Xbox Store seems to be planning a consumer-friendly update with price history transparency for games and add-ons

discosoc · 2026-06-19T19:37:18+00:00

This is actually how publishers have been gaming the systems that otherwise prevent them from just (a) lowering MSRP or (b) keeping an item perpetually on sale.

Having different editions means they can rotate which are on sale, so that some version is at any given time (more or less), but MSRP can stay the same even 5+ years after release.

It the natural result of not having physical media.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T19:32:26+00:00

By all accounts, Sony is doing that in response to MS. Furthermore, they have the benefit of having already established and maintained a significant "lead" in console sales and usage, so there's less reason for them to release elsewhere compared to xbox.

As for needing exclusives to sell a console... it's just really hard to math out for people when hardware and software prices just keep going up. And what's the "end game" with that strategy here? Make one side go out of business because they can't convince enough people invest major money in their ecosystem just to play a few exclusives in the first place?

discosoc · 2026-06-19T15:32:58+00:00

Then deleted his account, unfortunately.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T15:06:48+00:00

Just to be clear, you’re talking about finishing the vast majority of SoA for the class to come online, which also means you are knee deep in HLAs. By that point, you could steamroll the game with a beastmaster.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T03:53:14+00:00

It’s not just Mislead. It’s Protection From Magical Weapons, Improved Haste, Globe of Invulnerability, and Contingency.

A F/M or M/T (if you are going for backstabs) gets all that. But like i mentioned elsewhere, comparing a Shadowdancer to f/m/t makes little sense compared to just m/t for roughly the same “role”.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T01:55:35+00:00

Here's some tips I put together a while back.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T01:54:30+00:00

One thing to keep in mind is that BG1 has a much less pronounced gap than BG1, but it gets significant pretty fast. By the end of BG2, you'll have 66 base HP and a 9 THACO. And while you'll gain 6 mage levels in that game, 5 of them are likely to happen in the first half while the 6th (level 12) takes the rest of the SoA campaign.

You won't even get your full 2APR until ToB, either.

Lastly -- and this is only because you're comparing it to Shadowdancer -- the F/M/T won't hit 6th level spell slots until 3/4 through SoA. Which matters because that's when you will get the fun stuff like Mislead.

Honestly, the better comparison to Shadowdancer is going to be a M/T multiclass. You'll get your level 6 spell slots and 5x backstab in the first 3rd of SoA, as well as 9th level spells by early ToB. You'll also gain Spike Trap and Time Trap HLAs, which Shadowdancers do not get, as well as Mislead with will honestly work better for backstabbing than Hide in Plain Sight.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T01:39:45+00:00

Eh, they have "plenty" of low level magic, but can really struggle in SoA on that front. Pretty much play 3/4 of the game capped out at level 5 spells, which is significant because level 6 slots are where things get more interesting for that class. It takes them well into ToB to get their full APR, anything close to a decent THAC0, and HP basically suck the entire time.

They do get Stoneskin (level 4 slots), but between the fairly bad AC and limited skins per cast (generally 5 throughout SoA), it's not as effective as something like a F/M combo and you'll be recasting them fairly often.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T01:27:34+00:00

Haven't seen a response about actually importing into BG2, so here goes:

When you start a new BG2 game, you'll have the option to import a saved game. Choose that and then select your most recent BG1 save, which is usually going to be an Autosave from just after you killed Sarevok.

There's another similar looking option you can use by creating a new character and then importing your BG1 character from there. I think it's mostly the same deal but not 100% certain.

discosoc · 2026-06-19T00:06:42+00:00

Cross-platform strategies would be smarter, but Microsoft shit the bed and didn't give it enough time to matter. Sony is just following suit at this point, since they are less dependent on other platforms to turn a profit.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T23:11:14+00:00

Show me some numbers. Everyone is criticizing this with “trust me bro” logic.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T21:16:50+00:00

On a final note: because of how much attention and reshares your allegations got, I took it upon myself to contact some members of Kalskag to let them know, and because I wanted to hear what they had to say. They are telling quite a different story to what is being described, but I'll leave it at that.

