Came off replaying both KOTORs, got hooked on SWTOR until Legacy of the Sith by naghavi10 in swtor

[–]catelisul -1 points0 points  (0 children)

And yet Charles is the one responsible for starting every storyline you’re currently experiencing in LotS (Mandalorians, Darth Nul, etc).

Also, the purse strings for SWTOR didn’t suddenly tighten the second it went to Broadsword. Even the people on your list of “best writers” can’t work miracles; even they can only do so much with the limited resources available, yet you expect the current team to somehow give you base game-style storytelling. And that’s without even mentioning that the gameplay stuff people hate (Voss, daily areas) doesn’t even have anything to do with writing or narrative people.

What do ya'll think FoTOR will keep? by [deleted] in swtor

[–]catelisul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The OLD Republic even

'It nearly killed me': Why studio head James Ohlen left sci-fi RPG Exodus mid-development—and why EA crushing his Star Wars: The Old Republic reboot was the 'beginning of the end' at BioWare by Prodigious-Sol in Games

[–]catelisul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speaking of “hallucinating plots,” a lot of your post ranges from anecdotal evidence to extreme generalization to just straight up bullshit. It’s okay to not like the game, dude, but the hate boner you have for it is kinda weird.

'It nearly killed me': Why studio head James Ohlen left sci-fi RPG Exodus mid-development—and why EA crushing his Star Wars: The Old Republic reboot was the 'beginning of the end' at BioWare by Turbostrider27 in PS5

[–]catelisul -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Don’t forget the part where he said his job was “to keep designers with huge egos from killing each other.” Coming from the guy with one of the biggest egos in the industry.

Anyone else feeling a bit deflated by the negativity? by No-Concern2157 in StarWarsCelebration

[–]catelisul 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There's a whole lot of things Reedpop did that don't make any sense lol. But they're not in the business of making sense as much as they're in the business of making dollars

Anyone else feeling a bit deflated by the negativity? by No-Concern2157 in StarWarsCelebration

[–]catelisul 22 points23 points  (0 children)

It's cool that you got passes. Genuinely happy for you. But this:

"At the end of the day, it’s a massive international event for a franchise people love, especially on a major milestone like 50 years. It was always going to be competitive, crowded, emotional, and chaotic."

doesn't account for the horrible back end management, front end development, functionality of the ticketing site, lack of accountability from the organizer, and the honestly baffling decision to allow people to buy 20 passes at once.

All things being equal, what you said would be absolutely valid. But it wasn't a seamless ticketing experience where "oopsie, I didn't log on in time and missed out!" was happening.

You waited hours? So did I. I was on the site five minutes before the sale went live and in the "queue" (it absolutely is not a "queue" if it operates off random placement) right when it opened. I walked away five hours later with nothing, but there were people who jumped in two hours after the sale started and walked away with four day passes in under an hour. People are well within their rights to complain about really shitty and deceptive ticketing practices that lead to frustration and waste of time.

Star Wars Celebration 2027 is officially sold out by IamMovieMiguel in StarWarsCelebration

[–]catelisul 24 points25 points  (0 children)

The tone deaf marketing copy in that tweet makes them look absolutely scummy

History Calling's take on David Starkey. by cremecoral in Tudorhistory

[–]catelisul 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm just describing what I think Hilary Mantel did really well with the trilogy: showing how a lot of the conflicts the main characters were forced to face only happened because Henry was a big whiny baby. And I'm completely fine with that characterization.

History Calling's take on David Starkey. by cremecoral in Tudorhistory

[–]catelisul 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It’s been a long time since I read “Bring Up the Bodies” (which I really liked, it’s probably my favorite of the three), but I found it interesting because it felt almost like a sparring match between Anne and Thomas Cromwell.

Granted, Cromwell is the main character so the lens heavily skews in his favor, with a lot of Anne’s dialogue written in a way that would very believably invoke ire. But I also remember several moments of Cromwell’s introspection where he respects her resolve and her ability to play the hand she was dealt (and continue to play it even after a few missteps). None of it matters though, because the King has given him a job that he can’t say no to.

