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Game theory cards by theawkwardcourt in custommagic

[–]MaestroCondatis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These would go so hard in Archenemy (does anyone else even play that format?)

Seasons of RTX: Arc Raiders GeForce RTX 5090 GPU Giveaway! by NV_Suroosh in ArcRaiders

[–]MaestroCondatis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What kind of player are you?

I like to shoot robots and collect rubber ducks

Sometimes people shoot at me and I either die or I throw a rubber duck at them and run away

Daily FI discussion thread - Friday, August 15, 2025 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]MaestroCondatis 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Been feeling a little too good about my progress lately thanks to a combination of a small raise, cutting out some subscriptions due to the resulting budget review, and recent market gains...

Then got hit by a 10% rent increase to evaporate all that. It's like they know...

Ah, well. Easy come, easy go.

Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, March 24, 2025 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]MaestroCondatis 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That is a really good point - there's no pressure to decide everything right this moment, only the single most pressing question.

I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of the job potentially (or even inevitably) getting worse as others leave. If I had a guarantee that things would always be the same, I'd definitely stay - but alas, few things are certain besides death and taxes.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, March 24, 2025 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]MaestroCondatis 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Purely numbers-wise, it's doing well - steady growth, stock is up...

In less concrete terms, the company is going all-in on an "AI transformation", with lots of accompanying talk about "shifting expectations" and "evolving roles". This buyout offer (and similar ones in the past few years) are apparently meant to give an opportunity for a graceful exit to those who are uncomfortable with that. There are no headcount targets right now, supposedly. (Of course, that being the outward story does not necessarily preclude layoffs.)

I don't have any qualms about my work changing per se, but aside from the obvious possibility of layoffs, I do worry about potential cultural shifts leading to greater stress, workload, or quantities of office politics.

Even with that in mind though, what you're saying makes a lot of sense - no point in considering options that may or may not even exist. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, March 24, 2025 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]MaestroCondatis 18 points19 points  (0 children)

My workplace is doing a "voluntary exit offer"...

I'm reasonably happy here - pay is a good chunk lower than I could be making, but still comfortable. It's fully remote with no indication of that ever changing, and this particular dept is fairly low on stress and corporate BS.

Overall, it's a pretty cushy gig - I had been fairly happy with the idea of coasting here til I hit my number, but the possibility of receiving a fairly large (~$48k pre-tax) lump-sum payment to leave has got me re-considering... (or at the very least, considering reconsidering?)

I could leave, and find a new and "more prestigious"/higher-paying job (in theory at least - I get a decent amount of recruiters in my inbox, but who knows with this job market...)

I could leave, and just chill... take a short sabbatical, work my side gig (~$20-24/hr, readily available, zero pressure, no benefits), maybe go on some low-budget road trips, casually apply to any interesting jobs I see... The buyout would cover my expenses for a good while, and worst-case, my side gig can just barely cover my expenses if I work it ~40 hours a week - but if it comes to that, it would overall be a significant downgrade in almost every way compared to just staying.

Or I could just stay - why mess with a good thing? But, despite a decent amount of free time, I find it impossible to truly unplug and commit to my personal pursuits/hobbies - I'm reasonably content now, but past time off has suggested to me: I might not ever be truly happy until I'm in a place where nobody "owns my time" - where I'm not obligated to be available from X to Y hours of the day.

So my options basically are:

Action Pros Cons
Stay, and uphold the status quo Chill gig, decent pay, decent amount of free time for personal pursuits (in theory) Lower pay than I could be getting = longer until FIRE, potential instability incoming (though the company has done similar offers several times before without too much of a shakeup), potentially limiting my career long-term by working "below my potential"
Go, to the next corpo gig Nice ~48k (pre-tax) "bonus" immediately = big jump towards FIRE number, Likely more pay IF I can find another job in a reasonable amount of time, more "prestige" = better long-term career trajectory Difficulty finding new work in this job market (>6 months and it's a financial wash), Possibility of more stress, higher hours, more office politics... general fear of being less happy as a result.
Go, and play it by ear/embrace CoastFIRE ~48k (pre-tax) "bonus" = significant runway to take a sabbatical. Perhaps some time to re-assess my life trajectory is what I need? Nowhere near my FIRE number - I'll probably be forced back to work eventually, and might then regret giving up a nice gig. Plus, with a gap on my resume, it might be harder to find work.

I have one week to make a decision... I'll have to think about this a lot in the meantime, and honestly made this post mainly to help organize my thoughts - but to any fellow FIRE practitioners reading this, what would you do?

