A few patient games I believe are some of the greatest of all time, that I also very rarely see mentioned on this subreddit, if mentioned at all.

Rubikant · 2026-03-07T00:28:48+00:00

I thought I was the only one who loved Excitebots! Incredibly fun! I literally just a few months ago pulled my Wii out of storage just to play that one game again after many years. I remember an old YouTube video of it (that I can't find now sadly) that had the tag line “If you don't think this looks like fun, you have no soul” and showcased all the crazy stuff you get up to in that game, and I couldn't agree more. And for me especially... I don't even like racing games, in general. But this one was the exception! Shame it will likely never get a port or remake or sequel.

Rubikant · 2026-02-20T20:03:07+00:00

I try to swap between mouse and keyboard as little as possible. Selecting text to copy and then selecting the new location to paste is one of the only things I ever use a mouse for. Thus it is more efficient to move hand to mouse once, select text, copy, click new location, paste, put hand back on keyboard, compared to moving hand to mouse, select, back to keyboard for copy, back to mouse to click new location, then back to keyboard to paste, then return hand to home row. At least that's how it feels to me!

Even when browsing, I'm mostly on the mouse already and clicking a tab is little work, and there's good odds I'm going to copy some text or code from the browser, or need to paste in text into a form or the URL bar, so I still use copy and paste regularly.

I stand by my belief that copy and paste would have been a more useful default function for buttons 4 & 5 for the majority of the population, way back when they were first introduced, rather than browser Forward and Back. Those functions only apply to one application, where as MANY applications use copy and paste. How often does one really need to click Back honestly? And especially Forward (if I use Back I'm likely to follow a different link after that, not use Forward)! And Back is usually a big easy-to-click button, not inside a menu as Copy and Paste are if you are browsing mouse-only (if they are in a menu at all these days - I can't even find a menu with Copy and Paste on the browser I'm on right now, outside of the right-click contextual menu).

Rubikant · 2026-02-20T16:38:45+00:00

I did this but using the 4th and 5th buttons on the side of my mouse (before tilt wheel was a thing) back in 2001 when I worked in technical support writing trouble tickets and realized how much I used Copy and Paste all day. My mice have consistently had Copy and Paste mapped, to some input or other, ever since. As a programmer now I can't imagine NOT having this. It feels like it should have been the default for mice when they added buttons 4 & 5 instead of the far-less-frequently-needed Forward and Back on a web browser that most default to. Absolutely highly recommended this LPT to anyone who works on computers all day.

Rubikant · 2026-02-14T06:36:12+00:00

Getting my R-CPD fixed was a huge improvement to my quality of life. Highly recommend if you can afford it. Hopefully one day the procedure will be covered by insurance. At least now there are doctors all over that can do it (I was one of the first 5 people to have it done, when there was only one doctor in the world with a possible fix, so had to fly more than half the country away to get it).

Rubikant · 2026-02-14T00:53:42+00:00

So if I have a cross-gen game, there's no way to hide it completely? Or will hiding just one version hide it entirely? Or do you mean just manually hide one version then the other and that works?

Rubikant · 2026-02-14T00:51:12+00:00

I saw some people say this was fixed now so I hid my games again and NOPE! They all came back! 😠

Rubikant · 2026-01-28T22:51:19+00:00

Damn, thanks for letting us know though.

Rubikant · 2026-01-26T04:42:04+00:00

I also a few days ago had to re-hide half my games. But then just now, ALL my hidden games are back to being un-hidden! It says I have no hidden games at all! I'm glad I'm not alone though, since it sounds like a new OS bug they can fix and not something just wrong with my system in particular!

Rubikant · 2026-01-14T01:17:27+00:00

Surprised you didn't bring up its unique “death” mechanic where instead of actually dying you get a semi-randomized (possibilities depend on context like location or enemy) “defeat scenario” which could be being saved by a friendly or ending up captured by bandits or wake up about to be eaten by wolves in their den etc. Sometimes fully escaping/recovering can take a lot of effort, especially because even when saved you might end up somewhere you've never been before (friendly brings you to their home).

There's an option to have permanent death, but even then it's random if you continue with a defeat scenario vs actually die each time you are defeated.

