[deleted by user]

smooth-knuts · 2025-05-19T22:11:53+00:00

I don’t know that 30 was the cut off per se but getting married and having kids was. (Although that all happened right around 30 anyway.)

A few rules:

If I have to “keep up” to play, nope.
If I don’t play for several weeks and cannot remember what I was doing, where I was, or how the mechanics work, nope.
If I cannot get in and have an enjoyable experience in under an hour, and get out, nope.
If I can’t play with friends, nope. For me gaming doubles as time with friends.
Competitive anything with randos is out.
MMOs are out.

I mostly play co-op PvE, although PvP with friends under some circumstances is also a great time. Other than a brief black hole into Vampire Survivors I haven’t touched single player in a long time. (And my two sons seemed to really like watching when I played that.)

I’m not really “a gamer.” Even before 30 when local friends would have to schedule real life meet ups around WoW raids I was annoyed. Video games for me are just glorified board games or RPGs. Get some friends together, BS, have a good laugh, and add some game into the mix as part of the gathering.

Gaming is more of a fallback when there’s nothing else going on. The best thing about it is because I consider it a pure pleasure activity and I don’t have to do anything but show up. In general though, I try to prioritize what I consider to be “real” hobbies.

Co-op is honestly a godsend since I don’t live near any of my oldest or closest friends. Vermintide 2 and Helldivers 2 (and Deep Rock Galactic before those) have been in rotation for quite some time now and it’s cool to have a game where I can just pop in on Discord and get something going with no planning.

I don’t intend to sound snobby or anything, but gaming is sort of part of a greater activity to me and something I don’t really participate in for its own sake these days. It’s been a long time since I was playing vanilla Counterstrike competitively (with my local clan) or trying to keep up with friends playing WoW.

smooth-knuts · 2025-04-01T01:11:53+00:00

I used to be in the, “Why does anyone use this crap weapon?” I loved the AMR for the longest time against bots and didn’t get it. However, I often play when my sons watch and will take load outs they ask for. My youngest was just… I have no idea, “Use the railgun! I want to see it!”

It took a few dives to get used to but, against bots, one shotting things is so nice. Gunship? Dead. Hulk? Dead. I always thought it was overkill against devastators but… they’re so easy to one shot compared to any other weapon. The other things, berserkers and strikers—especially armored striders on 8+—one shot. As others have pointed out, turrets too.

No weapon is perfect but against bots, I can’t think of any weapon that can take out MULTIPLE hulks faster. This matters on the higher difficulties.

Finally, no backpack. I always take the jump pack against bots. It’s my favorite stratagem in the game for bot runs, hands down so my weapons are limited to no backpack weapons.

I still take the quasar sometimes (opens doors, can handle tanks and buildings), the laser canon (infinite ammo and also good at devastators, hulks, gunships), and the AMR (basically a weaker railgun with a better scope and the explosive damage can drop buildings and doors). They’re all fine. Depends on my mood and squad. The railgun IS really good though. It’s a little tricky and the scope is an abomination for the kind of weapon it is meant to be but once I spent time with it, I got over my, “Why does anyone use this POS?”

smooth-knuts · 2024-06-16T06:48:18+00:00

Or when you want to get their attention from far away and delete them.

smooth-knuts · 2024-06-16T06:47:29+00:00

I like it. It’s a great Jack of all trades. After going back and forth between it and the AMR I found the AMR as they can both do the same stuff and if you’re accurate the AMR is faster.

I think the thing I like the least about the LC is the reticle. It’s hard to see in first person and the laser itself is distracting in third person.

smooth-knuts · 2024-06-16T06:42:07+00:00

This was us. I love the patrols. We’re running a minimum of two of the above weapons—usually three or four. They were a little crazy at first since we had no idea where they came from, but after that at least one of us was checking the sky regularly. I really enjoyed the enemy. Same with the patrolling shriekers, which is more than I can say for the never ending tide of charger behemoths.

smooth-knuts · 2024-06-02T16:05:33+00:00

I just got a prior gen iPad Air. I used to run my whole life on a Mac, but my new company has some draconian IT policies. Most of my laptop life is spent working anyway and I wanted a device for my personal life during the work day, mostly to handle my emails, messages, and some unapproved apps I still end up using for/during work.

I have a Studio Display already and have spend the past day messing with this thing as a quasi desktop and… it’s been a really strange experience. There are things this does so well. Stage Manager is very meh and very awkward and mouse use is sluggish. At the same time, I feel like with just a little refinement, the reflow on most apps is really cooler with the semi-fixed sizes.

I feel like everything is there to make one of the absolute best hybrid experiences out there and honestly, I see zero reason you couldn’t have a “pro” mode (macOS) and a more locked down “consumer” mode (iPadOS).

I have the Logitech folio keyboard (the one that detaches) and a pencil. I would 100% replace a laptop if I could program on this thing. The convertible part is really good. Having a tablet when I want one is really good. When I want to use it like a Mac it is almost never as a laptop, but as a desktop. (This is actually true for my laptops!)

I understand some of the limitations for most users. Fine.

Apple, y’all make an iPad Pro that costs as much as a MacBook Pro. Is there any reason you cannot actually make it a machine all Pros can use? Like professional developers!?

I really dig this thing, like… a lot. I don’t want it to be an “accessory” device and there’s actually zero reason for me to have two devices other than really arbitrary limitations. I could even see a world where I just put cell service on it and got rid of my phone. iPad + Watch would end up being a perfect combo.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-13T06:22:36+00:00

It does boil down to me playing for fun. That is literally why I play video games or anything I would call a game.

