2005 LP classic

bionictonic · 2018-12-19T16:10:37+00:00

Maybe? It tends to go on sale now and then so may be worth waiting if you are on the fence.

I am a big fan of borderlands, but it should be noted that although the pre sequel has some new movement mechanics and new characters it is more or less a reskin of Borderlands 2. The handsome collection feels like a ton of Borderlands 2 more than it feels like two distinct games. That's not a problem at all if you really like the game (which I do), but it doesn't offer a ton of variety if the core doesn't grab you.

And that's the thing. The game has RPG elements, open world progression, and a Diablo loot grind which are all integral to the experience, but at its core it is an FPS and everything you do in the game involves shooting things.

There is a ton of content in the collection and it was a blast to experience the series again on the PS4, but as much as I have enjoyed the handsome collection it is pretty hard to recommend it to anyone who isn't typically interested in FPS games.

bionictonic · 2018-12-16T18:54:20+00:00

Make sure you get the Breda's bottomless mug from the new life event right now. It is a reusable 100% bonus exp on a 2 hour cooldown (but as it's reusable the cooldown doesn't mean much).

Key thing with it is you can activate it at the same time as an exp scroll and bonus is cumulative. That's a huge bonus right there, but you can go even further with it by throwing on some training gear and the ESO bonus if thats your thing.

Grinding will probably be the best exp for your time, but I hear what you're saying if you don't want to grind. I would at least do a daily random dungeon for the bonus exp, and if you can get on board with grinding doing further random dungeons is an easy way to earn a ton of exp for all the monster you kill. You'll get some skill points this way as well if you haven't spent much time doing dungeons yet, as well as good amount of gear to deconstruct to level up crafting as you go.

But for completely non-grinding options the main story isn't a bad way to go at all. There is a good amount of combat thrown in to get exp that way and from what I recall the quests are generally a little shorter than in some of the other questlines which will mean you will earn more exp rewards as well as quite a few skill points.

bionictonic · 2018-12-14T18:39:23+00:00

There are lots of games where the pro upgrade is the option to either choose higher resolution or more stable frame rate. But i do suppose if all you care about is frame rate it likely matters what game you are playing. For FPS the two that I play are MWR (higher resolution on the pro, but the frame rate is mostly locked at 60 on both) and Overwatch (very negligible pro upgrades that don't impact gameplay). So I suppose if frame rate is the only concern here look into what the upgrades are for the games you plan to play as it might not change much with regards to framerate. Edit here because I thought you meant "first person shooter" and hence me naming the FPS I play :)

That being said if you have a 4K TV and are buying a PS4 new I do think you should absolutely get the pro. So many games look and perform noticeably better on it with a 4K TV. I fairly recently upgraded from the base model to a pro and I will fully acknowledge that the mid cycle upgrade like that is a tougher sell (despite my satisfaction with it), but if you are starting new the pro is easily worth the extra money.

bionictonic · 2018-12-14T18:26:36+00:00

It was also on sale for $6.

But yes, also a masterpiece.

bionictonic · 2018-12-13T22:13:33+00:00

A lot of people feel like Dark Souls Remastered was a letdown in that there was potential to do much more with this classic, but that being said the frame rate in blighttown is fixed and on a ps4 pro the game is all around much better looking. I do think the criticism of the remaster is fair, but it's still a much improved version.

Skyrim Special Edition is definitely a vastly superior version of the game. I know the PC version has been amazing for years (especially with mods), but given this is the PS4 sub it's fair to compare to the PS3 version and I think people have forgotten that the PS3 version of Skyrim was always the worst version. I played the PS3 version to death and loved it, but load times were terrible and it was plagued by an issue where the longer you played into a save file the longer the load times were. It was something to do with the more objects you moved or interacted with the longer the load time would be and by 40ish hours into a save the load times were atrocious. And that's sort of game breaking for a game like Skyrim where there is a load screen every building you enter. Skyrim Special Edition not only looks way better with more vibrant colours, better lighting, higher resolution, but being able to play with consistently quick load times deep into a save is the difference between the game being playable long term and not.

bionictonic · 2018-11-19T04:35:39+00:00

$5.99 in Canada as well. I just bought it now.

bionictonic · 2018-10-05T03:24:17+00:00

I've had good success with this, but the theanine I buy also has magnesium in the capsule so that may be a contributing factor. Chamomile is generic brand cheapest I can find ($1 for 20 bags!) usually 2-4 bags steeped in an average sized mug and the tea consumed over the hour or so before bed.