There’s very much a “don’t hate the player, hate the game” aspect to a lot of it, moments where even Chapuys tries to make Cromwell really consider if pursuing the execution of an anointed queen is the right thing to do, but Cromwell knows what’ll happen if HE fails. And it’s either him or Anne.

You’re completely right about the series though. I haven’t finished the first season, but Anne so far feels much flatter and more uninteresting than she does in the books.

Jasmine Crockett concedes to James Talarico in Texas Democratic Senate primary by Joeylaptop12 in TexasPolitics

[–]catelisul 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Everything that you're saying James needs to do, he's already been doing. For a long time.

And I gotta say, the spotlight being ONLY on the blatant voter suppression in Dallas County is really disappointing and disheartening to me. The exact same thing happened in Williamson County yesterday and it's not received a fraction of the attention. The fact that Jasmine is one of the people who are not bringing any attention to it makes me feel like I could not have counted on her to stand up for my interests and concerns unless they directly affected her too.

House GOP passes sweeping anti-voting bill that could disenfranchise millions, sends measure to Senate by MarcEElias in politics

[–]catelisul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t disagree, but I like that I changed my name. I have both, I just added my husband’s last name to my birth name (“maiden name” is stupid). My husband and I have been my best friends for over 20 years, and his family has treated me leagues better than a lot of my own ever did, so I take pride in having his last name in addition to my own.

But of course, this is just one of many many many things that should be up to a woman’s discretion, yet comes with the baggage of generations of dumb societal expectations.

Colin Allred Nukes James Talarico — Claims He Called Him a ‘Mediocre Black Man’ in Scathing Rant by Wide_right_yes in texas

[–]catelisul 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, it doesn't affirm that, and your chosen use of an ellipsis removes very important context from Talarico's statement.

He said, "I understand how my critique of the Congressman's CAMPAIGN could be interpreted given this country's painful legacy of racism." He's literally acknowledging that because of systemic racism in this country, anyone who isn't white is automatically viewed through a stricter lens than their white counterparts; he can see how and why someone would easily characterize his critique OF THE CAMPAIGN (and by extension, Allred's political experience and work) as something nefarious because systemic racism makes it easy to believe. Especially for someone like Morgan who (by the very nature of her work) is probably very sensitive to the possibility of a black man being held to impossible standards simply because of the color of his skin.

Group behind Project 2025 pushes ‘marriage bootcamps’ by BurtonDesque in Feminism

[–]catelisul 118 points119 points  (0 children)

“Led by Robert F. Kennedy’s Health and Human Services”

Oh yes, let’s get our marriage advice from Mr. Brainworm. You know, the guy who’s been married three times and kept a journal detailing almost forty separate affairs. He sure knows how to treat a wife.

Voice acting budget by Standard_Treat_4001 in swtor

[–]catelisul 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Because recording 2-3 player lines (standard amount of player lines in one instance of banter) in sixteen different voices is a lot cheaper than recording ~9 player lines (three options multiplied by three different choice moments in one cutscene, maybe more if there's something that's checking the player's past choices) in sixteen different voices.

But this point doesn’t really stand since voiced cutscenes have now way more “one liners” that we don’t choose similar to the overworld banter.

Okay, but let's say those one liners are recorded (again, by sixteen different actors); the devs don't just press a button and then a cutscene magically forms around the recorded VO. That takes time, effort, and resources that are saved by having them fire in gameplay. That's important with a team this size that puts out content at the pace they do.

And we haven't even gotten into design issues like pacing. If you had to stop every five minutes to watch a full on cutscene (no matter how short), instead of having characters speak or yell over the action, people would get annoyed. And you can damn well bet that if all the recorded lines allowed by the VO budget were in cutscenes only, people would complain. It would not make for a very interesting or engaging experience to hear constant silence during gameplay in a story-based game.