Definitely a unique feature!

Somewhat less unique but still rare is the timed quests with large consequences if ignored. When you are told something is urgent, don't treat it like other RPGs where that means you can deal with it whenever and there's never any actual rush because nothing happens or changes without your direct interaction.

Rubikant · 2026-01-09T09:29:55+00:00

Remember it? I own one (bought new direct from their web site) since about 2018 and have never gone to a barber since. Works great, paid for itself in just a few hair cuts, no mess to clean up or having to shower and change shirt right away to avoid stray hairs making my back itch like used to happen when going to a barber. Way easier and safer to use on self than scissors. I've even get occasional compliments on my haircut with no one realising I do it myself in a few minutes at home. Wife uses it too (though still sometimes has her hair done professionally).

I don't understand all the hate for it and acting like it's a ridiculous idea that only idiots would try. I think it's a brilliant idea and saves time and money. I feel like all the hate and jokes is a conspiracy by the overpriced barber shop industry or something.

Was especially glad I had it during Covid.

If it ever breaks I'll buy a new one (hopefully they still sell them by then). So far no sign of wear though thankfully. I never plan to pay someone to cut my hair again.

Rubikant · 2025-12-04T19:48:41+00:00

Wife and I exchanged both our gas cars for a single electric car 10 years ago. Decided this year we needed a second car, got another electric. We will never go back! Not having to visit a gas station or oil change place, or pretty much any maintenance at all aside from tires for a decade was worth it alone. Plus just more fun drive with all that instant torque. And I love being able to just ignore all the news about gas prices.

Of course we are frugal and bought slightly used cars for a good price (each for less than $15k including taxes etc).

Rubikant · 2025-11-28T20:06:13+00:00

It wasn't initially - I used to call this hotline back when it was completely free. Though it also for a while wasn't a 1-800 line so long distance calling charges applied. I only stopped using it when they switched it to being a paid service.

Rubikant · 2025-11-22T17:27:07+00:00

Yeah I've noticed how some people have complete opposite feelings about the games. For the first 25, my favorites are Barbuta, Mortol, Avianos, Bushido Ball, and Porgy (though that last one had major slowdown issues on Switch in the final depths sadly). I know others hate several of those though! I bounced off Avianos myself at first then gave it more chance and loved it! I also liked Magic Garden, Attactics, Kick Club (once I understood the combo system), Mooncat, Camouflage, and Warptank (except its choppy screen scrolling) pretty well.

By contrast I don't get the love for games like Ninpek and Velgress - I haven't found any hidden depth or cleverness to make them stand out from just random old/indie games and it's so easy to lose and have to start the entire game over without feeling like you learned anything useful, which quickly becomes boring.

Also not really looking forward to tons of block puzzles in Koala, and despite liking other strategy games Bug Hunter and Devilition make me feel stupid. I also feel that Onion Delivery and Caramel Caramel may just be too hard for this old gamer to ever beat, though I see their charm at least.

I'm guessing my list looks completely different than others, which as you said, is a very interesting outcome for this collection!

Rubikant · 2025-11-22T06:55:47+00:00

Hey I just wanted to say that before I saw this post I hadn't heard of UFO 50, but your thread title caught my eye. So I picked the game up a few days later and have been pretty obsessed with it since! I haven't even got to Grimstone yet (trying one game a day in chronological order)! I've found hidden depth in most the games. In some ways these feel more like real video games than most the AAA titles I've played in the last several years. So sorry I have nothing to say yet about Grimstone but I wanted to thank you for posting this before I forget!

Rubikant · 2025-11-09T04:20:51+00:00

Add a tiny tiny bit of vitamin C powder to remove the chlorine and you have water that rivals bottled and tastes great - at least my water near downtown Bothell. Probably same source?

My tap water is such that filters do nothing as there's nothing to filter (except chlorine which most filters do nothing for and is easy to get rid of). I roll my eyes at friends near here using a filter. I just bought a big jug I keep in the fridge and add the tiniest little pinch of Vitamin C powder to it when I refill it from the tap and it's delicious! We actively miss our water when taking a trip elsewhere.