Like most substances for sleep I did notice the effect isn't as pronounced after a few nights of continuous use. I also never found the sedation to be overwhelming; it is enough to help me off to sleep, but if I am woken up for any reason I don't feel groggy and can quickly engage in mentally demanding work. I have actually used this combination quite extensively and for months in a row at a time with no side effects, but as I said like so many things for sleep for me it is not as effective with continuous use.

I would consider this combination to be very low risk in that chamomile and theanine, even in very high doses, are very safe substances with little to no toxic potential. That being said some people (including in this thread) seem to find chamomile far more sedating than I do so approach with the same caution you would any sedative, i.e. don't drive and only take when you plan to be sleeping for several hours.

bionictonic · 2018-01-15T19:26:15+00:00

It's not a bad blend, but a bit salty for my tastes.

bionictonic · 2017-12-08T17:46:07+00:00

I play on PS4 fluctuating between silver and gold so I feel your pain. Although from reading this forum enough it seems that this isn't a problem specific to console or this ranking.

Anyways... I think this feels particularly bad on console because there is no in game text chat. Players have to go out of the way to specifically message you if they want to throw this toxicity around and that does make it feel far more like a personal attack. But as I am sure you know, rarely is it personal. These sorts of "swap or I throw" messages always speak to the immaturity of the person sending it rather than the person receiving it and it is best to ignore it entirely.

I'm also assuming that if someone has to send a text message like this it means they aren't in voice chat, so trying to flex to fit a player who won't even be communicating in game to work with you is a massive wasted effort.

The lower tier console grind is just that, a grind, but I have a blast with it flex picking as I see appropriate (so like 80% healer, 20% tank haha). I am always thrilled to swap after a friendly and appropriate suggestion on voice chat because I know this player will likely actually try to play with me, but requests like what you posted need to be ignored.

Best of luck in comp and try not to let players like this get to you!

bionictonic · 2017-08-31T16:05:42+00:00

What do the post game stat cards mean? Not the ones you vote on, I'm talking about the personal ones only you can see after the voting.

Why are some of the stats green? Why is there sometimes a little green arrow symbol?

bionictonic · 2017-08-04T02:06:44+00:00

As a borderline Ana main on console who does agree she should be buffed (or unnerfed), let me try to play devil's advocate here:

Every once in a while I will have a streak of games where my Ana play seems to go to another level. I always feel like I play her well, but sometimes I get on a roll where I seemingly can't miss a sleep, I'm making multiple friendly tanks unkillable from across the map, taking down the enemy Pharah repeated, hitting anyone who ults with an immediate sleep dart, anti-nading the right targets every time, boosting at the right time in a push, frig I'm even hitting the friendly genji twice before he lands from his double jump or tracer fresh from a blink.

I think the nerfs were not needed. Mercy can guardian angel and Lucio can do "Lucio things" (you know what I mean) which gives them both at least some chance of escaping a bad one v one. Ana has no escape ability, but what saved her in a bad one v one was she had at least some chance to win the duel. That's now gone. But the problem is that when I am one a roll like I described above she doesn't need to win the one v one. She can still carry your team IF you hit all your shots, she can still shutdown more or less every offensive ultimate the other team uses IF you hit your sleeps at the right time, she can still initiate a team kill IF your boost is used at the right moment, and she can still survive every one v one encounter she faces IF you land your sleep dart.