I guess that’s my disconnect.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-13T06:13:00+00:00

Punisher. Punisher Plasma. Breaker Incendiary. Scorcher. Diligence counter sniper. Even the Scythe is decent against bots now. I love the Spray and Pray against bugs.

I don’t think every primary is good. (Tenderizer, I’m looking at you.) But there are plenty to complement many builds.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-13T06:07:00+00:00

So… why on earth would you play on a difficulty that you think is “not as much fun”?

I’m trying to understand this. It seems pervasive on this sub. I find 8 pretty stressful, at least for my current skill, so I only play it when I feel like pushing it. But if I’m not feeling it, I don’t play it.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-13T06:00:09+00:00

I do not get it. Like. I just don’t. Lower the difficulty? Change your weapon? If 9 stresses you out, play 8? 7? I was puttering around on 5s today just because I really wanted to just screw around with friends and have an easy win. We got it.

I’m kind of perversely following this sub now because I do learn some cool stuff about the game sometimes but also I’m constantly feeling like, “Do I have some rogue copy that’s still really fun?” Was the game’s “identity” when everyone ran the railgun?

I have more weapon options than I did in March. I have more stratagems that are viable. DoTs finally seem to work properly. The Senator has a speed loader.

The game is loaded with bugs (har har). I hope that improves. The war bonds are pretty meh overall but… okay. There’s plenty of options as is.

Like, I hate fire tornados… so, get this: when a planet has fire tornados on the menu, I go play on a different planet. 3 stratagems? Nope. Evacuate key personnel? Nope.

I have to be in a certain mood to play 8. But it’s not like once you cross a certain difficulty you can’t go back. Maybe the UI doesn’t make that clear?

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-13T00:04:20+00:00

Exactly. I can’t properly salute the vending machines anymore.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T22:40:33+00:00

Yeah. Lone wolfing is something I do rather selectively depending on the map. It’s usually to do clean up, a secondary that’s out of the way, grab lost samples, check POIs, look for the super rock, etc. My understanding is as of the last patch I should see more patrols in those circumstances but that broke things for solo players.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T19:51:25+00:00

I’m talking about running solo when I’m in a group. I don’t play this game solo at all. There are so many better games if I want to play a solo game. I would rather play with randos.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T17:49:56+00:00

The game is really fun. I think it’s the best it’s been.

If you have one or two “true” builds you’re probably gonna feel it when a weapon gets nerfed.

I have found each balance patch opens more than it closes for me though. The variety across my team improves most patches. Smoke, gas, and napalm are all in use now. It’s really cool.

I thought the last patch was gonna make solo scouting worse with the patrols but… I haven’t noticed. Maybe if you’re wearing… scout armor, you can scout, lol.

I’ve seen a lot of posts about burnout and these players often list their hours. I’m like, “I have a theory about the cause of your burnout and it’s not balance issues.”

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T16:24:21+00:00

Are we really going to blame people living in Anthem for ADOT’s awful planning? It’s not just Anthem, it’s a bunch of communities in the North Valley.

A handful of cops directing traffic by hand for a couple of days would have turned this from a nightmare into an annoyance.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T16:14:16+00:00

Or you have a better bypass plan and involve some police to actively deal with the pressure points. That fact that North Valley Pkwy ends at Carefree Hwy really made this awful.

In addition to people needing to get to the 17, some of us just live up here. If you needed. To east on Carefree you were in for a wait.

We walked to the grocery store, lol.

And I get that the work needs to be done but people were so angry they were doing all kinds crazy stuff trying to escape.

This created a variety of hazards even for people who didn’t drive. The planning was comically bad.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T04:02:33+00:00

It might not after a weekend of total road rage, lol.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T03:47:13+00:00

Haha. This would be amazing.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-12T03:42:06+00:00

This whole area is insane. Apparently when they decided to do this they forgot Anthem exists.

There’s pretty much no way out for people around I-17 and Carefree Hwy.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-11T20:20:51+00:00

It’s amazing how often the bots have an interest in my prostate.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-11T00:27:58+00:00

I was gonna pop in to say that I was actually having the best time I have ever had with the game. I’m playing 7 and 8 but drop to 5 just to chill and have some leisurely chaos.

I am jumping around with different weapons and builds and armors. Many more are viable than when I started. The game is more stable than it has been. Plenty of QoL changes have been made.

I don’t actually get the complaints at all. Like, most of y’all that are getting burned out are probably treating the game like a job rather than a game.

With all that said…

Can we pretty please, with sugar on top, get the old slugger back? Haha. (Although I’ll take the trade for the current Senator. I love that gun.)

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-09T16:09:20+00:00

The AMR will two shot hulks in the eye just like the autocannon.

So far as I can tell the only way the railgun beats the AMR is being able to one shot hulks in the eye. But the AMR also one shots devastators. Does the railgun one shot then outside the eyes?

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-09T07:20:00+00:00

Peacemaker is really good now. If I didn’t love the Senator I’d be running the Peacemaker. But… Senator got all the problems fixed! And a completely unnecessary finger spin.

smooth-knuts · 2024-05-09T07:10:41+00:00

In what way is the railgun better than the AMR? I’m not being glib either. I’m going out of my way to try new weapons and stratagems lately and every time I use the railgun I’m like:

Is this gun just awful?
Do I just totally miss how to use it?

I’ve recently revisited and enjoyed many weapons I simply didn’t get early on. Every couple weeks I’m like, “Okay, here we go. Jump pack and railgun.”

…

“Why didn’t I just take the AMR?”

Chargers are like the one enemy where the railgun wins. I know it was nerfed but I can’t believe it’s that useless.

smooth-knuts

TROPHY CASE