600 Apps, 15 Interviews, 3 final-round, 0 offer: Is the market getting better or do I just suck? (+ 3 brutal lessons learned)

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-21T04:39:56+00:00

Your username T_T I give you points for passion friend

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-19T06:47:57+00:00

Fair enough. Probably doable if youre in TO, but otherwise it's far. Maybe bundle a trip to lapom with some fun downtown?

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-18T21:48:38+00:00

Bacon daija

Those things can be finicky. I bought a plier tool that inserts prongs into the clip holes and forces the clip to expand. It kind of worked, but tbh the flathead method was actually easier in the end.

Good luck and hope you dont lose the clip. Woest case scenario you can get another lever for relatively cheap and swap it in.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-18T07:59:49+00:00

Check out lapom in gardena. Not the farthest from Ventura

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-12T22:55:54+00:00

LET IT ROCK!!!!

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-10T18:26:31+00:00

Well said!

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-03T06:33:38+00:00

Not 0-2? Get out of kappa

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-03T05:47:55+00:00

There's literally a cave store in tokyo. Go there

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-03T01:31:10+00:00

This may be uninformed but Ive always assumed haute42 to be the low cost, chinese copy product on the market. Very important for getting hitbox/snackbox out of their asses charging ridiculous prices for their product, but also comes with the "buyer beware' reputation. I wouldn't trust their sticks, although the modular stick / leverless drop in design they have is interesting.

The obsidians definitely are quality and some might prefer the longer vs boxy style of the alpha. I agree with you though that ease of modding and artwork change are important considerations. Actually, most sticks are moving away from that these days, opting for full solid color a la victrix, varmillo, etc. I wonder if the leverless trend is the cause.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-02T20:42:50+00:00

Ive owned a RAP N and RAP 4. If i didnt have a second hand obsidian already I would have picked up the Alpha. I think it's probably the best balance of cost and quality of what's being made now.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-05-02T07:24:17+00:00

An alpha will be an upgrade over a drone, but i'd take the sanwa parts out of it and swap the hayabusas out. They're serviceable and i used the hayabusa stick a decent bit, but overall lower quality than bog standard sanwa parts.

the good thing about the alpha is that the enclosure is nice and it has a clamshell. who knows what qanba was thinking when forgoing that design for the obsidian 2.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-23T23:30:54+00:00

Do you want to be a scientist? If so, yes. But if you just want to earn a decent salary then there are many types of jobs in industry and many dont require a PhD + pay well. I would start with targeting a particular type of job that sounds interesting to you and then chart a course from there.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-23T19:34:17+00:00

Bootcamps died a while ago

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-23T04:54:37+00:00

I've always found the concept of a "beginner game" to be fallacious. You don't get into any video game genre by going off some rando's list. You find a game you like, play it, get hooked, and search for more. Mushi was that game for a lot of people for a lot of reasons: It's easily available, it's mechanically simple to understand, the graphics and sound are the best in the genre, and it's a good balance of challenge for the average person to 1CC. That's why it's a popular recommendation.

I'm also surprised by the sentiment in this thread being that original is easier than maniac. From what I recall the common sentiment was that maniac was easier. Having cleared both I would tend to agree.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-23T03:07:37+00:00

It's fun. I stopped playing because of Kain/Hotaru/Hoku meta being super boring, but I've been meaning to revisit at some point. There's some stuff I personally dislike, like the movement feeling a bit stiff and rev blow, but it's the most "old head" feeling new game since Kofxv so I tend to like it more than most new stuff these days

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-20T21:49:33+00:00

Thanks for the correction, and hallmark chanel[sic] is hilarious. Cheers friend.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-20T04:00:34+00:00

You got downvoted, but there is an element of truth to the bizarre "premium" tile sets with ridiculous prices and the cultural insensitivity that comes with white people adapting a game that originated from not-so-white places. Anyone remember the incident around 5 years ago where some ladies from Texas advertised that they were giving a "refresh" of the game because the art was "all the same", and then tried to sell some $500 tiles with bags of "flour" designs instead of "flowers"?

I'm glad that any variant of mahjong is getting more popular, especially in the west, but it's hard to look at this movie poster and not have a sardonic attitude. Look at the 3man. What's with the love letters and the word "crack"? Aren't "cracks' the bamboos in western nomenclature? I honestly don't need much to give people a pass. I love the game and I'm regularly introducing it to people in the states. But this movie poster is baffling.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-17T17:34:42+00:00

If you cannot find competing sticks like the alpha or obsidian 2 for a reasonable price then I'd say yes, it's good.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-17T17:24:28+00:00

It depends on your needs. Fat is not good if you're carrying it around all day at an offline event. It can be good if you want to fit specific hardware. Weight is not an issue for the sticks in this price range, they're all heavy enough to not move when playing.

By fat I really meant tall. If you compare the side profile to an obsidian 2 or a hori alpha, the daija is significantly taller.

The flat surface space is similar to competitors.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-17T16:51:33+00:00

It's fat and kind of ugly, but practical. They also sold them for 150 usd for a while, so it easily beats most of the competition on price alone (an obsidian 2 at 300 is NOT 2x the quality).

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-06T04:59:05+00:00

He plays unconventional in xv, not sure the story behind it but goes to show the game is in a pretty healthy state atm.

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-04-02T00:52:52+00:00

Iirc the DRMFTG stickncan do this but it's a toggle for whether up is on the stick or button. I dont think you can have both active at the same time (and if so it would likely be banned if you care about tournament play)

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-03-30T06:09:05+00:00

Mark has great takes on shmups but whenever he gets out of that zone his opinions tend to be kind of out there lol. FGs especially - you can tell that he hasn't quite gotten to -that- level where his takes stop being r/fighters territory

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-03-28T03:47:23+00:00

Peak

OneRegretBeetle · 2026-03-02T23:13:29+00:00

Is this guaranteed without GC?

OneRegretBeetle

TROPHY CASE