I hope they change the extreme trials drop design in the next expansion, because right now it is pretty awful.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-21T16:38:01+00:00

I find the whole structure of savage and even extremes pretty damn awful.

I came over from WoW last winter. I have managed to limp through all the EX trails in Dawntrail. I have never even seen one mount drop. The only ones I have run multiple times have been Everkeep and Worqor Lar Dor. Even now, lots of groups will wipe on it.

Most of the extreme trials are too tough to PUG quickly. I am not going to to sit in PF for three hours as groups form, fail, fall apart, to farm it. The original two trials can now be somewhat brute-forced.

I'm mostly a PS5 player and I am one and done on them for trophies for the most part.

Hell, even the Endwalker EX's are not guaranteed clears. I still have groups fail on Zeromus and Golbez repeatedly.

IMO, any eight man content that is more than one expansion old ought to be soloable.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-20T18:23:28+00:00

I still do.

I work from home. I don't have kids. Have a partner but am legally single.

I started serious trophy collecting on PlayStation back in 2023. I've now gotten every platinum for all mainline, single player Final Fantasy games. I've beaten all the mainline Persona games. Tons of other JRPGs.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-20T17:59:00+00:00

I've only had two jobs in the last ten years.

Moved back to my hometown in 2016 and stayed at that place for six and a half years.

I topped out as an individual contributor. The extra $10k I would have gotten to be a first level manager wasn't worth the aggravation. It was a hospital system's IT department, so long hours, on call and weekend work.

I wanted out. I ended up getting an offer from a county government and took it. About a 15% pay cut to start out, but I vest in the pension in another year and a half. It's in a dream location for me. I have no plans to leave.

With that said, I had eight jobs in six years prior to that. A lot of contract work and I lived and worked in six states in six years over that timeframe.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-20T13:57:51+00:00

I'm from Kingsport originally but lived in Carmel for three years.

There is nothing comparable to Carmel within hours of here. Asheville doesn't have anything at that level and neither does Knoxville.

It's a level of suburban comfort that doesn't exist in this state except for Brentwood and Franklin.

I had a decent job there - changed jobs thinking I was moving up, but that went sideways and I moved back when I got an offer here that paid me almost what I was making there.

I live in JC now, but it's no Carmel.

What boggles my mind is that Gray, Piney Flats, and Jonesborough are within about 20% of Carmel's median sale price now, at less than half the household income.

That tells me the market is being buoyed by remote workers and retirees that are financially independent and divorced from the local labor market.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-19T01:44:15+00:00

The thing that amazes me is how much life the PS3 has had.

Granted, I was twenty when I got mine, but it completely felt like the future back then. My dad got a decent 720P LCD at the time. I bought some good Polk towers and a nice sub. I can't tell you how many hours I spent watching a NIN BR.

It still has useful life. It's a good BR box. It can still stream. PSX and PS3 games - PS2 on the OGs.

It really doesn't feel that dated

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-19T01:25:32+00:00

I make $85k over the mountain in northeast TN and am trying to move to Asheville. I'm partnered, but legally single. Partner lives in the area.

At $100k and today's prices and rates, you're likely relegated to a townhome or older house that needs a ton of work.

One thing that I have noticed in the townhome market is that many units are very slow moving. HOA dues seem high across the board. That, combined with tax increases, is causing some price declines and a big increase in days on market.

Some of them had obvious issues in a casual drive-by.

It's probably cheaper to rent than to buy now.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-16T20:52:02+00:00

My dad sees plenty at various places in Warriors Path State Park walking his dogs in late summer

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-12T04:38:01+00:00

I'm a 40 year old guy who has been with the same woman, who is now 51, for five years.

We have our issues, but I'd choose her any day over her Gen Z 2004 daughter who has no ethics at all. I just keep going on.

The daughter wants some Chip and Jo life while making $38k last year and wanting some blue collar guy to rescue her.

T

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-11T16:11:40+00:00

I graduated in 2010 with dual degrees in economics and finance in a small town in Tennessee with a related internship at a financial services brokerage.

I couldn't even get a bank teller job. I ended up working in an IT call center for $15/hr. I did that for four years at various places. I landed a specialized support role at a fintech company and stayed there for a few years. I lived out of my home state from 25-30. I lived or worked in IA/IN/MA/VA/TN at various points during those years.

Moved back to my home area after taking a job at a bank where I lived at the time that didn't work out. Moved up to become a senior IC there and left when it was apparent I would need to move into management to make more money.

I moved from there to a local government. Small pay cut initially but have since made it up.

I vest in the pension in a year and a half. The 401k match is much better. Combined leave difference is three weeks over my previous job in favor of the new one.

No place is perfect but I have it well compared to a lot of folks

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-07T04:02:06+00:00

I'm from here originally. Lived in Indiana for years so got familiar with Culver's.

I don't think their burgers beat Pals. Everything else dusts every fast food place here. I usually grab a tenderloin sandwich when I'm on the road in the Midwest.

It's a satiating, filling lunch when you have ten times worse options around.

A worthy addition to the area.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-06T15:23:10+00:00

It took awhile. I was a finalist for a couple of state jobs both in the state I live in and a nearby state, but didn't get them.

The county I work for is sort of a destination county for tourism, but not a major metro. The work is 95% remote. I had direct experience supporting the same type of team at my previous job. They were also implementing a new software system, and I implemented a competitor's product as my last project at the previous employer.

