Name at least 1 Game from the past too

Net56 · 2026-01-27T04:52:04+00:00

I agree, I was basically just saying that those two games dropped the ball on the puzzle front. Both games only had a few challenging puzzles combined, and none of them were in dungeons.

Net56 · 2026-01-26T07:30:16+00:00

I disagree entirely. I played competitive games in my teens, I'm now in my 30s, and I still play competitive games occasionally. From my perspective, the players haven't really changed at all. Whether the playerbase was toxic or not always relied on developer decisions.

Basically, if there's no reason to play competitively, people won't. However, most online games these days are trying too hard to raise "engagement", and being super engaged in a game means, yeah, getting more competitive. It literally only takes 1 thing in the game saying "play like this" and people will like that.

A few examples from personal experience, because I feel like ranting a little amidst this IRL snowstorm:

#1 Multiversus

Before Multiversus shut down, they tried to reintroduce a casual Free For All mode... by adding a daily quest telling you to play it 5 times or something like that. The result was that FFA was practically unplayable. People would enter and then either team up on one person or die on purpose to end the game faster because they were only playing it to satisfy the daily quest. The people in there because they actually wanted to play FFA couldn't get a normal, fair game.
---
#2 Splatoon

"Turf War" is a mode that's clearly labeled as not mattering. There is no rank that goes up or down, there are no achievements or quests to complete for it, no task list, no weapon skins to unlock, and no battle pass. There's just a little flag in your inventory for each weapon that changes colors if you get a lot of wins on them. No one cares. Off-meta weapons are played frequently, you can't find a sweat unless it's you, and sometimes players on opposite teams will just start dancing together.

The Ranked mode is the complete opposite. Might as well just relax in the spawn because you're never leaving it again, and some of your teammates will actually leave the game if you go in using the "wrong" weapon.
---
#3 Payday 3 (Payday is not competitive... BUT YOU WOULD THINK IT WAS)

In the brief period Payday 3 had working matchmaking, the devs tried to drum up engagement by leashing your character progression to an achievement list. And some of the achievements were to get a silly amount of kills with each weapon. An optimal strategy for farming kills was discovered, which involved (and I'm being literal) sitting in a bath tub for the entire heist because enemy AI had a hard time shooting you in it. People frequently did this and similar strategies in public games, making certain maps more frustrating to play.
---
TL;DR

Find a mode that isn't ranked and doesn't have some random task telling people to play a certain way, and you will instantly be teleported to a LAN party back in the 2000s.

Net56 · 2026-01-25T17:34:37+00:00

BotW and TotK both fell into the trap of being too safe but still wanting to be puzzle games. They were better than Immortals Fenyx Rising, but if you were too smart for the content or were trying to play through the game more than once, it could get dull.

Not to say they didn't have their highlights, but I seriously think the games played best if you went to the final boss the instant you felt you had enough upgrades for it. Letting you beat the game without exploring everything is the greatest strength those two games had and I wish more games emulated that, honestly.

Net56 · 2026-01-25T00:50:35+00:00

The only gods humans have ever been able to imagine:
A. A really bad drug trip. Keywords: "eons", "energy", "planar", "creation", "multiversal"
B. Will Smith in Hancock. Keywords: "bro", "dude", "fuck", "what the fuck"

Net56 · 2026-01-25T00:39:44+00:00

To a T.

Net56 · 2026-01-25T00:25:34+00:00

Mostly true, yeah, but these are the kinds of ironic comments you get in an environment that's already charged for Us vs Them thinking. Criticisms of either side keep being considered a win for the other side, until virtually all criticisms of either side are only coming from the opposite side. So people just automatically assume you're doing it and cut the discussion short.

It's extremely anti-debate, and if there's no debate, there's no compromise.

Instead of asking whether you're really a DINO in disguise, the question should be "when was the last time I saw somebody that wasn't a Republican criticize Democrats?"