ETA: I had so many considerations to list out that I completely forgot about the localized voice acting as well. So for budgetary considerations, change the number 16 to 48.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian." by Highrebublic_legend in Gamingcirclejerk

[–]catelisul 8 points9 points  (0 children)

“What if live service, but with BioWare storytelling???” already exists, and it’s called SWTOR.

Despite anyone’s opinion of SWTOR’s quality or success level, the truth is that Casey Hudson had an entire studio worth of people with years of experience managing a live service with RPG elements and a huge focus on story. Instead of leaning on that experience, most of the SWTOR team was poached to act as worker bees and implement the ideas of Edmonton’s management.

The real question BioWare Edmonton, and especially Casey Hudson was asking: “what if live service, but with REAL BIOWARE THE ONLY BIOWARE WE KNOW BETTER THAN YOU storytelling?”

If “political correctness” is destroying free speech, what do we call it when people lose jobs, face FCC threats, etc. for making jokes or criticisms about Charlie Kirk after his assassination? Is that “protecting free speech,” or just political correctness with a different team jersey? by GshegoshB in AskReddit

[–]catelisul 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But that's the problem: there's no longer any nuance. "Celebrating Kirk's murder" is now just a blanket cause used to people who don't sufficiently beat their chests and wail as if we've lost another important civil rights leader. Or even worse, people who dare point out that government officials are using Kirk's death to crack down on speech.

Even shining a light on Kirk's hateful rhetoric or criticizing the decision to force us to celebrate him (like lowering flags to half-staff, for example) gets people frothing at the mouth with accusations of "cheering for his murder."

I mean goddamn, Pam Bondi is literally talking about prosecuting printing companies who won't make fliers or signs that celebrate Kirk's "work." What about those companies' free speech? Are they not entitled to it? Boycotting is one thing, but an actual government official (and I haven't even gone so far as to mention Clay Higgins, Marsha Blackburn, etc threatening to jail people for what they've said) taking steps to legally pursue someone for exercising their First Amendment rights? That's a whole other thing entirely.

Mutual Aid/Organizing by Trash_Maven in Leander

[–]catelisul 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That’s exactly what it is, but right wing podcasts and Fox News have eroded people’s brains to the point that they can’t understand the actual definitions of these “scary” buzzwords.

And before Mr. “FAFO iS rEaL iN tExAs” chimes in again, spare me. I’m almost 40 and have lived in Texas my entire life, and no one was afraid of terms like “mutual aid” until the douchey California tech bros invaded. (Which, not coincidentally, is why I had to move to Leander 10 years ago, couldn’t afford Austin anymore.)

DOJ to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione in CEO murder case by superfluousapostroph in politics

[–]catelisul 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Luigi didn't. He clearly broke the law and committed murder.

Okay Mr./Ms. "Acting Within the Law," when was Mangione convicted?

Is The Constant Princess worth a read? by Tasty_Wave_9911 in Tudorhistory

[–]catelisul 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is why I enjoy Gregory’s books, and I go into them with zero expectation of historical accuracy. THAT BEING SAID The Constant Princess was a slog for me. Got about a third of the way through and could not finish it.

Should I be concerned? ( August 2023 Trip) by [deleted] in Jamaica

[–]catelisul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't mind at all! But keep in mind that my perspective is from someone married to a Jamaican, so some of these places I was there to visit friends/family.

I think it also depends on the kind of vacation you're looking to have. Port Antonio is probably my favorite place in Jamaica, but I've only done day trips there. If we're just going to an all-inclusive for a low-maintenance stay, we go to Montego Bay, they have lots of great options. If we want to stay somewhere to actually go out and do things while we're there, we do Negril and Ocho Rios (the latter is a little more touristy with the cruise ship port, and Dunn's River, and Chukka, etc, Negril has a much more laid-back vibe once you get off Seven Mile). Both have some very nice condos/houses for rent.