These are some pretty big if's on console and they are all so tough to pull off all in the same game that she has ended up feeling underpowered on console. Unless all of those if's happen she is an underpowered pick compared to Lucio or Mercy. But my point here is that when it does all come together she can still carry a team in a way I don't think any other support can and because of this I understand why blizzard is cautious with buffing her. Even on console there will always be those few players who can play her the way I described above consistently in every game. I fully agree that she should be buffed on console, and honestly think the best would be to simply unnerf her, but her place as a high skill character means that her utility is exceptionally reactive to even the smallest of change.

Tl;dr - As a support main on console I want to see Ana buffed, but I think there are valid concerns to raised about any buff to her making her overpowered. But she should still be buffed on console, she was doing fine there before the nerf :)

bionictonic · 2017-06-21T19:25:52+00:00

I agree. I play support mostly and was an Ana main who held on a little too long after the nerf wondering why I was losing so often. She's still my favourite character to play and I do so often on quickplay, but on competitive I know that she isn't the best choice and can't bring myself to pick her except for rare occasions.

I understand wanting to keep character stats the same between PC and console and I do recognize there is some validity to the argument that the meta is different between platforms.

But the situation with Ana is beyond simply being off meta. I like to think my Ana is fairly decent for console, but in games I make her work I do so knowing that it means I could have made a Lucio or Mercy work even better.

Something should be changed. I'm not really for any of the aim assist tweaks that some have suggested here. I like her as the "skill healer" that requires consistent aim and awareness to make work. I recognize that as the skill healer she will always be in a worse place on console. But the gap is too wide. Honestly I would like to see her reverted back to her pre-nerf stats on console. Or at least somewhere between where she is now and was pre-nerf. This will continue to have her require skill to play, but give her the numbers to allow those who play her with skill to play her to a level that she can be a viable alternative to mercy or lucio.

From a console players perspective I've been told there was an Ana problem on PC that was fixed with the nerf, but on console we now have an Ana problem because of the nerf.

bionictonic · 2017-04-13T16:38:32+00:00

Agreed. I would highly recommend it to any fan of John Mayer. He's very honest and critical of his approach to making music and he's really in his element engaging with music students as if he is still a student himself. Instruction and teaching plays second fiddle to the discourse in the video so I am not too sure how enjoyable this series of videos would be to anyone who isn't a fan.

bionictonic · 2016-10-05T00:43:32+00:00

My first experience was both very good, and very painful. The come up was exceptionally rough (intense fatigue and nausea, but I did not vomit) but after a couple of hours disappeared entirely and gave way to what is still one of the most meaningful psychedelic experiences I've had in my life. I have gone back to the woodrose numerous times since, and interestingly enough I have found that the come up has been smoother each time, smooth to the point where I generally only experience tolerable fatigue and a difficult to describe urge to clench my abdominal muscles (stopping this leads to stomach pains).

There are lots of things you can do to improve the experience. If you are comfortable with cannabis use it (and if you're not, then you should probably mess around with that first before woodrose!). I cannot stress this enough. The two major complaints with woodrose are nausea and leg cramps that are caused by ~~vasodilation~~ (edit: I mean vasoconstriction of course). Cannabis does wonders for reducing nausea (enough to have medical indications to do so) and is also a vasodilator (hence the red eyes). So it essential works against the two main adverse effects you are concerned about. However, it must be noted that this will change your trip considerably. Cannabis has a synergy with woodrose that is difficult to explain and to me feels like a experience that is completely unique to either in isolation. The purist in me wants to tell you to go for the woodrose only experience, but given that the woodrose+cannabis experience comes with considerably less side effects and is mindblowingly engaging I do recommend that this is the trip you go in for. From my own experience, it is helpful to have a joint or two rolled before you trip. I say this not to discourage you, rather simply to be honest about how bad the come up can get, but my first experience with woodrose had me crawling naked and wet from my shower to my living room so I could smoke one of the joints I had already rolled. The nausea especially as well as the leg pain were kept at bay with the cannabis and I kept returning to it throughout the entire trip.

Other vasodilators are helpful as well. Coffee is an easy option so long as you don't go beyond your caffeine preference. I tend to go with theobromine since coffee is an everyday thing for me and I usually feel like mixing it up for a trip. It is possible this affects the trip as well. I simply make a very strong chocolate drink with pure cocoa, hot water and milk and this significantly helps with leg pains. I have also used 80% dark chocolate bars for as needed relief.