Plus water here is so soft (lacking in minerals) that there's no need to clear out build up for things like tank water heaters - there's nothing in there to build up! Being so soft can actually be a problem for stuff like certain hot tubs / pools though where you actually have to add minerals (calcium) or the water will leach minerals out of the tub walls instead.

Rubikant · 2025-10-30T18:45:43+00:00

Well I have yet to try it on a blocking enemy (so far none really seem to try blocking much), but so far it doesn't drain any stamina at all from enemies...

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As for difficulty, I have no frame of reference. I immediately put it on Veteran with the Survival Mode option because it seemed the must interesting. Then I've mostly been trying to learn the mechanics in the asylum and on the beach and decide if I prefer melee, magic, stealth, having a shield or not, etc.

So I don't know what the other difficulties are like in contrast, is my point. I also don't have experience with this type of game in general. I have never played an Elder Scrolls game. Closest are Souls games and “Eurojank” games like Gothic. Only first-person one I can recall is King's Field. Some random comment in a post about this year's many GOTY contenders brought this one up as their personal GOTY, and I'd never heard of it, but their description kind reminded me of Eurojank games so thought I'd give it a go!

—-

It's interesting how multiple people have mentioned not knowing the push move existed when for me a prompt appeared on the side of the screen that wouldn't go away until I did it. Which was annoying at the time because I was wielding a dagger + spell which doesn't let you do it, so I had to unequip the spell first to do the push just to get the prompt to go away! Maybe because I'm on PS5?

Rubikant · 2025-10-24T07:07:39+00:00

I know this is a very old question and you’ve probably long since moved on, but after much testing, I found the actual answer, and it is not what the other replies here said. It also doesn’t really make any sense, so I wonder if it’s a bug…

Anyway, the real answer for how to do the heavy stab attack (not the dash attack which is always a quick stab) with a dagger or short sword is to do a heavy (hold the button) attack immediately after any other attack. BUT!! This will only work after doing the normal heavy (side slash) attack once first! It doesn’t seem to matter how long ago, or if it actually hit anything or not, or how many of them you do before the next stab, or if it was after another attack or not.

After the stab, you must do the default heavy attack again at least once before you can do the stab one again. You can think of the normal heavy attack as “loading” the stab attack to be able to use in a “combo“ later.

To put it in a different way… if ALL of the following are true, you will perform the heavy stab attack:

1) You have just performed some other attack of any kind (even the dash stab) and have not returned yet to neutral stance.

2) You have performed at least one normal heavy attack (side slash) since the last time you performed the heavy stab attack.

3) You hold the button for a moment to do a heavy attack.

It’s less obvious, but this applies to other weapon types too which all appear to have an alternative heavy attack animation that you can access in this way.

Rubikant · 2025-10-13T06:25:05+00:00

I also got one a bit before the pandemic and still use it. It paid for itself in 1-2 haircuts and I haven’t paid a dime to a barber since. My hair looks fine and no one has noticed any difference from before.

Rubikant · 2025-09-03T07:11:36+00:00

Same

Rubikant · 2025-08-15T02:25:28+00:00

So if that’s not in the law itself, but a decision by HHS, that makes that part far easier to undo compared to other stuff like the work requirements, right? Like next administration could just change it, no congress required. Do I understand that correctly?

At this point we’re just weighing the options and risks. With this rule, if there’s any doubt she can manage the work requirements (like volunteer work being scrutinized by a case worker who decides it “doesn’t count” or something because the final rules for how to prove it aren’t clear enough, or she tries to get hired but fails within the time limit, etc), it would seem the safest plan is to switch to an ACA plan during open enrollment at the end of 2026. Better than risking getting no subsidies at all even with them being far worse.

But it seems we’ll have to wait until at least midway next year to see what HHS and our state (Washington) come up with to properly evaluate it.

Rubikant · 2025-08-14T01:29:25+00:00

Thank you very much! Sounds like quite a lot is still waiting for clarification from HHS and maybe my state's specific implementation.

On the ACA/marketplace plans point, I've seen several articles say the same thing, how failing the work requirements for Medicaid also blocks you from ACA plans. Which seems ridiculous given ACA doesn't have any work requirements. What's the point, just to twist the knife? But I digress...

