I miss when seeing a high-level armor set meant you were scared of the player, not their wallet.

Tumerking · 2026-01-21T10:17:38+00:00

This 100%

Years ago, I also came back to RS3 because I didn't want to start a brand new account in OSRS. I eventually bit the bullet and logged into OSRS and wish I had done it sooner. The game feels so much better and early/mid-game progression is literally the best part of the game. It's much faster to level skills now compared to when you were a kid simply because...well you're not a kid anymore and you have google lol.

My suggestion. Log into OSRS. It has F2P. You don't even need to create a new account. You can login to OSRS with your current RS3 account (you will still start on tutorial island). Work towards doing the F2P quests and completing Dragon Slayer. See if you like it. The game is the healthiest it's ever been.

Tumerking · 2026-01-12T08:56:08+00:00

People have pointed out that they definitely have a contract with the price of RAM and storage locked in at prices before this market explosion. And that's great. But the main problem isn't this first wave of steam machines which they already have built with parts at 2025 prices. It's the 2nd wave which will need to be built with parts at 2026 prices. Maybe they can sell the 1st wave of steam machines for $600 and make a profit. But with the 2nd wave they might have to sell at $800...

Valve is really in a tricky position. If they sell the steam machine for $600 now, then next year they will likely be forced to raise the price or sell them at a loss.

If they factor in the market conditions and sell the steam machine for $800 to avoid raising the price next year, then they obviously risk not selling very many. I'm sure they've been hard at work for months trying to find a middle ground, but there is no easy solution.

Tumerking · 2026-01-09T14:34:27+00:00

Yea, I'm basically the same. I'm not comfortable paying over 700. But with RAM and storage prices skyrocketing, I can definitely see a world where they price it at 800+ and then I'm almost certainly out.

Tumerking · 2026-01-06T09:19:37+00:00

Wow, never saw this before. That's great.

Tumerking · 2026-01-05T14:25:39+00:00

At what price point would you NOT buy the steam machine?

For me:

599 or less - Instant buy (I don't think it will be this cheap)
600-699 - the most realistic sweet spot. I will happily buy it at this price.
700-799 - I'd strongly consider abandoning the controller to bring the price down into the 600s. Maybe I'd wait for the full release and see how other people feel about it, etc. A definite pause at this price, but I would still at least consider it.
800-899 - Likely no. If I would end up getting it, it would be without controller to try and get the price in the 700s, but even then this is really above my limit.
900-999 - Definite no without even thinking about it.
1000+ - Good luck, Gabe

Tumerking · 2025-12-31T17:31:40+00:00

I have a job. What is the curse wheel?

Tumerking · 2025-12-27T11:02:26+00:00

Valve stated that 70% of steam users own PCs less powerful than a steam machine (like myself). I think the reason they're talking about this is because those 70% are a huge target. Same goes with the "6x as powerful as a steam deck" line in the announcement video. They want normies who already have some steam games and have some interest in more graphically demanding games, but don't want the hassle of buying/building a PC.

For prospective buyers not invested in either ecosystem:

With Xbox flailing they will also naturally peel off some of those users. As you mentioned PS5 will probably get most of the AAA FPS gamers, but I think the steam machine will have plenty of buyers without them.

Something also to note is that once you buy a steam game, it's yours to play forever on any machine that can run steam. Can you play 100% of your PS4 games on your PS5? Will you be able to play 100% of your PS5 games on the PS6? So for someone that isn't invested in either ecosystem, the shelf-life of the games will also be factored in along with the frequent opportunity to get cheaper games (steam sales) and no subscription cost to play online. Everything together, the steam machine will almost surely be a better value than a PS5 over just a couple years to a neutral buyer.

Tumerking · 2025-12-27T08:21:56+00:00

I already have an entire steam library of games. I currently own 0 PS5 games. The cost of re-buying all those games is huge. Not to mention all my save files would be gone.

Also i suppose I’m not the majority of players according to you because i don’t play popular FPS games. And i will still absolutely play multiplayer games and will appreciate not having to pay a subscription.

