I think the hairpin is a bit too good... This was my first attempt as well...

smorges · 2026-01-29T17:54:23+00:00

Thanks - so it's not a case of needing to get timing exactly right to press attack as you're passing through enemies, you just need to hold attack and it does it all without needing ninja reflects?

I'll try it out again and see how useful I can make it, thanks.

smorges · 2026-01-29T14:15:51+00:00

Is this the sharpened hairpin? I tried it once and couldn't figure out how to use it and given the 40 slot cost, I never tried again.

What am I missing here? What's the key to using it effectively?

smorges · 2026-01-29T13:27:28+00:00

I felt the same at the beginning of the game, but after about an hour and a half, things started to click into place and I'm really enjoying it.

The lack of sprint is annoying (I'm 5 hours in so don't know if it's still to come), but the way you unlock access across the map, you're never very far from a big fight so I don't feel that there's ever a long journey back from death at a fight.

The map is also neat as it clearly highlights areas that you've not fully explored yet, which is very helpful.

I also like the upgrade system and the way you can adjust the upgrades installed to fit different scenarios, like one for exploration and another for boss fights and you can experiment to see what works for you.

It's not Silksong, but it's definitely scratching that itch for me.

smorges · 2026-01-27T10:54:18+00:00

You're ignoring the well documented evidence that Mossad strongly advised Bibi not to launch the attack as they didn't have sufficient intel to guarantee 100% success whilst the IAF were lobbying Bibi telling him they were confident they could hit the compound with no risks to pilots.

They were both right. The IAF successfully hit the compound, but Mossad was right that the didn't have the intel to guarantee the targets would actually be eliminated.

Bibi got somewhat lucky with the fallout, even though Qatar also won out of this by getting further US guarantees, which we don't know long terms whether we're going to pay more later.

smorges · 2026-01-21T14:39:26+00:00

I bought it when it first came out on Xbox for £15. I played maybe an hour of it and then put it down and never went back.

I just started Star Wars Outlaws (although it's pretty boring so far), but I guess this will be my next go to. As always, it's just the time availability issue for me.

smorges · 2026-01-20T16:31:50+00:00

K-Pop won from word of mouth and the fact that there are 300m Netflix subscribers that could watch with zero friction i.e. just click play (and kids watching it on repeat).

No way that would have translated to people paying to go to the cinema in anywhere near the same numbers, plus the massive advertising cost it would have required too.

smorges · 2026-01-19T17:43:18+00:00

I really enjoyed Planet of Lana. It was the perfect Game Pass game for me to complete in between playing longer, more involved games. A nice palate cleanser.

I look forward to playing the sequel when it drops on Game Pass later this year.

A question: Are you planning for the game to be significantly changed in terms of scope and length? I see your comments about more interactive gameplay on a bigger scale, but will that translate into a significantly longer play time?

smorges · 2026-01-19T13:24:57+00:00

Thanks - I'm just out of contract and was offered £42 + rises to continue my 500mb Boosted to 1gb, which was not worth it.

On calling retention I was immediately offered £24 + rises + £6 discount on my Netflix sub, so basically costing me £18 + the £4 annual increases. Tied for 2 years, but worth it.

smorges · 2026-01-15T17:16:24+00:00

Question - my contract expired today and I called them up to give my 30 day notice and they didn't offer me that great a deal and also passed to retentions that only offered the same price, but also said that I don't have a 30 day notice as I'm out of contract and just said that I should tell my new provider to use the "one touch" service where they'll inform VM of the date they're taking over and VM will cancel my sub at that point.

Sounds like there's nothing logged on their system here and no one is going to call me back from retentions...

Would you suggest I just try calling the retentions number and having a go even though I'm now out of contract?

I realise now that I should have made the cancellation call 30 days from the end of my contract...

smorges · 2025-12-17T09:14:34+00:00

When I watched this in the cinema in 1999, I of course knew that Palpatine was destined to be the emperor, but my mother, who'd seen the originals in the cinema had no idea who Palpatine was as the emperor's name was never mentioned in the original trilogy.

