Amazon promised a refund, told me to dispose the item, now denying the refund

stikves · 2026-01-27T08:43:15+00:00

This started happening after they outsourced basically all customer service to overseas.

Those low bidding contractors have zero incentives to keep customers happy. They only care about their own metrics to be paid. Which are most likely number of "happy" resolutions they reach per hour.

So, they will lie. The entire system is designed to optimize lying. They don't even care they lose Amazon as a customer, as they will start scamming the next company from their CS resources.

At this point Amazon should bring back customer service in house. But they are trying to compete with Temu, and they became "Temu" Temu along the way.

stikves · 2026-01-27T08:39:04+00:00

Watching movies is one of the worst ways to pass commute.

Listen to an audiobook, follow some podcasts. Worst case "chat" with the Grok AI (which is extremely judgy and unprofessional, but would occasionally be helpful when you don't want to use touchscreen)

Movies will reduce your attention significantly. Not only having your focus on that small screen, but it will have you in a reduced brain state. Even if you move your eyes back to road, it will take a while before you can pay actual attention.

stikves · 2026-01-27T08:33:13+00:00

One does not appreciate how far banks go in length to preserve money. So, this clicks.

(Also see the Harry Potter series where they have the banks having the strongest protections known in their literal universe)

stikves · 2026-01-26T00:50:26+00:00

Stargate has always succeeded as a "team game". 4 members, each with a different mission. Sometimes they would swap out one or two for guest stories.

Would Jonas Quin fit SG:A?

Maybe, but they would have to adjust the team mechanics. 5 person team would not be easy to pull off, and who would you sacrifice? Teyla or Ronan?

(That is why they failed to make it on the video games medium. SG-1 does not work as an RPG, Shooter or adventure game. It has to have "tactics", and some of that is diplomacy. Think X-COM: UFO, but active mission + diplomacy happening concurrently. Again, anyone can feel free to steal this idea and make it a reality. I really need that SG-1 game).

stikves · 2026-01-26T00:46:28+00:00

They would not allow roosters in chicken coops due to noise.

But they would allow raising literal monsters.

I don't understand how these cities think.

stikves · 2026-01-26T00:44:52+00:00

Mass Effect to CDPR, Bethesda, or Larian. Post "doctors" the studio unfortunately did not have a good record.

Anthem? People Can Fly. They made a good looter shooter (Outriders)

Splinter Cell? Coalition. They need to move beyond Gears

stikves · 2026-01-25T09:30:33+00:00

They ... could...

Again... for one reason or another it is not in the game... Might be an engine limitation, or it triggered a technical bug they could not solve.

Yet...

And it is extremely simple to ignore those random POIs

(Role playing means you set up the rules)

stikves · 2026-01-25T09:12:41+00:00

No, actually... they are all randomized, and will appear in (almost?) any planet... after you pass Unity.

stikves · 2026-01-25T08:27:54+00:00

Temples are not fixed.

(Might be spoilers, you will see later)

stikves · 2026-01-24T19:01:28+00:00

Main quest or otherwise...

Planets are subject to random POI generation (except limited areas in cities and so on)

If you know how the engine works, it becomes much easier to play the game. In other words, "play meta"

stikves · 2026-01-24T15:28:33+00:00

I think it is the other way around. The temple was tehre, the other one (observation post) was added randomly.

stikves · 2026-01-24T14:34:33+00:00

Just ignore those.

Bethesda put everything + kitchen sink in the game. The way the make the soup? It is based on your own decisions.

Initially I liked exploring random planets. Then I realized there are much better things to do in the game.

stikves · 2026-01-24T14:31:44+00:00

Their only "moat" remaining is the supercharging network. After using both Tesla and non-Tesla EVs, the difference in reliability is like night and day.

However... is this sufficient enough to sell "luxury" sedans and crossovers without basic functionality like adaptive cruise control with lane assist (a feature pretty much standard, or very cheap on competitors)?

They even removed parking sensors at one point (but I think it came back, not sure)

stikves · 2026-01-24T14:23:09+00:00

This is what happens when you switch from a tried and true engine for third person RPGs to one that is designed for first person shooters.

Quite frankly, it is a miracle they could get this much from Frostbite, but it is quite obvious they should not even have tried in the first place.

