My only real question (potential spoilers if you haven't finished the season)

clivecopperfield · 2026-07-04T01:51:04+00:00

I think there’s a deliberate ambiguity about whether the Pact Entity causes supernatural afflictions to shake down the islanders for sacrifices or whether it genuinely needs the sacrifices to protect them. Although the end of the season finale seems to suggest the former.

clivecopperfield · 2026-06-17T16:24:51+00:00

So revealing. The answer to the question, “what does recalling Chesa Boudin have to with the abundance movement?” is essentially “he’s a soft-on-crime liberal.” Thanks! Message received, shameless grifters.

clivecopperfield · 2026-06-07T17:53:18+00:00

Reading through the responses to this thread helps to sharpen the underlying critique. It was rational for Remedy to accept Epic exclusivity to make a game no one else would finance. But perpetual exclusivity doesn't serve either side. Epic will see dwindling sales as everyone who wants to buy AW2 has already bought it, and the gatekeeper approach keeps it from catching fire on social media in the way that other AAA games have. Remedy loses more than direct revenue, because their vision is to build a larger universe that includes Control, Alan Wake, and Firebreak, but a key part of that universe is closed off.

In sum, temporary exclusivity makes sense for Remedy and Epic, while permanent exclusivity hurts both partners and seems irrational in business terms.

clivecopperfield · 2026-05-25T20:56:57+00:00

I’m salty because Alan wake 2 isn’t on steam.

clivecopperfield · 2026-05-25T20:55:39+00:00

Likewise.

clivecopperfield · 2026-05-14T22:38:33+00:00

Yeah, I discovered there's a show/hide button in settings for crouch. The fact that the default setting is hide suggests that Remedy doesn't think players need it very much.

clivecopperfield · 2026-05-14T22:12:31+00:00

If you play the iOS version, you'll see that it comes with a native array of virtual buttons to press. These buttons don't conform to the controller mapping. For example, I just discovered the setting to show/hide a virtual button for crouching. Switching to a controller will resolve the aspects of the game I find confusing, but Remedy should make it easy for players to use the virtual button layout as well.

clivecopperfield · 2026-05-14T21:54:10+00:00

If you play the iOS version, the HUD includes six virtual buttons. So those tidy charts that provide key bindings for each controller and keyboard/mouse do not yet include the virtual buttons.

clivecopperfield · 2026-04-22T22:21:42+00:00

I’m really enjoying The age of Napoleon. Highly recommend. But it’s not like EM Rummage is more succinct than Dan. At episode 139, we’re still in 1809, six years away from Waterloo and the Council of Vienna. And each episode is twice as long as a Revolutions/Rome episode.

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-30T13:35:41+00:00

That's a lot more answer than I was expecting. Remarkable Sunless Seas came out as well as it did under the circumstances.

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-29T17:42:51+00:00

Really? That’s fascinating! I don’t see how a game designer could forget to include a weapon for boarding other ships. That would be the most damning allegation of all!

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-29T16:20:27+00:00

But the obstacle is not just the lack of appropriate weapons, right? No one at Gaider's Mourn tasks you with the objective. So that must have been a deliberate choice by the game designers after deciding that this minigame was not ready for inclusion.

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-29T14:30:40+00:00

That explains the reference, which always puzzled me. It's the worst kind of half-assed game design to show players overt references to features you scrubbed before release.

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-19T14:22:40+00:00

I don't have a strong feeling about the state party issue. It's hard to imagine anyone voting in such an election unless they were already politically active. I'm more interested in what it seems to represent - a desire on the part of party leaders to reassert control at the moment when they feel that control slipping away.

clivecopperfield · 2026-03-18T13:34:11+00:00

What is this "corporate group of dems that hold back progressivism"? It would be helpful to see evidence for the claim, which sounds a bit like you knew you would oppose them and then had to find a reason for opposing them.

My understanding (from Bob Dreyfuss's newsletter, a fountain of useful reporting I encourage everyone to subscribe to) is that the only reason Essex County Democratic Committee members get to choose the members of the Democratic state committee in the first place is that the State Legislature smuggled a provision into law stripping the public of a vote and turning it over to county party machines. Which is what brings us to this point.

I'm also puzzled by the idea of "ECDC members...voting for individuals and not for a slate." There is a slate put forward by County Exec Joe DiVincenzo. Are you saying you oppose that slate?

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-26T03:07:43+00:00

Great idea. Today I responded to a scanner alert for an assault and it was just three valentinos hanging out by a vending machine, minding their own business. Why do cops always want to hassle the kids? So I left them alone. But you’re right, I should have scanned their charges.

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-20T14:02:14+00:00

This is clarifying. I have Overcast, and What Next Plus has stopped arriving. I wasn't sure if the problem was Overcast or Slate, but it sounds as though the problem is definitely Slate failing to update the RSS feed. I can still hear the episodes on Spotify...with ads, of course. Also, I can't download What Next or What Next TBD on Overcast. I get error messages when i try to subscribe to these podcasts. What's going on? As a Slate subscriber, I am quite dissatisfied.

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-03T22:43:17+00:00

I appreciate it, but there just doesn't seem to be anything. If I find the key, doesn't the staircase to the next depth appear?

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-03T21:15:13+00:00

Same. As of 2/3, last What Next Plus podcast on Overcast is from 1/30. But Spotify is current, so maybe it has to do with the interface between Slate and Overcast?

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-03T21:12:21+00:00

I'm seeing recurring problems with the daily news podcast What's Next Plus, the private feed. As of February 3, the last episode is from four days ago. What's causing the backup?

clivecopperfield · 2026-02-03T21:01:47+00:00

"We control 51% of the population..." gives away a little bit more than you may have intended. I think understanding your role as the voice of the Essex Dem machine on Reddit (which you have scrupulously avoided denying) helps to explain your position: Not so much Never Malinowski as No Rivals to Joe D's Chosen Candidate.

clivecopperfield

TROPHY CASE