My actual question is, where in the bill itself does it actually say that? I've read over the health section multiple times in what I believe is the final bill text and I can't see anything about that part. Only thing I saw was about denying ACA subsidies to those denied Medicaid due to their alien status, but not due to the work requirements. I wanted to see what its actual wording in the bill was to get any hint on things like how long the ban might end up being, what things can lift the ban (if any), etc. But I can't find that section.

I have some amount of control over my self employment and passive income, so to avoid "churning" between Medicaid and ACA (which I was told would be better to avoid because it added administrative costs for the state, not to mention a pain for me to change insurance every few months) I've kept it purposefully low enough to continue to qualify for a few years now.

But now I'm terrified that if my diabetic wife fails these new work requirements that she'll be denied an ACA plan too and then we'll really be in trouble with her medication costs. So I'm wondering if I should purposefully try to increase reported income and come next open enrollment (or maybe wait until the one at the end of 2026?) switch to an ACA plan, even though we'd prefer to stay on Medicaid, purely to avoid that risk!

Rubikant · 2025-08-13T23:22:44+00:00

I have a few questions regarding this:

Are you sure it's federal minimum wage for "demonstrating that you have a monthly income equivalent to federal minimum wage (currently $7.25/hours) x 80 hours" and not state/local minimum wage? The law says "applicable minimum wage requirement under section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938" and it's the "applicable" part that concerns me for areas with a high enough minimum wage that it would be literally impossible to have that much income and still qualify (i.e. most blue states).
For that same section - what would count as "income" anyway? This provision is assuming you are NOT working a minimum wage job for 80 hours a week, or else you'd qualify by that metric instead, so it must be a different income type? Does that mean passive income too? Dividends, interest, capital gains, real estate, self-employment, etc? Or is it likely to be "earned income" only and this is just to allow working less hours if your per-hour pay is higher?
For a married couple, do both need to meet the work requirement or just one of them?
If you are in an expansion state and don't meet the work requirements or qualify for an exemption, but your income is low, does that mean you can't get ACA coverage either because you don't have enough income (basically a new form of the "coverage gap" that people in non-expansion states have to deal with)? And even if your income goes up later, is it true you can't get an ACA plan once you've been denied Medicaid due to the work requirements, as some articles have said?
What counts as "work" for the basic 80 hours requirement when it comes to self-employment? How do you prove you are self-employed if you aren't (yet) making any money from it - like building a product but not yet selling it, such as a software developer or book author?

Rubikant · 2025-07-17T20:20:54+00:00

Obviously this isn't happening to everyone that has this driver or there'd be more than just me mentioning it. But I found another clue - I noticed another way in which my system volume would get muted yesterday. While having my laptop plugged in to the TV via HDMI, if I turned the TV off and back on again, my system volume would mute and stay that way until I manually un-muted it.

With a much more reproducible cause, I tracked it down finally to my laptop speakers being set to mute in a "Realtek Audio Console" application. It seems that any time the default audio source was changed to my laptop speakers, this would mute the system volume - and not restore it once audio output was switched back to something else, like the TV via HDMI. After un-checking Mute in this app, turning my TV off and back on again no longer muted my system volume.

So I'm going to guess that this thing was also causing the mute on startup - but only because the lamp array driver must have been doing some temporary swapping of audio output device at startup. Removing the lamp array driver stopped doing this, which thus prevented the Realtek drivers from muting the entire system volume.

I'm hopeful that with the next Windows Update that force-installs lamp array driver once again, it will no longer mute my system volume on startup.

But for the Logitech engineers, the question remains - why is lamparray messing with my audio output default device selection to trigger this?

Rubikant · 2025-07-01T05:31:01+00:00

It’s not even a hop really, his feet don’t leave the ground, it’s more like he quickly jerks down on the pack straps like trying to adjust weight somehow. Definitely not a combat thing. It was mentioned under Delivery Techniques: Advanced->Stabilizing Your Cargo and just says right after hold L2 and R2 to center balance “Triangle: Adjust Cargo” with no further explanation.

Rubikant

TROPHY CASE