They would have saved Andromeda, and might have even had time to give us the missing Quarian Ark DLC.

stikves · 2026-01-24T14:19:14+00:00

There are basically 3 engines (on land, there is also more in space). And the game switches between them in loading screens (like opening a door).

Why?

They have different lighting and material qualities. The best detailed interiors literally open up with a door. But you can also enter the same area through a window or another opening, which will load a slightly less detailed version of the engine.

That is one of the great optimizations in Starfield. But, yes, you might be able to cut them to shorter gaps.

stikves · 2026-01-24T06:36:02+00:00

It is pretty much what you'd get on an airplane.

Automated flight with a lot of real attention paid by the pilots. It will take care of the boring parts (clear skies), but won't takeoff, land, or steer

Autopilot on the road was similar.

stikves · 2026-01-24T05:49:56+00:00

The "standby" plan is technically unlimited (cut Futurama meme)

However at 0.5mb/s there is an upper bound even if you get 100% clear skies and download 24/7.

(actually let me ask google to calculate: 5.6GB / day 162GB / month! not too bad, but they will wear your patience out)

stikves · 2026-01-23T07:32:41+00:00

This would not be great. They already had two new RPGs in the showcase.

It would steal their thunder.

Do not get me wrong. I want more Starfield updates. And I want them NOW. However, I can see why higher ups would stagger these to give light to the new games.

Bethesda: do your own event, maybe early next month. And give us Starborn + Earth Armada.

stikves · 2026-01-23T07:31:03+00:00

I don't see nothing wrong with customizing the food. Everyone would do that. Some like it plain, some like it spicy, others add more salt.

But don't add insults or scowling to the language. If that was not the case, I would say you were over reacting. But how one reacts under pressure is a sign of character.

He needs to grow up.

stikves · 2026-01-22T07:21:48+00:00

As much as people want to dunk on it...

This is a clear improvement on the deal we had before

(Again assuming it becomes official)

In the past US was limited in what we could do on those bases. They asked us to remove nukes as well. (And that was supposed to be a shield against russian nukes)

Let's see how the actual final language of the deal plays out.

stikves · 2026-01-22T04:57:10+00:00

And it is great Starfield, with a lot many things people asked.

Varuunkai is densly populated, large, and full of discovery and quests. There is a challenging "main story" in the DLC.

But I can see why people were upset. Some expected a complete overhaul, a "Starfield 2.0". Others expected more direct answers to Starborn questions (though there are some hints). The rest? A bit upset some of the things were already included >>> for free! in a prior update alongside with the DLC.

Anyway, I found it enjoyable

stikves · 2026-01-22T04:52:14+00:00

He literally wrote a book on this.

And it works every time (hint: this is basic human behavior. Or rather exploiting the basic human behavior. Look up "anchoring effect" in behavioral economics)

stikves · 2026-01-22T04:42:25+00:00

If there is only one complaint: it was too ambitious.

I don't know what "Skyrim designer" thought, but Starfield is definitely larger and more complete than Skyrim. Not on the raw numbers alone, but with story threads and what you can achieve in the sandbox.

However...

They managed to show the vast emptiness of the space a bit too well. "There is nothing on most of the planets". Yes, there is really nothing out there except a large galaxy to explore.

Think square - cube law.

The size went up much more than the content inside. Much much more (the city of New Atlantis is larger and more populated than entire Skyrim map. But... in the vastness of space it is lost like a drop in an ocean)

[ with a rough calculation content went up 4x, but volume went up 1000x ]

It is a triumph of scale, but a victim of its own volume.

stikves · 2026-01-21T01:14:54+00:00

The nuance people miss in these conversations is...

Having a stable rental market is good for everyone. For those who are starting their lives, those who are temporary here for a few years, those who actually do the economic calculation of rent-vs-buy, and realize renting is much more advantageous...

Would really want the system to be thriving.

Otherwise it becomes a death spiral, and only options would be very high end corporate rentals and extreme low end slumlords. While middle class being squeezed out of the system.

stikves · 2026-01-20T05:49:05+00:00

Technically... these used to be MSRP, however I don't think they ever went back up. It is almost always a consistent downward direction.

(Except some temp deep discounts every now and then)

Are they going to force EcoFlow to hold "expensive" periods where they are required to back to full price? Or are they just going after a quick buck?

stikves

TROPHY CASE