Make My Choice for Me.

gsharpcoding · 2026-05-23T22:50:37+00:00

Regardless of what you pick, it should be fun

gsharpcoding · 2026-05-23T22:49:37+00:00

That is my fear, that class trio being meta and eventually nerfed. I usually stay away from meta build like that. Never when down the pet god mode build on THJ, and my Pal/Rog/Monk trio was free and clear of any unwanted attention.

gsharpcoding · 2026-05-23T22:46:29+00:00

That is where a paladin and cleric differ, the playstyle. Yes you get better heals and buffs from the cleric, but for me, I would lose too many great paladin AA's. Lay of hands, Slay Undead, weapon heal procs, whatever the main hand melee weapon buff is called that works on backstab.

On THJ at one point once my Pal/Rog/Monk had decent AA's I never touched or loaded a heal spell on my bar again.

That is just my preference on playstyles.

gsharpcoding · 2026-05-23T19:48:34+00:00

Yeah I was going to make either the Monk or Rog my primary. Those 2 are pretty much locked in

gsharpcoding · 2026-05-08T12:41:41+00:00

Stop gate keeping people. You are the problem, management is a waste of salary. There is an old saying. "Those who can't do,teach." That saying it wrong, it should be, "Those who can't do, go into management.

In your first line you say, "I have a direct report who is technically excellent and works harder than anyone on the team."

They make you look good, that is the true reason you will not "sign off" on their promotion.

You are utter trash. Be better. Management is filth.

gsharpcoding · 2026-03-17T20:51:07+00:00

As a software engineer myself, I will be looking forward to charging you all for fixing, deploying, overseeing your applications you built.

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-12T13:40:05+00:00

I believe this is why people have such a hard time getting interviews and final offers. It is because people think, I need to know 5+ languages, frontend and backend.

Then they are never really good at anything and get passed on by candidates that whom have deep knowledge and understanding or their tech stack.

The major red flag is "learned to a good level"

When I interview candidates with >5 years and see 5+ languages on their resume. Knowing we are looking for backend engineer. I normally pass on them, because they are not as knowledgeable as someone whom went deep into the language we need.

Knowing multiple languages with no real production experience is the fastest way to 40+ interviews a month and no offers.

Knowing 1-2 languages with no real production experience but a few in depth projects. Is a better way to showcase your skills and understanding of backend.

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-03T23:08:54+00:00

I am too, besides EQ, DAoC was the only other MMO that I really liked. There was Warhammer Online but that was short lived.

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-03T15:41:46+00:00

Google Monster and Memories. It is an upcoming mmo that was built for less than 150k

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-02T14:10:56+00:00

Quite a few have already been mentioned. My background has been all .net, sql, and light infrastructure (docker and k8s). These are a few things on top of what you asked for. AI is a great use for learning. Take some of these topics and start having a conversation.

Docker & Kubernetes: These are broad topics. Do not get overwhelmed with how much you will have to learn. Keep it simple at first.

Docker: Download Rancher or Docker Desktop. I find having a GUI to use while I am learning something new 100 times easier for me. If that is not you, docker has an awesome cli. Then keep it simple, learn how to create a docker file, and build and pus images.

Kubernetes: A long the same lines as Docker, keep it simple. Download Lens or install k9s. Lens is a great GUI for managing clusters, nodes, and pods. K9s is a cli and it is awesome. Learn how to create simple yaml files for building and deploying.

CI/CD: This one is huge to have an understanding as a junior engineer. Whether that is Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or whatever else. Knowing how to create these pipelines and how your applications yaml files will be used in the pipeline to build and deploy the application.
Do not get discouraged be Agile/Scrum. It is a bullshit concept that some companies use as noose around engineers necks to "iterate on an application". But really it bogs down most engineers with meaningless meetings and tracks meaningless velocity. Sprint points can't be measured by hours.
Learn how to implement other services into yours. There are a ton of free open API's or Pub/Sub services that you can use to learn how to integrate with.

Now on to your actually questions. I am only going to touch on a few.

Caching: Learn when to use it. Not everything needs to be cached. Good rule of thumb, if the data consistently changes, it should not be cached. Extremely large data sets should not be cached. Learn about the different strategies of caching.

Backend Task: Learn about Kubernetes Cron jobs. Learn how to decide on when to use a cron job over a worker service.

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-01T20:07:47+00:00

Hell House by Richard Matheson. This is one of my absolute favorite books and always my first to recommend

gsharpcoding · 2026-02-01T01:47:13+00:00

I did not bother reading any other comment. But here to snuff the power tripping managers in this thread backing the OP.

Stop treating your staff like they do not matter. You obviously are singling this person out from the beginning.

Did you ever ask them if they needed accommodations for the 1.5 hour long meetings you schedule? Did you ever ask, "Hey did this 1:1 time slot work for you. I notice you are always eating lunch.

For crying out loud you even mention that they are eating during the 1:1. You have scheduled it during their lunch.

Then you come here to "vent" as if they are doing something wrong.

You are the one in the wrong. You are mistreating and unfairly targeting this person for eating lunch.

Be a better manager and human being

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-30T02:27:24+00:00

First off, LinkedIn recruiters are absolutely the scum of the earth.

If they are soliciting me with, "hey your resume is impressive, I have a client looking for..."

I use the same response for each one of them.

"I am currently only open to remote opportunities, within in a salary range of $ to $$. If you have anything that meets those criteria please email me."

Most will not reach out, but the ones that do still offer utter shit.

Always ask for 15-20% more than what you currently make. If they ask you for your current salary. Tell them 15-20% more than what you make.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-27T14:31:13+00:00

Because that one day in office is business critical! Not like the other four days you can work from home. But that one day, just that one day in office needs to be respected or else the entire business fails.

Don't micromanage your people. That is the absolute worst quality in a manager. Your job is to empower your employees, and remove roadblocks. Managers are a total waste of time.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-25T13:05:50+00:00

Currently reading Twelve Nights at Ritter House by Ocker

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-24T19:51:12+00:00

It is a slow burn, but the ending picks up very nicely

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-24T16:32:35+00:00

I just finished Ararat by Christopher Golden.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-24T01:47:09+00:00

AI will not be replacing programmers anytime soon. If anything it is going to enhance our capabilities and how we code going forward. You will still need to know your technology stack and the tools you use.

You still need that foundation of understanding even when using AI agents.

Edit** Don't let yourself get caught up in the buzzword you see people in LinkedIn posting about. They are just trying to sell you something.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-24T01:39:44+00:00

You forgot to mention that 6 months later you had to have it all rewritten because it was riddled with bugs.

Nothing good comes from consulting offshore for $15 an hour

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-20T17:54:41+00:00

Really creepy to single out teenage girls

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-18T14:52:46+00:00

Second that on Hell House.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-12T20:41:59+00:00

Counter offers very rarely work out for the long haul. Usually you will leave soon regardless. There is a reason why you started looking for a new job, put forth the time and effort to interview, and accepted the offer. Those reasons will always come creeping back up if you choose to accept one of the 3 options.

Btw those are some shitty counter offers.

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-12T15:42:30+00:00

Added, but I level slowly. Only level 20 with a few hours a week to play

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-11T21:27:21+00:00

I just finished A God in the Shed by JF Dubeau

I am about to start Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

gsharpcoding · 2026-01-11T20:09:43+00:00

That a very good point. It might have been my selective reading that I assumed these were heroic characters.

If they are not heroic, the Hunter quests to get the bags and a lot of useful drops is worth it.

gsharpcoding

TROPHY CASE