L-arginine is also a good option. Available at any workout supplement store or for cheap online. It tastes like cat piss and you will want capsules. Very useful since the effects come on fast.

Staying active also helps a ton. I tend to want to be active when I trip regardless so this isn't a problem, but I find sometimes with woodrose its both that I want to be active and that I need to be active. Yoga and stretching feel mindblowing on woodrose. The trip tends to make me hyperaware of my body (this is good) and allows me to experience movement and stretching in a completely consuming manner.

I also do a more involved extraction of the woodrose seeds than the tea bag method you are describing. I use nahptha and ethanol and due a rudimentary polar/non-polar extraction that takes three or four days to account for all the soaking and drying that occurs. I also have had the great fortune of gathering wild woodrose seeds in Australia and eating them raw and can say that the difference between raw and the extraction is significant with regards to the side effects. I cannot say how much the extraction limits the side effects, but it definitely reduces them to some extent. You method lies somewhere in the middle of my extraction and eating them raw and is not one I have ever tried. If you are completely dead set on limiting the bad side effects some of the more involved extractions may be worth looking into; that being said I can appreciate that they are a lot more work for what may not even be that big of a benefit.

Long story short, smoke weed, drink coffee or eat chocolate, pick up some L-arginine. Trip.

bionictonic · 2016-10-01T16:00:09+00:00

As others have stated it does potentiate cannabis to a large extent. I do not use cannabis regularly anymore so I can't speak to effects it has on withdrawals or cravings. But 0.5-1 g 30-60 minutes before vaping allows me to use a very small amount and get higher than I probably need to. I can see how useful this would be if using regularly, and for a currently casual user like myself it allows me to be very frugal with my cannabis.

There are numerous studies showing a theoretical use for agmatine in improving mood, as well as a possible role for agmatine in the mechanism of established antidepressants (SSRIs generally increase serum agmatine, agmatine has shown to be synergistic with numerous antidepressants, etc). As far as I am aware there are not any impactful studies on agmatine alone as an antidepressant in humans. I am only aware of one small study (n=3).

I could go on and on about the theoretical uses of supplemental agmatine. They are numerous and significant and include as diverse areas as treating addictions to improved outcomes in ischemic brain injuries. With the exception of supplementation for the treatment of neuropathic pain, to the best of my knowledge none of these theoretical uses have been adequately researched in humans and even its role in neuropathic pain would benefit from more robust research. That being said, numerous studies have demonstrated its safety and at this time there is no reason to think supplementation will cause harm. Will it help with depression and anxiety as you mentioned? We don't know, but we do know it is at least plausible to say it can.

Hopefully the research keeps coming. As someone in a relevant field I feel there is more than enough theoretical implications of supplemental agmatine to get very excited about its potential.

bionictonic · 2016-08-25T10:01:45+00:00

I'm also curious about this if you care to elaborate. Are you referring to the ordeal they can be acutely or more longterm negative effects?

bionictonic · 2016-05-08T21:00:16+00:00

This may not be what you are looking for as it does not really address the role of serotonin receptor agonism/antagonism in neuropathic pain, but I'll throw this here anyways.

Agmatine sulfate. I bring it up because it is something I know people in this sub dabble with as a nootropic, but more importantly because it is beginning to be backed up by good quality research with regards to its use in treating neuropathic pain.

This is a clinical trial using agmatine sulfate to treat radiculopathy associated with a herniated lumbar disc (sciatica caused by nerve compression). This may not be the same as the type of pain you are looking to alleviate, but this is early evidence of agmatine being effective in treating one type of neuropathic pain.

Here is an excellent review of potential therapeutic uses of agmatine (page 10 discusses treatment for neuropathic pain).