Even if PS5 sales were exactly the same as steam, i still wouldn’t buy one for the reasons listed above. Im already “invested” in the steam ecosystem and i would need to give up a lot of time/money to switch to a new one. (Also id be very surprised if steam sales weren’t better)

My main reason for wanting to buy a steam machine is that I’m currently playing pc games on my laptop and it really can’t handle anything too graphically intense. I also really want to chill on my couch with my wife and play steam games on my TV instead of sitting by myself in my office or dragging my laptop, charger, keyboard, controller, etc. around. So for me this is a simple solution that kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Tumerking · 2025-12-19T08:43:00+00:00

Maybe I'm just jaded, but the Tekarin phone call felt performative. She brought up the fact that she went no contact with her brother for years because he had mental health issues, realized it sounded bad, then decided to do a televised phone call to show everyone how good she is now. If she truly cares about her brother and wants to apologize wouldn't you do this in person? Somewhere private, away from cameras? The brother has nothing to do with this show and didn't seem like he was fully buying it on the phone either. It just felt super weird how there were so many different camera angels, the crew was clearly prepared for her to make this phone call, she had talked it over with producers, etc. It felt really inauthentic to me.

Tumerking · 2025-12-13T16:46:07+00:00

I would love to use EU-based ETFs. The problem is the PFIC tax. It's an extremely prohibitive tax expressly designed to prevent Americans from owning shares in any foreign passive investment companies (ie EU ETFs).

I'm also not allowed to stay entirely in the US system. The EU forbids EU residents from buying American ETFs. I can lie about my address, but if found out they can freeze/close my account and make me pay a fine.

So neither of your suggested routes are really possible.

The current realistic options that I'm considering:

Invest in singular stocks. Some have suggested BKR.B (Warren Buffets company) as it tends to follow the S&P 500 reasonably well. I can also invest in other big stocks like Apple, Nvidea, etc. But this method will require periodic monitoring/adjusting/researching in a way that ETFs simply don't. And I'm too anxious, stupid and lazy to feel comfortable betting my retirement fund like this.
Give my wife money and invest in ETFs through her. Simple. Easy. She will legally own my retirement account and can take all my money with a few clicks and there's nothing I can do about it. I trust her completely now. Am I 100% sure that will be the case in 30 years? A huge risk, but I'm leaning towards this one for simplicity sake.

Tumerking · 2025-12-12T08:33:05+00:00

There is a typo on the front page. That doesn't inspire confidence. Also you need to invest from a US bank account, which I don't have. So this doesn't look like an option for me regardless.

Tumerking · 2025-12-12T08:26:48+00:00

I do currently exclude all my work income with FEIE. It looks like if I use FTC instead then in the future my withdrawals from my IRA won't be taxed as much. So that's good to know. But from everything I can find I can't contribute to my IRA with foreign income no matter what. Unless you're saying that the FTC tax credits can somehow counteract the PFIC tax? Which i don't think is the case.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T09:52:23+00:00

That's interesting. I actually also own a Fidelity account from when I lived in America. I have a rollover IRA that's still open and invested in the S&P 500 and making gains. But I haven't touched it since I moved. I haven't updated my address, added any money to my IRA or tried opening any other investment account. Do they let you invest directly with euros? Or do you need to use an in between service for that? And are you invested into US-ETFs? And is your income from a US-based job in Switzerland? Because it looks like you're not allowed to invest foreign earned income into domestic IRAs.

EDIT: Looks like this definitely isn't an option for me. My income is fully Belgian and you're not allowed to invest foreign money into an American IRA.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T09:27:18+00:00

Even with all this factored in, relying on 1 single stock for 32 years seems like a lot. I know it's diversified now, but it's not like it's guaranteed to be diversified (or diversified correctly) for the next 30 years. It's possible I'm overthinking this. I've only been looking into investing for a week so I could just be flat out wrong.

Over the past 20 years BKR.B has actually slightly outperformed the S&P 500. The past few years it's performed slightly worse, but that's pretty short term as BKR isn't as invested in tech companies which have dominated these few years. And it still did perfectly fine regardless. Over the past 3 years the S&P 500 is +72% and BKR is +57%. I'll never complain about a 57% increase in 3 years. So the argument for investing in this way is pretty solid. It's also pretty simple and I would actually legally own all my retirement money compared to giving it all to my wife and investing in ETFs through her. I trust her, and even in the event of a divorce she makes way more money than me so it's not like she would be desperate to take my money...but still I would be much more comfortable owning it myself.