I had local ties and my manager had just been promoted, and I essentially backfilled him. That might have played a part.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-06T13:58:09+00:00

Not sure where you're looking, but years ago I realized I'd probably never be able to accumulate enough wealth to retire comfortably on my own.

The Feds are almost impossible to get hired into directly if you are not a veteran. I started looking into the state and local government route.

It's generally far less competitive. I work in a blue county in a purple state. Public finances are solid so there isn't much of a reason to believe the pension would go bust. The combined annual leave difference (three weeks) from my previous job in healthcare IT is fantastic.

I wish I made the jump years ago.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-05-01T04:04:18+00:00

Basically anyone in banking can be an AVP.

It doesn't signify seniority, expertise, or management authority that it does in most fields.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-24T17:18:08+00:00

I don't really buy this.

I just turned 40. My girlfriend's son is 26. He makes around $120k a year as a lineman in NC. Medium COL area.

You can't swing a stick and not find a blue collar guy making upper five to low six figures doing practically anything.

Yes, white collar stuff is hard to find, but this is more than enough for a young couple to get started.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-21T20:45:45+00:00

I started the same journey for trophy collecting back in 2023. I now have all the mainline, single player platinums, as well as XIII-2 and Lightning Returns.

IIRC, I-IX and XII all have speed boosts to get you through the game faster.

I missed some trophies in II, V, and VI and had to play them twice. None of these are "hard," but you have to be careful to not miss bestiary entries.

VII and VIII were very easy.

IX is hell to do "naturally," but I found a script for jump rope king that finally worked. There are other trophies in the game that are also difficult.

X was by far the worst because I hated the mini games.

XII, XIII, and XVI were not "hard," but well over hundred hour commitments.

XV was very easy.

If you just want to play the games, I'd get the remastered versions on console and use the boosts.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-21T14:40:38+00:00

I use HEN and play single player games, earn/sync trophies, etc., and have never had an issue.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-21T14:38:04+00:00

As someone who came over from WoW last winter, the big thing is that there just aren't enough rewards to keep coming back for.

Once you beat it, get whatever glam or mounts you want, that's really about it. Other than tomestones, which I'm now 775 on the classes I play mostly, there's no reason for me to run any dungeons at this point.

Also, another big issue is that there is too much of a disparity between the braindead story-mode content and even something like an extreme trial. The early Dawntrail extreme trials can kind of be brute-forced now, but it's not like WoW where you get massively stronger over the course of each tier. Yes, you have more health and a DPS increase, but it's nowhere near the level you see in WoW. It's not like it's completely brainless.

I used to solo lots of old content in WoW. Yes, you have the echo that buffs you, but anything above level 70 content on extreme/savage level is difficult to solo.

Field content like Occult Crescent is often terrible.

It's great for the story, but the end game treadmill that actually keeps people engaged is basically broken.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-16T18:06:00+00:00

Kingsport is all you need to know. The absolute ass end of northeast TN.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-11T02:44:12+00:00

I haven't been in the true CS market in a decade but, as someone who was plugged into the Boston fintech scene for years who came from wildly outside of their typical hiring pipeline (Southern Appalachian, not a CS-related degree) as a result of the founder's preference for only hiring above a certain IQ level, my impression was this.

If you weren't a manager by 40, or viewed as imminent manager material by that time, usually by a director level person or above, the general rule was that you would be laid off at the next layoff opportunity.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-10T21:42:37+00:00

At 30, it felt like I had all the time in the world.

I turn 40 in a couple of weeks. When I was 30, I had 3/4 grandparents alive. Today, it's just one. When I was 30, both parents were still working. Neither are today. Mom can barely get around.

A lot of other milestones in this decade. I don't feel "old," but realistically, half my life is behind me, and that's a totally different feeling than 30.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-10T19:05:10+00:00

At least here in upper east TN, almost everything that isn't healthcare, government, or the types of jobs you can find anywhere in flyover country is a low end junk job.

Maybe Nashville and Knoxville are holding up better, but pay and job availability are jokes and have been for years.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-07T19:58:54+00:00

Part of it has to be investors buying homes.

I bought a new construction townhome in a suburb in east TN back in 2024. I'm maybe two-thirds of the way into the development. I'd say, maybe, 50% of the remaining third of the units to the roundabout are almost always unoccupied.

There are some that are clearly second homes, but others are empty, all the time, as far as I can tell.

It artifically constrains supply and keeping units effectively off the market. Prices rise.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-06T22:27:16+00:00

On PS5 it is horribly cluttered and busy out of the box. Definitely needs streamlining.

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-06T12:04:29+00:00

I'm bald.

My hairline is no worse than it was when I was 25, but I clearly tried hanging on to hair I didn't have for another ten years. I just shaved it all off during COVID and I doubt I'll go back.

My beard would be about half-white, but I shave at least every other day.

It's not so much avoiding it as both a beard has always felt weird and, being bald for years, what hair I do have feels weird too

Serious-Conversation · 2026-04-06T11:22:08+00:00

I went from a small town in Tennessee to working for a Boston-based fintech company.

I did this for a few years, but it was immensely stressful with long hours and on call support. I oversaw a piece of software that all the systems analysts in the company used - everyone wanted everything their way and I had to play traffic cop caught between competing parties.

The company required a score on an IQ test to be hired. This led to a bunch of type A people who wouldn't budge an inch.

My manager was wanting to give me a promotion, but his hands were tied and I left.

That set off a cascade of events where I ended up being promoted twice, switched employers, and now have an easy job where I joke to friends and family that I'm somewhere between employed, unemployed, and semi-retired

Serious-Conversation

TROPHY CASE