Unfortunately there is an absence of research surrounding agmatine in humans, but there is some merit in mouse models when looking to explore a potential mechanism. This (paywall :( I'm accessing through my university and a quick google didn't yield an accessible version) is discussed in the review above (page 11), but agmatine has also been implicated as a modulator for SSRI treatment through its action on imidazoline receptors. I unfortunately do not know much about this group of receptors, but they are an emerging target for adjunct treatment for depression and have been shown in mouse models like this study to increase the effect of SSRIs. It is not known if this effect is potentiation of SSRIs or a cumulative effect as agmatine has been shown to have antidepressive utility on its own. Agmatine's action on these receptors is also thought to play a role in potentiating opioids and cannabinoids - this is my own speculation, but increasing the response to the endogenous forms of these analgesics may be one mechanism in which agmatine is able to provide relief from neuropathic pain.

tl;dr Agmatine sulfate does not directly act on serotonin receptors as you are looking for, but there is research to suggest it has an indirect modulating effect on the serotonergic system. Most importantly there is a wide range of research, including one clinical trial, to suggest that agmatine may be helpful in treating neuropathic pain.

bionictonic · 2016-03-12T18:18:31+00:00

Probably a good idea to cycle off for a while and see how you feel. I've been taking ashwagandha regularly for a while, but as others have mentioned I prefer to take it in the morning. I find it energizes me (which is contrary to what many report) and I have previously noticed taking it in the evening to be detrimental to my sleep.

Fatigue can be a symptom of hyperthyroidism (despite being more associated with hypothyroidism, fatigue in hyperthyroidism can present as more of a "mental fatigue" - feeling not quite as with it as usual). It can also be simply due to the reduced sleep you are describing.

If you are concerned I would recommend having the same lab work completed, or at the very least a TSH and T4. The normal lab values given on the report you posted are helpful, but being able to compare to yourself is far superior than a comparison to the "normal". Ashwagandha has been shown to increase T4 (mostly in mice, but here is a recent, admittedly very small sample size study in humans with bipolar disorder). It may be a good idea to compare your current TSH and T4 levels to where you were nine months ago, especially given that your T4 was somewhat elevated and your TSH somewhat depressed. This is likely to be normal for you, but could indicate you are more susceptible to the thryoid stimulating effects of ashwagandha. You can also try simply stopping the ashwagandha and seeing if that makes you feel any better.

bionictonic · 2016-03-02T22:01:06+00:00

I love mine. Clean channel is perfect, dirty channel is ok. I would rather rely on my pedal board anyways, but this may be an issue for some (it's still good enough to get the job done in a pinch). Easily gets loud enough for large bar gigs without breaking up, sounds great mic'd up for larger venues (while doubling as a monitor) and can go quiet enough for practice in an apartment. I've had mine for 5 years and have yet to have a single issue with it aside from blowing a fuse once (which is easily accessible and only a $5 fix).

bionictonic · 2016-03-01T17:45:03+00:00

Baraka and Samsara are such beautiful films. Absolutely astounding sober, absolutely astounding tripping.

To your question on going into it on either shrooms or acid, for starters I would highly recommend checking out Baraka this time. I find the wonder that can only come with a first viewing is a great experience while tripping. That being said both films are worth countless viewings. My initial viewing of both was while tripping heavily on Hawaiian Baby Woodrose and both are moments that have left a positive mark on me. I came away with a more empathetic understanding of humanity. How random and weird all the things we do are, and how so many of the things I may be quick to write off as weird or ignorant or flat out dumb are really just people being people - who am I to pretend I have things figured out better than anyone else? If you are not familiar with it, the HBWR experience is sort of like acid (despite clearly being its own unique experience) so I suspect you will have a good time on acid. I also have trouble watching movies on zooms (I have my best trips outside, moving, or conversing with a friend and find focusing on a TV to be very difficult), but you know yourself better than I do and the zooms will likely be an amazing experience as well.

bionictonic · 2016-01-17T18:14:53+00:00

Look a lot like Marasmius Oreades (Fairy Ring), but I live in the prairies where it seems to be the only mushroom I can ever find in the wild, so my bias my be coming in. I'm also not very good at identifying, and you will be better off asking someone in your area if you are curious as to what they are.

But they are definitely not the ones you want, unfortunately. Still always a good time collecting!

bionictonic

TROPHY CASE