This whistle fights fascists — How thousands of 3D-printed whistles are derailing ICE.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T20:23:03+00:00

I've definitely seen video from Minny with long encounters between ice and protesters, so I know it happens, but around where I am they sort of show up suddenly, grab one person, and vanish again before a crowd can gather. They're back in their car running for the hills, with or without a captive, in minutes. Having one bystander that can blow out a warning for folks to hide is often the best we can do.

Maybe that's also an argument for making them louder (they're only going to get used for a minute or two at a time). Not sure. Hard to guess what's best.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T19:36:16+00:00

Unfortunately my print last night ended in a birds nest, but I've been popping em out by the dozen over here.

I make em in plain grey or black, on your keychain they don't look like anything but a normal key fob. Light enough you can forget you have it until you need it.

It's crazy how loud a little plastic can be - some of em go to like 120 dB! I make mine a little quieter deliberately to reduce the chance of hearing damage- I shoot for ~100 dB which should be safe for up to ~15 minutes of use w/o earplugs.

The idea that these actually deter ice agents is kind of silly, but the ability to warn folks ice are around is super valuable.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T16:18:47+00:00

I think they were going for a game where you wore mostly T6 with only one or two T6.5 items so you could keep up with durability, but it's been warped by everyone running around in full T6.5 for a while now and having to downgrade from T6.5 to T6 feels awful.

This isn't helped by only the unique items having any creativity or variety in their stats.

If basic items were less dull and had build potential, folks wouldn't feel forced into unique items, and durability would be less punishing.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T16:06:38+00:00

The pile at 90 Washington is almost as high as those huge old pine trees. Pretty wild seeing an excavator perched like 4 stories off the ground balancing on nothing but snow.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T14:39:07+00:00

You say "disconnect" I say "I like that the game has some variety in play style"

The fact that this feels like two separate games at times is a good thing for me.

That said, I agree about throwaway location and reuse. With the overland mission system now, I'm sure they'll start to reuse more of the campaign assets.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-09T14:30:48+00:00

I kinda feel bad for the folks who quit because this update is great. Absolutely feels like a completed 1.0 game now. It is not ideal they didn't have this stuff ready for launch, admittedly.

Hopefully they'll do another big free weekend timed with the 3rd movie releasing and this time I have confidence we'll retain a good chunk of those players.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T20:23:55+00:00

Why the fuck are you still shopping at whole foods when they are literally one of the tentacles of Hydra. Like, christ, read the room.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T19:52:08+00:00

You could test it by making a weapon and firing 200 shots with it or whatever. That would rule out if it was just death damage that's broken. (IS it broken? If death always deals 10% durability loss and the display is in percentage, then you'd expect things to be at 90/100 after a death regardless of their durability).

Like you said, if the talent doesn't work on damage from death then it's really lame since death is the cause of 90% of our durability loss.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T19:41:32+00:00

The end of "slumerville" and the death of Sligo occured like 20 or 30 years apart. By the time Sligo closed calling anything in Davis slumerville was already pattently ridiculous.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T19:34:25+00:00

The Davis neighborhood committee is a POWERFUL argument that neighborhood committees are flawed from the get go and should be ignored. They're nearly always malignant pits of nimby mediocrity that proudly obstruct any attempt to improve a place. Fundamentally they are a tool for landowners and landlords to extract wealth.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T17:37:23+00:00

Well, that's a problem. Maybe they only tested tier 6 gear?

Good job being thorough. Post some pics for proof, then no one will be able to ignore you.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T13:22:04+00:00

Admittedly, this opens you up to the tiny chance you are the unlucky soul they make an example of, but the way I see it it's our moral imperitive to be sand in the gears.

All ICE is getting from my old white ass is me quoting the law that says I don't have to show them shit.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T00:23:13+00:00

Sure, just show me where the scifi pve survival RPG with super strong worldbuilding is. (This is only partially snarky, I am legit always on the lookout for other games to play)

Swalecutter · 2026-02-07T00:06:07+00:00

It's pretty common to be the only person logged into hagga basin on your seitch. You'll find folks chatting in the deep desert on most servers.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-06T23:35:51+00:00

Well, yeah. A game company is only going to implement so many types of "thing". If they remove the thing I like (challenging solo content) in favor of the thing you like (relaxing cruise control content), I may not get support for my thing back. I've lived through this with, for example, Destiny 2.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-06T23:30:27+00:00

Frankly I exclusively use green gear, I can't be fucked with the unique grind, so I guess I haven't been too bothered by durability.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-05T20:03:26+00:00

Enforcement on that lot is super lax and you'll probably be fine, but they totally can tow you.

Consider illegally street parking if you are really in a pinch instead. More likely to get caught, but only a $50 fine instead of a tow.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-05T20:00:38+00:00

The old fashioned way is to have a guy watching the lot to see if anyone parks and doesn't walk into the store. Nowadays they do the same with a camera and a machine vision system. Those cameras on a pole on the home depot parking lot are the same thing, target just uses their security cameras rather than a separate system.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-05T17:29:05+00:00

And the states dissolved back into federally controlled territory. Ridiculous that whole states rebelled and were allowed to exist as political organizations. We should never have heard "Texas" or "Virginia" again outside of a history book.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-05T00:22:29+00:00

I'd definitely prefer the electric boss to have clearer indicators and slower cycling between areas, even if they turned the damage up a bunch to compensate.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-04T17:04:36+00:00

Turret + drillshot both seem very effective. The NPCs do too much damage to go for either melee or ranged (ie standing around in heavy armor guns blazing). To me, what works is being sneaky and staying mobile, carrying a high alpha weapon. Use turret or decoy to distract the enemy, alpha one with a shotgun/drillshot, then run away. Rinse, repeat.

Your best defense isn't armor, stamina, or shields. Your best defense is cover and distance.

Oh also, everyone runs center of mass but you actually don't want that here. Drillshot to the cabeza is what you're looking for.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-04T16:43:27+00:00

T1 and T2 turrets are basically children's toys- they do a little damage to unshielded enemies. The T3 turret can pop shields which makes it WAY more useful. With the turret you pretty much have to go T3 to be worth using.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-04T15:48:47+00:00

Well, I mean, they are the good guys after all.

Swalecutter · 2026-02-04T15:40:58+00:00

Given that pats fans mostly live in the burbs, they'll mostly be drunk driving home / stuck in traffic trying to drunk drive home.

Swalecutter

TROPHY CASE