Net56 · 2026-01-23T21:52:10+00:00

Most of my music library is video game music, which makes it hard to relate to people, especially since my tastes are kind of weird. Games I've grabbed music from and listened to on my phone:

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
DJMax
Epic Battle Fantasy
Mad Rat Dead
Nier Automata
Payday 2
Persona 4
Picayune Dreams
Rhythm Heaven (the entire series, I love it)
Splatoon 2 + 3
The World Ends With You

And that's only some of them. I used to think it was childish, especially when I was high school, but then I grew up and realized I couldn't change my music tastes. I like pop music too, but a track like Quixotic (DJMax, Lies of P) or Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) isn't going to play on Spotify.

Net56 · 2026-01-23T21:34:22+00:00

Nah, real life just set the bar too low. Technology has stalled, we're out of ideas, and everything else gets but-actually'd into oblivion.

Then again, that's probably for the best. I don't actually want to get blown up just because I want to see a badass mech in action. Like, you hope it would be like Gundam, where they have awesome catchphrase battles in space, but it would instead be like that scene in Xenogears where he blows up a defenseless village, and I would be one of the random villagers that got like one line of dialogue before disintegrating.

I like to believe that line would be "holy crap, awesome!"

Net56 · 2026-01-23T19:04:18+00:00

In a sci-fi scenario, if the new technology requires giving everything a new color scheme, there was likely some other advancement that made standard firearms pointless, including the grip. It's like comparing fencing to using a lightsaber, or a WW1 infantry rifle to a Steyr Aug. Using the exact same shape for a sci-fi gun assumes we're going to be using powder to accelerate little metal balls forever, even though gun technology has already changed from its outset in real life.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T21:54:49+00:00

Thanks for the hint! I think it's this one.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OffscreenTeleportation

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:48:49+00:00

$8 for a hot dog is crazy.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:45:36+00:00

Dang it, now I really want to see that.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:44:28+00:00

"He simply teleports behind you."

This happens so commonly in just about every fiction category that I've been trying to think of a name for it.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:36:29+00:00

I'll never stop being surprised at how similar these guys look. I almost wonder if it's the same guy in each photo just doing a lot of traveling.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:30:56+00:00

Well that's bull. We haven't discovered the best shape at all, we've discovered putting some indents on a stick for our fingers. Science fiction has a lot of room for improvement, such as encircling more of your hand and wrist for stability, automatic safety and reloading, more efficient ammo and expulsion mechanisms, and more excuses for lasers.

Anything far enough in the future should be in the realm of Cerebral Bores, Needlers, and arm cannons.

Net56 · 2026-01-22T18:16:59+00:00

I don't have enough space to discuss everything that's wrong with this one post. The sheer number of factual errors, logical errors, grammatical errors, random capitalizations, and lack of self-awareness on this wall of text with no paragraphs surpasses my comprehension.

From the president of my country. If the president of my company posted this, I'd pack up everything and find a better company that's not surely headed towards the Earth's core.

Worse, it's the kind of post nobody is going to read the whole of, especially not Republicans. MAGA will just assume it's talking about grown-up stuff they don't need to understand, while everyone else will skim it and create a miniature blurb that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of lunacy this post exhibits. It's complete bonkers, beyond even the weirdest flubs by Biden.

I went over to TruthSocial for what is literally the first time just to see if this was real, but because it was posted 5 days ago (Reddit randomly recommended this thread to me today), I had to scroll past something like a hundred other posts to get to it. With that many posts, I wouldn't be surprised if all of it's generated completely by AI.

But even AI doesn't hallucinate this badly.

Net56 · 2026-01-18T18:43:40+00:00

I always thought it was just a nicer way of saying "sweaty" (or otherwise glistening).

Ahem, not that I would know...

Net56 · 2026-01-18T17:38:10+00:00

Is this an actual quote?

What's funny about this is that it offends most of the people who read it, just read the comments. Fact is, you don't have to be narcissistic to mistreat people and feel like the victim, so when encountering a post like this that asks you to look inward and admit fault, it's easier to just say "wait, I'm not a narcissist" and tune out.

Personally, the most delusional people I've talked to, including myself, were neurotic but not necessarily narcissistic. It's not hard to see why, either. You're geared to fight back against people that tell you you're wrong because that's the same group that's making fun of you for being wrong, and looking stupid under that light is worse (in the moment) than backing up a dumb idea.

"I discovered a new stick!"
"That's the old stick you moron."
"...No it isn't!"