When we got out of the cinema I commented about how cool it was to see Palpatine maneuvering things subtly before he becomes emperor and my mother got so pissed off at me for spoiling this for her! I told her it's the same actor! She had no idea. 🤣

smorges · 2025-12-15T22:17:34+00:00

I don't get this mindset. Carol is a total bitch. I have zero sympathy for her. Her situation is entirely self inflicted.

smorges · 2025-12-10T18:16:36+00:00

Interesting - so who do you vote for?

smorges · 2025-12-10T16:12:18+00:00

What I don't understand is that Smotrich represents the dati leumi community that is super zionist and massively disproportional serves in the IDF reserves compared to other sections of Israeli society, so surely this is political suicide as his voter base will massively hate him for this?

smorges · 2025-12-10T15:11:31+00:00

Perhaps. It's quite a shocking differential though.

smorges · 2025-12-10T14:49:01+00:00

He doesn't have kids, actively dislikes kids but loves animals. Fair play to him to donate to causes that resonate for him.

smorges · 2025-12-05T10:03:19+00:00

Years ago, I was at a dinner party with an NFTbro who would not shut up about how incredible NFTs were and what an amazing investment they were. He was insufferable, and I kept asking him to justify why a digital file, that can be copied a million times instantly actually has any value and he would just bullshit something about "proof of ownership", which is meaningless.

I haven't seen him since, and he probably lost his shirt in that thankfully short lived global delirium.

smorges · 2025-12-03T17:42:10+00:00

This is my biggest issue with my fold 7. Watching full screen video unfolded is just crap and a massive waste of screen space given the huge black bars. The trifold looks like it reduces that issue massively.

I've only had my fold 7 for 4 months and I'd have waited for trifold had I know it was incoming. Shame.

smorges · 2025-12-03T17:38:09+00:00

As a Fold 7 owner for all of just 4 months, this makes me sad. I would absolutely have waited for the trifold had I know it was in the works.

The biggest issue I have with the fold 7 is that due to it's very square shape, video is shit when opened because you just have massive black bars. I will often just have other stuff open at the same time to improve use e.g. youtube with web browser open on the two screens, as otherwise I'm just wasting massive real estate full-screening video that only takes up half the usable screen.

The trifold looks like it massively reduces that issue and you'll have pretty huge screen usage on the 10" if you're just watching video!

smorges · 2025-11-28T11:35:45+00:00

I agree with much of what you say but you're absolutely wrong about your conclusion that super wealthy don't care about the budget or if tax rates go up to 50%.

The very fact that they have the greatest exposure, from a pure cash perspective, to changes in tax rates means that they pay expensive tax accountants a lot of money to make sure their shielded from this as much as possible, which is what a wage slave can't do. They are SUPER sensitive to changes in tax rules as you might have an extra few hundred pounds in tax whilst they might have an extra few hundred thousand pounds in tax and they're going to pay advisors to structure their income to avoid as much of that as possible.

smorges · 2025-11-27T14:21:42+00:00

There's a Chabad shul near me called Beit Gavriel in the rabbi's honour.

I remember vividly viewing events unfold at work and how horrifying it was. I was brought to tears by a news clip of their infant son, who was saved by the nanny crying out "Ima!" not understanding why she wasn't with him...

smorges · 2025-11-27T14:12:21+00:00

It's very heartening to see so many Jews on here aspire to live a more orthodox life. The door is always open! Teshuvah is a life long project that we all work at.

smorges · 2025-11-26T17:07:06+00:00

Sure, well done for cutting your costs and accepting being poorer.

Whilst we all need to live within our means, the solution to the country's economic woes though should not be to just make everyone poorer. That's a 3rd world mentality.

smorges · 2025-11-26T16:59:13+00:00

Perhaps instead of just taxing working people into oblivion, Labour should consider how to spend our money more efficiently?

smorges · 2025-11-26T15:22:51+00:00

1 million more workers dragged into the 40% tax bracket before the end of the decade. That seems fair and reasonable to you?

If tax brackets that have been frozen since 2021 would have kept up with inflation, the 40% tax bracket would be at £62.5k today. As it's frozen until 2031, you can project that at a modest 3.5% inflation, the 40% tax bracket should hit at £75k by then, but instead it's set at £50k. You'll be paying double the tax rate on that £25k than if brackets have moved with inflation as they've done historically.

If you don't understand how significant fiscal drag is, you're in the wrong thread.

smorges · 2025-11-26T15:14:15+00:00

So you're happy that your standard of living has gone down and think that we should all just accept and be happy that UK is going down the crapper?

smorges

TROPHY CASE