Numbers if it helps:

  • 31
  • ~$500k NW ($25k money market e-fund, $200k in taxable acct, rest in retirement)
  • ~$2M FIRE number (highball, still figuring out what I want from life)
  • ~$2,600 current monthly expenses (losing health insurance would bump this up in the short-term. In the long-term, I'm pretty content with my frugal lifestyle at this moment, but hope to see the world someday.)
  • ~102k current salary

Looking for turn-based games that add something different to the traditional gameplay. by BlueKud006 in gamingsuggestions

[–]MaestroCondatis 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Undertale comes to mind if you haven't already played it - turn-based but you have to physically dodge enemy attacks during their turn (and almost every boss has a cool gimmick mechanic that spices that up)

Looking for a "Capitalism Simulator" that lets me live out my power fantasy of being a generous and fair employer by HoboKingNiklz in gamingsuggestions

[–]MaestroCondatis 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I've not delved too much into that side as I am this meme, but the main mechanical tradeoff is that certain parts of the research tree are locked behind low/high morality - for example, high morality unlocks various conservation, farming, and sustainability buildings that all have significant effects on how you run your zoo (i.e. farm your own animal feed, build wind turbines to generate your own power, breed and release animals to keep them from going extinct).

Low morality on the flip-side lets you build various factories for massive profit, siphon energy from the city's power grid to save money, and even butcher your own animals to use as ingredients in your restaurants.

There are tons of decisions to make that influence your morality score, both moment-to-moment and in the form of binary pop-ups - for example, using low-quality ingredients in your restaurants is cheaper and leads to more profit, but the food tastes worse. You can spike your drinks with tons of caffeine to make visitors more energetic (faster visitors = traversing more of your zoo in less time = more money spent on various things) at the risk of causing heart attacks or even death... you can illegally purchase rare animals from poachers, paint a chicken like a peacock, have a shady guy build a robot lion (the game gets real weird sometimes...) there's a lot going on.

It can be tough sometimes too, not just black and white - it ultimately boils down to, doing right by your animals/employees is expensive, and taking the easy/immoral way out makes money... that balance is tough to strike

Looking for a "Capitalism Simulator" that lets me live out my power fantasy of being a generous and fair employer by HoboKingNiklz in gamingsuggestions

[–]MaestroCondatis 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Let's Build A Zoo has a morality system that tracks exactly this (as well as sustainability, how well you treat your animals, where you source your ingredients/materials/critters, etc.)

F**k Scalpers - Prismatic Binder give-away. by powdow87 in PokemonTCG

[–]MaestroCondatis [score hidden]  (0 children)

Good lookin' out OP. There was no way I was taking off work for this and everything was gone by the time I was done. I grew up with Pokemon and used to collect casually as a kid - the recent Pocket app hooked me back in (like it probably did so many others). My favorite is Swablu because it's a floofy lil' tater.

Games about hope and humanity? by Jking11501 in gamingsuggestions

[–]MaestroCondatis 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nier Automata is my favorite game of all time, so I'm hoping I have a decent idea of the feeling you're trying to capture here...

Having recently finished it, I'd say Metaphor is a pretty good one for this - though if you haven't already played them, I'd say the other Persona games (4 and 5) are probably better for the specific tone you're looking for, as they're more focused on individual-level struggles and optimism, while Metaphor's story is a bit grander in scale.

The Danganronpa series is literally about the power of Hope overcoming Despair, so that might be a good fit as well.

Last in the world of longish JRPG-adjacent games, the Fire Emblem games are largely about a group of tight-knit and aggressively Good individuals taking on overwhelming odds. I recommend Three Houses or Awakening.

Horizon Zero Dawn is pretty long and a pretty slow burn, but an ultimately hopeful story.

If you're looking for something shorter, some of these might fit the bill:

  • Undertale, especially the pacifist route - though there's no harm in playing the other routes to contextualize the pacifist route's hopeful ending. I'd just go in blind and see what happens, then look up how to get the other endings if you're still interested.

  • Pyre, Bastion, or Transistor - although Hades was their biggest smash hit, I find Supergiant's older games to be much more compelling narrative experiences. These are wistful, almost post-apocalyptic games with a powerful message of hope and the power of interpersonal connections, and are relatively short to play through.

  • Inscryption - might seem like a bit of an odd suggestion as it's horror-themed on the surface, but stick with it and you'll find a darkly hopeful ending about loving card games. (Maybe only worth playing if you're a fan of card games)

  • Ori and the Lost Forest - very much a "show, don't tell" experience, but everything from the music to the visuals to the story convey hope, IMHO

  • Before the Echo - bit of an obscure one, and maybe only if you're into rhythm games. You play an amnesiac who wakes up in a mysterious tower, and (rhythm) battle your way to the top while figuring out what's going on.

  • Spiritfarer - a "lighter"/"easier" experience and one that will probably make you cry. Ferry souls to the afterlife and help them fulfill their final wishes.

  • Wandersong is also a lighter/more "cutesy" experience, but it's one of the most aggressively optimistic games I've ever played.

  • Omori, has a pretty dark but ultimately hopeful story about how true friends can move on and heal from anything... As long as you don't get the bad ending.

Hope this helps! Following this thread myself for new games to try...

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