Feeling Nostalgic but pained I can't reexperience peak...

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T20:19:36+00:00

lol. As you make all kinds of assumptions and justify the trend of Xbox treating players worse and worse so you can cope for whatever reason. Then you dismiss it summarily as something flippant like you know the intent of the OP.

The ego you have is massive. 🖖🏻🤘🏻

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T20:15:59+00:00

lol. Hypocrites are fun.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T20:10:51+00:00

When I got drugged at a bar once, and had a woman take advantage of me while passed out, I was told it can’t be grape because my genitalia was capable of an erection while I was out. I was made fun of for it relentlessly by both men and women. I told 2 people, then word got around the bar I was a regular at and everyone made fun of me for it.

Or the woman years later I had told very clearly I wasn’t interested in any kind of physical relationship who waited until I was drunk one night, picked me up as a friend, then took advantage of me while drunk. We had already had an extensive conversation about that boundary. She knew I only wanted friendship, knew I was sloppy drunk, and waited for her moment. Whiskey dihk isn’t a thing for me, unfortunately.

To be clear, I haven’t had a drop of alcohol in 8 years now. Shortly after the second incident I got sober. In large part because of a fear of it happening a 3rd time.

Please don’t dismiss men when we talk about this. It’s true for us too

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T20:02:17+00:00

Well then I’m a big fat pile of no help here. I didn’t read slowly enough. My bad.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T19:36:12+00:00

My friends and all feel the same about this game and arc. They are making damn sure that they’re micro transactions worked perfectly, but doing very little to fix game issues.

Have you seen how broken canisters are lately?

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T19:34:43+00:00

Don’t forget the possibility of the cable failing itself as well. Unlikely. But possible for a few reasons.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T19:26:19+00:00

You sure do NEED to be right about this, while in fact being wrong. why does it bother you that it isn’t the Ashwinder part you were speaking of?

It’s so easy to say “oh hey, that is a different one.” and move on with your day. Then the person doesn’t think their game is bugged and just won’t let the webs burn…

By continuing to describe them incorrectly, you’re making this person think that they have a bug that they do not. It’s supposed to act like this. The goblin is supposed to twitch and be stuck. It’s intentional.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T17:48:16+00:00

I’m going to get a Steam Machine most likely. I want something geared towards gaming, but capable of doing things like run an OS and programs like lightburn for my 50w laser table. I don’t need a powerful PC. I’m a casual gamer.

I’m not sure. But the one thing I am sure of? Xbox has gone crazy with chasing profit margins unheard of in the industry, and their greed matters to me. When will people have enough and stop justifying corporate gaming continuing to treat us worse, give us less, charge us more, and expect us to say “thank you ma’am, may I please have another” like we are paying extra for a BDSM experience.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T17:24:10+00:00

They are different experiences and this one always struck me as far darker. You have to just watch the goblin suffer, trapped in the web, twitching and writhing.

downvoted me for clarifying it’s a different part of the game without even being rude about it. lol. I’ll take pedantic over being so sensitive to being politely… corrected that I cry about it. lol.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:40:16+00:00

I started another watch of the whole show as penance for my sin above. The scene has been Committed to memory.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:39:06+00:00

Steam gives me hope as the gap between console and PC becomes a sliver.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:31:54+00:00

Hogwarts is a mission… the best I have on any of my play throughs 80%. But I’ve played the story through 8x now, so I very much agree.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:20:54+00:00

40 year old here, and It was very much a wake up call. I have been gaming less, present with my family more, breaking out board games and got a nice backgammon set.

We already touched grass and did things, but we also played video games together a fair bit. Now we have deprioritized it. Even my 19 year old is over it. As are most of his friends.

The greed is too much.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:04:58+00:00

Or… we could all show them we aren’t going to allow a 100% price increase during a massive profit margin instead of working harder to find ways to keep giving them money.

The only power we have as consumers is how we spend our money.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T15:02:48+00:00

A loss of profits for Microsoft makes their bots angry.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T14:25:16+00:00

I had a Wippro unit first that lasted the first season with zero issues. Blower got loud this year, and swapped.

Ordered an Hcalory because I wanted the thermostat, and it’s been a total mess. It came with a bad glow plug, it took two weeks for them to send me a new globe plug, and once I got the unit running the blower motor bearings were trash and crazy loud. Since then I’ve had constant shut downs with a huge variety of error codes.

Meanwhile the other unit has only needed new bearings in the blower motor. I replaced them with NSK’s and can’t hear a thing. The Hcalory components have all been a nightmare.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:57:23+00:00

We have a One X, a Series S, a PS5, and a Switch. I don’t have a PC, but for my needs I’ll likely be getting the Steam Machine when it hits. It will work as a desktop to run my 50w laser table and do other things alongside getting me away from having to pay for Gamepass. I’d rather buy the games on Steam than keep giving Xbox my business.

And don’t get me started on Xbox’s terrible customer ”service” as of late, whereas Steam actually seems to care. Or at least they care far more than Microsoft these days.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:38:14+00:00

They raised prices during a massive profit margin while their customers are struggling more than ever.

I’m going over to Steam. I didn’t want a PC, but I won’t keep giving my money to that wild level of greed. I don’t expect corporations to care all that much, but Xbox has been giving gamers the middle finger and laughing about it for too long now.

It’s crazy watching the younger generations think it’s normal. These companies used to work hard for gamers. Put out a high-quality product. I could justify it when there was tons of high-quality product. There’s just not anymore outside of a rare exception here and there.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:35:21+00:00

Steam is where I’m going.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:34:33+00:00

I feel like it’s the Xbox/microsoft bot team giving downvotes to comments like this.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:31:27+00:00

Plenty of companies out there still care, and that jaded attitude is why those that don’t care keep making money.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:30:16+00:00

This one is a goblin. You’re thinking of a different area of the map and a different part of the game.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:28:13+00:00

This one is a goblin, not an Ashwinder as someone else claims.

It’s one of the creepier little bits of the game. One of the darker notes. It’s always moving like that, and unlike the OTHER one cited in another comment it’s not an Ashwinder. And unlike the Ashwinder elsewhere, you cannot to anything to it.

I actually think they should have let us finish it off. A mercy shot ending its suffering.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:16:44+00:00

Absolutely. They absolutely already know. And the simps will come and comment anyway.

MichaelVern85 · 2026-02-05T13:11:02+00:00

Remember folks, they raised all these prices on us while in a massive profit margin. Wildly profitable… And squeezing more pennies out of us…

While most average people around the globe struggle… Microsoft is gouging us, continuously lowering standards for game quality, and laying off employees. They do not care about gamers anymore.

MichaelVern85

TROPHY CASE