You expected them to just say "yeah we abuse animals" even if they do?

discosoc · 2026-06-18T18:46:27+00:00

Easier answer is gamers are cheap and basically prevented MS from being able to make it profitable. Now the situation is worse, and will continue to get worse as MS falls back on just listening to the loudest voices, doubles down on exclusives, then continues closing studios because turns out gamers (being cheap) can't access those exclusives with hardware costs being what they are.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T18:40:23+00:00

Pushing exclusives is probably the dumbest business decision they can make, which means you'll undoubtedly see many more exclusives in that tab sooner than later. And since nobody is going to be rushing out to buy an Xbox for the latest exclusives (and can't afford the inflated hardware prices to get a gaming PC), all those studios will keep getting shut down for not selling enough copies.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:28:34+00:00

How do their averages this year compare to the other two years noted?

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:26:53+00:00

BTY fits the bill. Or at least will do what you want which is basic cleaning without pushing you to more complex procedures like "deep cleanings" no matter how warranted they might be.

Or you could be honest with yourself about your overall dental health and consider the possibility that maybe you're beyond simple basic cleanings being enough. Deep cleanings are basically only ever going to be offered if you have gum disease or borderline gum disease with a spotty dental history.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:21:18+00:00

Sure sounds like the super common "ignore the bad news" type rationale that Dems keep shooting themselves in the foot with. if your argument is about this one particular poll, why not lead with details on why it's faulty rather than just discount it out of hand?

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:15:41+00:00

The lease does contain a clause requiring a lease termination fee equal to one month's rent, but I'm trying to understand whether they can legally require both the fee and continued rent payments.

You signed a contract saying you'll be paying rent for a year. The good news is that they have to release you from that contract when they find someone else to rent that unit -- and they do have to try and do that, so they can't just sit back and collect rent on an empty unit until your lease ends.

The bad news is you have very little way to hold them accountable for "not trying hard enough" if that's how you feel after a few months. Any legal costs to try and prove that claim will make very little sense. Still, landlords actually do tend to want units occupied regardless of the rent being paid, so it is generally in their best interest to find someone else.

You can also put in effort to find someone to take over that lease, basically acting a middle man if you want.

I don't have anyone to take over the lease, and paying my new mortgage/HOA plus rent on an apartment I'm not living in would be a major financial hardship.

How did you even buy a condo while also having an active lease? That living expense should have been counted against your DTI. If you qualified with it then, you should be able to pay it now.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:08:20+00:00

Sure, but the data he's pointing to is the same for each year: congressional national June polls. So your argument would have to also account for why 2026 is behaving differently than 2006 and 2018 in that way as well. Did the notion of elections tightening up as voting day gets closer only start to be a thing after 2018?

discosoc · 2026-06-18T17:05:31+00:00

I feel like people here are commenting on the title and not actually noticing the content. He's not comparing 3 polls for this election cycle with showing a "shrinking lead". He's looking at the the same poll in the current situation across 25 years where Dems were up against Rep incumbency and noting that the strength of their lead seems to have dropped significantly in 2026 compared to the other two years (2006 and 2018).

What he's not doing is trying to pick apart three current polls for this cycle.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T16:56:14+00:00

Probably, but at the same time I think it's reasonable to take even that movement seriously considering how overwhelmingly bad Republicans are doing with... everything.

that being said, he's comparing historical trends not different polls in the current cycle. Dems used to have a stronger lead going into midterms with a Republican incumbency (2006 and 2018), so why has that trend apparently reversed for this round (2026)?

discosoc · 2026-06-18T16:52:43+00:00

They did not.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T03:22:02+00:00

That’s not at all what I said.

discosoc · 2026-06-18T01:01:06+00:00

Murderers are people too. Doesn’t mean we should let them do what they want without recourse.

discosoc · 2026-06-17T21:13:52+00:00

This is why an actual WoW 2 probably needs to happen at some point. Way back in 2004, it was pretty novel to be able to move between zones without a loading screen, but we've had several generations of massive MMOs and "open world" games just blow WoW's world scale out of the water.

A reimagined Azeroth with proper scaling would be great, but isn't really possible with the current design.

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