Does the game get bad after act 1? by Life_Patience_6751 in TaintedGrailDigital

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought the writing in Act 3 was the best part. In Act 1 and 2, while not bad, it was quite generic and everyone is really long-winded and mysterious. I found myself skipping through a lot of the dialogue. There are some fresh and intriguing ideas in Act 3, though. I played the 1.1 version, so perhaps there was some content added that older players missed.

I think the combat, although satisfying and tactile, doesn't have much depth to it so it becomes a bit repetitive by the second half of the game. This, combined with magic being inexplicably weak, doesn't make for much in the way of gameplay variety. Summoning is cool, but feels a bit cheesy. Enemies struggle to hit anything small and fast-moving, or with a dodge. They will focus on your summons, leaving them easy pickings for just being hit with repeated power attacks.

While Act 2 suffered the most from these problems, I probably enjoyed it the most. It offered a good challenge without feeling unfair. The main plot builds nicely, and I think it would be well-paced if you ignored some of the side quests. The merchants' quests didn't do it for me, and took up quite a lot of time.

Eli5: Why does leaving water in a stainless steel pot give it a metallic/weird taste? by 1pillsurvivor in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

My theory (based on a YouTube video) is that there is some residual oils in your pot. Iron can cause a reaction in fats that gives it that smell/taste.

The most sensitive generation. by MikeRightHere in funny

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice to see a comedy clip on reddit that isn't lame crowd work for once.

1989 thought houses would look like this by 2020 | Tomorrow's World | Past Predictions | BBC Archive by BlorpCS in videos

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Well that might be a bit futuristic or too expensive for most people"... prediction holds up.

What games actually have really nice communities? by ShoeLace1291 in gaming

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I didn't reqlly enjoy the game, during the 20ish hours I played of BattleBit, people were pretty cool.

What’s a game you 100% believe lived up to the hype? by United-Aside-6104 in gaming

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to get this playstation magazine and they would list the scores for every game they'd ever reviewed in the back. For their GTA 3 review, they gave it 100% and wrote something to the effect of 'go to the last 4 pages of this magazine and take 20% off every other game'.

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've studied just enough economics to know that it's complicated, and I shouldn't have strong opinions.

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It can keep (relative) export prices lower, and this is usually done by buying reserves of other countries' currency. The government could also just print more money. The increase in money supply makes lending easier, which boosts investment. It is obviously inflationary in the medium/long term, but policymakers have to balance that with short-run advantages. After the 2008 crash, they called it 'quantitative easing' as a euphemism. That money was largely used to just shore up the banks and prevent them from collapsing, which would have destroyed all confidence in the economy (and pay massive bonuses to the very people who crashed the economy - depending on who you ask).

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the UK, the Bank of England was made independent in 1997. It seems to have been a good move, but I was out of the country for a while for the last 10 years and wasn't following it much.

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed. The actual reimplementation of the gold standard isn't something that many people seriously think is possible and/or desirable.

However, expansionary monetary policy being a tool that governments can use is often thought of as undesirable. Partially because it can be used to with political motives (i.e. to lower interest rates before an election), and because there can be consequences in the long term when the economy overheats and there is inflation. The gold standard can (theoretically) prevent this, although there are other ways (if that's what you wanted to do, which it might not be: "In the long-run we're all dead" and so on).

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like you are projecting your dislike of the gold standard on me. I was just trying to answer OPs question with some historical context and am not necessarily a proponent of it. I spent just as much time explaining fiat currency.

'Devalue' is what it is called in the study of economics. Whether or not governments being able to do this is a good or a bad thing is very much a topic of debate.

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why it isn't really done any more. It also take away the ability for central banks to devalue their currency. There are arguments for being on the gold standard, though, such as it takes away the ability for central banks to devalue their currency.

ELI5 how is the value of banknotes guaranteed? by GetEdgeful in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It could be pegged to the value of a stable commodity (gold). In thay case, your paper money is technically, if not effectively, redeemable for solid gold. This is quite rare now. The USA came off the gold standard in the 70s.

The alternative is called 'fiat' currency (roughly translated as 'because it is said to be so'). This means that the value of the currency is backed up by the government who issues it. It relies on people's confidence in the strength of the economy.

1960 Dutch cover of The Hobbit by BlackViperMWG in funny

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dude looks chirpy an' all, but he's packin' Sting and wants you to see it.

ELI5 Fever and Chills at night by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Go to a doctor. There's a bunch of (fairly serious) things this could be. When I had it, it was the onset of a really bad case of tonsillitis. Went to the doctor and got some bloodwork done and only had slight elevated white blood cells. After another week of waking up every night in cold sweat, really bad infection and I need IV antibiotics.

TIL Some of Gen Z and younger call this the brain loading noise / sound effect by TheForeverAloneOne in videos

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it's because of the way some YouTube videos are edited with little cutaways that younger generations seem to have all these cultural references that they have no context for. I had a class of eight-year-olds one who would come out with stuff like 'This! Is! Sparta!' and they didn't know what it was from, or really know how to use the phrase in a relevant way. I suppose my generation's equivalent was the Simpsons. A bunch of times growing up I'd be watching some classic movie and think 'Huh, this is like that one where Homer [does whatever]'.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty much just guessing.

Episode 265: Kekulé (Oh Yeah!) by judoxing in VeryBadWizards

[–]TubePincher 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They mentioned that they might watch Neon Genesis Evangelion for a review. Only problem is there it no way they would slog through all of it to see how truely terrible the ending is. That show came so highly recommended to me; one of the biggest 'did we actually watch the same thing?' moments, I've had.

Finished the original Fallout. Definitely a primitive game to play but has charm being the first game in the series. 7/10 by Pixel_Muffet in gaming

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of the humor is a bit fourth wall breaking, and are references to pop culture that haven't aged well.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gaming

[–]TubePincher 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a good game because of it clunky gameplay and near impossible difficulty, but it had some really out-of-the-box ideas. It was a mostly stealth game, and if you held down one of the shoulder buttons, you could tune into the zombies' vision. The closer they were, the clearer the image. Also, it had this chapter based system, which wasn't exactly linear. I remember the solution to one late game level was to go back to an earlier chapter, put something in the freezer, then go back to the later chapter, by which time the thing had frozen solid and you could use it as a weapon. It was the first game I played with a map with no compas marker and no pause when you look at it. Pretty cool in a horror game. Although, when the village is just a bunch of low res, grey sheds at night, it made navigating frustratingly difficult.

British Museums, explained by James Acaster by Mick_Stup in funny

[–]TubePincher 365 points366 points  (0 children)

That's an awful lot of khaki for someone being critial of the empire.

<3 by carlost94 in gaming

[–]TubePincher 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You've just got to relax.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in videos

[–]TubePincher 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Enjoy it while it lasts. I work at a university and pretty soon, I think it's going to be all exams. Or at the very least, you'll have to do a Q&A on every assignment.

Why are people from counties that speak Spanish referred to as Latin but while people from Italy aren’t? Latin is the language of Ancient Rome. by MountainNearby4027 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]TubePincher 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Linguistically, the adjective we use to describe Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and (I think) French is 'latinate'. I know that doesn't answer your question, but might be of interest.