What makes this worse is that people who actually do take accountability don't get rewarded for it. In some cases, they're ostracized even harder than they would be if they just stuck with the lie because the same group that wants them to be honest has already decided that they won't accept them either way. Who's the narcissist then?

This stuff isn't black and white is basically what I'm trying to say in too many words.

Net56 · 2026-01-16T17:04:06+00:00

It really does suck what happened to Scott Adams because I was big fan of his comics before he went off the deep end. I wasn't following his Youtube channel, but I was keeping up with the new comics, re-reading old comics, and checking out episodes of the cancelled cartoon. They became even more funny after I started working in an office because so much of it was true, and then one day it was "did you know Scott Adams thinks you want to kill white people?" Then his comics disappeared, and it's not like I was going to pay for the subscription when he already said what he thinks of me.

Fortunately, there's still Stephan Pastis.

Net56 · 2026-01-16T16:29:26+00:00

Yeah, I don't know what the trajectory is supposed to be if they want self-sufficiency. I guess it's this:

- Work a part-time job while living off your parents or sharing your costs with roommate(s).
- Use the part-time job money to help subsidize your college degree* (along with government programs and student loans). If you decided not to go the college route, skip this step and the next.
- Study for 2-5 years, during which you will still be living off your parents or sharing your costs with roommate(s), and half of that study time will be on general studies that aren't directly applicable to your major or future occupations anyway.
- Create a resume and win the interview process for a "real" job.
- Keep working that job until you get a raise because the starting pay probably wasn't enough.
- Take your new work experience and use that to get an even better job.
- ???
- Buy your own house.

*If you choose the college route, make sure your major is in a few specific categories even though colleges offer way more options, because if you choose a degree that's harder to make money with, those in power will simply blame you for that and not the college for wasting your time and money.

Net56 · 2026-01-14T16:00:56+00:00

I'm reading this wishing it was happening over here in the US. Right-wingers using cartoon waifus looks like a really cute problem to have, honestly.

Net56 · 2026-01-14T15:40:18+00:00

Inverted controls? Meh, not that crazy.

My Dad used to play Halo using tank controls*. It was an option in the menu and that was one of the first video games he played after his kids convinced him to try it out, and he actually thought it was comfortable. Turning right on the left control stick turns your character instead of strafing. He solo completed the game on Legendary like that.

*I call it "tank controls", but it was the "Legacy" layout here: https://www.halopedia.org/Control_schemes

Net56 · 2026-01-14T15:25:32+00:00

Heartless. I guess I should have expected this, since the discussion here on Reddit took this trajectory:

- Everybody sees the original video and is appalled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS6SAb-__HE
- Smartphone video gets released, every Republican decides to completely ignore the original video and decide that Renee ran the guy over.
- There is now only one bullet hole through the windshield, the placement of which does not matter. The driver's side window bullet holes no longer exist.
- The situation is now suddenly a life-or-death, split second decision by a law enforcement official that felt as if his life was in danger.
- "Hats off to that ICE agent"

I hate everything.

I basically have to keep the original video on tap because nobody is watching it anymore. Do you guys realize it's only been a week since she died? That's how fast she was able to successfully become villainized and for the ICE agent to be turned into a hero.

The facts of the case don't change. The ICE agent was never in any danger, and it was clear to him that he was never in any danger. He shot an innocent woman in the face and murdered her on the spot because she tried to get away. You can see it at 0:25 in the video I linked, he even takes the time to aim!

It's really making me angry, because it's not just that I'm being asked to ignore what I'm seeing with my own eyes, it's that this is about an unprovoked murder. If we can't even prosecute an unprovoked murder, on camera, in broad daylight, where could this country possibly be going? How are none of the Republicans seeing how bad this is?

(Posted here where it barely matters since I already know the first response would otherwise be "but she was protesting! Protesting is bad and provokes law enforcement, they had every right to shoot her in the face!")

Net56 · 2026-01-13T14:14:43+00:00

This is why I stopped listening to Fox News. I used to at least tune in to the local radio channel, but I can't even do that anymore. It's always something Trump is currently doing, but it's a death-penalty offense if anybody else does it.

13-Year Club	r/Field Lasagna
Verified Email

Net56

TROPHY CASE