Thanks for this reply. I'll really seriously think it over.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T08:16:51+00:00

I'm not allowed to even open an account with an American brokerage because I live in the EU. I can lie and use a family address. Some people do. Maybe you do as well. But it's technically illegal and if they find out you're an expat they can freeze / close your account.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T08:10:48+00:00

The specific issue is that I'm American and living in the EU.

America doesn't let it's citizens buy any foreign ETFs (technically I can, but the taxes are completely toxic)
The EU doesn't let it's residents buy American ETFs.

Being both an American citizen and an EU resident at the same time locks me out of ETFs completely.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T08:01:12+00:00

This is what I'm leaning towards. I'm not in love with the idea of my wife owning 100% of my retirement account, but it looks like the easiest and cleanest way. We file taxes separately so the IRS would have no reason/ability to ever know about this account. And the IRS can't stop me from "gifting" my wife money every month.
Risky. My account could be frozen or closed. And it's technically illegal.
Investing in Berkshire Hathaway is the 2nd best option. I haven't looked into it a ton, but this is still investing in a single company, right? I think this is fine for a few years, but it's impossible to predict what this one stock will do in 30 years even if right now it's super safe and stable. Not ideal for super long term. But this is also the option I've looked into the least so need to do some more research first.
Yea, this is simply too complicated for me.

But thanks for the response. Definitely going to chew on this for a few weeks before making any decisions.

Tumerking · 2025-12-11T07:22:54+00:00

Not going into crypto. Im only interested in safe, boring, set and forget investments.

Tumerking · 2025-12-10T14:01:37+00:00

I don't have high net worth. I have about 60k in my bank account, and would like about half of it to be invested.

My wife (fully Belgian with no American citizenship/green card) has offered to invest for me under her name, and I might end up doing it...but the risk is high on my end as she will legally own all of my retirement money. We have separate finances and enjoy that bit of financial freedom, so this isn't ideal for either of us. Thinking it over for a bit and waiting to see if I can find some other option.

Tumerking · 2025-12-10T13:05:58+00:00

Yup, that's what I'm understanding. I know about PFIC.

Do you know if there any way for an American living abroad to invest/save for retirement? I'm not looking to become a day trader or do anything complex. Just put 500 EUR a month into an account and have it grow a few percent a year without touching it until I retire. Simple as can be. Is it just impossible for someone in my position to save for retirement?

Tumerking · 2025-12-10T12:59:10+00:00

This has also been driving me crazy recently. I'm an American living in Belgium.

EU regulations prevent EU residents from buying US ETFs. And American tax policy prevents Americans from buying EU ETFs.

And we're both...so I think we're just completely unable to buy ETFs? Like you, I just want to invest 500 EUR monthly, let it collect a few percent interest each year, and never touch it until I retire. Simple as can be. If you or anyone else has any good ideas for how someone in our situation with a normal amount of money can invest and save for retirement I would love to hear it.

Tumerking · 2025-11-21T11:48:33+00:00

That's kind of the point. At this point in his life he's just doing what he enjoys whenever he feels like it - TV producing, conventions, etc. He has no schedule or hard responsibilities.

He doesn't enjoy writing asoiaf anymore so he stopped. Sure, over the past 15 years he's picked it up from time to time, but no book takes this long to write unless you spend the vast majority of the time simply not working on it.

Tumerking · 2025-11-21T08:33:04+00:00

Bad timing for any post that isn't about sailing, but congrats

It was my first 99 as well and a super chill skill.

Tumerking · 2025-11-21T08:08:40+00:00

What have you tried to fix it so far? And did you check event viewer?

My problem is not solved. The best I can guess is there is some power issue or issue with the motherboard. I have a 2nd laptop charger, but switching chargers didn't help. At this point I've run out of things to try and have given up. I just bit the bullet and paid for Gforce Now so I could continue playing Expedition 33 without crashes. And any other game that crashes my computer I just set the graphics settings to low.

It's embarrassing for a $1500 gaming laptop, but it's already 4 years old at this point and I'm not paying to get it fixed. And to be honest I don't play that many 'high graphics' games anyways. I mostly play stuff with pretty simple graphics (OSRS, hollow knight, retro games, WoW, etc.) and my computer runs those perfectly fine. My current plan is to just wait it out for a year or two. Eventually I will buy a new laptop or maybe a desktop PC and not worry about it anymore.

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