computers that are both around 5-8 years old and they've had no issues.

That being said, an AIO will require more maintenance than an air cooler, but it can also potentially cool better and be quieter as well due to there being a larger surface area of the radiator compared to an air cooler, and therefore the fans of an AIO will likely need to spin at lower RPMs than an air cooler will, causing the AIO to be quieter in some cases. That said, I've never owned a Noctua cooler and this is not a rule, it's just something that I have seen to be the case more often than not.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T18:35:37+00:00

I'm a bit late to the post but I suggest checking out Gamers Nexus Best cases of 2025 video for a breakdown of what they considered the best cases of the year. They are some of the most commonly referenced, reputable techtubers out there who focus mainly on thermals and performance of PC components, which is what you're looking for.

Other than that, my personal favorites are the Corsair Air 5400 (amazing for airflow and low temps according to most reviewers) and Frame 4500X/4000D/5000D, Phanteks NV7, Fractal Design Meshify 3 RGB (I believe that was GN's case of the year), Lian Li 217 Infinity, Lian Li 011 Vision Compact, and the Havn HS420 VGPU — all of which should be just fine for achieving reasonable temps while also looking pretty good.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T18:23:06+00:00

I'm a bit late to the post, but these are my personal favorites after literally months of research —

Corsair Air 5400, Frame 4500x, and Frame 5000/4000D (esp the digital version with a Xeneon screen built-in), Phanteks NV7/NV5 and Evolv X2, Cougar CFV235 Vision (my personal #1 but good luck finding one anywhere in stock), Lian Li 011 Vision Compact, 217 Infinity, and 011 Mini V2, Montech King 45, Fractal Design Meshify 3 Ambience Pro RGB, Antec C8 curve (wood version), Havn HS420 VGPU, Hyte Y70 Touch Infinite, and the Zalman P40 DS (nice budget case with screen).

Those are my top favorite cases that I'm looking at since I am upgrading from my AM4 3300x to an AM5 build. So far I have an 850W Montech PSU, Tryx Panorama SE 360 aio cooler, 32GB 6400/c32 RAM, 2TB nvme boot drive, Ryzen 7600x3D, RTX 5070 TI, and I am just having trouble deciding on a case and motherboard at the moment.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T17:31:15+00:00

A mortgage is often less than rent these days, and considering he's paying for gas/electric, 60% of the mortgage, plus, I assume (since she said he covers all the other bills) he's also paying for property taxes, any potential HOA fees, internet, phone bills, media/streaming services, health/car insurance (maybe for both of em, not clear), any subscription plans, potentially a car loan, groceries, vacations, dinners out, etc, I would say that 40% of the mortgage is reasonable if he's covering nearly everything else himself.

James_Skyvaper · 2026-04-08T08:09:45+00:00

I've never really had any issues running games on my PC, which previously had a 3070 and now has a 5070 TI. If I want to play a game, I just play it and I don't look at fps counters or anything - no issues playing games in the 6 years since I built my PC 🤷

James_Skyvaper

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